Annabeth couldn't sleep. It was around two a.m. on the Argo II, and a full moon shone through the window. The moonlight illuminated Annabeth's rough and unbrushed curls that were spread out on her pillow. She looked out the window, and stared at the night sky, hoping to find some solace in the stars. Usually, the gentle rocking of the boat was enough to lull her to sleep, but not tonight. Tonight, thoughts raced through her head.

The next day would be dedicated to making plans in Topeka. Annabeth had no clue what was in store for the seven, or what the prophecies meant, but she had a feeling it was nothing good. The memory of what her mother had said to her on the subway, of her mother flitting between her Greek and Roman forms, wouldn't leave her head.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. She sat up on her bed, and smiled when Percy quietly opened the door and peered into her room. Annabeth motioned Percy toward her, and he quietly closed the door behind him.

"I couldn't sleep," he whispered, "so I wanted to see if you were awake." Percy suddenly realized that maybe his knocking had woken Annabeth up, but she seemed happy to see him, so he decided not to worry.

"I couldn't sleep either. I don't want to think about everything that's going on." Annabeth tried to rub the tiredness out of her eyes, but she guessed that nothing could make her seem energized in this state.

"Well, thank the Gods I'm here to distract you from your thoughts." He gave Annabeth one of his lopsided smirks, and a wave of fondness for this impulsive, (sometimes) idiotic boy rolled through her.

They stayed in that position, Annabeth sitting up on her bed and Percy awkwardly standing near the door, both of them smiling like idiots, for a few seconds. The two had mostly gone back to normal after months of a confusing and terrifying separation. In fact, it was evident that being apart only deepened the feelings that the two had for each other. But there were moments of awkward pause between them. It was as if they were both relearning their footing in the relationship.

Annabeth broke the few seconds of silence by moving toward the wall on her small bed and patting the empty space beside her.

Percy took off his ratty pegasus slippers (one had a lopsided wing, and the other was singed during an unfortunate bout of sleepwalking that involved the rock climbing lava pit), and slipped into the space beside his girlfriend. She threw her blanket over both of them, and the two spent a few seconds adjusting themselves before Percy wrapped his arms around her waist, and Annabeth rested her forehead on his chest.

He was warm and smelled faintly of the sea. Annabeth missed his smell (she never thought she'd ever miss the smell of a teenage boy, but love does strange things to your brain, apparently). On nights when she missed him especially terribly, she'd wear his favorite, tie-dyed blue hoodie to bed. Annabeth buried her face into Percy's neck, and his arms tightened around her.

Percy wanted to stay in that position forever. They were both safe, and there were no quests and no prophecies, just the two of them being rocked to sleep on a boat sailing through the sky.

She let out a small sigh of discontent when Percy removed one of his hands from her waist but smiled when he ran his hand through her hair.

"I missed your princess curls," he whispered into her ear. Annabeth rolled her eyes and moved her head back so she could kiss him. He was warm and soft and all Annabeth wanted to do was melt into him.

Percy moved away from the kiss and pulled Annabeth to his chest. Everything was good. After a few minutes, the two fell asleep, with Percy on his back, and Annabeth resting on his chest, with her ear over his heart.

It was totally worth getting the "birds and bees" talk from Coach Hedge when he caught them the next morning.