Author's note: I own none of these characters, all rights go to Rick Riordan.
*Warning: This story does contain spoilers from Blood of Olympus*
It had been exactly sixteen days, nine hours and twenty-two minutes since Percy had last seen Annabeth. And it was slowly killing him.
Since the victory over Gaea almost two years ago and peace between the demigod camps began, life for Percy and Annabeth had been almost normal. The two finished high school in New York and had already completed the first year of college in New Rome. They spent breaks and their summer at Camp Half-Blood; it was home for them, apart of who they were. The strawberry fields, the training courses, even Mr. D's constant complaining, these all held a special place in the two demigods' hearts.
However, being some of the oldest and experienced demigods in the camp, this often complicated things. Annabeth had been sent on a diplomatic quest with Jason dealing with a pack of soured wind spirits in California due to the increased air pollution. The most Percy had heard from either of the two was a week ago, when Jason iris messaged him while Annabeth was sleeping to let them know that they were still alive.
Percy hadn't taken a steady breath since then.
He'd settled on helping Nico with whatever he was doing at the time - cleaning, organizing, help train kids, anything to keep his mind off of Annabeth.
"Dude, calm down. Your scaring the little kids," Nico told Percy. Since the battle against Gaea, Nico had grown. A lot. He now towered over Percy and reached almost 6'6". The kid was a bean pole.
Wracked with nerves, Percy kept running his hands through his hair, unable to stop moving. "It's just, well - this is the longest I haven't heard from her since I was MIA and after Tartarus - " Percy stopped himself before he could go there.
Nico sighed, "I get it. If Will and I ever went through that I can't imagine sunshine over there would be much better than you right now." Nico and Will had grown practically inseparable over the past two years, so close that eventually they started dating. Since then, not one person said a word against it, but rather accepted the couple completely as they did Percy and Annabeth.
"How're the two of you doing anyways? Still in paradise?" Percy asked.
He could've sworn that Nico blushed. "Yeah. Yeah, it's great." Noticing the amused look on Percy's face, Nico cleared his throat. "No but seriously everything's fine. Will actually just - oh my gods is that? Percy, look"
Following Nico's gaze, Percy landed his eyes on Annabeth and Jason walking out of the Big House, laughing and breathing. Before Nico could say another word, Percy was sprinting faster than ever towards the two. Annabeth noticed just before Percy collapsed into her, tackling her in a bear hug.
"Hello to you, too," Annabeth laughed before pulling away to look at her boyfriend's face, drawing him in for a kiss.
Percy touched his fingers along Annabeth's face as they pulled away from each other, checking for any injuries. 'I'm fine, seaweed brain, calm down," Annabeth said, grabbing Percy's hand and intertwining their fingers together.
He looked away to look at Jason standing beside them. Casually, Percy nodded his head, "Hey, bro, what's up?" and the two fist bumped.
Annabeth shook her head, "I will never understand you two."
"Did you see Piper yet?" Percy asked Jason.
Jason nodded, "Yeah I saw her on my way in. I'm going to go talk to Nico and leave you guys to it," he winked and walked off.
Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, raising eyebrows in question.
"I'll race you there," Annabeth challenged.
The two demigods took off in the direction of the Long Island Sound. Deep in the water, Percy had created an underground cabin - with Chiron's approval, or course - after everything settled back to normal two summers ago. Both Percy and Annabeth had dealt with massive amounts of PTSD and Chiron had suggested that they create a place where they could take time for themselves, away from the everyone else. Annabeth had designed the cabin, setting her mind to something other than the horrors she'd seen in Tartarus, and Percy, well, Percy just felt more at ease when he was surrounded by water.
As they approached the Sound, they slowed to a walk, linking their fingers together. The sun's reflection was sparkling as the two submerged down into the water. Percy surrounded them with an air bubble as they quickly made their way down to to underwater cabin.
As soon as they swam through the doors, the water around them vanished and they were standing in a room completely filled with air. Percy took a second to compose himself and then turned to look at Annabeth who was smiling up at him. "What?" Percy asked.
Annabeth laughed, "I still can't believe Chiron let us have our own cabin. Underwater. Where no one else at camp can get to but you."
Percy looked around them, taking in the cabin for the millionth time. It was practically an equal mix of the Poseidon and Athena cabins; it had the architectural aspects of Athena's cabin and the water feel of Poseidon. He loved every last detail of it. The cabin was a perfect combination of himself and Annabeth.
"I know," Percy responded, "it's as if Chiron's never been around a teenager in his life." He reached his fingers up to Annabeth's face, his voice much softer than before, "I missed you."
