there's no place like home
Annabeth goes back on a Saturday. Percy holds her hand the entire time and when she turns in the saddle over Utah to tell him to stop, he gives her this look and her heart does this thing in her chest and she suddenly can't come up with the words to tell him it's okay and stop, can't say anything really. So she gives him a half-smile, hoping he chalks it up to her father, and turns back around.
She can feel Blackjack rolling his eyes at her as he lets out a little huff, and she gives him a half-hearted kick in retaliation.
Every time they pass a state line, he squeezes her hand and kisses the back of her neck, her shoulder, her hand and she wonders how she got so lucky.
;;;;;
Annabeth conks out against his shoulder halfway through and Percy smiles and reaches around her to get the reins as she snores softly. She makes this little sound and nestles up against him and it takes everything in him not to kiss her senseless. He settles for kissing her forehead instead, and leans to stretch his back a little. He'd like to say it was entirely romantic and cute, but it feels weird, her sleeping against him in a saddle, and he's so worried that she'll fall off Blackjack that he nearly steers them into Oregon. (He doesn't realize that Blackjack can hear him and the pegasus gets so offended he almost falls off instead.)
Somewhere between Sonora and San Francisco (Annabeth insisted he memorize aerial views of every city so that they didn't wind up in Hawaii) he gets this dumb love-struck grin and Blackjack says, "You got it bad, boss."
He can't help but agree.
;;;;;
Annabeth almost falls over when they land, and when she pulls herself off the saddle her hands shake and her palms are sweaty. She doesn't know why she's so nervous. She and her Dad have a better relationship than they did and he knows who Percy is, what he means to her.
Percy knocks his shoulder against hers with one of his grins and she relaxes a little, punches his hip. They'll be okay, she thinks-
-and then her father opens the door. (Schist.)
;;;;;
Percy knows he's supposed to be some macho macho man, but this is the first time he's seen Mr. Chase as Annabeth's boyfriend and the guy owns a Sopwith Camel, so sue him but he's a little nervous. When he opens the door his hands are shaking even more than Annabeth's and he's sweating buckets. He knocks his shoulder against hers because he knows she's nervous too.
Her dad's expression when he opens the door is pleasantly surprised. "Annabeth." When he sees Percy, he tilts his head with a strange gleam in his eyes. "Percy," he says with a little smile.
"Mr. Chase," Percy says a little nervously and Annabeth snickers a little, because her boyfriend saved the world twice and her dad makes him nervous.
"Call me Frederick." He steps back. "Come inside. Elise made cookies for the boys a few minutes ago."
Percy gives her a wide eyed look when her father's back is turned and she gives him a mocking look. He sticks his tongue out at her and crosses his fingers.
;;;;;
Percy eats his cookies pretty fast, but he's got a hand on Riptide the entire time because even though Kronos and Gaea are long gone, Mount Tam isn't and old habits die hard. Annabeth gives him a knowing look and her dagger stays in her hand too. If Frederick and Elise notice, they don't say a word.
;;;;;
They sleep in Annabeth's room for the night. Percy feels a little awkward, especially when Frederick gives him a "Dad" look, like he's gonna pulverize him if he so much as looks at Annabeth the wrong way and that is why he sleeps on the floor. Annabeth looks at him like he's crazy, and he ends up right next to the night-light which is unfortunate, but he's not risking it.
;;;;;
The next night it is not Frederick that wakes them. The twins bounce into their room at five the next morning. Percy doesn't even know how Bobby and Matthew knew they were here, but he knows it's not good, especially because he is next to Annabeth on the bed instead of on the floor. He gently disentangles himself and takes a piece of her hair out of his mouth before sitting up on the mattress. "Uh," he says, intelligently. "Hi." He waves his hand in a poor imitation of the salute from Star Trek.
The twins look unimpressed, and instead of acknowledging his attempt at respect, jump straight into the Inquisition. "Are you Annabeth's boyfriend?" Bobby asks. Matthew raises an eyebrow at him.
Percy gulps. "Yes," he says tentatively.
"You don't sound sure," Matthew says, frowning now. Bobby shakes his head in agreement. "Are you sure?" Matthew asks.
"I'm sure."
Annabeth bolts up in bed and he smothers a grin when he sees her bedhead, the bleary expression on her face. "Rise and shine, Wise Girl. We're being interrogated," he informs her with a small smile.
Right after he's finished speaking the twins cut in again. "Are you sure he's your boyfriend, Anna?"
Annabeth takes a minute to sort out her hair and wake up. Matthew rolls his eyes as Bobby taps his foot pointedly. She stifles a yawn and says, "Don't call me Anna."
Matthew rolls his eyes harder, and Percy can almost imagine little Annabeth, tapping her foot and rolling her eyes so hard they almost fall out of her head. Annabeth gives him an I'm so sorry you have to deal with them look, and hops into the bathroom with a smirk and a change of clothes, kissing him on the cheek before she goes.
"Does that answer your question?" Percy asks crossing his fingers and his toes, and praying to Hera or Hestia or whoever it is that does awkward meet-the-family things.
"Please," snorts Bobby.
"Even I do that," Matthew says rolling his eyes again.
Percy curses the Olympians to Hades and back at least seven times.
;;;;;
As soon as Annabeth sets a foot out of the bathroom door, Percy runs in behind her and locks himself inside. She blinks and when she turns to face Matthew and Bobby, her eyebrows nearly touches her hairline. "What did you say?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Bobby says and walks out of the room. Matthew sticks his tongue out at her first, and she throws her hands up in the air.
;;;;;
Annabeth fully intends to leave after lunch but her father insists she stay and the twins grab onto her like sea urchins, so really, she has no choice. Percy's expression morphs from disguised relief to terror and she gives him an apologetic look when her dad turns to Elise. He gives her a grimace in response.
When they sit down at the dinner table, Percy's entire being is so awkward that Annabeth doesn't know whether she should help him or laugh. Her dad notices too, and she doesn't know how to feel about that either.
;;;;;
Percy has never been so mortified in his life, not even when Mom told Thalia and Annabeth the carrot story the summer after eighth grade. Frederick and Elise stare at him the whole time while Bobby and Matthew kick his feet and sneak lima beans onto his plate and even though Annabeth holds his hand under the table, she's pretty sure she's mentally laughing her head off at him and gods he wants to go back to New York so badly.
Needless to say, the end could not come soon enough.
;;;;;
When all the plates have been cleared and set in the sink ("I can wash, Annabeth, you have a camp to get back to") Percy bolts for the door, hurriedly saying, "I have to go get Blackjack." She's pretty sure the only time he ran this fast was when the Stolls pranked him after they got together.
When it's all said and done, Annabeth turns to him with a small smirk and says, "So? What did you think?"
Percy narrows his eyes at his girlfriend and carefully says, "They…were nice."
Annabeth throws her head back, laughing. "It's not a test, Percy."
"Then, Holy Poseidon that was the most awkward thing I've ever done," he says all in one breath.
"Well wouldja look at that, the Hero of Olympus, utterly terrified of family dinners. Let's hope the Minotaur doesn't find out, or gods forbid, Zeus." She gasps, mockingly.
He gives her a glare and turns towards the sky with a haughty sniff. "I love you too, Wise Girl."
She steps back with wide eyes. "You…what?"
Percy grins at her disarmingly and throws her onto Blackjack.
(She's so disoriented she falls off and Percy has to haul her back on. He doesn't let her live this one down, ever.)
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notes: this was a lot shorter than a lot of my other one-shots but i hope y'all enjoyed it. thank you GiddyGirl4Books for the prompt, this was so fun to write! read and review please!