#pjohoominibang

[rainagainstmywindow]

After

I wrote this a while back for the @pjohoominibang and they were nice enough to post it for me but, in lieu of reaching 900 followers, I thought I’d finally post it here. Check out the art that @katslittlestar did for this! I hope you enjoy! I did some editing. I know someone had pointed out a few mistakes. 

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In his dream, Percy was twelve again. He was standing just outside his front door, about to face his mother’s look of disappointment as she’d say, Another school? Worst of all there was Gabe, bound to mock him. The stench of his cigar drifted through the door and Percy got the sudden urge to kick something. Why was his mother with him? Because of you, a voice seemed to remind him.

Finally, he came in, dragging his bag behind him. “You’re not supposed to be here,” Gabe told him. Percy ignored him and his friends seated at the poker table. 

 "Hey!“ His voice grew louder, “I’m talking to you!”

 Percy clenched his fists and lied to himself, I’m stopping myself from hurting him. In reality, he was scared. He had felt his stepfather’s anger before. He shouted again, ignoring what the other two dirtbags at his poker table were saying. Suddenly, Gabe was there, right next to Percy. The boy had to look up to meet those beady little eyes that always seem to be suspicious of something.

 "I’ve got no cash,“ he heard himself say, and it was true, he kept digging and digging into his pockets. Although he found nothing, he could’ve sworn he had a five.

 "Don’t lie to me, boy,” Gabe warned. He was so close now that his stench had momentarily drowned out all of Percy’s other thoughts, save the money. He kept digging through his pockets, becoming more and more desperate with each passing second.

 Gabe could always sniff the money out of you, and the older man could’ve sworn he’s smelled something on the boy. He was losing his patience too. Percy knew that look. He was a skinny kid compared to this tall, stinking man. 

 "You must’ve gotten a cab to get here,“ his stepfather stated, “paid him fifteen for the ride with a twenty.” That’s what scared Percy the most, Gabe was smart when it came to these kinds of things. “That leaves you with a five.”

 He kept digging but his pockets seemed to shrink, mocking him. “I’ve got n-”

 He only felt the blow after he stopped seeing stars. Then, all Percy felt was rage. He picked himself off of the floor and spotted Gabe a few feet away, laughing. He was about to run to him when the world gave away beneath him. 

Suddenly he wasn’t at his old apartment anymore. 

 The air was painful to breathe. He felt faint, like standing up would be too much of an effort. Facing him was Tartarus himself.

The sheer magnitude of being told him he would never beat him came rushing back to him. Percy would die. Worst of all was feeling Annabeth’s ragged breath beside him. She was waiting on him; they were a team. How could he possibly let her know he couldn’t do it? He was terrified and small. He was a skinny kid to the tall stinking monster before him and he was too frantic to even move. His limbs didn’t tremble but just barely. Riptide’s familiar weight in his hand had never been heavier. Percy just couldn’t carry the sword anymore. With a newly racing heartbeat he let the sword drop. 

There was relief in giving up. 

 Tartarus and every single monster he’d ever killed seemed to smile down at him. 

 At last.

 Percy woke up then. He didn’t wake with a jolt, he didn’t thrash. He just felt the scream at the back of his throat and his heart beat in time with his headache. He lay there, paralyzed with fear. This fear tasted so bitter because giving up was so tempting, so easy. It was always like that for him.

 Then came the trembling, his body telling him to run, everything screaming: Danger! It was all he could do to stop himself from obeying and taking off.

 He shuffled into the kitchen, stealing a quick glance to his mom’s and Paul’s room. He never woke them up, even when all he wanted was to break down and tell his mother everything. He never did. She’d tried many times to coerce it out of him but his mouth would get so dry when he’d remember; it was like trying to talk through sandpaper. It was too much, too real, too terrifying, too hard to put into words. So he simply did what he always did: clench his trembling fists and pour himself a glass of water, knowing that he wasn’t going to get much sleep that night.

He glanced at the clock. It was 3:45 am. It’d have to do. No matter how tired he was, it was better than going back to sleep. He sighed and sipped his water, growing annoyed at his racing heartbeat. It was hard to catch his breath when he got like this. It was as if his ADHD didn’t exist because it was hard not to concentrate. Every little sound grew so loud. 

 He checked again to see if his parents had heard his loud breathing. He rested his elbows on the counter, his fingers running furiously through his hair, ignoring how damp the sweat had made it. Maybe if he rubbed his knuckles hard enough against his skull, he would scrub away the nightmare.

 "Percy?“ Paul’s voice interrupted his thoughts like a zap of electricity. 

 If everything had been loud before, now it was catastrophic. He could feel the screams of Tartarus roaring in his ears accompanied by the constant ring that had always been his cue to run.

 "Percy! Calm down!” His stepfather walked towards him.

 Percy tried to tell him to step away, clutching the counter between them, but he couldn’t breathe. The air was acid. His lungs burned with every inhale. Paul walked around the counter and tried to put a hand on his stepson’s shoulder, but the movement only sounded more alarms in the boy’s head. Percy tried telling him, stepping away. The sweet and harmless gesture only felt like a claw piercing back.

 He defended himself in the only way he knew. He was fast, much too fast for the older man. In no time he had Paul pinned to the floor, his hands roughly gripping his neck. Paul’s eyes pleaded for Percy to stop, but the boy didn’t see him, all he saw was a monster. He saw all the wretched creatures he’d fought in Paul, but why kill them? Why was he always killing something? 

With a gasp, Percy’s hand let go of his stepdad’s throat. He jumped away from him as his vision cleared. They stayed sitting across from each other, both trying to catch their breath, Percy failing to do so. 

 Paul only looked at him. “Percy, please, calm down.“ 

 He was so tired.

 "Percy! Listen to me, you’re having a panic attack. Control your breathing!”

He tried but couldn’t, he looked at his stepfather for help. This wasn’t real. He tried to concentrate on anything but the memories. The floor beneath his sweaty palms, the wall against his back. It wasn’t real. Finally, he held his breath. At first everything was worse to the point where his chest hurt and he had to release the air. But when he did, it seemed to come back easier. His heartbeat slowed down. 

 "There you go.“ Paul got up and Percy listened as he poured him another glass of water. He came back and handed it to him, but he was still shaking too hard. He just shook his head.

 "I could’ve killed you-" 

 "Don’t do that Percy.”

 He didn’t understand. It would’ve been so simple to rip his throat out. To get his heart to stop beating. Was it any different than all of the other times he’d done it? “Paul,” he made sure he was looking at him, “I could’ve killed you.”

Paul seemed to force himself to look at his stepson. Percy recognized fear in his eyes. “I know.”

 *********

 "Hey!“ Rachel’s chirpy tone greeted Percy as the two came into school grounds. "You look like hell.”

 "Didn’t sleep much,” Percy confessed. 

 "That seems to be becoming a bit of a routine, huh?“ She tried to down play it, but Percy could tell she was worried, as well as half of the people around him seemed to be nowadays.

 "It’s fine,” he lied. It was always annoying to lie to Rachel, after all, she’d been the Oracle. It was hard lying to someone that practically found everything out in the end. The spirit of Delphi might’ve gone silent but she still had that weird presence that had always creeped him out. She knew too much.

 "At least we’ve got Paul today, right?“

 "Yeah.”

 He tried to force last night’s events to the back of his head but they were begging him to remember as he walked to class. The way he’d looked at Percy… There was only one other person that had ever looked at him with that type of fear…

 "Are you sure you’re okay?“ 

 Getting through Paul’s class, Percy soon found out, wasn’t as hard as he’d initially thought it might have been. As a matter of fact, he soon found himself drifting into his old habit of dozing off. Slowly, he felt himself start to fall. Percy. He was beginning to wonder why he didn’t hit the floor. Percy. He just kept falling, the wind making it hard to distinguish the whispering. Percy. He was suddenly aware he wouldn’t survive the fall.

 "PERCY!” He woke up just as he was about to hit the floor, thrusting his hands in front of him. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him but didn’t look at them. He needed to run, to get out of there. All his instincts told him to do so; the way they did when he found himself facing a monster.

“Let’s have a word outside, Mr. Jackson.“ Percy took his chance and left right behind Paul, leaving Rachel with her mouth half opened and a worried expression on her face, a trail of whispering from the other students behind him.

 Paul was waiting outside the classroom, his back to Percy. "You can’t go on like this,” he told Percy. “You need help." 

 His tone was dead serious. It made Percy’s palms itch with anxiety. He’d waited all morning for something like this to come up but his stepfather hadn’t said a word to him the whole ride to school. He kept glancing at Percy nervously, trying to come up with something to say but clearly giving up once he noticed Percy wasn’t that interested in talking either. You need help. The words made Percy feel like a crazy person. He avoided looking at Paul by staring at the window.

 "About what happened last night… this… you can’t pretend it’s okay, Percy. Your mother and I are worried about you.”

 Percy was ready to apologize when something caught his eye outside. He stopped himself just as he was about to talk and focused on what appeared to be a gleaming golden object in the sky. As he looked closer he realized it wasn’t just an object but a person, and it was coming straight at him. Was it… Jason?

 "Percy? Are you listening to me?“ Paul turned to look at him as he tore his gaze from the window, he was starting to really hate that worried look everyone seemed to be giving him. "I’m serious about this.” Jason was right outside the window now, an urgent look on his face. He pointed at the door as if to say: Meet you outside. 

 For a second he looked back and forth between Jason, who clearly didn’t recognize Paul, and his stepfather. 

 "I’m sorry,“ he finally managed, "I need to go." 

 Paul stared at him, defeated. He looked behind him, trying to understand, but Jason was already gone. He’d never gotten used to Percy running off quite as much as he’d led him and his mother to believe. But now he didn’t even try to put up a front. Percy started to walk away. He thought of a million things to tell him. He kept coming back to ‘I’m sorry’, but that just didn’t cut it anymore.

 I’m sorry for interrupting your class and then leaving without an explanation.

 I’m sorry for being the kid you have to stand for the woman you love.

 I’m sorry I make everything complicated. 

 I’m sorry I tried to kill you. 

I’m sorry you’re afraid in your own home.

 Percy finally started towards the door, but not before taking a quick glance back. There was a terrible feeling of determination in his stride, as if he were walking away for good.

 ***********

 New York hadn’t exactly given Jason the welcome he’d expected. After going a full month without visiting his other camp he’d thought that maybe The Fates would take pity on him and let him make the whole journey without being attacked. This wasn’t only naive but stupid, as he soon found out. 

 The minute he’d stepped out of the plane he’s spotted a gryphon and had had mere seconds to get out of there and lead the creature away from the multitude of mortals that surrounded him. Turns out he was being lured into a trap where two of the ugliest cyclops he’d seen were waiting for him. Brutally reminded of his first quest with Piper and Leo, he’d made the embarrassing, yet still good, call of retreating and seeking back up.

 He had remembered Percy went to school not far from there and had flown off hoping that the pair of cyclops hadn’t seen him and that the blow he’d awarded the gryphon was enough to delay the message.

 He landed in a rock right outside the school and waited for Percy to come out. The fact that he’d made him leave when he’d clearly gotten in trouble with a teacher made him feel worse. 

 "Hey!” Jason was about to dive into his story when he saw how terrible his friend looked. He could tell right away that he hadn’t been sleeping, the bags beneath his eyes deeper than they’d ever been, and his eyes just looked empty. He was instantly reminded of an instance months ago when Percy had been trapped beneath the ocean, when he’d given up. “Hey, what happened?”

 Percy looked up but didn’t meet Jason’s eyes. “We’ve got more pressing matters on our hands.” Jason wanted to pry him a little bit more but, unfortunately, Percy was right. 

 "Why’d you think they’re looking for me?“ Jason wondered out loud to Percy, hoping to distract him from whatever it was that had been bothering him since they started towards the cyclops’ camp. 

 "I don’t think they’re looking for you. They’re probably just hungry and sent their pet to find whatever smelled the best.”

 "I didn’t know I smelled that good.“

 Both boys stopped in their tracks as they heard the whoosh of a powerful set of wings. They exchanged looks. If the gryphon tipped them off now they would lose the element of surprise. Percy uncapped Riptide at the same time that Jason took out his sword. He nudged Percy and pointed towards a boulder near them. Percy hunched behind it. Jason reached for the air around him, a small tug at his gut as he searched for the gryphon. A bird that size wasn’t hard to find. He reached out his hand and forced the wind to pull it down and crash against a tree.

 Percy tightened his grip on his sword as the creature went down. He was there in a flash of celestial bronze. Before Jason could react, the blade made contact with the gryphon’s throat and with a crude, sharp sound he’d finished it off. 

 The attack had been so quick and effective Jason couldn’t help but admire Percy’s skill. But, at the same time, he noticed how he hadn’t even flinched. He didn’t think twice about killing the monster. He hadn’t been the only one to notice this. The look of emptiness Percy had worn before seemed to have worsened.

 "We should keep going,” Jason whispered as Percy brushed the yellow dust off him. Percy nodded but didn’t cap his sword back. 

 ********* 

 Percy followed Jason as he hid behind a tree above a clearing. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding. He didn’t have to think about attacking, it was like breathing. He knew Jason had seen it as well, how instinctively he’d done it. “There,” Jason said pointing at a campfire where two large creatures seemed to be waiting.

 Percy tightened the grip on his sword. “There are only two?” He asked Jason, who confirmed it. “One each.”

 "Okay,“ there was excitement in Jason’s eyes. He didn’t see what Percy did. "I’ll draw their attention to me so you have time to sneak up on them.” Percy started towards the two monsters before Jason was even done speaking.

 He tried to concentrate on the battle up ahead but he couldn’t get the gryphon’s shriek out of his head. He was almost to the fire when Jason’s lightning cut across the sky. He was thankful for the diversion; he wasn’t even thinking about stealth. The cyclops had probably already heard him. 

He tried to make up for his clumsiness by slashing at the closer one as he turned to face him. The attack threw the cyclops off balance leaving the other monster with an opening to lunge at Percy. As if on cue, Jason dropped from the sky, landing on the cyclop’s back. Percy heard them wrestle as the cyclops Percy stunned started to regain his bearings. He realized that it was the second time Jason saved his neck that day. The sounds of battle would usually make Percy’s blood pump with adrenaline, but in that moment, he felt nothing. Everything seemed disturbingly in focus.

 He was so out of it that he barely had time to duck as the cyclops, back on his feet and wielding a nasty looking club, threw a punch at him. As he started to bring the club down on Percy, his adrenaline finally kicked in and he stabbed the ground with his sword. 

 There was a painful tug at his gut as the ground around Riptide started to shift, forming cracks that seemed to travel towards the monster. They reached him just as Percy urged the vibrations that seem to be rippling off his feet and sword to stop.

 This time when the cyclops was thrown off his feet, he landed hard enough to get the wind knocked out of him. Percy crossed the distance between them in two strides and was about to bring Riptide into a fatal blow when he made eye contact with the creature.

 His eye was wide with terror and milky brown, like Tyson’s. He had never paused long enough to hear his enemies last words but now he did. “Please!” He lowered his arm a quarter of a fraction. He remembered Tartarus and the curses that had rained down upon him. The dying wishes of everyone he’d ever killed. Did they all start as a plea?

 "Percy, watch out!“ The hair on the back of his head stood and he turned just in time to see the second cyclops inches away from him. His arms were already poised for a fatal strike, so it was with little effort that he brought down his sword, turning the monster to dust. He froze then, his heart pounding willing him to kill the other, but he forced himself to stay in place.

 Jason struck the last cyclops with lightning when he realized Percy wouldn’t move. "Percy?” His voice was cautious. Maybe it was the pity that made him run, maybe it was the way the yellow dust made his skin crawl, either way Percy ran. He ran away. “Percy!”

 ************

 Rachel tried not to panic when Percy didn’t return with Paul. All her efforts of searching for him around campus were thrown out the window when Paul told her that he had left. She was used to him running off to do his son of Poseidon business, but this felt different. No matter what Percy had always told her she knew he wasn’t alright. Over the past few months, she had been watching him silently hide his feelings, making them get worse and worse. The frustrating part was she didn’t know what they were. 

 She did what any smart person would do. She called Annabeth.

 Rachel didn’t have to look hard to find Annabeth amid the churning mass of Goode students. She could feel her stare for miles. No matter what her friend was feeling, her stormy eyes always radiated power. The redhead rushed towards her, the day’s events spilling from her mouth in an incoherent mess.

 "Start from the top,“ Annabeth told her, pulling them away from the other students. 

 When she was finally done re-telling the day’s events she was surprised to find Annabeth didn’t seem fazed. It was almost like she expected it. "It’s Percy, Rachel, you can’t expect him to check in every time he comes across a monster." 

 Rachel wasn’t convinced. "He was acting weird all morning. Something happened between him and Paul." 

 That caught Annabeth’s attention. "What makes you say that?”

 "I don’t know? I could just feel this tension between them.“ 

 Annabeth seemed to finally be getting the severity of the situation. Rachel didn’t know if that was better or worse. "You said he was talking in his sleep?” Annabeth asked. “And that he looked like he hadn’t gotten any last night?”

 "Yeah.“ 

 This was bad, Annabeth’s expression confirmed it. "We need to find him.”

 *******

 "We should just call Chiron. Or Sally. Annabeth-“ 

 "We’ll find him, Rachel!" 

Annabeth sighed. She didn’t mean to raise her voice but Rachel had been pestering her with the suggestion for the last hour and she was already on edge. "He’s never gone for long.”

 "Wait,“ Rachel pulled Annabeth to a stop, making the busy New York crowd annoyed at the obstacle in its path. "He’s done this before?”

 Annabeth cursed herself. “Yeah. Look, Rachel, it’s nothing to worry about-”

 "Nothing to worry about? Do you even hear yourself?!“ Rachel searched her face. She kept looking for something. Annabeth knew what it was. She was looking for her friend, the logical friend who would take care of things the smart way, the friend who wasn’t a mess and could convince herself that everything was going to be fine. She wanted to yell at Rachel that the girl she was looking for was gone. 

But before she could change the subject, her cellphone rang. "Jason?”

 "How did you find him?“ Annabeth asked Jason once the two girls arrived at the rusty old building.

 "Hi,” both Rachel and Annabeth jumped as Nico stepped from behind Jason. “Figured you knew this certain spot by now, Annabeth.”

 Annabeth felt both Jason’s and Rachel’s eyes on her and Nico. It was obvious they weren’t telling them something. Annabeth intended on keeping it like that, but Nico seemed to finally be cracking. “Why would I?”

 "Cut it out, Annabeth. He needs help.“ She wanted to scream out as the painful truth of Nico’s words hit her. She knew it. She’d known it for months now. But she’d kept quiet like Percy had begged her to, about the nightmares, the panic attacks, the shaking, the memories. She didn’t want to admit it. "I called Chiron and filled him in. We’re taking him to camp.”

 "What’s going on?“ Jason asked. 

 Maybe before she would’ve been able to beat Nico at the staring contest he was challenging her to, but deep down, she knew he was right. He was only doing this because he cared about him and both Annabeth and Percy had to stop running away from it. 

 "Fine,” Nico seemed to let out a breath when Annabeth finally replied, “You should go up with me. Jason and Rachel, you should head back to camp. We’ll catch up with you later." 

 Jason looked like he wanted to protest but Rachel put a hand on his shoulder. She understood that the situation was hard enough as it was. "We’ll meet you there." 

 "Are you finally going to tell me what happened down there?” NIco asked once they were both gone.

 Annabeth ignored Nico as she walked up the stairs to the building’s roof. She tried to act like she didn’t know what down there meant. “We should find him first, Nico,” was she ever going to be ready to talk about what happened? “Let him tell you." 

She felt him stop behind her. She was forced to look back at him. "He won’t tell me, Annabeth. I know that you think that just because I was down there too he’ll talk to me about it but he won’t.” He looked defeated, as if he’d said the same thing a million times with the same result: silence. He probably had. Annabeth knew that. “It’s not me that should be talking to him.”

 Stop, Percy! Please!

 She deserved worse.

 We’re your friends, Bob.

 "Let’s just find him.“ 

 Percy was never far from home. Annabeth learned that soon enough. Sometimes it was the ocean, sometimes a far out place in the woods. Sometimes, like today, the roof of his apartment building. "That didn’t take long." 

 "Percy, they’re really worried about you this time?” He was sitting close to the ledge, his back to her. Annabeth was thankful for Blackjack grazing in the corner. “Rachel called me." 

 That got his attention. "What for?”

 "You didn’t go back to school. She was worried about you, she thought something happened between you and Paul.“ She cursed herself as she said that last part. She knew she’d hit a nerve. "She wanted to help.”

 "Did she?“ 

 "Yes,” Nico said behind her, “we all do.”

 Annabeth knew Nico didn’t see it, the way his shoulders rose, taking a long breath. He was collecting himself. Percy had his back to the son of Hades. Annabeth doubted he’d turn to face the younger boy, and if he did, he’d be gone by the time he faced them. She almost yelled in frustration. 

 "I don’t need help, Nico. There’s nothing for you to help with.“ 

 Percy stood up from his place on a rusty bench and made his way towards the ledge. Annabeth’s stomach lurched as he swung one leg over the ledge then the other taking a seat on it. He pulled a smile onto his face, hiding behind it like a mask. It’s wasn’t his troublemaker smile, or her smile, the one only she knew; It was a whole new one. It was one that she detested because it only worked as a shield for whatever he was feeling. "I’m fine, I just needed some air." 

 That didn’t fool Nico, so he pressed on, "What happened with the Cyclops earlier?”

 "Jason and I took care of it.“

 "He said you almost got yourself killed!” the son of Hades persisted.

 Percy’s front wavered for a millisecond before he continued, "I’m here now, so why does it matter?”

 "You can talk to me, Percy.“

 "About what?” He shot, throwing his arms in the air. “Did it ever occur to you that the reason I keep pushing you back is because you’re suffocating me?” Annabeth looked away, she knew how this ended. They’d been arguing like this for so long. “Why don’t you ever ask Annabeth to talk-”

 "Because she doesn’t run around acting like an unstable idiot!“

 Percy laughed humorlessly. "So now I’m unstable? Is that what everyone is so worried about?”

 "Don’t victimize yourself, Percy. C'mon!“

 "I don’t victimize myself. All of you do!" 

 Annabeth had had enough. She was supposed to bring Percy back to camp. She stepped in and started, "Percy-”

 "Don’t, Annabeth!“ He turned to face her, his eyes staring daggers into hers. They used to be so soft. They used to reassure her. Now she couldn’t help but remember how dark they could get, how painfully vengeful.

 She looked away. 

 "You can’t even look at me anymore.”

 "Let’s go, Nico!“ Annabeth ordered, cutting over whatever Percy was trying to say. She steeled her expression, shoving down her emotions. How could he know? She felt Nico’s cold hand wrap around hers as her vision faded to darkness and reached for the back of Percy’s shirt before he could pull away.

 She reoriented herself as they appeared back in the camp’s forest.

 She quickly let go of Nico’s hand. "Go with Chiron, Percy. He’s worried.” She was already storming off.

 ********

 Percy wanted to follow Annabeth. He wanted to not have snapped at her, to apologize. But he did neither one of those. The fact that she’d once again brought Nico into this irritated him. The fact that she took him to camp was worse. If there was something they had in common was that they were both too proud for their own good. It was hard for them to budge and accept they were wrong, especially when it came to this.

 The whole ordeal seemed so personal. It was his problem.

 "She’s right,“ Nico said behind him, "I spoke with Chiron earlier.”

 "Of course you did.“ Percy whirred his head at Nico, his annoyance growing into anger. "Just like you pulled Jason into all of this.”

 "I’m trying to help!“

 "No one’s asking you to!”

 The son of Hades sighed, keeping his anger in check. “I didn’t ask you for your help either, but you still saved my ass when I was acting like an idiot.”

 "This is different.“

 "How?" Nico’s patience seemed to be waning. "Something horrible happened to you and instead of confronting it, you run away and deal with it the worse way possible." 

 Percy said nothing.

 "How is it any different?”

 Percy walked away.

 He couldn’t shake Nico’s words off as he strode through camp. He barely noticed the weird looks he got as he made his way to his cabin. Percy hadn’t set foot at camp in a long time. He hoped that people would figure he was too busy with his life in the mortal world, but everyone seemed to sense something was wrong. He usually wasn’t so serious.

 "Percy.“ He heard someone call behind him. He figured if he kept walking they probably would think he hadn’t heard them. He wasn’t in the mood to talk. "Percy!” This time he recognized the voice and froze in place, not facing him.

 "What is it, Grover?“ They hadn’t talked in ages, not once since Percy had gotten back from Greece.

 "I… I just wanted to see how you were doing.” Percy could tell he was trying hard to act casual, not cause a scene. He could almost picture him fiddling with his hands nervously. Good old Grover. “Talk or something? Catch up.”

 Percy wanted to, so badly it hurt. He wanted his best friend. He wanted his old life back, but there was something that kept him from all of it, from turning around and pouring everything out to the one person who first taught him what a friend was. “I’ve got to-" 

 Percy’s words were cut short by a panicked scream. Before anyone could react, a horn went off signaling that somehow a monster had gotten in. Everyone around Percy scrambled for a weapon, not bothering to look for armor. Percy uncapped Riptide and searched for their unwanted visitor. He caught sight of one of the Stolls, Connor, running down Thalia’s hill. "It’s a goddess!” He warned. “She brought some sort of demon-like ladies.”

 Will’s head popped from behind Connor. “Don’t let their talons get you! They’re poisonous!”

 Percy’s shoulder ached at the memory of the demon-like ladies. He’d fought this goddess before. “Melione? How did she get in here?”

 "No time to think about that now,“ Grover answered, his eyes trained on something ahead of them. "Look.”

 Percy’s eyes traveled up ahead to the strawberry fields were a swirling mist seemed to be forming. The mist traveled down towards the group of confused demigods, carrying with it a sort of chill that seemed to dim the brightness of the sunny day. A burst of whispering made some of them spring out in blind lunges, some even let a few arrows loose. When the first of the familiar batty beings stepped out of the mist they heard a voice. “What a lovely welcoming party.” Percy didn’t know what voice everyone heard, but several gasps were audible. Percy tried to focus on what he knew the goddess could do. Last time he’d been able to keep his own against her. Last time he’d had no ghosts for her to taunt him with. 

 More and more demon-bat ladies started crawling out of the mist. They were all eerily still until a shrieking laugh brought them out of their trance, and they attacked. 

 Chaos burst around Percy and suddenly Grover was at his side fighting off Melione’s servants. The creatures were fast and had deadly poisonous talons; they were proving hard to beat. The swirling mist just grew thicker and thicker making it hard to see them coming. The goddess herself hadn’t shown her face but she was slowing them down by whispering in their ears, her voice disguised as that of fallen friends and family. Percy’s sword arm was almost shredded to pieces when Beckendorf’s voice came out of nowhere, accusing him of being a coward. 

 “You ran away and left me there!” Percy stepped back just in time, but was losing focus fast.

 Pale mist people popped up in front of his friends making them hesitate, sudden panic overtook him as he saw some even putting their weapons down. Soon it was only a few of them, including Grover, fending off the ghosts. They weren’t even trying to beat them anymore; their priority was for them not to get touched by those talons. Percy had been lucky when he had gotten hit, but there weren’t many friendly Titans hanging around now. He felt Grover’s shoulder press against his. He’d armed himself with a wooden staff that made him look very Lord of the Wild-y. Percy almost smiled at the change, almost.

 Right in the middle of the clearing, where they usually lit a fire for their offerings to the gods, the mist was getting thicker. It swirled violently until it formed the silhouette of a man. As it morphed into someone tall and fat it made its way to Percy. He braced himself for whatever the goddess was about to show him, felt his hands get clammy and breathing get shallow. 

 Then the man came into focus. And Percy almost growled in rage. “How dare you!?” After all the friends he’d lost she thought that he regretted losing him?

His blood pumped so furiously against his ears he couldn’t even hear anything else. He was outraged. He could only zero in on that sneer, on the beady eyes. The man had made him feel so utterly worthless was brought back to taunt him once again. The anger in him flowed, he could feel it the way sometimes he could sense a current. He caught sight of him, her, IT, opening its mouth to speak and in one swirling cloud of red the anger just swept out of him, crashing into his old stepfather. He reached out his hand urging the ichor to travel to its throat. Not a single word, he wouldn’t let him utter a single word. 

