Picking up the pieces
The first time it happens Percy grabs her arms and holds them to his chest, stilling her body as it thrashes, her mind still paralyzed in a nightmare. The blood runs down his face where her fingernails raked down it, her sleeping-self mistaking him for a monster.
"It's okay. It's me. Annabeth." He watches the recognition dawn in her eyes, and she stares down at her hands in shock.
"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so-" She shivers, and Percy clutches her to his chest.
Two nights later it happens again, only its Percy's hands wrapped around her throat, and she can't even scream, can't even breathe. He wakes up, launching off the bed, leaning against the wall. They both breathe heavily, and avoid each other's eyes, something they haven't done since they were children, awkward and nervous around each other.
It happens 3 more times that week, sometimes Percy, sometimes Annabeth. The next week it happens 5. Annabeth tries to stay in the Athena cabin, but finds that with no Percy there to hold her, she screams louder. She walks to his cabin at 4 am after apologizing to her siblings quietly, morning light already bleeding into the dark sky, and finds his door already open. There is soft light spilling out from inside, every lamp switched on. She finds Percy sitting in the middle of the floor, clutching his head. His body shakes, his toes tapping the floor. He whips around when he hears her come in, his eyes red, relaxing as he sees her.
"Do you think I could stay here tonight?" She asks in a hushed whisper, nervous, though she has spent the last 3 months after returning from Tartarus sleeping in his bed. It feels different now, every night turning into a violent game of 'who will be spending the next morning in the infirmary'. Sleeping next to each other isn't even comfort anymore, it is necessity. They lay with their limbs tangled together, but only so that they can hold the other down when the nightmares start.
Annabeth can't tell if being with him is worse than not being with him. But every night she crawls into bed with him, the bags under both of their eyes darker than the day before.
"Have you tried some type of sleeping medicine?" Rachel asks the next day, sitting on the beach with Annabeth, watching Percy float on his back, younger campers swimming around him. As they splash him, she sees a hint of his old smile, a true genuine smile that she doesn't see very often anymore. Parts of him are still in the pit, and she doesn't know if he'll ever get them back. It scares her to look over and see the eyes she fell in love with, but not the soul behind them. Not to say Percy isn't still there, because he is, and he emerges while they watch movies or swim or practice archery, the comments he makes or the way he brushes his hair back. But sometimes he is empty. And emptiness is something she's all too familiar with these days, she sees it every time she looks in the mirror. It's not his fault, or hers.
She is different too. She no longer get animated talking about monuments and skyscrapers, and she no longer spends her meals joking with her siblings. And when Percy folds her into his arms at night, it doesn't feel like what it used too, it's like they are simply going through the motions. She loves him, that hasn't changed, but them seems more painful now than before. She knows he feels it too. Now, as he holds her hands, she tries not to look at the healing marks on his cheeks, or the bruises on his arms, and he doesn't look at her split lip or bandaged hands. They do not blame each other. They blame Tartarus. Tartarus, who, even after they were spit out of its belly, still holds the leash over their lives.
Annabeth finally says something, three weeks after the night terrors begin, as Percy is putting a new bandage on her arm before they go to sleep.
"I can't even look at you anymore." She whispers, in the saddest voice Percy has ever heard. His fingers still on her arm, and he lifts his eyes to hers.
"I know." He replies, sitting back.
"I can't keep sitting her, pretending everything's okay, hurting you, I can't do it Percy. I can't do it anymore." She says, fingers shaking.
"I know." He repeats, voice quiet than before.
"I know? I know? Is that all you have to say?" She feels angry, angry that she is about to lose him, angry at Tartarus, angry at the fates, and angry at herself for wanting a quest so badly when she was 12. Because maybe, if she had stayed back, she and Percy wouldn't be in this mess. Percy rakes a hand through his hair, and shuts his eyes.
"What do you want me to say Annabeth? That I regret it? That I wish I hadn't fallen in? Because you know I wouldn't change it. I wouldn't change it, and I'm sorry, but that's the truth. I would never let you fall by yourself." He says, and Annabeth stands up from her seat on the bed. She knows it's the truth, and she knows she wouldn't change him falling with her. She can't be mad at him for it either. Because without him, she would be dead, or stuck in an endless torture.
