"What do you mean you jumped?"
The only people who don't know about the incident with the tree were Violet, Hannah, and Bridget. They were all friends of mine and Percy's former girlfriends. But, as I mentioned before, they were actually really happy that we finally found each other and that they were planning to keep us that way. "You didn't see?" I asked in disbelief, sitting up straight.
"No" they all said simultaneously. "Was there anything to see?" Hannah added with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought I just said that we jumped to the ground from the highest branch." She wasn't the brightest among them but she sure as hell was beautiful.
So, just for them to stop asking, I told them how we ended up getting in trouble, from the moment Percy jumped from the terrace to when we both leaped gracefully to the ground without getting injuries. It was actually really fun, when you look at it. It made you feel like you can do everything and no one is stopping you from doing it. The wind in your face and how you can completely defy science.
There was nothing much to do but I couldn't find the strength to leave this place. As I watched the waves roll smoothly against the shore, I noticed that this was the only place where I could hear myself think without anyone distracting me. Well, other than my boyfriend but he always does that to me so it wasn't much of a big deal. "You know, I miss it when we four hang out." Bridget sighed in contentment.
I nodded, agreeing. I've been with Percy every second of the day and since he's busy talking to Nico and Jason about something he doesn't want to tell me about, I went and knocked on Vi's door. The next thing I know, I was sitting on the beach, talking about how I practically got away with jumping off a tree because of him.
"Hey guys!" It was Michael and Violet blushed when she saw him. "Look, can I talk to Vi for a while?"
"Talk to her about?" Hannah smiled and nudged the girl beside her.
Somehow, I found this funny. "Yeah, sure. I'm going to see what Seaweed Brain's up to anyways." I stood and brushed myself off. "Bye!"
They all replied and I sprinted to the house, where many people were gathering for a reason unknown to me. But as I came closer, I realized that it was one of the Stoll's tricks to get money. "What are you doing?"
"We, dear Annabeth, are going to pay back that boyfriend of yours." Connor made a face and I laughed.
"Where is he?"
Travis pointed to the garden at the back and I assumed that he might be practicing. They do have a competition when Percy comes back and it would be rather uncooperative and insensitive for me to force him to stop his passion. Plus, he will find time for me because we both know that we'd start worrying if we don't see each other in three hours.
True enough, Percy was doing laps while his cousin was watching him, writing something on a notepad in scribbles that only Piper can understand. "Hey Jase," I greeted with a smile, sitting beside him.
"Oh, hi Annabeth." he placed the notepad down on the floor and I realized that he wasn't what I thought he was doing but doodling things I could barely understand. But I disregarded it as unimportant.
"What's he doing now?" I asked, leaning on my arms and letting the sun bathe me with its warmth.
"Oh you know Percy" Jason mused slightly, chuckling from the look on my face. "Don't worry about it, Annie. It's his twentieth lap so he's bound to get tired soon."
Twentieth. That's not even close to his record. He gets tired at the fortieth and even at that he still has the energy to run around the entire vicinity without breaking a sweat. But I didn't say anything, staring at the blur in the water that was my boyfriend. "How long?"
"Ten minutes." He sighed, "I'm only here coz Piper's busy with my sister and Silena. I'm actually really afraid for her."
I laughed at this, crossing my legs. "If he's going to keep up the entire perfect façade," he started, grabbing the can from beside him and taking a swig. "More and more of his fan girls would go crazy. No offence."
"None taken."
There was silence and I enjoyed it. I've never had any time alone with Jason in such a long time and he was a really good listener and a really fun person to talk to. I mean yeah, he was pretty good looking but I never had any interest on him. He was like a brother to me and I'm planning to keep it that way. Plus, he and Piper are perfect together, the second Percabeth, as Silena calls it. "I wish we could just stay here for the rest of our lives." I smiled at the idea.
"And then we can have school near the beach and every night, we would go out and watch the stars until we fall asleep."
"That's a nice idea." He commented, looking at me. "Too good to be true, though."
I stood, "You don't know that." It was the last thing I told him before heading to the side of the pool.
Percy noticed me coming and stopped mid stroke right in front of me. He was actually panting now and I knew that it was only a matter of time for him to get out of that pool. "Hey, Seaweed Brain" I mumbled in between the kisses he gave me, soft and sweet and passionate.
Even through my tight grip on the bars that were holding me firmly on my feet, he managed to pull me to the water. I would have killed him for this if I wasn't too happy but I technically was so I let him go for once, pressing my lips to his again.
"What do you think will happen this summer, if we stay here?"
He gently caressed my back, his nose nuzzling the skin just below my ear. "Well, I like the idea of you and I staying in our room and we can do whatever we want without worrying about school and everything." And he pulled back, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. "As long as I'm with you, whatever plan for this summer will be perfect."
I placed my head on his muscled chest and his arms made their way around my waist, his mouth trailing kisses on my neck. When I glanced at the spot I was once sitting at, I noticed that Jason was gone, probably left when he realized that we needed some time alone. I actually thanked him mentally for the privacy that he has given us because he knew that I will do the same for him.
He didn't continue with the other twenty laps. Instead, we just floated on the water, holding hands so we wouldn't be separated. Sometimes, I would splash water at him, for fun, and he would glare at me and do the same thing. And we made out until we couldn't breathe anymore, but that still didn't stop us from devouring each other with kisses. "Don't tell me that you need me again." I whispered seductively to his ear and he chuckled.
"Why? Do you want me to need you?"
"Not now, I still can't feel my legs after the last time."
