Title: Home
By: A Wild Pikachu Appeared
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: I do not own nor am affiliated with the Percy Jackson franchise or any material related to it.
Summary: Going to college at Camp Jupiter didn't feel as exciting as Annabeth had hoped, but why? ONESHOT.
"Hello? Earth to seaweed brain? Are you listening to me?"
"Huh?" Percy asked with a mouth full of French fries. We were sitting at a table just outside the dining commons of the Camp Jupiter university.
"Whadda ya' mean, of course I was," he answered after swallowing his food. "You were talking about, uhh, the class you just had?"
I rolled my eyes and raised one of my eyebrows.
"Wait no, you were talking about the class you had yesterday."
I let out a small laugh and smiled at my clueless boyfriend.
"Percy. Today's the first day of the semester. It's also 7:30 AM and none of the classes start for another hour."
"Oh…" Percy sheepishly replied with a small grin. "Sorry, this is way earlier than when I'm normally awake. I'm not used to it."
He then grabbed another handful of French fries stuffed it in his face. Isn't it a little too early to be eating French fries for breakfast?
I gazed over at the dining commons right next to us. There were couches filled with college students and scattered throughout the area. Plates carried by invisible servers zipped through the air before landing in front of the students.
Percy already told me before that this was how all mess halls in Camp Jupiter worked. I couldn't help but think about the wood nymphs that would serve the campers at the dining pavilion back home. It was different, but somehow felt familiar.
"This place sure is interesting," I said with a small sigh. No matter how optimistic I try to get, I still wouldn't call this place home. After bouncing around all my life, I finally found my home and a real family in Camp Half-Blood.
But now that I've moved out to begin my college life, everything's been happening in the blink of an eye.
"Hey, everything okay?" Percy asked suddenly. He was staring at me with concern – his deep sea-green eyes darkening as they always do when he's serious.
"Yeah, I'm alright." I smiled.
I'm probably overreacting about all this. Camp Jupiter is a wonderful place; I just need to get used to living in a new environment. I've always done it before, so there's really no difference.
Percy bit his bottom lip and stared at me for a little bit. He finally broke into a toothy grin and responded.
"Ok then," he said as he reached for my hair and twirled a couple strands with his fingers.
I frowned and gave him a loving punch on the arm to make him stop. But even though it's super embarrassing, I would never admit to that seaweed brain how much I love it when he plays with my hair.
"What time's your first class?" I asked, stealing some of his fries.
"It's right now. I think the classroom is on the other side of the camp," he replied nonchalantly, finishing the rest of his food and letting out a burp.
"Percy! You should get going! Walking to the other side of campus from here takes 30 minutes," I yelled out as I gently slapped his wrist. My boyfriend can act way too casual about important things. Being a demigod made it especially harder for him to focus.
Percy chuckled as he jumped out of his chair and slipped his backpack on. He clearly wasn't too worried about being late on the first day of class.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine, I'm a fast runner. Have a great day in class, wise girl," Percy winked. He leaned over and pecked me on the cheek right before sprinting to class. "See you later!"
I watched my boyfriend disappear into the crowd of college students hurrying to class. We aren't taking any of the same classes this semester, since a majority of mine are part of the architecture curriculum offered here.
I'm not as excited to begin my architect design classes like I was expecting, though. If I'm being really honest, I never thought that I'd be pursuing my dream back in the Bay Area. I always imagined going to school somewhere in the East Coast or even over in Greece after the Second Titan War.
But ever since Percy told me about Camp Jupiter's university program, we ended up going to college on the other side of the country. I just wish that the thought of leaving Camp Half-Blood for at least four years didn't make my stomach feel so weird.
I glanced over at the wall clock inside the mess hall.
"Guess I better head to class," I said to myself. It was finally time to start my world-class Roman education.
"Gods, I'm exhausted," I admitted out loud. My first official school week as a Camp Jupiter student was officially over.
I was currently sitting on a couch inside the library of the university.
The library itself was extremely large and filled with hundreds of Camp Jupiter students. Thousands of books and scrolls from the vast Roman collection lined the shelves of each floor and were free for everyone, of course.
