((A/N Yeah, this is a pretty short chapter... But it's super fluffy! :) I felt like being all mushy and googly today, and this chapter was the product. Happy reading :) R&R))
Everything seems repetitive: the yellow streetlights overhead, the dotted white lines that zip past at an alarming rate, the green exit signs… And watching it makes my head roll around on my shoulders.
The fact that I've never driven a car before might be the reason I weave in and out of lanes (which doesn't really matter since it's three in the morning and no one is on the road), but mostly it's because of the hypnotic repetition outside the windshield.
I've tried to turn music on to keep myself awake, but with Percy sleeping in the passenger seat the loudest I can turn it up sounds like the soft hum of a lullaby.
Percy and I switched places about two hours back, when he was inches from sending the car over the edge of a bridge because he fell asleep. Luckily I felt the car jerk and woke up from my own slumber, having probably the quickest reaction time of my life in grabbing the wheel. This apparently proved my ability to handle this half a million dollar car.
By the signs that are placed over the interstate, I've concluded our position to be about thirty minutes from the bottom of Florida's panhandle, where land meets ocean. The blue glow of the clock on the dashboard is the only thing that's keeping me awake, since I am counting down the minutes until I can sleep.
I let my mind wander, since thinking is the best thing for me to do to stay awake.
I wonder how Chiron dealt with Percy and my extreme escape. I wonder if Argus is being punished for not keeping his truck out of the hands of campers. Is Grover worried about us? Have they sent out a search party to find us?
With this thought, I promise myself that as soon as I'm once again well-rested, I will Iris message Camp and tell them that we really are okay.
Percy shifts in the leather passenger seat, muttering something under his breath. I try to lean over and listen, curiosity ruling over my boredom.
His voice is low, but I can pick out certain words like 'spiders' and 'cake'. I shudder, and sit back up straight, wishing I'd minded my own business.
Not even two minutes later Percy stiffens and jerks straight up, hitting his head on the low ceiling. He sucks in a sharp breath and grips his seatbelt like a lifeline.
"You alright?" I raise an eyebrow, glancing over at him between watching the road.
"What? Right. Yeah." He sputters. I can practically hear his heartbeat through his rapid breathing. I take one hand off the wheel and reach over to take his hand, which instantly seems to calm him down a bit.
"What was it?" I ask, familiar with the nightmares that accompany being a demigod.
His face flushes, "Well, you had on a dress made of spider web," he stops abruptly, his cheeks burning pink.
"That's all?" I ask, although even the thought has made me shudder.
"They were still weaving it onto you. They were everywhere."
"That sounds like one of my dreams, not yours." I snort. I place both hands back on the wheel, my curiosity fulfilled.
"But what if it means something?" Percy stumbles over his words, still in a rush.
"Don't worry. I never wear dresses."
"It was a wedding dress," He swallows, "They were making a wedding dress."
I laugh once, "I'm seventeen."
"Yeah, well so am I." I don't understand why Percy thinks this is a sufficient comeback, but then I realize that he wasn't being sarcastic at all.
"We got married?" My hands turn clammy, and slip off the wheel for a few seconds.
"No, I woke up before-"
"We were going to be?" I cut him off, switching my main focus from the road to his face.
"Why does that matter?" he meets my eyes, his face red.
I can't find an answer to his question, so I just sit there and gape at him for a moment, jaw dropped.
"Forget it." Percy mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest and staring out his window.
"That's the problem," I mutter, "I did forget it. I forgot it all."
His five-year-old tantrum attitude dissipates and he uncrosses his arms. "I didn't mean that."
"Of course you didn't." I swallow the lump rising in my throat.
"I didn't. It's just so difficult having to start all over again with you. The first time, I had no idea why you even loved me. But you helped me see my qualities, good and bad. Now it's like you don't even see anything in me anymore."
"No," I shake my head, "I can see… why I liked... loved you."
"That is possibly the worst thing you could have said." He rubs his face with his hands, exasperated.
"What?" I ask, taken aback.
"Past tense. Liked. Loved. It breaks me, Annabeth. My lack of emotional control literally hurts me every time I'm around you now. It is so hard for me to sit here, pretending to just be your friend, when all I want to do is kiss you and hold you and take you home with me."
I choke on my words, "Do you not think I'm trying? I am trying to remember. Every time you open up your mouth to talk, I try to connect it to something. But it's like playing connect the dots with one dot. I can draw circles and circles, but nothing every connects! It frustrates me so much more than I let you know. I want to remember being in love with you more than anything, because I believe that we were in love." My last words ring out in silence, because both of us have nothing else to say.
I wouldn't call the air around us tense or awkward. More like both of us were continuing the conversation in our heads. Sure, my eyebrows didn't un-knit themselves until I pulled into a parking spot, shut the car off, and got out of the car; but that doesn't mean I was angry.
The soft crashing of waves can be heard from where I lean up against the car, hands gripping my head. It's extremely windy and dark; it must still be before four o'clock. My hair whips around me, but I ignore the way it gets in my eyes and mouth, as would usually drive me insane. My thoughts are running too fast. I hug myself against the slight chill that the wind brings.
It takes five minutes at least before Percy gets out of the car as well. I hear the door open and then slam shut, much harder than necessary. At first I think he's angry with me; then, when he comes around to my side I see his face, the way it's confused and thoughtful at the same time. He stares at me intently, his eyes not leaving mine until I look down at the ground.
"Bad: The way I can never eat too much." His voice startles me, since it's loud over the wind. "Good: The fact that you trust me more than anyone. Bad: I get jealous very easily." He's taking small steps forward with every check off his list, and I look up to find his eyes still on me. "Good: I am blunt. Bad: I have no musical talent whatsoever. Good: I understand that I'm not always right. Bad: I can be overprotective." He's within a foot of me now, his scent identical to that of the beach around us, "Good: I don't think I'm better than other people. Bad: I have a lack of self-control."
He leans forward, his face inches from mine, a small smirk replacing his excruciatingly serious composure, "And do you know what my favorite was?"
I swallow, my heart melting out of its confused callous, "What?"
"Good. I have a lack of self-control." He chuckles.
"I thought that was bad." I breathe, his face so close to mine that we no longer have to yell over the howling wind around us. Actually, it feels like we're in our own little bubble.
"It all depended on your mood." His hands grab mine. He wraps my own arms around his neck, and places his around my waist.
"What are you…?" I ask quietly, although I don't move away. Something about this feels right.
"I am ignoring self-control." Percy whispers, "But it's always been up to you whether that's good or bad."
When he kisses me, I feel the doubt I had built up around my emotions.
But when I ignore that doubt and kiss him back, all I can feel is perfection.
