Annabeth didn't normally consider herself an impatient person, but waiting for her boyfriend-scratch that, fiancé-to return from his quest was pure agony. The sparkle from her newest-and favorite-piece of jewelry caught her attention once again, and she couldn't stop a gigantic grin from splitting her face. Finally, after four years, she had been able to move the promise ring Percy had given her when they were seventeen to her camp necklace, and sport an engagement ring in its place.
Annabeth also wasn't usually the type to fawn over expensive jewelry, but the ring Percy had given her was truly breathtaking. It wasn't extravagant-a standard diamond ring, with a smaller black pearl on either side of the small diamond-but it was so perfectly her. She later found out from Tyson, who had actually made the ring, that the black pearls (which were really a medium gray) had to be cultivated over a period of at least four years, and that Percy had gone to extra lengths to ensure that the pearls were the same color as her eyes.
She let out a sigh as she gazed down at the road from her vantage point on Half-Blood Hill. Two weeks ago, her mother had sent Percy on a quest to prove that he was worthy of a daughter of Athena. (Because apparently defeating Kronos, holding up the sky, bearing the curse of Achilles, retrieving the Golden Fleece, defeating Gaea, returning Zeus's lightning bolt, and, oh yeah, making it out of Tartarus alive didn't cover it.) Annabeth had insisted that he not go, that she didn't care about her mother's approval anymore, but in typical Seaweed-Brain fashion, he went off on Athena's stupid quest and wasn't allowed to contact her until he returned successfully. That being said, Annabeth wasn't exactly on speaking-terms with her mother at the moment. She had complete confidence in Percy, but that hadn't kept her from ordering Nico to stick around until he got back. She was a child of Athena; she knew how take advantage of her resources, and the Ghost King definitely qualified as a resource.
"Annabeth?" a voice called from behind her. "It's lunchtime. Your free hour is over," continued the redhead. "Come on. I have no doubt that you'll be the first to know once he returns."
Annabeth sighed once again. She knew Rachel was right; she usually was. With a grunt, she rose to her feet and followed the oracle to the dining pavilion. Just because she had to wait didn't mean she had to starve.
It had been eighteen days, twenty-two hours, fifty-three minutes, and nin-ten seconds since she had last seen Percy. (It was by far the longest they had gone without seeing each other since the Hera-memory-wipe-Camp-Jupiter-Queen-Dirt-Face incident.) All she knew about her boyfriend's current state was that he wasn't dead, or at least that's what Nico was telling her. What was taking him so long?
By day twenty, she had taken to sleeping in the Poseidon cabin. It wasn't that she couldn't sleep in her own cabin. Sleep just came to her much more quickly when her pillow smelled like him, and she preferred to be well-rested when she had to teach combat. Every night she dreamt of him, but the dreams (and nightmares) were always of the mortal variety. One night she had dreamt of their time in Tartarus. In her dream, the darkness had overwhelmed their minds. It planted negative thoughts into their heads and let them grow until they had both reached their breaking point. They started arguing, blaming each other, and then Percy just turned his back to her and walked away. The darkness swallowed him, and then she was alone, in Tartarus, another promise to always be there for her broken. She woke up sobbing, and was unable to sleep anymore that night. Thankfully, Chiron excused her from all camp activities the next day, weary of the other campers' safety as well as her own. On the redhead's command, the day became one of those Rachel-and-Annabeth-watch-sappy-chick-flicks-and-eat-a-gallon-of-ice-cream days. In retrospect, it was the best thing that anyone could've done for her.
Day twenty-eight, Annabeth was getting ready for bed when Rachel knocked at the door of the Poseidon cabin.
"Come in!" Annabeth called sleepily.
The redhead peeked her head in. "Dragon duty tomorrow," she said. "Some chores got moved around, so I wanted to make sure you knew."
"Alright," the blonde replied. When the chore schedule had been posted at the beginning of the summer, the vegetarian Rachel had been looking for someone to take her shift feeding Peleus. Annabeth was scheduled to go through reports for Chiron whenever Rachel had dragon duty, and had been more than happy to trade chores with her nondyslexic friend.
She didn't think twice about a change in schedule. Quests were given, campers got injured: schedules at camp were always tentative.
Rachel grinned to herself as she ducked out of the Poseidon cabin. She was a genius. A clear-sighted, completely mortal, oracular, ginger genius.
Annabeth stared at Clarisse in confusion.
"Rachel told me that the schedule got changed around. She said I was supposed to feed Peleus today."
Clarisse shrugged in response. "No, you have cabin inspection. Whatever. It's done now. I'm going back to sleep," she yawned before disappearing into the Ares cabin.
Annabeth groaned. Why would Rachel want her to get up at 5:00- Annabeth went on red-alert. Something had just appeared on the top of Half-Blood Hill. The filthy creature-no, human, it was definitely human-seemed to be dragging its feet. He didn't appear to be hurt, just exhausted.
She cautiously made her way towards him, until they locked eyes. It was him. She broke out in a sprint, nearly knocking him over as she barreled into him. He smelled like the Triple G Ranch, but at that moment, she didn't care. She needed to feel his arms around her and his lips on hers. It had been much too long.
"You're back." She kissed him again. "Does this mean we have my mom's approval?"
Percy laughed. "I wouldn't call it approval so much as acceptance," he shrugged. "Oh! She did have a wedding present for us, though." He began rummaging through his small backpack.
"Should I be concerned?" Annabeth teased.
"I don't think so," he replied, pulling out a small black box. "Here, at least we have one thing we can check off of our wedding to-do list." He opened the box to reveal two brilliant wedding bands, one slightly larger than the other.
Annabeth reached out to touch them, but hestitated. "Wha-what are these made of? I know they're not gold."
"They're made of palladium, as I said, courtesy of your mother. Turns out I was right about the meaning of the prophecy." He stuck his tongue out at her, with her responding in kind.
"Guess there's a first time for everything," she smiled.
"Here. This one's yours." Percy gently removed the smaller ring and placed it in her palm.
"It's gorgeous," Annabeth grinned. "Absolutely incredible."
"Read the inscription."
"ἀεὶ ἡ φίλτατη ἐμή," she read aloud, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "You're so cheesy." The blonde wrapped her arms around his neck, beaming.
"So does that mean you like it?" the boy prompted.
"Yes. It's perfect." She brought his head down to hers in a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist in response, picking her up and twirling her around.
"As much as I love this," Annabeth told him, her feet back on the ground, "you need a shower." He leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her cheek, giggling. "Seriously, you smell. I'll see you at breakfast." She untangled herself from his arms and started towards the Athena cabin. About halfway there, she turned back to him and shouted. "I love you!" Giddy, she skipped the rest of the way to her cabin.
"I love you, too!" Percy called in response before making his way towards his own cabin.
Malcolm, after glancing at the clock, glared at her as she bounced back into the cabin.
"Your happy is too loud."
Annabeth simply smiled and went about her business. Malcolm would get over it.
A/N: Inspired by Play's "2 Blocks Down." The Greek translates roughly to 'forever my most beloved.' It's easier to phrase in Greek than it is in English. Tell me what you think!