Percy sighed and rolled over, having been kicked awake by a sleeping Annabeth beside him.

She was having a nightmare, clearly. It broke his heart to see the pain in her face and her panicked breathing and her shaking frame. She hated being out of control and that's what nightmares were - she couldn't think up any amazing plans because her mind was conjuring this up and she couldn't control it. She was outsmarting herself and Percy couldn't imagine what that felt like.

"Annabeth." He lay on his front, looking down at her. He held her hand and squeezed it, tight. "Wake up, Wise Girl."

It took a few tries, but eventually he saw the shine of her eyes as she brought herself back. Her body went limp beneath him. She couldn't find any words.

"I know." Percy whispered.

He pulled her close to him, gently stoking her hair.

It was four in the morning and he doubted either of them would get back to sleep now -especially not Annabeth. But that was okay. He didn't actually mind waking up early that much, no matter what people thought. He liked the sleepy conversations and that weird grey light outside just as the sun was rising.

She felt warm and small in his arms. He hated the feeling of her ribs beside him.

"It was you." She whispered.

"Hm?"

"My dream. You got hurt and you..."

She didn't want to finish her sentence and she didn't need to. Since the fall, losing Percy had become her biggest fear. She hated going anywhere without him if she could help it and she knew she had to get over that. She couldn't be with him all the time. They both needed their independance or what they had would crumble.

Not now, though. She needed him now - he smelled all sweaty and salty and that was comforting. He was here, with his arms wrapped around her and his forehead pressed to hers. He was alive.

"I'm sorry." He grumbled. He kissed her forehead. "Hey, Wise Girl. I'm here - I'm alright. Neither of us are gonna die, okay? Not until we're like, ninety, anyway. I'm not going to let that happen, Annabeth. Not now."

"I know you won't, Percy."

"Okay. Good." He sighed, staring up to the ceiling. Her legs were intertwined with hers and Gods, did he love her. He wanted to make the world a better place for her. She deserved everything and if he could give that to her, he would. "We're going to figure this out, you and me. We'll find a way to make it stop."

"I don't think its ever going to go away completely." She admitted. "I just want to be able to live with it. I just want to be able to close my eyes and think of nothing, you know? We can't forget - I think that's an insult to them and unhealthy for us. We can't disregard what we've been through because that'll make it worse."

"You're too clever for your own good." Percy mumbled. "We'll get there, Wise Girl. I'll do anything."

"I know."

She sighed, closing her eyes and trying to focus on the soft circles Percy was rubbing on her forearm, his fingertips cool against her skin.

People didn't often see this side of him and she was lucky to know it. She understood why people found it hard to imagine he could be like this - he was wild and funny and loud - the last person anyone would expect to be soft like this. She knew she had always meant something to him; he had trusted her with anything since their very first quest together and she had known the gentler, quieter side of him ever since.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"... No."

He kissed her forehead but didn't say anything and she loved him even more for that. He knew when to stop and he never tried to make up bullshit when he had nothing left to say.

His hand innocently slid down to the small of her back and Annabeth sighed.

It was kind of involuntary; she rolled onto her front and kissed him, real soft and slow like the old days. She had missed the laziness of it all - the giggles and the awkward mistakes and the banged elbows. Trying to make out with him these days felt kind of rushed in a haze of stupid teenage desire and she missed him. She missed the stupid grins and the look in his eyes between kisses.

Still, he pulled away for a second. His cheeks were red, although his eyes were shining with concern.

"You sure?"

"Please. I miss you."

He nodded and pulled her close to him, unable to contain his grin as she pulled at the hem of his T-shirt and lifted it over his head.

Even in the dark, she could see how thin he was. And yet, even as she ran her fingers down the sharp dips between each rib, she thought he was beautiful. Stupid, innocent, beautiful Percy, with his ridiculous hair and playful eyes. Simultaneously the first and the last person she'd expect herself to fall in love with.

They had never got this far into it before, but they had never taken it this slow either. Physically, it was nothing they hadn't seen before - they had seen eachother semi-naked numerous times, but this felt different. Annabeth didn't feel exposed or cold self-conscious. She felt safe and she felt gorgeous. The way he was looking at her sent shivers down her spine and she loved him. Hades, she loved him.

