Surprises at 3.A.M and picnics with jellybeans.

What else can Percy come up with?

(After Heroes of Olympus)

~Percy's POV~

"Psst."

"Annabeth!" I whispered, peering through the gap in the window of her dorm room.

Annabeth lived on the ground floor, and she slept with the window open. But it didn't worry me, the window only opened wide enough to stick an arm through.

"Psst. Wise Girl, wake up. I've got a surprise."

I spoke into the darkness, my eyes adjusting to the dim light seeping into the dorm from the street lamps behind me.

I watched as my girlfriend, all snuggled up in her covers, turned over in her bed. And stayed fast asleep.

Well, at least now she was facing me. Her grey eyes hidden and her hair covered most of her face.

"Anna-beth" I sang. "Wake-y, wake-y."

No answer.

Annabeth usually looked so peaceful while she was sleeping, I didn't want to wake her up. But it was too late, I'd made the trip here already. Plus, I knew I didn't have much time. I needed her awake quickly, before...well, you know. Before someone saw me, and thought I was creeping around.

Which I guess I was, but who cares?

I had good reason to, just as long as Annabeth woke up, and I wasn't having much luck with that so far.

I sighed, "Annabeth!" And this time, I fished Riptide out of my pocket, stuck my hand through the window and threw my trusty pen towards the bed, at the far end of the room.

In hindsight, I really should have thought this through.

Riptide went dead straight for Annabeth's face, hitting her right between the eyes. I cringed, oops.

Annabeth's eyes shot open. "Ow!"

She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows, looking around for what hit her. "What the Hades..." She picked up Riptide, it glowed a faint bronze in the dark as she wrapped her fingers tightly around my pen.

"Percy?" She said without looking out the window. She stared down at the pen, her voice quiet and calm, like she'd just woken up.

Or, like she was really mad.

"Why did you throw this at my face?" Annabeth looked up, her grey eyes met mine. I found it hard to take her seriously, with her blonde hair a rat's nest and those ridiculous pyjamas she had on. Wait, were those unicorns?

Still, the look she gave me told me I was in trouble.

"Uh..." I smiled nervously. "Surprise?"

—

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth's fierce grey eyes became more visible as she approached the window. "What are you doing here?"

Now that she was right in front of me, I could see the pyjamas much clearer now. Those were actually unicorns. And rainbows. They covered Annabeth from head to toe.

So naturally, I found myself asking, "Annabeth, what are you wearing?"

I was smiling, I'd never seen Annabeth wear anything like that to sleep before. She blushed, looking embarrassed, "Shut up."

"It's cute."

"Just answer my question." She demanded, her tone slightly annoyed. Though I had a feeling she just wanted to change the subject.

"Well fine." I leaned onto the window ledge, "I just wanted to see you, is that okay?"

Her eyebrow knitted together, confused. "But I'm seeing you tomorrow aren't I? We're going out for dinner."

I shrugged. "And?"

She yawned, "Percy, it's like the middle of the night."

"I know, but..." I bent down, and reached for the picnic basket, holding it up for her to see.

"I thought we could go for a picnic."

Amusement lit up her pretty face, and she smiled. "What, at 3 in the morning?"

She wasn't taking me seriously I realised. I needed to sell the idea, because while she may not have been serious, I was.

"Yup. Think about it, I got out of bed at 2 A.M. and got all this stuff ready. And I came here to pick you up."

"Okay..." She pursed her lips. "But-

"So shall we?" I pulled my best baby seal face.

Annabeth seemed to ponder this, "I have school tomorrow..." She trailed off, staring intently at the picnic basket in my hand. I could almost hear the doubt evident on her face: I need to wake up early tomorrow Percy!

But then, she locked eyes with me, and she crumbled.

She sighed and rolled those cute grey eyes, smiling that adorable smile she always had when she gave into another one of my brilliant ideas. "Alright, fine."

—

Annabeth walked out a few minutes later. She grinned as she approached the sidewalk, where I stood, still holding onto the picnic basket.

Annabeth's long blonde hair was combed, and flowed down her back and shoulders majestically, she had changed into her usual jean shorts and camp shirt.

Yup, just another regular date, where, for my money, Annabeth was prettier than Aphrodite herself.

"So you just gonna keep staring Seaweed Brain?" She smirked. "Close that mouth of yours Percy, you'll catch flies."

"Uh." I said, kind of stunned. She looked completely different from the messy-haired unicorn pyjama girl I'd woken up.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Eloquent as always Percy."

"Ha ha." I kissed her on the cheek. "So shall we get going or do you want to keep teasing?"

She gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. Where's the Prius?"

"Oh." I smiled. "Back home."

"What? How'd you get here?"

"I flew."

Annabeth looked sceptical. "If you told me you swam here I'd be more inclined to believe you."

I shrugged, "alright, suit yourself," and whistled for Blackjack, before I turned back to my girlfriend and winked smugly.

Annabeth ooed sarcastically. "Someone thinks he's a smarty pants."

"What's the matter Wise Girl, not used to being wrong?"

"Please," Annabeth scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm always right," She huffed like she was annoyed, but I could tell she was trying hard not to smile.