Annabeth leaned into his hand, closing her eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't Iris message you at all. It's just… it wouldn't have been enough." She looked up to him, drawing them closer. "It's not the same when I can't just reach over and touch you," she said, trailing her hands up Percy's arm, "or when I do this," she placed a trail of kisses along his neck and along his jaw, Percy quietly moaning at her touch, "or this," finally reaching his lips, where in an instant, a fire was lit between them.
Percy, lowering his body to level himself with Annabeth, picked the blonde up, feeling her legs wrap around his own body. He walked their tangled mess of bodies slowly to where he knew a bed would be waiting for them. Percy lowered Annabeth to the bed, drawing back only for a second to discard his shirt.
Looking at Annabeth then, so at peace with everything around her, yet with a fire in her eyes that drove Percy mad, he couldn't have felt more euphoric. He kneeled onto the bed, leaning just over Annabeth. There were so many thoughts going through Percy's head, but the only comprehendible one was, "Gods, I love you so fucking much, Annabeth Chase."
Time stopped as their bodies moved against one another, as their breathing became staggered and filled with passion. When Percy and Annabeth were together, nothing else mattered and as their bodies rocked into oblivion, the world could've been ending around them and they wouldn't have cared.
Hours later when their bodies had tired, Annabeth and Percy laid twisted together under piles of blankets. Exhausted, Percy had fallen asleep, Annabeth playing with random strands of his hair. She'd always loved his hair, even when they were kids. Something about the chaotic mess of it intrigued her, making it that much better when she ran her hands through it as she screamed Percy's name.
Percy woke to Annabeth whispering his name, telling him that they'd probably get back to camp before dinner. People would've already noticed them missing, but it was such a usual occurrence these days it didn't make much of a difference if they were gone for ten minutes of three hours.
Annabeth peeled away Percy's body and out from under the covers, Percy watching from his sleepy haze as she got dressed. Noticing him staring at her from the bed, she picked up Percy's clothes from the floor and threw them at his face, "Get dressed, seaweed brain. I needed to check in at my cabin hours ago, and you looking at me like that makes me never want to leave here ever again."
He gave in to her, as he always did, and soon enough they made their way back to camp. Annabeth kissed him quickly before going to her cabin, leaving Percy alone. He saw Jason standing with a group of campers, not realizing until only a few feet away that their was a face he hadn't seen in two years.
"Holy shit," was all that Percy could say as he realized Leo Valdez stood feet away from him.
"Oh, hey Percy, how's everything goi - "
Percy ran forward, hugging Leo with everything he had in him. "Dude," Percy screamed, "where the fuck have you been?"
Before Leo could answer, Percy heard a familiar voice from behind him. "Well, that's no way to greet someone, now is it?"
He slowly released Leo and turned where he was standing, his eyes being met with Calypso standing in front of him.
"Hello, Percy Jackson," she said smiling.
He was breathless, shocked beyond comprehension. "Calypso, how are you - "
"Here?" she finished for him. "I guess someone worked magic with the gods and made them agree to let me leave that awful island. But it wasn't until this hero over here helped me that I left."
Percy's mind was buzzing, happiness and regret mixing together, "I'm so, so sorry, Calypso. I never wanted to abandon you there. I didn't think - "
"It's okay. I forgive you," Calypso reached forward and grabbed his hands, "I may have been angry once, but that time has passed."
Percy smiled, Calypso mirroring him. Over her shoulder, he saw Annabeth approaching, breaking into a run realizing Leo stood in front of her. She hugged him fiercely as she would her siblings. "Leo, what happened to you? Where were you?"
"I missed you, too, Annabeth," Leo laughed. As the two drew away from each other, he turned her in the direction of where Percy and Calypso stood, "Annabeth, this is Calypso. Calypso, Annabeth."
"Hi," they said at the same time.
Percy looked between the two girls, not knowing what to expect. But Annabeth stepped towards Calypso, extending her hand in front of her, "I've heard so much about you."
"Likewise," Calypso responded.
They immediately launched into a conversation and Percy stepped back to stand next to Jason.
The blonde demigod raised a knowing eyebrow, "Bro, you were gone for hours."
Trying not to smile too widely, Percy said, "Bro, I know."
That night as the demigods sat around the campfire and everyone celebrated Leo's return and Calypso's arrival, Percy found a moment alone with the son of Hephaestus. "I knew we'd find you. I knew you weren't gone forever."
"Well," Leo started, "technically I found you guys. But what difference does it really make, I'm here now." Pausing for a moment, Leo looked over where Nico and Will sat laughing with each other. "What's going on there?"
"You have so much to catch up on," Percy smiled. "You are never going to believe what's happened since you went M.I.A."
"Try me."
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