Truth
/ two hands longing for each others' warmth /

day three

It wasn't him. No. It wasn't Percy. It wasn't her Percy, wasn't the boy who she'd loved since they'd gone on their first quest together, which was four years ago. No. Instead she'd gotten a stranger. An outsider.

She narrowed her eyes at him, looking at the demigod. He knew something, though. He knew about the world of the gods, about monsters, but the way he was saying them... The thought cut through the part of her brain that was thinking Percy, Percy, but she pushed it away.

Hera, that stupid goddess. She yelled at the skies, not bothering to listen to Butch. Whatever. It didn't matter, did it? Not without Percy here.

day five

The cabin was quiet as Annabeth shot up, her hands clenching around the blanket that had tangled itself around her body. Small beads of sweat were warm and wet in her hair.

You will not cry, she told herself. No, she wouldn't. Percy was okay; she had to believe that. Whatever had happened to him wasn't death. Besides, he had the Achilles curse, she rationalized. He couldn't just simply die.

But a few tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes anyway. She wiped them away furiously, scolding herself even as her heart ached.

day twenty-one

She chewed on the end of her pencil, slipping it out of her mouth to cross out yet another location. Not in Texas, either. Almost instinctively, she went back to chewing her eraser - which was disgusting, but she couldn't quite remember the last time she'd eaten.

Annabeth looked at the map of America. It was covered in lines and push-pins and other weird things (such as coffee stains). They'd been searching mostly in the southeast part of America, because they had less people in the other places. She went back to the list of locations, then crossed out Alaska.

No way would he be there. The land beyond the gods. She looked carefully at the map-

"Hey, girlie," someone said, plopping down in a chair next to her at the ping-pong table. She faintly connected the voice - Clarisse, of course. She looked up.

"Hi," she said in a small voice. She wasn't quite sure what to say, really. They'd been friends (ish) for a really, really long time - but still. She took a moment to think about Silena, the bright, bubbly daughter of Aphrodite who had teased her mercilessly about-

"You eat dinner?" She shook her head. "Lunch?" She gave a shrug. The map and paper were promptly slid out from underneath her hands, being folded by calloused hands. Annabeth reached for them, the pencil clattering to the floor, but Clarisse held them away.

"Clarisse, you can't-" Clarisse raised an eyebrow, her expression turning solemn.

"Can't what, girlie? Can't take this away from you? You're not the only one missing Jackson, you know. And besides, since he's not around, and you're obviously not taking care of yourself, I suppose I'm gonna have to fill in."

"But-" The older girl grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door.

"Gods, Annabeth," she yelled, exasperated. "I'm pretty sure Percy - Prissy, damn it - can wait thirty minutes as you shovel food into your pretty mouth. He'll just sleep or something. Come on."

day forty-six

Chiron straightened up as she walked in. He gave her a weary half-smile, beckoning for her to sit on the small couch also in his office.

"You should be at archery," he said, though his smile only grew. She smiled back, giving the smallest of laughs.

"And you should be overseeing it," she retorted. He chuckled. Annabeth moved a crate of CD's off of the couch and smoothed out the fabric, sitting on it tentatively. She'd tried, she really had, but everything had suddenly become overwhelming. And here she was.

"You have a point," Chiron noted. "but really, Annabeth, my dear, why have you come here?" She sighed, pulling her knees up and her head in her hands. It didn't matter in here, with Chiron. He'd seen her break and cry and scream and laugh.

"I don't know." Her voice was muffled. Through her fingers, she could see him as he rolled up to the couch, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing. She let go and put her head on his shoulder as he kind-of hugged her.

The rest of the day was spent in silence as they sat and stared at the photos adorning the walls.

day sixty-one

Clang. Clang. Clang. Hammers worked away at Celestial Bronze. Yells sounded out. Things were being passed from person to person so no one would have to move - whether it was tools or the word of her arrival. Leo popped up, walking through the space between two support beams. His face was covered in grime, and goggles were pushed up in his hair, though she could see the little indents they'd made on his nose.

"Come to visit?" he asked. Even though it was the start of a perfectly normal conversation, she couldn't help but think that he'd meant for it to be more. She ignored the thought.

"Can I help?" she asked bluntly. She needed something to do. The search parties had stopped as they'd figured out where Percy was. Her cabin had a free slot in their activities, which meant she had a full hour of either moping or moping.

"Um," he said. "I don't think-" Maybe it was something on her face, or something shining in her eyes, but he stopped and swallowed.

Leo handed her a pair of goggles wordlessly, walking off and leaving her staring. She pushed her sleeves up and joined the party.

day seventy

The door made a soft clicking sound as she unlocked it. Annabeth opened it on instinct, turning the knob and stepping in. She closed her eyes and breathed in the aroma of chocolate chip cookies and candy. It smelled wonderful.