 He didn’t even feel when he dropped his sword. He didn’t feel his body at all. All he knew in that moment was that water was all around him, his gut hurt, and he was going to kill Gabe Ugliano. As if on cue, the goddess’ features started fighting against those of Smelly Gabe. Blonde-white hair sprouted from her scalp revealing a strange face: one side ghostly pale, the other gruesome. “Please,” she mouthed. “Mercy!" 

 "There is none!” Another flare of anger overtook him, making his gut explode with pain and taking with it the last grip on control Percy had. Power, his power, was everywhere. He felt the poison in the demon’s talons and commanded it to crush its owner. A small part of him was terrified at what he felt. It wasn’t just the demons or the goddess, all his friends were within his grasp as well. The grass at his feet, the moisture in the air, there was barely any difference with this and the blood flowing through their veins.

 Stop, Percy. Please, never do that again. 

 He needed to stop, now. He tried to recede the ichor that had accumulated in the goddess’ neck. She couldn’t breathe, hideous wheezing noises trembled out of her pale lips. The effort made him shake all over. He focused all his energy in the ichor, tried to control it like he’d done before. But now he felt the strain, his hand shook violently in front of him. The tremors raced down his body to the ground. He felt fissures sprouting around his feet, vaguely heard people calling out to him. 

 He felt lost in a limbo where only him and his power existed. It threatened to consume him and his fight was killing him, sending him even more out of control. He tried to hold everything in, push it back to the place where it had resided inside him. He wanted to destroy that part of him that destroyed everything, everyone, around him. 

He couldn’t. Control didn’t exist. 

 Something else pushed its way past his spiraling thoughts, a connection he’d forgotten, one he hadn’t used in so long. Let go, it told him. He knew the voice but was in too much pain to match a face to it. You have to, Percy. You have to let go. 

 He couldn’t, they’d die. With one last painful effort he pulled his hand into a closed fist. White hot, blazing pain shot through him, ripping his throat out in a scream. He wasn’t even a person anymore. He was a hurricane, he was the violent crash of waves, the deadly tide. 

 PERCY LET GO! 

THE EMPATHY LINK! I FEEL IT! YOU NEED TO LET GO! 

 He trusted that voice blindly. He let go. 

 ***********

 Percy woke up to the protest of every one of his muscles, feeling as if someone had shoved a vacuum cleaner down his throat and sucked out all his insides. His aching head was resting atop a comfortable pillow and he was covered by a soft blanket, but he was sure he wasn’t in the infirmary. He’d woken up there enough times to know the difference. There was also someone sitting at the edge of his bed. 

 Begrudgingly, he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw were the glittering hippocampi Tyson had hung on the ceiling of Cabin 3. 

 "Percy?“ He inched his head sideways. "Oh Gods! Thank goodness you’re okay!" 

 He groaned as Annabeth inched close to him but didn’t protest when she buried her face in his chest. His stomach twisted in guilty knots as he felt tears stain his shirt. Flashes of what happened came back to him and he was about to ask what had happened, how much damage he’d caused, when Annabeth beat him to it. 

 "No one’s badly hurt. I don’t know how but Grover managed to get through you just in time,” of course that voice had belonged to Grover, Percy thought, “Melione and her cronies vanished as soon as you passed out. Nico went to talk to his dad right away. He’s there now actually.”

 Annabeth sat upright, wiping away the few tears she had let escape. She was back to being all business. They actually hadn’t had a moment like this in the longest time. He felt incredibly self-conscious as she looked away, like she so often did now, and he lay there weak after his meltdown. 

What the hell was wrong with him? How could he lose control like that? He’d could’ve gotten everyone killed. 

 "I’m sorry,“ he blurted, Annabeth’s tired grey eyes meeting his for the first time in what seemed like forever. His heart ached, he missed her too badly to put into words, yet, it had been him who had started pushing her away in the first place. 

 He wanted to say more but just then Will walked through the door. "Good,” he stated, “you’re up." 

 "I’m fine,” Percy said before he went full on Dr. Solace on him. 

 "No,“ he assured, "you’re not.”

 He pushed Percy unto the bed when he tried to get out, not like he could’ve stood anyway,  and made Annabeth retreat to the corner. “I just need to do a quick check up. Chiron told me to leave you alone anyway.” Will glanced at Annabeth. She made it clear she wasn’t going anywhere. Annabeth stared intently as Will worked. 

“There,” he finally huffed, “all done. You won’t die.”

Percy was tempted to thank him as he walked away but he stayed quiet. Except, Will didn’t leave, he turned on his heel and faced Percy. With the look he was giving him he expected a full blown scolding. Percy knew he deserved it too.

 "We’ve all gone through war here, Percy,“ this was unexpected. "I think we’ve lost enough people to realize it’s not exciting or heroic.” He stumbled through his words, Percy could tell it was hard for him to talk about this. “Leadership is not something anyone wants. Not when it means guiding your family to their deaths. I of all people know that, Percy. My point is, we are, or at least I’m, not ignorant to the toll it has. Just because you’re Percy Jackson doesn’t mean you don’t suffer from it either. It’s for that same reason that you’ve suffered it worse than most of us.” He stared at the floor, losing the sudden burst of confidence he’d gotten. “We’re all broken, Percy, one way or another. But we can’t mend ourselves by ignoring the broken parts.” With that the head counselor of the Apollo cabin walked out of the room. 

 Annabeth waited until he’d left to say: “He’s right, you know.” She was staring straight at Percy now. He held her gaze. “You keep pushing everything that happened away. It’s not doing you any good. It’s-" 

 "Spinning me out of control?” They’d had this conversation before. 

 "Yes,“ Annabeth said, she wasn’t yelling she just sounded tired. "It’s not only hurting you.”

 "I didn’t mean to freak out like that. I’m sorry anyone got hurt-“ 

 "That’s not what I mean.” This time she didn’t stop her tears. Gods, he missed those eyes. 

 "Is that why you won’t look at me?“ He’d been ashamed of it so long that he felt his throat closing up. "I’m hurting you?”

 "Not you Percy. It’s not you that hurts me.“

 "Then what?!” He didn’t mean to raise his voice. He was just so frustrated. “Why won’t you talk to me?" 

 "Because I can’t look,” she was sobbing now. “I can’t look at what I did to you!” Her body was shaking as she sank to the floor, never once looking away from Percy. 

 He was out of his bed and on the floor cradling her in seconds. He didn’t care about every single one of his cells screaming in pain. Nothing hurt more than seeing her like this. “What are you talking about?" 

 "You fell because of me! I should’ve just let go! I let you fall with me!”

 He took her face in his hands, not believing what he was hearing. “It would’ve gone against everything that makes me, me, to not have fallen with you. You hear me?” He wiped away some tears with his thumb. “I don’t risk anything to be with you. I HAVE to be with you. It’s something that needs to happen in order for me to live. No matter how hard you would’ve tried to do it alone, I wouldn’t have let you." 

 "I’M not worth all of this! I can’t see you like this and know it’s my fault!" 

 Percy felt his heart crumble. He’d been so selfish. They took care of each other, that’s what they did. They had each other’s backs, at least she had his.

 "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He pressed his forehead against hers, feeling some tears of his own wet his cheeks. “It’s no one’s fault but mine, Annabeth. I caught you and I fell with you. And I would do it now if it meant I got to be with you. I’m sorry I’m a bit slow. I had to vent for a while I guess. I had to be stupid for a while." 

 "You’re not stupid,” Annabeth managed. “And you’re not okay." 

 "No,” he was letting go. He couldn’t hold on to the anger anymore. What had happened, happened. There was no going back. But he meant what he’d said. Annabeth was worth it. His life was worth it. “I’m not okay. And neither are you. And that’s not our fault." 

 Annabeth grabbed Percy’s wrist, trying to pry him off. He could see the fear at the prospect of not being okay. But if there was one thing he was going to hold on to, it was her. He pulled her face closer and kissed her. Her attempts at pulling him away were abandoned, as she pulled him even closer. 

 With everything he’d ever seen, all the myths he’d known to be true, Percy should’ve picture him and Annabeth as two strings that had morphed into one and that were destined to end by the same cut. But he didn’t see any of that. He saw two lost kids sharing some Oreos, in a quest they didn’t fully understand, knowing somehow that the only thing that would make sense for the rest of their lives was to stick together no matter what.

[purple-urself]

5 Times Will Hated Winter + 1 Time He Didn’t - Final part

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5

A03

The Winter Solstice celebration is a big deal at Camp Half-Blood (when the Apocalypse isn’t about to happen that is), even more so than Christmas. Pagan Gods means Pagan holidays after all.

It’s also a big deal for Will this year, because it’s the day he’s decided to give Nico his present.

After careful thought and consideration, he'd finally come up with a gift idea for the son of Hades. He remembers their slightly stilted conversation earlier in the month about their families traditions and had decided, rather recklessly, that was what he was going to give to Nico. A tradition.

After hasty discussions and exchanges with the Hephaestus and Demeter cabins, he was set to go. All he had to do now was break into the Hades cabin when Nico wasn't there.

Okay, so maybe this wasn't his best plan; who knew what sort of security system the paranoid son of Hades would have? But he was willing to risk a few literal skeletons in the closet in order to give Nico his gift.

He had enlisted the help of Percy to distract the son of Hades, allowing him time to set everything up. The plan was risky, especially since he had no idea how Nico was going to react, but it’s too late to back out now.

Glancing over the Pavilion area, he sees Percy ushering a grumpy looking Nico towards the arena shooting Will an obvious wink as they pass by. Will rolls his eyes, but understands the signal perfectly; it’s now or never.

He jogs towards the cabins, going to the Apollo cabin first in order to collect his supplies, and then the Hades cabin.

He steps onto the porch, half expecting a boney hand to grab at his ankle, or some other, similar horror. When nothing happens he continues towards the door, grabbing the handle and pulling it open in one go. He pauses, but again nothing happens. He shrugs, not thinking much of it. Even the tricksters in the Hermes cabin tend to avoid this place, perhaps there just isn’t a need for extra security. Nico can be pretty scary all by himself.

He strides across the dark room towards the lounge area, and settles on the floor next to the TV. Unzipping his bag, he produces a plant pot already filled with soil, and places it carefully in the corner of the room.

According to Katie’s instructions, all he has to do it provide a little bit of water and sunlight, and the plant should instantly grow to it’s full bloom. He takes a water bottle out of his bag, pouring the whole thing in and making sure it spreads evenly throughout the soil. He then sets the bottle aside, holding his hands out over the pot and concentrating on the pull of his power inside his stomach. Bending light had always been more difficult to do in dark places, but not impossible. Glowing, golden ribbons start pouring out of his fingertips and into the dirt. The effect is immediate, a small bud breaking the surface of the soil. He keeps at it for a few moments, seeing the bud blossoms quickly, then eases up to watch the tree do it’s work.

He wipes a bead of sweat off his forehead as the growing slows down, proudly looking up at his creation.

The small christmas tree is by no means impressive, but doesn’t look out ot place nestled next to the TV and in front of the sofa.

Will goes back to his bag once again, pulling out fairy lights, and sets to work decorating the tree with them.

---------

He’s just flicking on the lights when he hears heavy foot falls on the porch made, no doubt, by Nico’s bulky snow boots. Will has just enough time to grab the small wrapped box at the bottom of his bag, before Nico throws the door open and stamps inside.

Perhaps Percy wasn’t the best choice to distract Nico, but it’s too late to change that now.

The annoyed scowl on his face morphs into one of complete shock, and Will internally congratulates himself; it’s extremely difficult to surprise the unflappable son of Hades.

“Will.” He says slowly, taking in the tree, twinkling lights and all. He then shifts his gaze to said son of Apollo, still sitting on the floor. He expression now is unreadable, but at least it’s not angry. Will can work with that.

“Merry Christmas.” He replies, grinning brightly. There’s a moment of silence before Nico glares at him. Oh no.

“You.” He growls, striding over to the corner. Will tries very hard not to flinch, but Nico is very intimidating when he wants to be. “You set Percy on me.”

Oh.

“Oh.” He says stupidly. “Uhh, sorry? I just needed you out of here for an hour or so.” He gestures needlessly up at the tree.

“Yes, I can see that.” Nico states wryly. He sweeps his eyes over the tree, reaching out to fondle some of the pine needles. “You did this all for me?” he asks quietly, and it’s all Will can do not to roll his eyes.

“Of course.” He responds instead. “And that’s not all.” He pats a spot on the floor in front of him, wanting Nico to sit down. The son of Hades hesitates for a moment before complying, still not meeting Will’s eyes. It doesn’t worry the son of Apollo though; this is already going a thousand times better than how it could’ve gone.

He slides the little parcel out from under the tree so it sits between them. Nico shifts slightly, but doesn’t make a move to take the present so obviously meant for him.

“You shouldn’t have-”

“No.” Will cuts him off before he can finish. “I wanted to.” He smiles encouragingly when Nico finally looks at him. The other boy sighs in defeat before picking up the present and carefully unwrapping it.

Will feels the nervous fluttering of butterflies in his stomach as Nico sheds the paper revealing a plain white box. He pauses for a moment, then takes the lid off uncovering the content within.

Will watches him with bated breath, trying to seek out the other boys reaction. Nico reaches into the box and pulls out an angel tree ornament, dangling it from it’s string so it twinkles in the glow of the fairy lights.

It’s not an ordinary christmas angel though, Will having had a hand in designing the trinket himself. He had made sure to add in specific elements, like a billowing cloak surrounding the figure and a tiny raven that sat on it’s shoulder. On top of that, the bauble itself was made out of opaque black glass. It was an angel of death, not only representing Nico’s name, but his parentage as well. It looks incredibly fragile, especially the thin feathered wings, but Will knows it won’t be easily broken, thanks to the incredible manufacturing by the Hephaestus cabin.

“For the tree?” Nico asks unnecessarily, and Will nods trying to decipher his tone. As ever, Nico gives nothing away.

He stands up, weary of the ornament hanging from his fingers, and Will follows suit. The son of Hades reaches forward and hangs it from the highest bough.   

Will’s heart swells with pride as he stares at it; Nico must like it if he hung the decoration voluntarily right?

“Do you like it?” He can’t help but ask, and Nico chuckles as he steps away, observing it for himself.

“I love it.” He states, his cheeks flushing slightly, and again, refusing to meet Will’s eye. “But it’s still too much.”

“There’s more.”

The other boy raises his eyebrow at that statement. “More?”

“Well,” Will amends quickly. “It’s not a physical present.”

“Oh?” Nico shifts slightly, blush deepening.

“More like a promise.”

“Oh.” he says again, and Will can make neither heads nor tails of his reaction, so he just carries on.

“I was… Well, I was thinking about our conversation, you know, in the infirmary? About our families traditions?” He starts feeling the nerves come back to him, certain that Nico doesn’t really want reminding, but the son of Hades just nods, waiting for him to continue. “And I thought that maybe, we could make this into our own little tradition of sorts. Like adding an ornament to the tree each year.”

The silence between them is heavy before Nico breaks it.

“Oh.”

Again with the ‘oh’? What does that mean?

Will is very aware of what kind of message this sort of thing sends to Nico. This tradition is something that would go on for years and years and years, and he wants Nico to know he’s not going anywhere, without unequivocally stating it outright.

He waits as patiently as he can for Nico’s judgment, hoping against hope that he didn’t push the boundaries too far this time.

“I think that… umm… it sounds very- er…” The son of Hades is getting more flustered by the second, and Will has never seen him so tongue tied. He huffs in annoyance, giving up on words for the moment, stepping forward to pull Will into a hug.

The son of Apollo freezes, trying to process exactly what’s happening before Nico can pull away.

“Thank you.” Nico breaths quietly into his neck, shaking Will out of his trance and forcing a shiver down his spine. He quickly wraps his own arms around Nico’s waist, not wanting to miss out on this precious opportunity.

All too quickly (in Will’s opinion) it comes to an end, Nico pulling away and stepping backwards, slipping out of his arms.

“Your welcome.” He responds belatedly, giving Nico a no doubt, goofy smile. The other boy is also smiling, though a lot more subtly. His smile really is beautiful.

The son of Hades suddenly clears his throat, looking away again, and Will shakes his head, realising that he was probably staring.   

“Anyway, I should probably go.” Will states, not wanting to leave at all. “My siblings are probably panicking about tonight's performance.” It’s not a lie either, his cabin have been in a frenzy about the Solstice party all week.

Nico nods, and walks with him towards the exit. Will pauses in the doorway, not really sure what to say, but not wanting to part ways with the son of Hades just yet. Before he can think of anything however, he sees something above him that makes him stiffen.

A mistletoe hanging above the doorway, right above where him and Nico are standing.

He can feel his face blush bright red, and looks tentatively in Nico’s direction, who is frowning up at the offending plant.

“Jackson.” He growls under his breath, which would make sense, but doesn’t give Will a way out of this situation without total embarrassment. There’s no way Nico is going to let Will kiss him, so there’s just going to be awkward fumbling and blushing and Will is sure Nico’s going to avoid him for the rest of the month, if not the next. Maybe he should just run away, maybe he shou-

His internal panic is interrupted by Nico grabbing him for the second time that day, and pulling him down to place a gentle kiss on his still-flushed cheek. The son of Hades releases him a split second afterwards.

“Merry Christmas, Sunshine.” He gets out, before retreating into his cabin and slamming the door.

Will has barely registered what had happened before he hears a whine of annoyance coming from the side of the cabin. Percy appears, looking mildly put out.

“C’mon Will, that was the perfect opportunity. You should’ve gone for it!

Will just shakes his head, his shocked expression turning into a blinding grin. Okay, he concedes, maybe winter isn’t that bad.

[pjohoominibang]

art

Thank you to all of our participants!

Hello everyone! This is the admin for the PJO/HoO Mini Bang (@percyjacqueson) and now that our event is officially over, I’d just like to take the time to extend my thanks to several people and of course, our wonderful participants. It’s been quite the ride these past few months and I expected to lose many of those who initially signed up but somehow 40+ of you stuck with us the whole time so thank you for that! This was my first time hosting an event like this and to see such a turnout is amazing.

If you didn’t know, much of the behind-the-scenes work was actually just me scrambling to organize partners and message participants and just hoping you guys didn’t see what a mess I was (I used the royal “we” a lot). HOWEVER, I do need to thank a few people who helped me through this process because I would’ve gone insane without them. So, a big thanks to my fellow admin @avatarrara and @fightiingdragons who were there for me at the beginning stages when things were still a little wild. Also shoutout to @nxy who helped make some of the beautiful banners on announcement posts!

But of course, the biggest thanks goes to those who actually made all this possible: the writers and artists. If you haven’t seen the amazing work they’ve put out for this event, please browse through our blog and check them out. (All of those who participated are listed below.)

To wrap up this long post, I just wanted to say that I’ve had a blast seeing this event come to life and seeing all of the creations our writers and artists have produced. If you missed out this time around, don’t worry! I’m planning on another event some time in the spring/summer and it might be even bigger... we’ll see. Thank you to everyone again and I hope your new year is going great!!

WRITERS // ARTISTS

@fantasyfestus // @avatarrara || @achievingelysium // @officialclarkkent || @sarnirah // @fluffyslefthead || @somethingmorecreative1 // @nychie || @sexualpercy // @hellevesque || @storians // @hellazhang || @atleasttheresthis // @ashahtaylor || @jason-graceful // @zycrie || @rainagainstmywindow // @skeleton-kat || @ghostdog401 // @epic-grapes || @magnuschasse // @fullmetal-mix || @teamannabeth // @allarica || @grimreapercy // @marassberry || @jasonluvsnico // @thatcrazedfangurl || @aravenlikeawritingdesk // @magnuschasse || @rambleandthings // @whimsikya || @oraclecave // @fred-di-angelo || @bl00dofolympus // @katietheartist || @lilypxtter // @connorstolll || @knaveofmogadore // @eerna || @rickastromega // @annieisyourfavourite 

[lilypxtter]

you and i against the rest of the world

or; five times percy visits annabeth at school and one time she visits him [ffnet | ao3]

written for the @pjohoominibang - i collabed with @connorstolll who made a wonderful playlist for this fic, you and i against time

i.

Annabeth liked her school. Maybe that made her sound strange, but she really didn’t care. It was big, with beautiful buildings, high ceilings and a lot of light so that she could sketch whatever she liked whenever she wanted to. The people (for the most part) were nice too, probably because it was an all girls’ boarding school and the most exciting thing that ever happened were the Friday cake sales. It was prestigious, too, and put her in a great place for starting college that fall.

Still, that didn’t make up for the fact that there was no Percy Jackson at her school.

Most of the girls knew about him, because Annabeth had mentioned him to a friend and the whole thing had sort of spiralled from there – rumours about him sneaking into her dorm at night, taking her on wild midnight dates and such.

And none of that had been true.

Annabeth had laughed at the ridiculous stories her classmates had come up with, how they barely scratched the surface of what exactly Percy and her had been up to (somehow, fighting monsters never quite made it onto their lists). None of it had been even half plausible – for one thing, Percy was on the other side of the country back in New York – until one night, when she woke up to the sound of something knocking on her window.

Someone.

She froze instantaneously at the noise, in spite of the fact that her eyes were still droopy from fatigue, and grabbed a knife from beneath her mattress. She’d been even more on edge than ever since going back to school, away from the security of camp and Percy and her friends. Tartarus had affected her more than she let it show.

Annabeth swung her feet onto the floor and crept towards the window, gripping her weapon tightly. She swept aside her curtain, expecting to find a monster –

“Percy?”

Illuminated in the soft yellow light of the lamppost outside was her boyfriend. He was crouched on the windowpane, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and his orange camp t-shirt. She wondered what the hell he was doing, and opened the window.

“Hey.” Percy said, all too loudly for her liking, as he climbed through the window.

Annabeth shushed him, “Seaweed Brain! D’you want everyone to wake up?” she hissed.

He only looked somewhat apologetic, “I just – sorry.”

His head dropped to stare at his feet. Annabeth could hardly believe her sleep-deprived eyes.

“Are you okay?” she said softly, “What’s going on?”

“I…I freaked out.”

And then it clicked. Annabeth knew his mom and Paul had gone away for the weekend; Percy had told her so only yesterday via Iris Message. Which meant that Percy – who, like her, suffered from severe panic attacks – was here because he was scared.

Annabeth took his clammy hand and led him over to her bed. Her room was dark, and she switched on her bedside lamp as they sat down so that she could study him more closely.

In the months that had passed since they’d escaped from Tartarus – since the war had ended – she’d seen a change in him. He didn’t laugh as much anymore. When he made jokes (and they were pretty rare) they were undermined by a cynical tone, usually something bitter, like he’d been chewing on a lemon. Physically, he looked different too – not necessarily in a bad way. She’d be lying if she said the way his hair was perpetually messier and how his green eyes darkened when he was angry didn’t turn her on just a little. But his shoulders were hunched over more frequently now, like he was trying to shield himself from something, and she knew he woke up most nights in a sweat.

She lay down and he mirrored her, squishing next to each other on her single bed.

“I was down there again,” he began, shifting to look at her, “Only you – you weren’t.” His voice broke on the last word.

“You’ll never go there alone,” she whispered, “Remember what I said?”

“You said together,” he said the words low, like a chant, like a prayer. “You said always.”

She wrapped a leg around one of his and cupped his face softly, ignoring the host of questions that she wanted to ask him – how he’d gotten to her so quickly, if he’d woken up feeling like his throat was trying to crawl out of his body. When she kissed him, it was chaste, light. They fell asleep with her head next to his and his arm around her waist. For once, neither of them dreamt of anything.

ii.

“Hey, Annabeth. Annabeth.”

“What?”

She was seated in her Biology class, doodling a fish on the side of her notes as the teacher discussed the homework due for the next lesson. One of the girls who sat diagonally in front of her was twisted around in her chair to talk.

“Did you get the snapchat of the hot guy?” The girl – Nadia – asked excitedly.

Annabeth frowned. “Um, no? Don’t think so?” She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, figuring that, as the class was basically over, she could get away with it.

“He looks just like your boyfriend,” Nadia said. She had been in Annabeth’s room just the other day to copy up some notes for a class she’d missed, and asked about Percy once she saw the picture of him that Annabeth kept on her nightstand.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. They had planned their next date for tomorrow, seeing as it was a weekend, but it wasn’t unlike him to just show up out of the blue at her school, even if she hadn’t received any snapchats of the supposedly hot guy. She shoved her schoolwork into her bag in a messier fashion than usual, and hurriedly followed Nadia to the front of the school.

As soon as they’d left the front doors, Annabeth realised that the boy had clearly gathered a crowd. A gaggle of girls was sat on the front steps, whilst more looked out of the first and second floor windows, taking pictures on their phones.

Seriously? she thought, and then remembered that at her school, nothing this interesting ever happened.

Annabeth made her way down the steps and across the front lawn to a tall sycamore tree, under which the boy was sat. He definitely looked like Percy, on account of the slouch of his shoulders and his blue hoodie, but she couldn’t be sure from this distance.

“So? Is it him?” Nadia asked.

Annabeth gave her an amused look, but stayed silent as the two of them came towards the boy. As they approached, he looked up and locked eyes with her. Then, he scrambled to his feet.

Definitely Percy.

“Wise Girl!” he yelled, and jogged towards her. They met halfway; Annabeth’s bag slid off her shoulder as she rushed over to him, and with a jump, wrapped her legs around his waist as he picked her up and kissed her.

It was a very messy kiss, but they hadn’t seen each other in two weeks – a considerable amount in Annabeth and Percy terms, since they were still making up the time lost by Percy being put to sleep by Hera for months – so she supposed that the amount that their teeth were clacking could be excused as they embraced enthusiastically.

Someone behind them cleared their throat pointedly, and Annabeth broke away from Percy with an embarrassing squelch to recall Nadia standing behind her.

“So this is the boyfriend?” She said, one eyebrow raised.

“That’s me,” Percy nodded, “Here to borrow Annabeth for the weekend.”

“The weekend?” Annabeth interjected, “I thought we were just going on a date?”

“A date weekend,” Percy said, and he blushed a little, “I thought we could go to Montauk? We don’t have to though, just an idea –“ he rambled, but she cut him off with a small kiss on the cheek.

“I’d love to,” she reassured him. He relaxed visibly, then laughed as she continued, “But you better be prepared for some revision, because I have an Algebra test on Monday!”

Nadia promptly waved goodbye at this point and Annabeth led Percy back to the school building, ignoring the looks of her classmates as she weaved her way up to the dorms.

“Funny,” he said, as they entered her room, “I’ve only ever been through the window.”

As they kissed, leaning against the closed door, she was pretty certain that her weekend date was going to be a lot more fun than school could ever be, no matter how much she (guiltlessly) enjoyed her classes.

iii.

She didn’t put down her panic attacks on her medical emergency form, but Annabeth was starting to regret that decision.

It’s not like she had them a lot in public, actually. Usually they were fairly minor, and happened in her room for a few moments until she could compose herself. She’d had one just the other day when she woke up in the middle of the night disoriented and thinking that the sheets around her neck was the grip of a monster, but she’d been able to shrug that one off easily.

This one wasn’t so simple. It took her off guard, as she walked through the deserted corridors back to her room from the library. It was around seven in the evening, or at least she assumed it was, because that would explain the lack of people around. She was just coming up to the staircase when everything went black.

Somewhere in the back of her mind was a little sensible voice that sounded suspiciously like her mother, telling her that this was a power cut and nothing more. The louder, fear-fuelled part of her was screeching. Her breathing began to increase, her palms became sweaty. The silence seemed to stretch and grow around her, enveloping her in darkness. Annabeth clenched her hands into fists and felt around for her knife, before realising that she’d forgotten it in her room.

Stupid, stupid, a voice rang in her ears, A stupid little girl. You’re going blind again, aren’t you?

Annabeth wanted to scream, but before she could do anything the memories slammed into her like she’d been run over by a truck. Suddenly, she was back in Tartarus, back in hell, surrounded by the arai. She was blind, she’d been cursed, and she had no weapon.

She spun around frantically, searching for any semblance of light, and started to run. Her blood ran thick in her own ears, pulsing and beating as she stumbled. Then, she tripped, falling down what must have been a flight of stairs. The last thing she heard was the cackling of the monsters in her head.

