If I owned PJO, you'd know. Also, if I owned PJO, Luke would still be alive and he and Annabeth would be together. So therefore, I own nothing.
Seven year old Annabeth Chase was used to sleeping wedged between Luke and Thalia. However, since they arrived at camp, things had been different. Thalia hadn't even made it to camp and Luke had been very different ever since she died. She barely saw him anymore, he was always with his cabin and she was with hers. Those were the rules. She didn't really like this place. Why were they keeping her and Luke apart?
Thalia tended to be sound sleeper, so it was always Luke who comforted her after nightmares. He would hold her and stroke her hair and convince her none of it was real until she fell asleep again. Her nightmares were usually about monsters, but the past few nights they had always been about the same monster. Specifically, the Cyclops that killed Thalia. When Annabeth wakes in tears and cold sweat, Luke is not beside her or even in the same room as her anymore. There are no arms around telling her it was just a dream, no voice telling her he'll always protect her because that's what family does. All Annabeth sees is a cabin full of sleeping strangers. She misses Thalia and misses Luke.
Annabeth knows it's against the rules to go to anybody else's cabin, especially at night for some reason, but she can't help but want to go see Luke. Still, she's not sure which cabin is the Hermes one, especially in the dark. The nightmares are getting worse and worse by the night to the point where she's trying her hardest not to fall asleep so she doesn't have to face them. It doesn't work. She wakes up in quiet sobs, the image of the Cyclops standing over her fresh in her mind. This time, she isn't the only one awake. An older boy, maybe around Luke's age, gets out of his bed and walks over to her. He has blonde hair and gray eyes, same as her.
"Hey, you're the new girl, aren't you?" he asks, rubbing circles on her back soothingly. His eyes are kind.
Annabeth nods between quiet sobs. "I-I-I w-want to s-see Luke," she stuttered.
The older boy looks confused. "Luke? He's the sandy haired one you came here with, right? Hermes' Cabin?"
She nods again, body shaking. The older boy bites his lip, thinking it through. If he takes her to the cabin, he could get in major trouble. Still… nobody deserves to sob and shake the way Annabeth is. "C'mon," he decides. "I'll take you to him."
Annabeth takes his hand and they walk together past cabin after cabin until they reach a huge one that looks much older and worn than the others, even in the dark.
"Thank you," Annabeth whispered to the older boy. Her lip is still trembling and she can't get it to stop.
He simply nods and holds the door open. She walks in quietly. None of the campers even stir. She makes her way into the cabin, looking for Luke. There's a lot more people in here than in her own cabin. She finds him near the back, sound asleep. His mouth is slightly open and he's not wearing a shirt. The blanket is half on his body and half on the floor.
"Luke?" Annabeth pokes him lightly. He stirs, but doesn't wake. "Luke?" She says it a little louder this time and pokes a little harder. He wakes and as soon as his blue eyes land on her, they widen and he abruptly sits up.
"Annabeth? What are you doing here, you shouldn't..." His voice trails off when he sees her tear stained cheeks and trembling lower lip. Instantly, Luke knows it's another nightmare. He picks her little frame up easily, seating her beside him on his bed. He can feel her body shake against his and instantly feels guilty. He's been so caught up in Thalia's death and his reaction to it that he completely forgot about how Annabeth might react.
"Shhh, it's okay," he tells her even though it isn't. Luke pulls her to him and tears splatter over his bare chest.
"It t-t-tried t-to eat me," Annabeth stuttered and he instantly knows she's talking that damned Cyclops.
"Do you think I'd let it?" Luke asked gently. "Annabeth, you're always going to be safe with me. I'm always going to protect you. Family, remember?"
Her wide, tear stained gray eyes stare up at him. "You promise?"
"I promise," Luke nodded. Annabeth holds out her tiny pinky finger, so they pinky swear on it.
Eventually, the shaking subsides and the tears stop coming. She falls asleep on his chest and Luke can hear the light breathing of her tiny snores. He could, of course, carry her back to her own cabin. But that might wake her and besides, what if she has another nightmare? He should be here for her when she wakes. So instead, he throws aside thoughts about how much trouble they'll be in the next morning and pulls the blanket off the floor and covers her little body with it. He'll be here when she wakes and she'll see that nothing is different. Just because they're not together as much anymore doesn't mean a thing.
Family. He promised.