Chapter 3

Annabeth arrived at the cabin just as the wind began to pick up, blowing her curly blonde hair all around her face. Before walking through the door she glanced all around to make sure no one was watching. If someone recognized her, she would have no explanation as to why she was in the rich Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco. She just hoped that no one jogged through this upper beginning stretch of Ocean Beach along the Great Highway.

The door shut behind her solidly, leaving her in a moderately lit room with sunlight streaming through the window. Unsure of whether the cabin would have electricity or not, she brought a small oil lamp with her. The cabin wasn't dank or falling apart like she imagined. The lighting was darkening slowly as the sun prepared for its visual descent beneath the ocean.

She loved sunsets. They always reminded her that one shouldn't go down without a bang. Before the sun would yield its duties to the moon, it would grace the atmosphere with wonderful shades of blues, purples, and reds. It was an aesthetic that she would never get tired of. Sometimes she wonders what it would be like living closer to the northern or southern poles. It was there that there were extensive periods of time where only the moon would reign the sky while the sun was imprisoned or vice versa. That was when the region would experience a full 6 months of light or darkness. She leaned out the window, awaiting not only the arrival of her sunset, but also her lover.

…

Percy follows the subtle trail of quartz stones as the sandy terrain changes to be more jungle like. The deeper he went into the foliage, the thicker the foliage got, effectively hiding him from view. As he came closer to the cabin, he analyzed to outside. It was a two story wooden cabin that he had found one time exploring when the church had a beach cleanup day. The little Percy had run off to play and get out of cleaning because if he didn't clean up his own mess, why would he clean up other people's? Anyway it had peeling forest green paint, old fashioned shutters, and a sturdy frame that could withstand for many more years to come.

It just needs a little love, he thought and was sure that it just might get that if he played his cards right. He walked through the door to find Annabeth leaning out of the window, staring longingly at the sky. He knew that she was waiting for the sun to set. Then it would turn the sky into a palette of colors.

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She immediately relaxed into his embrace. She shifted in his arms until she could rest her head on his shoulder. She closes her eyes and takes in the scent of coffee and sea. She murmured softly, "I missed you, Perce."

"I know, Anna. I miss you too. You don't know how happy I was when Piper walked into the shop and bought your cocoa and scone. You are the only thing that keeps me going when I endure my punishment by the bible."

"It must be horrid. What do they do to you?" His face darkened and his body tensed underneath her. She could tell that he didn't want to talk about it. She felt concerned, but didn't want to pry. "Never mind. You don't have to tell me."

He wrapped his arms around her firmer, as if to steady himself with her presence. She missed his embrace. Hugging him, kissing him, and just plain being around him. She could never get enough, but nothing lasts forever. But, still, her heart betrayed her mind. She uttered the stupid feeble phrase that she knew couldn't happen.

"I wish that we could stay this way forever." Before she knew it she was purging all of her clichéd unrealities. "I wish that we could be together without having to worry about what others think about us. I wish that we could live together and get married and have a family and just be happy." She began trembling and shaking uncontrollably.

Percy led her to the old love seat by the window and sat her sideways on his lap. He rubbed circles into her back soothingly. He murmured calming words and phrases into her ears as she began to visually relax. She buried her face into his chest, embarrassed of her outburst. He knew how to relax her when she started to despair, but it seemed like they were getting more frequent. He just hoped that they only happened when they were together and not when she was in public.

He knew that she could get pretty vocal with her wants and needs and stand stubbornly strong. But in times like now, she trembled and then she seemed so fragile and delicate. She would lose her heavy outer shell and just dissolve into her soft, easily damageable core. There were only two people who could manage her in this state: himself and her brother Malcolm.

The problem with that was she saw both of them so infrequently. He wasn't sure if Piper had experienced her like this yet. His fear was that she would drown in her despair without anyone to keep her grounded. He was afraid of her being sent away so that she could get "fixed." He knew that when someone got "fixed,"

They were no longer the same person that they were before being hauled off to the asylum. What he feared more than anything was that someone would discover that his Anna wasn't what she was pretending to be and ship her off to Laguna Honda. There, doctors would experiment on her and mess with her neuron pathways.

But if Percy or Annabeth got caught, they wouldn't be the only ones in trouble. Piper would be seen as an accomplice and while her punishment would be as bad as Annabeth's, he had no idea what would happen to her. Deciding to change the mood from despair to a lighter hearted one, he looked out at the sky. Happy with what he saw, he nudged the blonde on his lap.

"Anna, look! The sun is setting." Still in a bit of a funk, she moved a bit lethargically towards the window, but she knew that she would feel better soon enough. She perched herself sitting with her legs dangling outside the window seal as Percy came up from behind her. He held her steadily as she leaned against him.

They stood together in the desolate cabin hidden in the trees of Ocean Beach watching the sunset. Watching as the sun gave its grand finale of light before it was replaced with the stoic moon. The couple stayed in the cabin until night had completely fallen before they were forced to separate and return to their dismal realities for their fantasy had ended when the sun had left them.

A/N I am a native of SF so I'm trying to somewhat keep this factually correct. These are the things that I fictionalized: Percabeth's beach cabin in woods/jungle area thing and the malevolent nature of Laguna Honda. Laguna Honda is a real rehabilitation hospital in SF.