"Were not even us anymore, Percy." She says, tears slipping down her cheeks. He reaches for her face, and she flinches, and he stops. He stops, his hand in the air, and she knows by the look in his eyes, that he knows they are broken.
But that doesn't stop him from trying. They argue and argue about things that don't matter, they argue about the marks in each other's arms and the fact that they are the only ones in the 7 who haven't recovered. They fight until the sky is light blue, the sun having just risen, and they can feel that it's over, but accepting it means it's real, and neither of them want that.
"EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU I SEE HELL PERCY. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?" Any response he could have fired back is dropped, and they look at everything but each other.
"I look at you and I see the end of the world. I see it every time Percy," Percy looks down at his feet as her voice drops to a cracked whisper, "and I don't know how to make that go away, because I love you, but how can I love you when I can't even look at you." She deflates, and watches as one tear breaks free from Percy's eye. She watches it trail down his cheek and drip onto the floor, and the room is silent.
"I just don't think we can be fixed." She finishes, and moves towards Percy. If this was a year ago, she probably would have made up with him by now, their fights usually didn't last long, and they would be kissing or laughing or doing anything other than this by now. But all she does is wrap her arms around him, and kiss his cheek. He holds her to him, both their chests heaving.
"I love you. It's never going to change." Percy whispers fiercely as she pulls away.
"I love you too."
Those are the last words she speaks to him before leaving his cabin.
It has been two years since that night, and Annabeth hasn't had a nightmare in a week. She hasn't talked to Percy in 9 months, which frankly, makes her relieved, because every time she hears his voice it feels like a scalpel straight to her heart. At first they talked on the phone once a week, telling of nightmares and nights without them. Eventually the phone calls came less often, which was probably for the best. He is at camp, and Annabeth is in the city taking classes, and she hasn't seen Percy face to face in 2 years, and she's trying very hard to be okay with it.
She shared an apartment with Piper for the first year, but she moved in with Jason, and now Annabeth is alone. She lives near central park, and spends her afternoons studying out on the grass. She is as close to happy as she can get. She went on 3 dates with a boy named Jake, who looked nothing like Percy but made her laugh. However, the fact is that he is not Percy, and she told him three months ago she wants to just be friends. She said that she was sorry, and he said 'I understand', which was probably just a lie, because he doesn't call her anymore. And truthfully, Annabeth doesn't care, she wouldn't pick up the phone anyways. But things are better now. Tartarus loses its grip on her a little more every day, though she lives with the memories, and knows she will for the rest of her life. But every day as the grip loosens, some of the fear does too.
One afternoon, as she is heading towards Starbucks after class, she sees a flash of black hair, and it stops her in her tracks. Her heart thrums and her breath hitches, and she wants to find him and run her fingers through his hair and lace her fingers through his, but she can't. She gave up that right.
'Keep walking Annabeth. It's not him' she tells herself, though she doesn't believe it, but makes her feet move. She orders a drink mindlessly at the counter of the coffee shop, having no idea what she ordered as she sits down in a booth in the back of the coffee shop. She feels a small pang when she takes a sip and realizes it's what Percy used to order. The bell on the door rings, and Annabeth looks up. She sees a messy head of black hair and tan arms that look thicker than the last time she saw them. And when the boy-now closer to a man-looks over at her, she sees that his green eyes are just as vibrant as they were when she left them and the boy they belonged to in the Poseidon cabin two years ago. The bags under his eyes are still there, but less prominent than they were back then. There is a pink scar that runs from his cheekbone to his chin, and she shudders, knowing her hands were the ones that left it there. And he is so handsome. He is so much more handsome than she remembers, finally filling out his form. He looks happy for a sliver of a second when he looks at her before the recognition dawns in his eyes, and his face falls. He tries to cover it, but Annabeth knows him, and he knows there's no use. He avoids her eyes as he gets his drink, and then hesitantly makes his way towards her small table.
"Hey." He says, his voice timid, unsure of how she will react.
"Hi." She replies, voice shaking. She clears her throat and repeats it.
"Mind if I…" He gestures to the seat across the table, and she nods. He scoots in, and she tries to keep her heart from exploding from her chest.
