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Annabeth hated her English class. The lectures were early and long, the room was windowless and bland, the content didn’t interest her, and she had to write so much for her assignments. Plus, it was one of those classes she could never miss because it would just create more work for herself later. It was a required credit for every student, and Annabeth felt it was a waste of her time.
She felt like she was going to fall asleep. Her professor droned on about their assigned research paper and she frequently checked the analog clock on the wall behind him. When her professor finally dismissed the class (two minutes over the allotted time), Annabeth swiftly stuck her laptop in her bag and left. She walked down the hallway and stepped outside, feeling like she could finally breathe again. The outside air was chill and it woke her up a little.
The trek back to her dorm was long but she went quickly, stepping around the slow walkers. She just wanted to get back so she could have three hours to herself to work on the paper before her next class. Her roommate was typically out of the dorm all day on Wednesdays, so she was looking forward to having the place to herself for a while.
As she approached her dorm, she saw a familiar figure standing off to the side of the entrance, his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. She smiled, instantly feeling warm inside. Percy spotted her and waved, a smile on his face as well. She hadn’t expected to see him but it was always a welcome surprise when he showed up unannounced, especially on a bad day.
“What are you doing here?” She asked him happily.
“Just wanted to see you,” Percy replied, leaning to kiss her on the lips. There were people around but she didn’t care. “My morning class was canceled. Thought I’d drop by, if that’s okay.”
“Of course it is.” Annabeth smiled again. “My roommate’s gone.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“But I have stuff to do.”
“Oh.” His brows fell. “Well, I’ll just sit and watch you then. Think about how much I love you.”
She rolled her eyes and swiped her card to get into the building. Percy opened the door for her and they headed up to her floor. When they got to her room, she unlocked the door and they both stepped inside, kicking their shoes off. Annabeth hung her jacket on her bed frame. Then she walked to her desk and set her bag down, pulling out her laptop and sitting down in her chair. Percy plopped down on her bed, leaning his back against the wall.
“What are you working on?” He asked her.
Annabeth looked at her to-do list on the screen and sighed. “I have to outline a research paper for English.”
“Sounds awful.”
“It is,” she said, staring at the blank document.
The more she looked at it, the more she didn’t want to do it. She spent a few minutes staring at the screen and tapping around her open tabs, stalling any actual writing. Finally, she typed out a few words, but the thought of actually doing anything more made her feel bored out of her mind. She propped her arm up on her desk and leaned her head against it, yawning.
“You look tired,” she heard Percy say. “How late were you up last night?”
Annabeth pursed her lips. “Four?”
“That’s really late, Annabeth.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But I had a lot to do.”
She could feel his eyes on her and she turned her head to look at him. He looked very attractive and she was tempted to drop everything. Her gaze fixed on his mouth. Not doing her homework was looking pretty appealing. She tried to telepathically ask him to pull her away from her desk because she wouldn’t give in on her own and she knew he knew it.
They stared at each other for a moment.
“Do you want to come over here?” He asked, and she was up before he even finished saying it.
Percy opened his arms and Annabeth curled up against his side. She wrapped her own arms around his torso, burying her head against his chest. He smelled like Percy and she closed her eyes tight, breathing him in and feeling a sense of calm wash over her. He was hers and she loved him tremendously. He was so much better than an English paper.
“I missed you,” he said, holding her tight.
“I missed you too,” she said back, her words muffled by his sweatshirt.
She had literally seen him the night before. They’d gotten dinner at one of their favorite spots and he’d walked her back to her dorm and kissed her good night. (And then she’d stayed up for seven more hours working through Calc problems.)
No matter how often she saw him, as soon as he was out of her sight she missed him. She couldn’t wait until they lived together and could spend as much time as they wanted with each other. She thought about falling asleep next to him every night and smiled against his sweatshirt.
“So you slept for three hours last night?” He asked.
She lifted her head and looked up at him. He was inches from her face. His eyes were especially green today. “Maybe less.”
He nodded, twirling one of her curls around his finger. “Your next class is at 1?”
“1:30.”
He nodded again. “Do you want to take a nap and then get lunch before your class?”
She’d never heard a better plan in her life. What she didn’t tell him was that if she didn’t do the paper outline now, she would do it that night and then she would be exhausted again tomorrow. But that was a problem for later and she was living in the moment.
Annabeth lifted her head slightly so Percy could lean down and kiss her. It was short and sweet and he kissed her again, and again. Quick, gentle kisses that gave her butterflies. She smiled against his lips and she felt him smile too. She loved being in love with him.
He pulled back and she looked up at him. He kissed her forehead, lingering there for a moment, and she closed her eyes. She let herself relax, completely melting into him with a slow exhale.
Percy always made her feel safe enough to let her guard down. She trusted him more than anyone else. As long as he was there, nothing else mattered. She didn’t know what she would have done had he not survived at any point along their quests. College would really suck if he wasn’t there to take her mind off of things and offer her a small reprieve from all of it.
He rubbed circles on her back, which always calmed her more than anything else. She could feel herself beginning to drift off and she allowed herself to focus on his steady heartbeat, a reminder that he was alive and real.
Just before she slipped away, she heard Percy whisper, “I love you.”