A while ago, I came across some Percabeth studying fan art by windbyfire on Instagram and I can't explain how much I loved it. It's also the cover of this story. They have become one of my favourite PJO artists so I highly suggest checking out their stuff.

Disclaimers - I don't own the characters or the fan art this was inspired by.

Study Break:

Percy needed a quiet place to study so he isn't sure why he came to Camp of all places. His teachers said that reducing stimuli irrelevant to learning and enhance materials important for learning. Camp Half-Blood has noise everywhere - screaming, fighting, training, explosions, more screaming. At least he's been a camper long enough for those to become white noise, especially when Clarisse was threatening someone. Sometimes, it all became music to his ears.

He started in the Big House since it had Chiron's old computer that he rarely uses. Percy wasn't sure what it was about the Big House that made it hard for him to focus, which isn't saying a lot since he has ADHD, but he ended up lugging the clunky computer across Camp.

It took many extension cords creating a path across the lawn, tripping and tangling Connor Stoll in the process.

Percy wounded up in the uninhabited Hera cabin. He wasn't sure why Hera had a cabin since she didn't have any half-blood kids and why it needed electricity since nobody was living here. If he knew that, it would've saved him (and Connor Stoll) from the mess of extension cords. It was still ice-cold inside so he was glad he wore his sweater. Hela's statue was still staring at him which wasn't comforting.

Regardless, he's here now. Sitting at a shockingly clean table in Hera's cabin with Chiron's old computer and a trail of extension cords going through the space between the closed front door and the floor. His class lectures are open and he's listening to it with his online practice quizzes and some notes. How the old computer managed to multitask more than him wasn't surprising.

His teachers would be proud of him for creating an intense and studious structure similar to a self-contained classroom.

Percy's only issue was that the screen was too bright and he wasn't sure how to lower it on this old computer, if that was even an option. Trying to figure that out distracts him from the sound of his teacher explaining the readings he isn't sure he did, and he checks to see if he even opened the right notes or if the practice quiz he opened was being timed and checked if they were counted for merit.

Even in an environment that he arranged to be comfortable to study, he's a mess. Percy doesn't know what he's doing wrong. He's trying his best but nothing settles. Knowing the question is the first step to knowing the answer. Good thing life is seemingly long and school is short, although it doesn't feel like it most of the time.

He's about to call it a night and surrender to academics when he hears the door open. Percy looks and sees Annabeth walking inside, closing the door behind her. She's wearing a fresh Camp shirt and thin fleecy pyjama shorts.

"I heard Connor cussing you out so I followed the cords," Annabeth says as she heads towards him.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asks.

Annabeth doesn't say anything, not even commenting on the no boys and girl should be alone in a cabin together rule at Camp. She climbs into his lap, facing him. They share a quick kiss before she nestles into his body, taking the warmth of his dark baggy sweatshirt. She nestles her head into the crevice between his neck and shoulder, pressing soft kisses on his skin. Her arms hug him loosely as her legs lock around his waist, draping over the chair.

She fits in him like a puzzle piece. This is all the answer he needs. This is why he came to Camp to study.

Percy looks back at the open practice quiz on the computer screen, squinting and moving his head a little to see over Annabeth's curls. He pats them down, running a hand through them and taking in her scent of fresh bar soap and laundry, how she would smell before she went to bed. Her breathing is slow against his body once the small pecks stop and Percy goes through his quiz.

"I'm studying, Chase," Percy whispers, his mouth tickling her ear.

Annabeth hums a little laugh mixed with a yawn. "I know."

Now that she's here, Percy's found his rhythm. Every time she would take a breath, he'd read a question and have an answer by her exhale. Was it the right answer? Jury's still out. Without Annabeth, he almost gave up. He tried to work on autopilot but nearly set the plane down to crash-land. He knew he had to stay focused on the words that were swimming on the screen and the teacher's lecture videos that started to sound like they were talking underwater, without his presence, of course.

He and Annabeth are both tired. They've both been studying hard, him more than her since he needs the extra practice, and they barely had time for each other. This moment, in Hera's cabin of all places, is the most they've seen each other so intimately in a while.

Sparks sputter in Percy's body when he submits the quiz but he doesn't move to disrupt Annabeth's nap. Smiling brightly, Percy leans into her, tilting her cheek upwards to kiss her softly there. Annabeth makes a small pleased sound, a smile tickling her lips before she goes back to sleep.

Percy opens the next online quiz and didn't realize it had to download first. He watches the loading bar tick a few times and grows impatient. Knowing this will take a while, he kicks back his chair away from his desk, expecting it to roll back and across the cabin, but the chair wasn't on wheels and Percy kicked off too hard. As a result, the chair falls back. Percy hits the ground and Annabeth jolts awake when she flips over him and lands on her back.

