NOTE: in Shakespeare's era, the term "I bit my thumb" = "I gave them the finger"
Annabeth's POV
"Dammit," Percy muttered.
"What is it?"
"The sun." He pointed to the window where light was just starting to peak out over the horizon. Morning birds were starting to sing as well. "I have to go."
"No," I complained. I wrapped my arms around his sculpted torso before he could climb out of bed. I closed my eyes. "I see no sun."
I felt Percy lean in close before planting a kiss on my neck. "Okay," he whispered. "I guess you're right."
"I always am," I said.
He climbed back on top of me. "I'll just stay," He ran his hands down to my waist. "right here." He started poking my sides which made me squirm and kick. I let out a laugh that seemed to echo throughout the house this early in the morning. Percy quickly slapped a hand over my mouth and we both froze, listening.
The soft sound of footsteps echoed up the steps. I raised my arms and pushed Percy off of me and onto the floor. He made a loud thump but at this point, I didn't care. My heart was in my throat and the beat pounded in my ears. The footsteps got louder and picked up pace. I grabbed a sheet from my bed and wrapped it around my naked body just as my door flew open. It was Thalia.
I let out a breath and put a hand to my heart. "Jesus, Thalia," I said. "I thought you were my mom."
Percy's head poked up over the bed and he let out a relieved sigh as well. "Okay, where are my robes?"
"No time for those," Thalia answered. She slipped inside and shut the door behind her. "You," She pointed at Percy. "Get out. Like, now."
"Ha..wha?"
"Annabeth, Athena sent me to come wake you up. She wants to talk to you. You've got two minutes." Thalia looked around her feet and found Percy's robes. She swiped them up and threw them directly at his face. "On second thought, robes might be a good idea. Now, I'm serious, hurry up." Thalia's tone and expression was enough to scare me but the idea of my mom seeing the son of her enemy naked in my room...well, let's just say I was suddenly able to see the sun.
I threw on my nightgown from the night before as Percy literally jumped into his pants. I hurried to my balcony doors and threw them open. Percy came up behind me and grabbed my waist gently, sending shivers up my spine. Being with him made my heart race but also calmed my mind. I grabbed his hands and even grinded up against his hips. He growled deep in his throat at kissed my neck once more.
More footsteps sounded from outside my room. I grabbed Percy's arm and pulled both of us out to the balcony and slammed the doors shut.
Seconds later, I heard my mom. "Annabeth?" she called. "Are you in here?"
"On the balcony, Mom. I'll be in in a second."
"What are you doing out there?"
"It got stuffy in my room last night. I just came out for some air." Percy ran his finger along my jaw line. I slapped it away.
Everything was dead silent while I waited for her reply. I prayed to everyone I could think of just for her to not come out here. "Yes," I heard her say. "I suppose it is pretty stuffy in here. Leave the door open when you come in. I'll be right back then I would like to talk to you!" She said the last part with some enthusiasm which made me think that it was for a good thing which means we were actually going to get away with this.
I turned to Percy who seemed to have the same thought process and broke into a smile. I smiled back at him and planted one more kiss on his perfectly pink lips. Then I grabbed his shoulders and nearly pushed him off the balcony. "Now, go," I whispered.
"I love you," he said while grabbing onto the flower fence.
"I love you more. We'll stay in touch, don't worry. We'll get through this then we can be together every night for the rest of our lives."
"I know," he said with a smile which made me actually believe that we would work this out. Our parents would find out about our marriage then they would have no choice but to get along for our sake. I would convince my family to forgive Percy for killing Clarisse no matter how long it would take. I wouldn't have to marry Luke and Zeus would cancel Percy's banishment and he would come back and we'd all live happily ever after.
For half a second, this sounded too good to be true.
Percy clumsily climbed down the fence and fell the last four feet. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. Percy noticed this and bit his thumb. "You better hope God wasn't looking just then," I said still giggling.
"With all that I've done in the last thirty-six hours, I'm going to hell anyway." He blew me a kiss before running off into the vineyard and disappearing.
I didn't have time to reflect on how perfectly him and I fit together or of how soft his fingers stroked my skin or on how he treats me like a best friend that he's known for years but touches me like...well, his wife; I heard my mom come back into the room so I slipped inside as well. As my mom wanted, I left the door open. Cold, morning air rushed passed me.
"Good morning, Mom," I greeted. She was standing just inside the doorway and Thalia was standing at her side. She gave me a looked that asked Is he gone? I nodded very carefully and she let out a quiet breath.