***

“…and I really hope you wake up soon, because it kinda worries me a lot that I can’t get here instantly when you need me…”

Her head was pounding. One particular spot on the left side felt like she’d been hit with a ballistae, but she was definitely lying in a bed, so that was something.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, squinting at the brightness. Annabeth recognised the space around her – the bed in the nurse’s room at her school. In the chair next to her was Percy, who was holding her hand and looking at the ceiling as he spoke.

“…I just feel a little safer when I’m with you, actually. That probably makes me sound stupid, but it’s true. Because, y’know, I love you. A lot.”

“I love you a lot too,” she mumbled, and although her voice was gruff, he heard her. Percy’s head whipped round to look at her, and he broke into a wide grin.

“You’re awake!” he exclaimed, “How are you feeling? They told me they found you at the bottom of some stairs after a power cut, I was so worried –“

“I’m okay,” she said, and she remembered what had happened. “I, uh, had an attack. When the lights went out.”

Immediately, his eyes darkened, and his jaw set. He knew exactly what kind of an attack she was talking about. “Shit, Annabeth. Are you okay?”

Slowly, she tried to sit up, wincing at the pain that shot through her head. Percy supported her back until she could sit upright in the bed, “Yeah. I’ll be fine, just – I was unprepared. That’s all.”

He looked unconvinced, with his brows set in that adorably disapproving way, “I dunno, Annabeth. I feel like we should be closer together…I don’t feel safe this far away from you.”

“Hey,” she said, pulling her hand out of his so that she could cup his face in his palms, “I’m not going anywhere. Nothing’s going to happen, and you know that.”

She wished she could tell him that she was safe at school – gods, shouldn’t she be? Normal teenaged girls were safe at most schools – but she knew he’d never believe it, and neither would she.

“I know,” he muttered, “Sorry. You’re the one who’s in pain, I should be comforting you –“

“If you were, that just wouldn’t be normal,” she joked, although she knew for a fact that she was more reliant on him than anyone else. “So let’s move on, okay?”

He paused, searching her face. “Okay,” he said, and leaned in to kiss her.

Even though her head was pounding and she was stiff all over, Annabeth was thankful for Percy being there for her. Her school might have been a long way away from Camp Half-Blood and her friends, but the distance didn’t seem like such a big deal when he was by her side.

iv.

Annabeth was just sitting down to revise for her History final when the air to the right of her desk shimmered and solidified into an image.

“Oh, hey Percy,” she said, and let her pen fall out of her hand, “How is –“

“I have a bone to pick with you, Annabeth Chase,” he said grumpily.

She frowned. Percy rarely got angry at Annabeth (due to the fact that she was right about most things) and when he did, they were usually minor issues like how much syrup he should really be allowed on his pancakes, or if he had done up his armour straps properly.

“What happened?” she asked, bemused.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your prom?” he crossed his arms, slouching back onto the pillows of his bed. Although the Iris Message was shaky, she recognised the area around him as his bedroom.

“Shouldn’t you be doing your homework?” she teased, and then, “I dunno. I guess I assumed you wouldn’t want to go, since you aren’t going to your prom.”

“I’m not going to my prom because it’s on Frank’s birthday. Also, I’ve finished my homework.” he said.

She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, fine, I did some of it. As in like, question one. Now stop changing the subject!”

“Sorry, sorry,” she sighed, rearranging the papers on her desk, “The idea of prom just seemed kinda stupid, after all we’ve been through. Also the last school dance we went to didn’t go so well, if you remember.”

His look softened. “Fair enough. Obviously that last dance was –“

“Traumatic?” she suggested. Falling off a cliff and getting forced to hold up the sky was certainly traumatic enough for her.

“That’s an understatement. But shouldn’t we be trying to make new memories? Doing normal stupid teenager things?”

“You are so cheesy, Seaweed Brain.”

He grinned. “Is that a yes, then?”

She snorted, “You haven’t even asked me yet.”

Percy stretched languidly in his bed, smiling at her. She had to resist the urge to stare at the place where his top had ridden up to reveal some of his bare chest. “Annabeth Chase.” He begun dramatically, “Will you take me to your prom?”

A pause. Then, “I’ll see you next Saturday, okay?” she conceded, “Wear a suit.”

***

He was late, of course. She wasn’t even surprised. The venue for her prom was the very spacious main hall of her school, and the decorators had wrapped fairy lights across the entrance so the entire place sparkled in the night. It really was beautiful, but Annabeth couldn’t do anything but chew off her lipstick in anticipation.

As she watched the last of her classmates go inside, she sighed and made to follow them. Just as she turned, footsteps sounded heavily on the road.

“Before you say anything,” said Percy, panting slightly, “I really did leave an hour early.”

She surveyed him for a moment, from his haphazardly styled hair and shredded bow tie to his scuffed shoes.

Then, she smiled. “Come on, Seaweed Brain. You can tell me all about your monster issues inside.”

He caught up to her easily since her shoes weren’t exactly easy to walk in, and took her hand. His was warm and kind of sweaty, but she guessed that was what you get when you go to prom straight after fighting a monster.

“What was it?” she asked casually as they go up the stairs. She can already hear the music – loud, grating, but fun all the same – flowing through the doors.

“Scorpion,” he huffed, “Everything was under control until his friends got there. Lucky there was a stream nearby to help me out.”

“Lucky you’re a son of Poseidon, Seaweed Brain,” she teased, but pecked him on the lips all the same. Her voice softened, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“So am I,” he said. They entered the ballroom and she was immediately struck by the sheer number of people who were there – whether they had gate crashed or were actually invited, she had no clue. Just as they made their way towards the food table, a group of girls near the door spotted Annabeth holding Percy’s hand and immediately started whispering.

She caught his eye. “I bet you’re glad you survived that attack, huh?”

He tutted, “Come on, Annabeth,” and with his trademarked smirk that screamed trouble, “Don’t you want them to have something to gossip about?”

They certainly did. Just a few hours later, he was sweeping her across the dancefloor and dipping her so low she was sure she would fall. Percy came closer to her as she stood up straight again.

With their faces mere inches away from touching, she tugged his lower lip between her teeth, eliciting an appreciative hum from him. Then, he kissed Annabeth properly, the two of them totally ignoring the fact that they were in full display of all her classmates. For once, she was completely unaware of her surroundings; too caught up in the sensation of being with him and being safe.

“Thanks for asking me to prom,” she admitted, her lips brushing against his.

His mouth curved up into a smile, eyes crinkling at the corners, “Thanks for letting me.”

v.

It was coming up to the end of the year and Annabeth had to admit she was feeling a little nostalgic about leaving school, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

She and Percy had planned a date in the park on one particular Saturday when the forecast was supposedly good (“If Zeus messes this up, I’ll kill him,” Percy told her over Iris Message). Annabeth was just making her way towards the woods where Percy usually showed up when a shiver ran down her spine.

She spun around on instinct, looking at her surroundings suspiciously, but she couldn’t see anything but the rustling trees and the sunlight streaming through the leaves. Frowning, Annabeth paused and decided to wait for Percy instead of going any further by herself.

It was then that she heard a yelp, a loud expletive voiced from someone who sounded just like her boyfriend, and a thump.

“Percy?” she called, and started forwards. Annabeth made her way through the trees, heading towards the noise. She brushed aside a few branches impatiently, leaped over a trunk and then –

“Nice of you to join!” Percy called. He was striking his sword at a hellhound that definitely wasn’t Mrs O’Leary, and it looked like his arm was seriously hurt given how half of it was covered in what she assumed was his blood. Annabeth jumped into the fray without hesitation, seizing her drakon-bone sword from her backpack and vaulting straight onto the monster’s back.

She wrestled with it as it tried to shake her off, but in reality the monster stood no chance of defeating her and Percy. Just as Annabeth felt herself slipping off, the hellhound sagged beneath her and collapsed, turning to dust.

Annabeth raised her head just in time to see Percy pull his sword out of the monster’s body, give her a weak wave, and promptly fall over. She ran to him, pulling his limp body to a sitting position, and rummaged around for an ambrosia square in her bag.

“Annabeth…” he mumbled, looking up at her with squinted eyes, “I don’t think I’m going to make it for our date.”

She had just enough energy to muster a half-smile, shaking her head fondly and shoving some ambrosia into his mouth. Annabeth watched as Percy chewed slowly, before she handed him a bottle of water.

“What would you do without me,” she wondered aloud as he downed half the bottle and spilled the rest over his bloody arm.

“Probably die,” he said casually, “Or get into a lot more trouble than I’m usually in.”

She helped him up and they traipsed back to her room, back through the forest and up to her school. Luckily, it was surprisingly easy to avoid her fellow students since most of them were outside enjoying the sunshine. Once inside her room, they flopped together on her bed. Annabeth bandaged Percy’s arm whilst he attempted to plan an alternative date for them.

“We need somewhere safer than a school,” he mused as she tucked him into her bed and then climbed in next to him.

“Camp?”

“Hardly a date, is it? They keep asking me to teach every time I go back.”

Annabeth spent the next ten minutes teasing him about his prowess with a sword and how impressed the kids at camp would be if they could have seen him fight a hellhound.

“I couldn’t do any of it without you, you know,” he said, kissing her forehead briefly.

She thought about denying it. He was incredible, really, the extent of his powers seemed to surprise her daily. But that didn’t make Percy’s words any less true.

“Yeah, I know,” she murmured as he held her close. It was only the afternoon, but she figured they deserved a nap.

+i.

Annabeth clutched the map in her hand as she went up yet another set of stairs. The school – not hers – appeared to be deserted, which was strange considering it was the last day of the academic year. She herself had finished the semester just a few days ago, which was why she was currently looking for Percy in the middle of his very empty school building.

Annabeth paused in the middle of the corridors, considering whether she should just cut her losses and wait for Percy back at his apartment. She checked her watch and saw the numbers glaring up at her, as if to say, Duh, Annabeth. They’re all at lunch.

Smacking her forehead in realisation, Annabeth hefted her bag back onto her shoulder and turned swiftly on her heel. She really should have accepted when the school’s secretary offered some help, but she was way too proud to do that. Instead, she had spent the last half an hour peeking into various classrooms and picking the locks off different lockers in the hopes of finding her boyfriend.

She followed the map to the cafeteria, and as she approached, headed towards the familiar scent of school lunches (badly made sandwiches and fries, to be exact). Annabeth took a deep breath before entering the lunch hall – it wasn’t every day that she was faced with the threat of a new high school, after all.

The room was large, yet cramped: every inch of it seemed to be covered in excitable students who wore copious amounts of face paint and glitter, in honour of the end of school. Annabeth scanned the crowds for the older looking kids quickly, until her eyes fell upon a large group of rowdy students that must have been seniors, considering how half of them were practically crying over the prospect of finishing school and the other half were celebrating.

She made her way around tables and stray food on the floor, and it was then that she spotted him, sitting near the end of the table with a few of his classmates. Percy was gorging himself on a very large hamburger, and he must have sensed she was there, because just at that moment, he looked up, and proceeded to choke on his food.

Annabeth allowed herself a faint grin as Percy’s friend pounded his back whilst her boyfriend’s expression turned from surprise to confusion to excitement. His bright green eyes widened comically as she circled his table, and promptly hugged him around the neck.

“Hey,” she said into his ear, “I missed you.”

Percy swallowed his food and turned to hug her. “What are you doing here? I thought your flight was tomorrow?”

She smiled, ignoring the slight lump that rose in her throat at the sensation of being with him. Annabeth hadn’t seen Percy in three weeks on account of the ridiculous number of exams she’d had to do for her college applications, and she never wanted to be apart from him for so long again. “I might have lied…I wanted to surprise you.”

He kissed her briefly; she wrinkled her nose at the smell of burger on his breath but returned the gesture all the same, “You definitely did.”

She was about to tell him how helpful his mom had been in getting Annabeth’s plan to work when the boy sitting next to Percy poked him in the side, “Um, sorry to interrupt, but –“

“Oh, sorry!” Percy said, glancing at his friend, “Tony, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, Tony. We’re on the swim team together.”

Annabeth gave an awkward little wave, and squished in on the bench next to Percy. “I’m the girlfriend. Nice to meet you.”

Tony gaped at Percy, then Annabeth, “So you’re real? Man, we all thought he was making you up!”

Percy’s response – a squawk of outrage – immediately sent Annabeth into a giggling fit that wouldn’t stop until he kissed her, hard. She kissed him back eagerly, taking advantage of the strings on his hoodie so that she could pull him closer.

“Hey! No PDA!” a girl across the table yelled. It was then that Annabeth realised she had probably made a huge mistake, coming to Percy’s school and facing what was basically an interrogation from all his friends, but when she thought about it, she didn’t mind one bit.

***

Later, he pulled her into an empty classroom when the rest of his year was out on the football field, celebrating the end of school. She wondered aloud why he didn’t want to join them – this had been the most normal school year he would ever have, and his last.

Percy’s reply, however, made perfect sense. “I guess I never felt like I’m a part of this place. At least, not properly. The other half of me is normally at another school halfway across the country, you know.”

Annabeth pressed her forehead against his and locked her hands behind his head. She was sure that at that moment, his heartbeat was synced to hers like the hands of a clock, seamlessly in unison. “I’m here now. You and me against the rest of the world, huh?”

“Isn’t it ‘you and I’?” he smirked. She stared at him momentarily before snorting incredulously and nodding. Annabeth let her eyes flutter shut as Percy took her face in his palms and brushed his lips against hers.

Maybe visiting Percy’s school was a good idea. Sure, she was breaking a few rules (she had lied and said she was an applicant to get in) and taking him away from his school friends on his last day ever. But then again, he’d done it enough times at her school. And after all these years, the pair of them were not exactly too bothered about bending a couple of school rules to see each other.

She thought about the years to come and her lips curved upwards against his. Annabeth was building something more permanent than even a school with Percy, and she was going to love every step of the way with him.

[grimreaperse]

This was so fun!! And on top of having fun, I got to work with a great artist who made the two pieces above! So thank you @marassberry for making such great pieces for my fic!

Words: 6,944

Pipabeth Pirate!AU

"Here you go, enjoy, Princess,” a pirate snarled at Annabeth. Annabeth groaned and grabbed the two pieces of bread and a small glass of water, which she’s been getting twice a day for how many weeks now? Three? Four? It doesn’t matter, it’s keeping her alive ‘till her parents come save her, which is the only hope Annabeth has been hanging onto.

After finishing off the rock hard bread and chugging down the water, Annabeth sat back down on her bed. Which was more like a long plank of wood with a single pillow and a thin blanket that covered a third of her body when she was laid down. Staring at her hand, Annabeth twisted the silver ring on her finger. She was to be married the day she was kidnapped.

After what felt like forever to Annabeth of simply sitting there and twisting the ring, someone banged on the cell bars. Annabeth jumped back in her bed, placing a hand on her chest and glaring at the person. Annabeth knew it was Piper, she happened to be one of the only willing to talk to her.

“Get up, Captain wants to see you.” Piper smirked at her, unlocking the cell and opening it. Sighing, Annabeth got up from her bed and made her way to the damp hallway. She stepped in front of Piper, who grabbed her hands and twisted them behind her back, placing shackles on them.

“Too tight?” Piper asked. Annabeth glanced behind her and shook her head. Piper kept one hand on Annabeth’s hand and placed the other on Annabeth’s shoulder, leading her way up the slippery, steep stairs.

Piper stepped in front of her, unlocked the door and continued on. Annabeth squinted her eyes at the bright sun and tried to look down to block some of it, the method only semi working. After a while her eyes adjusted and they kept walking, Annabeth tripping every now and then on loose floorboards or puddles of water.

They reached a small wooden door at the opposite side of the ship and Piper knocked a couple times before opening it and pushing Annabeth inside.

“She’s all yours, Captain,” Piper said, tipping her pirate hat and walking out the door, closing it behind her.

Annabeth slowly turned around from where she was watching Piper leave, to the Captain. He was quickly writing something down on a piece of paper before finishing and looking up at her. This was the first time Annabeth happened to get a good look at him, messy black hair under a large black pirate hat and wild, sea green eyes. He smirked.

“Ah yes, Princess Annabeth. Please, take a seat,” he said, gesturing to one of the two chairs that sat in front of his desk. She said nothing as she took a seat and glared at the Captain. “Hello, my dear Annabeth. My name is Percy but you may call me Captain as everyone else does.” She struggled while trying to get comfortable because of the stupid shackles on her wrists. The Captain must’ve noticed her because he proceeded to get up from his chair, unlock the shackles and sit back down.

“Now, I bet you’re wondering why I brought you here, yes? Well, I’m here to strike a deal with you. It’s quite simple really, I’d like you to join my crew. I know what you’re thinking, “but Captain! You have so many crew members already, you don’t need me!”” he said in his best impression of Annabeth, waving his arms around. Annabeth just stared at him. “Well, the thing is, I have a feeling you might do me some good. You seem like the smart type, and perhaps your smartness could rub off on some of my dimwitted crew members. Also, I partially want to see what you’re able to do. So, what do you say?” he finished, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands together.

Annabeth stared at him, “No.” He must’ve been shocked by her answer because his eyes widened and he leaned forward once more.

“No? No!? How could you refuse!? You could’ve been living in luxury instead of the hole in the wall for a cell! No?! I can’t believe you don’t want to,” he exclaimed.

“How could I say no? Well, let’s start off with the fact that not only did you kidnap me, you also starved me for weeks in a cell with a piece of wood for a bed, and then had the decency to ask if I would join you!” Annabeth yelled, getting angrier each word.

Percy huffed. “Of course the Princess wouldn’t want to join. Must still be stuck up on beloved Prince Luke, can’t forget about him, well can you?”

“What did you just say?” She asked in a dangerously calm voice, narrowing her eyes at him.

“You heard me. You do realize Prince Luke has most likely already forgotten all about you, sleeping with every other Princess in the world,” he said, picking at his nails.

“How dare you! He loves me, as I do him!” Annabeth screamed, getting up from her chair as it fell behind her.

“Oh yeah, like anyone believes that. Everyone knows you only were getting married because you had to. If you ask me, I’d say I did you a favor by kidnapping you,” he said, looking back up at her, smirking.

Annabeth ran at Percy, fists up, ready to punch him. Percy easily dodged, which only infuriated Annabeth more. She kept swinging at Percy as he dodged every one. Finally, he held both her wrists in one of his hands, grabbed the shackles and placed one on one of her hands and the other on a staircase like railing on his wall.

He turned around, walking towards the door and opening it. “Piper!” He shouted. Piper appeared in front of him. “You can take her back now, I think our talk is over,” He looked over at Annabeth, a smirk ghosting his face.

Piper nodded unlocking the shackle attached to the wall and placed it on her other wrist. She put her hand on Annabeth’s back and gave her a shove towards the door. Annabeth walked away, shooting a glare back at the Captain, only to realize he was already back at his desk continuing to write on the piece of paper she saw him working on when she walked in.

Piper grabbed Annabeth’s arm and nodded her head towards the direction of her jail cell. Annabeth hung her head and slowly followed Piper to the dark and damp hallway that smelled of mildew and fish. After reaching Annabeth’s cell, Piper unlocked the door and her shackles, opening the door so Annabeth could walk into it. Piper locked the door back up, gave Annabeth a sympathetic smile and turned around, heading back towards the ship’s deck.

Annabeth sat down on her bed with a huff and placed her head in her hands. Annabeth occupied herself by counting how many crevices were in her floorboards until her eyes started to go fuzzy from concentrating too hard. Her dinner came some time later, which Annabeth grabbed with hungry hands and began eating the piece of bread and chugging the water. See, Annabeth could get more water if she wanted to, because her ceiling had a slight leak that dripped water. But Annabeth dared not to drink it after she tried it once and was sick for multiple days.

After finishing her food and water, Annabeth laid down on her wooden bed. Annabeth began trying to crunch together as tight as she possibly could for what seemed like forever, so the blanket would cover all of her, Annabeth gave up and simply let it fall on her legs. Sighing, Annabeth closed her eyes and prayed for a restful night of sleep, knowing she’d most likely never get it on this ship.

Screaming, Annabeth fell on her floor while gasping for air. After Annabeth swiveled her head around with wide eyes to see where she was, she began to calm down slowly. Soon her breathing was back to normal and Annabeth got up, walking towards her cell door. She tried to stick her head out of the little space in the middle of the wooden door to see if anyone was there. No one, and Annabeth couldn’t see any light from the crack beneath the door, meaning it was probably the middle of the night and it would be a while before anyone came to her with her breakfast.

Making her way back to her bed, Annabeth slipped in the puddle the leak in her ceiling made, stumbling before catching herself, and continued to walk carefully to her piece of wood. After laying down, her hands underneath her head, Annabeth stared at the water on the floor. Narrowing her eyes, she noticed the water stopped dripping from the wood above her and she watched till sunrise, waiting for a drop to fall to the floor.

Somebody banged on the door, startling Annabeth from her daydream. She sat up and walked to the door, putting her hands on her hip as she noticed it was Piper. Piper merely gave her a trouble making smile and handed Annabeth her plate of bread.

“Eat up, princess,” Piper giggled. “You’ll be needing it, Captain has you on cleaning duty.”

Annabeth stopped mid chew and stared at Piper with wide eyes. Swallowing her bit of food she practically screamed, “Cleaning duty!? I have to clean? Where? Why? I thought I was a useless princess?–”

“Annabeth. Annabeth! Shut up for heaven’s sake!” Piper said, stopping Annabeth’s rant. “You’re cleaning the deck, and you got it because you attempted to fight the captain,” Piper replied with a tut, tut tone in her voice.

Annabeth groaned and fell back against the door. “Hey, cheer up buttercup. It’s only the deck, it could’ve been worse, like the kitchen or something. Have you seen that place? Dumb question, of course you haven’t, but it’s absolutely disgusting!” Piper started stringing off sentences, waving her hands around. “Word to the wise, do not go in there if you want to escape with your life. I don’t know how Beck manages to stay in there practically 20/7. I would say 24/7 but he’s also our blacksmith and he needs a couple hours to make metal things and swords.” Piper now had one hand on her hip and the other on her chin, as if she was thinking.

Annabeth couldn’t help the slight laugh at Piper’s rant, breaking Piper out of her endless talking. Swiveling around, she found Annabeth back on her feet and pointed an accusing finger at her. “What’re you laughing at?”

Annabeth smirked. “Why, you of course.”

Piper guffawed. “Yeah, well let’s go. You have work to do, princess.”

Annabeth moved out of the way so Piper could open the door, and followed her into the hallway. As soon as they walked up the stairs and outside, Piper grabbed a mop and shoved it in Annabeth’s hands. Jutting her thumb out she said, “The bucket is over there. Hop to it. If it’s not shining by the end of the day, the captain may have something to say about it.”

As soon as Piper turned around, Annabeth said, “Wood can’t shine.” Piper turned around so fast, Annabeth was sure she got whiplash.

“What’d you say?” Piper accused, shoving a finger at Annabeth’s chest.

“Oh, nothing,” Annabeth replied, albeit smirking slightly.

“That’s what I thought,” Piper said, turning back around.

Shaking her head, Annabeth grabbed the bucket and placed her mop into it, pushing down a few times and began to mop the deck. Every once in awhile someone would walk past, but Annabeth couldn’t tell the difference, as everyone was dressed in pretty much the same attire. Baggy pants and a long sleeved shirt, sometimes covered by an almost leather-like jacket. A couple times a person would wolf whistle at Annabeth, who simply shook her head and continued to mop.

The mopping lasted until dark when Piper returned to Annabeth and grabbed the mop from Annabeth’s blistered hands. She disappeared for a second before reappearing without the mop. Piper grabbed Annabeth’s arm and dragged her towards the other side of the ship, towards the captain’s office. Knocking a few times, Piper waited until she heard a deep, “Come in,” and then opened the door.

Pointing at Annabeth, she said, “She finished. Would you like to check it?”

“No, I trust that she did well,” Percy said, giving Annabeth a small smile.

Piper nodded, grabbing Annabeth’s arm once more, and dragged her to a different part of the ship. There were stairs leading below the ship, and Annabeth could hear the clanking of pots. Piper gave her a small tug and Annabeth started down the few, but steep, steps. Making it to the bottom, Annabeth turned a corner and saw a large man chopping away at potatoes. He was bulky and tall, with chocolate skin and a look of concentration on his face. He was wearing a white tank top with tan baggy pants and a small towel draped over his shoulder.

Clearing her throat, Piper placed her hands on her hips. The man looked up and smiled when he saw Piper. “Piper! What can I do for you?” he asked, wiping his hands on the towel before throwing it back on his shoulder.

“Actually, I came here for Annabeth. I think she deserves something other than a piece of stale bread for dinner, especially after cleaning the deck all day,” she said, nudging at Annabeth.

He smiled. “Ah, I see. Well hello, Annabeth, I’m Charles Beckendorf, but most call me Beck. What can I get you?” he asked, gesturing to his kitchen.

Annabeth was straight faced as she said, “Anything but bread, please.” Beck boomed with laughter before turning around.

“I know just what you want,” he said, rummaging around in his drawers. Grabbing a bowl and a silver spoon, he walked over to his stove and dipped a ladle into the large pot on top. Pouring the contents in the bowl, he turned around and walked towards Annabeth.

“It’s a beef stew. It is rather great if I may say so myself.” Beck smirked, handing the bowl to Annabeth.

Grabbing the bowl, she dipped her spoon into the stew and took a cautious slurp. Eyes widening, Annabeth began devouring the stew and she could hear Beck laughing, but she couldn’t care less. After quickly finishing it off, she looked over at Beck who was smirking. Annabeth handed the bowl back to the chef and thanked him before heading back up the stairs, Piper trailing behind her.

As they made it to the top, they continued across the deck. Annabeth nearly slipping, at least, three times against the still wet deck. Piper was next to her, walking across the floor like it was nothing and trying to hold in her laughs, earning a glare from Annabeth each time one managed to slip past her lips.

After reaching the staircase to the cell that had served as Annabeth’s home the past few days, Piper grabbed her arm and helped Annabeth, who was having some trouble getting down the stairs with her incredibly sore muscles from cleaning the deck.

Guiding Annabeth back to her damp cell, Piper smiled at her, closed the door and locked it before disappearing into the darkness.

Annabeth walked backward until the backs of her knees hit the bed and she collapsed, not able to do any more standing for a while. Slowly turning onto her back, Annabeth stared at the water soaked ceiling boards and sighed before closing her eyes. Sleep welcomed her like an old friend.

The first thing Annabeth heard when she woke up was shouting. Jumping up from the bed she ran to the door trying to peek through the small hole in her door, only to be greeted with the usual pitch blackness of the hallway.

Trying one last time she stood on her tippy-toes and gripped the handlebars the covered the hole like her life depended on it. She tried desperately to get a glance at the door to see what was going on. It suddenly flew open and Annabeth jumped back. Moments later a fierce looking Piper popped up in front of the door.

Staring at Annabeth desperately, she said, “I need you to come with me. Are you able to fight?”

Annabeth nodded rubbing her palms on the pants the pirates gave to her. “Okay, follow me. Please don’t do anything stupid, I’m really trusting you right now,” Piper explained while fumbling for the keys to the door. She shoved it in the key hole once she found the right one. She flung the door open and grabbed Annabeth’s arm sprinting to the top of the stairs.

As soon as the door opened Annabeth was greeted with complete and utter chaos. Slowly turning around she noticed that the Pirates were fighting people who were properly dressed in blue navy uniforms, the Athens’ cress stitched onto the shoulders of each sleeve.

Hardening her eyes, she turned to Piper who was holding out a sword for her. Annabeth gripped the handle of the blade and looked back at the fight in front of her. The fight was just as bad as it was minutes ago, but now bodies littered the floor. Annabeth gasped as she realized it was only men in blue. Not a single pirate was lying dead on the ground.

She felt a sharp sting on her arm before whirling around and was met with a Navy guard. Fury blazed in her eyes and she swung at the guard in front of her and managed a cut on his chest. The man in blue looked down and then up before making a jab at Annabeth. Annabeth dodged it and sent one of her own at the man. This continued back and forth until Annabeth made a lucky stab at the man and he dropped dead.

Dropping the sword, Annabeth looked at the dead man lying on the floor and she started to shake. She had just killed a man. A man of her father’s kingdom no less. She should probably be feeling joy at the action because her parents practically left her in the dust but she couldn’t hate them forever. They were her only family after all.