2 years, 3 months, 6 days later, and she still loves Percy Jackson just as much as the day she left him. She looks into his eyes and sees that they are guarded, a look she has never seen on him before, at least not directed at her.
"Grover would kill both of us if he saw us here." Percy says, breaking the silence.
Annabeth laughs.
"Him and his environmental conservation." She replies. Her words die off, and the silence is deafening.
"So I hear you're helping Chiron out at camp?" She asks, cupping her coffee in her hands.
"Yeah. I'm taking night classes in the city, and counseloring during the day."
"Counseloring isn't a word Percy." The words slip from her mouth, and she smiles before she can help it.
"Well not everyone is a daughter of Athena, Wise Girl." He cracks a smile, and they both stop, looking down at their hands.
"I'm sorry." He says.
"For what?" She asks, feigning a composed look, like her heart doesn't hurt listening to him speak, hearing him say her nickname. He clears his throat, and she watches him.
"So are you taking classes?" Percy asks, cocking his head at her.
"Of course I am," He smiles at that, "I'm at Columbia, majoring in architecture." He grins. But the smiles fade as quickly as they come, because neither of them can forget why they have to catch up in the first place.
"That's really awesome Annabeth." He says, smiling warmly at her. It is a different type of smile, a smile between strangers, which is what they have become. They make awkward small talk for a few minutes, before sitting with him becomes unbearable, and she straightens.
"Look I have to go," Annabeth begins, grabbing her bag from beside her.
"I'll see you around?" She asks, regretting the words immediately.
"Uh yeah. Probably." He rubs his neck, and she lets out a breath.
"It was good seeing you Percy." She says, and hurries out of the coffee shop and into the streets before she changes her mind and runs back to him.
The moment she steps into her apartment she collapses, sliding against the door and sitting on the ground. Sobs rack her chest, tears blur her vision. It feels like it did two years ago, like the wound never healed. Two hours later, she is curled into a ball on her bed, and there is a knock on the door. She ignores it, hoping that whoever it is will go away. But she knows they won't, because it's Rachel, who she was supposed to meet in the city an hour ago. Rachel will burst in, and she will be spirited and talkative, because that is the Rachel way. The door swings open, and she hears a rush of words emerge from the redhead's mouth.
"Annabeth Elizabeth Chase it is not okay to make plans with someone and then ignore them, and I know you're home because your bag is on the counter and-"She stops as she sees Annabeth, peering through the door.
"Oh honey." She says softly, coming to sit next to Annabeth on the bed.
"What happened?" She asks, though Annabeth assumes Rachel already knows, because Annabeth doesn't get upset over things. Things, meaning everything other than Percy.
"I saw him. He sat with me and had coffee and I-"Rachel pulls Annabeth into a tight hug, and holds her as a new wave of tears hits her. She waits until her eyes are dry, and she pulls away.
"I know it hurts. I'm sorry." Rachel says. Rachel and Annabeth had become closer than ever before after she left, and Rachel is the only one who knows the real reason that Percy and Annabeth broke up. She stayed up with Annabeth every night that first week, comforting her as best she could when Annabeth woke screaming Percy's name.
"I don't understand why I can't stop loving him." Annabeth says in a broken whisper.
"I don't think you ever will. I don't think you'll ever stop loving him. That's the truth. You two were always different than any other couple. I don't think you can let that go. But I've watched you try to move on, and you haven't. I know why you guys…why it happened in the first place but it's been more than 2 years. Don't you think it's worth trying again?" Annabeth shut her eyes, refusing to look into Rachel's, because of course she has thought about that. But every time she does her mind flashes back and she hears Percy yelling, and sees herself staring up at him as he lets go of that ledge and it hurts so much she thinks she's about to explode.
In reply to Rachel, she lifts up her pant leg, pointing to a scar that goes from her knee to her ankle, disappearing beneath her socks. It sits in the midst of dozens of other scars from battles and quests and fights, but this mark is different. This mark is from one night when Percy mistook her for an Espousa, blinded by the terror of his own memories, taking the dagger from beside his bed to her leg. They had to buy a new comforter because the blood had stained it so badly.
