Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO

A/N: Sorry, didn't have time or energy to edit this chapter.

I'll read through it later tho

"Percy," Annabeth hissed through giggled, "stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything," Percy claimed innocently, his fingers ghosting up and down her sides mischievously.

"Per-" Annabeth was cut off by a sharp knock. Both of their heads whipped towards the sound, noting the origin. Annabeth blindly reached for the remote and paused the movie.

"I supposed I should answer that," Percy offered, eyeing Annabeth's lack of appropriate attire.

"I suppose so," She smiled and moved out of the door's line of sight, secretly nervous that her ex boyfriend might notice her. Percy pushed himself off the bed with an exaggerated grunt and padded barefoot across the hardwood floor to the doorway.

"Thank you," Percy said as he swung the door open then went silent, peering curiously at Luke and wondering how he should continue forward. Lucky or perhaps unlucky for Percy, Luke responded almost immediately and he wasn't given an opportunity to think through different scenarios.

"Why do you need tinfoil?" he questioned in a tone that was nowhere near the usual polite reserved for VIP guests.

"I just… wanted it," Percy explained slowly, unsure how much to reveal.

"My apologies," Luke ducked his head, "it's just a very odd request and some of the other employees were curious to why the great Percy Jackson was doing with tinfoil." Annabeth rolled her eyes at his patronizing emphasis.

"I wanted to wrap some food," Percy presented, reaching forward to wrench the tinfoil from Luke's stiff grip.

"Of course," Luke nodded, "but someone of your status can't be expected to perform such a task all on his own."

"I'm sure I'll manage," Percy assured, his hands still unable to acquire the tinfoil.

"Nonsense," Luke struggled to keep his smile, "it's not a matter of whether or not you'll manage but whether or not you should manage."

"I-" Percy began but too late as Luke was already pushing past him and barging into the hotel room.

"Now where is this food you speak of?" Luke inquired, his tone light but his eyes narrowed suspiciously and frantically searching the room for any trace of Annabeth. She squeaked at the intrusion and slipped the covers over her head, attempting to calm her breathing to not give herself away.

"You're overstepping, sir," Percy ran after him, stopping him before he could come any closer to the bed where he knew Annabeth was hiding, "leave the tinfoil and go."

"I'm sorry, sir," Luke threw the label back at him, watching the slow rise below the bedspread, "I'm just such a big fan that I couldn't resist." Luke smiled sourly and roughly shoved the roll of tinfoil into his hands.

"You can go now," Percy ordered when Luke stood dumbly in his place.

"Yes," Luke swallowed past a spout of anger clawing its way up his throat, "tell Annabeth I'm happy for her." Percy stiffened at her name, "tell her if she's happy then I'm happy. And what I said that night still stands."

"If I see her I will let her know," Percy spoke slowly, ushering Luke out of the room.

"Thank you," Luke screwed his face into what looked like a semi pleasant expression and followed Percy's instructions and left. Percy shut the door behind him and let out a sigh, resting his forehead on the door. He heard the hint of a harsh tone outside but decided to check on Annabeth instead of investigate it.

"He's gone," he announced as he walked back into the bedroom.

"Thank gods," Annabeth let out a sigh of relief.

"You don't think he'll tell your boss do you?" Percy asked cautiously, approaching the bed.

"No," Annabeth bit her lips as she thought. While she did Percy placed the tinfoil on the bedside table and bent forward to cup her cheeks in his hands and bring her eyes up to his, "I talk to him a few days ago and he told me basically the same thing, that he just wanted me to be happy."

"That's good, right?" Percy questioned, his eyes boring into hers.

"Yes," Annabeth nodded vigorously, "it's definitely good. Now," She leaned forward and pressed an excited kiss to Percy's lips, "let's forget all about that and dye our hair." Percy agreed and Annabeth jumped up with a broad smile.

Within precisely nine minutes they had both applied a small amount of, now chunky, hair dye to a small piece of their hair and protected it with a strip of tinfoil. They were laying on the bed and had resumed the movie as they waited for the allotted 15 minutes to pass when Annabeth's timer went off.

"Time to rinse," Annabeth announced brightly and once again paused the movie. When she stood up Percy followed closely behind her only to wrap his arms tightly around her, obstructing her movements. Annabeth walked slowly into the bathroom as he peppered the nape of her neck with kisses. "That's probably dangerous," she remarked, pointing to the toxic dye still soaking into her hair.

"I don't care," Percy shrugged but it appeared he still had some sliver of sanity as he pulled away. He turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature as Annabeth acquired the provided envelopes of shampoo and conditioner.

"Are we showering together?" Annabeth inquired curiously, her eyes catching on Percy's taut muscles as he narrowly avoided too-cold water.

"Oh," Percy turned towards her with a lilting smile, "I perform wonderfully in water."

"Percy," Annabeth hissed, a good natured smile peeking past her stern expression, "it's a shower, not a sex arena."

"Why can't it be both?" Percy wondered out loud, finally getting the water just right. He wiped his hand on a nearby towel.

