Annabeth to Percy

Annabeth's POV

Exactly an hour after the battle had ended, I walked up onto the dining pavilion with a misshapened blue cupcake in hand. Percy was sitting there, at his table, all alone. I crept up beside him and sat next to him on the bench seat, so close that I could faintly hear his heart beating.

"Hey. Happy Birthday," I said.

"What?" Percy said, utterly confused

"It's August 18th, you're birthday, right?" I asked him, even thought I knew that I was right, "Make a wish."

"Did you make this yourself?" he asked me, trying to be impressed.

"Tyson helped."

"That explains why it looks like a chocolate brick with extra cement on top."

I laughed.

"A few moments later, Percy blew out the candle. We broke it in half and shared it. We sat side by side, looking at the ocean. It was completely quiet, except for the sound of crickets and monsters in the woods.

"You saved the world," I said.

"We saved the world," Percy corrected.

"And Rachel is the new Oracle, which means she won't be dating anybody."

"You don't sound disappointed," Percy said smugly.

I shrugged. "Oh, I don't care."

"Uh-huh"

I raised one of my eyebrows. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?"

"You'd probably kick my butt."

"You know I'd kick your butt."

Percy brushed the cake off his hands, making the crumbs off his hands, making the crumbs fall onto the table, looking like snow offset by the dark wood.

"When I was in the River Styx, turning invulnerable… Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, the one thing that made me want to stay mortal," Percy said.

I kept my eyes on the horizon. "Yeah?"

"Then on Olympus," Percy said, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking-"

"Oh, you so wanted to." I said.

"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought- I didn't wasn't things to stay the same for eternity, because everything could always get better. And I was thinking…"

"Anyone in particular?" I asked, my voice now soft.

Percy looked at me.

"You're laughing at me," He complained.

"I am not!"

"You are so not making this easy for me"

Then I laughed for real, and I put my hands around his neck. "I am never going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."

Then I kissed him. All the butterflies in my stomach fluttered all at once, but it wasn't nervousness. It was love.

I could've stayed that way forever, except a voice behind us growled, "Well, it's about time!"

Suddenly, the pavilion was filled with torchlight and campers. Clarisse led the way as the eavesdroppers charged and hoisted us both onto their shoulders.

"Oh, come on!" Percy complained. "Is there no privacy?"

I was thinking the same thing.

"The lovebirds need to cool off!" Clarisse said with glee.

"The canoe lake!" Connor Stoll shouted.

With a huge cheer, they carried us down the hill, but they kept us close enough to hold hands.

I was laughing, and Percy laughed too, his face was as red as a tomato, just like mine.

We held hands right up to when they dumped us on the water.

Afterward, Percy had the last laugh. Our friends kept waiting for us to come up, but hey- when you're with the son of Poseidon, you don't have to hurry.

And that was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time. When we pulled apart, I said, "Happy Birthday, Seaweed Brain." He pulled me pack into a kiss.