Sprinting away from the scene, Annabeth reached a lifeboat and sat in it before realized she had nothing to cut the ropes with. Lucky for her, there was a sword next to a man that had died near the lifeboat. She grabbed it, making her way back to the boat and slashed at the ropes, setting the boat into a free fall and causing Annabeth to scream bloody murder.

Once the boat touched the water Annabeth let out a sigh of relief and grabbed for the oars at the side of the boat. Annabeth’s hands only felt the air as she quickly swiveled her head to the side noticing the oars had fallen off the boat during the dive into the water. On the verge of tears, Annabeth looked out into the ocean, letting the waves lead her to wherever.

The sky turned dark, and so did Annabeth’s vision as she fell asleep.

The next morning Annabeth awoke with a massive kink in her neck when she tried to bend it. Sighing, she laid back down onto the boat and stared at the everlasting blue that surrounded her. There was no sign of the boat around her and she wondered who had won the battle yesterday. Most likely the pirates, as the only dead people she saw were Navy men.

The sun was in the middle of the sky when Annabeth heard her stomach grumble. Grimacing she looked around for any food but was met with the plain brown wood of the boat. Staring back at the water she noticed fish swimming around her and Annabeth licked her lips. Desperately searching for anything she could use as a hook and some string. Grabbing a loose piece of string from her shirt that was thick enough, she grabbed for her ears to see if her small hoop earrings were in. Luck was on her side as she grabbed the earrings and tried to bend it to form a makeshift hook.

Seconds later, Annabeth dipped the makeshift fishing rod into the water and waited for anything to grab at it.

Hours seemed to pass by without a single bite on the string. Annabeth used her unoccupied hand to shield her eyes as she looked at the sun to see it was at the horizon. This time, Annabeth did cry, in fact, she lied down and cried herself into a starving slumber.

The next morning she didn’t wake to the sun, but to a person shouting. “Ahoy, Princess!” Annabeth looked up and was met with a familiar ship with an even more familiar person standing on the edge of it, gripping a rope with a smirk covering his face.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Annabeth let her head fall back against the side of the boat.

Annabeth struggled against the ropes that held her against the ship’s center pole attached to a sail. Letting a string of profanities flow she tried to bite at the ropes but couldn’t reach anything. Throwing her head back, Annabeth gave up and closed her eyes, hoping this was all just a dream.

The next time her eyes opened it was dark out and the stars shined brightly above her.

“And the princess awakens.” Jerking her head to the side, she saw a person sitting on top of a crate next to the pole Annabeth was tied to. A storm of guilt ripped through Annabeth as she realized it was Piper. The same person who had trusted her not to run away or do anything stupid, and here she was sitting next to her with a small smile on her face.

“Look, Piper-,” Annabeth started but was interrupted.

“No, don’t say anything. I get what you did, I promise. I would’ve done the same thing. But I trusted you, and now my ass is on the line because I was the one who let you go,” Piper explained, her smile falling from her face.

“Piper, I’m sorry, I really am. But I have to get back to my parents. They miss me,” Annabeth pleaded.

“Your parents? The same parents who allowed us to capture you? The same ones who wouldn’t keep our trade and allowed their daughter to be the caught in the middle of it? The same parents who forced you into a marriage, Annabeth. Now I don’t know about you, but they don’t seem like very good parents to me,” Piper questioned, placing her hand on her knee before grabbing a pint full of beer next to her and taking a drink.

“You don’t understand, they gave me a home for me to grow up in. They loved me. They’re my parents,” Annabeth said with tears forming in her eyes, resisting against the ropes.

“Annabeth, calm down, please,” Piper said standing up and making her way in front of Annabeth with both her hands stuck out in front of her. “They may have done one of the things you said, but parents who love their child don’t put their child in a dangerous situation in the first place. They were awfully horrible to you, Annabeth. Answer me truthfully please, did you want to marry Luke?” Piper placed her hand on Annabeth’s shoulder and looked at her.

Annabeth couldn’t meet Piper’s eyes and looked away from her. Biting her lip, she shook her head. A tear made its way down her cheek and Annabeth tried to wipe it away but her arms were stuck.

A soft hand brushed away the tear and Annabeth turned her head to see Piper looking at her with concern. “I promise you’re safe here, if that makes you feel any better,” Piper comforted. Annabeth gave her a watery smile before closing her eyes.

Annabeth should’ve known that she would have to talk to Percy the sooner or later after she did what she did. It was common sense. Annabeth made her way to the Captain’s office, followed by Piper who had one hand on her wrists and one hand on her back, pushing her forwards. Annabeth cursed as she tripped on a loose board in the floor, and continued on, ignoring Piper’s slight snicker. Eventually, they both made it across the boat to Percy’s Office.

Opening the door, Piper nodded at the Captain and left, closing the wooden door as she walked out. Percy was sitting behind his desk with his hands clasped together in front of him. He leaned forward and nodded to the chair in front of him, inviting Annabeth to sit down. Clearing her throat, Annabeth made her way over and sat down trying to look anywhere but Percy’s eyes.

“We both know why you’re here, Annabeth. I’m just going to ask a couple questions and you’re free to go as soon as we’re done,” Percy promised. Annabeth nodded, lips pursed and eyes trained on the wall to the right of her. “Could you please look at me? I promise I’m not mad.”

Annabeth took her time turning her head to the person in front of her meeting his gaze. As soon as she did, she hardened her gaze to try and appear confident, but the man has the power to send her overboard, kill her, or even make her work for the entirety of her life.

“First things first, yeah? Why’d you do it? I mean it’s kind of obvious but I’d like to hear it from you,” he questioned, leaning forward.

“I had to get back to my parents,” Annabeth answered, narrowing her eyes. Percy’s face went from one of concern to confusion.

“Wait, the same parents who let us take you? The same ones who forced you to marry a man you don’t love? They seem like lovely people,” Percy observed.

Sighing, Annabeth let her head fall to her knees before bringing her head back up. “You’re just like Piper. She said the same exact things. I’ll tell you what I told her, that you don’t understand. They’re my parents. The same people who raised me, nurtured me, cared for me.”

“Annabeth, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they don’t act like they care all that much. They let their daughter marry a random man, most likely ignored you unless it was for publicity, and on top of that, Annabeth, they let pirates steal their daughter away. And they haven’t tried hard to get you back,” Percy argued.

Annabeth shut her eyes to stop the tears from coming. Percy had gotten every single thing right. Her parents had done all that, and Annabeth should hate them for that, but she couldn’t. Even if they weren’t the greatest parents, they were still decent. Sure, they didn’t pay much attention to her, but they did give her gifts and parties, which were always lovely.

“I know. I know they did that. God, Percy. I have lived with them for eighteen long years, I know what they’ve done. I know what they’re probably going to do, but I can’t just turn my back on them. They have done plenty for me, and I’m nothing but a spoiled brat who gave them nothing in return,”  Annabeth sniffled, a couple tears running down her cheeks.

Percy sat straight up. “Did they tell you that? That you’re a spoiled brat? That you gave them nothing in return? Annabeth, you’re amazing. You’re their daughter. They should spoil you, and you always gave them something in return. You gave them something to love, something that gave them hope. You’re a gift to this world, Annabeth. Just like everyone else on this godforsaken planet,” Percy reassured. Annabeth nodded, lifting her wrists up to wipe the tears off her face.

“See, now I know I asked you this before, and you said no, but I’m going to ask again. Would you like to join me, Annabeth?  As a pirate, and an equal to everyone around you,” Percy asked, smiling.

Annabeth thought back to every moment with her parents. All of them consisted of them shaming or scolding her to be better. That she needed to act like a princess, or she would never seem like one. To stop eating so much, stop reading, stop bothering them.

Annabeth gritted her teeth and brought thoughts to those of her on the boat. Everyone was kind to her, with the exception of one or two pirates, even if she was a prisoner. They didn’t treat her like she was inferior or prissy. She had Piper, who always talked to her, kept her company, and always reassured her. She thought of Percy, who was sassy, but never rude. Annabeth had been treated better here in the past couple months than she had ever been treated in her life.

Annabeth looked back at Percy and slowly nodded. Percy perked up. “Yeah? Really? Oh, well that’s great! You can bunk with Piper, she doesn’t have a cabin mate yet. And we’ll get you some more appropriate clothes, ones that will fit a pirate such as yourself,” Percy rambled. Annabeth smiled and lifted her hands to show them to Percy. He snapped and reached to the side of his hip, grabbing his dagger and slicing through the ropes that bound her wrists. “Here, why don’t you take this dagger. It fits you,” Percy smiled and held the dagger in front of Annabeth. She smiled back and grabbed the dagger, turning it over in her hands a couple times, looking it over. She nodded before standing up and heading to the door.

Annabeth made her way to nowhere in particular, as she didn’t have to go to her cell anymore. She didn’t even have to walk around with shackles on. The dagger Percy gave her was in a holster on her thigh, it was the perfect distance away for her to grab it comfortably.

Seagulls were flying above her as she looked up and smiled at the birds. In the next moment, Annabeth was sent tumbling to the wooden floor with someone landing on top of her.

“Oh, gods! I’m so sorr-,” Annabeth began before she looked up and realized who she just trampled. “Piper. Hi.”

Piper smirked before standing up and extending a hand out for Annabeth. She grabbed Piper’s hand and stood up, brushing off the nonexistent dust on her clothes.

“Why hello, Annabeth. Or should I say bunk mate? I’ve heard the news, congratulations. Let’s hope you can follow rules this time, as I’ll be your mentor for the time being. Why don’t I take you to our bunk and let you settle in?” Piper asked as she turned around and began walking. Annabeth jogged to Piper, taking her place next to said person.

“So, Annabeth, how does one manage to both piss off the captain and still get invited to be a pirate?” Piper questioned as she continued to walk.

“I’m not sure, to be honest with you. I thought for sure he would send me to walk the plank. Is that even a real thing?” Annabeth responded.

“Yes, it is a real thing. We’ve done it once before. Not my ideal choice of dealing with people, in all honesty.” Piper lead them to a hallway where they were met with a door. She pushed it open to reveal a rather small room, only big enough for two beds and two dressers. “First things first, keep the room tidy. I would hate to have to make you bunk with someone else.”

Annabeth nodded as she walked around the room to get a feel for it. Piper stepped inside and closed the door before pointing to a bed. “This is mine and that one right there is yours.” Annabeth nodded again, sitting down on her bed and running her hands across the smooth blanket. This was definitely an upgrade to her wooden plank in her jail cell.

Annabeth laid down and it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. It had been an almost boring day yet also exhausting.

The next morning Annabeth awoke to find Piper shaking her. “Hey,  Princess. Time to get up, breakfast is being served. Percy also stopped by and dropped off some clothes for you. Let me know if they don’t fit,” Piper informed her before walking out the door.

Yawning, Annabeth stretched and managed to get out of the bed. There were a couple piles of clothing on her dresser, each pile was a different type of clothing. Digging through the clothes, Annabeth picked out tight, but not uncomfortable, black pants with a dark gray, long sleeved shirt.  Hanging next to her dresser was a belt, which Annabeth grabbed and clipped on, stashing her dagger into a holster on the side of it.

Swinging open the door, Annabeth made her way down the hallway before stepping out onto the deck. She followed the noise to the mess hall and was met with several pirates talking and laughing while clanking their glasses together every so often. Annabeth’s eyes searched the room until she found Piper sitting with a couple other people. She made her way over to Beck who handed her a plate of some food. After thanking him, she made her way over to Piper and sat down across from her.

“Princess! Guys, this is Annabeth, Annabeth this is Hazel and Frank. Annabeth was the prisoner until she joined us yesterday. Hazel and Frank joined us about a month ago,” Piper greeted. The two waved at Annabeth who nodded at the group. Looking down, Annabeth realized just how hungry she was and how much she missed real food.

Without grabbing any kind of silverware, Annabeth began to devour the food in front of her. She heard the trio snicker at her, but she couldn’t care less. She hasn’t eaten anything besides bread for months, apart from the food Beck gave her a few days ago.

“Everyone on deck! Now!” someone shouted from above. Everyone stopped what they were doing and raced for the stairs. Piper grabbed Annabeth’s arm and dragged her upstairs.

“Seriously? Again?” Piper cried before charging into the battle. The navy was back after only a short few days of break.

Annabeth shrugged before grabbing her dagger and racing in after Piper. The first man she was met with was short and jabbed at Annabeth. She blocked the hit and made a slice for his stomach, but he jumped to the side. He stuck his sword out in front of him as Annabeth lunged forward and sliced at his shoulder. Her attempt was rewarded with a cry of pain as the man started throwing wild jabs and lunges. Annabeth parried them all before sliding between the man’s legs and standing up as soon as she made it to the other side. She aimed behind her, hitting the man in the head and knocking him out.

Annabeth let loose a small cry of pain as she felt a burning sensation on her calf. She turned around to be met with another man who had a determined look in his eyes. But this was Annabeth’s first real battle and she’ll be damned if she dies this quick. Faking a jab at the man, Annabeth made for the opposite side and left a decent sized gash on the man’s hip. He grunted, placing his free hand over the wound and aimed for her other leg. She jumped back and rushed forward, hitting her dagger handle against his hand, making him drop his sword. She knocked him out as well, killing one person in her first battle was enough.

She turned around with fire in her eyes, daring anyone else to come and challenge her. She was met with Piper’s gaze. She had her mouth hanging open with her own dagger in her hand. Annabeth smirked before turning to meet the sword behind her with her dagger.

The man was an easy opponent and Annabeth beat him. She crouched down into a fighting stance, breathing hard. Someone placed their hand on her shoulder and Annabeth whirled to meet the person, weapon ready. Only to be met with the same eyes that were staring at her before. Annabeth looked around and noticed there were only one or two navy men left and were being dealt with by other pirates. It was the same as before, not a single pirate dead.

“Well done, Princess. Where did you learn to fight?” Piper asked. Annabeth looks back at Piper and smirked.

“Being a princess was good for one thing. I was required to learn how to fight. Of course, my parents objected but I snuck away and learned anyways,” Annabeth explained. Piper nodded and took her hand. She lead her back to Hazel and Frank, who were smiling at her.

“Damn, Annabeth. Didn’t think you could fight like that,” Frank said, patting her on the shoulder.

“You did well, Annabeth. For a rookie anyways,” Hazel sassed. Annabeth laughed and thanked her.

“Hey, listen, gotta run. I’ll be right back,” Piper said before taking off towards the captain’s office. All three watched as she walked inside. Hazel and Frank turned to Annabeth.

Hazel smirked. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Tell you what?” Annabeth questioned.

“That you obviously like Piper,” Hazel said, nodding her head towards the captain’s office, where Piper was.

“What are you talking about?” Annabeth was playing dumb at the moment. It was a surprise a while ago when she first started to like Piper, but now Annabeth had come to terms with it. She just didn’t let it bug her, or make it obvious in any way.

“Come on, Annabeth. I’ve known you for like, an hour, and I already know that you like her,” Frank butted in.

Shaking her head, Annabeth closed her eyes. “Just, don’t tell her. Please? I’d rather do it on my own. I mean, I did just become a pirate, I was kinda hoping it would go away to be honest.”

“Your secret is safe with us,” Hazel said, smiling. Frank nodded in agreement. “Well, we’ll see you later, Annabeth.”

Annabeth sighed as she watched them go. It was impossible to not develop a liking to Piper. She was one of  the only people who talked to her when she was a prisoner and she was insanely gorgeous. Tan skin, choppy yet gorgeous brown locks and eyes that seemed to constantly change colors.

That night Annabeth laid on her bed, staring up at the wooden planks. But these didn’t drip water onto her while she slept. The door opened and Annabeth looked over at Piper who was walking in. She smiled as Piper tried to shut the door as quietly as possible, thinking that Annabeth was asleep and not awake staring at nothing.

“You know, I am awake. But I appreciate the thought,” Annabeth said, making Piper jump.

“Oh! Sorry, I thought I’d let you sleep. You-, I mean, we had quite the day,” Piper replied, turning to face her.  Annabeth got up from her bed and walked over to Piper. As soon as she got to her, she threw her arms around her and hugged Piper. Smiling, Piper hugged her back, burying her face in Annabeth’s hair. After a couple second Annabeth stepped back, removing her arms from around Piper’s neck. The moment she did, the moonlight caught Annabeth’s ring and Piper’s smile disappeared.

“I didn’t know you still wore that,” Piper commented. Annabeth’s eyebrows furrowed and she looked at her hand.

“I forgot I was even wearing it,” Annabeth replied. Piper grabbed her hand and started twisting the ring on Annabeth’s finger. Annabeth pulled her hand back and took the ring off her hand. She walked over to her dresser and tossed it on top of it.

“I never really loved him anyway, I think I only thought I did because it was for the good of my kingdom,” Annabeth said, seeing Piper’s look.

“What about now?” Piper asked, grabbing Annabeth’s hand once more.

“What do you mean?” Annabeth countered.

“Do you love anyone now?” Piper clarified.

“I think I might,” Annabeth answered, looking at their joined hands.

“They’re a lucky person,” Piper said, clearing her throat.

“Maybe I’m the lucky one,” Annabeth said meeting Piper’s eyes. Piper opened her mouth to say something but didn’t have a chance because Annabeth’s lips on her own. When Piper didn’t respond, Annabeth started pulling back, fearing Piper didn’t feel the same, only to be grabbed by Piper who crashed their lips back together. Annabeth let out a squeak, closing her eyes and falling into the kiss. Piper’s lips were soft and welcoming unlike Luke’s whose were rough and demanding.

Piper broke the kiss but grabbed Annabeth’s hand and lead her over to Piper’s bed where they collapsed next to each other. The next hour was full of hesitant touches, smiles, and more kissing until they both fell asleep.

When they walked out onto the main deck the next day holding hands, Hazel may or may not have smirked and held out her hand to Frank who put a couple coins in her palm. The two girls made their way over, smiling like nothing else mattered, and for the time being, nothing did.

Sure, pirate hood would demand them later on, but for now, they had each other and that was enough.

[connorstolll]

you and i against time | a mix for those who want to get lost together | based off of ‘you and i against the rest of the world’ by @lilypxtter

“You’ll never go there alone,” she whispered, “Remember what I said?” “You said together,” he said the words low, like a chant, like a prayer. “You said always.”

[ l i s t e n ]

[ashahgrady]

My art for @knownopain6426‘s story as part of the @pjohoominibang.

[somethingmorecreative1]

All That Glitters Is Gold [fic]

So this is my fic for the @pjohoominibang and you guys should definitely be on the lookout for the art that the amazing @nychie is doing for this fic bc it’s gonna be great (it should be going up pretty soon too I think)

I hope you guys like this, and remember to check out all of the other amazing fics and art that was published for this event! And I just want to thank all of the admins that worked super hard to organize everything, like all of you guys are great ok <3

The title of this fic is from All Star by Smash Mouth. Also, the word count is like 16k so yeah

Summary:  Percy and Annabeth are best friends, but as swim season and the end of Senior Year approaches, they have to figure out what their feelings are for each other, especially as Percy considers a school that’s a thousand miles away from home. Or, the one where Percy and Annabeth are meant to be together, and nothing can get in their way. 

--172016--

Annabeth knows that something is wrong as soon as Percy sits down at the table. For one thing, his hands are shaking. His jaw is clenched tight. His knee is bobbing up and down, and he keeps fidgeting and running his hand through his hair every few seconds.

The cafeteria is loud, and all of the tables around them are full. It's their second semester of senior year, so everything is crazy. Sports are in full swing, and most of the students in their class are trying to pull their grades up for college scholarships. Annabeth isn't really worrying about it because she has already sent all of her applications out. She's hoping to get accepted into Columbia for Architecture, even though is it a few hours away from home.

Percy takes a deep breath suddenly, and Annabeth frowns, opening her mouth to ask him what's wrong.

Before she can, Jason slams his fist down onto the table, and Percy jumps, jerking his eyes up to the rest of their friends who are all staring at him.

"Okay, Percy, what's wrong?" Jason asks, sighing and turning away from Piper to face him. Jason and Percy have been friends for as long as Annabeth and Percy have, and the three of them have been friends since elementary school.

Percy scowls, his eyebrows bunching together and his face darkening. "Nothing."

Annabeth rolls her eyes next, "Then why are you fidgeting so much? You look like you're about to throw up."

After a few seconds, his scowl melts away, and his shoulders slump. When he looks up, he has a really terrified expression on his face.

"So we all remember that I did okay at the state tournament last year, right?" Percy says. His voice is quiet, and he isn't meeting any of their gazes, instead keeping his eyes fixated on his sandwich that his mom probably made for his lunch.

Jason and Annabeth both scoff. Jason says, "You came in second place to a senior, you idiot. You did great."

Percy shrugs, "Okay. Well, I just had a meeting with Coach."

"And?" Annabeth asks.

Percy sighs again and hangs his head, "All of the sports papers in the state are projecting me to win State this year. Me."

"Percy, that's great!" Hazel exclaims from a few seats down the table. She was never one to hold her excitement. Annabeth smiles gratefully at her encouragement because god, Percy really needs it.

Annabeth has no clue why he's like this. She doesn't understand why he thinks that he's just another guy on the swim team when in reality, he's the best swimmer that they have at their school. And really, Annabeth isn't surprised that everyone is expecting him to win. He probably is the best swimmer in the state.

They've been best friends since they were little. Percy and Annabeth met on the playground one day in the third grade, and they had been together ever since. After Annabeth's mom left, she and her dad moved into a house at the other end of Percy's neighborhood, which was actually really great because Annabeth doesn't know what she would have done if she hadn't been in walking distance of Sally and Percy. It's—it feels like they're her family more than her dad is sometimes.

"No, it's not," Percy says, snapping Annabeth back to the lunch table. "Everybody is expecting me to win, and Coach is looking at me like—"

He stops talking all of a sudden before he looks up at the rest of them. He shakes his head and smiles, but it looks fake. Annabeth can tell that it doesn't reach his eyes. He says, "Just forget it, guys. I'll be fine."

They all start protesting at once, but Jason just stares Percy down.

He snaps a few seconds later. He mumbles, "There are five scouts coming to my first swim meet."

"Percy!" Jason shouts, disrupting the whole lunchroom. Several people look over at their table curiously, but Leo makes a scathing comment that has their peers blushing and turning away. "Percy, that's incredible."

"No, it's not! It's awful!"

"Why is it awful?" Jason challenges.

"Because I'm nowhere near ready!" Percy says, dropping his head toward the table. Annabeth reaches forward and pulls his lunch out of the way before his forehead connects with the flat surface. "I'm going to look awful. I wish that he hadn't told me. I wish that they weren't coming. I wish—"

"Percy," Jason warns. His voice is low, and he bends down lower so he could speak directly to him. "Everything is going to be fine. You're going to eat your lunch. You're going to let Annabeth walk you to your next class. You're going to go to practice, and you're going to kick ass today. Then, when you get home, you're going to get back on that shitty workout thing that you do during swim season. There's no better time like the present to start. And then you're going to meet us at Pollo's for study group at 5:30. Do you understand?"

Annabeth watches as Percy blinks up at Jason. The worry practically melts off of his face while he listens to him. Percy nods and leans back up, taking a long drink of his water.

"Thanks, man," Percy breathes. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Jason rolls his eyes, "Drown probably."

The rest of the table laughs, and Annabeth can feel the tension dissolve. They have all been worried about Percy for the past few days because he's been stressing over college and applications and—when Percy stresses, he internalizes it, and it eats away at him and Annabeth can't stand to see that look in his eyes.

Annabeth sends Percy a small smile over the table as Leo launches into a story about his mechanic class earlier, and Percy grins back at her.

Ω

"Annabeth!"

She turns to see Percy running toward her, weaving through a few cars and waving to some of his friends when he sees them. He catches her gaze, smiles, and continues to jog toward her car where she is waiting.

"Hi," she greets, tossing her backpack into the backseat of her car.

"Hey," he breathes, leaning against the car. His hair is damp, sticking up in several different places from where he has just dragged himself out of the pool. "Can you do me a favor?"

She nods, humming to herself and reaching up to brush her fingers through his hair to straighten it.

He grins crookedly, and Annabeth smiles too. He says, "I need you to take my math stuff with you tonight to Pollo's, if that's alright?"

Annabeth nods again and reaches out, taking his books from his hands when he offers them. "Why? I thought I was picking you up?"

He shakes his head, "I've got workouts, so I'm just going to meet you there."

"Okay," she drops his books down into the car beside her backpack. "I'll see you there."

He's already turning away, running back toward the gym as he waves and shouts, "Alright, Annabeth! Be careful!"

She laughs to herself before she gets in the car and drives home.

Ω

Annabeth parks her car a block away from Pollo's and walks, tightening her jacket around her to block out the wind. The sun is just barely setting now, but by the time they finishing "studying" it will be completely dark.

Their group normally meets three or four times a week at the little Mexican restaurant to study and do homework together. Leo knows the owner pretty well, so they always get to hang at a table up front by the window and eat cheese dip until they are ready to leave. It's really fun.

She walks into the restaurant and spots Piper, Jason, Hazel, and Leo already at their table. Nico isn't here, but sometimes he doesn't show up for study sessions. Annabeth grabs the chair across from Piper and falls down into her seat, shrugging out of her jacket all at the same time. She smiles at her friends and digs in her backpack until she pulls out her English paper and Percy's math book.

"Where's Percy?" Jason asks with a frown, glancing down at his stuff.

Annabeth blinks up at him, "He told me he had workouts and that he was meeting us here."

"That's weird," Jason mutters. His attention shifts back to Piper in the next second, asking her to help him draw a bicycle for an art project, so Annabeth isn't too worried.

Jason and Piper aren't dating, but they are getting close. Of course, it's a high school cliché that the quarterback for the football team and the head cheerleader are best friends and together, but Jason and Piper are literally perfect for each other. Annabeth actually has a bet with Percy and Leo to see how long it will take them to get together.

She is editing her paper and rewriting over the draft when she hears Leo say, "Well, that's where Percy is."

She turns around so she can see out of the window, and sure enough, Percy is sprinting down the other side of the street. Even though it is early February, he's missing his shirt. Annabeth assumes that he has a jacket tied around his waist.

She rolls her eyes, "He's going to get sick if he keeps running like that."

Before anybody says anything else, Percy jogs to a stop in front of the window. He looks inside and smiles at them, motioning that he will be inside in a second. He's obviously out of breath, and he takes a few steps away so he can stretch. Before long he is doubled over with his hands on his knees, but he stands back up before Annabeth gets too worried.

Percy unties his hoodie from around his waist and pulls it over his head. Annabeth watches his muscles shift as he moves his arms up, and she really needs to stop thinking about him like this.

And it's not that she likes him like that. Except she does, and she refuses to acknowledge it. She's Percy's best friend. Nothing more.

"Hey, guys," Percy breathes as he walks inside. He grabs the seat next to Annabeth and falls down into it. He's still drawing in deep breaths through his nose, and his hair is damp with sweat.

"Where did you run from?" Jason asks, shifting his gaze to Percy again.

"Home," he says, leaning his head down on his hands. "And if you're wondering… it's at least five miles."

"How do you know?" Leo asks, throwing a chip at Piper and Hazel.

"Well it took me about thirty minutes to get down here, and it usually takes me about six minutes to run one mile, so I just kind of guessed," he says. "Next time I'll get one of those things on my phone. What are they called?"

"Pedometers," Annabeth says immediately, pretending that she just looked up from her essay to answer his question. She's not sure if he falls for it.

Percy grins at her, "Yeah. We should get me one of those."

"So that's all you did?" Jason asks. "Run five miles?"

Percy rolls his eyes and looks down at the table. Annabeth recognizes his bashful look, and she can see the blush crawling up his neck. It could be from his run, but Annabeth really doubts it. He says, "No. I did some push-ups and stuff."

"How many?" Jason says.

"Why are you so interested?" Percy shoots back. His tone is sort of playful, but Annabeth can hear the real question.

Jason rolls his eyes, "Because we all care about your well-being. Now tell us how many of these push-ups you did."

Percy sighs, "I did a hundred push-ups, but I only did fifty-five sit-ups. My abs are a lot weaker than I expected."

"They didn't look weaker," Piper mutters from across the table.

And then Percy is blushing, and everyone else is laughing loudly. Annabeth is laughing too, and her chest is sort of hurting from being out of breath. Hazel is looking thoroughly scandalized at the end of the table, and that just adds fuel to the flame.

"This is why I don't tell you guys this stuff," Percy mutters. "You just make fun of me."