She relaxed when a dark-haired woman appeared, wiping hands on a spotted apron and smiling. "You're back," Sally said.

"Yeah, I'm-" home. She stopped herself, feeling her eyes sting. "I'm back." She gave a half-hearted smile that felt too fake. Sally sighed before suddenly frowning.

"Why are you just standing there, dear? Hang up your jacket - is it cold outside - and come in the kitchen! Don't just stand around. I do need some help with these cookies." The unspoken because Percy isn't here hung in the air. She put her jacket on the coat rack and shut the door behind her.

Five minutes later, her hands were dusted in white, as was her hair and shirt. She didn't really mind though - she'd done this enough times. Of course, the baking mostly consisted of her licking the last of the batter out of the bowl and not doing anything, but technicalities were technicalities.

The last of the batter was scooped up by Sally's hands and shaped into a small ball. The tray of cookies was shoved into the oven. She watched this all happen numbly, imagining her boyfriend next to them, kneeling down to stare at the uncooked dough and throwing flour everywhere. She shivered, suddenly cold. Her companion noticed this.

"Cold? Let me get you a jacket." Before she could protest and say she could get her own jacket, thank you very much, Sally had disappeared down the hall. A door, opening and closing. Footsteps. Then the older woman was forcing her arms up and slipping a dark-colored hoodie over her head.

It smelled like the cabin at Montauk, which she'd been to twice, the smell of the sea mingled with the faint aroma of blue chocolate chip cookies still in the oven. She closed her eyes and sunk back into it. It smelled like Percy.

She didn't take it off.

day one hundred-something

It scared her. It scared her how she'd lost track of the days. There'd been too many for her to count, which meant everything was sort of fading away. If she couldn't keep track of how many days had passed, then that meant it had been long enough for her to pretty much go insane and want to cry all the time.

The night air was cold against her exposed skin, but she made her way to the steps and sat. The stars gleamed against darkness. She drew imaginary lines between them like her father had showed her. There was Orion, Heracles, Zoe...

Annabeth let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. There was no one around - no one but the harpies, who all gave her strange looks and flapped their wings a lot. They didn't do anything, thank gods, so she sat there, alone.

Creak. Footsteps. A grunt as someone sat next to her. An arm around her shoulder. She leaned in, letting her younger brother comfort her. He moved closer, wrapping his other arm around her. He was warm, a little too warm, due to the fact that he'd gotten sick, but it was okay. Another gust of air drifted through the area, and despite Mal's arms, she still felt cold.

He stood up - she made a mew of protest - and walked off, re-appearing before she could react and slipping a hoodie over her head like Sally had done a long, long time ago. She snuggled back into his arms, closing her eyes and opening her mouth to speak.

For a second, she couldn't say anything. Then: "I miss him."

"I know."

"I want him back."

"I know."

She tilted her head towards the sky. "Come on, Seaweed Brain," she whispered. "Come back to me. Come home. Here. Home."

what seems like forever

"Come on, Seaweed Brain," she says. "Come back to me. Come home." She gestures around them. "Here. Home." She's wearing this navy blue hoodie that's two sizes too big and has the words GOODE HIGH SWIM TEAM printed in white on the front.

He smiles. "Right here, Wise Girl. Or did you forget?" he asks, teasing. The name slips out of his mouth easily. On closer inspection, she looks tired, weary - like she's going to cry at any second. She whirls around from her spot on the beach.

"Percy," she says, her eyes lighting up. He grins and sits down next to her.

"Annabeth," he says back, sneaking a kiss on her cheek, right next to the corner of her lips. He can feel her lips curve upwards. She leans into him, and he notes that her hair smells like lemons. Her skin is warm and soft.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. "Not that I mind." He chuckles and wraps an arm around her, pulling her closer. Percy doesn't answer; instead, he presses small kisses on her head. She takes his hand - he kisses her fingers as well. He loves her. He really does.

She laughs, but she doesn't pull back. She lets him play with their fingers, fitting them together in different ways and seeing how they always match up. She looks so happy now, her cheeks a light pink and a small smile on her face. He grins back, almost goofily - here, he is happy.

"I'm home," he says to her. "Here." He repeats her words.

"Here," she says, nodding. "Here."

Here. Yeah, I'm cheesy. Sue me. No, I didn't reach 2k like I wanted to; oh well. I have 58 other fics - I suppose I can live. But still.

Um, if you liked it, please drop a review below because everyone's in love with Percabeth - just kidding, there are quite a few Perico/Person (ha!)/Perper (ha!)/Pereyna/Percyeverything shippers out there. Yeah.

I always feel so awkward making jokes, (and this isn't one) but if anyone tells you that your clothing looks gay, tell them, "Yeah, they came out of the closet this morning."

And am now ending this on an awkward note.

achieving elysium