Sick girlfriends are so not my area of expertise. I'd much rather take on a dozen dracaena, or another hydra, or the Minotaur (again.) To be honest, saving Olympus might have been less stressful.

But insteadof a nice, cozy bed at eight on Saturday morning, I was weaving in and out of traffic on the way to Annabeth's boarding school. My hair was half-brushed, which I was sure she'd scold me for, and my clothes were rumpled. I would have preferred several more hours of sleep to prepare for a nice brunch, but my date also happened to be the head architect of Olympus. Being the center of godly activity and all, reconstruction couldn't simply run on a nine-to-five, Monday-through-Friday work week. I was lucky to be seeing Annabeth at all this weekend, even if it meant stopping by with her early to check on the construction.

Rubbing a hand across my hair, I parked Paul's car in front of Annabeth's boarding school. The sidewalk where I'd met Annabeth before was already crowded. Figured. At a school like this, Annabeth couldn't possibly be the only super-geek. They were all probably on the way to study sessions in the library or something.

But as I shut the car door and started over, I couldn't spot her anywhere. I stood on my toes, hoping to catch a glimpse of blonde curls. No such luck. I sighed, pulling out my emergency cell. There's a lot of people here. Maybe I should go somewhere else, in case a monster catches my-

OOF. The breath flew out of me, and I staggered backwards. Instinctively, I fumbled for Riptide.

"Ooh, Annabeth was right. You are cute."

My attacker, a short, sturdy girl with dark hair and skin so pale she could've been a ghost (and trust me, Ive seen plenty) straightened up, and held out her hand. After a few bewildered moments, I shook it.

"I'm Brooke, Annabeth's roomie. I'm sure we'll get along just fine. C'mon."

I weighed my options. It didn't look like Annabeth was going to meet me here. Plus, Annabeth's school campus was huge, and I probably would've gotten lost. I had no choice- I'd have to follow her.

Brooke darted through the crowds. It took some effort, but I managed to keep up. We bobbed and weaved until we made it to a side door and skirted up some stairs. They let out onto a carpeted hall.

Brooke turned to me as we slowed. "All-girls dorms. No boys allowed. Stick close to me. If we see any advisors, I'm claiming you threatened me at gunpoint.

I kept my head down, choosing not to argue. Silently, I wondered what was so important that I had to sneak military invasion-style into a girl's dormitory for. Worry built in my chest.

Finally, Brooke halted in front of one of the rooms. She planted her feet and spread her arms, oh-so-secretively blocking me from view as she kicked me inside. She followed me in and shut the door.

The sheer amount of books, papers, and blueprints spread across half of the room made it obvious that this was Annabeth's dorm. Her Yankees cap hung on a plastic Command strip hook next to her desk, where her Daedalus laptop hummed quietly. Her closet was brimming with orange camp shirts. Her bed was a mess, the blankets mounded into a heap on one side.

I glanced around the room. One thing was missing, though. "Ummm, where's Annabeth?"

Brooke pointed at the pile of blankets.

The pile moved.

Brooke sighed dramatically. "I thought this would be a job for the professional. She's been like this since last night, it just hit her all of a sudden." She crossed the room, plucking up a set of keys. As she passed, she poked into the wad of blankets. "Time to get up, hun. Your boyfriends here. And if you don't want him, I'll be happy to take him."

"Ugggggghhh. Five more minutes," Annabeth moaned, tossing a pillow half-heartedly. It missed her roommate's head, instead knocking over a stack of textbooks.

Brooke cleared her throat. "I'll be going now. Take care of our plague victim for me." She smacked me on the arm (which was supposed to be friendly, I guess, but actually hurt a lot) and danced out the door.

I crossed over and sat at the edge of Annabeth's bed. "You don't really have the plague, do you?" I peered into the fabric-y depths.

Annabeth emerged slightly. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was bright red. Her blonde curls were reduced to a disheveled frizz. "No, Seaweed Brain. I'm just sick." Her voice was groggy and thick. She turned over, facing me now.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "You could've called to cancel. I hate to break it to you, but 'brainiac zombie' isn't really my type."

Note to self: Annabeth can still make your insides shrivel up with a glare when she's sick. "I didn't want to use my phone; there was a Cyclops sighting in TriBeCa yesterday. Brooke dropped her cell phone in the toilet. Besides, I thought giving her your phone number would be a cruel and unusual form of punishment."

I grinned. "She kind of reminds me of Rachel. But what are you going to do about Olympus?"

Annabeth sighed. "I emailed Chiron and asked if he could get the message to my mom. I think they'll be okay for awhile without me."