Annabeth rolls her eyes, "Percy, that was a compliment if anything. And we ask you because we care about you. We know that it helps you if you talk about it."

Jason nods along, but he looks at Annabeth like she stole his line. She looks back at him and shrugs.

Percy shrugs too and pulls his math book toward him. He looks up at Annabeth and says, "Thanks for bringing it with you."

She hums noncommittally to keep from saying something like of course, you idiot, I would do anything for you.

The rest of the group takes that to mean that they are moving on. Hazel starts reading out loud, Leo orders them more cheese-dip, and Percy leans in closer to her. It's a good night.

Ω

"Hey," Percy says suddenly, falling into step at her shoulder as she walks to their history class. She wonders how he got out of English so quickly because he usually walks into class a bit late.

Annabeth jumps a bit, surprised to see Percy. She's always a little disoriented after her Calculus class, but she usually chills out as she walks to class.

"Hey," she says after a second. "What's up?"

"Mom wants to know if you're coming over for dinner tonight," he smiles a bit, grabbing the door and holding it open for her as they walk through the Math wing.

She nods, "Yeah, of course. Did you get your English paper finished last night?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm early. I went to turn it in this morning when I got here because I've been in the principal's office all period."

Annabeth has a horrible flashback to Percy's rebellious stage when they were in middle school. During those few years, he was constantly in the office, for punching this guy for that or that guy for this, and Annabeth finally got him to realize that he was being an idiot. To Annabeth's knowledge, he hasn't been back in trouble since then, but what if he's done something to mess up his college opportunities? No one is going to want him if he had been suspended! What was he going to do—?

Percy laughs suddenly, "I wasn't in trouble, Annabeth. Damn, you act like I killed somebody."

She swats him on the chest with her book. "Percy! Getting in trouble now could mess up everything you've been working for!"

He rolls his eyes, "I know, Mom. You didn't even let me tell you why I was actually there."

Annabeth huffs, "Why were you there?"

"Coach got an email from a scout at the University of Alabama. We were trying to figure out how much I need to pull my GPA up to be able to get in."

She feels her heart drop to her stomach. Alabama? Alabama is… far away from New York.

Even though she feels like she could throw up right now, she keeps her voice steady when she says, "How much?"

"If I could get an A in AP History that would do it."

"Damn, Percy, we could get you an A in there," she scoffs, momentarily forgetting what the A might do. Where it might get Percy.

He slants his eyes at her. "You think so?"

"I know so."

He nods, but stays silent for the rest of their walk. He looks like he's thinking about something, and by the time Annabeth gets up the courage to ask about Alabama, they walk into class and have to start their lesson.

Annabeth takes notes automatically, but her mind wanders during the lesson. Instead of thinking about the Civil War, she thinks about Percy and Alabama, and how it's all the way at the other end of the country and how she's used to living five minutes away from him and how is she supposed to get through college without their friendship and and and—

She doesn't realize that class is over and that it's time to go to lunch until she sees Percy standing in front of her desk, saying her name. Most of their classmates have already filed out of the room, and Annabeth blinks quickly, trying to get the crushing pressure off of her chest. Percy might not go to Alabama. They still have time.

"You okay?" He asks. His eyebrows are scrunched together, and he looks like he knows exactly what she's freaking out about.

She nods and hurries to stand, "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Percy nods too, leading the way to lunch and remaining silent at her shoulder.

They sit down with their friends, and Annabeth expects Percy to tell them about Alabama right away. He stays silent though everything, laughing along with Leo's story instead, which seems to make this whole situation more real.

The rest of the school day passes by sluggishly, like she's in a different world. She mindlessly shelves books in the library for an hour instead of helping the librarian sort through new books like she usually does just because her mind is racing. In Art, she draws out a sketch of Percy on accident, and she looks down in shock at it when she finishes. He's looking to the left, smiling and laughing, and it sends a shock through her body. When her teacher sees it, the older woman brushes her hand over the drawing softly, smiling down at Annabeth before moving back to the front of the room.

Annabeth considers ripping the drawing up, but it feels too special, so she gently tears it from her sketch book and folds it in half, placing it in her planner so she can get it out at home.

Ω

Annabeth walks down the street to Percy's after he sends her a text that lets her know he's home. They usually do homework and eat dinner with his mom before watching a few movies on Netflix.

Sally isn't home when Annabeth gets there, so she lets herself in, toeing out of her boots by the door and slipping her jacket off. She walks up the stairs and heads down the hallway to Percy's room.

She finds him standing in the middle of the messy, crowded room. He's staring at the wall, where he has a map of the United States haphazardly pinned up at eye level.

She tries to make her voice light, even though she knows. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asks, frowning at him.

Percy doesn't move his gaze away from the map. "I shouldn't have told you about Alabama like that. It's a lot."

The weight comes back to her chest suddenly, and it feels hard to breathe when Percy turns to look at her.

She manages a nod. "It's okay."

"I was excited about it at first," Percy starts, turning his eyes back to the map. "They have one of the best programs in the country and hearing that they wanted me… It made me forget about the other stuff."

"What other stuff?"

His green eyes are wide when he looks back to her. "Annabeth. Do you see how far away it is? Do you see how far from New York that is?"

She hears his other question in his voice. Do you see how far away from you that is?

But she nods because if their roles were reversed, she would want Percy to be supportive of her, and he would. Without a doubt. He would be right behind her, pushing her to go and have fun.

"It doesn't matter if that's where you want to go," she says. She takes the jump and continues, "We can make it work. We always do."

He sighs before he turns to her. He holds out his arms, and his voice is rough when he says, "C'mere."

Annabeth doesn't hesitate when she steps forward into Percy's arms. He pulls her against his chest, holding one hand flat against her back while letting the other tangle in her hair. She wraps her arms around his waist, holding him closer and burying her face in the crook of his shoulder. He smells like chlorine, which is something that's so familiar to Annabeth that it makes her heart hurt.

Her words are murmured against his chest when she says that everything is going to be okay, but she feels Percy's arms tighten around her, so she knows that he heard.

Ω

Percy starts studying a lot more. Thankfully, that means that Annabeth actually gets to see him because she's the one helping him study. They don't do much of anything else, and Percy gets more stressed as the days go on, especially as the beginning of swim season gets closer.

It scares Annabeth a bit, just because she isn't used to seeing Percy this stressed. Mostly because he doesn't get stressed, and when he does, it tends to stress Annabeth out too.

They get in a few fights. Slamming doors, stomping, crying, and yelling are common for a few days, but they always find each other a few hours later, prepared with an apology and a hug. Annabeth knows that they are both on edge because of all of the stuff going on right now, and it's okay because as long as he's beside her, she doesn't really mind anyway.

Most days, Percy picks her up for school, just because she can study in the gym while he stays late for swim practice. His team mates joke that they're attached at the hip, but she never sees Percy arguing with them. He usually blushes and turns around to grin at her, which makes Annabeth's heart do funny things in her chest while she blushes.

After Percy gets finished with swim practice, they usually go back to his house and study. If they aren't studying, sometimes they watch Netflix, and sometimes they waste time with Sally while she cooks dinner. It's great, and Annabeth wouldn't trade anything for it.

Swim season approaches too quickly, and all of a sudden, Annabeth is standing beside the pool again, for the last first time of the season, hugging Percy and pressing a kiss to his cheek for good luck and giving him a soft smile. She's the only one that is allowed to ever talk to him before a swim meet (Percy's rules, not hers), and even though he never says anything, he always holds her hand until he has to go to the locker room with the rest of the team.

Annabeth can tell that Percy is nervous as soon as he walks out of the locker room, but when he gets settled around the pool and peels his jacket off, he looks completely in his element. His competition face is dark and brooding, and he keeps his eyes focused on his coach's face unless he's staring at the water. He's up first, and when he's bending down to get ready to start, he looks up to meet Annabeth's eyes. She's already staring at him, and she gives him a full grin before falling into the cheers with the rest of the students in the stands. He huffs out a laugh for a second, but then he's all business again, staring down at the water and launching himself into it when the referee fires the gun.

Percy wins (obviously), and with all of the other swimmers winning too, their team wins. He's the last one out of the locker room tonight, and Annabeth hangs out in the bleachers by herself while she waits on him. Their friends are already headed to the after party at Rachel Dare's house, and Annabeth tells them that she will see them there when Percy gets out.

He's dressed in jeans and his team sweatshirt when he comes out of the locker room, dragging his bag behind him and smiling when he sees her. Annabeth throws herself at him, congratulating him on the win, and he squeezes her so tightly that he picks her up off of the ground. He whispers so many thank you's into her ear and hair that she loses count of them, but she's smiling and laughing too hard anyway.

They go to the after party for a few minutes, and Percy holds her hand the whole time while they shuffle around through their friends and his other team mates. Rachel winks at Annabeth on their way out, and she blushes, glad that Percy's dragging her to the car instead of paying more attention to her face like he had been being earlier.

When they get home, Sally is already asleep. She had been at the meet with her new boyfriend, Paul, who also happens to be Annabeth's AP Literature teacher. Percy pulls her up the stairs behind him, and they both drop onto his bed, him groaning about his sore arms the whole way because he knows if he grumbles enough, Annabeth will stay and hold his hand and play with his hair until he falls asleep.

"Annabeth," Percy murmurs, slanting his eyes up at her from where his head is resting on her chest.

"Yeah?" She says softly, running her fingers through Percy's hair and down his neck.

"Thank you," he says, blinking tiredly at her. "Don't know what I would do without you."

Her throat feels tight, but she smiles because he's her best friend and she doesn't know what she would do without him either. "Go to sleep, Seaweed Brain."

He hums something else, and Annabeth watches him until he falls asleep, and she presses her lips against his forehead when she gets up to go downstairs and crash on the couch a few hours later.

Ω

"Annabeth," her teacher says suddenly. The woman is holding an envelope out to her from where she is standing at her desk, and Annabeth feels her stomach lurch when she gets spots the return address from her desk in the middle of the classroom.

She's up out of her seat in two seconds, rushing toward the front of the room and taking the letter in her hands. She's shaking when she opens it, and then she's nearly crying because she's been accepted.

To Columbia. She's been accepted to her dream school.

Annabeth isn't sure that she's read it right, and she can't really breathe right now. She looks up to her art teacher, who is smiling and congratulating her and Annabeth can't believe any of this.

"I have to tell…" Annabeth stammers. "Can I go—I need to…"

Her art teacher motions for her to go, and Annabeth dashes out of the room, skidding into the hallway before she takes off running.

No one stops her, maybe because she probably looks like she's about to start crying, but she breaks through the gym doors, shouting, "Percy! Percy!"

His coach looks up instantly, frowning when he sees her. He sighs, mostly because he knows that she's about the most important thing in the world to Percy, and she'll be damned if she doesn't get to see him right now and tell him.

As she is running forward, another senior and one of Percy's closer swim team friends, Will Solace, yells to a younger guy on the team, who grabs Percy from where he's swimming laps. He looks up immediately, eyes scanning the gym until he finds her. She's still running, and Percy has time to hurriedly haul himself out of the pool and step away from the edge before she launches herself at him.

He doesn't stumble, and instead, he catches her easily, wrapping his arms around her and pushing her back enough so he can see her face. He looks worried, and he uses one of his hands to push her hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek and saying, "Hey, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

She hits him on the back of the head and shoves the letter in his face. "Nothing! I got accepted, Percy! To Columbia!"

He looks confused for half of a second, and then his face dissolves into a huge grin, a smile that he usually reserves for her, and she's just so happy that she's about to start crying.

He hugs her tight, spinning her around in a circle. They're both laughing loudly, and Percy is saying, "I knew you could do it, Annabeth! I'm so proud of you."

Percy sets her down on the ground after a few seconds, and when she looks up at him, he's still smiling down at her and there are water droplets hanging from his hair and face and everything is just so real that Annabeth wants to lean up on her tiptoes and kiss him.

He hugs her close again, "Annabeth. This is amazing. You're amazing. I'm so fucking proud of you."

She grips his back, huddling close against his chest even though he's dripping wet. She leans her head up on his shoulder, and she can see the rest of his team gathered beside the pool a few yards away. His coach is standing with them, rolling his eyes and snapping at the other guys to get back to work. Annabeth feels her face get red because she interrupted their practice, so she hides her eyes against Percy's skin, sighing when he tightens his arms around her.

"Two minutes, Jackson," his coach calls a few seconds later. "And thanks for joining us today, Annabeth."

She laughs slightly, blushing harder when she looks up at him. "Sorry, Coach."

"She got into Columbia, Coach! It's not like she couldn't come tell me about it!" Percy nearly shrieks. He's still laughing, but he lets her slip out of his grip when she starts to step back.

"Sorry to interrupt," she apologizes, tucking one of her curls behind her ear. "I was so excited, and when I got the letter, I had to tell you so I—"

"Don't be sorry," he says, smiling even wider and leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "We're celebrating tonight, Annabeth. Whatever you want, okay?"

She nods, and Percy whispers, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," she breathes.

A few minutes later, Annabeth manages to walk out of the gym with some of her dignity and a blush on her face. The front of her t-shirt and her jeans are both soaked with water from Percy, and she ignores the catcalls that she gets when she leaves so Percy can get back to practice. But getting to see that look on his face, the one that is reserved for her, the grin with teeth and dimples and beauty, is worth all of the embarrassment in the world.

Ω

Annabeth is so excited about Columbia that she gets on a bus after school and heads downtown to her dad's office. Thankfully, he's there, and he gives her a tired and happy smile after he reads the letter, standing up to offer her a hug. It's—it's awesome to have this support from Percy and her dad, and she doesn't know what she would do without them.

Her dad takes her to dinner to celebrate. They invite Percy, but he has to stay late at school for workouts. After they get finished with dinner and they get back home, Percy picks her up at the door with a bouquet of flowers. He blinks at her softly when he presents her with the white lilies (her favorite), and she presses a kiss to his cheek before she takes them from his hands and puts them in a vase in the kitchen.

"Ready to go?" He asks with a smile.

"Where are we going?"

Percy carefully takes her hand and slowly pulls her out of the door and down the sidewalk. He opens the door to his Jeep and helps her inside, leaning over her to buckle her seatbelt even though she is completely capable of doing it herself.

Something feels different when Percy gets into the driver's seat and turns to smile at her. He's grinning at her softly, looking at her like there's no place he would rather be, and Annabeth can only take so much before she feels like her heart will explode from feelings. He smiles like he knows exactly what she's thinking before he slips the car into drive and presses the gas pedal.

They end up at her favorite diner, and Percy leads her inside, grasping her hand gently. They split an order of fries, and Annabeth orders a strawberry shake while Percy gets a chocolate one. He brags to their waitress about her getting accepted into Columbia, and Annabeth blushes and kicks his legs under the table.

Later that night, Percy takes her back home. He hugs her on the front porch for almost five minutes, and when he pulls back, he presses a kiss to her forehead, whispering, "I'm so proud of you, Annabeth. You're so smart and beautiful, and I knew you could do it."

She doesn't know what to say, so she hugs him tight before she slips out of his arms and watches as he gets back in his Jeep to drive home.

Ω

"Percy, stop moving!"

He wiggles underneath her, making the black marker slip where she was trying to write the names of his back muscles. They have an anatomy test tomorrow, and Percy is the one who suggested they write on him. She's not sure who this is really benefiting because she catches Percy humming softly when she traces her fingers over his skin, and she's way too distracted by his muscles and body to actually care about studying.

At least it's anatomy. That makes it a bit more interesting.

"You're awful," she sighs, turning the stray mark into a swirl, then turning the swirl into her name.

"You love me," he hums into her pillow. They're sprawled out across her bed, and Annabeth is sitting on his back as she bends over him to write out the names of his back muscles across his skin while she reads out loud from their anatomy book.

She scribbles a heart onto his shoulder blade before cuffing him on the back of the head, "Sometimes."

His laugh makes her smile, and they fall silent while Annabeth continues to label him.

Something has been different between them lately. Annabeth catches Percy staring at her for longer than usual, and his eyes usually hang on her lips for a few seconds after her smile slips away. He holds her hand when they walk in the hallways on their way to class. He slips an arm over her shoulders when they watch movies. And it's—it's not like he didn't do that stuff before, but over the past week, something just seems… different.

Jason notices it. They're in Calculus one day when he asks her about it.

She blushes, "What do you mean?"

"What's going on with you and Percy?" He asks again. "You guys act like you're dating, but I thought you would have told me instead of keeping it a secret."

"We're not dating," she answers honestly. "I wouldn't keep that from you, Jason. You're our best friend."

The our slips out before she notices it. Jason rolls his eyes when he hears it.

"Well I know that," he explains with a slight smile. "But something's different."

Things don't go back to normal. This weird phase hangs around Percy and Annabeth all through swim season and as Percy wins all of his swim meets. They don't acknowledge it, not even when Percy comes dangerously close to dropping a kiss to her lips one night after a swim meet.

Annabeth doesn't exactly mind, she just wonders when the breaking point for them will be and how it will happen.

A few days later, Annabeth is sitting in her room working on an essay that is due in a few when she realizes that she hasn't talked to Percy at all today. She saw him earlier in class, and they walked together like normal, but he had been quiet all day, just nodding along and smiling with whatever she or their friends had said.

She sends him a text, asking him what he's doing, but when he doesn't answer in almost two hours, she frowns and grabs her jacket before slipping outside and walking down the street.

Sally is inside cooking dinner when Annabeth lets herself in. Percy's mom smiles and pulls her in for a hug immediately, congratulating her again on getting accepted to Columbia.

"Thanks," Annabeth says. "Is Percy okay? He hasn't been answering his phone."

Something in Sally's eyes changes, and she says, "He's upstairs. You probably want to go check on him."

Annabeth isn't sure why she sounds nervous, but Annabeth just nods and accepts Sally's offer to stay for dinner before climbing the stairs and heading down the hallway to Percy's room.

It's dark and empty when she gets there, but the window is open, which lets a cool breeze drift through the room. Annabeth grabs an extra hoodie from his closet and slips it on over her light jacket before she easily climbs out of the window.

Percy's sitting on the rooftop just a few feet away, leaning back and staring up at the sky. He's wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, and his black hair is ruffled from the wind. She wonders why he's out here because the rooftop is a place they usually reserve for really emotional and deep conversations, like the breakup Percy and Rachel went through or when Annabeth's mom left.

"Hey," she says softly, sitting down a few inches from him.

He doesn't say anything, but he hands her an envelope.

Her throat feels tight when she sees the red emblem on the front of it. It gets worse when she finishes the letter.

"Percy," Annabeth breathes, looking over at him. "This is amazing. They're offering you a full scholarship."

"It's Alabama."

"Roll Tide, huh?" She offers lightly.

He lets out a small laugh before looking up at her. "They have a great program, and it would be incredible to go down there and stuff, but…"

"But?"

"It's fifteen hours from home."

Annabeth nods, "But is it your first choice?"

He shakes his head. "No. NYU is, but they haven't offered anything yet. What if they don't offer anything at all, and what if I don't take this one and I lose it? I can't go to school without swimming, Annabeth. It's my only chance."

"You're not going to lose it, okay?" She starts. "But if NYU hasn't offered you anything, maybe you should think about going to visit Alabama. You might like it better once you actually get down there."

He levels his gaze at her. "Annabeth. It's like a thousand degrees down there, and will they even let you in if you don't know how to shoot a gun or drive a tractor? I can't do any of that stuff!"

She swats him with the letter before she says, "Don't be an idiot, Seaweed Brain. None of those are the reasons you don't want to go."

He's quiet for a few seconds, and he turns his gaze out to look at the sky. The sun is setting over the neighborhood, leaving the sky is weird hues of red, orange, and purple. The soft light is highlighting Percy's skin, and she wonders when he grew up from the short, small kid he used to be.

"It's fifteen hours away from home, Annabeth," he says quietly. "I don't know if I can… I don't want to be that far from Mom, and I know that she has Paul and stuff now, but I want to be close to her, you know? And you're going to Columbia, and I want…"

She lets the silence hang between them for a few seconds before she says, "Percy, even if you go to Alabama for school, we're still going to be best friends. And sure, it will be hard, and I definitely want to be close to you too, but we can make it work. You need to go to school where you want to, not because of me."

"It's not because of you," he scoffs slightly. "That sounds like you're making me do this. I know that we'll still be friends and stuff, but I really don't know if I can handle that much distance between us. At least if I was in the same state—"

Percy stops talking suddenly, and Annabeth scoots a bit closer to him.

"I don't want to be that far away," he continues a few seconds later. "I know that we're both going to be busy and stuff, and even if I was in New York, I probably wouldn't get to see you that much, but it's the distance that is scaring me. That's over a thousand miles, Annabeth."

"One thousand and fifty-three," she mumbles.

He's staring at her when she looks back up.

"You… you know that?"

She sighs, fidgeting with the sleeve of her hoodie that belongs to Percy. "I Googled it when you first told me about it in the hallway that day."

Percy's eyes are wide when he looks at her, and his voice is deep when he finally speaks. "You really think we could make it?"

"I know it. You're my best friend, Percy. You're it for me."

Annabeth doesn't really catch the weight of what she's said until it's already out of her mouth, but the way Percy is staring at her makes her wish that he would look at her like that all of the time.

He finally reaches out and takes her hand in his, weaving their fingers together and pulling her body a bit closer to his. His voice is rough when he says, "You're it for me too, Annabeth."

"No matter what," she says firmly, burrowing into his side. "Even if you go to school a million miles away, we'll still be us."

Percy nods easily, letting out a heavy breath. He slips an arm around Annabeth's waist and holds her tighter. He murmurs into her hair when he says, "Don't know what I would do without you, 'Beth."

She laughs lightly, "Me either, Seaweed Brain."

They watch as the sun sets over the neighborhood, turning the sky darker and darker, until Annabeth can barely see the green of Percy's eyes. She has her head resting against his chest, and she can hear his heart beating right underneath her ear. She closes her eyes, nestles closer to him, and listens as he hums quietly. It's nice, and it's even better when Percy helps her back into his room and they go downstairs to eat dinner with Sally.

Ω

"You guys really are attached at the hip these days," Jason says as he climbs into the Jeep. Annabeth has already slipped into the backseat so Jason can sit up front with Percy. They are picking him up from home so they can go get some lunch since they finally have some free time that coincides with each other.

Annabeth laughs as Percy says, "We have to be because you run off with Piper these days."

Jason blushes, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. He mutters, "Oh, whatever, Jackson."

Percy laughs as he turns the radio up.

Since they talked about Alabama a few weeks ago, she thinks that Percy has been feeling better. He hasn't been as stressed as he was earlier, and he's been doing better at practice too. She wonders if it was just the thoughts that were scaring him because really, they were scaring her too until they talked it out.

Jason, on the other hand, is going to a college out in California on a football scholarship. He's going on his own, but their friend Piper is going to a college that is only a few hours from him, so they will be relatively close. Annabeth is thankful that they'll be able to see each other because she doesn't want Jason to be on his own too much.

"So what's really going on with you and Piper?" Percy asks when they get seated by the window at their favorite restaurant. Annabeth is sitting beside Percy, and Jason is on the other side of the booth, looking at them from across the table.

"I could literally ask the same thing about you guys," Jason deadpans. He pretends to be uninterested, but his face is a little red at the mention of Piper.

Percy shrugs before Annabeth can respond. "Don't know what you're talking about, Grace. Now come on, I have money riding on this. I need to know."

Annabeth hits Percy across the chest, "Or, you know, you could say something a little more supportive."

"Come on, Annabeth," Percy says, rolling his eyes. "We all know that you're the nice one and I'm the nosy one. Now, spill, Jason."

Jason sighs heavily. "I don't know."

"You don't know what's going on, or you don't know what to tell?"

"I'm thinking about asking her to prom."

"That's great!" Annabeth exclaims just as Percy says, "Is that all?"

Jason huffs out a laugh, lowering his head toward the table and thanking the waiter quietly when he refills their drinks. "I don't know, guys. I like her, and I want to date her but… I don't want to lose her?"

"Yeah," Percy says. He's staring down at the table too, looking up at Jason but avoiding Annabeth's eyes. "Yeah, I get that."

Annabeth gives Percy a weird look before she says, "Yeah, but I don't think that would happen. Besides, I'm pretty sure she likes you too, Jason."

"Yeah, I guess," Jason mutters. "It still makes me nervous."

Annabeth glances over at Percy, and the look on his face makes her change the topic suddenly. For the rest of lunch, they sit together and laugh and talk until the waiter gives them dirty looks for staying so long. It's nice, and Annabeth wouldn't trade her two best friends for anything.

Ω

She's in the library when her phone rings loudly, causing the guy a few tables away to look up at her and glare.

"Sorry," she mutters, hurrying to answer it. "Hello?"

"Annabeth!" It's Sally on the other side of the line, and she sounds frantic, saying Annabeth's name loudly and quickly.

"Hey, it's me. Is everything okay?" She asks, ducking her head down to the table to try and be quieter. She hates when people talk on the phone in the library but Sally sounds weird and—

"Percy is in the hospital," Sally says urgently, and Annabeth realizes that she sounds like this because she has been crying. "Can you go down there? His coach called and said he was going too, but I don't want him to wake up alone and I can't get there right now because I'm stuck here and—"

"Yeah, of course," Annabeth says, already standing up and shoving her stuff down into her backpack. She runs toward the doors, ignoring the strange looks that she gets from the librarian and other people around her. "I'm on my way there right now. Is he okay? What happened?"

Annabeth feels her heart crawl into her throat while Sally explains that Percy had been in practice, running on the treadmill when he passed out. He had hit his head too, and because of the oxygen restrictor that he had been training with, his oxygen levels were too low. They took him in an ambulance, and Sally explains that she already called the airport and that she can't get a flight home until tomorrow.

"Okay, wait," Annabeth says. She's driving to the hospital now, talking to Sally through the Bluetooth speakers in her car. "Before you do that, let me go check on Percy. If he's doing okay, you should stay. You've been waiting for this book tour for a year, Sally. I'll call you as soon as I get there."

Sally agrees and hang up, and Annabeth presses the gas pedal harder. She needs to get to Percy now.

She calls Jason on the way and leaves him a voicemail because he's not answering right now. She suspects that he's out with Piper somewhere, maybe at the movies, but he will call her back as soon as he can.

She finally makes it to the hospital, jamming the car in park and jumping out to run to the doors. She has to plead with the front desk to let her back, and she uses the word boyfriend without even thinking about it. She thinks that soulmate might be more precise, but she doubts it would be able to get her back to actually see him.

His coach spots her before she sees him, and he steers her into Percy's hospital room, talking about something that Annabeth doesn't catch because of the blood rushing into her ears.

She runs into the room, stopping suddenly when she sees him. He is laying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on his face. There are several wires connected to his bare chest, and there is an I.V. sticking out of his left arm. His eyes are closed, but his chest is moving up and down, so Annabeth guesses that it's a good thing. He still has his jeans on, but they must have cut off his shirt. There is a monitor to the left of his hospital bed that is measuring his heartbeat, and the loud, consistent beeps calm Annabeth's nerves a little.

"The doctor is supposed to be in in a few minutes," Percy's coach says, breaking her out of her trance. "I'm going to call his mother."

Annabeth nods, waiting as he slips outside before taking steps closer to Percy. She slowly sits down in the chair beside his hospital bed and takes his hand in both of hers.

"Percy," Annabeth sighs, voice wobbling. "Please be okay."

Minutes pass as Annabeth stares at Percy. The side of his face is bruising, and there's a small cut on his lip that Annabeth can see underneath the oxygen mask resting on his face. His coach comes back into the room a few minutes later, and before long, Jason runs into the room too.

He dashes to Annabeth's side, and she lets her hand slip out of Percy's so she can hug him. He's saying something, and Annabeth has to tell him to slow down and start over.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone," he says, pulling back to look down at Percy. "I was out with Piper and—I should have answered because I should have been here with you—"

"Hey," Annabeth says, reaching out for his hand. She takes Percy's free hand with her other one and holds on tight. "It's okay, Jason. Everything is okay."

It tastes like a lie, but she refuses to think of anything else.

The doctor comes in before too long, announcing that Percy is going to be okay and that he will probably wake up in a little while. A weight is lifted off of Annabeth's chest with the news, and she and Jason call Sally and put her on speaker phone to talk to the doctor.

