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“Giving up god hood for a girl? What an overused move.” Annabeth jokes as she clicks off the TV.
Scoffing in feigned offense Percy replies “Excuse me Annabeth Chase. You wound me, truly. I cannot believe you right now.”
“Hey, I'm just saying” She says, putting her hands up in surrender. “Did you really do it out of love or were you trying to be smooth?”
“Honestly, I’m honored you give me enough credit to think of a move like that on the spot. I was never that smooth when it came to you back then.”
“Yeah you’re right, you were really dumb. I never should’ve doubted your love for me.” She says with a teasing smile on her face.
“A, OUCH. B, there are better ways for you to be confident in my love for you without bruising my ego, thank you very much.”
“But it’s so incredibly fun to bruise your ego Mr. Hero of Olympus.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have fun with that.”
“I always do!”
And as much as he’s trying to pretend to be annoyed, he can’t be, because here he is with Annabeth who looks legitimately happy. After everything, they’re here, together and happy in his moms apartment, laughing and poking fun at each other. Everything was just perfect.
“I feel like I’m the one who should be doubting your love for me, since you find so much joy in my pain. Little Miss Schadenfreude.”
“Woah! Look at you knowing big words! You must have a really smart, beautiful, and amazing person to teach you something like that!”
“You caught me.” Annabeth has a smirk on her face until Percy says, “My mom is the smart, beautiful, and amazing woman who teaches me big words.”
“Ass.” She says smacking him with a pillow.
“What, did you think I was going to give in that easily? Also it’s true! But yes, it’s also because of you.”
“There ya go.”
“Were you just waiting for me to sing your praises after you attacked me?”
“Well, you did say there were more ways than bruising your ego to prove your love for me.I figured timing how long it took you to go from insulting me right back, to going all mushy on me would be one of those ways. And look at that! I was right!”
“Yeah but that was not what I had in mind when I said that.” He says, his signature troublemaker smile dancing on his lips, as his sea green eyes look her dead in her eyes, darkening slightly.
“Mhm, and what would that be exactly?” She replies, calculating her tone so she sounds completely unphased by the tone switch.
“This.” He says simply, tugging her onto his lap. Her thighs bracketing his, as her arms loop around his neck. His hands meeting her waist, as their eyes lock and foreheads touch. They sit there for a moment, a moment that feels as if it was frozen in time, drinking in each other's presence, both their hearts pounding in their chests.
Finally, finally, their lips meet. There’s something both feverish and soft about it. Her hands find themselves in his hair like a magnet, his one hand slowly snaking up under the back of her tank top, the other tracing circles into her hip bone.
His lips travel down to her neck, finding themselves glued to her pulse point. There’s something… different about this. It feels like she’s hiding something else, trying to pour it all into kissing him. Almost like she’s latching onto him and making sure he won’t let go.
But before he can pull away to ask there's a rapid series of knocking on the door to the apartment. A routine his mother has perfected so she doesn’t walk in on something she doesn't need to see.
And as embarrassing as it is, there is something really nice about it. Knowing that they’ve earned Sally’s trust. Hence why they follow all the silly rules, because they wouldn’t dare risk breaking the trust she has in them.
They break apart and Annabeth lies down, resting her head in his lap, curling into his side and making sure that she's laying on the side that might now have a mark on it. Percy quickly clicks the TV back on, a new disney movie now playing on the channel they were watching earlier.
“Hey kids!” Sally calls, when she walks through the door.
“Hey mom” Percy says, as Annabeth says “Hi Sally!”
“So, what did you two get up to?”
“The usual, watching Disney movies, but this time it was Annabeth pointing out all the inconsistencies in Hercules, AND saying him giving up godhood for Meg was cheesy and overdone. Because she's the worst, and apparently very ungrateful for the fact that I’m here and not sitting up on Olympus right now.”
Naturally, Annabeth smacks him in the chest.
“You know that’s not true.” Annabeth says
“Yeah I know” Percy replies, a soft smile gracing his lips as he kisses her temple.