"Because it's dangerous," Annabeth asserted, "I've read at least three articles about couples who have become gravely injured during shower sex."

"Mm," Percy mused, stepping forward and placing his hands on either side of her, effectively caging his girlfriend along the counter, "very interesting articles, Annie. How did you come across them?" He grinned deviously.

Annabeth opened her mouth, trying to decide whether to first address the infuriating nickname or his implication. Percy didn't give her the opportunity, capturing her lips with his. Annabeth hummed in pleasure at the unexpected but entirely welcomed assault.

Percy's hands lowered to her hips, gradually inching their way up her soft skin. Annabeth's arms looped around his shoulders, pulling him into her. Percy fingers expertly slid up the bare skin beneath the oversized t-shirt she was wearing, sending shivers up her spine at the light touch. Soon enough Annabeth became impatient and hastily tugged the clothing over her head, discarding of the cotton shirt on the floor.

Annabeth was momentarily cold but the feeling ceased the second Percy's chest brushed hers, the skin to skin contact sending a wave of heat coursing through her veins. Her own finger tangled traveled up his neck and began to tangle in his hair. It wasn't until she came across an obstruction that she broke the kiss.

"We should probably get in the shower," Annabeth directed, rolling her fingers over the folded up piece of tinfoil hidden in his thick dark hair, "the box specifically instructed 15 minutes."

"Who is the box to tell us what to do?" Percy chuckled huskily, nuzzling into her neck and nipping delightfully at her exposed neck.

"The highly intelligently researchers and educated scientists who developed the coloring formally," Annabeth offered.

"You make a fair point," Percy conceited and pulled back, "though I can't imagine they're that intelligent if they chose to create white of all colors." He noted as he slipped off his pajama pants, "who dyes their hair white, anyway?"

"We do," Annabeth reminded him, struggling to keep her gaze above his waist.

"I meant other than lovesick seaweed brains such as us," Percy clarified as Annabeth slipped off her underwear.

"Hey!" she warned playfully, "don't refer to me by with your astute nickname."

"What's so bad about being a seaweed brain?" Percy questioned, taking her small hands in his and slowly pacing backwards into the shower, "last time I checked I was awesome."

"And humble too," Annabeth teased, "but it is nevertheless unacceptable as I am no seaweed brain. I'm a wise girl." Percy smiled sweetly, his heart doing funny acrobatics in his chest at her tiny act of remembrance, "and if both a seaweed brain and a wise girl buy white hair dye it evens the demographics out and therefore the creators are indeed knowledgeable."

"I'm not sure your logic is completely sound," Percy chuckled, the hot water of the shower falling on the back of his shoulders.

"It doesn't have to be," Annabeth assured him, treading closer to him and shutting the shower door closed behind her, "because I'm in love." Percy wasn't sure how to the two were directly related but then she kissed him and it wiped all thoughts from his mind as the water simultaneously washed the dye out his hair.


"I really thought it would look less gray," Percy commented as he observed his appearance in the foggy mirror.

"It would have," Annabeth gauged as she brushed stubborn tangles out of her sopping hair. She had a white towel wrapped loosely around her body, the end tucked neatly beneath her armpit, "but I suspect we left the dye sitting around for too long before applying it."

"It's a reasonable theory," Percy nodded, slicking back his wet hair and coming up behind Annabeth, his presence making it very very difficult for her to continue concentrating her task, "wanna hear mine?"
"Enlighten me," Annabeth gently put down the brush, gazing at her boyfriend through the mirror.

"I think we have both discovered a recessive allele that only appears when you declare your love in ridiculous ways. One that binds us together forever." Annabeth watched him curiously, a question glinting in her eyes and the arch of her brow as she actively ironing the squirming of her heart at the word 'forever.' "I really like biology," he explained with a shrug.

"I didn't know tha-" Annabeth began to say, running a delicate finger along his sharp jaw line when Percy's alarm went off.

"Shit," he hissed, his eyes darting to his phone. Annabeth observed the tense clutch of his jaw beneath her finger and furrowed her brow confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Annabeth asked, glancing at the time displayed as he silenced the phone. It was two in the morning, why did he have an alarm for two in the morning? A wave of deja vu flashed over Annabeth as she recalled their first time together.

"Nothing," Percy shook his head, bringing Annabeth's head back to his smooth chest, suppressing a shudder at the cold surface.

"Percy-" Annabeth argued, not wanting to drop the subject when his phone rang.

"Shit," Percy repeated, more urgency in his words this time, and Annabeth felt his chest heaving behind her.

"Do you need to get that?" she asked, her gaze glued on his panicked expression.

"Yeah," he breathed and sprung forward, pressing desperately at the accept call button as Annabeth was pushed away from him. She looked up a little dazed and saw him pacing anxiously around the room. "Mom?" he voice quivered as he answered the phone.

Annabeth heart sunk into her stomach. She stayed silent, watching his reflection breath laboriously, not wanting to interrupt his conversation.