"We did this to each other. His cheek is covered in marks left by my hands. The bruises faded, but there are still scars. And I remember it too. I remember not being able to wake him up as he squeezed my neck, and I remember waking up to blood streaming down his face and his arms. We became toxic to each other Rachel. I can't do that again." Rachel stays quiet, staring at Annabeth's leg. She had seen this scar before, hell, she had dumped antiseptic on it herself.
"Sometimes love is worth fighting for." Rachel says, and usually Annabeth would make a sarcastic comment, but she doesn't.
She simply looks at Rachel and sighs.
"Sometimes, love isn't enough."
For the first time in a long time, Annabeth thinks about Percy. She usually avoids such thoughts, because it only means pain. But tonight, she can't help it. After Rachel leaves, she orders takeout and heads to the closet. She grabs a box that was stuffed at the very top, and pulls it into the living room. She plants herself on the couch and opens it up. It contains pictures, and wilted flowers, and a hoodie that smells of Percy, though she doesn't understand how after this long. She pulls the maroon jacket from the box, and is suddenly back in the night he gave it to her. A night when their relationship was only a few months old, before Percy was taken, before Gaea was even a thought in their heads, and before Tartarus.
"Come on wise girl, stop stealing my clothes!" Percy said, leaning against the wall as Annabeth walked into his cabin, wearing his maroon jacket.
"It's warmer than mine. And it smells good." She pointed out.
"Well you do look very cute in it." She did a slow turn as he said it, showing him all the angles, and when she was facing him again, his hands caught her waist.
"I'm not cute Seaweed Brain. I'm vicious." She said, winking at him.
"And sexy." He leaned down to whisper in her ear, and she blushed furiously. He pulled away and grinned mischievously.
"So what brings you to my humble abode on a night like tonight?" He asked, keeping his hands on her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and smiled.
"Malcolm and everyone were playing some card game. It was loud. You're more fun anyways." She said, and he nodded.
"I am way more fun," he pushed her towards the wall, so her back pressed against it.
"Do you plan to stay awhile?" He whispered, and she blushed again.
"I do." She replied in a husky voice that startled her as it left her mouth.
"We'll have to find something to do then?" He asked.
"Yes, it seems we will."
He brushed his lips against hers, and her heart picked up. Just as she was leaning in to kiss him again he pulled away.
He stepped away from her and she let out a sound of frustration, watching as he made his way over to his stereo. He clicked play and loud music with a peppy beat spilled out of the stereo. Percy looked over at her, and she cocked an eyebrow.
Then he did something horrible.
He started to dance.
His arms were shaking wildly, feet pounding the ground and he went around the room, singing badly along with the song. Annabeth laughed so hard her stomach hurt, but when Percy grabbed her hand, she joined in, their hips bumping as they swung back and forth. His loud laugh echoed through the room, and she thought it was the greatest sound she had ever heard. She knew it was one of those moments she would cling to forever. He kissed her, their hips still swaying with the music, and it felt like home.
When Annabeth's mind returns to the present she is surprised to find tears streaming down her cheeks. She wipes them away, but can't even find the motivation to scold herself for crying. She slips the hoodie over her head and falls asleep against the couch pillows, the familiar ocean smell of Percy in her nose.
She wakes to a knock on the door, and jerks up, back stiff from the couch.
"Aghhhhhhh." She groans, stretching her arms above her head.
She shuffles over to the door, and opens it. When she sees the person standing behind it she jumps. Percy. Her hands automatically move to smooth her hair down, though he has never cared about the way she looked before.
"How did you find my apartment?" Are the first words out of her mouth, and they are more defensive than she means them to be.
"Rachel called me." He says, and looks awkward saying it. She sees a glimpse of the nervous, mumbly teenager he used to be, and it makes her want to smile. She doesn't, of course.
"What-what did she say?" She asks, and is scared to hear his answer.
"She told me this was her new apartment and wanted to show it to me… Which I'm realizing now was probably just a lie…" He trails off, messing with his shirt hem as he rocks on his heels, both of them uncomfortable.
"This is my apartment." She says, and backs up.
"You're here anyways, do you want to come in?" She asks it in a small voice, feeling like a child. The whole encounter feels very fragile, and she knows she will regret it later, but she misses Percy, and if talking is all it will be she is okay with that.
He nods. "Yes. Thank you." His words are formal, and she feels the urge to tease him about it.