“Well, I’m going to head to bed, and you two should as well. And remember-”
“I’m on the couch, Annabeth gets my bed. Bedroom door stays open, regardless.” Percy states.
“Yep. Alright, goodnight you two.”
“Goodnight mom, Love you!” Percy calls.
Percy and Annabeth, however, do indeed stay up to watch most of the rest of the movie now playing.
“Who’s who?” Percy asks
“That’s not even a question, you’re obviously Lady. I mean come on, from a loving family, all sheltered. And Tramp is a run away! It’s perfect.”
“But also Lady does get jealous when the other dogs have a crush on Tramp”
“Nope. Don’t care. I stand by my original point.”
“Alright. You win.”
“Good.”
She curls up closer to him, after a few more minutes she starts to doze off.
“Alright sleepyhead, I think it’s time we turn in for the night.”
“Fine. But can you carry me to your room?”
He rolls his eyes, but without any real annoyance. He followed her into Tartarus, he’d do anything she asked.
He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his torso, tucking her head into his chest. He still doesn’t want to pry about what’s bothering her, he hopes it’s something that sleep will cure but he knows better than that.
Nevertheless, he sets her down on the bed, tucking her into bed for good measure, kissing her forehead. Before turning in for the night he says, “I love you Wise Girl.”
“I love you more Seaweed Brain.”
“Not possible.”
“Oh but it is.”
“Always a competition with you, huh?”
“How have you not figured that out yet?”
“Okay get some sleep, goodnight.” He says, giving her another kiss goodnight
…
Percy doesn’t know how long he’d been out before Annabeth walks into the living room to wake him up.
“Hey.” She says softly
He can already tell she hasn’t been sleeping. Her hair rumpled from tossing and turning, the melancholy softness in her voice, the slight reflection of what looks like dried tears on her face.
“C’mere.” He says, opening his arms. She immediately crawls into them, burning her head into his chest, trying to get as close as she can to him. He wraps his arms around her tight, knowing that’s exactly what she needs right now.
“What’s going on?” He asks, ever so gently, and ever so carefully.
“I’m scared.” She manages. Voice quiet, like she doesn’t want to admit what she’s feeling, but knowing it’s impossible for her not to lie to him.
“Of what?”
“Not in here. I can’t. I just. I need fresh air. I can’t explai-. Not here.” she says, shoulders shaking.
“Shh.” He replies, rubbing her back gently. “Let’s go sit on the fire escape then. Do you want something to drink first?”
She sniffles, “that would be great.”
“Okay, then I’ll meet you out there.”
“No.” she pauses “Please. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Okay.” Is all he says. It’s all he needs to say.
They get up off the couch, and she grabs the nearby blanket, and immediately leeches onto Percy, as he walks around the kitchen trying to make them hot chocolate as quietly as possible.
They walk back to his room, open up the window and sit on the fire escape looking around at the city lights of New York.
She sits down opposite of him, wrapped in a blanket and wearing one of his shirts and hair up in a messy bun. She glances his way
He hands her a mug of hot chocolate in a cheesy owl mug he got her for her first christmas with the Jacksons so many years ago. He said it was because they all had their own mug in the apartment and she needed one too. And as dumb as it is, being an owl and all, it’s always been her favorite. A reminder that she has a family to come home to, and a place she is wanted.
She stares at the steam curling off the mug, concentrating on the swirls cascading upwards and fading away.
She can sense his gaze on her, she knows he's worried but she’s too focused on ignoring what's happening to really care.
“I really hate how little stars you can see in the city.” She says eventually, still staring at her mug.
“Me too,” he starts softly. “I think it’s the one thing about the city I don’t like. I didn’t even realize it until I first went to camp. At first it was honestly overwhelming, but now I miss it.”
He scoots closer to her, careful not to overstep, but when she rests her head on his shoulder he knows he didn’t mess up.
“I’m really scared.” she says. “And I don’t even want to say why because what if then it all comes true.”