She propped herself up a bit. She was wearing an oversized Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a pair of owl-print, fluffy pants. I found myself, smiling- that shirt looked an awful lot like one of mine.

She sneezed again, nudging me out of my thoughts. "I don't want you to get sick. I told her to tell you I couldn't come, not to bring you here. She's a decent roommate, but sometimes she gets... Difficult."

"You don't say," I laughed, "but are you okay?"

"I'm pretty sure it's just the flu, but apparently godly meds don't work for RNA viruses, so I'm stuck like this," she groaned, flipping over and burying her face in her pillow. "Go away."

"Annabeth, its my job to take care of you," I nudged her with my elbow. "I can't just leave you here alone."

"I could kick your butt anytime I want, Seaweed Brain. Even with the flu."

"Aw, c'mon. I brought soup," I offered hopefully.

Warily, Annabeth sat up all the way. "What kind?"

I held up the package. "Ramen?"

She smacked it out of my hand and pointed to the door. "Go get me some real food, then we'll talk."

A half hour later, Annabeth and I were curled up together on her bed with cartons of Chinese takeout. She practically inhaled a tub of sticky rice and half a carton of sweet and sour pork when she dropped her chopsticks. "Ooooh," she moaned, bolting off the bed and right out the door. I sat there, blinking.

When she came back, she was pale and shaking. "Thanks for holding my hair while I puked and prayed to porcelain gods. Great boyfriend skills," she said sarcastically, flopping back into bed and pulling her blanket up to her chin.

"Percy Jackson, defender of Olympus, conquerer of the Titan Lord Kronos, and holder of the title 'weakest stomach'. It wouldn't have been pretty for either of us," I told her, clearing away our brunch. I put an arm around her. Her head flopped wearily against my shoulder.

Annabeth grimaced. "You'd better hope you don't get sick too. I don't have enough tissues for the both of us."

She pointed to a box of Kleenex on the floor and I handed them to her. I spoke over the foghorn, "How were things on Olympus before this little..." I waved my hand around her, "detour?"

Annabeth sniffled. "Chiron gave some plans to Athena, but I really need to start working on those extra public restrooms. The last time Ares and Apollo got in a fight about the last stall, it set back construction by a week. I'm not sure we'll even be finished by the solstice, and Zeus was planning a big party."

She looked worried, and I patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you're doing fine."

Annabeth pursed her lips and blew her nose again, glancing over at her laptop. I knew she probably wanted to be drawing up plans and supervising Olympus' reconstruction, but right now, she didn't even look capable of holding a pencil steady.

Finally, she sighed. "Read me something."

"I can barely read to myself, Annabeth," I pointed out.

"I'm dyslexic too, remember?" She snorted, which led into a wracking cough. My eyebrows scrunched together. She took a few deep breaths.

"Pick something from there. Some of it's in Ancient Greek, and some is white-on-black text." Annabeth said, motioning to the tall bookshelf overflowing with paper and books, and was that a... football trophy?

Annabeth saw me looking at it and coughed, this time in embarassment. "I was kicker for the team in California. Pick something."

"I didn't know you were a football kind of person." I imagined Annabeth decked out in football gear, planning strategies and crushing the other team. I wondered if she'd kept any of her old gear. Now that, I'd have to see as soon as she got better.

Her ears reddened. "Shut up and just pick something."

Even though she was sick, I didn't doubt her ability to leap out of bed and strangle me. I slid off the bed and began skimming the shelf. On impulse, I grabbed a book, a small, green, leather-bound one. I turned it over, reading the cover. A piece of masking tape stretched across the front, labeled KEEP OUT.

"Not that, Seaweed Brain!" For a flu-riddled invalid, she sure could move fast. Annabeth scooted across the bed and snatched the journal from my hands.

"Dear diary," I mocked in a high voice, "I love Percy soooooo much. He's just so hot and sexy and amazing and-" Annabeth walloped me with the journal, giving me the death glare. I held up my hands in defeat.

Annabeth ran her fingers across the cover. "Gods, its been forever since I've opened this," she rasped, fingers hesitating over the clasp. "It belongs to- it used to be Luke's."

"Oh. When did he give it to you?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"He didn't," Annabeth frowned. "When we were twelve, after Luke left, I kind of stole it from his cabin. I don't think he missed it much."

She looked sad, and exhausted. Not for the first time, I wondered how much Annabeth was still bothered by what happened on my birthday. I was pretty mixed up about it myself, but I tried not to think about those things.

Annabeth turned the journal over in her hands, "I was going to give it to Thalia for her birthday. I'll just have to wait until Camp's winter session."

