Going home after a whole school day to Percy's house was kinda weird since I knew that it was technically also mine. I just couldn't figure out which emotions I want to show, especially when everything just sorta pops out when I see the face of my very perfect boyfriend. And seeing that he refused to leave my side, it happens fairly often.

"Hi, Sally, Poseidon" I greeted as I sat down on one of the many plush furniture.

Seaweed Brain smiled as he kissed both of his parent's cheeks and his little sister on her forehead. "Hi, Bella, how was school?"

The little girl was saying how much she loved it. Seeing that she only started with the second sem. There were some references to the alphabet and how she loved reciting it over and over again. I don't know how she and Percy could possibly be related because my boyfriend despises school. The only thing he liked there are PE and that oceanography class he's taking. Not to mention Greek Myths and Latin. "Figures." I heard him mutter as he placed her on his shoulders.

"Come on, Wise Girl, we've got homework to finish" he mused playfully turning to me. The weird thing was that he was still holding on to Bella.

I shrugged and grabbed my bag, heading towards my room just to get changed. He, on the other hand, went to her sister's room and closed the door behind him. Maybe to tell her something or warn her about what she might hear. The last time Percy and I tried doing homework together, I was screaming at him because he didn't seem to know the square root of 225 (15)

"You really don't know the answer, do you?" I said, exasperated.

He looked up from his pillow and shook his head, looking a little sheepish. If I could just start stabbing him right then and there, I would. "Percy" I breathed, rubbing my temples. He groaned and moved on top of me, causing me to lie down beneath him. "Don't act like that!"

"What if I don't?" he asked, his lips on the shell of my ear. "What if I just wasn't in the mood to study? What if my heart was somewhere else or with someone else? Or if that someone is sitting right in front of me, teasing me"

Percy then kissed me just to prevent me from talking. I tried so hard, so hard, not to kiss him back but he was just so… I don't know how to describe it. Even just looking at me would make me want to make-out with him. But he was smiling when I finally gave in, our lips moving in perfect harmony and my eyes closed at absolute ecstasy. He didn't need to ask permission since his tongue pushed past my lips and was fighting for dominance with mine. I couldn't really think of anything else but him and everything about him. The way he moved was just so precise, as if he knew what I wanted and how I wanted it. "I love you"

My boyfriend pulled away just to look at me, his sea green eyes filled with love. He didn't answer, though, but he didn't really need to. I know he felt the same, knew that he loved me probably more than I love him.

A knock on the door made us pull apart with a sound probably comparable to a plunger being pulled out the toilet. Not only did I have to worry about someone walking in on us when we were practically in the middle of a really hot make-out session but also the fact that maybe that certain someone was a little girl who has seen enough. The unexpected visitor was none other than my very annoying (but incredibly helpful in times) cousin named Clarisse La Rue.

It was pretty hard to believe but her dad and my mom were siblings. Maybe we're not as similar as Jason, Percy, and Thalia but I still couldn't deny the fact that maybe I could be as impulsive as she can be. Okay, back to the point. She looked amused at our position, with him still very much on top of me, his arms on either side of my shoulders. "Um…" there was an awkward pause and Percy had the decency to move to the other side of the bed. But never really letting me out of his grasp.

"What is it?"

"Annabeth, your dad's downstairs with your brothers." She mumbled, as if not really caring. I don't even know why she was the one who was sent to fetch me.

But still, my dad's here!

He was looking at me with a raised eyebrow when he realized my bruised lips, not to mention my extremely red face. Either because I was blushing too much or because it was out of instinct. "Hi dad" I hugged him tightly and ruffled Matthew's hair. Bobby, on the other hand, looked out of it, as if he was thinking of something. He does that fairly often but not often enough for him to be considered as a nerd. So it could be fair, I picked up my other brother and kissed him gently on the cheek. "What brings you here?"

"You did say we can visit any time we want"

"Any other time would be great." I mumbled under my breath. But as usual, that didn't pass through my boyfriend's ears.

He shook his head and kissed my temple lightly. "Don't worry about it" he mused playfully.

I forgot to mention the fact that my baby brothers adored Percy completely. They found him just as perfect as I do, wanted him to be their big bro someday. I think that can be promised since he and I would never even break-up. I'm just a little scared that maybe we won't even reach that stage because we weren't ready for the commitment.

They were running around the house when I finally sat down on the sofa with my dad sitting across me, a tentative look on his face. "You still remember your promise, Annabeth?" I smiled and nodded, telling him that I'm still a virgin and that we never really took that step yet.