"Want something to drink? I have coffee, Kool-Aid, water…" She watches his face, and his face softens.
"What kind of Kool-Aid?" He asks, and she smiles. She used to goad him about his addiction to it.
"Blue." The word makes him smile as he hears it.
"Yes. I'll have some of that."
She is drinking him in, so little has changed, he looks the same, though his face has lost most of its boyish tint. She can see that he is doing the same to her.
It's hard being here with him, him sitting at her counter, her standing across from it. It is hard because they are trying to pretend that nothing is wrong. But Tartarus stole not only their romance, but it fractured their friendship too, and Annabeth doesn't know if it's possible to get it back.
"Just curious, is that the jacket you stole from me?" Percy asks, setting his cup down.
Annabeth glances down at her jacket, and flushes.
"If I remember correctly, you gave it to me." It is silent for a minute as they both think about that night, his fingertips brushing across her stomach, their laughter as they danced around the cabin.
"I don't know, I think you just laid claim to it." He smirks at her, and she lifts her lips in reply.
Annabeth has no idea how to sit here with him, making small talk, trying to avoid staring at the scars she gave him, steering the conversation in a direction that doesn't involve what happened two years ago. She has no idea how he's sitting here, looking composed, but realizes he is doing the same thing she is. She sees slivers of emotion on his face, she knows him so well, and she is familiar with all his looks. Which makes everything so much harder.
"Did you hear about Piper and Jason? The baby's due in 6 months." Percy says, simply making conversation.
She nods. Of course she knows.
"I'm really happy for them." She replies, and feels something twist in her chest. She is jealous that they are happy when she is not, and that they are still in love, and she and Percy…
"Your face looks good. I mean-not like- I mean you always look good but the scratches aren't-" She scrambles, and he laughs nervously.
"There's only the one scar. It's not too bad." He says, and reaches up to touch it automatically. She looks down at the ground, hand pressing against her forehead. This was turning bad quickly.
"And not to make things any more awkward than they already are," Leave it to Percy to say what he is thinking, "but you have drool on your face." He gestures at his own face, and she reaches up to wipe it off, humiliated.
"Looks like I had more of an effect on you than I thought." He says, trying to joke, but all it does is make her gasp. His face freezes, and then he falls into an apologetic frenzy.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't think, I really didn't-"He says, standing up and moving towards her. She lurches against the fridge, making it shake.
"I think you should go Percy." She says, her voice rattling. He nods, and she turns around, facing the fridge, her legs buckling. By the time she turns around, he is gone.
Her phone rings, and she reaches for it blindly, opening it to her ear.
"How'd it go?" Rachel's voice says, and Annabeth hears people in the background, meaning she is most likely at camp for lunch.
"Rachel. Elizabeth. Dare. What did you do?" Annabeth says, her voice hard.
"Not good? Okay well you should come up to camp. Everyone's coming for Christmas and there's gonna be food and music and Hazel and Frank and Leo and everyone is coming and you should come-"
"Whoa Rach-You know I can't come to camp-"
"You won't come to camp. It's very different."
"It doesn't change the fact that I'm not-"
"You are coming Annabeth. I will make all of the Ares boys come down there and drag you from your bed do you understand me?" Rachel turns her not-taking-any-shit voice on, meaning Annabeth has no chance.
"Fine. I'll come." Rachel shrieks in excitement at her reply.
"Yes! Okay. Make sure to wear an ugly Christmas sweater. See you in three days!" Then she hangs up her phone, and Annabeth leans against her counter, sighing.
Three days later it is an hour before she is due at camp, and she's scouring her closet for clothes. She is standing with her hands on her hips, ready to give up and watch a cheesy movie in her PJs, when she sees it. In the bottom of her drawer, a huge sweater with a light up Christmas tree on it. She doesn't know where she got it, but it's here.
'It's a Christmas miracle!' She thinks to herself, before throwing it over her head. It hangs to her mid-thigh, so she puts on black leggings and combat boots. She sprays sea salt in her hair, rubs red lipstick over her lips, and stares at herself. She tries not to think about the fact that Percy will be there, that she hasn't been to camp since that night, that the entire place is a remnant of the life she left behind. She just grabs her bag and walks out.
