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Percy hummed as he approached Athena’s Cabin, the doorway towering over him defiantly, as if sensing his heritage and the unstable relationship between it and its own.
After all, he was a son of Poseidon, and his father hadn't been on the best of terms over the centuries with Athena. It was only natural that the wisdom goddess's cabin and children should feel the same.
He suddenly stops mid-step as he notices the mumbling of conversation on the other side. He wasn't one to eavesdrop, but his curiosity got the best of him as he suddenly caught his name amidst the fuzzy mess of voices on the other side.
Percy frowned, contused, and inched closer, pressing his ear against the door in an attempt to better hear whatever was happening on the other side. Small snippets of conversation started to form into actual sentences, and Percy felt his heart clench as he understood why they had said his name.
"Dude, I swear, I really don't get why Annabeth chose him of all people."
"I know right?! Like that guy can barely read, much less do math, I bet. What does she even see in him?"
"I don't know dude. It's weird."
"I mean sure, he's handsome and strong, I guess, but like he has the IQ of that expired cheese sandwich I ate yesterday!"
"Yeah why did you anyway?"
"It was a dare, okay? A bad one too-"
Percy slowly backed away from the entrance, movements sluggish and mind swarming with thoughts and flashbacks that sent his head pounding, matching the fast pace of his beating heart.
He swallowed and composed himself, ignoring the throbbing in his temples. He plastered a smile on his face, knowing it looked as convincing as all the ones he'd practiced in his bathroom mirror.
Banishing whatever doubts lingered in the back of his mind, he pushed the doon open and grinned brightly at the two boys sprawled across the carpet of Cabin 6. They looked like deer caught in headlights, blinking and eyes open wide in surprise.
"Hello! Sorry to interrupt, I'm Percy Jackson from Cabin 3. I'm looking for Annabeth, is she here?"
"We know who you are." The boy on the left stared at him blankly.
Percy laughed a little, pretending to seem confused. "Oh, that's good. But umm–"
"Sorry, we were kind of surprised. Annabeth isn't here, I'm pretty sure she left for the Lava walls." The boy on the right smiled apologetically. The other just continued staring at him weirdly.
"Oh, thanks! I'Il go check. Have a good day!" Percy closed the door behind him, and immediately took off running, not wanting to hear the Athena Kids' conversation after his departure. Yet somehow, he felt himself feel surprised at how good he'd gotten at acting.
He didn't know if he saw it as a good thing or not.
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He slowed to a stop as he finally reached the lava wall after having jogged across the whole camp, panting and hands rested on his knees for support. Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, he scanned the climbing wall and the hot liquid fire bubbling beneath it.
His eyes met the blonde hair of his girlfriend in an instant, her toned skin glistening with sweat as she swung her arms from one crook in the rock to another. Gods, she was beautiful.
But him…
Sure, he didn't look half-bad, but next to Annabeth? Were her half-siblings right? Did he really deserve her? He'd never gotten these kinds of insecurities before, and he didn't like it one bit. It brought back too many suffocating memories from Tartarus, and the thoughts the bathe in the River Cocytus had brought to darken his mind.
With that, he left without having her notice him and ran to his cabin.
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Seeing the stack of books piled up neatly in the corner of the room, Percy felt his heart clench. Considering the fact that Annabeth spent more time in his cabin than she did on her own, she had made her own little reading corner in his room.
And him?
He couldn't even read a paragraph without getting a full blown migraine. Doesn't Annabeth always call him Seaweed Brain for a reason? Percy knew that she didn't always like him being straight-up stupid or clueless. Would she like him better if he could read?
Maybe that's one of the reasons that Athena refused to approve of their relationship. Well, she tolerated it... Gods, why did he have to fall in love with the smartest demigod in camp? Not that he'd ever regret falling for Annabeth.
But did the Fates really go: 'Oh, look! I think it would be a great idea to pair the most amazing and smartest girl in Camp Half-Blood with that awkward, impulsive, reckless and brain-dead idiot over there. Even better, their parents hate each other!' What kind of sick, twisted reality was that?
But maybe if he could prove to Annabeth that he could read…
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"Percy, what are you doing?" He groaned and slumped over as Annabeth walked in an hour later, rubbing his eyes and resisting the urge to throw her copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone against the walls of Cabin 3.
He mumbled something incoherent as she walked over and chuckled, sitting down next to him.
"Percy, you're going to have to speak a little louder if you want me to make out whatever you're saying." She laughs, and he looks up, defeated and ashamed.
"I'm... trying to prove to you that I know how to read." Annabeth blinks, confused and a little amused.
"What do you mean, Seaweed Brain? You're dyslexic, why would you ever force yourself to try and read?"
"Exactly! That's the point! You're dyslexic too! But I can't read fifty pages in an hour, much less one!"
"Percy... Are you insecure because you feel like you're not smart enough for me?" He stares at her, mouth agape, because how on earth did she figure it out that fast? All she was doing was proving his point!
"See! This is what I'm talking about! How do you read me like that? I barely said anything!” He pouts and she just smiles, but it falls off her face quickly.
"I'm your girlfriend, silly. But... you know you don't have to prove anything to me, right?"
"Yeah... I know. But I just..." He sighs, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly. “What they said… it just got to me, okay?”
"Hey. Listen. I love you, okay? And nothing is going to charge that. Now who is ‘they’? Who are the idiots that made you think like this? I'm going to bea-"
"Whoa! No violence here!" Annabeth laughs.
"No but really who was it?"
"It was just two of your siblings. Half-brothers." Her face darkens for a moment and even Percy has to admit that she looks absolutely terrifying. If he was those two boys, he would start running for his life.
"Oh this is war. The moment I get back there-"
"Hey! What did I just say?" Another chuckle.
“Sorry. Percy… I don’t want you to ever have to think this way again. You’re enough, you’ve always been, and nothing is ever going to change that, no matter what everyone else thinks. You know I love you, right?"
Percy smiles, and Annabeth can see in his shining eyes that it’s genuine as he places a soft kiss on her forehead.
"Of course. Because so do l, Wise Girl. So do l."