Chp 25

Annabeth's POV

I sighed deeply. I wanted so bad to be going on that romantic date with Percy. I wanted him to be making me laugh and pulling me close and kissing me like it was our first time again. But I couldn't because of one mistake.

Not drying my hair when I started to get a cold.

Now I had stupid influenza and was bed ridden. I didn't have the energy to get up and had a small headache. I probably looked like something the cat dragged - that then further more got dumped in cold water and then thrown into a dry cleaner.

I tugged the duvet over my arms, feeling cold again. I heard the start of rain. Percy and I could be kissing in the rain...

I heard the front door. Mel was probably picking something up before heading to Marks place. I looked up as I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I was surprised when, when it opened, I saw Percy giving a small smile.

"Hey." He said, happy I was awake. He came in, closing the door behind him and walking over to me. He kneeled down beside me next to my bed and I gave a smile.

"Hey." I said. I felt embarrassed when I realized that I probably did look like a mess and weird. "What are you doing here?" I asked, wondering why he was here.

He smiled. "You thought I wouldn't visit you if you were sick?" He asked, chuckling.

I blushed. "I probably look terrible." I said, running my fingers through my hair.

"Well when you get sick when we are married you can't just deny me access into our bedroom in our house." He said.

I felt my stomach churn and my fingertips tingle at what he said. He must have sensed that his words had affected me majorly, as he gave a knowing smile and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "In less of course you leave me at the alter, then I'll be denied access into your place."

I chuckled. "Please Percy, I'm not leaving you. And I'm not just saying that because I can't leave my bed." He laughed, the melodious sound making me feel warm to the core.

He wiped his thumb over my mouth. "I wanna kiss you so bad." He said, chuckling. I smiled.,he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Want some coffee?" He asked, standing.

I nodded with a smile and he went off to go make us coffee. I sat up and stretched my arms and legs while I waited for him. He came back with coffee for us and some soup with a container.

"I told my mom you were sick and put in an order for the usual 'comfort food for a sick person'. She made some barley soup and blue chocolate chip cookies." He said, setting the tray down on my lap.

He went off and came back with a tray for himself. He put it down then kicked off his shoes and pulled off his jacket. He got into the bed next to me and gave a smile while he set his food down on his lap.

I gave a thankful smile and we chatted while we ate the food. It warmed me to the core and made me feel so much better. After we were finished, he took our trays back to the kitchen and crawled back under the covers.

He pulled me to his chest and I tangled our legs. "Thank you, Percy." I said, so grateful I had such an amazing person in my life.

He kissed my cheek and said, "It's a pleasure."

I fell asleep in the comfort of his arms, feeling ten times better and wanting to never leave his arms.

I awoke to the sound of heavy rain and Percy's cool breath tickling my neck I stretched forward, not wanting to wake him, and checked the time in my phone. It was five in the evening. I saw a message from Mel.

Before I could check what she had typed, she was calling. I answered the call, clearing my throat and huskily saying, "Hello?"

"Hey Ann. Sorry if I woke you up." She said.

"Sure you're sorry." I heard Will say in the background, following my a yelp and some laughing.

"Yes, Mel?" I asked, trying to speed it along as I was afraid I was going to wake Percy up.

"Sorry. As I was saying, we are all just chilling at the guys' place. We were wondering where you guys were and to remind you that Will and I are making our mom's famous cottage pie." She said, politely.

Another home cooked meal did sound really good right now. "Yeah, we'll be over soon." I said. She said goodbye and hung up.

"Ann." I heard Percy say, his voice husky. "We don't have to go if you're not feeling well."

I turned in his arms. "I could do with a nice home cooked meal right now." I said, and he nodded.

"Okay, but if you don't feel well we're coming straight back here." He said. After taking note of his rules, we got up and he shrugged on his jacket and slipped on his sneakers.

I had to change so I at least didn't look like a sewer rat. I pulled on my jeans, a t-shirt, my sneakers and one of Percy's hoodies from when he was swim team captain. It said Jackson on the back.

I tied my hair into a pony and we left with our phones and keys. We drove to the campus where their place was and found our way to his place. Percy had a protective arm over my shoulders.

He unlocked the front door and opened it. Will, Mel, Mark, Kieran, a girl I had never seen before, and Will's girlfriend, Kathy, all looked up from their seats in the lounge. "Nice of you two to join us. Hope you haven't been getting up to mischief." Kieran joked, and I gave a little smile as they all laughed and Percy closed the door behind us.

"More like him bringing me comfort food." I said, walking towards them.

Mel frowned. "You never mentioned you were sick. I wouldn't have made you come then." She said, feeling bad.

I shook my head. "No, it's going to feel good to keep some food down for a change." I said.

Kathy gasped. "Jackson! I swear, if you got her pregnant I'm goi-" she started.

"What?" We said in unison, confused. "She has flu, not morning sickness." Percy said, laughing. It made me blush crimson. Everyone else laughed.

I looked to the girl I had never seen before. She had ombré hair, her hair going from light blonde to a brown, and wore sneakers with jeans and a t-shirt. "Hi, I'm Callie." She said, giving a smile.

I smiled. "I'm Annabeth. Nice to meet you." I noticed Kieran's hand on her thigh. So this was his new girlfriend.

"Annabeth, trying to take on Percy's name early, I see." Will joked, smiling as he must have noticed Percy's surname on the hoodie as we sat down on a two seater couch.

"Yeah, I'm so eager." I said, smiling at them.

"Since when were you two engaged?!" Kathy gasped.

I looked at Percy, us both raking our brains to remember when he had dropped down on one knee. "Seven months?" I said, unsure.

She gasped. "And how didn't I know?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. We shrugged, having thought Will would have told her. "So you two have a date? A venue? When are we going dress shopping?"

We shook our heads. "Not for another two or three years, no." He said.

She frowned. "Well why did you get engaged now?"

I looked to Percy, smirking. "That is a good question, Perseus." I joked smiling at him.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Technically I was trying to plan to propose when we went away to my dad's lake house, but there were complications." I thought back for a moment then laughed, everything making sense.

"Please explain, we weren't there." Mell said, grinning like a Cheshire cat at the sound of a story.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I went to pick up the ring because it had just got engraved. By the way, this was when there was still an icy park. The box was in my pocket and we happened to run into each other."

I chuckled at the memory. "We were walking, and I slipped. I managed to land on my knees and not fall on my face. But the box fell out my pocket. I didn't have time to put it back in my pocket as she had already seen it so I improvised and went into a kneeling position and proposed."

Kathy and Mel cooed whilst the guys chuckled. "You definitely sugar coated it from you two walking in the park then you pulling her aside and proposing." Will said, chuckling.

"I'm so happy I had already told your dad. He might have actually murdered me." Percy said, and we all laughed.

We had supper, the glorious food tasting so good. Percy pulled me aside whilst everyone settled in the lounge. "You feeling well? You wanna go home?" He asked.

I felt better but had a headache starting. "Yeah we can go home." So we said goodbye and drove back to my place.

We settled back into bed, dressed into our pajamas. He kissed my cheek and said, "Night."

"Goodnight."