There are lights leading up to the Big House, flickering on and off. Laughter is everywhere, Christmas music pouring out of Chiron's stereo, which has been moved from the Big House to a table in the mess hall. Older campers smile as they see Annabeth, but she sees surprise in their eyes too. No one expected her to show up tonight.
"Annabelle! What a pleasure!" She turns to see Mr. D, and she rolls her eyes.
"Merry Christmas Dionysius. Do you know where Rachel is?" She asks, peering around him.
"The oracle? Probably with that boy of yours in the mess hall. But you-"
"Thank you." She cuts him off, and makes her way towards the mess hall, gathering whatever strength she has.
'You saw him three days ago. You can do this.' She reassures herself.
But she doesn't believe it. Seeing him will be as hard as it was before, but she has no choice, and she is already here. Rachel sees her first, heading up the small steps.
"ANNABETH!" She yells, running towards her. She gathers her in a hug.
"You okay?" She whispers in her ear, to which Annabeth assures her that she is, and they break apart.
"Is everyone here?" Annabeth asks, glancing around.
"Yep. Jason and Piper and doing something in the Zeus cabin. Hazel is with Frank and they are eating everything. Leo and Calypso are down at the beach. And Percy is-"
"Hi Annabeth." She turns and sees him standing there, in a sweater that looks suspiciously like hers.
"I didn't have time to go get a new one…" He says, looking down at his sweater. Annabeth looks at hers, and realizes they bought them together, for Christmas 3 years ago. Before everything went bad.
"Yeah me too." She lies. They both stand that way for a minute before Piper runs over, barreling into Annabeth.
"YOU CAME I CANT BELIEVE YOU CAME" She yells, and pulls away, grinning.
"You're going to make me go deaf Piper!" She laughs, but hugs her anyways. She looks down at Pipers tiny baby bump and grins. Jason comes behind Piper, pulling Annabeth in for a hug too.
"Good to see you here." He says, smiling at her. She nods in reply, and looks for Percy, who has made his way over to the food table.
"I'll be right back." She says, and walks towards him.
"Hiding?" She asks, picking up a green cupcake and licking the red frosting off of it. He turns towards her, scoffing.
"No. I'm just enjoying the food" He says, though she knows he is lying. But she feels a surge of confidence, so she replies.
"Liar."
"Am not." He fires back.
"Am tooooooo." She says, and they both laugh.
They hear Chiron's voice boom from somewhere outside, and the moment is broken.
"We should go." Percy says.
"I'll be there in a minute. I want to see something real quick." She says, and waves him ahead. She has no real destination in mind, just wants to walk around camp while everyone is occupied by the festivities.
5 minutes later she is in front of the Poseidon cabin, a place she used to know top to bottom. She knows she shouldn't, but she pushes on the door, stepping inside. It smells immediately of Percy, like sand and wind and something else that can only be labeled as Percy. She notices that Tysons bed is no longer here. A large king bed is pushed against the big window, and she smiles, because she remembers that Percy loved to watch the ocean at night. Apparently that is still true. She picks things up and sets them down, dragging her hands across everything, feeling the urge to leave a part of herself in this place. But she stops when she gets near his bed. On the wall behind it, there are dozens of pictures. Pictures of him and Piper, of Rachel with ice cream on her nose, of campers, of Percy and his mom. But what really stills her is the picture at the center of the mess. It is larger than all the others. It's her and Percy. She pulls it off the wall, looking down at it.
"The most clichéd cliché of all the clichés." She whispers to herself, smiling at the memory. It hurts, but it still makes her feel happy, and even grateful that she was able to love him, even if the happy part didn't last forever.
She remembers the day the picture was taken, can still feel his fingerprints on her skin as he grabbed her hands, can hear his laugh. The Argo ll had stopped at camp after the war was over. Before everything got bad.
"Okay Annabeth. Ready to be cliché?" He asked, the two of them sitting on a blanket by the beach at camp. She was sprawled on her stomach, reading a book, Percy fidgeting around next to her.
"I don't think I want to know." She said, closing her book.
He held his phone in his hand, and she lifted her eyebrows.
"What exactly do you have in mind?" She asked, sitting up.