Out of all the floors in the building, I was only able to check out the first three floors. Plus, I only managed to grab seven books that interested me.
Usually I would be thriving in an environment like this. There was so much knowledge in this amazing library and I normally wouldn't be able pass up the opportunity!
But after a week filled with fast-paced Roman-style lectures and awkward ice-breakers with the other students, finding a quiet spot in the library felt like a blessing from Zeus himself. Thank the gods.
Still though, attending class just felt so weird here. Despite a week passing by, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I didn't belong at this camp.
Maybe it's because I'm considered a graecus among the Roman citizens? No, that wouldn't make any sense ever since Percy's rise to praetor dismantled the camp's anti-Greek prejudice.
Was it the quality of education? Definitely not. Camp Jupiter's university rivals even the likes of the School of Athens.
So what was it?
I gazed towards a group of friends laughing at a nearby table and sighed. I wish my friends were here. They would've loved this library.
"Hey there, wise girl," a voice called out, breaking my thoughts. I turned towards the voice.
Standing to the right of me was my boyfriend holding two cups in his hands. He was grinning at me like he always does with that adorable smile of his!
"I got you some bomb hot chocolate from the dessert shop in the town," Percy said, sitting next to me on the couch and handing me a cup.
"Thanks, seaweed brain," I said as I gave him a thank you kiss on the cheek. "How'd you know I was here?"
"Well, it's a Friday afternoon, so I figured you would probably be in the most boring place in at this school."
I gave him a small punch in the chest and laughed at the fake frown he gave me afterwards. He knows me really well.
"Watch it, Percy," I laughed, trying to sound angry. "Besides, look at all the research material in this place! They even have an extensive collection just for Greek architecture and design. How can you not be excited?"
"You're absolutely right, Annabeth," Percy said with extremely obvious fake interest. "But what's even more exciting is the secret swimming hole that I just found out about."
"Oh really now?"
"Yeah! One of my classmates told me about how the camp has this secret swimming hole that branches out from the Little Tiber," he answered enthusiastically. "You'd think as a son of Poseidon and former camp praetor, someone would've told me about this before."
I couldn't help but laugh. Percy's really cute when he gets excited about anything water-related. Sometimes it seems like he never fails to make me smile.
"I'm sure we'll go one day, but I'd like to finish reading the books I picked up first," I replied, picking up one of the books.
Percy nodded and grabbed one of the other books from my stack.
"So how you like Camp Jupiter so far, Annabeth?" he asked, taking sips of his drink and pretending to read.
"Err – it's great," I said, forcing a smile. After hearing about all his adventures and stories during his time here, I couldn't admit to Percy that Camp Jupiter wasn't for me.
But Percy frowned and put down his book.
"Alright, Chase. Something's up," Percy said, gently plucking the hot chocolate and book from both my hands. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," I lied, hoping that we could change the topic. This wasn't supposed to be a big deal; especially since he loved this place almost as much as back home.
But it didn't work. The intense stare from his sea green eyes caught me off guard – his serious look.
"… Alright," I admitted and sighed. "I don't think Camp Jupiter is the right fit for me."
"Really?" Percy asked, dropping his smile for a more concerned demeanor. "Is it because this place reminds you of home, but isn't?"
I stared at my boyfriend, bewildered that he was able to hit the nail on the head.
"What the – how did you know?"
"C'mon Annabeth, I might be dense, but even I could tell from the moment we arrived at this camp," he said, rolling his eyes. "You haven't been acting like yourself."
He saw right through me. I have to admit though, it's weird being on the other side of our relationship for once.
I sighed deeply and looked into his eyes. "I didn't want to say anything because you love this place. I just want you to be happy."
"Of course, I'm happy!" Percy exclaimed out loud, catching me off guard. "But seeing you miserable out here doesn't make me any less concerned. I should've asked you before this week even started."
"Wait no, you've got it wrong," I said quickly. I wasn't miserable! I needed him to know that. "I don't hate this place. Gods, Camp Jupiter has almost everything I've ever imagined! It's just that…"
"It's just that you're homesick, right?" Percy finished my sentence. "It was pretty easy to tell. You look like you've been missing Camp Half-Blood this whole week."