Percy placed a hand on the curve of my hip, the other lingering on my face. His thumb gently moved over my bruised lips, moving to my cheekbone, until he ran it through my wet hair. I made the mistake looking in his eyes, realizing that I was lost in them again, showing so many intense emotions and the absolute idea made my heart swell. Everything just was so perfect when I'm with him, and every single moment of my life is willing to spend its time with him. "I want to show you something"
"What?" I asked
I didn't realize that we were already running towards the house, dripping with water and I was afraid that one of us would slip and fall. Thankfully, nothing like that happened and Percy was already pulling me to a room at the end of the hall. Halfway there, he told me that I should close my eyes because he wanted it to be a surprise. I heard him open the door and my curiosity was threatening to overwhelm me. I could barely control my body and he seemed to understand because he told me to open them.
And what I saw made my knees week.
They were paintings of me and I looked at him, tears willing to escape as I hugged him tightly. "When did you have time to do all this?"
"I guess when you leave for the day or when you're not there." He answered, wrapping a strong arm around my shoulders. "That one," he pointed to a painting near the window, "That's the first I have ever made, when we first met. And this," he took one from the nearest table, "Is my favorite."
I could tell why it was. It showed me and him on the beach, watching the sunset painted with beautiful oranges and pinks and yellow and reds. If you look closer, you could see that we were holding hands as we walked, our bare feet on the cool sand. It was clear that we were laughing, talking, telling stories like we always do and I enjoyed every single waking moment of it. And the waves would lap at our feet as if it were real. I could almost imagine the moment, so perfect that it was picturesque to the mind. "It's beautiful." I said sincerely, my fingers trailing lightly on the acrylic paint that he used. "You should hang one in our bedroom." It was an innocent suggestion but I think he found it rather amusing.
"Do you want me to?"
"I was the one who asked." He laughed and nodded, placing it back down on its stand.
The rest were of the many times we had together: a portrait of his family and me during Christmas Eve, me caught in mid-laugh with my eyes shining brightly as the right light hit them, all fifteen of us spending the holidays together, and my favorite, Percy and me kissing all the pain away. There were many other more, hundreds of portraits with me highlighted as the star. "How did it get here?"
"I find my time to bring my things here. I thought it would be my second home and I wanted it to be yours too. And I sorta got carried away and brought most of the paintings here."
"Wait, most?" I asked in disbelief, looking at him. "You mean there are others?"
"Not technically." Percy replied, sitting down on a chair with me on his lap. "The others were more of sketches that I did when I was bored."
"I knew you were good but I didn't think you were this good." He chuckled and placed his head on my shoulder, his fingers running up and down my arms in the most comforting way.
No one spoke for a good three minutes. The silence was nice as he watched me admire the pieces of art in front of me. Maybe this was how it was meant to be: graduate college, get married to Percy, have kids who were just as perfect as him, grow old, and die with a smile on our faces. I found the idea strangely satisfying, living every single waking moment with the man I love and showing him how much I love him.
Dinner was the same as it was yesterday but instead of eating with the Jacksons, I was with our friends. It was rather nice to have them by your side no matter what happened and I know I would stay loyal to them just as they were to me. "Hey, Piper?" I called to the other end of the table, where she was talking to Jason about something I don't really understand.
"Yeah?" she looked up with a smile.
"Can you do something for me?"
She raised an eyebrow but nodded, seeing that it would have been the best choice for her. She does know that I always get what I want and she doesn't want to make it harder for herself. "I need you to give this to Lacy. It's really important that she gets it."
"What is it?" Percy asked suspiciously.
"I'll tell you later"
She pocketed the letter that I passed to her and I made sure that she will not open it under any circumstances. It may not look like much but it contains very vital information that only Silena knows. It is related mostly to Piper's birthday party that we're planning and it might be a little exaggerating when I said that we are going to give her a party of a lifetime. But I will make sure that she will have what she is promised. I'm actually planning to tell Jason but it might be better if he finds out when we're already doing the party because we don't want him to slip up in the conversation and tell his girlfriend all about it.
"Look, it's getting late." I told them after we watched TV for two consecutive hours. "Piper, remember what I told you. Don't. Open. The. Letter." She rolled her eyes and shook her head
"Don't worry about it, Annabeth. I won't."
"Jason, make sure she doesn't open the letter." This was Percy who said that and the guy smirked, waving it off but agreeing all the same.
When we were safely out of earshot, I told him about our plan. On the day of her birthday, we would make sure that everyone will be there for her and they would act like there was nothing going on. Meanwhile, the rest of us were going to her house and fix up everything she likes doing. We're not going to make it like those in the movies where the friends would ignore the celebrant and then, by the end of the day when she was completely disappointed, they would surprise her with a party that wasn't even nice.
No, that wasn't our plan. We were giving her all the attention so that she won't be suspicious and then act like it was any other birthday. Percy and I would make an excuse as to why we couldn't be there for her and they would keep her in the mall until everything was ready. Probably, at the process, Silena would get carried away and buy her all the clothes that she thinks look good on her. "And we'll just bring her to the party and make sure it all goes according to plan." I concluded, taking a deep breath.
"Wow, you made it much more complicated than it should be."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Percy laughed and kissed the side of my face, "Not really."
For the rest of the night, we just talked. Maybe every once in a while, when he would get the chance, he would place soft kisses on my face. We mentioned some things that happened today that we did separately, like his conversation with Nico and Jason and my conversation with the girls. And we would laugh at how Mr. Brant looked like when we jumped. His eyes were so happy whenever they looked at me, filled with love.
We lost track of time. The next thing I knew, it was already midnight and I was emotionally and physically exhausted. He looked like he felt the same so he understood it when I settled myself on his chest, smiling as his warmth spread to me. "Good night." I told him, kissing his throat once.
"G'night" he replied, his lips on my hair. "I love you," Percy adds quickly.
"Love you, too." I sighed in happiness as the sea scent overwhelmed me. It helped me sleep, helped me relax and after what happened today, it was the only thing I needed.