My mom greeted me with a wide smile. "Sorry to wake you so early, dear." She looked around my room and stopped on my bed. Her eyebrow raised. "However, it looks like you had a rough night, anyway."
I shrugged. "Yeah," I said. I lock eyes with Thalia and smirked before saying, "it was pretty rough." Behind Athena's back, Thalia gagged and shot daggers at me. I laughed to myself.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Athena said. "My night wasn't that great either. My dear Clarisse..." She didn't finish her thought, but she didn't have to. I nodded to let her know that I understood. I'd be lying if I were to say that my cousin's death didn't come to mind once or twice over the course of the night, however the fact that it was Percy's doing didn't bother me anymore. I couldn't get myself to stay mad at him.
"Thalia, would you mind stripping Annabeth's bed and making it again while her and I talk?" Thalia nodded and was already back out the door to get some new sheets.
"Annabeth, honey," she started. She walked over to the couch and sat down. I sat next to her. "I have some great news! Now, I know we had our differences last night, but I would just like to tell you that I'm right. "
I didn't know if I wanted to throw up at the idea that my mom still wanted me to marry Luke or if I wanted to slap her for thinking she was right. "Actually, Mom—"
He expression went from an excited, teenage girl to the violent mother that I saw during our fight. "Annabeth, we talked about this: there is no actually.
"I know, but, Mom—"
"There are no but's either. Now can I please just get to my news?"
I looked at the ground. "Fine. What is your news, Mother?"
"All I wanted to say was that I moved the wedding up to tomorrow!" She looked actually happy about this. She had no idea that I would rather kill myself than marry Luke or anyone else who wasn't Percy.
"Joy," I replied.
I could feel her daggers on me. Her expression were changing from hot to cold every second. "The attitude isn't needed, Annabeth. Now cut it out."
"I'm not doing anything."
Athena stood up and waited with her arms crossed until I met her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder why you even try, Annabeth."
"I try because I care about my life!" I said. After I said it, I wanted to take it back. I knew my mom was serious when she said that if I didn't marry Luke, she'd throw me out to rot. It was harsh, but not uncommon with kids who didn't agree with their parents. After this was out, however, I felt powerful. I had never stuck up for myself because I never had a reason to. Being with Percy was really the first big decision that I had ever made on my own so I felt like I needed to defend it.
Athena looked taken aback by my outburst. Her eyes narrowed. "What was that?"
I clinched my fists. "I just know that marrying Luke isn't for me."
Thalia walked back in with her arms full. "Thalia," my mom said. "will you please talk some sense into this one before I slap it into her?"
Thalia gave me a look. She hated when I fought with my mom because I never won as we saw just half a day before. Reluctantly, she nodded. Athena marched out of the room with her fists tight and lips pursed. I could only imagine the things that were going on in her head, and let me tell you: none of them were pretty.
After my mom was out of earshot, Thalia sighed. "Annabeth, why do you even try? She's not going to budge on her demands."
"Yeah, well I'm not about to give in to her demands when I already have a husband!" My voice bounced against my walls and out my still wide open door.
Thalia's eyes widened and her head spun towards the door, just waiting for my mom to march back in and cut off my head. When she didn't, she turned her attention back to me. "Are you crazy?" she asked.
"Well, maybe I just don't care if she finds out anymore," I said. "If she doesn't, Percy stays in the land of fruit and I'm stuck marrying Luke."
"But if she does, she would send an assassin out to kill Percy and she might kill you too. She wouldn't just see it your way and you know that. Either way, you're marrying Luke in two days."
My breath caught in my throat when I realized that she was right. I kind of knew this whole time that Athena and Poseidon just changing their minds after hearing that their kids secretly met and got married would be a stretch, but I still hoped.
Tears gathered in my eyes which only got me more upset. I had cried more in the last day than I ever had in the rest of my life and I just wanted to be done. "What do I do?" I whispered.
Thalia hugged me close and didn't say anything for a while. Suddenly, she stiffened. "I have an idea."
"Oh my, God, Thalia, there he is," I whispered. Percy was sitting on a cloth at the front of the ship. Around him on the deck, families scrambled with their luggage dragging behind them; kids were huddled together, laughing and smiling at the thought of stepping foot in the New World. Percy, on the other hand, wasn't joining in on the excitement. In fact, he wasn't showing any emotion at all. Next to him sat one, small luggage bag. Even just seeing him sitting there doing nothing but waiting made my heart skip a beat. "W-what do I say?"
