A/N: A little bit of profanity, and expect an excess of Percabeth.
"You bought a boat?" Grover asked. He looked thoroughly confused, and Percy shrugged.
"Yeah."
"An actual boat?"
"Yeah."
"Like, it floats and everything?"
"Well –"
"And not just because you're the son of Poseidon?"
"Yes Grover," Percy said, smiling. He was enjoying the process of relaying his boat story. "It floats. I got it with my graduation money."
"Geez, your parents must have been really impressed that you actually finished high school." He cleared his throat. "No offense or anything."
"None taken," Percy said smoothly. His newly acquired sunglasses gave him the odd impression of your average, surfer asshole. Not that he was, but hey, the large frames and bright t-shirt gave him something in the realm of that façade. "Anyway, I had an idea that I wanted to run by you."
"Shoot," Grover said. He was busy staring at the velvet box in his hands, where an impressive diamond rang lay. Both guys had already gone over the Satyr's plans for proposal, otherwise that would have been the leading discussion.
"So, what if I asked Chiron for a pass from camp this summer?"
"A pass? Huh, what's that?"
"I mean, what if I asked him to not make us stay this summer?"
"You and me?" Grover asked, surprised.
"Uh no, me and Annabeth."
"Oh," Grover replied. He tried to keep a sigh out of his voice. It had been years since "us" or "we" referred to himself and Percy.
"So, what do you think?"
"Wait," Grover said, the rest of Percy's sentence registering. "You want to skip camp this summer? Why?"
"I had an idea," Percy said. He had this small smile on his face, indicating that perhaps he was proud of what he'd come up with. "What if Annabeth and I toured the world this summer?"
"Toured the world?"
Percy lay out his hands, gesturing at his precious new boat with pride.
"In that?"
"Yeah," Percy said. "I really want to show her the sea. I feel like I should, if you know, we're headed down the same road that you and Juniper are."
"Quiet about that, okay?" Grover whispered. "I haven't asked her yet, you could jinx it."
"Right, sorry man," Percy replied. He sat up, knocking off his sunglasses. With his eyes visible, he looked much more like the guy Grover used to know. "So, what do you think?"
"Well…" He smiled tightly, hoping it came off as genuine. Was it bad that he cared more about the fact that Percy would be gone all summer? They hadn't seen each other lately, and he had hoped that this summer would be their chance to re-bond before Percy went to college. But it wasn't going to be, apparently. "Have you asked Annabeth yet?"
"No, but I'm hoping she'll be up for it. We'll see architecture and stuff, she'll like it."
"Okay, yeah. She'll like that…" Grover repeated quietly.
It was then that Annabeth whizzed by, a bag of books in hand.
"Hey Annabeth!" Percy called. He waved, and she finally turned, spotting them.
"Oh, hi guys." She looked cheerful. "I didn't see you there."
Percy grinned, his boat euphoria still swimming.
"Cool," Grover said, happy to see her. She'd been so busy with school preparations that barely seen her all summer. "It's just like the old days!"
But then Percy leaned in to kiss his girlfriend, and Grover was left to sit quietly and wait for them to finish. Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly like the old days.
"I wanted to tell you something," Percy said, taking her hands in his.
"Hmm?"
"I bought a boat."
She looked mystified for only a moment, before saying, "You mean, instead of a car?"
Percy sighed. "Wait, there's more though. How would you like to talk to Chiron about going on a trip this summer?"
"A trip?" She sounded skeptical. "Has he mentioned this to you?" she asked Grover.
"Bits and pieces," Grover replied. "Let him finish though, it sounds kind of interesting. Anyway, I've got to go meet Juniper for a picnic. See you guys." He tried not to notice how they barely looked up as they waved goodbye.
"Anyway," Percy continued, "How would you like to sail around the world with me? This summer, by the way, in case I didn't make that clear." The ends of their noses brush, making Annabeth smile. She liked him best when he was closest, second best when he was farthest, and worst when he was just far enough away to make stupid comments without getting smacked.
"Sail around the world?" Her eyes widened. "Gods Percy, that sounds… ambitious. I mean, we have school in a couple of months. We have to get ready and everything."
"I know," Percy said. Their proximity was short enough that all he had to do was breathe, and she heard him. "But please? It's something I want to do. With you, especially with you. The water is my world, Annabeth."
"And not mine." She gave another little smile. "Percy, in case you haven't noticed, I don't exactly love swimming." She grimaced apologetically.
"We'll cut the swimming to a minimum," he promised, steeling his nerves not to take it personally. "We'll just hang out on the boat. It'll be fun, I promise."
"Fun? You think so?"
"Yeah, it will probably be the only vacation we ever get to take. Come on, let's just ask Chiron. Please?"
"Since he's definitely going to say no, sure," Annabeth said. She ignored Percy's playful nudge, and wrapped her arm across his waist. She sighed, this time with happiness, though. Things had changed definitely changed, but it was for the better. Maybe they should take a vacation. After all, it had been a while since they'd had any sort of adventure.
A/N: I know it's short, but I had to have some kind of set up. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!