There's a woman standing next to Annabeth, clutching on to the strap of her pocketbook. Behind her glasses, her eyes are searching through the crowd, rapidly moving from person to person as she registers that they aren't who she's looking for. Annabeth knows the feeling. Percy's flight landed eleven minutes ago, and he has yet to appear from the gate.

The woman sighs before switching her pocketbook to the other shoulder. Annabeth takes pity on her and asks, "Who are you waiting for?"

"My son," she replies. "He's coming home for winter break."

"Does he go to school in Chicago?"

Percy is flying in from O'Hare Airport in Chicago, as per US Navy requirements. He'd graduated from basic training the week before. Unfortunately, Annabeth had final exams she couldn't miss and wasn't able to make it to the ceremony. Percy had told her multiple times that he didn't mind – he'd much rather her focus on her education – but she still feels guilty.

"He goes to the School of the Art Institute."

"Really? What kind of art does he do?"

"He says he has to work with different mediums, but his favourite is sculpture."

"Nice! I took ceramics in high school, but half of my pieces blew in the kiln." Annabeth really only took the class because at least one art class was required to graduate, and she absolutely refused to take chorus. She knows she's good at many things – Sudoku puzzles, darts, and making grilled cheese, to name a few – but singing is most definitely not one of them. Percy always makes fun of her for it – especially on his birthday when she's the only one around to sing as he blows out his candles.

"Are you waiting for anyone special?" the woman asks.

"My boyfriend," Annabeth says. "He's coming home from basic training."

The woman coos, holding her free hand to her heart. After over three months of answering the same question, Annabeth has grown used to this reaction. It makes her laugh sometimes: college was never Percy's cup of tea, and after dropping out sophomore year, he decided to enlist in the navy. I get to live on a boat for months at a time, he had explained while holding her hands and kissing her face, trying to convince her to go along with his plan. And you get to use my pay for textbook money. It's a win-win for everybody, Annabeth. At the time, she thought it was practical. Besides, how hard could it be to be away from him for nine weeks? They'd gone to separate high schools all four years and hadn't moved in together until the summer before her junior year. She thought she'd be fine. As it turns out, being away from Percy for just two weeks is awful, let alone nine.

"Army or air force?"

"Navy, actually. He's always liked the water." Annabeth nods down towards the sign she's gripping in both hands. "Welcome home Seaweed Brain," it reads. She had given Percy the nickname back in middle school when he spent the entire summer between sixth and seventh grade at the local YMCA pool. She's never been good with art projects, but Thalia helped her decorate the poster board with glitter glue and stickers from the dollar store. Thalia herself wasn't able to come to the airport. My boss will kill me if I miss any more days this year, she had said. Besides, these past Percy-free weeks have been the best of my life. I want to enjoy my last few hours. Thalia's been saying shit like that since before Percy even left, but Annabeth knows she's missed him too. She's just not as good with expressing her emotions as most people.

"Oh, look! They've opened the doors."

Annabeth turns to the doors and finds that the woman is right – they're open. People come bursting through the gangway, but Percy isn't one of them. She walks forward a few steps, standing up on her toes and craning her neck for a better view. Still no Percy, but someone else approaches her instead. A man in a dark grey suit power walks forward, rolling a small black suitcase behind him. He's carrying a single red rose in one hand and holds it out as he reaches her. Annabeth takes it, despite her confusion, and watches as he goes to stand against the wall nearby. Three more people Annabeth definitely does not know give her three more roses, and then a tall, gangly ginger comes stumbling out of the gate like a baby giraffe.

"Peter!" the woman next to Annabeth cries, and Annabeth realizes it must be her son.

Peter stoops to kiss his mother on the cheek before facing Annabeth and presenting another rose. She takes it, wondering how she missed him carrying it as he passed her. At least Peter's mother looks as confused as Annabeth feels. In the back of her head she knows they must be from Percy, but she has no idea how he knew she'd be here. She told him she had a Calculus III exam today so she could surprise him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth can see Peter holding his iPhone in one of his massive hands. It's facing her direction, and she has a very strong feeling that he's filming her. God knows why.

Annabeth continues to receive roses until she's holding twelve in her hand, a complete bouquet. She adjusts her grip on the sign so she can hold it one hand and the roses in the other. She's still looking down when –

"Hey, Wise Girl."

Annabeth's head snaps up, eyes immediately finding Percy. He's standing alone in front of the gate, dressed in full uniform. His hair is shorter than when he left – it's not brushing his eyes like it had for at least six years before he left for basic. Even from across the airport waiting area, his smile is blinding. A sob catches in Annabeth's throat and dammit, she promised herself she wasn't going to cry. It was just basic – it wasn't like he was coming home after being deployed. Regardless, she blinks to clear the tears from her vision, some of them slipping out and rolling down her cheeks. Percy shrugs his Navy-issued backpack off, casually tossing it to the side. Peter's mother steps forward, says "Let me hold those," and takes the sign and rose bouquet from her hands.

Percy takes a single step forward and then Annabeth is launching herself into his arms. He chuckles as he stumbles back a few steps, taking hold of her weight as she wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She kisses him repeatedly: on the lips, on the cheek, on the nose. She's not quite sure if she's laughing or crying, but honestly she doesn't even care. Percy is home.

Percy himself has buried his face in her neck, where he is currently mumbling "I missed you so fucking much" and pressing kisses to her throat. He's shaking, and for the first time, Annabeth realizes that this period of separation wasn't only hard on her. She had school and Thalia to distract her from Percy's absence. Percy was alone in a strange state one time zone and eight hundred miles away.

She pulls away from him enough to ask, "How did you know I'd be here?"

Percy laughs, touching his forehead to her own. "Thalia might be your best friend, but she's also my cousin. Blood loyalty, Annabeth."

"That traitor," she scoffs, but it comes out more fond than anything else.

"Hurry up, Percy!" someone shouts from the crowd that has formed around the two of them.

Percy leans away from Annabeth, turning his head away from hers, so that when he shouts "Shut up, Pete!" it's not directly in her ear. Annabeth really, really loves him.

"How do you know Peter?" she asks.

"How do you know Peter?" he counters.

"I met his mother while we were waiting for the gates to open."

"And I met him on the plane. Now, get down. I gotta do something."

Annabeth complies, unwrapping herself from him, but not stepping too far away. She can feel the heat radiating off of him, and it's the first time she's felt warm all winter. Percy kisses her again, this time slow and deliberate, unlike the quick ones she peppered all over his face. And then he drops to one knee.

Annabeth is not known for reacting well to surprises. When she walked into her apartment on her seventeenth birthday and all of her friends popped up from behind the furniture, she was so startled she punched Jason Grace in the nose. She flipped her car two years ago because a deer ran onto the road. Her cat once jumped onto her bed while she was reading, and she accidentally kicked him across the room. So honestly, the fact that she manages to nod without causing bodily harm to herself, Percy, or anyone else in the vicinity is nothing short of a miracle.

She vaguely registers the crowd around them cheering – Peter's whooping the loudest of them all – but then Percy picks her up again and nothing else really matters.

A/N: i watched a video today of a girl going to surprise her military fiance at the airport, but since they got engaged over the phone while he was at basic, he surprised her instead by proposing in person (i'd link the video but this site doesn't let me - sorry!)

Disclaimer: characters belong to RSquared, Peter and his mom are my own, and the premise of the fic comes from that video

Note: i really don't know anything about any part of the military so all of this has been googled