"He's your husband, Annabeth," she said. "You should know what to say."
"Him being my husband doesn't make up for the fact that I only met him two days ago," I pointed out. "And even then, what, do I just walk up to him and be like, 'Hey, hubby! I ran away from home and decided to follow you onto this ship so we could be together even though all we know is that we're going to a random strawberry field in America! Oh, and by the way, Thalia is coming with us!?'"
"Well, yeah," she said. "It's the truth, so why not?"
"He's going to tell me to march my ass back home."
"Simple: don't listen to him."
I lowered my head. Back at the house, Thalia pointed out that Percy was being sent to live somewhere else, not die somewhere else, which meant it had to be somewhere that he could live on his own. It may not be easy, but it'd have to be possible. Thalia also pointed out that I was willing to lie to my family and risk both mine and Percy's life just to be together, so why shouldn't we be together? I wasn't happy at home anyway and if I were to stay, I would be forced to marry Luke which I would burn at the stake before giving in to. So on pure adrenaline and with our heat-of-the-moment thought process, Thalia and I went to Chiron to figure out where Percy was being taken, snuck on the boat, and now we were here: fifteen feet away from my newlywed who could quite possibly be thinking the worst about this whole situation. I couldn't blame him.
"I don't know about this, Thalia," I admitted. "What if someone catches us?"
"No one will recognize us," she said. She twirled her peasant skirt and I picked at my non-corseted shirt that we had managed to buy before leaving town. "We look just like everyone else and as long as we stay low, we'll be fine." I nodded and took a breath. Thalia rubbed my shoulder. "Don't worry, babe. Think of it this way: this is a whole new life that just you and Percy get to make. Now go tell the bastard that you're here to stay. I'll be close by so we don't lose each other but I'll let you and him have some privacy. God, knows I don't want to see or hear that anyway." She made a face.
I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. After a couple of seconds, she let go, turned me on my heel, and pushed forward. I stumbled but caught myself before I could trip over someone who had also taken a seat on the deck. I apologized and stepped around the passenger which put me in a clear path right to Percy.
Fifteen feet. Fourteen...thirteen...
My breathing got heavier with every step, but I kept going.
Eight...seven.
He saw me. He narrowed his eyes and even blinked once or twice. Finally when he realized that he wasn't dreaming, he shot up faster than a rocket and closed the last few feet between us. "Annabeth," he whispered against my lips. "What are you doing here?"
"I ran away," I said. I held him as close as I could, inhaling his perfect scent and remembering how perfectly our bodies fit together. I kissed him again. "I'm sorry."
He pulled back slightly, just enough so he could look me in the eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Anna." I hated when people called me Anna, but I let it slide due to the circumstances. "But you know you shouldn't have come here."
"I know," I replied. "but I did anyway."
"But you shouldn't have."
I took a step back. "Oh, so you want me to go?" I said playfully.
True worry came to his eyes. "No! Well, yes, but no." I giggled and hugged him close. All doubt about this trip was gone. As long as I was right here, I would be happy. "It's just...it's dangerous," he added.
"Don't worry, I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself."
"I don't know about that. What'll happen when you see a spider?"
I felt my face drain. "That'll be your job."
"Who said I liked spiders either?"
"So that's our first thing that we'll fight about as husband and wife? Who's going to kill the spider?"
"Yes, unless you count me telling you to go home." His eyes looked serious, but he didn't loosen his grip on me at all.
"I'm not going anywhere," I said. "You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."
"Me too," Thalia said walking up to us.
Percy's eyes widened. "She's here too?"
"Relax, Jackson," she said. "If these last two days haven't proved it enough, I'm actually on your guys' side. I'm not going to tell on you like a five-year-old."
"Fine, but I swear, the first sex joke you make, you're out."
"No need. I'm sure Annie will be all over that." She winked then walked across the deck to find her own spot to sit. I giggled then looked back to Percy who still didn't look happy.
"I'm not leaving," I said stubbornly.
He sighed and hugged me close. After a couple of second of silence, he lead me back over to where he was sitting before. Around us, people ran to the side of the boat to wave goodbye to other loved ones on shore. I heard the sound of a bottle being broken against the ship's rear and the sails were hoisted up. Percy leaned down close to me and above all the crying and cheering around us, I heard him whisper, "Good."
review k? -kenna(:
