Surprisingly enough the rest of the night went pretty well. We danced and caught up with old friends, the gods dancing to Y-M-C-A was probably the funniest thing I had ever witnessed that and Zeus singing Karaoke to Mustang Sally.
Embarrassing speeches were made by both my dad and Grover, Thalia even made appearance towards the end of the night. She and Annabeth talked for most of the night 'catching up' on gods know what, not being able to stand the squeals and random talk of girls any longer I went to find Grover.
"Hey! There you are! Where have you been all night?" Grover shouted to me seeing my approach.
I sighed. "Dude, I don't think I have had one uninterrupted dance this entire night, every time I get a chance to be with Annabeth either someone does their best to talk me to death or steals her away to dance."
Grover laughed at my whininess. "Come on man if you think this is bad just wait until the wedding." I sighed exasperated.
"Hey, speaking of the wedding. What would you say to being my best man?" I asked
He looked surprised for a moment like he hadn't expected me to ask him. "Seriously?" He asked excitedly. I nodded. "Yes! Of course! Thanks man that means a lot!" A large grin spread across his face.
I laughed at his expression. "I wouldn't have it any other way." I said smiling as we bumped fists.
"Hey, where's Juniper?" I asked suddenly noticing her lack of presence.
"Over there." He said pointing to a cluster of tables, where a very sleepy Juniper sat. "She's pretty tired I was going to come find you soon if you hadn't come and found me, it's getting pretty late."
I looked at my watch 2:15 a.m. I hadn't noticed the time had passed so quickly.
Just then I felt someone's arm around my waist, I looked down and there was Annabeth looking pretty sleepy herself.
"Yeah, it is getting pretty late." I agreed.
Annabeth stifled a yawn. "Yeah, you ready to go Sailor Boy?" I smiled down at her. "Yeah, just let me go tell my dad bye and we can leave. Why don't you go get our jackets and I'll meet you at the door." I bent down kissed her forehead.
"Okay." She smiled and went off.
"Yeah, we will probably be going too. Great party Percy, congratulations again." Grover said motioning for Juniper to come and say bye, she reluctantly made her way over to us.
"Thanks man, hey let's do something Thursday. Just me you, Nico, and Tyson?" I asked. It had been a while since we have had just a 'guy' weekend.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I will meet you guys at Joe's coffee shop around 2:00?"
"Great! See you then." I said shaking his hand.
"Well, ready to go babe?" Grover asked Juniper. She nodded eagerly.
"Bye Percy!" They both said in unison making their way to the doors.
It took some time before I finally found my dad, but there he was with a wine glass in his hand conversing loudly with Apollo. They were both laughing loudly at something someone had said.
"Hey, Annabeth and I are going to go." He stopped his bantering to talk to me.
"Aw, come on!" He said his words slurring together "Sit back and have a few with your old man!" I smiled at him.
"No thanks. I have had enough for one night but sometime soon. I have to get Annabeth home, she's getting tired." I said using Annabeth as my excuse. The truth was I was ready to get out of here, it was fun and really fun at that but I wouldn't mind being alone with Annabeth for a while either, it was after all the night I had proposed to her.
"Ohh, alright then son, go on and take the girl home and get some sleep." Poseidon said seeming to sober up a little. "I hope you had a good time tonight."
"I did dad, lots of fun. Thanks." I said really meaning it.
"No problem Percy. I am looking forward to the wedding." He said his eyes shone with the same light they had earlier.
"Yeah me too." I said smiling widely.
Presidion gave out a hardy laugh, obviously misunderstanding my intensions. "I bet you are." He said giving me a wink.
I just chuckled. "Well thanks again Dad, for everything. Annabeth is waiting for me I have to go, bye." For the second time that day my father hugged me, this time I didn't hesitate I hugged him back.
"Bye Percy, you will be hearing from soon." He said as he released me.
"Bye." I told him again before I turned to leave.
I found Annabeth at the door hugging my black parka to her chest, her brown leather jacket already on waiting for me. "Sorry. Poseidon was with Apollo."
"That's alright." She said handing my parka to me. I took her hand a led her out to the elevator. We rode down in a comfortable silence.
Annabeth leaned more heavily against me as we walked out into the cold. I walked a few steps trying to decide if we should call a cab or just brave the bitter weather.
I looked down at Annabeth to ask what we should do when an idea hit me. My mom and Paul's apartment was only two blocks down.
"Hey, why don't we just stay at my mom and Paul's tonight, its only two blocks away?" I asked.
"Won't they mind? It's kind of late." She asked unsure.
"No, of course not my mom and Paul love when we go over there. I even have a key so we don't have to wake them up." I said showing her my house key.
She still looked unsure. "Where will I sleep? I don't even have anything to wear." She said gesturing to her skinny jeans and boots.
"It'll be fine, Julie has bunk beds in her room, and you can wear one of my t-shirts." Julie was my six year old sister, a perfect combination of both my mother and Paul.