Percy laughs when Annabeth curls into herself, softly cursing. She looks up and her curls fly above her head when their eyes meet and her brows furrow. When she sees that he's looking at her upside down she can't stay angry.

"Alright, I'm awake," Annabeth says as she rubs her eyes.

"My new practice quiz is downloading," Percy says, pointing to the loading screen that made no progress since he last looked.

"So you decided to try and judo-flip me?"

"That wasn't in the lesson plan."

Annabeth cocks a brow. "Oh really?" Her voice cracks as if she's trying to hold back a laugh.

Annabeth keeps her eyes on him as she makes her way over to him. Percy rolls on his back and sits up, pulling her the rest of the way till her body is against his. She's kneeling while his hands rest on her hips. Annabeth leans in closer, her lips hovering over his. Percy feels her smile form as he presses his lips against hers.

"You good with this?" Percy asks, raising his hand and holding her on the back of her neck.

Annabeth hums an agreeing sound, tugging on his sweatshirt. Percy assumes it was so he would be parallel to her but she pulls him onto her. Their kiss doesn't break as she collapses onto her back, Percy catching himself by pressing his hands on the ground beside her body so he wouldn't crush her.

"Gods, Percy," Annabeth mutters. Her tone is frustrated as she finally yanks off his sweatshirt and tosses it over her head.

A satisfied giggle escapes her lips as Percy pauses, realizing that was what she wanted to do.

"I'm taking that later," she whispers, teasing him as she gently traces the scars on his bare chest.

"Okay, Chase, okay," Percy responds as he kisses her again.

Percy leans down, pressing his body against hers and moving at a pace that matches hers. Annabeth shifts her body up a bit as Percy holds her back to press her chest against his. He slips his hand through her shirt pausing at the back of her chest when he doesn't feel anything. Percy breaks from the kiss for a second and peeks over her shoulder. Annabeth turns her head and when Percy faces her again, the pieces click and they're excited.

She isn't wearing her bra since she's already in her pyjamas. Annabeth slips out of her shirt and Percy is breathless. One of Annabeth's legs is pointing up and he holds on to it as she lies back down with a proud smile, her curls billowing around her.

"I win," Annabeth says.

"I pinned you to the ground, Chase," Percy responds.

"When will you stop calling me Chase?"

"When you become Jackson."

Annabeth doesn't break. "Intriguing."

Percy nods as he leans back in and kisses her. This time, Annabeth's arms loop under his and over his shoulder, pulsating against him. Their past kisses were always soft, not as intense as this one. Now, they're urgent and frantic yet he was still so gentle it made his chest ache for her. Annabeth's soft lips brush against his own, whisper against his cheeks and jawline - playful, teasing, wishful.

"Annabeth…" Percy groans. He changes positions so she's between his legs, hips aligned.

They could cope. They've adapted and evolved with each quest and danger that came their way. They could shift their minds so they didn't focus on the bad stuff. But it could be his ADHD or something that ignites a deep and desperate sense of loss he gets every time a kiss stops or he lets go of her. She'll still be right there but the fact that he's still holding her makes not feeling her cause a gnawing at the bottom of his throat. Every time.

Annabeth arches up, a soft cry on her lips as Percy pulls back from her. She's watching in slow motion, trying to will himself not to do something that would make her leave. If she left, he would feel a bit of himself pull away like it's attached. He needed her to pull him back to the shore of humanity, the living, the mortal world. He needed her to focus on everything.

The spot where his Achilles heel was pulses like a heartbeat wanting to break free and Annabeth instinctively puts her hand there, rubbing slow circles with her palm, matching the rhythm of their moving bodies.

Percy and Annabeth break apart when they hear a beeping from the computer. They turn and see that Percy's quiz finished downloading. Percy shrugs, turning around to face Annabeth again and finish off but she was already standing and putting on his sweatshirt.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Back to my cabin," Annabeth responds.

Percy grins temptingly at her, tugging on the hem of his sweatshirt on her to get her back down. "Don't make it seem like this study break was a mistake."

"A mistake you seemed to enjoy," Annabeth leans down to give him a quick kiss, "and it better be the only mistake you're making."

"Alright, Wise Girl."

Before she steps outside, she looks at Hera's statue and lifts her shirt to flash her. Percy bursts into laughter as Annabeth lowers her shirt with a grin and a casual oops shrug. She doesn't care that Hera's statue was staring daggers at her with dead eyes.

"Another mistake you seemed to enjoy," Annabeth states.

I might've published this while on a study break but mine didn't happen like that.

Thank you to everyone who read this story. Please let me know what you thought in the reviews. If you have a story idea that you want me to write or a story that you want me to beta, don't be afraid to ask.

~ MysteryGal5