"Well we have no pictures together, and I feel like we should, because Piper and Jason have five million pictures with each other, and so do Frank and Hazel, and so does everyone so I think we need to take some pictures." Percy's words came out in a rush, as they do when he gets excited. She knew the other reason for this request, she knew the words he hadn't said.
'I want to have something to remember if something happens.' He had only said that once, and after that the words were etched into her head.
"Pictures of what?" She asked, though she had a sneaking suspicion what he would answer.
"Us of course. Wise girl, we are taking selfies." He said, rubbing his hands together mischievously.
"You are such a hipster Percy Jackson" She said, rolling her eyes.
"I would label myself more in the skater category, but hipster works too. Now get over here and smile." She scooted next to him, happy for the excuse to sit closer to him. He held the phone in front of them, and poked her in the stomach.
"Smile. Now. Or I will make you." She turned towards him and made a face, then heard the click sound that was his phone.
"Did you just-"
"Yep."
She groaned, but turned her head and smiled. He snapped a bunch, making her smile and frown and stick her tongue out. Soon, her stomach hurt from laughing.
"Alright. Time for the most clichéd cliché of all the clichés." Percy announced, still holding the phone.
"Kiss me wise girl."
"Now why would I do that? I know this is just an excuse for me to kiss you." She asked, smirking, arching a brow.
"I'm hurt. I can't believe you would think that of me. I can't believe you wouldn't want to kiss-"She pressed her lips to his, reaching a hand up to his face. She vaguely heard the click of the camera, and pulled away. Percy took a breath, set his phone down, and kissed her again. But this time, it was just for them.
"Annabeth?" She turns around and sees Percy, a confused look on his face.
"Hi. I'm sorry. I was walking and I just found myself here." She says, biting her lip.
"No problem." He says.
"I'm sorry for pulling this off too I was just-"
"That was a fun day." He says quietly, staring at the picture in her hands.
"Yeah. Yeah it was." She answers, reminiscing with him.
"Here." She says, handing it to him, but he pushes it back into her hands.
"Keep it. I have them all on my computer anyways." He says, brushing his hair back with his hand.
"You know Percy, I think you need a haircut." She says, gesturing towards his head. He looks up at her and smiles.
"I'll get right on that."
So much for her small talk.
"Well I should um…I should go. Merry Christmas." She pushes past him, trying to get to the door before she can stop herself from turning and running into his arms.
"Wait Annabeth." He says, his voice scrambling.
"Yeah?" She turns around, waiting for him to speak.
"I- I don't know. I just don't want you to go. Not again." Her breathing hitches and she blinks rapidly to let any tear that decides to emerge know that she refuses to let it out.
"Percy…" She says softly, not knowing what she can say.
"Do you still see the end of the world when you look at me?" His words are so soft but she feels them tear into her heart, because his voice is cracking and she can feel the pain dripping off of his words.
She looks down at the floor, and realizes that she doesn't. But she stays quiet and clenches her fist.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just can't stand here and pretend that I don't still love you, because I do. And you know I suck at words, and I know exactly why we-why we broke up in the first place, trust me I remember, but it hurts so much to be away from you, even more than it hurt when I was with you. And I used to think that being together was just hurting us both, but I don't think that anymore. So please don't leave again." The words spill out, and now that they're out, neither of them can put them back in.
"Percy. You know why we can't. I love you, I do, I always will, but I can't hurt you like that again." She says, her entire body still.
"Can't we try? We've made it through so much, and it took me two years to realize that this is exactly what Tartarus wants. They took away the most important things, and we let them. We let them break us apart." He looks her straight in the eye, and she pushes her hair behind her ears, the attention making her squirm. His words ring truth, and she can't deny it.
"I don't know how to keep going Percy. I don't know how to-how to pretend none of it ever happened." He steps towards her as he says it, until they are inches away from each other.
"We don't pretend. We just keep going." He says, and she believes it is the wisest thing he has ever said. And she realizes maybe things will be different. They are both stronger, and they know what they want, and maybe that will make it different. Annabeth doesn't know what will happen, but she knows that living a life without Percy in it is not living at all, at least not for her.
She moves towards him until their faces are inches apart and she can see his body shake and she knows that this time will be different. They will make it different.
She reaches her hands up to cup his face.
"I've missed you so much Percy Jackson."
Then she brings her lips to his.