Not being able to find another reason to argue she agreed. "Alright, let's go it is getting colder." She pulling her jacket tighter around herself.
We started out at a brisk walk but ended up having a race to see who could get there the fastest. Loser has to kiss the winner.
Annabeth beat me by four steps. She stood atop the front steps of the dark porch with a smug smile on her face. I reluctantly made my way up the steps over to where she stood. We stood there for a while just looking at each other trying to catch our breath.
"All right Jackson, pay up." She said when our breathing had slowed, a coy smile made its way across her lips.
"A deal is a deal." I agreed before leaning down to kiss her parted lips.
Our breath mingled a moment before I touched my lips to hers gentle at first but soon our lips became eager. Annabeth crushed her body closer to mine, I pushed her up against the side wall cupping the side of her face with one hand my other hand finding its place on the small of her back.
Our lips danced together, not being able to resist I let my tongue traced the shape of her lips earning a soft moan. She pulled back gasping for air and I just moved to her neck sucking a nipping at places marking her as mine. Annabeth pulled my face back to her own quickly finding my lips, her tongue begging for entrance which I happily granted.
Suddenly the porch light flickered on and off, figuring it was some electrical mishap I ignored it but then the flickering became faster and faster making a bright strobe light which could only mean one thing, Paul was still up.
I knew he was on the other side of the door peeking out of the pep hole. I was trying to ignore it, but was failing miserably. I grunted annoyed, but Annabeth misunderstood and deepened the kiss bringing our bodies closer together a deep moan escaping my throat.
Paul continued his flickering, I was surprised Annabeth hadn't noticed yet. I banged my fist against the door signaling for Paul to cut it out, I heard his deep throaty chuckle from the other side of the door and my mother's concerned voice "Oh, Paul leave them alone."
But the flickering didn't stop; I reluctantly pulled away from the kiss showering Annabeth's cheeks and neck in small kisses.
Annabeth smiled up at me through half lidded eyes. "Sorry, but mom and Paul are waiting up for us." I apologized.
Annabeth cheeks flooded with a rosy color "Have they been…"
I sighed "Yeah, well Paul was anyway. You didn't notice his immature light flickering?" I asked emphasizing the word immature so that our 'audience' could hear from the inside, earning me a halfhearted chuckle from Paul.
"Well I guess we should go in out of the cold." I said wrapping my arm around her waist.
"Wait." She stopped me before I could open the door. "How do I look?" She asked pulling her shirt down that had ridden up.
I looked her up and down a let out a whistle "Beautiful as always." My automatic answer slipped out.
She smiled in response "Thanks but that's not what I meant Percy." she said gesturing to her neck where a new hickey was starting to surface. Oops.
"Oh, uh. Yeah." I said reaching behind her and pulled out her pony tail holder. Her blush deepened and she shook out her blond spirals hiding the blemish. I smiled at her "Much better."
I kissed her once more gently on the lips, or at least I meant it to be gentle, our lips molded against each other's as I pulled her tightly against my chest. This time it was Annabeth who pulled away. "Come on Percy let's get inside, I can't afford another hickey at the moment." I chuckled and fished the key out of my pocket then forcing it into the key hole.
I closed the door swiftly behind me preventing the cold December weather from following. We hung our coats before going into the kitchen where I knew my mom and Paul would be having their late night tea.
I took Annabeth's left hand in my hand holding it up proudly to my parents showing of the engagement ring. My mother squealed in delight and rushed up from her place at the table and ambushed Annabeth in a massive hug. Annabeth stumbled back upon impact not expecting the hug. I laughed as my mom wrapped me into a hug and kissed my cheek.
"Congratulations, you two!" Paul said pulling Annabeth and I into a hug
"Congratulations! OH! This is so exciting! Come, come sit, and tell me everything!" My mother said excitedly pulling out two chairs for Annabeth and I sit down then rushed to get us each a mug of tea before taking he own seat next to Paul.
"Well…" my mom prompted once everyone was situated.
Sighing deeply we began. I started with this morning telling them about my visit to Olympus. Annabeth was the one to detail the proposal, then of course we both filled them in on the party doing our best to leave out the embarrassing parts not that it helped much our blushing pretty much gave them the unsaid part of the story.
Annabeth yawned largely when she had finished her recap. I looked down at my watch and noticed it was already 3:30. My own eyelids were starting to get heavy and I felt sleep's spell calling.
Paul seeming to take the hint said, "Ah, well we've kept you two long enough and I'm bushed I think I'll be getting to bed myself. How about you Sally?" My mom nodded and stretched "Yeah, I think so." She said covering up yawn. She came around the table placing goodnight kisses on our foreheads "Night. Sleep well. And Annabeth feel free to take advantage of Julie's top bunk, I'll leave some extra blankets outside of her door for whenever you are ready to go to bed."