—

Blackjack dropped us off right in the middle of the field. It was nothing but grass, spreading and sprawling for the next hundred of metres all around us.

"Well," Annabeth blew a hair out of her face, "I guess we better get started, it's probably almost 4 in the morning now."

I set the picnic basket down, on top of the blanket Annabeth had laid out for us. It was dark (obviously), so I just grabbed the contents of the basket, and set it out before us.

"Jellybeans?" Annabeth gave me a quizzical frown. "Really Percy?"

"What?" I reacted defensively. "Why can't jellybeans be apart of our picnic? Besides, they're blue."

Annabeth just laughed. "Oh my gods Seaweed Brain..." she shook her head. "Don't worry I didn't need you to tell me, I knew they were blue."

"Well," I grunted as I relaxed, and fell backwards onto the soft grass. "Join me?" I smirked, patting the ground on my left.

Annabeth lay down, and we held hands as she looked up at the night sky.

"You know Percy, I was a bit doubtful at first, but this is really beautiful. I'm glad you made me come." She spoke softly, her tone was gentle, which blended in with the breeze and the grass.

I hadn't looked up yet, not that I didn't trust what Annabeth was saying, but I just couldn't peel my eyes away from her face then. She just looked so perfect; with the slight upturn of her nose, that tiny smile which played on her lips, those elegant eyelashes which moved with each blink-

"Okay. You can stop staring now." She shifted her head to look at me, diverting her gaze away from the sky. "Why don't you look up instead?"

"I'm happy admiring the view from here." I smiled. And I meant it too, sometimes I felt Annabeth had no idea how beautiful she really was.

Especially now, with only the moonlight to go on, Annabeth's blonde hair seemed to glow faintly, almost like Riptide.

I also noticed the slightest hints of a blush which had started to spread across her cheeks, right before she leaned in and kissed me.

"That was sweet Percy." She grinned, shaking her head, almost in disbelief. "Gods, I'm such a sucker for you when you say things like that."

I laughed. "Okay. If you want me to stop that bad..."

"Just look." Annabeth had turned away, her gaze fixed upwards.

I stared too, and gawked at the dark sky. It was clear, not a single cloud, and the crescent moon hung towards the side. The stars took the spotlight, constellations glittered all over, lighting up the heavens.

"It's beautiful" She said. A faraway look in her eyes.

"Yeah," was all I said in response.

And nobody said anything after that. We just lay there holding hands, enjoying each other's company, staring up at the starry sky.

—-

It was silent for a long time, before Annabeth spoke again.

"Percy," she turned on her side to look at me. "Why are we here tonight?"

I shifted my head to face her. "What do you mean?"

Annabeth pursed her lips. "You know what I mean."

I sighed heavily. Sometimes I forgot to factor in how smart Annabeth was, she always knew when something was up.

But I wasn't keen on talking about it. So, I came up with the short, but brilliant explanation:

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why not?" She shot back in an instant.

Clearly, Annabeth knew I didn't want to talk about it as well. There was no hiding when you date a daughter of Athena.

"Nah it's fine." I said, shrugging it off. And for the first time that evening, I faked a smile. "It's no big deal."

"Percy..." Annabeth almost looked sad the way she stared at me, her voice had gone considerably softer. "What's wrong?"

I stared at picnic basket, the jellybeans and other snacks forgotten. Then I looked down at our feet. The grass was never-ending, unlike so many other things in life.

I didn't want to have this conversation, one which I had been avoiding for days. I'd been hoping I would get away with it, that Annabeth wouldn't pick it up.

However, when I looked back at my girlfriend, I immediately felt guilty. Her face was full of sincere care and desperation- she was only me to share my problems with her.

And I'd never lie to Annabeth.

"I've been having some bad dreams lately." I said finally, my voice heavier than before. "I haven't been sleeping much."

Annabeth's eyes grew concerned, and the corners of her mouth drooped down with worry. She gazed off into the gloom. "You never told me."

"Well, I am now." I stared glumly towards the side, where our shoes lay.

The silence was uncomfortable. And I knew it was there for a reason: Annabeth was waiting for me to elaborate on my nightmares.

I found it hard to know where to start. I didn't even know if she would understand where I was coming from, or how she would react.

I stared back up at the sky. Suddenly feeling quite lonely, even though Annabeth was right next to me.

It was like I was the moon, and she was the stars. We were together, but somehow, the distance in between seemed a little too far at the moment.

Annabeth kept a blank expression, her eyes lingered upwards. I appreciated that she wasn't pushing me to talk about it. But I knew she was silent on purpose, she was waiting for me to fill that void. The void of silence, and problem-sharing.

And there was nothing for a few more minutes.

Just quiet.

—

"You know... how everything's gone back to normal the last couple of months?" I looked sideways at Annabeth.

What I had described should have been one of the best couple of months of my life. It was peaceful. But that wasn't how I felt about it recently.

"You mean since we've been home?" She looked back at me. Her voice was so soft and gentle. Exactly like that time I had finally told Annabeth I liked her, what felt a million years ago.

So much had happened since then.