"Percy..." She pulled away.

"Need to stop. I know." He said softly. "I just -"

"No. Don't."

He sighed, gently running his fingers down her bare back.

"Wise Girl, we can't. We don't have any -"

He stopped when Annabeth shook her head, her eyes were sparkling playfully and her pupils were blown.

"What if we did?"

"Then you know what I'd say." He leaned up and kissed her. He didn't want to stop. It wasn't so much the sex that he cared about - he wanted to be close to her. He wanted her to fully understand the depth of what he felt for her.

"My bag. Left zip pocket."

"You're joking." He smirked. "How did you sneak off and buy condoms without my knowledge?"

She laughed quietly, rolling off his chest and watching him creep to her bag in the corner of his room. It was starting to get light now and his skin looked gorgeous in the haziness. He hadn't looked so healthy in weeks.

"I technically stole them from my brother. He won't notice - he's got a whole fucking drawer full."

"Your brother? As in Malcolm?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently - "Do we have to talk about this now?"

"No but ... I'm just surprised. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy."

"Well luckily for us, he is. Now come here, will you?"

His smile turned kind of shy as he climbed towards her and he kissed her jaw.

Neither of them were nervous, exactly. They were on the same page when it came to this stuff. It didn't have to mean anything. First times didn't have to be planned or romantic or perfect. It wasn't going to change their relationship in any way and they thought the massive stigma attached to sex was stupid. It made people nervous, ruined something that was supposed to be fun because they were so worried about doing it right. They were both glad they had been through what they had, had seen so much that they didn't care about that side of things too much anymore. They were alive and they were going to live however many years they had the way they wanted to and they were going to live them together.

Percy was worried about Annabeth, more than anything. He wondered how clearly she was thinking. He knew how long nightmares could linger in her mind for and he didn't want to be doing this just as a distraction. He wanted her to be sure. He needed to know she was doing this because she wanted to.

He touched her face and pulled away, but kept his hand on her waist.

"Are you sure? I mean... are you okay enough to be doing this 'cause you want to be?" He kissed her nose. "I just don't want you to wake up the morning and regret it - that's all."

"I'm sure." She promised, pulling him back down towards her.

He laughed a little, "Okay. If you change your mind just punch me or something."

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

The whole affair was slow and intimate, filled with its fair share of giggles and mishaps and shuffling around. More importantly, they felt comfortable with each other. They could lay there stark naked beside each other without feeling exposed or awkward and that was a beautiful revelation.

Even afterwards as they lay in silence together, limbs still lazily intertwined, they just felt content.

As much as they could have acknowledged that it wasn't the biggest deal for them, they were only human (half, anyway) and no matter how comfortable, how in love they were, they wouldn't have been surprised if there was a touch of awkwardness after. But nothing. It felt amazing.

Just lying there, listening to his heartbeat slow down, Annabeth still couldn't believe how deep she was in love with him. He had all the tools to hurt her more than anything else could, but she trusted him not to. That was quite something for her, Annabeth Chase, potentially the least trusting person in the world, the girl who could analyse someone's every expression, every move. Her heart just didn't have the capacity to fall in love with anyone else. And she knew it was stupid to think that a couple of kids who fell in love so young would be a permanent fixture but this was different. Percy wasn't just her boyfriend, or her best friend. He felt like her family. She didn't just want to be with him, she needed to be - no matter where, no matter what.

He was innocently tracing circles on her thigh, over and over again and she wished she could stay like this forever. Like this, she forgot about Tartarus for the first time since they got back. Her mind felt as refreshingly clear and alert as it had before they fell and despite the nightmare she had earlier, that was an improvement, for sure. An ounce of reassurance that things might turn out okay.

"You asleep?" Percy mumbled.

"Nearly."

He squeezed her hand.

"Good. You need it." He kissed her forehead. "I've got you, okay? I love you."

"You need to sleep as well, Percy."

"I'm gonna."

"Okay. I love you too. If you need me -"

"I know, Wise Girl. Sleep."

She nodded slightly and kissed his shoulder.

She didn't wake up until half-nine the next morning, with Percy grinning down at her like the adorable idiot he was.