"Yeah," Percy whispered into the phone, "what happened?... mom… I can be there… are you sure?... I'll call Grover tonight… I'll take care of it… don't worry, everything is gonna be okay… I love you." He hung up the phone and slumped back against the counter, his head between his hands.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered, tentatively stepping towards him. He didn't answer. "Are you okay?" She lifted his chin to meet his gaze and her breath caught in her throat when she saw it was clouded with tears.

"It's my fault," he told her, his wide eyes desperately seeking hers. Annabeth reached forward and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly to her body. She could feel the heat radiating off his bare skin as it was pushed firmly to hers.

"What?" Annabeth questioned as he tucked his face into the curve of her neck, "what's your fault?" She felt drops of warm wetness delicately fall from him and land on her skin.

"My mom," he shuddered and Annabeth tensed, remembering what he'd revealed long ago about his abusive stepfather.

"Percy," Annabeth stroked his hair tenderly, trying to calm him down. She felt him take a deep breath then pull away from her. Annabeth noted the red rings around his eyes and realized he'd been crying. "Let's sit," she suggested, trying to relieve any stress he was feeling.

Percy remained silent but trudged out of the bathroom to sit on the bed in a defeated position. Annabeth crawled into the mass of covers behind him and forced him to lay back against the pillows before voicing her question again.

"What's wrong?"

"My mom," Percy began to explain, his eyes glazed over as he stared at absolutely nothing, "I didn't want to leave her alone with Gabe. As a precautionary measure I asked her to call me if anything went wrong. We set an hour, 2 am west coast time, 5 am in New York. She promised she'd call me at that time if anything went wrong." Annabeth nodded as he told her the heart wrenching system, trying to remain sensible despite the pain she felt for him, "I set an alarm at 2 am so I'd be on alert if she ever called. Whenever I'd bring girls home I'd step into the bathroom for a full hour, just waiting for the hour to pass so I could be reassure myself that she was fine. She told me if anything happened she'd call me-"

Annabeth watched Percy's blue green eyes swimming in pain and placed a warm hand on his chest, just above his heart, gently appeasing its rapid rhythm as best she could. She could tell from his repetitive dialogue he was panicking and wanted nothing more than to help him but knew she could not achieve said goal without understanding the issue to begin with.

"Percy," Annabeth interrupted in a soft soothing voice, "what happened tonight?" She took hold of his chin and angled his face towards her, meeting his sunken gaze with her own,"Was that your mom on the phone?"

"Yes," Percy answered, sliding Annabeth's hand up to cup his cheek, "she told me he hit her. He hit her, Annabeth! She told me they've been constantly fighting for the last few weeks and she'd been trying to deal with it on her own but yesterday he hit her, really hit her." Percy swallowed past a lump in his throat, struggling with the wretched information, "She says last night he kicked her and threatened to kill her. She asked me to find her a place to stay. She insisted she is fine and wants to handle the situation on her own."

"I'm so sorry, Percy," Annabeth shook her head, wondering how someone could be so cruel. "Your mom must be very strong to have lived with a man like that."

"She is strong," Percy agreed but the anxiety in his voice made it sound like a hazard rather than a compliment, "and that's the problem! She thinks she needs to handle this all on her own but I want to be there for her! I need to be there for her!"

"Well then go," Annabeth insisted, "fly to New York and help her divorce his ass."

"I tried but she told me no-" Percy argued.

"She just said that because she doesn't want to complicate your life and cause you trouble," she explained, "but what she doesn't realize it that it will cause your more pain to stay here and do nothing. You should take a break from your movie, even if it's just a week and go see her. Claim it's a vacation if she asks."

"Are you sure?" Percy asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Annabeth didn't understand how he hadn't considered this before. It seemed so simple to her.

"Of course I'm sure, Seaweed Brain," she ruffled his hair lovingly, "you should do whatever makes you happiest no matter what."

"I'd have to leave you alone here for a few days," Percy smirked slightly, his old self coming back as hope shone in his eyes at the new plan, "are you sure you'll survive without me?"

"I've lived through worse," Annabeth assured, happy Percy was feeling better.

"Let me make a few calls," Percy said, pushing up from the mattress, "you stay here and finish the movie."

Annabeth nodded and passed him his phone from where he'd let it fall from his hands into the layers bedspread. She snuggled into the pillow and reached for the remote as Percy began to dial a number.

"Annabeth," Percy called quietly. Annabeth turned towards his voice just as he pressed a soft kiss to her lips, "thank you." He whispered graciously then retreated, walking out of the room with the phone to his ear.

"You're welcome," Annabeth sighed as she resumed the movie.

A/N: sorry this took so long. It was initially supposed to be longer but I've just got so much going on right now. I promise I'll try to keep posting once a week but the updates might lag a bit.

Also let me know if you guys want more lemons because at I don't want the chapters to be overly repetitive and although I love pointless lemons they're not really moving the plot anywhere so unless you guys specifically ask for them there will only be a select few more throughout the end of the story.

(they'll be like 2 more probably)