"Annabeth," Sally says shakily, after the doctor has left the room. Her voice is distorted through the speaker of the phone so it makes her sound more upset than she probably is. "I hate to ask you to look after him, but I still can't get a flight home and—"

"No, Sally, it's fine," she interrupts, clutching Percy's hand in hers. His eyes are still closed, but his breathing is more regular now. Watching his chest rise and fall makes her feel more at ease. "You only have another day left anyway. We'll be fine until you get here. I won't leave him."

Sally pauses for a minute, and Annabeth swears that she's crying even harder now as she agrees. Annabeth knows that it must be awful because she doesn't want Percy to be here without her, but she's been waiting a year for her book tour, and it's almost over. Annabeth can take care of Percy until then.

Because Percy is the star swimmer, his coach hangs out in the room with them for a while. He's concerned, asking the doctor and nurses every question he can think of, but thankfully, he doesn't ask when Percy will be able to practice again. If he does, Annabeth will probably stand up and punch him in the nose.

Annabeth and Jason sit at Percy's side for a few hours, watching TV in the corner and talking quietly when they think of something to say. She doesn't really feel like talking, but the silence while Percy sleeps is almost unbearable. Even though the doctor told them that Percy was going to be okay, Annabeth won't believe it until she actually gets to talk to him.

After a long period of time, Annabeth feels something squeeze her hand. She snaps her head down, and the breath leaves her lungs when she sees Percy's eyes open.

She holds his hand tighter, scooting closer so she can lean over him. His green eyes are held open sluggishly, but he blinks a few times, and he looks more alert after a few seconds.

He twists his head to the side, and his eyes are wider now. Percy is saying something that Annabeth can't understand because of the oxygen mask on his face, but by the way Percy's shifting and muttering, Annabeth can tell that he's about to panic.

She leans over him, brushing his hair away from his forehead and pressing his hand to her chest so he can feel her heartbeat. She keeps her voice soft when she says, "Percy, everything is fine. You had an accident at practice, and we're in the hospital. The doctor says that you're going to be fine in a few hours."

Percy says something else that Annabeth doesn't understand because of the oxygen mask, but she can see the question in his eyes and she says, "I won't leave you here, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

He lets out a rough breath, and Annabeth catches his wince when he rests back against the pillows. Percy squeezes Annabeth's hand again, and she leans up to press a kiss to his forehead, letting her lips linger for a few extra seconds just because of how scared she was earlier.

Jason leans up to talk to Percy too, telling him that his coach is outside but that his mom isn't here. Percy nods, like he knew that, and he grips Annabeth's hand tighter.

Annabeth and Jason keep talking to him, and Annabeth moves up to sit on the edge of Percy's hospital bed so she can run her fingers through his hair. He's still gripping her other hand, and he's running his thumb over the skin there.

"Oh," Jason says suddenly, shoving a hand through his blonde hair and staring at the wall. "I didn't answer when you called the first time, Annabeth, because I was out on a date with Piper. Thought you guys might find that interesting."

Annabeth squeaks excitedly, laughing as Jason starts to blush. The oxygen mask on Percy's face fogs up from his soft laughter, and he lets go of Annabeth's hand for a few seconds so he can fist bump Jason.

"You won the bet, didn't you, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asks mischievously, claiming his hand again when he holds it up to her.

Jason blanches, "What bet?"

Annabeth sees the traces of a grin on Percy's face underneath the mask.

Another few minutes later, a nurse comes in to see that Percy's awake, and they take the oxygen mask off of his face. There are rough, red lines around his nose and mouth, and Percy sits up carefully, frowning and pressing his hand to his chest.

Annabeth stands up, hands fluttering over his shoulders and back as the nurse explains that Percy's chest is going to be sore for a few days and that he should rest while they get his paperwork finished up so they can go home.

"You okay?" Annabeth asks when the nurse leaves the room.

Percy nods, and his voice is hoarse when he says, "Hard to breathe. What… happened?"

"You were at practice, running on the treadmill with the oxygen restrictor, and you passed out," Annabeth says slowly. "They brought you here in an ambulance."

He nods again, "And they… they called you?"

"Your mom did. She can't get a flight back until tomorrow, and the tour is over the next day so I told her that I could stay with you instead of her leaving early," Annabeth explains.

"Yeah," Percy lets out a long breath, frowning in pain. Annabeth presses one of her hands to his back, and he nods. "Feels better."

Annabeth holds him close for a few seconds, dropping another kiss to the side of his face just because she's still shaking from being so worried earlier.

The nurses come back almost an hour later, leaving an inhaler in Annabeth's hands for Percy to use if his chest feels too tight. They say that he should start feeling better over the next few days and that he can start practicing again at the end of the week. Percy looks relieved after that, and when Jason steps outside to tell Percy's coach that they're going home, Percy slumps into Annabeth's arms.

"Hey," she says immediately, looking down at his face. "Are you alright?"

"Just tired," he mumbles. "Don't leave me."

Annabeth hugs him tightly. "I'm not going anywhere, Percy."

Ω

"Annabeth?"

She looks up from her phone to see Percy standing in the doorway to the living room. He is clutching a blanket around his shoulders, hunching over against the cold air in the room. He has a pair of sweatpants on, but because of the soreness in his chest, he is missing a shirt. Annabeth can still see the places on his skin where they had tapped wires to him in the hospital.

"You should be sleeping, Percy," she chastises softly. She had sent him upstairs twenty minutes ago to hopefully get some rest because he looked like hell. She has been with Percy ever since they let him out of the hospital, driving him home in her car and helping him get into the shower while hovering over him to make sure he is okay.

"I can't sleep up there," he mutters, staring down at the ground "Can… Can I stay in here with you?"

"You'll feel better if you sleep in your own bed," she argues softly, standing up and walking toward him. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to be by myself," he whispers, tears gathering in his eyes. "My chest hurts."

Annabeth cups his cheek in one hand, careful to avoid the bruises on the other side of his face, and Percy leans into her. His eyes close, and Annabeth pushes his blanket back up onto his shoulders.

"I can come upstairs with you if you want," she offers, brushing his hair off of his forehead.

He nods quickly, reaching out for her hand and lacing his fingers with hers.

Annabeth grabs her phone from where she left it on the couch before she starts up the stairs, gently pulling Percy behind her. He's quiet the whole way, shuffling behind her silently. She can still hear him breathing roughly, and she wonders if she should be worried about it or if she should call the doctor.

They get to his room before she can decide, and she crawls into his bed, pulling back the sheets and slipping into them. Percy follows her, and he curls against her side and lays his head against her chest. His arms are loose at her sides, and he clutches his fists into her t-shirt, pulling her shirt up enough until her skin brushes his.

"Annabeth?" Percy murmurs, burying his face into her side.

"What is it, Percy?"

"I'm scared."

Her voice catches, "Why?"

"What if I don't wake up?"

Annabeth wraps her arms around him, holding him closer and pressing his face against her chest. Her voice is soft when she says, "Hey, I won't let that happen, okay? I'm right here, and you're not getting away from me."

Percy nods, and before long, he falls asleep pressed against her.

Ω

Taking care of Percy reminds of her when they were little, and it also makes her wonder if they will be doing this for the rest of their lives.

He gets better slowly, and he clings to Annabeth, refusing to sleep unless she's beside him. Even after his mom gets home, he doesn't want Annabeth to leave, and because of the terrified look he gets right before he goes to sleep, she doesn't have the heart to anyway. Most nights she stays until he falls asleep, and then she heads downstairs to tell Sally goodnight before driving back home. If it's really late, then she usually sleeps on the couch, which is nice because then she gets to see Percy all grumpy and sleepy in the mornings.

At the end of the next week, Percy is supposed to get back to swimming. Annabeth is in the gym with him and his coach, and she's sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water. Percy's already changed into his speedo, but he's hovering on the concrete right above the water, muscles taunt, face dark, like he's afraid of getting in.

"Hey," Annabeth says playfully. "As much as I like your outfit, I don't have all day."

Percy turns his stare to her, and his eyes are still dark. He doesn't sound amused when he says, "Annabeth."

She sighs and gets to her feet, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him from behind and laying her head on his back. She feels some of the tension ease out of his shoulders, but he doesn't move.

"I'm going to let go and count to three, and then you're going to dive in, okay?" Annabeth says, squeezing him tight for a few seconds.

She feels him nod, and she slips her arms away from him. Her voice is loud as she counts to three, and Percy doesn't hesitate when he jumps forward into the water. She leans over the edge of the pool, laughing when Percy comes up right under her face.

He's grinning as she laughs, but when he glances down at her lips, Annabeth freezes.

His voice is low, "Annabeth."

"Percy—"

Before he can lean up any farther so he can press his lips to hers, his coach steps out from his office, calling out orders for Percy to do laps. He flinches when he realizes how close they were, swimming away and leaving Annabeth dazed.

When they get ready to leave later, Percy doesn't say anything about almost kissing her, and Annabeth figures that it doesn't matter anyway.

Ω

They continue like this for a few weeks. It's this weird place where Percy hugs her almost every time that he sees her, but he always hesitates when he leans down, like he's going to press his lips to hers. It's weird because Annabeth holds his hand whenever they are together, but she avoids his eyes when they're alone because she doesn't want to stare at him too long.

She wonders where the breaking point is and if she will make it that long.

Percy gets back into swimming as easily as breathing, and the bruises on his face vanish and fade just like his fear of not waking up does. He's doing a lot better now, which is a relief for Annabeth.

"How's Percy doing?" Jason asks one day at school. They're sitting in Calculus, working on some homework while their teacher dozes in the back of the room.

"He's…" Annabeth sighs and drops her pencil to the desk. "I don't really know how he is, to be honest. It seems like he wants to…"

"Finally ask you to be his girlfriend?" Jason says with a slight smirk.

She scowls, "Shut up."

"But?"

She sighs, "But yes. It seems like that, but every time he gets close to kissing me or… or whatever, he doesn't and then he gets all weird about it. I know him better than anybody, but I can't figure out why he's doing this."

Jason is staring at her, eyebrows pulled together and glasses sliding down his nose. He says, "Annabeth. Do you not remember how I didn't want to ask Piper out just because I didn't want to lose our friendship?"

She nods, "Yeah, but Percy isn't going to lose me—"

He interrupts. "Does he know that?"

"I've told him that a hundred times already! Jason—"

"But does he know it?"

Annabeth falls silent at his insistent questioning, wondering where he's even going with those thoughts. Of course Percy knows that they're friends and that he won't lose her. She doesn't understand how he can even think that—

"I mean," she starts slowly, trying to think. "I'm pretty sure he does. I'm his best friend, and why would I go anywhere just because he has feelings for me?"

Jason shrugs, looking back down at his paper before erasing the last thing he wrote. "I don't know, Annabeth, but Percy's always been so down on himself, you know? He hardly has any self-confidence, so why would he believe that you had feelings for him?"

She pauses, staring at him. "But it's so obvious—"

Jason laughs suddenly, "To everyone except Percy, maybe. Just tell him how you feel, Annabeth. And if you don't want to tell him how you really feel right now, then just tell him that you aren't going anywhere. He'll figure it out someday."

She glares playfully, "Yeah, just like you did with Piper, right?"

"Right," he says with a grin.

Ω

Percy's been quiet all day, and Annabeth knows it's because tomorrow is his first swim meet that counts for his state record. The other meets have been with teams out of district, but this team is their main rival.

They're sitting on the couch at his house, watching TV while his mom works in her study. Percy has been holding her hand since they got home, and Annabeth has been on edge the whole time. Percy's throwing her off, and ever since her talk with Jason, she doesn't really know what to say to him.

Just tell him how you feel.

It's not really a surprise that the voice in her head is Jason's.

After another hour, Percy still hasn't said anything to her, and Annabeth sighs suddenly, standing up and jerking on his hand until he follows her to his feet.

His eyebrows are furrowed in confusion, and his voice is low when he says, "Annabeth?"

"You know that you're never going to lose me, right?"

Percy's expression shifts from confusion to surprise, and she watches as he gazes at her. His scowl disappears and he pulls his other hand up to touch her jaw. After a few seconds, he nods, "Is something wrong?"

She shakes her head, "No. I just wanted you to know."

He gives her a small smile, and one of his hands slips up to the back of her neck to pull her forward. He presses a kiss to her forehead and murmurs, "Alright, Annabeth."

Ω

Swim season plows ahead quickly, and Percy wins everything he competes in. The only downside about him being so focused on swimming so he can get offers to other schools is not seeing him as often as she would like. And even when she does see him, he's usually always tired, so he normally holds her hand and lays his head in her lap until he dozes to sleep.

It's not that she really minds, she just misses him.

As the state tournament gets closer, Percy starts missing lunch to practice. Annabeth gets onto him for it at first, standing over him while he shoves a sandwich into his mouth as they sit on the side of the pool in the gym. She's technically not supposed to leave the cafeteria, but no one dares to say anything about it, not when Percy is so adamant about seeing her. And of course, anything that Percy wants he gets because of how hard he's been working for their swim team.

They're at a swim meet at a school about two hours from home one Friday night, and Annabeth and her friends all carpool together so they can go watch Percy. When they get there, they line up on the front row of the bleachers, ignoring all of the gross looks that the students from the other school give them.

When Percy comes out of the locker room and grins up at them, it's worth all of the trouble they went to for coming.

It's a closer meet than any of the others, but Percy still wins, which pushes their team into first place. Annabeth stays behind after the meet is over with their friends and waits until Percy comes out of the showers. Some of the other swimmers from the other team are still coming out of their locker room, and when Percy finally walks out, Annabeth throws herself at him, laughing and twisting her arms around him while congratulating him on the win. He sighs, picking her up off of the ground to hold her closer.

Annabeth feels his arms stiffen around her when someone says, "Hey, Jackson."

Percy pulls back, setting Annabeth back on the ground but keeping his arm twisted around her waist and tucked into his side.

It's the captain from the other team talking to them. He has a sneer on his face as he stares at them, and his oily blonde hair is still dripping. He says, "Nice eye candy."

Percy's hand tightens on Annabeth's hip. She scowls at the other guy, but before she can tell him to fuck off, Percy growls, "Shut the fuck up, Jones."

The other swimmer rolls his eyes, "Don't get so worked up about it, Jackson. See you at State."

Annabeth plants a hand on Percy's chest to keep him from moving. Once the other guy is gone, she turns back to him and grins. It takes less than a second for him to smile back at her.

"You're amazing, you know?" Percy says suddenly, squeezing her into his arms again.

She hums and peeks up at him, "And apparently I'm eye candy too."

Percy starts laughing, and their friends swarm them then, congratulating him on the win and clapping him on the back. Annabeth pulls back from him, and he catches her hand before she can move too far away.

Ω

It's two weeks until the State tournament, and Annabeth hasn't gotten to see Percy in two days because he's been practicing so much.

But she is going over to eat dinner with him and Sally tonight, and then she hopes that he'll want to work on homework for a while or watch a movie or something. Annabeth misses him.

When she gets to their house later, Percy hasn't made it home yet. Sally is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and Annabeth learned a long time ago that she doesn't need to help, so she washes the dishes in the sink while Sally talks about her new novel.

Percy finally gets home a few hours later. He slumps into the kitchen, looking exhausted and smiling all at the same time. When he sees Annabeth, he tosses his arms around her shoulders and sinks into her.

"Hey," she says, rubbing her hands up his back and into his still damp hair.

"Hi," he breathes, burying his face into her shoulder. "I'm hungry."

Sally laughs, and Annabeth turns to see the older woman grinning at them. "Dinner's almost ready, Percy."

He pulls back from Annabeth, reaching up with one hand to trace his fingers across her jaw before turning away. His voice is rough as he says, "I'm gonna grab a quick shower before."

Annabeth nods, ruffling his hair as he turns away to head up the stairs. A few minutes later, dinner is finished, and Sally sends Annabeth up to get Percy.

She jogs up the stairs, calling his name as she steps into his room. He isn't there, but when she ducks her head into his bathroom, he's standing at the sink, clutching the counter and staring into the mirror. He has a towel hanging around his waist, and Annabeth can still see drops of water hanging to his tan skin. There's a weird expression on his face, one she doesn't see often enough to know what it means.

She leans against the door and tries to be nonchalant even though she can't exactly stop staring at him. "Dinner's ready."

Percy jumps a bit, turning his head to focus on her for a second. He nods, "I'll be down in a minute."

"You okay?"

Another nod, "'M fine, 'Beth."

She rolls her eyes at the nickname and slowly steps forward until she's standing beside him. She watches him gulp, which makes her smirk, and then she places a slow, languid kiss on his cheek. His hands tighten on the counter until his knuckles turn white, and just because he's getting so worked up about it, Annabeth trails her fingers down his shoulders and back before she turns and walks away.

Percy mutters, "Fuck," just in time for her to hear, and when he comes downstairs, his face is a bit redder than normal.

Ω

Later that night, they are laying in Percy's bed, watching a movie on his laptop. Annabeth is propped up against the headboard, and Percy has his head in her lap while she traces her fingers over his face and through his hair. His eyes are closed, like he's sleeping, except he smiles too often for him to actually be asleep.

Honestly, it's an accident when Annabeth traces her fingers over his lips.

But it's too late because Percy's eyes snap open, and even though Annabeth can feel her face getting red, she isn't sorry about it. Neither of them say anything, and Percy sits up slowly, leaning toward her closer and closer until the back of her head touches the headboard because he's so close.

He glances down at her lips. Annabeth's heart is pumping in her chest.

She can barely hear him when he whispers, "Annabeth."

When he leans a bit closer, the only thing that Annabeth can think is fucking finally.

His lips never touch hers though.

Annabeth's eyes open from where they had fluttered close, and she sees him hesitating just a breath away from her. Even though her heart is screaming at her to grab him by the t-shirt and pull him in until she can kiss him, her head is screaming at her to wait, to think about this.

If Percy kisses her right now, she won't want to stop.

If Percy doesn't kiss her right now, she'll be stuck in this very frustrating state of being for another long period of time probably.

Percy also has a state tournament that is going to directly affect his future in the next few weeks.

Annabeth wants to kiss him now.

She sighs and lifts a hand to set on his shoulder and push him back. She can see the disappointment in his eyes, but there's also relief. Annabeth doesn't know which one is worse.

His voice is rough, "Annabeth, I'm sorry."

She shrugs even though it feels like something heavy is sitting on her chest. She berates herself because he's not rejecting her. But… but why does she feel like he is?

"I know."

"No," he says, clearly frustrated. "You don't get it."

"What don't I get, Percy?" She starts, trying to smother her irrational anger. "That you're too busy right now? That you don't want to be distracted by me?"

He moves until he's sitting beside her, their shoulders pressed together. "Annabeth, you know that's not—"

She sobers, looking over at him. "But it is, and you're right. We shouldn't—not when you…"

"We… we shouldn't?"

She gives him a look. "Percy. You've got more things to be worried about than a girlfriend."

He hesitates, and his eyes are blown wide as he stares at her. Annabeth realizes that it's the first time that they've acknowledged what's actually going on between them.

She watches as his eyebrows pull together in confusion, "But, you're way more important to me than swimming is, Annabeth."

Annabeth nods because even though his words make her feel better, he shouldn't be thinking that right now. "Yeah, I get that, Percy, and it's sweet, but you need to be focused on swimming. The state competition is two weeks away, and you… you shouldn't be distracted."

He clenches his fists and tears his gaze away, staring at the wall instead of her. He says, "And you think that we shouldn't… just because of swimming."

"Yeah."

"Annabeth, you're killing me."

She grins all of a sudden, reaching out to shove his shoulder. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"I'm serious," he groans, dropping his head over to her shoulder and letting an arm twist around her middle so his hand rests on her side. "I just want to—"

"Want to what?"

He mumbles into her shoulder instead of answering her, and Annabeth bites back another grin.

"So where are we, Annabeth?" Percy asks tiredly, after a few minutes of silence. He's running his hand in small circles on her side, and Annabeth is pretending like she doesn't love it.

"Ask me again in two weeks."

Percy curses under his breath, and later, he falls asleep with his head on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her waist.

Ω

"You guys are what?"

Annabeth hushes Jason's indignant cry because they're in the library and the librarian is giving them dirty looks now. After he's calmed down she says, "We're waiting until after swim season."

"To have sex?"

"Jason!"

He holds his hands up in surrender, but he's biting back a smile. "I'm just kidding, Annabeth. But what exactly are you guys waiting for?"

She feels her blush deepen, "I don't know. To date, I guess, I'm not—"

"And you guys talked about this?"

"Percy was the one who was whining about it," Annabeth says, looking down to her paper to avoid his eyes.

"So you just don't want him to be distracted? Because he should be focused on swimming?" When Annabeth nods, Jason's frown deepens. "But he already has a scholarship, Annabeth. It doesn't really matter if he wins or not."

She clenches her jaw and mutters, "To Alabama."

Jason is silent for a second, and then he says, "You want him to get another scholarship. That's why you're waiting."

A blush colors her cheeks because she didn't expect him to figure it out so quickly. She's just glad that Percy didn't when they were talking about it a few nights ago. She says, "And because he's worked so hard for this. He shouldn't be distracted by me."

"You know, he's probably more distracted by you when he's not really with you," he comments, looking back down to his paper too as the librarian inches closer to their table.

Annabeth refuses to answer him, and instead, she asks Jason about his plans to take Piper to Prom.

Ω

Jason's point is proven to be correct later that night.

Annabeth is laying on Percy's bed, laptop on her stomach as she scrolls through her email and tumblr. Percy's in the shower, and she's waiting on him to get out so they can watch a movie or talk or something. Since their conversation a few days ago, she feels like things have been weird between them, and she just wants everything to go back to normal.

Percy comes out of the shower a few minutes later, wearing a loose pair of sweatpants and an old, gray t-shirt. His hair is damp, and he shuffles over to his desk to grab his phone before he looks over to her.

He jerks to a stop suddenly, eyes widening and face reddening. Annabeth watches in confusion as his eyes flit over her, and then as his hands fist at his sides. When he sees her looking at him, he tears his gaze away from her.

"Are you alright?" She asks, leaning up a bit to get a better look at him.

Percy avoids her gaze, and his voice sounds weird when he says, "Um. Yeah, yeah, I'm good."

"You don't seem good."

"Well, I am."

She raises an eyebrow, "Okay."

He stands in the middle of the room for a few more seconds, staring at the opposite wall.

She breaks the silence. "Are you coming?"

He jumps at her voice, "Uh. What?"

Annabeth pulls the rubber band out of her hair to chase away the beginning of a headache. She ruffles her curls with one hand while she says, "Over here. Beside me. To watch a movie. Your head really is full of seaweed sometimes, isn't it?"

He stares at her. "I, um. I might just stay over here, you know? More room."

Annabeth glances at the empty bed beside her, wondering why he's acting like this. Usually, he would have already jumped on her, digging his fingers into her sides to tickle her and then brushing his knuckles against her cheek before snuggling into her to watch the movie. So why is—?

Is it because of what they talked about the other day? Is it because he knows that she has feelings for him and that she wants to date him? Does he not want to be close to her anymore because of that? What if he's changed his mind about it, but he doesn't want to tell her because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings? What if—?

"Is it because of me?" She blurts, feeling ridiculous the second it leaves her mouth.

Percy looks shell-shocked, frozen on the spot at her words. As if it pains him to do so, he nods slowly. A millisecond later, his eyes travel down her body again, and he jerks his gaze away, clenching his fists tighter at his sides and drawing a tight breath.

When Annabeth glances down at her legs, she realizes why he's acting like this.

After dinner and while he had been in the shower, Annabeth had changed into her pajamas, which just so happened to be a pair of short shorts and one of Percy's old swim team sweatshirts. The sweater was so big that it hung off of her shoulders, revealing the smooth skin of her shoulders. She had also ditched her bra, but she didn't think that Percy would have actually noticed.

Annabeth slowly sets the laptop onto the bed beside her, then rises to her feet, pulling the sweater back up onto her shoulder so it will fall back down again. She carefully watches Percy as she takes a few steps toward him, biting back a grin at his gulp and how he keeps his eyes focused on the wall away from her.

She stops a breath away from him, looking up at him.

Percy shudders when she whispers his name.

His muscles are taunt, and he holds himself very still, as if to keep from reaching out and touching her.

Annabeth reaches up with one hand, lightly setting her fingers on his jaw and turning his head until he has to look down at her. His eyes settle on hers after a few seconds, and Annabeth reaches out with her other hand to tangle her fingers with his.

"'Beth," he mutters, taking a fraction of a step back.

She follows him until she's pressed up against his chest. Percy lets out a loud sigh, and then his arm wraps around her waist until he pulls her closer.

"You've seen me in less before," she murmurs in his ear, breathing a laugh when he flinches again.

"Not like this," he grumbles. "Not with you looking at me like that and laying in my bed and then knowing how you feel and—"

Annabeth starts laughing when Percy breaks off in frustration, letting his head drop down to her shoulder. She can feel his lips pressing against her skin now, and Percy shakes his head, letting his nose trace over her neck.

"Where's…" Percy starts a second later, hand tightening on her hip. "Shouldn't you have a…?"

She finally gets what he's talking about when he brushes a hand over her shoulder.

"No bra," she says with a smirk, crowding closer to his chest. "I already took it off."

"Goddamnit, Annabeth," Percy mutters. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I can go ahead and take the sweatshirt off too, if you want," she says casually.

He clamps his hands to her sides to keep her from moving. "Don't you dare."

Annabeth laughs and pulls back from him, taking both of his hands in hers and smiling up at him. She says, "Calm down, Percy. We said after swim season, remember? I'll try not to jump you until then, okay?"

He gulps, looking at her with heavy eyes. "Good to know."

Ω

"Do you know that Percy hasn't stopped staring at you this while time?"

Annabeth jumps when Piper whispers into her ear, jerking her head back to look at her. Piper is smiling mischievously, like she's pleased with Annabeth's reaction.

"He has not," Annabeth mutters, looking back down at her phone. She's scrolling through her Instagram feed, ignoring the scary movie that they are watching. Their friends are all gathered at Jason's house to hang out. It's barely a week until the state swim meet, and Annabeth knows that they are trying to calm Percy's nerves.

He's been nervous over the past week, but the more he practices, the more it seems to fade. Annabeth wonders what's different because this time last year, his nerves were so bad he barely talked to anyone at all.

"He has," Piper argues.

Annabeth rolls her eyes, locking her phone and climbing to her feet. She ducks past Jason and Leo, who's laughing and pointing at the horrible effects on the movie to go to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water. Just as she's shutting the fridge, she feels a hand on her waist, spinning her around until her back is pressed against the cool metal.

When she looks up, Percy's hovering over her, bending his head down until his nose is barely an inch from hers. The expression on his face is becoming more familiar to her now that they've discussed their feelings, and Annabeth has almost decided that it's got something to do with her.

"Um, hi," she says softly, wondering what the hell he's doing.

He grins, dipping his head to press a soft kiss to her neck that has her shuddering under him. "Hey."

"What was that for?" Annabeth asks, a bit breathless at how close he is right now.

Percy shrugs and presses another kiss to her forehead before leaning back. "Nothing. Just for being you."

Annabeth bites back a huge grin and brushes past him, heading back into the room with their friends.

"Please tell me you guys didn't make out in my kitchen," Jason says absently, glancing up at them as they sit back down on the couch.

Their other friends explode in laughter, Percy's grinning, and Annabeth wants to stay right here forever.

Ω

It's the night before the state tournament, and Annabeth is jogging down the sidewalk to Percy's house to make sure he falls asleep tonight. The last thing he needs is to be awake all night and be tired tomorrow when he's swimming.

Annabeth lets herself in the house, greeting Sally with a hug before climbing the stairs. She makes the familiar trek to Percy's room, knocking gently on the door before slipping inside.

He has the lamp on his nightstand clicked on, fighting off the dark in the room. He's sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands. He's missing his shirt, wearing a pair of boxers as his pajamas instead.

Annabeth steps closer, nudging his legs open before curling her arms around him and drawing him closer. He's shaking a bit, but he stills after a few minutes in her arms.

She cards her fingers through his hair and trails her hands over his shoulders and down his back, listening to him hum against her chest. She wonders if he's feeling okay because he needs his strength for tomorrow.

"Want me to stay until you fall asleep?" She murmurs.

He shakes his head, brushing against her chest. His voice is deep and light at the same time when he says, "No, it's okay. You should go home and rest too."

