Percy Jackson knew he had blown it.
It was only because of his nerves. He had been sweating uncontrollably on his palms, his temples, under his shirt—he couldn't stop. His hands were shaking and his brain would come up with replies stupider than anything he had every said in his past to her.
He couldn't help it and he knew it wasn't just because of the heat.
Then he figured, hey, I'm a son of the sea god; I can control water, right? It didn't help because it drained his energy too much and he couldn't pay attention to it forever. He decided to just take a deep breath.
He and Annabeth were sitting by Thalia's tree near the strawberry fields and right in view of the most beautiful sunset he had ever seen. Or maybe it was just him, considering his explanations.
The two were having a conversation, a thing that they shared most often and usually drifted towards their future together.
And then he said the stupidest thing ever. Something he couldn't take back. Something that made him want to bang his head against the tree. It was something that made Annabeth fluster with her piercing gray eyes as they glared at him accusingly.
But Percy knew better. He could see past her orbs that were shining under the pink sunset light, making her beautiful blonde feature glow. There were tears forming in her eyes.
He tried to take it back, to fix it, but she stood up, spraying dirt on him from kicking her sandals and stormed off to her cabin.
Percy didn't try to go after her. He knew she just needed some time and then he would have his moment. He stood up, packed their picnic holding it with one hand, and then walking off, his other hand in his left pocket. He wasn't fingering Riptide, but something soft and fuzzy; something hard and….box-shaped.
The next afternoon, after a good sword-practicing workout, 23-year-old Annabeth climbed out of the showers to look in the mirror, she found her eyes red and bloodshot. There were bags under her eyes. She sniffed and rubbed her swollen and blotchy cheeks. Her gray eyes watered with sadness.
She sighed, dragging a moan across her lips and began to get dressed into comfortable clothing—blue jeans and an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. She pulled her wet and curly hair back into a short ponytail and she walked into her room, carrying a pair of socks in between two fingers.
Multiple cabin mates stared in her direction like she was an alien. They had never seen her cry in years. But she payed no attention to how they thought about her. In her room, she sat on the edge of her bed and slipped the socks on. She didn't bother tennis shoes because all she planned to do for the rest of the day was stay inside. She knew that if she was outside during this time of the day, she would run into Percy and that was a definite no from what he said last night.
That's why she switched her chores and practices to the morning—she knew Percy would be too busy drooling on his pillow even though it was only seven in the morning.
Annabeth couldn't help but chuckle, her gaze long and lost into the wooden floors. She could imagine Percy hanging off the side of the bed, his hair in a rat's mess as his head was slowly slipping off the pillow, his drool sliding along with him and dragging across his cheek.
Her chuckle grew into a grin as she scrunched her nose in disgust after imagining his drool. But the thing was, it reminded her of the day they first met. Or more like the day she first met him.
Annabeth shook the thought away. She was supposed to be mad at him. He needed to learn to not say stuff that were that idiotic.
Her lip began to tremble again and she declared to herself that she was not going to spend the day wallowing in her sobs. She was going to do something somewhat productive. Something that could help get her mind off of things.
There was a familiar click in her head as she thought of a memory. A memory when she was younger with Luke once they had reached Camp Half-Blood and then lost Thalia.
I know this is quite short but this is just part one. Please stay with me, it's going to get fluffier! :)