Annabeth POV
Someone's screams tear through the night. I am out of bed in a flash. They are coming from Percy's room.
I open the door. He is thrashing around screaming. I feel like I've been hit in the stomach. It hurts to see Percy like this. I walk in.
"Percy!" I whisper yell.
Coach Hedge materializes at the door. "What's going on?"
"Percy's having a nightmare. I'll take care of it."
He nods and leaves. After what we went through, he doesn't seem opposed to me being alone with Percy.
I sit down on the bed. "Percy. Baby. Wake up. It's only a dream."
He wakes in a cold sweat. "Annabeth."
"Yeah. I'm here. You're safe. It's ok."
He nods. Then pulls me into a hug. I feel his tears on my shoulder.
Percy. My wonderful, strong Seaweed Brain. He's broken. The sparkling eyes are replaced by dull, paler eyes. His smile is almost completely faded away. He looks weaker.
"It's ok. It's ok," I murmur to him.
I pull away and kiss him gently. "We're safe. Nothing's going to happen to us. Ok?"
I get up to leave.
"Please. Stay." He grabs my wrist. His voice is desperate. "I don't wanna be alone tonight."
I nod. "Ok."
I climb into the bed. He puts his arms around me. "You were screaming something about Luke earlier," he says. "What was it about?"
"When i was kidnapped...he-he told me that he would kill you when you came to rescue me. That I was only bait. And he would-he would make sure your death was slow, and I'd have to watch. Then if I wouldn't join him, he said he'd kill me."
Tears well up in my eyes. "And the rest, that was the morning you disappeared. I didn't know if you were dead or alive, or..."
I put my head on his chest. "I was terrified Percy. I'd never been so scared."
"Annabeth," he says. "I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through that. Especially not you."
"We can't ever get those months back, Percy. Ever."
"I know. I know."
"Percy?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you fall in love with me?"
"I-I don't know. I just knew I couldn't live without you. I knew that I never wanted to leave you. And I love you. I do. Even Hera couldn't make me forget you. Nothing could. I'll never leave you again. I promise. I'm gonna talk to the gods. I'm not gonna put either of us through that again."
"I love you Percy."
"I love you too."
"You should have let me go, you know. You shouldn't have fallen with me. It was my own stupidity that got us into it."
"Annabeth. I couldn't do that. Ever. I couldn't live with myself. I need you."
I feel like crying. I just put my face in his bare chest. He strokes my hair until I fall asleep.
When I wake up, Percy is still holding me. He is sleeping. I lie back down, trying not to wake him. He grunts something about waffles in his sleep.
I smile. I am engaged to this boy. Then it hits me. I'm seventeen, and engaged! What are my parents going to think? You know, the mortal ones. I mean, Dad likes Percy, but I'm only seventeen!
Not that I would dump him for that. I would elope if it came to that. I love him. And it's clear we can't be apart.
He wakes up. "Morning Wise Girl."
"Morning Seaweed Brain."
"I'm hungry."
"Aren't you always?"
He laughs for the first time since Tartarus. It warms my heart. I can't help but smile and hug him.
"What was that for?"
"You laughed. And it felt good to hear that again."
"Yeah. I guess it felt good to laugh."
"Do it again. Please?"
"I can't. I just-I can't."
"What's gonna happen Percy? Are we just, gonna be like, in our own world?"
"I don't know. I just, I can't socialize like I used to. I can't joke around with Jason and Leo. I can't smile when you look beautiful. I just can't. I try, I do. But I can't."
"I know. I can't smile with Hazel and Piper. It's like I've lost any ability to feel happy. Except when I'm with you."
He hugs me. "I know. I know. I just keep seeing you in...there. And it breaks my heart over and over again."
"That's what happens with me. I see you the way you were before, and then now...it hurts worse than holding the sky."
He presses me closer. "We'll get through it. We will."
"Percy. When we're married, do you want kids?"
He nods. "I do."
"Me too, but, my flashbacks. And the nightmares..."
"A kid will help us get over it, I think. Give us something to love. Something that doesn't bring back terrible memories."
I nod. He's right. "Yeah. You're right."
"You wanna get up now?"
I nod. "Ok."
He stands, taking me with him. He kisses me and takes my hand.
We walk out on deck. Breakfast is already there. No one says anything about the fact that we both came out of Percy's room in pajamas.
We fix ourselves some breakfast and sit down. We keep silent. What is there to talk about?
"We'll be at Camp Jupiter to drop off Jason and Hazel today. Then tomorrow, we'll arrive at Camp Half-Blood," Coach Hedge says.
Jason nods. Piper looks uneasy. "Hey," he reassures her. "We'll still see each other. We can iris message. We can arrange times to see each other. Ok?"
She nods, and kisses him.
"Hazel," Hedge says gently. "You'll need to explain about Frank."
She nodded sadly. "Ok."
"Percy, Annabeth. Are you prepared to tell your story?"
Percy puts on a brave face. "Sure."
I put my head on Percy's shoulder. He rubs my arm gently. I don't want to be here, surrounded by people. I just wanna be with Percy. Nobody around.
I don't know what's wrong with me. These are my friends. But I just want to shut them out.
