Chp 13
Perce POV

I smiled as I snuck a peek at Annabeth packing her books in a box. Her hair was in a plait down her back, and a few stray curls framed her face, giving her an angelic look. She was sitting cross legged on the floor, working on her stuff, while I packed up the kitchen.

She had graduated the day before and we had celebrated with an evening if pizza, wine and kisses. A smile was permanently plastered to her face. She looked up, catching my gaze, and chuckled. "What?" She said, her grey eyes making me forget how to form words. I shook my head, giving her a smile, and carried on.

We were packing up and moving to San Francisco. Jason helped me with sending the info of some houses to me, and I bought one. Although we hadn't talked it through, we kind of just planned to buy a house together and live there. Yes, I know. Buying a house with someone is kind of the next step in a relationship that leads to a binding and certificates and proposals.

And that is exactly where I am heading. When she was done with her box, she stood up and let out a sigh. She stretched out her back and came to help me with the kitchen. She would pass me a glass from the cupboard and I would wrap it up and put it in the box.

I turned around as she was taki a while, and saw her reaching up to try and get one from the back of the cupboard. I chuckled and walked over, taking the glass. Although her eyes were inline with my nose, she still couldn't reach it.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She said. We carried on and finally finished with the last things. We collapsed on the couch, my arm slung loosely over her waist with her chest to mine.

She smiled and leaned forward. I kissed her, feeling the fireworks yet again for the umpteenth time. I put my hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer. Her legs tangled with mine. Her sweet tasting lips gave mine an open mouthed kiss. My tongue ran over her bottom lip, and she smiled against my lips. Could it get better than this?

~Line Break~

I laughed as Annabeth danced with the dish cloth around the kitchen. We had just moved into our new place, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a stunning two story house, with a modern kitchen, cozy lounge and dining area and extremely beautiful bedrooms. There is a two car garage, a back yard with a luxurious pool and a beautiful view.

The best part - sharing its beauty with thee most beautiful girl I know. I caught her elbow and pulled her into me. She giggled, the radio still going. "Excited much?" I joked, laughing at her. She nodded and broke out my grip, leaping up as the song finished.

She chuckled and continued to wipe down the island. When I finished packing all the plates and bowls and utensils and stuff away, I went upstairs and collapsed on the bed next to her. She smiled up at me.

I leaned forward and kissed her. She returned it and mumbled against my lips, "I love you so much." And I felt her smiling against my lips. I smiled back and gave her an open mouthed kiss. She gave me another kiss back, and just as I leaned in to kiss her back she put her hand on my chest. "We have to get ready for dinner with my parents." She said. I smiled down at her, gave her one last peck, then jumped up to have a quick shower.

~Line Break ~

Annabeth gave me an encouraging smile and I knew that this was exactly what I wanted and that it would be fine. We rang the doorbell and a middle aged lady answered it. "Annabeth!" She said, pulling Annabeth in for a bear hug.

She looked quite friendly, with brown eyes and an asiatic look to her face, and short black sleek hair. "Great to see you again Helen." She said, pulling away. She turned to me and smiled. "You must be Percy." Helen said, smiling and putting out her hand to shake. "Lovely to meet you Mrs Chase." I said. She chuckled and said, "Please, call me Helen."

We went into the house and the smell of lasagna tickled my nose. We went through to the lounge and there sat three guys. Two of them looked like twins, with light brown hair and brown eyes, but the one looked a little taller and the other looked a little neater. The last guy must have been her dad, with greying blode hair and a slim figure. They all looked up and her dad stood. "Annabeth! Congratulations!" He said, giving her a hug.

She exchanged small hugs with the twins and then they all turned to me. "You must be Percy." He said, giving my hand a firm shake. I gave a smile and said, "Nice to finally meet you Mr Chase." He laughed and said, "Please Percy, call me Fred." We all had broken the slight tension and I was introduced to the twins. "Great to meet you guys." I said, shaking their hands.

Turns out the neater one was Matthew and the taller one was Bobby. Helen called us for supper and we all went and found a seat at the six seated table. I sat next to Annabeth, who's dad sat at the head of the table with Helen to his left and the two boys infront and next to me.

We all started to eat. "How was the graduation?" Bobby asked, having a mouth full of his lasagna. "Not bad, quite nice actually." She replied. She chatted to them for a bit till Helen turned to talk about me. "So Percy, you were an Olympic swimmer?" She asked. I looked up and saw all of them looking at me expectantly.

"Yeah, I was." I said, giving them a smile. "Why did you retire?" Matthew asked. I felt a little jab to my heart but just gave a smile. "Messed up my knee. It gets sore when I swim now, so I can't much anymore." I said. Fred gave a little smile. "And did you study something?" He asked, getting some more salad.