He made a face when I said the word and I know that maybe it was kinda weird that someone like my father, who practically had more experience than I do, would be so immature to even hear that specific three letter word we were both referring to. He and Athena did give me "the talk" when I had my first boyfriend at fourteen but I didn't think I needed it because we never really got as far as holding hands in public. Even though I had experience as to how to talk to him, I still found it pretty awkward when he censors all the words that I already know, either with studying Sex Ed or watching all those movies that refer to that.

At least my father had the decency to try not to make it as uncomfortable as it should be.

"Why do you think you're with him?" dad asked, serious

I didn't even hesitate with the answer. "Because I love him" I said simply.

"How are you sure that this is love?"

This was a much harder question. I've learned to trust instinct but this was an unfamiliar sensation on my chest that whenever I see him smile, whenever he looks at me with his beautiful eyes, whenever he just touches me in that intimacy that only a few guys have, I felt as if I just died and went to heaven. "It's something I feel. He… he's different from the other guys. He loves me for who I am and I trust him enough to turn to him when I have problems. He hasn't tried to touch me unless I wanted him to but it happened just once so don't worry, dad" he looked relieved but I could tell that he was going to have a talk with my boyfriend. "Whenever I see him, my heart just jumps out of my chest. It's different from how the usual emotions that I have."

He smiled kindly and reached out to touch my hand. "I'm glad that in your young age, you've finally found that one person that's right for you but remember, Annabeth, you don't know what will happen in the future. Every single relationship must go through a lot of hurt just to test how strong it is. I've seen how he would step in front of you even when you were still friends. He's willing to give everything for you, face everything for you." He paused, taking a deep breath. "You have something most married couples don't have. I don't know how to put it but it's something that comes rarely in people. You've been blessed to love so fiercely and his loyalty might as well kill him in the future."

I let out the laugh and wiped the tears forming in my eyes. "I can see from now that you have a bright future ahead of you. There might as well be thieves that would steal you from each other but I know you can go pass that. Just watch each other's backs. I know you can since you've been doing that since you were twelve. I trust your decision, Annabeth. I just hope you're sure about this"

"I am, more than you could possibly imagine"

My father chuckled lightly, looking over my shoulder. I resisted the urge to take a peak but I know that I won't be able to sleep at night if I didn't. I glanced at the direction Fredrick was pointing at and a small smile escaped my lips.

Standing there, carrying both of my brothers, was Percy Jackson.

He was still in what he wore going down here but his smile changed. Seaweed Brain seemed to have overheard my entire conversation with my father but I think he already knew all of them before it could have escaped my lips. His eyes showed absolute mischief but all the love in the world was present. What surprised me was the fact that he placed the troublemakers down on the floor and pulled me into his arms, kissing me as passionately as he could, with all the strength he could muster.

"I meant what I said" I muttered, pressing my forehead gently against his.

Percy shook his head, wiping the lingering tears on my cheeks. "I know." He breathed, "I feel the same way."

I almost forgot that dad was here, sitting right in front of us with a grin on his face. He stood up and took the hands of my disgusted brothers, their faces priceless as they looked at me to my boyfriend and back to me. I know I shouldn't be blushing but after absorbing the fact that my bros saw me sucking face with a gentleman was totally blush worthy.

They're going to stay for dinner and it was still at least five thirty. The others went here by four and they were kinda surprised to see that we had company. All except for Clarisse, who practically followed us home…

Bobby,
Matthew, and Bella were playing tag on the grass when we decided that we should go swimming. They thought it was a bad idea because of the temperature. 'They' did not include my boyfriend, by the way. So we just watched the kids as they played, shared stories and talked like before while Percy was training in the pool right in front of us, splashing water at me playfully every once in a while.

"Stop it!" I whined, wiping another water droplet from my arm. "Percy"

"Don't act like you don't like it" I rolled my eyes but smiled all the same.

From behind me, I could practically here the distant whispers of Katie and Silena. They were talking about things like clothes and shoes and make-up, and pairings, and couples, and gossip… the usual girl stuff. I couldn't even stand a single statement relating to any of the above, either because I wasn't one of them or because I had much better things to do that talk about every single person in our year.

A weird ringing got me out of my thoughts and pulled my phone out of my pocket. "Annabeth!" It was one of my other friends, Violet. She was nice but she could be a little crazy when she wants to be.

"What?" I asked, a little surprised by how she said my name.