Percy wraps his arms around her shoulders and kisses the top of her head. “Oh Annabeth,” He says sadly, “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to, but I promise you, you don’t have to carry all that weight by yourself. I can’t promise nothing will happen, but I can promise you aren’t alone in this. I’m here for you, always.”
“Thank you, Percy.” Annabeth replies, sinking further into his arms and wiping tears from under her eyes. “It’s just. I keep thinking about the future, and it scares me, because I want to plan ahead and have big dreams for the future but I think about all that's happened, and all that can happen, and I just have so little confidence that I’ll get to be there and experience it all.”
“I’m just really scared. Every single day that things are going to go wrong and bad things will keep happening to us and it terrifies me. I feel like I’m living on deadlines all the time and I hate it. I feel so stuck in everything all the time. And the worst part of it all is feeling like I can't even talk about it without it coming true.”
“Plus I’m so scared to fall asleep because so many things can happen in my sleep and I have no control over any of it. I hate not being in control of things, and that’s a universal truth of life is you can’t control everything.”
She rambles and cries, but Percy just holds her tighter. He knows she needs to get it all out and he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing. Plus he’s figured out after years of knowing Annabeth that sometimes this is all she needs. The reminder that he’s here with her and she’s real.
“I just feel so stuck all the time. Like I’m running through the motions and I’m not even real. But everything all the time is so real around me. I can’t explain it. I just hate living like this.”
Percy wipes the tears from under her eyes, and she doesn’t see him wiping the tears from under his own eyes.
“I love you so much” is all he says.
They sit together in silence for a few minutes as Percy figures out what to say to her. He holds her while he fights back tears at the thought of his girl fighting all these demons on her own. Living in all this fear by herself, fighting off her own personal monsters which he knows is much harder than the actual monsters they’ve had to fight off.
“I hate that you have to bear this Annabeth, you don't deserve any of that. And I wish I could promise that nothing else will happen to you, to us. But I can’t and I hate that. But I can promise that I will always be here for you, and I will protect you always. You’re never alone, ever, because I’m here. My house is yours, my heart is yours, everything I am belongs to you. I love you so much Annabeth. And I don’t want you to feel like this anymore.”
Tears fall from his eyes as Annabeth sets her mug down and flips in his arms so they’re now facing each other. She wraps her arms around his neck, blanket falling down her back. Her eyes are glistening with tears, but this time not from sadness. But the overwhelming love she has for this boy.
“Thank you.” she says “For everything. For always being here for me. I love you more than I have words for.” She says leaning up to place a soft kiss to his lips.
They stay like that for a while, holding each other, eyes locked, the cool breeze surrounding them. Basking in each other, life seems easy, and all her worries melt away.
She’s here, she’s alive, they’re together. That's all that ever matters.
“Ready to head back in?” Percy asks after she yawns again.
“Yeah, but maybe not ready for sleep just yet.”
“Well there is ice cream in the freezer, what about that?”
“What if we went for a drive?”
“Annabeth, it’s like one a.m., what if we went for a walk instead? We can climb down the fire escape.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
“Ice cream?” He asks again, knowing exactly where this is going. This happens a lot, them wanting one last adventure but being too tired to really do much else than stay in the house.
“Yeah, ice cream.” She says and they crawl back into his room from the window.
He places a mental bet that gives Annabeth about twenty seconds before she jumps into his arms and has him carry her the forty feet into the kitchen. And he was pretty much correct, not that he’s complaining. If she didn’t ask he would do it anyway. He loves having Annabeth in his arms about as much as she needs to be in his.
When they make it to the kitchen, he sets her down on the counter before opening the freezer and getting the ice cream. She somehow already has two spoons because of course she does. They enjoy the ice cream in relative silence. Alternating between soft giggles and sweet kisses.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m glad I did.” She says
“I could say the same thing about you” He says, pulling her down from the counter.
“But you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, you’re kind and loyal and somehow know exactly what I need always. How did I get so lucky?”