She doesn't want to push him, so she leans down and presses a kiss to his forehead, whispering, "I'm so proud of you. You're going to do great tomorrow."

"I'll see you there?" He asks, looking up at her with wide eyes.

"Of course, Seaweed Brain," she laughs. "I'll be in the front row, screaming your name."

He grins, and Annabeth hugs him again before she heads home too. When she looks back up at his window as she gets to the sidewalk, the light is out in his room, and Annabeth smiles.

Ω

She talked to Percy on the phone when she woke up this morning, but she hasn't seen him.

It's the day of the state tournament. Annabeth and her friends are already in the gym (thankfully, the tournament is being hosted at their school), sitting in the front row of the bleachers so they will have the best seats.

"Hey," Jason says suddenly, setting a hand on Annabeth's knee. She hasn't noticed how much she has been shaking until now. "Calm down."

She scowls, "I'm excited."

Jason laughs, but then he's turning his head back to Piper and answering a question that she asked.

Annabeth pulls at the collar of her t-shirt. They all made shirts for today's tournament, and they're wearing them like the supportive friends that they are. Annabeth's shirt says 'Percy' in small, neat letters across her chest, while the others spell out his last name. Jason claimed the J, Piper the A, and so on. Leo stands next to Piper, then on his other side is Hazel and her new friend Frank, while Reyna and Nico finish up Percy's last name.

Annabeth's shirt also has I love you written on the front of it, right underneath his name. She figures that he already knows it, so she might as well tell everyone else while she's at it.

The rest of the gym fills up quickly, and it's more crowded than any other competition has been. Several of the other teams have been competing for hours, but thankfully Percy swam earlier this morning to record his times so they don't have to sit through all of the other teams swimming. Percy is in the final bracket, competing for the state title, and Annabeth is biting her nails and hoping that Percy doesn't feel half as nervous as she does.

Finally, Percy and the rest of the team flood out of the locker room to compete. Percy's already wearing his competition face, and when he gets close enough, he scans the crowd for familiar faces.

The dark, broody expression disappears from his face the second he sees Annabeth and their friends. He smiles, laughing a bit as he makes his way toward the edge of the pool. His lifts his arm for a wave, and they all yell back at him, making him laugh even more. His coach pats him on the shoulder, and he's all business again, glancing up at Annabeth one more time before he looks back to the water.

It feels like forever while the other swimmers on the team compete against each other, and Annabeth grows more nervous as she watches Percy. He's flicking his gaze back and forth from the water to the score board hanging up in the corner of the gym, which puts their team in the lead right now. Even though Percy will have individual scores too, if he wins, the entire team will take the championship for their own.

Annabeth feels like she's going to throw up when it's time for Percy to line up to swim. His race is the last one of the tournament, and as he steps up on the diving board, the entire gym falls silent.

Percy looks up to Annabeth. She smiles shakily, showing him as much teeth as she can muster before yelling along with the rest of the crowd, who starts so suddenly, it startles some of the other swimmers. Percy breathes a laugh, turning his head back to the water and launching himself into it just as the gunshot is fired.

Time slows down. Annabeth and everyone in the gym is on their feet, screaming and shouting. Her heart is pounding in her ears through the first, second, and then the final lap, and Percy is way ahead of the others and then the timer blares and and and—

Their team explodes into yelling, and they reach forward, hauling Percy up out of the pool. He's grinning and pulling his goggle off, tossing them into the air and yelling along with his team.

Annabeth lets out a breath, reaching up to touch Jason's shoulder. He turns to grin at her, and then he's pulling her down the bleachers as they jog toward Percy.

He has a trophy in his hands now, but when he spots Annabeth, he hands it off to Will Solace, stepping toward her and opening his arms.

She throws herself into his arms, and he catches her easily, holding her up off of the ground so she has to look down at him. She cradles his face in her hands, leans down, and presses her lips to his.

She's barely aware of the applause around them because Percy's kissing her back intensely, holding her closer and closer, and damn, she didn't know he would be like this. That they would be like this. So perfect and easy and amazing.

When he pulls back a few seconds later, the crowd is roaring in their ears, but all Annabeth is focused on is Percy. He's grinning up at her, reaching up with one hand to frame her face.

It's hard to hear him when he says, "I got a scholarship to NYU. For swimming. I'm going there in the fall."

Annabeth's heart stops because he has to be kidding with her. She has so many questions for him, but the only thing she can think to say is, "Percy, that's so close to—"

He cuts her off, and his voice is breathy when he says, "Six miles. It's only six miles from Columbia. I already checked."

There are tears in her eyes now, and Annabeth lurches back down to forcefully press another kiss to his mouth. Percy is grinning and laughing underneath her lips, but the only thing that Annabeth can think about right now is them. They're going to get to have this every day. They're going to be so close to each other.

They're going to be together.

Annabeth pulls back, and Percy reaches up with his hand, wiping the tears off of her face. His grin is huge when he says, "I love you."

"I love you too, Percy."

She kisses him again, and they stand in the middle of the gym, surrounded by sound and excitement and the only thing that Annabeth wants to focus on is Percy Jackson, her best friend and her person.

Ω

One year later, Annabeth is standing in almost the exact same place. Of course, things are a bit different. But not by much.

Percy is a swimmer at NYU. He's one of the best on the team right now, even though he's also one of the youngest. He's majoring in Education, and he wants to be a high school teacher. Annabeth has been helping him keep up with his homework, and it's great to be able to use that time to get to help him and see him all at once.

She's at Columbia, in the Architecture program. She loves school, and she loves being close to Percy too.

They are at a swim meet now, actually, where Percy has just set a record for his new team. After he comes out of the locker room, Annabeth dashes down the bleachers, throwing herself into his arms and kissing him.

"Hi," he murmurs against her lips, pulling back enough to grin at her and say, "I love you."

Annabeth grins too, and she can't think of anything that's more perfect.

[annieisyourfavourite]

This is my part of my dual project with @rickastromega for the PJO Mini Bang!! You can read his part here.

I’m sorry this was so late! My life has been so incredibly busy lately. But I loved doing this, as this is a piece I’ve had in my mind that I’ve had for a while. I hope you all like it!!

[allarica]

“ Jason could feel an air of death about this girl, and he guessed it was because she had killed more than a few men in her day. But that wasn’t what scared him the most; what scared him even more than her confident air was how quickly her eyes scanned him up and down. It seemed like a million thoughts were pinging around that head of hers like wasps in an organized hive. “

companion art piece for @teamannabeth‘s fic,  All’s Fair in Neither  for the @pjohoominibang 

commission info just in case :D?

[purple-urself]

5 Times Will Hated Winter + 1 Time He Didn’t - Part 5

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4

A03

“This was a very bad idea.” Will says for what seems like the hundredth time that day. Shopping in New York was a bad idea. Shopping in New York the weekend before Christmas was an even worse idea. Shopping in New York the weekend before Christmas with three other demigods was the worst idea he’d ever heard. And yet.

“Quit your whining, Solace.” Lou Ellen says over the noise of the New York traffic and other pedestrians passing by. “It’s not been that bad.”

Not been that bad. Not been that bad?! Nico had insisted (against Will’s better judgement) to shadow travel himself, Will, Lou Ellen, and Cecil to New York for a shopping trip, and had promptly collapsed as they’d landed. The only reason why Will hadn’t dragged them all back to camp was because Nico had stayed conscious, and seemed to regain his health when Will had stuffed him full of as much ambrosia as was safe. That, and the fact he still needed to get presents for his friends, persuaded Will to let them continue with their plans.

That was his first mistake.

From there, things had only gone down hill. A bunch of Stymphalian Birds had attacked them near Central Park, a handful of Telekhines had accosted them near the Hudson River, and a minor God had tried to force them all to buy some sort of magical (and suspicious looking) hair replenishing potion, which clearly, none of them needed.

To make matters worse, Will had yet to figure out a suitable present for Nico. He wanted to get the son of Hades something he’d treasure; something sentimental, but nothing came to mind. Nico wasn’t the sort of person to hold much value in physical objects, despite his parentage. Even a year and a half after the war he still owned very little by way of personal possessions.

Today can’t get any worse, Will thinks miserably.

And then it starts to snow. Heavily.

Will looks up at the sky in defeat, he either has the worst luck in the world, or this is some sort of joke on Zeus’ part.

Cecil whoops in delight as the flurry of white fluff falls from the sky trying, in vain, to make a snowball. There’s not enough of the stuff for that. Yet. Will sighs deeply, looking around for some kind of shelter, spotting a coffee shop in the distance.

“We should go and get warmed up.” He suggests, glancing at Lou Ellens shivering hands, and Nico’s red nose.

“Actually.” Cecil says, giving up on his attempted snowball making. “Me and Lou were thinking we could go ice skating at Rockefeller.”

Will and Nico glance at each other, instantly making the same decision.

“Pass.” They both say at the same time, much to the amusement of Lou Ellen.

“Oh, well,” She says, a dangerous look in her eye that never ends well for Will. “I guess you guys could just go for coffee together. We’ll meet you there in an hour.”

Damn her and her conniving ways; she was trying to set them up.

“Err, actually…” Will starts, not really sure where this was heading. “We should… we should all warm up! You two will catch your deaths if you stay out here any longer.” He shoots Lou Ellen a meaningful glare.

“Nah, it’s okay Doc.” Cecil chips in, a slight smirk on his lips. “Even if we do get the sniffles, you can fix us right up.”

Will gapes at the traitor standing before him. They were in this together, had it all planned out from the start!

The son of Apollo glances at Nico, one last attempt at stopping this… this… whatever it was, from happening. The son of Hades wasn’t looking at him, but frowning at the coffee shop down the street. When he catches Will’s eye, he just shrugs and looks down at the snow collecting on the ground.

“Okay then, we’ll see you guys in an hour.” Lou Ellen declares, looping her arm through Cecil’s and dragging him off into the snowstorm.

As soon as they’re out of sight Will turns to Nico, who is finally looking at him.

“Shall we?” He asks, trying for nonchalance but missing slightly. Nico rolls his eyes, not unkindly, and they set off down the street.

——-

The coffee shop is cozy and warm, at least compared to the harsh weather outside. Will vaguely wonders how on earth Lou Ellen and Cecil will be able to skate out there, but quickly realizes they probably aren’t skating. It was an excuse to leave him and Nico alone, and a damn obvious one at that. He’s going to kill them both when they get back to camp.

Though him and Nico have already confessed their mutual attraction to one another, they hadn’t acted on their feelings, purely because Nico wasn’t ready for any sort of commitment. If Will was being honest with himself, he hadn’t been either, but recently that had changed.

Being friends with Nico was challenging to say the least. He was, of course a great person, and an amazing hero to boot, but there was a lot of things he didn’t know about Nico yet. There were days, and even weeks, where Nico wouldn’t say even half a sentence to him, for reasons he had yet to divulge. The son of Hades would sometimes up and leave camp, scrawling a hasty note explaining he was going to the Underworld or Camp Jupiter for a while. He actively avoided talking about the both the Titan and the Giant wars, which definitely wasn’t healthy.

But despite all these things, Will couldn’t help but feel that he, at least, was ready to take the next step in their relationship. He felt like the friendship they’d had over the past year and a half had helped them both learn about each other. He’d learned about Nico’s aversion to physical contact, his absolute determination when it came to defending his allies, and his complete dorkiness over Mythomagic. In turn, he’d shown Nico his stubbornness when dealing with patients, his insecurities over his meager powers, and his overwhelming desire to learn every single lyric of every single Disney song ever, a feat not easily achieved.

A mug was slammed down in front of him, making him jump. Will shook himself out of his current train of thought, blinking up at Nico questioningly.

“Sorry.” Nico says, not looking at all sorry. “I got you a hot chocolate.” He gestures towards the hot chocolate, which had tiny marshmallows floating around in it. He smiles brightly, lifting the still too-hot drink and smelling the sweet aroma it gave off.

“I love the tiny marshmallows.” He says absentmindedly.

“I know.” Nico replies, taking a sip of his own drink without even flinching. “That’s why I got them for you.”

Will’s smile gets impossible brighter.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

After that, their afternoon in the coffee shop is exceedingly pleasant, not that he would be thanking Lou or Cecil any time soon, but Will can’t deny the hopeful butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

[teamannabeth]

All’s Fair in Neither (Pt. 1)

This is my entry to the PJO/HoO Mini-Bang. It’s not done yet, due to the fact that school got in the way of writing this piece. There is an accompanying piece by @allarica that will be up shortly.

All’s Fair in Neither Length (of pt. 1): 4.5k

Summary: WWII AU. Royal Air Force pilots Jason Grace and Will Solace have less than a week to get vital information about enemy movements to their superiors before the planned invasion at Normandy. The only problem is: their plane has been shot down, and the only people who can help them are two beautifully violent French Resistance fighters, Piper and Annabeth. A plan to get the information to HQ seems to be going smoothly until a stray German soldier, Nico, discovers the four of them. Will seems to know from Nico from his past, and lines are blurred as to who’s on who’s side as the five of them race against time to inform British High Command of the incoming reinforcements. 

June 2, 1944

Staring out into the black night ahead of him, Jason was seriously beginning to wonder why he was running a reconnaissance mission at just after three o’clock in the morning. His surroundings weren’t just pitch black; the sky was a physical, liquid force that he was flying through. It was pure, obsidian velvet, smooth and cool to the touch with obvious signs of weariness. And, after nearly five years of war, Jason couldn’t blame the clouds for looking as thing as they did, barely reflecting any of the lights of the tiny French villages below them.

Truth be told, Jason didn’t miss Corsica all that much. The tiny, sheltered air base on that island some three hours south was not home, nor was it the front lines. Jason was supposed to be a leader, for Christ’s sake. An ace with more Nazi planes under his belt than square meals. But no. His overprotective father had sent him to a glorified spy school where he learned how to shoot things with a high-powered camera rather than high-explosive rounds.

It wasn’t that he hated his position, it was just that he felt that he had been sheltered from a duty to his country; from a sacrifice he should’ve been able to make for the people he loved, a debt he was itching to pay. He didn’t understand how taking photos of the French countryside in the middle of long, boring nights, over and over again would help him satisfy that hunger.

But this morning, something had changed. He could feel it in the air as it passed through his propellers. He could feel it in the pedals beneath his feet. Something was wrong.

His spotter, who had been lying still, looking through an observation port in the floor of the fuselage for the past ninety minutes or so, broke the silence with a sharp cuss.

Jason’s eyes caught on a streak of bright blonde hair slightly behind him and he turned, almost holding his breath as Will reported.

“Jay, I’ve got something. Charles, exactly where are we right now?”

Will addressed the last comment over his shoulder, and the deep, gruff voice of their engineer and navigator, Charles Beckendorf, answered with a string of coordinates.

“We’re ten miles south of Caen, Will. What do you have?”

Will’s brows were scrunched in a mixture of excitement, fear and quasi-anger. He handed Jason a slip of hastily developed photo paper with multiple bright shapes circled in black.

“Panzer division. The same one we saw two days ago. They’ve split off into two groups, and I count twenty-five of them heading North. They’re stationary right now but they’ll hit Caen tomorrow and reinforce the entire northern coast of the channel.”

Jason swallowed hard. All three of them knew of the last-ditch operation that was scheduled for the coming Tuesday. It had been thrown around in reverent whispers and excited eyes and none of it seemed real. Now, Jason thought, it was too real. Much too real.

Will turned expectantly between Charles and Jason. “You know what this means, right? We have to get to base as fast as possible–”

Crrrrack!

The plane jerked and shuddered, yawing left and pitching nose-down. Jason kicked himself mentally for being too caught up in the first piece of action they had had in months, and didn’t see the two anti-aircraft positions just in front of them.

Jason’s hands flew over the controls, but there was nothing he could do. He scanned the growing bouquet of flashing warning lights and his heart sank. He could almost see his father’s angry, disappointed glare in the neon red glow.

“Parachutes!” Will screamed. “We’re still high enough!”

Jason shot one hand under his seat and removed his parachute but left it in his lap, still fighting for control. Charles had opened the rear hatch and Jason could hear the wind howling behind him, choking his ears. Using all his remaining focus, he shouted, “Go!” as loud as he could.

Two seconds later, another ear-splitting bang! came from the back of the plane, and Jason looked behind him just in time to see Charles’ unconscious body fly out of the plane, engulfed in the explosion of a second round hitting the tail. He couldn’t see Will, but he still bellowed his name, and all the blood rushed out of his face. Quicker than ever before, he slipped one arm through the parachute and made his way to the door in the rear of the plane and jumped, slipping his other arm through the pack just before the black night air completely discombobulated him.

***

Jason didn’t feel any less sick to his stomach when he landed on solid ground. He had his pistol with him, and he checked that it was working, but he might as well been running around naked, screaming out his position.

He could see the burning wreckage of the plane as two bright orange dots in the azure moonlight. He had landed in between them in the middle of a plot of wheat on the edge of town, and was crouched behind a hay bale. He couldn’t see anything but the blackness of the night and the agile flames that had ruined his life in thirty seconds.

Suddenly, he heard a crunching sound to his right. He whipped around and saw Will’s unmistakable blonde hair. 

“Damn, I thought you were a Jerry.” Jason exhaled as Will crouched behind Jason’s hay bale. Even in the dim light, Will’s crystal blue eyes looked shattered, and Jason suddenly remembered Charles’ limp body flying out the exit hatch.

“Is he–” Jason started.

“Jay, I couldn’t find him. I don’t think he made it, Jay. Jay, I don’t think he made it. I don’t think–”

“Hey!” Jason gripped Will’s shoulder hard. It was almost impossible for Jason to listen to Will when he was talking like that. He was fighting to keep the tears back himself as Will’s eyes started dripping. “You’re not hit, I’m not hit. Charles is a steady lad. We can find him.”

“In this light?” Will squealed.

“Shh!” Jason hushed. Both of them were silent for one second, two seconds–

The first bullet snapped through the hay just over Will’s head. 

“Bollocks!” Jason groaned. He drew his pistol and so did Will, crouching even lower.

“What do we do?” Will asked. Jason had always been the leader of the three of them.

“We can either wait it out and hope they don’t find us, or we can sneak through the woods and head for Caen; hide in plain sight.”

They made a quick, stern eye contact and both of them realized it would be futile to try to outlast the enemy on their grounds. Jason braced his shoulder against the hay bale, and to his surprise, it moved forward. 

“Use the hay bale for cover!” Jason grunted. “We can push it, roll it until it’s safe to move!”

On Jason’s signal, they leaned into the roll of wheat and heaved, moving it down the slope of the farm field at a pace quick enough to surprise the German soldier firing at them. Jason heard orders being shouted and the pace of the fire coming at the two of them increased.

Jason and Will kept pushing forward until they hit the edge of a street. The Germans were firing at them from inside a building, with the lights on behind the windows. Will whipped around the edge of their mobile cover and shot a few rounds into the building, stopping the fire. Jason sprinted for the edge of the house and heard two screams. He saw Will still firing and knew he had hit his mark.

For a few moments, it was eerily silent. The rustle of Will’s uniform almost echoed through the dark street, and Will tapped Jason on the shoulder. They moved in sync across an intersection, where they spotted the last of the patrol men they had alerted, his eyes scanning the dimly lit road for Jason and Will.

Will crossed the street back alone, positioning himself for a better shot. Jason crouched behind the wall of an abandoned tavern as he heard the crack! of Will’s pistol. The soldier’s body slumped heavily onto the curb.

It had been so long since Jason had been in a firefight, and he was almost high off of the adrenaline. He felt like he was made of liquid electricity. Just as he was about to congratulate Will, the silence was broken by the the unmistakable sound of a rolling tank.

Jason heard the metal tracks creaking against the road. His breath hitched; this was all happening so fast, he barely had time to react. He knew that with a tank, several soldiers would be trailing behind. He wanted to signal Will to hide with him, so they weren’t split up, but it was too late. The tank was rolling right for them. He decided to throw caution to the wind, and as he was about to hiss to Will to run, the tank abruptly stopped. The soldiers behind the tank rushed forward.

Jason could hear the scuffle of arms and punches being thrown.

“Jay!” Will called. He sounded like a lost child at a park. Jason leapt up, running to help Will, but he realized after trying a few steps that he wasn’t moving forward. He was being held back by strong arms behind him.

The next thing he knew, something heavy and hard had hit him in the back of his head, and he was being dragged back into the abandoned house he had taken cover behind.

***

“Next time, do you think you could manage to hit him a little harder? I want to see if you could knock his head clean off his shoulders.”

Jason would have found that sentence disturbing if it hadn’t come from such a light and airy accent, like a cross between a circus master and a leprechaun.

“Michael.” A female voice sighed. This voice had an accent Jason would have considered ‘confused,’ because it was somewhere between American and French. Or maybe he expected a French accent to sound as thick as cigarette smoke.

“What?” Michael retorted. “Sure, his shoulders are broad but I’d bet a few quid if you tried again it’d fly off like you were hitting a four in cricket!”

“Michael!” This time two voices reprimanded the leprechaun, and Jason couldn’t get a fix on the second.

“I think he’s cute.” The second voice noticed, amused. Jason thought this voice was a lot more French, drifting and dragging over him like a fold of silk in one of his dad’s old suits.

Jason wanted to open his eyes to see who the third speaker was, but when they tried to flutter open, every nerve ending on his entire face blew up like he had fallen flat on top of a bowl of acid. He wanted to shout for help but all that came out was:

“Uhhhhhhh.”

The third speaker giggled, and Jason felt a cold cloth pass over his eyelids. Then he heard something in French that reminded him of when his mother would tell him to go to sleep, just before she would start drinking. It would be the only calm thing she would say before drowning a maelstrom of booze and her own emotions. Jason could feel the cold water from the cloth running over his eyelids like tears and he finally exhaled a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.           

***

When he awoke again, his eyes opened without as much pain. He could see around the room he had been dragged into. It looked like a room that had been made to look as presentable as possible after a grenade had been tossed through the window. There was a brown leather chair with obvious shrapnel marks and the base of each wall was lined with glass dust that had been swept into the corners. There was a defunct bar with no seats against one of the walls and when he looked at himself, it appeared that he was resting on a couch with more than a dozen of bullet holes in it.

How long ago had that been? How long had he been out?

How long had he been dozing peacefully while Will had been taken captive? How long had he taken a nap while Charles had lain bruised and broken and most likely dead in a field somewhere outside Caen?

How long did he have to transfer the photographs in his pocket to London?

Jason sat bolt upright. It was a good thing that the leprechaun had been agile or else they would have had a smashing of heads as strong as any pair of rams.

“Whoa there, fly-boy!” The Irish accent rolled off his tongue with such poise that Jason was tempted to smile. It was the only familiar thing he knew in a sea of so much pain. He didn’t know vertebrae could hurt this much, now that they were bearing a little bit of his weight.

“Sorry.” Jason murmured.

“You better be, you almost knocked me out, you crazy English—”

“Michael!” One of the girls called.

“Is that the only word they ever say to you?” Jason asked. Michael turned his intense tawny eyes back on Jason’s and fixed a murderous glare.

Even though he stood barely four and a half feet off the ground, Michael was by far the scariest person Jason had ever seen. His brown hair was spiky as if it stood on end out of pure ire, and his eyes were light enough to be more muddled orange than brown, and Jason thought if Michael got any angrier his eyes would turn red.

Jason heard footsteps approaching, but didn’t dare move his eyes from Michael’s for fear of the leprechaun’s stare boring holes into his cheek. When the footsteps fell silent, he couldn’t help but turn and look at who’d walked into the room.

Jason quickly revised his ‘scariest person he’d ever seen’ statement. The girl standing at the foot of the couch seeped power and determination. Her piercing steel eyes gave Jason goosebumps and her straw-blonde hair, tucked neatly into a dark blue beret, seemed like it deserved to be flecked with the blood spots of dead soldiers; either German or Allied. Jason could feel an air of death about this girl, and he guessed it was because she had killed more than a few men in her day. But that wasn’t what scared him the most; what scared him even more than her confident air was how quickly her eyes scanned him up and down. It seemed like a million thoughts were pinging around that head of hers like wasps in an organized hive.

“You are British, by your uniform. Myself and my colleague,” the blonde gestured behind her towards the other room, which looked like a dining hall. “are Resistance fighters. Michael here,” she pointed to the leprechaun, “is Irish. We keep him around for amusement and he makes sure that none of our team gets killed.”

Jason almost smiled. He could, maybe, come to like this girl.

“Hey!” Michael protested. Jason ghosted a smug grin at Michael before turning back towards the girl. All pretense of playfulness had left her eyes.

“You and however many co-pilots you….had on the other hand,” the girl murmured, an intimidating leisure to her tone. “Are not part of that group. And the way you went about waving your pistols like madmen attracting every German and the Wolf to this part of the city, you won’t be in our company for long.”

Jason clenched his teeth, feeling the blood rush to his face. This was a test, and he knew it. He took a breath to regain his temper. This wasn’t the right fight.

“Why did you crash in Caen, and what were you doing so far into France? Most planes don’t go within a mile of the coast. Did you come from England, or from the South? How many others, besides your friend that was captured by the patrol, flew with you? And why, in the name of everything logical, did you decide to go about waving your pistols like madmen attracting every German and the Wolf to this part of the city?”

She clipped the words off like a machine-gun and the last question with an intense level of exasperation, her strange mixed accent punching him in the chest. He had questions of his own he still hadn’t asked yet, but the amount of power in this girl’s voice made him think that they could wait. There was something about this girl that reminded Jason of every commanding officer he had ever had: sharp, quick, and demanding.

“There were three of us. We flew up from Corsica to take surveillance of the Panzer divisions in this area and took a few photos before an anti-air position shot us down. I need to tell my headquarters about the fact that an entire division is reinforcing the Northern coast or the entire fate of the war could be at stake.”

Jason could hear the desperation rising in his own voice as he kept talking. The blonde girl locked eyes with his, and seemed to be asking herself whether she could trust Jason’s answer or not. Michael was staring at the two of them with one part disbelief, one part amusement, and one part curiosity.

The intensity in the girl’s stare and the silence in the room was becoming deafening, until it was all broken by a raucous peal of laughter emanating from the next room.

“The entire fate of the war?” The second girl’s voice asked playfully. Jason still couldn’t see her, but her voice was as rich as any pudding he’d ever had; her voice had layers like a harmonious chord, all weaving together into a beautifully thick French accent. He wondered who could possibly own a voice this interesting. Then he saw her.

Jason would say she looked like any girl from the South of France, he had seen girls from Marseille, and they’d never been this stunning. Her skin was pure caramel, and her hair was a dark chestnut. Her eyes were kaleidoscopes and Jason had been staring for too long.

He feigned a sudden spasm of pain in his head, tearing his eyes away from the mesmerizing girl’s and shutting them tight. He heard a soft chuckle.

“Unfortunately, my liege, it appears that you’re unfit to ride into battle.”

Jason blushed again, this time out of embarrassment. When he looked up again, the girl was holding out her hand. Jason shook it.

“My name’s Piper, and this is Annabeth.” She gestured to the blonde.

“I’m Jason, pleasure to meet you.” Jason nodded at Michael and Annabeth.

“We have been fighting underground since the Nazis took Paris in 1940.” Piper continued. “We found Michael in forty-two in a Church outside Calais a year later. We kill patrols, blow up tanks, sabotage bridges.”

Jason heard a quiet pride in her words, and he found that admirable coming from a person who had been so beat down and hunted.

“Unfortunately, our actions attracted the special attention of Bryce Lawrence, a nasty SS colonel who goes by the name of ‘the Wolf.’”

“Meaning he hunts the weak and leaves no scraps for the buzzards.” Michael interjected, spitting against the wall.

“Yes.” Piper’s voice trailed off for a moment. “But he’s found a new target: us. We’ve been running ever since, wounding his forces but never getting close to killing him. But now, with your co-pilot captured, he knows we won’t be far behind. He’s tracked us this far. You just happened to crash into kindling while it’s just started burning.”

“Bryce Lawrence?” Jason asked. “He doesn’t sound like a Kraut.”

“South African.” Annabeth’s sharp voice startled Jason. “Hitler has friends in strange places, apparently. Although I wouldn’t put it past a Dutch South African to fit in with that sort of crowd.”

“All I know is,” Piper commented. “He must have found this guy in a hellhole. I’ve never seen someone so reckless with human life. He’s more malevolent spirit than human being.”