There was an exasperated sigh from the other line. "Are you or are you not living in Percy Jackson's house?"

That question caught me off guard. I never thought that someone from school, other than those particularly involved, already found out about that. "Why?"

"Just answer my question!" she demanded

I sighed and did, told her everything about it. From the moment Percy and I started dating to my fight with mother. She deserved to know after helping me with so much when all my other friends were busy. We may not be as close as my friends here but she's like a sister to me, someone I could trust.

"You didn't even tell me about it"

"You didn't have to know. This is my problem, not yours"

I could almost imagine her shaking her head at this. "This is probably one of the best things that could ever happen to you, Annabeth. We both know that Percy's the perfect boyfriend and the future perfect husband."

I can't argue with that logic. "That's the bad thing. A lot of people would try to…" I didn't dare finish the thought for it was too painful to even consider.

"You don't have to worry about that. I could see how he looks at you, more than he looked at me." True enough, Percy and Vi dated before, that's the main reason as to why we met. She is probably the only decent person in his long list of ex-girlfriends. And all of those girls want him back.

"I know" I said with a smile, reaching out to run my hand through his hair since he took a break right in front of me and he was now looking at me expectantly. "I know"

The moment I hung up, he pulled me in with him. It was something I never really expected and I squealed as the cold temperature hit my skin. The bad thing was that he was laughing at me when I practically almost drowned. When I finally regained my composure, which was about five minutes later, I started hitting him in every single part I could reach. He acted like he feigned hurt, though, even if I knew that he was just as amused as my father is right now. "Never do that to me again, Seaweed Brain" I mumbled, pushing myself really far away from him.

"Aw, come on, Wise Girl" he mused, wrapping his arms around me. "Just relax a little"

I snorted and hauled myself up to sit on the edge. "Don't be so immature" I shot at him, wringing my hair just to get most of the water out.

Percy pouted and gave me the cutest look I have ever seen. As I said before, his puppy dog face was so freaking adorable it should be illegal. "Annabeth no want to play anymore" he mused in a voice exclusively for children.

I knew I should be mad but seeing and hearing him so desperate to just let me hang out with him was probably the only thing I should hear today. So I finally gave in and wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him put me back in the water. "See, I knew you would-" I didn't let him finish. Because I was there to show him that I love him and that he never really need to try to make me want him. He smiled and kissed me back with passion and aggression and a sweet sense of urgency. I could already hear the children's whines from behind and wolf whistling from Connor and Travis most probably but I didn't care. This moment was only for us, undeserving to the eyes of the outside world. Only for us.

"I love you" I told him simply, unable to say anything else but that.

He kissed the top of my head and held me close. "Love you, too. Love you so much"

It was a mistake for me to run my hand through his hair when we have an incredibly large audience. That is the first thing I do when I want something more and he always did give it to me because he had no choice. He wanted it as much as I did but we couldn't and that was the biggest problem. Anyways, he was holding me close, cradling my head with one hand and grabbing my waist with the other. And he was kissing me again, with much more love and sincerity than the last one. I didn't care if my father would probably ground me forever. I don't care if this would scar my brothers until they die (maybe I do but you get the point). I just want to be with him and that is much more dominant than all those insecurities and doubts I'm having about the entire relationship.

Dinner came and went. We talked and teased and joked and laughed and everything felt so… right. As if my life was meant to be like this, even when I know that there will be that possibility that it would go back to that hellhole. I adored every single second of it, never wanting to miss a moment of the beautiful miracle. "You should have seen the look on Rachel's face when we told her that Percy and Annabeth live in the same house now." Silena all but screamed in the table.

I shook my head, knowing that it was impossible for me to keep something as serious as that from the entire school when one of my really close friends was practically yelling the fact on top of a table for everyone to hear. "And who gave you the permission to share that piece of information?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow, wrapping an arm around me.

She shrugged, "Am I not allowed to tell the entire world that you and Wise Girl over there are soul mates who finally found each other?"

"If you put it that way, I guess not" I slapped him on the arm and he laughed good-heartedly.

"This is serious, Seaweed Brain. What do you think they're going to say when we go to school tomorrow?"

He smiled and looked at me, "I think we all know the answer to that. I'm just not bothered by it because I know that you don't mind the whispering. I'm used to it, anyways"

A sigh escaped my lips before nodding, placing my head on his shoulder. "Let's just hope that it's not as bad as the last time"

And the world just had to prove me wrong.