I slipped the book out of her hands and slid it back into its spot on the bookshelf. "Sounds like a plan."

Annabeth half-smiled at me, beckoning me back to her side. She pulled the blanket over both of us, and she curled up close against me.

Now, Annabeth didn't have many moments of cuteness. Warrior beauty, yes. But straight up adorable? This was a first.

"Tell me the myth of Perseus," she suggested, tucking her head under my chin.

I opened my mouth to protest that I couldn't tell her the myth (but not because I didn't read that book of Greek myths she gave me. That would be ridiculous.) Instead, I stuttered "Uhhh..."

She waited. I swallowed thickly. And then I smiled.

"Once upon a time-" I started, but Annabeth cut me off.

"Myths don't start with once upon a time, Seaweed Brain." She groped around for one of her textbooks, AP Literary Arts, and cracked it open to a section on the Odyssey. With a smoothness I knew meant she'd read this a few dozen times, she went over its beginning. I started again.

"Sing, O Muse, of the tale of Perseus, demigod son of a powerful god, Hero of Olympus," I intoned in a deep voice, and Annabeth nodded approvingly.

"Perseus was not the greatest of heroes. He wasn't very good at anything in particular, and he definitely wasn't the brightest demigod out there. In fact, he didn't even know he was a half-blood until he was twelve. His dad, Poseidon, didn't claim him until weeks later."

Annabeth caught on fast, smiling widely. I continued with gusto. "What started it all was when his math teacher turned into a demon, and everything changed. His teacher was a centaur and his best friend was half-goat. Even before he knew what was going on, he saw three old ladies cut a string on a very, very big pair of socks. Remember that," I added.

"Soon, Perseus was on the hunt for Zeus' favorite toy, the master bolt, with his satyr friend and another hero, the daughter of Athena, who should've hated him. Instead, they became good friends." Annabeth giggled, shaking her head at me.

"Perseus went on to sail the sea of monsters, defeat the Titan Atlas, and destroy the great Labyrinth. All with the help of his two best friends, and a few others, like his Cyclops brother and his cousins, the son of Hades and the daughter of Zeus."

"But when he was sixteen, things started getting screwy. Typhon was going to attack Olympus, and Kronos was going to take the throne again. Once more, Perseus fought with his friends to save the gods. He didn't think they'd make it. But in the end, they won."

"Only sometimes, it doesn't feel like it," Annabeth murmured, jarring me out of my story.

I thought about that. Then I nodded. "Perseus' friend was right. To save Olympus, they'd sacrificed their enemy - who, as it turned out, wasn't really all that bad. Remember those giant socks? The thread had been their enemy's. This made the daughter of Athena sad. Perseus was sad, too, but he was also angry."

"So he struck a deal with the gods. Things were gonna start shaping up for the demigods; no half-blood would ever have to be as clueless as Perseus had been. No one would ever have to wonder who their mom or dad was."

"And to make this deal, Perseus had to give something else up," Annabeth said quietly, pulling away to look at me. "The gods of Olympus offered to make him one of them. But he said no. Some people think he didn't want to have the responsibility. Others don't believe he was given the offer in the first place. But the daughter of Athena knew better."

I leaned in and kissed her softly, forgoing precautions. Our noses bumped together, but Anabeth just laughed. I chuckled, too.

"And now, Perseus has retired from the big leagues. Or at least, he's trying to. He still has to fight the bad guys sometimes, but he tries to spend more time with his friends. Especially the daughter of Athena."

Annabeth shut her eyes and finished the story for me. "Now, Olympus is rebuilding itself, and the Oracle has issued a new prophecy, one that Perseus plans on sitting out. Things are looking up, and Perseus and the daughter of Athena aren't looking back."

Annabeth (on the phone): Hey Percy! I'm feeling loads better. We still on for tonight?"

Percy: ...

Annabeth: Hello? Percy?

Percy: No.

Annabeth: Why not? What's wrong?

Percy: ...

Percy: ...

Percy: ...

Percy: *sneezes*

Annabeth: I'll bring the ramen.

Happy Birthday, Percy!

Thanks for reading! This is the first time in FOREVER I've written a Percabeth story, so I apologize if it's a bit out of whack. Please take the time to favorite, subscribe, and comment!

***EDIT: after receiving the first review I've gotten for this story in a while, I've decided to polish it up a bit. Also, I'm going to be working on a short series of random PJATO and HOO one-shots as part of Camp NaNo this month, so be checking back for those. (And there MIGHT be a Percy sick-fic. Just saying.)