"Thanks again for letting me stay tonight." Annabeth told my parents for about the fifth time.
"It's no problem. We love having you here." My mom said with a smile.
"Night guys." Paul said as he and my mom walked off down the hall to their room. Annabeth yawned, she looked at me with droopy eyes.
"Well I guess that's code for bed time?" I laughed.
She shook her head "No, that was code for movie time." She said resting her head on her arms.
"I'll get right on that, shorts or sweat pants?"
"Mm, shorts." She answered quickly.
A few minutes later I walked out of my room with Annabeth's clothes folded in my hand, some old green striped boxers, and a navy blue long sleeved shirt.
"Here you are a fresh pair of Percy PJs." I said handing her the clothes.
She took them a went into the bathroom to change, I took advantage of the time to change into my own PJs.
By the time I had finished changing into sweats and a T-shirt Annabeth was already in the din searching through the movie cabinet. I don't know why, but I loved seeing her wear my clothes.
"Decide on anything yet?" I asked seeing that see had five choices laid out on the coffee table.
"I can't decide what I want to watch a romance, romantic- comedy, comedy, tragic, or action. I am leaning toward romantic comedy and romance. "
"Well somebody is in a sappy mood." I teased.
"Oh shut up, and just help me pick one." She said with vague irritation.
"Okay, what are the choices?"
"The Last Song," she said reading the titles out loud "Remember Me, P.S. I Love You, Sydney White, and Raise Your Voice."
"What's Sydney White?" I never heard of that movie before.
"Sydney White it is then, I have never actually seen the entire thing so it will be a first for both of us."
"Okay then put it on and come sit." I said patting the spot next to me on the couch. I stretched out on the couch feeling the muscles in my back and arms creak.
I opened my eyes to see Annabeth staring down at me obviously amused. "And where exactly do you expect me to sit with you taking up the entire couch?" She asked.
The shirt I had given was obviously too big for her it hung almost mid thigh on her and she had pushed the too long sleeves up to her elbows the boxers, at least, seemed to fit her okay like I had expected, I hadn't worn those in years, she looked adorable.
"I don't expect you to sit anywhere." I said as a matter fact pulling her down on top of my chest.
She stretched herself out laying her head on my chest as I wrapped my arms around her. "Yeah," she agreed smiling up at me "This is way better than sitting." I couldn't help be agree.
As usual her eyes melted me, my heart fluttered in my chest uncontrollably. I had expected those types of feelings to go away after a while, but no. Even after all these years this girl still gave me butterflies. I sighed. "I love you." I said randomly.
Annabeth's smile only grew wider "I love you too." She said kissing me once and sighing.
"You know this is absolutely perfect." She said
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Just everything, you, our friends, our life there is nothing that I would ever change. I never even dreamed things could turn out to be so wonderful, then you came along and everything thing was okay the way it's supposed to be.
My whole life I was always looking for someone to except me, some place where I belonged. No matter how much I have denied it, I find that every time I am with you Percy. You are everything to me I love you so much so much it hurts. I trust you so completely Percy.
You have been my very best friend for all these years and you still remain faithful no matter how many times I got angry over pointless things, no matter how many times I pushed you away when I was scared you were always there waiting for me. I am scared to admit that, because I am afraid that someone is going to somehow take you away from me, because they finally figured out that I don't deserve you, you are way too good to me you are more than I ever deserved. I love you Seaweed Brain, I can't live without you."
A single tear slid down her cheek and stained my grey shirt shocking me into silence. I rubbed away the trail that the offensive tear had left. I cupped her face in both my hands forcing her to look at me, eventually her eyes made their way back to mine. She had everything so backwards I was the one who didn't deserve her. I had to find some way to explain that to her but I just started into her eyes speechless. Finally I spoke.
"Annabeth, you take my breath away just by looking at me the way you do. And you have got to stop thinking that I am just going to disappear someday. That will never happen, because I cannot even stand to the thought of being away from you. I will always be with you, like I said you have my heart. Annabeth, we were meant to be together, I know for fact that's true I can feel that it is true. I love you too, more than my own life."
She nestled in closer to my chest and I hugged her tighter to me she sighed deeply obviously content, for a moment we turned our attention to movie not really watching it just enjoying being in each other's presence. I was about to ask her if she wanted me to rewind it to the beginning, but when I looked down she was sleeping peacefully in my arms, or at least I thought she was until she leaned up and kissed me lightly on the lips.
"Can we just sleep here tonight?" she mumbled sleepily
"Yeah, sure." I said answer automatically.
"Good night, Percy. I love you." She said before her eyelids fluttered close.
"Night, I love you too." I said kissing her forehead before closing my eyes and drifting off into a dreamless sleep with my fiancé sleep soundly on top of me. I couldn't see how things could get better than this.
A/N: Ah, so how am I doing so far? Let me know!
Once again it is all owed to the Scribe!