Homesick? That's never been the case before. I've moved around all throughout my childhood with Luke and Thalia. We didn't have a home to be feel homesick about, so I never even thought it was possible. So why isn't this any different?
"Man, this is probably my fault, too," Percy let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head with his hand in an apologetic manner. "I shouldn't have forced you to come back to the Bay with me after the last prophesy ended. I'm sorry, we should've just stayed closer to Mt. Olympus."
"No, Percy, you're wrong," I said, punching him on the arm. I can't believe he was apologizing! "If I wanted to stay closer to home – believe me, I would have. But I knew how much this meant to you, and you're more important to me than anything."
I was upset! How could say that? Staying there meant him giving up his hopes for a normal life – without stupid prophesies and angry gods – just for me. But when I glanced over at boyfriend, I could see his eyes were still filled with worry and concern.
"I'm sorry, I just assumed that you would be excited as I was," he explained with a dejected expression.
"Don't worry, Percy. I'm a big girl, I can handle moving away from home," I sighed, clutching his hand. "I wanted to come here and I'm still excited. The thought of us starting our lives together kept us sane after the war, remember?"
"Yeah, but, it's different when you've spent over seven years of your life in one place, you know?" he said, rubbing my hand with comfort.
"Yeah, but it doesn't matter because I have you."
The words flowed out of my mouth before I even realized it. They came out as naturally as instinct. I have Percy. No matter where I end up, it doesn't matter because he'll be with me.
Percy stared at me with a raised eyebrow, his cheeks tinted slightly red from embarrassment. We rarely talked like this ever since we started dating, but I think we were both waiting for the other to say it first. Guess I caved in.
"Didn't know you were this romantic, Annabeth," he replied, breaking out in a smile. "Who knew you had it in you?"
I rolled my eyes and smirked. He's such an idiot, but he's mine.
"Thanks, Percy. Me neither," I said sarcastically, playfully rolling my eyes. "Seriously though, it'll take some time, but I'll get used to it. After all, Camp Jupiter is definitely a Roman-version of Camp Half-Blood. It's kind of creepy how similar they are."
Percy nodded his head in agreement and raised one of his eyebrows up in thought.
"Yeah, you're right. You know, there's a reason they made me praetor here," he said, winking right at me and grinning. "I always knew Chiron was holding me back."
I couldn't help but smile as I playfully slapped his wrist.
"Hey! Show some respect, Percy," I said with a laugh.
Without breaking his obnoxious smile, my boyfriend stood up and pulled me into a hug. It caught me off guard.
"Listen, Annabeth. If you ever miss home, just let me know. I can always get Hazel to loan us Arion for a round trip back to New York."
"Yeah, I know," I replied, smiling as bright as possible and returning the embrace. "Thanks for always looking out for me, Percy."
"No problem, that's part of my job."
Percy grabbed some strands of my hair and twirled them gently – gods, it felt really relaxing.
"In a way, I don't think I'll feel as homesick whenever you're around, seaweed brain," I quietly said, still hugging him.
Percy pulled back a bit from our embrace and stared at me with a confused expression.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're a part of home now," I replied, pecking him on the cheek.
After thinking back on everything that we've been through, leaving Camp Half-Blood didn't sound as bad anymore. The reason why I missed it so much was thanks to the goofball right in front of me. He made almost all of those camp memories possible.
My boyfriend stared at me with a surprised look for a couple seconds before finally breaking into another large smile.
"You are, too, Annabeth," he replied with affection.
We stood in a closed embrace for about one minute. It felt so comforting to have him in front of me – he still had that slight scent of the ocean.
My adventure at Camp Jupiter was just getting started, and I couldn't have been happier to start it with my best friend.
"Hey, wise girl?"
"Yeah?"
"Seriously, when did you learn how to be this romantic?"
"Shut up, seaweed brain."
A/N: First time writing a Percy Jackson story before (and first time reading anything Percy Jackson-related in 4+ years haha), so there's a pretty good chance the characters are OOC.
This is a present for someone and I hope you like it!