Chapter Text
The stubborn odor of the cigarettes and rotten leather made Percy gag as he reluctantly climbed in the backseat of an airport issued cab, along with Annabeth, who had bags under her eyes, from the lack of sleep and her bouncy blond hair, now, tied in a messy bun, with tufts of hair escaping the rubber band and falling in front of her face.
'Where to?' asked the driver, leaning back, to look at his passengers.
'East One Hundred and Fourth and First Avenue,' Percy told the driver. He was very excited to finally meet his family, his mother, his baby sister Estelle and his step father Paul, he had missed them so much during his time in the university of new Rome with Annabeth, he craved sally Jackson's seven layered dip cookies, and her heartwarming smile that made Percy feel warm and fuzzy inside his chest. And Estelle's high pitched laugh and the drool, that she had kind of inherited from Percy, staining her chubby checks, he even missed the sweet scent of Paul's cologne, heavy in the air of their apartment.
But Percy was also kind of nervous, he could not explain why, he just kind of felt it, somewhere in the back of his gut.
Percy rested his head against the headrest and closed his eyes, an attempt to calm down.
As soon as the engine whirred to life, Annabeth let out a sigh.
"sigh of relief, maybe," Percy thought. He looked over to see Annabeth's leg bobbing continuously, with a frown on her face and her hand, playing with clay beads on the cord around her neck.
"Hey...is everything alright? "Percy asked, putting his hand over Annabeth's bobbing leg.
Annabeth looked back at him with her stormy gray eyes, and let out a sad smile.
"Yeah...it's just...now that we are out of new Rome, the fact that there are no monsters to fight to, and in New York you have to keep your guard up all the time, I can't imagine how we used to live here and expect a monster jumping out of nowhere in front of you. And how carefree we were in new Rome." Annabeth replied, lacing her hand with Percy's.
Percy let out a soft chuckle
"Comon wise girl, you can fight monster jumping in front of you out of nowhere." percy assured her with his iconic smile, an attemp to lift her spirits.
Annabeth mirrored his smile "Your right, i am being just being dramatic"
"Oh no your not, your just being cautious" Percy argued
"Okay,Seaweed brain " Annabeth said rolling her eyes.