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1500 days.
That was how long Percy had been dating Annabeth.
Normally, he wouldn’t bother to keep track of days like that, but this was important.
Annabeth cared about things like this.
And he cared about Annabeth, so win-win, right?
His eyes dropped to his lap where she was currently residing. Her breathing was steady and even as she slept, her head in his lap.
“I love you,” he murmured. He was so blessed.
His heart sped up at the thought of what he was about to do, and he did his best to shove it down.
This was Annabeth. Chances were that she would say yes.
But still. This was more terrifying than any monster he had fought, and he had fought a lot of monsters.
He patted his pocket to make sure he still had the ring and was relieved to find the box still there. Just as it had been the last several times he had checked.
Ever so carefully, he shifted her so that she was more comfortably in his arms.
If someone had told his younger self that he was planning on proposing to Annabeth, he would probably have laughed, but now he couldn’t think of doing anything different.
A life without Annabeth was like living a life without a limb, though, given the choice, he would choose to get rid of all his limbs before living a life without Annabeth.
“Annabeth,” he said gently, brushing the hair out of her face. “You have to wake up.”
She blinked drowsily. “What? Why? Did something happen?” Her words were marred with sleep.
Percy took her hand. “No, nothing happened. It’s just that the fireworks will start soon.”
“Oh.” She lifted her head from his lap and momentarily leaned against his shoulder for support. “I’m tired.”
He smiled softly. “I can tell.”
She offered a sleepy smile in return.
He stood and held out a hand to help her up. “Come on, let’s go get a snack before it starts.”
Annabeth nodded, and he gathered the suspicion that she wasn’t fully awake yet.
He held her hand as they walked to the snack shack together, grabbing pretzels and slushies, his blue and hers red.
She leaned over his shoulder to have a sip of his drink.
He turned to look at her, and couldn’t help but notice how jaw-droppingly beautiful she was.
“You’re so beautiful,” he declared.
A light blush grazed her cheeks. “I think you’re beautiful too.”
A grin split his lips as he stared at her.
“Thank you,” he said.
She tapped his nose. “I stand by it.”
“As do I,” he returned. “We can just be a beautiful power couple that everyone is jealous of. Clearly.”
“Clearly,” she mocked. “Okay, but seriously, I think you’re beautiful.”
“Wow,” Percy said. “You have to make this all about me, don’t you?”
She dropped a quick kiss to his lips. “I do.”
The words spun through his mind, and he couldn’t help but think of them in a different scenario.
Their wedding would be a small one, he was sure. It would likely be held on the beach or at Camp Half-blood, and he could already imagine the random gods dropping into their wedding.
Everything about that sounded absolutely perfect, and he couldn’t wait.
Of all times to propose, he couldn’t think of a better one than now, with them standing against the car, eating pretzels and drinking slushies under the starry sky that was soon to be filled with fireworks.
No time like the present.
His hands were shaking violently, and his heart was pounding so loudly that it was a wonder all of New York City couldn’t hear it.
But he refused to be cowardly when it came to this. Annabeth was worth it, no matter how terrifying it was.
Still, he couldn’t help but think that he would rather be fighting monsters alongside her.
Percy slipped to his knees.
Annabeth’s eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
He grinned, albeit nervously. “I’m more than okay.”
“What happened?”
He cleared his throat jokingly. “Annabeth, my dear Wise Girl. I didn’t fall.”
Her eyes somehow widened wider as she realized what was happening, and she covered her mouth.
He was kneeling. He had lowered himself to one knee, not dropped to his knees.
Percy pulled the box from his pocket. When he cracked the lid open, there was a ring with an infinity sign containing a gray and a green jewel.
“Annabeth Chase, today is the day that we have been dating for 1500 days. I love you and I have a very important question to ask.” At this point, his eyes were sparkling, and he looked close to tears. “Will you marry me, and become Annabeth Jackson?”
Several different answers sprung to her mind. A sarcastic “How do you know I don’t want you to be Percy Chase?” but that wasn’t right at all.
She was sure that if she asked it, he would take her name instead, but she didn’t want to ask it, even just in jest.
Jackson was a name that belonged to their family, and she didn’t want them to give it up.
A teasing response like “What do you think?”
“Well duh, Seaweed Brain,” she could imagine herself saying snarkily.
But none of those answers were what she wanted to say.
Instead, she breathed out, “Yes,” as she fell into his arms, nearly knocking him over.
He laughed and placed his arms around her waist. They were shaking. She took one of his hands, and removed it from her waist, bringing it to her lips, and holding it to keep it steady.
“I love you, Seaweed Brain.”
“I love you,” he whispered in response.
Annabeth’s eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned in to kiss him. Kiss her fiancé. A thrill ran through her at the thought of marrying him.
They’d already been together for 1500 days, and she was hoping for thousands more with him.
Fireworks exploded around them as they kissed.