Chapter 26
The 2 Week break after the Italian GP.
Things have been quite intense with everything that has been happening recently. What with Annabeth and our break up we had, making my driving erratic and wild. Thankfully we did get back together a month later and it has been five weeks since we've gotten back together. The media had a field day when they found out. We're not sure who tipped them off, but the headlines on pretty much every gossip magazine was saying things like, 'Percabeth no longer forever,' or one from an old article that we read in our first few weeks of being together, when I went to meet her parents. The old headline was something like, 'Will they make it last? or Crash and Burn?' They followed up when they heard of the break up with, 'Percabeth followed - Crash and Burn.' I honestly don't know how people can be so fascinated by our life styles, (Don't take any of this to heart if you are someone who does like Celebrity gossip, remember that Percy is a Celebrity in the Motorsport world, so he wouldn't understand the fascination.) in which the editors and journalists would go through so much trouble to know about our daily lives. It did come as a shock to all the gossip magazine editors though when they heard the news of us being inseparable after our 'little' time away, which I explained away with, 'it was a misunderstanding and a mistake.' and left the comment like that so they couldn't cover much of a story from it.
It was after the two week break we all had for a short break, After coming third at Italy, which I kicked myself for for the slip up at the first corner on the last lap. I was fighting with Rosberg and Massa with maintaining the lead for first, Rosberg and Massa on either side of me, and Massa moved to the inside as I couldn't defend that line any more, due to the one defensive line rule. The brakes lit up to a vibrant red glow, as I saw in the pictures and replay after, and showered the grandstand beside us in thick greyish smoke and went straight on, ignoring the chicane. I had to slow down till they both passed by so it didn't give me an advantage. I nearly claimed back second but missed my opportunity as I had a twitch at the second Lesmo. (Look up the layout for Monza if you're wondering and or want to know what I'm talking about.) The points were now tied between all three of us, Bottas only a mere three points behind our two hundred and three.
Things were going well during the time off Annabeth and I went back to England for a while to see my parents. To say they were delighted was an understatement. They adore Annabeth and was ecstatic to know we were back together. We spent every little bit of time we could with each other whether it be snuggled up in bed at night or cuddling in the sofa or in the bedroom watching a movie or talking. It wasn't until a little after she fell asleep watching a film that I decided to sneak out. I grabbed my blue contact lenses and a black baseball cap. I wasn't sure on where I was going at first, just drove around town for a while, until I stopped outside the little jewellers at the side of the street corner. I parked up and looked in the shop window. A shimmer caught my eye though, when I looked at it, it was a 14k white gold ring with a small cluster of diamonds on top, wrapped around them as part of the intricate design was an infinity symbol, as well as the word 'promise' etched into the band. I walked into the shop and up to the front desk, toward the woman standing behind the counter. "Hi, can I see the promise ring, number eighteen from the shop window please." The woman smiled and nodded as she walked to the window to retrieve the ring. When she returned she handed it to me and talked me over the details of the ring.
"Will this be all sir?" She enquired as she placed the ring in a sea green ring box and grey bag.
"No that's it thank you." I answered as she rang up my total. I paid the five hundred pounds for it and smiled and thanked her once more as she bid me a farewell. As I returned to the car, I was lost in my thoughts as I drove back to my parents house, which was empty due to them being at a signing for my mothers latest book. I thought about the reason behind buying the ring, it had been six, would have been seven, months since we first started dating, and today was our anniversary. This would be the first time that I would have taken part in the whole monthly anniversary gig, not that Annabeth took part either, we tended to go by years and we were both happy with that. The intention of this ring was to prove and say in a deeper level that I wasn't going anywhere and that someday I wanted to marry her and propose to her fully and properly one day. I arrived home moments after coming out of my thoughts and entered the house. I strolled in and walked upstairs, after dropping my keys in the bowl on the cabinet by the door, and found Annabeth sitting up on the bed biting her lip as she looked at me walk in.
"Where did you go! You just freakin' up and left with out telling me where you were going." she yelled at me. I winced at that and sat on the bed beside her.
"Sorry Wise Girl, I didn't mean to freak you out, I just went to buy something." I said calmly. Her hard gaze softened and looked at the bag that I had placed by me.
"What is it?" She wondered as she tried to peer inside the bag. I plucked it up off the bed and produced the sea green box. Her breath caught and she bit her lip again, "Percy?" She questioned quietly. I took a deep breath and looked into her watery grey eyes.
"Wise Girl. From the moment I met you, I knew you were the one for me. There was no one that could take my mind off of you since the very first day, and I was constantly being drawn to you. There is no and never will be any other girl that compares to you, and someday I'd like to call you Mrs. Annabeth Chase-Jackson, or even Mrs. Annabeth Jackson, the only problem is, is that we are still too young to be thinking about marriage and weddings, so I'm settling for this." I pulled open the ring box lid, revealing the promise ring to her watering eyes as she cried, clutching her mouth. "I promise to be by your side for the rest of my life, and someday want you to be my wife. Annabeth Chase, will you Promise to marry me?" I concluded as I bit my lip staring at her beautiful face, as she let tears slide down her cheek.
"Yes." She chocked out. "Yes you stupid Seaweed Brain." She boxed my face in between her hands and crashed her lips onto mine. When we pulled back we were both smiling and I slipped the ring onto her right hand, ring finger. "I love you." She whispered as she sniffled and nuzzled my neck.
"I love you too." I said softly.