“Are you implying that I didn’t get lucky with you, and you aren’t worth it? Because that isn’t true at all. I don’t understand how I got lucky with someone as smart and beautiful as you. You’re perfect Annabeth. Don’t for a second think that you aren’t worth good things.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, Perce. That. You being like that. Making me feel so loved, giving me a place to stay, an actual family to come home to, a place I actually belong. Plus I get a pretty amazing boyfriend who wakes up in the middle of the night and makes me not as scared of the shit in my head.”
“I’ll do it again and again. Because I love you.” He quickly puts the ice cream back in the freezer, opening the doors to the fridge, and grabs her hand, twirling her in the light of the refrigerator. If he can only accomplish one thing in this life, it would be making Annabeth feel loved. He likes to think he's succeeding.
Standing in the soft blue glow illuminating the living room, they hold each other, swaying back and forth. His grip is steady and never faltering. He feels Annabeth relax against him, and knows she’s going to start dozing off soon.
“Are you okay to go to sleep now? You seem tired.” He says gently.
“Yeah I think I am now, thank you again.” she says going up on her tiptoes to kiss him. His eyes bright and his face scrunching with happiness.
“You don’t have to thank me. I want you to be okay, so I’ll do it over and over again and as much as I need to so you know how much I love you and that I’m not going anywhere.”
“If you don’t shut up I will start crying again.” ‘There she is’ he thinks
“Then let's go to bed, cause otherwise I will keep rambling about how much I love you.”
“Sap.”
“I thought we went over that earlier when you were making fun of me for giving up god hood for you.”
“Yeah, and like I said then, bruising your ego is so much fun Mr. ‘Hero of Olympus’”
“Okay fine.” He says rolling his eyes, but not upset in the slightest, because Annabeth seems to be in better spirits now.
They walk back to his room, him preparing to return to the couch, even though he doesn’t want to.
“Do you think you could stay?” Annabeth asks as she sits down on his bed.
“I want to but I don’t know if I should.”
“Percy, you know your mom knows this was going to happen anyway. Also if she isn’t awake after us talking in the kitchen, I’ll be surprised. You could probably go ask her if you really feel so inclined.”
“Eh, we can just explain, besides, I don’t think she really cares much at all about it. She trusts us.” He says crawling under the covers next to her, both of them rolling on their sides to face each other.
“Just keep the door open.” Annabeth reminds him. Causing him to lightly smack her on the arm with the back of his hand.
“Uuuugh not you too.”
“Hey I’m all for the closed door, I just don’t want to get kicked out.”
“You could never get kicked out. If anything, I’d be the one to get kicked out. You know she loves you more than me.”
“Oh that’s very true. I’m glad we didn’t need to have that talk.”
“Nope. Now sleep”
“Someone is bossy”
“No, I just think you need to sleep.”
“Ugh fine.”
“Love you too!” He says, causing her to snort a little.
“I love you so much Percy” She says, bringing her hand up to his jaw, pulling his face towards hers and kissing him softly.
“I love you to the ends of the earth Annabeth.” He says back, as she curls into his side, his arm wrapping around her shoulders holding her closer.
“Always a competition with you” she says as she drifts off
“You did say you’d never make it easy for me, figured I have to keep my game up.”
“You’re such a dork seaweed brain.”
“Well, maybe, but only for you wise girl.”
“You are seriously so cheesy, I’m about to get up and sleep on the couch myself.” She says with no real punch in her words.
“No you won’t.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
She drifts off to sleep in his arms, and he knows there aren’t words for the feeling things bring him. He hopes this is permanent because he can’t imagine his life without her in it. Without this feeling. He loves her with every molecule of his soul and doesn’t see that changing any time soon.
He watches as her breathing evens out, and she sinks further into him, before he drifts off himself. Pulling her slightly closer, and kissing the top of her head one last time he falls asleep, perfectly content, and wanting to live in this moment for the rest of forever.
Whatever tomorrow brings, he’s got her and she’s got him. And that will always be more than enough.