The moment I stepped foot in the school campus, all the loud noises turned silent. There were absolutely no loud conversations, no laughter, not even whispers. Everyone was just looking at me, staring at me as if they couldn't believe that I had the guts to go to school after I practically stole someone they can't really have. I bit my bottom lip and took the outstretched hand in front of me, just so that I could start walking. "Don't worry about it" he breathed to my ear, holding me close. "Everything's going to be alright"

No one at all spoke the entire day, as if they were in the state of shock. A year ago, I would have enjoyed the peace and quiet but right now, when that silence was made because of me, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. My friends told me that I should ignore them and that was pretty much all I could take before Rachel Dare couldn't stand it anymore and walked to our table during lunch. She looked pissed, almost ready to erupt and I set my jaw and clenched my hands into fists, knowing well that she wasn't worth a millisecond of our time.

Before I could even say a word, her palm made contact with my face. "Rachel!" Percy said in surprise. I was frozen. Never in the entire world have I been slapped on the face. "Wise Girl, are you alright?" he asked, cupping my chin and examining my cheek. From behind me, my friends looked as if they had nothing to say to her, stolen the words from their mouths and threw it in the nearest trash bin.

"I'm fine" I muttered, shaking my head.

"Leave this place at once, Rachel Elizabeth Dare!" It was Silena who said this once she regained her composure, standing up with her hands on the table. "You don't belong here"

She made a face at her but ignored the order. Instead, she got ready to hit me again. I braced myself for the impact when I felt that the man beside me stilled the moving hand. "You don't touch her, you get that?" he said firmly. Rachel whimpered at the tone but agreed, nodding viciously. Percy then let go and gave her one of his most terrifying glares that made me hide under the bed once.

And with that, she stalked away without another glance.

My mistake was that I touched my assaulted cheekbone. I hissed in pain, knowing perfectly well that it will bruise there real good. I won't ever recover from the shock that Rachel Dare would even think of slapping me when she knows that my friends could easily destroy that pretty face of hers. "Annabeth?" my boyfriend asked

"I'm fine" I muttered, standing up.

It was my mistake to lie since he could see straight through me. So, he brought me through the garden just to talk alone. Of course, it's emotional in my part since I had to tell him what was bothering me, other than just getting slapped on the face. He was there to support me, though, for the entire time, listening and giving me comforting smiles. I never thought I would ever be upset about something as stupid as love but it hits me so hard I couldn't stand it.

He was kissing me the moment I finished because that was the only thing he could do. He can't hurt Rachel since he's a guy and he can't really tell her to the teacher since we're not those people. But it was comforting, knowing that he was here to be with me and every single hurt I was feeling hits him ten times more. "I love you" he muttered, caressing my bruised cheek. I winced but smiled at how his warm hand could be so gentle.

"I love you, too" I answered with a smile.

Just to take my mind off that single girl, Percy's lips lingered to my cheek, kissing the bruise lightly before travelling to my neck. I moaned when he nipped lightly on my earlobe and he just smiled, pulling me close to him. "I will never let anyone hurt you." He mumbled, placing a hand on mine. "As long as we're together, I will never let anyone hurt you"

He surprised me when he pulled out a beautiful bouquet of flowers. "I know it's pretty cliché but you should understand that I mean everything that I said."

I hugged him tightly and kissed him softly. This was too much. I never deserved anything he gave me, especially the necklace that I'm wearing right now. Since the flowers were rainbow colored, from red to orange to yellow… and so on, the note said,

I will love you until the last flower dies

- Seaweed Brain

I frowned as I looked at the last flower, which was purple, and checked if everything was alright. I thought he would love me forever and this would probably die in a few weeks, even if someone takes care of it. I was pretty speechless when I realized that the living piece of nature wasn't really living. What I know about plastic is that it take incredibly long (probably even forever) for it to decompose. That was his message and I adore the sight of him just being so awkward about all of this. "You're an idiot" I didn't mean to say it like that but I think he knows what I mean.

"You know you love me" he whispered teasingly, kissing the side of my face.

"Maybe you're right" I answered after a few minutes of absolute silence. It was nice to just be with him, seeing to it that no one else was here to disturb us.

We were late for English but I was totally grateful that Mr. Blofis, our teacher, was like a father to Percy. Of course, it was mainly because he was worried that he was failing his subject but there was something deeper other than that. I was just glad that it has nothing to do his family.

"Ms. Chase, where is the essay I was asking you to write?"

Oops…