"Well, I still have dreams." My voice quivered ever so slightly. "About...you know..."

"I know." Annabeth moved closer, her face inches away from mine. "And it's okay Percy. I get them too. But you know what? I don't let them bother me."

I blinked. "How?"

"Because..." She faltered for a bit, and smiled delicately, "I still have you. And..."

Annabeth gazed into my eyes, as she brought her hand up to my face.

Gently, her fingertips traced my cheek. Then she closed her eyes, as if she was trying to burn the memory into her brain. "And as long as we're together, that's all that matters."

"And if that ends?" I asked, almost challenging her.

She opened her mouth to respond, but appeared to have thought against it, and instead, she just looked down, voiceless.

For once, Annabeth Chase didn't have an answer.

"I have nightmares about us... in there..." I carried on as we both stared out at the vast field around us. "And...a-and..."

I stumbled over what I wanted to say next, struggling to form the words.

"Y-You're... dying Annabeth... I can't save you." I nearly choked on those last words.

I was never scared of dying myself, but ever since we got out of Tartarus, or rather, while we were still down there, my worst fear was I wouldn't be able to keep Annabeth safe. That I couldn't.

I sighed, looking up at the stars. Only now, they didn't seem so beautiful. Annabeth remained motionless herself, she merely kept her eyes down, studying our feet.

Funny huh? How one really depressing conversation can ruin what was meant to be a fun date for two demigods. Sometimes, I wished our lives came with a manual. At least I'd have something to blame when everything went wrong.

"I know, it's not real."

Though saying it aloud, I knew it sounded like I was trying to convince myself (because that was exactly what I was trying to do).

"But it still bothers me you know? 'Cause, what if it is Annabeth? What if, one day, it is real?"

Annabeth looked up finally, her smile sad. "I don't know Percy."

I was stunned by the dejection in her voice, seeing her this way broke my heart. I loved making her laugh, making her happy. Now, there wasn't a single trace of joy left on her lips.

"Hey." I said as gently as I could, reaching out and pushing her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry. I've ruined our picnic with my stupid dreams."

"No." Annabeth responded, though it was almost a whisper.

She cleared her throat. "I mean, no." She said, getting louder, a steel in her voice evident. "We need to talk about this."

She took a deep breath. "Look, I understand why you're scared Percy, I get scared too. But no one was saying that our lives were going to be easy here on out. It's never easy."

I snorted. "Yeah."

"Exactly," Annabeth continued, the usual calm confidence in her voice was returning slowly, "and there's nothing wrong with having fears Percy, everyone has fears."

"But we can't let our fears control us, otherwise... we've already lost." She locked eyes with me, the resolve in her voice was apparent. In fact I could see it all over her face.

And that was when I knew: Annabeth Chase was back.

"I know how much you like to joke around all the time, and I love how happy you always are... but this," Annabeth smiled, gesturing at me, "this is why I love you Percy."

I frowned. "But you just pointed at all of me."

She shook her head fondly, "you're thoughtful and you're sensitive and I love how you worry about us..."

There was a slight pause, as if Annabeth was trying to figure out what to say next.

"And even though I can't tell you what's going to happen, I can tell you that I love you... And I know that you love me." She grabbed ahold of my hand and smiled at me. The twinkle in her eye was, to me, brighter than any star.

"So, it'll be okay." She said quietly, "whatever it is, we'll get through it together. What else can we do?"

"How are you so sure?" I shook my head. "We've nearly died so many times. Not just that actually, right now...

it feels like we should've died."

"We went to hell and back Percy," Annabeth's eyes took on a new light, her persistence was distinct. "Whatever the universe has planned for us, I say bring it."

I stared warily at my girlfriend. I'm not going to lie, based on how our lives had panned out so far, I did not want the universe to 'bring it'.

Suddenly, the idea that we might end up back in Tartarus again seemed a lot more daunting. And a lot more possible.

"Because Seaweed Brain," Annabeth explained, happily, patiently. "There's nobody else I'd rather go through with it than you, Percy Jackson, the bravest, noblest, most humble hero I know."

"And that's why you've got nothing to worry about." She winked, "I've always got your back."

"And my sides, and my front?"

"Yes." She rolled her eyes. "And your top, and your bottom."

I smiled at her. "Annabeth Chase, you really are formidable."

"Why thank you," she grinned cheekily. "Also, did I forget to mention he's the most charming and handsome hero... to have had the pleasure of being graced by my presence?"

I laughed at that, and she joined in.

—

Just like that, it felt like a load had been lifted off my chest. A load I wasn't aware existed until now, only after Annabeth made me realise it (with some coaxing of course).

Her eyes still shone in the moonlight, liquid silver. Her smile was soft like the faint glow of her hair. And her hands were as gentle as the morning tide at camp.

I knew she wouldn't believe me, but she really was stunning. More so than any number of stars in the sky.

I leaned in and gave her a kiss.

After we broke away, with our foreheads still touching and both of us beaming, I realised I still hadn't said what I should have a long time ago.

"Thanks Annabeth."

"Of course." She kissed my cheek. "Anything for my Seaweed Brain."