“So,” Piper began. “I believe you were talking about the entire fate of the war. Got any thing to back that statement up?”

“Oh, uh, um, yeah.” Eloquent, Jay. He thought. He reached for his pack and Michael handed it to him. Annabeth had taken a few respectful steps back, her gaze still locked on Jason.

Slowly, Jason produced the photo Will had handed him moments before the first shell had hit. He remembered how excited Will and Charlie had been to finally have some action. He could feel a cold wind rising in his lungs and behind his forehead. He felt his breath hitch

“This–this is the photo my spotter produced.”

Jason paused. He could hear a voice, something like his father’s, saying:

They’re both either dead or captured, Jason. You failed them, you so-called ‘leader.’ You’ve killed them.

“Circled…circled are the tanks breaking off from the rest of the Western Army Group to head up to the coast. That’s a huge problem for…for the invasion plan.”

Jason’s voice trailed off. He could see Charles’ wild eyes as the plane was hit a second time. He heard the words of the secret invasion plan spill out of his mouth, but all he could see were Will’s tears, clear as nobody’s conscience as they rolled down his cheeks and onto the hay bale.

“…do with that information?” Michael asked.

“What?” Jason replied, shaking himself.

“I said, what do you intend to do with that information, Airman?”

Suddenly Jason realized how alone he was. “M-Me? Well, aren’t you all going to help me?”

“Why should we?” Annabeth asked, her face stony. “Why should we become another set of casualties in your war? We do not intend to die for your long-shot chance at recapturing France.”

“What about Will?” Jason found himself whimpering. “What about Charles? Don’t you want to help them? They could both be dead by now!”

“Will’s probably on his way to Dachau or Auschwitz. He’ll just have to be lucky enough to survive, I guess.” Michael mused apathetically.

Jason threw off the blanket the girls had draped over him and shoved Michael as hard as he could. He didn’t move Michael far because Jason was sitting, but Michael immediately blocked Jason’s next attempted strike, grabbing Jason’s arms and holding him still. Michael’s eyes seethed with rage.

“Oi, Englishman! You think I don’t want to go out there and slit German throats all day? You think I don’t lose sleep every night thinking about pumping Nazis full of hot lead?”

“Michael, calm yourself.” Annabeth’s voice was surprisingly soothing and even, causing the Irishman to loosen his grip. “Jason, this war has taken so much from us that can never be given back: cities, homes, people, family members, but most importantly, time. This war has taken time to get to where it is now and it will take even more time to get back to where it began. This war will not be won with one swift stroke by the mighty British fleet. It’s high time you start realizing that idea is an anachronism.”

“So you’re saying you’re not going to help me.” Jason muttered.

Piper’s eyebrows scrunched together in what could only be described as afterthought sympathy. “Jason, your war is not our war. Your war is something filled with heroic actions and headstrong decisions. Our war is attempting to regain some semblance of our idea of home.”

“Is it not your duty to regain your home land as quickly as possible?”

“Do not lecture us about duty!” Annabeth snarled. All four of them fell silent. Annabeth’s steel eyes looked cracked, and Jason began to notice little things about her assumedly perfect image that weren’t as perfect as he had originally thought: he could see subtle bags under her eyes and a slight slump in her shoulders. Jason knew these were not coincidences; almost everyone in Europe looked like that. Tired. Scared. All wrapped under a thin mask of bravery.

Annabeth slowly exhaled and reached up to grab her beret off her head. She ran her fingers over the dark blue fabric in what must have been a nervous tick. Jason noticed that at the front there was a small hole, as if something had been ripped off of the front of the hat. He had never known a Resistance fighter to wear a military beret before.

Annabeth must have noticed his gaze. “This beret is not official Resistance uniform, no. I took it from an old friend of mine. He…he is dead. He used to be a part of the Millice, who fought against the Resistance. I use it as a disguise so the German soldiers think I’m on their side.”

Jason looked at the floor to avoid making eye contact with Annabeth. He thought about how much they had had to do. How much he still had to do. He knew he had to get his information to headquarters, which was all the way in London. He knew that somewhere along that line, he would have to find and rescue both Will and Charles (if they were still alive). How he was going to do that alone, he had no idea. But at this point, anything was better than laying on a couch.

Jason looked up at Annabeth. “Where’s the nearest safe transmitting place I can find to send a telegram or call London without being listened in on or intercepted?”

Annabeth’s eyes went through a quick phase of incredulity before she replied. “There’s a Resistance-run phone in Ranville, about twelve kilometers northeast of here. It will be safe, if you tell them I sent you.”

Jason shifted up and winced in pain. He took a deep breath to gather himself and stood, taking a few moments to gather his balance. His insides felt jumbled and his head felt like the day after New Year’s, but he wouldn’t let himself sit again.

“My pistol?” Jason asked.

Piper walked over to the decrepit bar and brought the gun out of the drawer. She handed it to Jason carefully, her eyes still asking if he was sure about this.

“Thank you. For everything.” Jason addressed all three of them. “I’m sure we’ll be in touch sooner or later.”

Five minutes later, he was walking back onto the road he had been so anxious to get off of only a day before. That’s when he heard the scream.

@pjohoominibang Thank you for being so accommodating with deadlines and everything else that went wrong with this fic!! I hope to get the other parts up soon, as soon as I can get a break from studying.

[queenangst]

Neverland Chapter Four

by: achieving elysium  summary:

Dear Cho: It’s too bad I can’t be cheesy and say that when I look up at the stars, I feel reassured knowing that you would be looking at the same night sky or something... because admit it, we can’t see no stars. Besides, you’re brighter than any of them. 

chapter four (ffnet link) (I’ve given up on the Neverland chapter masterpost and will do one after the fic has been posted) (Chapters/Updates)

“We need to come back here sometime,” Percy mumbled, the words distorted and muffled by the food in his mouth. Geena gave him her best grossed-out look, and he almost choked on the bit of pancake he’d stuffed in his mouth; she looked exactly like Annabeth, from the arched eyebrows to the are-you-serious look in her eye. He coughed and took a swig of water.

“And their cups are environmentally friendly,” his friend commented, holding one up as if waiting for a toast. Percy grabbed his own, filled to the brim with strong black coffee, and they tapped their cups together.

“I’m going to be so relieved when I leave you guys,” Geena told them, but Percy was in a good mood. The daughter of Hermes seemed more relaxed, too, after yesterday. They’d had some fun last night, with nothing else to do on the car but talk and play stupid games – and the three had loosened up around each other a little, going from complete strangers to less-than-strangers.

Then again, it had been 3:00 AM in the morning, he thought. At that early, everyone was bound to do something that otherwise seemed ridiculous, things that would never be done while he was still sane.

Not that he was fully sane, anyway.

“Mmm,” Percy sighed, slumping slightly in the booth. He’d always loved pancakes, and while these weren’t as good as Mom’s (nothing was), they were delicious, chunks of gooey chocolate melting in his mouth. “Definitely coming back.”

Geena sipped at her tea – apparently not one for coffee, claiming she hated the bitter taste. He loved coffee, though. He bounced slightly in his seat, in a good mood; his body thrummed with energy, the caffeine working its way into his system.

“Can I get you guys anything else?” their waiter asked, and there was an edge to his voice. “More coffee or tea? Another stack of pancakes?”

Percy made a face, looking down at his quickly-disappearing pancakes with a stab of regret. “Might have to get some later.”

“How much can you eat?” Geena hissed in half-surprise, half-horror. “You’ve eaten, like, seven!”

“Four,” Grover corrected. “I took one of his.”

“You can have another one,” Percy offered, standing up and tugging his jeans up. “Hey, um, where’s the bathroom?”

The waiter’s – Dave – eyes flickered, and he pointed towards a hallway in the back of the diner. “Go down that hallway, and bathroom’s the last door.”

Percy nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Thanks.”

He felt like there was something missing, but Percy shrugged it off. He only needed a second, a second to escape from the busy diner and take a moment to breathe. He cast an eye around the small roadside diner as he walked. The entire diner was bright and homey, the walls an almost gold-like color. People chatted quietly as they ate, and a pair of young children ran around chasing each other.

He found the bathroom and stepped in. It was a stark contrast from the bright diner. It was small and dingy, the lights casting a blue-green glow. He stared at himself in the mirror hanging above the sink and walked over, turning the taps. They squealed as the water began running, and Percy ducked his head down and splashed some water over his face.

When he straightened, there was someone behind him, figure dark, though he figured it was probably the lighting.

“Uh, sorry,” he said, stepping to the side – there was only one sink.

“I’ve been searching for you, Percy Jackson.” A flash, and then Percy was staggering back against the wall, his vision filled with brightly-colored stars. In front of him loomed a dark shadow, features blurred – not enough to keep him from seeing a pair of glowing green eyes and a razor-sharp smile.

He reached for Riptide, struggling to think. “Don’t think I’ve ever met you before,” he managed to say, and Lamia smiled.

“Are you sure?” she crooned, and scaly fingers wrapped around his throat. She slammed him against the tile wall until the previously-unmoving ceiling began to spin in circles above his head. “I think you have.”

A faint memory of the two of them fighting, though it hadn’t lasted very long. “You’re uglier than I remember,” he gasped, fumbling for his pen. His fingers found nothing but dryer lint and empty space.

Lamia smiled as dread began to make its presence known. “Looking for this?” she asked, dangling Riptide from her fingers. She uncapped it, and three feet of deadly Celestial Bronze sprang from the pen.

“Shit,” Percy hissed, and he dove to the side just as the blade swung, biting into the tile wall behind him. He rolled to the side again as she struck again, his head aching. She’d hit him hard earlier when he hadn’t been paying attention, and now he was paying the price.

“How ironic it would be, to be killed by your own weapon.”

He had to get his sword back.

So Percy acted without thinking like he always did and did one of the most stupid things he’d ever done: he tackled Lamia.

It wasn’t like tackling his friends in a big bear hug after a year of not seeing them. His tackle was hard and fast, more like if he was a football player – minus the muscles, the shoulder pads, and the girlfriend. Definitely minus the girlfriend.

She let out a scream that was higher that any that of any opera singers’ highest notes; he was surprised when the mirror didn’t crack. It did crack when the two of them fell towards it, Lamia roaring something in half-Latin, half-Greek as he grabbed for the sword. He caught the words death and destruction somewhere in there.

Lamia was a daughter of Hecate, if he remembered correctly thanks to Annabeth and Chiron both pounding mythology in his head. And that meant that if she finished saying whatever she started, he was doomed.

Then again, he could be completely wrong – there were tons of monsters in the world, and pretty much all of them had some sort of tragic, complicated backstory. It was hard enough to remember all of the gods, let alone who was who.

“You know,” Percy ground out conversationally. “attacking other people isn’t very nice.”

He followed this statement up by grabbing her wrist and slamming it hard against the sink. She let go of the sword but retaliated, jumping at him in a mess of fangs and loud hissing. Her eyes glowed ominously, and he fell back as all the feeling in his left leg disappeared. It had turned numb and heavy – useless. She’d rendered him immobile.

“Out of all the things you choose to do, you choose this?” Percy asked, dodging a swipe of the claws. She caught the edge of his arm, and warmth rushed to the wound. He hissed in pain, ADHD working overtime. He kept his eyes on Lamia, but his brain absorbed all that was happening – the feeling creeping back into his limb and where Riptide was lying, only a few feet away.

Percy felt a tug in his gut, and his hand curled slightly as water exploded out of the plumbing. He clenched his fist, and Lamia went flying, the force of the water too much.

“It’s too bad you’re only fifteen,” Lamia growled, eyes burning with anger as she stood shakily, water dripping from her body and pooling on the ground. “You’re going to die today.”

“The only thing dying today is you,” Grover yelled, and a cup of hot, steaming coffee hit Lamia right in the face. A double attack. If he hadn’t been trying so hard not to die, he would’ve laughed.

Geena pressed herself against the wall and stared, wide-eyed, at the wailing Lamia. She made a half-shocked, half-scared noise as Percy reached Riptide, the hilt of the sword settling comfortably in his grip. Meanwhile, Lamia had recovered and was chanting something under her breath. A dark, heavy-looking mist appeared and crept across the ground; Percy jerked backwards and away from it as Lamia clawed at him again.

His injured arm burned, but his heart pounded as he swung the sword up and up, curving in a deadly arc as it cut past flesh and bone and green scales. She disappeared alongside the mist, and he sagged back on his forearms, gasping.

“What- what was that?” Geena asked, but Grover only knelt next to Percy.

“Thanks, man,” he told his friend. “You saved me from being turned into a demi-kabob.”

“Hand?” Grover asked, and Percy took Grover’s outstretched hand. The satyr slipped an arm around his shoulders and supported him as he staggered, leaning heavily to the right.

“Than-“ he began, but a racing pain shot up his left leg, fire licking through his veins. Riptide clattered as it hit the floor, and he heard Geena cry out when he stumbled again, body jerking in pain.

It was like anesthesia, the numbness before it wore off, leaving him in pain. He gritted his teeth and let out a breath, cursing Lamia in his head. She needed to go away and never come back.

“Dammit, Percy,” Grover swore under his breath, grabbing him tightly as his knees buckled and gave out from underneath him. “Why is it always you?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” he groaned. “It’s always me.”

Grover’s eyebrows came together at a point as he thought quickly; keeping Percy up as he fought against the pain, he looked over his shoulder at the concerned girl hovering behind them, hands over her mouth. She was breathing heavily, and he struggled to stand.

“Geena,” he said, and his voice cracked slightly. He cleared his throat and tried again, voice coming out stronger. “Geena, calm down.”

She shook her head, shivering. “Geena,” he called again. “Do you trust me?” Dark brown eyes met his own, and a slow nod followed. Good.

“Yes,” she said, voice barely above a whisper.

“Can you go back to the dining area and get a bag of ambrosia?” Grover asked, his own voice smooth and reassuring, though his eyes and tensed muscles betrayed him. “The golden stuff – they look like lemon bars.” Geena nodded, taking a deep breath and stumbling over to the door.

“Now what?” Percy asked, water seeping through his clothes. He willed himself dry with the flick of a wrist, his clothes drying within seconds. He repeated the action, and water zoomed across the floor, disappearing with a small gesture.

"I hope they don't mind," Grover said, staring at the half-broken sink. "Maybe we should leave before anyone notices, right?"

Percy laughed, stretching his arms upwards. His forearm gave a twinge of pain, and he winced as more blood gushed out of the wound. He'd forgotten about the cut on his arm, actually, but the adrenaline had begun to wear off - leaving Percy dead tired and aching all over.

"Can't we use the Mist?" he asked, and Grover shrugged.

"Do you have enough control over it?" he replied, and Percy thought about it.

"Well, don't you?"

Grover shook his head. "That's not my area of expertise and you know it, Percy," he warned, and he remembered a time Grover's lack of control had led to a rather, well... disastrous situation. It'd ended in them being kicked out of a restaurant, covered head-to-toe in half-eaten spaghetti.

"Well, I'm not too good at it, either," he admitted. "Chiron didn't teach me a lot about it like he taught Thalia."

"Too bad she's not here, huh?" Percy laughed.

"The one time we actually want her here, am I right?" They both laughed at their friend's extent, though they didn't really mean it. Thalia and Percy weren't always the best together - they tended to get a little destructive if rubbed the wrong way, but they were pretty tight. Or, at least as tight as cousins who saw each other in person maybe once or twice every few months could be. But then again, being demigods tended to form bonds a lot faster.

“I’m here,” Geena said quietly, slipping into the bathroom. She looked like she’d calmed down a bit. He grimaced; monsters were always the worst wake-up calls. “I brought the... ambrosia?”

“Thank the gods,” Percy sighed as Grover broke off a piece and handed it to him. He chewed and swallowed, relaxing as the taste of homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies burst on his tongue - no matter what happened, Mom’s cookies were always the best.

He could feel the pain disappear from his leg, and the blood flowing freely from his arm slowed as his skin began to knit itself back together. He scrambled up, his body adjusting as it healed.

Percy glanced at the broken sink and the smashed mirror hanging above it. The light flickered, and he prayed to the gods that they wouldn’t get into more trouble than they’d just been in.

“Let’s pretend that didn’t happen,” he said, bending over to scoop up Riptide and capping it, the sword shrinking into a ballpoint pen. Geena stared incredulously as he stuck it in his pocket, inspecting himself for damage. He didn’t look too bad, he decided, picking at half-dried blood. Not a lot of people would care, actually - they’d rather look away.

“Right,” Geena said, sounding like she was being strangled. “Right. Okay.”

“Back to breakfast, then,” Grover said cheerfully, ready to finish eating. He shrugged, and the three of them filed out of the men’s bathrooms as if this was all perfectly normal.

There was a man sitting in the booth where they’d been, patiently waiting for them. “Ah, took you long enough,” he said, scribbling something on a napkin in dark ink.

Good to see you’re still alive, Percy! Martha cried. Grover, too! Oh, is that Geena?

The snake twisted upwards, and dark eyes gleamed as she looked at the twelve-year old who was staring at the moving, hissing snakes attached to a pen.

She’s a cute one, your kid, though she doesn’t look like you at all, Hermes, George said, interested. She looks more like… an Apollo kid, maybe.

“An Apollo kid?” Hermes asked, shaking the pen in his fist. “Are you kidding me, George?”

“Oh,” Geena said, staring at her dad. Something seemed to click and make sense to her, a missing piece falling into place. “Oh.”

Hermes smiled. "Hey, kid," he said, and there was something on his face that Percy had never seen before, a feeling written there that he didn't quite understand. It was a dad thing, probably - he'd seen it a few times on Poseidon's face, though he wasn't sure what it meant.

"So you're... you're my dad," Geena said, and Grover nudged Percy. He gave Percy the look, like: hey, let's give them a moment.

Percy nodded. He didn't want to stick around, anyway, not to see this. They walked over to an empty corner near the door, trying to stay out of the way as Geena talked to her dad for what was probably the first time in her life.

"A diner of all places," Percy said, staring at the two. Geena looked upset at her dad, her face twisted and contorted with what looked like anger. He knew the feeling; it didn't surprise him one bit that Geena was mad. He'd be even more surprised if she hadn't been – after all, they were demigods.

"So, wanna guess what they're talking about?" Percy asked.

Grover rolled his eyes. "They're probably talking about what the demigod and the parent usually talk about, you know? The whole 'why weren't you here?' part and then the 'what about my life?' thing."

"I hate that I get what you mean when you say that," Percy mumbled finally, leaning back against the wall. Without thinking, he drew Riptide again and began to twirl it between his fingers. “I hate that Luke is right – to an extent.”

Thunder rumbled outside, and his lips thinned into a flat line. As if he’d heard it, too, Hermes looked up, his blue eyes meeting Percy’s from across the diner. Percy stared back, unflinching; he wasn’t about to give in. The room seemed to descend into a thick tension. He stiffened slight against the wall, and Grover put a hand on his arm.

Then the god’s attention turned back to his daughter, and Percy relaxed.

“You know I’m right,” he defended himself fiercely, and Grover nodded.

“I know, Percy,” he said. “Just be… careful about what you say. One day it’ll get you killed.”

He grinned despite himself. “That’s why you’re here,” he joked. “Otherwise, I would’ve been dead a long, long time ago.”

“What, is Annabeth chopped liver now?” Grover asked, and for some reason, that made Percy laugh.

“Nah,” he replied. “Annabeth provides brainpower and she saves our butts all the time.”

“True,” Grover said, and he turned in Hermes’ direction. “I think those two are done conversing.” Percy looked over; it did seem like Geena and her dad were finished talking.

“That’s our cue, then,” Percy noted as Hermes stood, offering a hand to his daughter. They walked together, and Hermes nodded at them in acknowledgement.

“I’ll leave you two to your breakfast,” he told them once they’d stepped into earshot. “I’ll take Geena to Camp Half-Blood.” A rush of relief, followed by a wave of confusion.

“But… you can’t-“ he started.

“-interfere with-“ Grover tried to finish. Hermes waved them both off.

“Times have changed, Percy, Grover,” he said, and he sounded his age for a moment, thousands upon thousands of years old, centuries spent watching the world change around him. “I will not lose another child.”

Percy swallowed back the bitter taste that rose in his mouth. “Yeah.”

Hermes gave them a sharp nod and tossed a small backpack onto the table. “Something to help you,” he explained, seeing Grover’s curious look. “And here, Percy–“

He paused and dug through his pockets, searching for something.

If Martha could roll her eyes, she would’ve. It’s in your messenger bag, Hermes, she complained. In the front pocket.

Right next to our next meal, George added. And a few pencils.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hermes muttered, digging through the bag at his side and finding an envelope. It was small and blue, with one corner half-folded. He smoothed it out and held it up to the light, squinting at the writing on the front. “Ah, yes.”

“Uh, Lord Hermes?” Percy prompted.

“Here,” Hermes said, pursing his lips in thought. He handed Percy the small envelope, and he ran his fingers over it. It seemed familiar.

"It's a letter. For you."

"Oh," Percy said, already distracted. "Thanks."

Hermes winked. "I'm the messenger god, Percy. Gotta do my job."

"Are you leaving?" Grover asked. "Is that about it?"

Hermes nodded, lifting a hand in a goodbye. "Hope to see you again," he said gravely, putting a hand on Geena's shoulder. Then he disappeared in a brilliant flash of light, the two people gone before he even knew it.

"So what's the letter? Who's it from?" Grover asked as they sat back down, Percy shoving Hermes' backpack out of the way. He flipped it over to the front, biting his lip. There was no sender - in fact, there was nothing written on the envelope itself. He shrugged. Hermes wouldn't trick him, not like this, and if he had, then it probably wouldn't kill him.

Probably.

"I... have no idea," Percy said haltingly. "I guess we'll just have to find out, right?"

He grabbed one of the knives sitting around on the table and slid it under the flap, ripping the top open. Inside was a slightly crumpled-looking paper; he took it out and opened it.

"Oh," he muttered, a memory dawning on him. "I know what this is."

"What?" Grover asked, and Percy scanned over the messily-written letter, smiling to himself.

"It's a letter," he started, and Grover faceplanted into the table dramatically.

"No, Percy," he drawled, lifting his head from its position on the table. "but what is it?"

"It's a letter to me... from me."

His friend didn't say anything for a while, choosing to stare at him blankly. He ran a critical eye over the letter and read through parts of it. A few phrases seemed to pop out of the paper: remember... don't give up... hope...

"From you," Grover said.

"From me," he repeated. "I totally didn't just tell you that, Grover."

He sighed. "I don't understand," Grover elaborated, running a hand through thick, curly hair and momentarily exposing the horns that spiralled upwards from his head. "You wrote a letter to yourself?"

Percy nodded. "It was... an assignment, I think," he explained. "in fifth grade, I think?"

He set the letter down before continuing, resting his chin in his hands. "We were supposed to write these letters to our future selves and put a date on the envelope. When that day would come, we would open it to see what our younger selves had written. Make sense?"

"Uh huh."

"I don't know why, but I loved it," he confessed. "I remember finishing the letter and feeling like... like I was doing something for my future. Like even if I was kicked out of school again or Mom lost her job or Gabe-" he cut himself off, wincing. "even if bad things happened, the letters would stay the same. So I kept doing it. I kept writing myself letters - especially once I learned about my, uh, demigodishness... so I wouldn't forget any of it."

He swallowed and met Grover's eyes, a familiar dark brown. "I wrote this last summer. Summer four. When I left from the fireworks show early even though there were the three of us?"

“So that was why you ran off.” Grover snapped his fingers in understanding. "Why didn't you tell us about it?"

Percy picked at the edge of the table and sucked on his teeth. "It wasn't something I wanted to share at the time," he clarified. "You... you can read it now, if you'd like."

"You sure?" Because even though Grover could read his emotions, even if they'd been best friends for years and years and knew each other as well as they knew the backs of their hands, there were some things they'd never understand about each other. Giving Grover this letter would be like giving him an insight into his mind, a window to the soul. A letter, made of nothing but words written in dark ink.

 He swallowed. "Yeah." He held the letter towards Grover before he could think twice. "Go ahead."

 "Dear Percy," Grover read, and then he laughed. "or... me, I guess."

"If you're reading this, I guess you're still alive. That's good. Living is always a good thing to be - a demigod, not so much.

I'm scribbling this after the fireworks show in the dark; I think Grover and Annabeth are a little bit mad I ditched them, but I'll rejoin them at the campfire. We have time, the three of us - don't forget that. We've got forever - we are forever. Our bodies are mortal, I guess - but that friendship is immortal.

I hope you haven't lost faith in yourself. I hope you're okay - hope you're still holding on. Don't let go quite yet - you still have a future in front of you. Please don't give it up, me. You. Whatever. There are so many things worth living for.

I don't know what I’m writing right now. You’re probably laughing while you read this; it’s a mess. I think this letter's going to be a reminder, though. Stuff Mom used to tell me. Keep your head up. You're alright. You've got your friends and your family. All those summers weren’t for nothing.

I gotta go…” Grover’s voice faded as he finished reading the last few lines, but Percy didn’t need to hear them. He’d memorized those words, etched into his brain like the way he’d scribbled them onto paper, as hard as that letter had been to write.

“You wrote this,” Grover said softly, folding it back up carefully and picking up the envelope.

“Yeah,” Percy heard himself say, and his voice cracked. “I wanted to write that one so I wouldn’t forget what…” He chewed on his lip in thought, words tapering off. There was a reason Hermes had given him the letter, and he had a feeling he knew what it was.

“What?”

He started, fingers dragging across the table surface. “Huh?”

“So you wouldn’t forget what?”

Percy shrugged nonchalantly, though he knew Grover could see past the wall, could read the hidden meaning in his posture and his face, in his very being.

He smiled wryly and took the letter in the small blue envelope, folding it in half then in half again before tucking it in the pocket over his heart. “So I wouldn’t forget what I was fighting for.”

Beside them, their waiter cleared their throat, and Percy almost leapt out of his seat. “Did you want to order something or not?”

He looked at the empty plates, and his stomach grumbled in reply. “Uh, do you guys offer anything to go?”

[pariskid]

this au fanfic was written for the pjo/hoo minibang! i hope you enjoy it! ^^

(collab partner: @hellazhang :) keep your eyes out for their contribution!)

[rickastromega]

Drown

in collaboration with @annieisyourfavourite

she might have her part in her blog

Cold and despair. Those were the two first things that came into Percy’s mind as the darkness around him engulfed him into the nothingness. So complex and yet so simple these two words represented more than Percy let on, with his friends, with his family. After falling into Tartarus it wasn’t a surprise that if you came back you would be scarred for life; funny thing is that before, he felt invincible, nothing could beat him thanks to the curse of Achilles. No one knew where was his weak spot but Annabeth, and he knew that she would take that secret to the grave if it was possible.

After the second Titan war he thought nothing could go wrong, that maybe everything would go well, that maybe the Fates would cut him some slack.

He didn’t had such luck, because before he knew it, Hera kidnapped him, erased his memories and kept him captive for six months, six months of his life he would never get back, six months of his family and friends being worried about him, six months of Annabeth looking for him like a madman, six months that caused so much hurt and sadness in other’s life because if him.

But now, he was vulnerable, with the curse gone thanks to the little Tiber, he felt that he was being reckless with his fighting, he became lax and undisciplined; he hated it.

When everyone reunited together and they formed a team, it seemed right. it all spiraled down when he and Annabeth fell into Tartarus.

Percy tried to fight to go up, to the surface,but something kept pulling him down, further and further the strange force started to drag him down with every struggle he tried to get free and escape, he fought and fought and in a desperate attempt he started lashing his sword trying to cut the strange lazes that kept dragging his feet down into the darkness and it just the blink of a second it was the muskeg all over again. He started to feel the water around him pushing him, a pressure he never felt before overwhelmed him and all the struggle he had started vanishing, his mind fogging my and his limbs starting to feel numb.

He reached the bottom and hit the cold muddy floor, his vision started to blur and blacken until all he could see was a speck of light, the surface above him, he didn’t have the strength to fight nor the willpower to do it.

Athena said that he would do everything to save a friend, but maybe, he could be selfish for once, couldn’t he?

Cold and calmness. Those were the two things that crossed Percy’s mind at the bottom as the darkness engulfed him.

[pozzi-it-wasnt]

A second drawing for my collaboration !with the talented @sarnirah

"Annabeth dropped her stuff on her desk, giving a loud sigh as she went to shut the window. She grabbed for the panel, and her hand slipped right through."