I chuckled and said, "I wish I did. I wanted to do marine biology when I was at school, but I guess that went out the window when I was asked to swim in the junior Olympics. But I'm focused on my charity and other things now." Helen asked a couple questions about the charity and stuff and about my high school career.

They were quite nice people. When Annabeth came back from the kitchen, she excused us so we could have a tour of the house. She showed me her old room, and showed me a little engraving her and Thalia had done on the inside of her cupboard. She took me back downstairs and took me onto the porch that overlooked the garden and city.

I was oblivious to how I had my arm around her waist. We stopped AT&T he railing of the veranda and just stood, looking at the city. I turned to look at her and said in a voice that was light and sarcastic, "So glad your dad hasn't killed me yet." She threw her head back laughing, and I saw from the corner of my eyes, her parents looking up from their position where they were talking in the lounge. The boys also sent looks our way but returned to their TV.

She shook her head and gave me a kiss. "They like you." She said in a hushed tone, not leaving my eyes. "Oh really?" I said, pulling her closer in my side. She chuckled and nodded. "My dad will probably want to talk to you though. You know, just to make sure you are suitable." She said. I nodded and we went back inside.

The boys had disappeared to their rooms to do some 'homework' and we sat down. "Percy, do you mind if we take a walk?" Fred asked. "Of course." I said. Annabeth sat down with Helen as I went outside with her dad. He closed the glass sliding doors and we walked down the garden. The sun was just setting.

"I don't know if you know of Annabeth's childhood?" He asked, as we came to the edge of the yard and looked across the city below us. "Yes, she told me." I said remembering when I had first told her I loved her that night she cried. He gave a small smile. "I want you to know that I am not like that. It was just a difficult time." He said.

I gave a smile. "I understand. I didn't have the best of childhoods either." I said, he looked sideways at me, waiting for me to carry on. "Yeah, my died was lost at sea when I was really young. My first step dad was abusive and stuff. But he died of an overdoes when I started my teens and then my mom married my English teacher. " I said.

I chuckled, thinking of how messed up I felt before Paul came along. He nodded. "I only want the best for Annabeth." He said, looking back at the landscape. "And I'll always try to give her the best." I said. He looked at me. "Say, you're nearly thirty?" He asked. I nodded. "And when that newspaper article came about you weren't embarrassed about it as she didn't fit your previous girlfriends?" He asked.

"Of course not. I love her, she is my everything. My centre." I said. I cursed myself in my head as I real side what I had said to her dad. He only smiled. "She called me when you two first started dating. She had been kind of crying but she was laughing too. She said you told her you loved her. And that she knew you were telling the truth." He said.

I laughed. "And she's happy. And that's all I want. So I give you my blessing." I looked at him and I could feel tears of joy prickling at my eyes. Of course I didn't cry, but I still knew they were there. "Thank you." I said giving his hand a firm shake.

Annabeth's POV

I smiled as my dad closed the door and walked off with Percy. I turned my head to look at a smiling Helen. "Please, tell me how you two got together!" She practically squealed. I laughed but started to explain. "Promise you won't tell dad the beginning bit?" I asked. She pinky sweared and we carried on.

"We met two last summer when I went on vacation with Thalia. Turns out they're cousins. So I kind of started to get a crush on him their. And then we almost kissed but he just pulled away and gave me a smirk before walking off. I didn't know what to think. And then I didn't see him till four months ago when I went to that wedding." I said. She clapped her hands excitedly.

I paused as I took a sip of my wine. "So I see him there, and he asks me to dance and then walks me to my room. Turns out he is just opposite my room. So the next morning I go to breakfast and bump into him at my door. We kind of kissed." I said, and she squealed.

"I went to apologies later but it didn't go as planned." I said, smiling as I remembered that night. "He drove me back to Uni, and when he left I couldn't concentrate. He came three times a week for the next two weeks, in the evening, and would spend some time with me."

"Then he goes and buys an apartment and says I should move in with him, and we made the rules. But we weren't dating then." I said, making her frown. "So like, friends with benefits?" She asked. I hesitated. "Kind of." She nodded, satisfied and waited patiently.

"So it worked like that till I came home and he said how he felt, told me he loved me. And it kind of worked out from there." I said. She cooed. "Do you think you'll get married?" She asked. "Helen!" I exclaimed, blushing madly. She giggled and said, "It was just a question!"

I looked out the window and saw the guys approaching. "Remember, dad can't know about the bit about the wedding and stuff till we started dating." I reminded her. She nodded and the boys joined us. "So," dad said, splicing us a smile, "what are we talking about?"