The Road We Travel
Chapter IV: Adventures of a Homebody
Living together in New Rome had brought a new series of challenges for the pair of demigods as they traversed the labyrinth of domestic life. And while they had had a full year of cohabitation with one another under the roof of Sally and Paul while completing their high school career, this was the first time they had lived together without any supervision, and neither Percy nor Annabeth could deny they were quite literally squandering the opportunity.
To begin with, all of their time was spent together. The months of Percy's abduction had left a void of fear and anxiety of being apart, afraid, despite their best efforts to overcome, that when one of them was out of sight for more than a few minutes, the gods had again swooped in to ruin their lives. Even with Hestia's protection, they could not escape that fear and so they were constantly attached at the hip.
This was not to say it was all bad. There were many residents and students even within New Rome who were enamored by the legendary heroes, and in those rare occasions when Percy or Annabeth were alone, would swoop in and strike up a conversation, attempt to flirt or flat out ask for a date that it was becoming a drain on the pair to not even want to leave the house. The propositions, when they were presented, were simply so laughable that in those rare instances when they were alone and it did happen that whichever, Percy or Annabeth, was being approached that they would laugh at the suggestion.
It wasn't done to be cruel, but it was simply that for Annabeth and Percy, they were each others end game. No one could simply measure up to their partner. With all they had been through, all that they had done together and everything they had faced and overcome to be together, it was a farce for anyone to even have the guts to approach them with romantic intent.
This did however have the adverse effect of causing them to spend less and less time in the city and more time in the small cottage they shared while waiting for their house to be built. And it also led to the second major discovery about living together. They didn't fight. They had not had a single argument or even disagreement since returning from their most recent quest. For them, it just simply wasn't worth it. Naturally, they had spent so much time arguing and bickering before dating that it was safe to assume the sort of bullheaded stubbornness that was a trademark of so much of their personalities would lead to fights and arguments while they lived together, but this was simply not the case.
Every couple had fights and disagreements, it was part of every healthy relationship, yet for the pair of young lovers, that wasn't even a consideration for them. After having survived Tartarus, there was simply nothing for them to fight about. If at any point they felt their partner grow stressed or apprehensive, they would go out of their way to accommodate them, to do what they could to stave off the stress or panic attack that might be coming. They had fallen into and made their way out of hell, changed and had become overly stressed and apprehensive about the world around, but they had made it out with the understanding that there was simply nothing more important than each other. Small and large disagreements simply did not even register to them because all they needed within this world to feel safe and secure were found in each others arms.
As cliché and cheesy as it sounded, it was the unbreakable truth. Frank and Hazel, on those rare occasions when they could get away from the responsibility of running the city, would comment often on how the pair did not even function as two people living together but more as a singular entity in two bodies. It was a weird comparison, but apt nonetheless.
Which led to the third great understanding between them, they just worked. Homework, chores, personal responsibility, they would come together collectively to finish anything that needed to be done. The best example of this activity was dinner. They would often just work as a team, preparing food in a silent companionship that just worked for the pair. And this change also extended to their personal habits. Percy, it his hyperactive way, would often leave clothes lying or other articles lying around when he had finished them, but for Annabeth, her own hyperactivity would not allow those objects to be left where they were. It would distract her too often, and thus she would move to collect and put them in their proper place. It took only a couple of times for Annabeth to clean up after Percy for him to handle the task himself. Never wanting to burden her with his own nature, he adjusted his habits to accommodate her.
The very same would happen for Annabeth as well. It was readily understandable that neither Percy nor Annabeth could sleep alone in their bed. After Tartarus they had clung to each other, and only in each others arms could they stave off the nightmares that the darkness would invite. So rather then spend hours upon hours studying and preparing for her assignments as was her nature, she would set everything aside and join Percy when he was ready to go to bed. Not that he would ever ask her to stop what she was doing and accompany him, but she was ever watchful of her fiance, and knew when he was getting tired, she would shut everything down and snuggle against him in bed, and they would share in each others warmth.
In fact, the first time Hazel had witnessed it, she was left with an envious feeling of inadequacy in regards to her relationship with Frank. She loved Frank with all her heart, she truly did, but to watch Percy and Annabeth work together was something she doubted any couple could duplicate. They didn't even need to speak to each other as they worked dutifully in their preparation of the meal or chores or any mundane task. For dinner, Annabeth would hand the salt shaker for Percy to season the chicken in the skillet without his asking. Similarly, he would pass her the paring knife for slicing the vegetables without a word between them. It was as if they were so in sync and knew each other so well that they had created a language only they could understand.
And while Hazel found this incredibly sweet, it also left her with a sense of unease she could not readily dismiss, because it was as if Annabeth and Percy had created their own little world, an isolated bubble of dependence that no was invited to enter. Certainly Percy and Annabeth were always great hosts, laughing and joking with Frank and Hazel, the only ones welcomed in their home with any regularity. However, there was a great, hidden part of their lives that existed solely for each other.
This was perhaps the biggest change Frank and Hazel had noted about Percy. He had always been so warm and open to the pair. Since arriving in New Rome all those months ago, when he had staggered across the Little Tiber carrying the goddess Juno, he had clung to the pair in a fear and apprehension bordering on panic as he stumbled through the demigod city. And yet now, he and Annabeth clung to each other so completely it was the unasked question that clung over all of their head as to whether the heroes could even function without one another, and more importantly, did they want to?
That was truly the question, and one that had caused a number of sleepless nights for the pair as they would lay in bed, sheltered in each others arms and whisper about what would become of them in a couple of years. For the immediate future, they could take the same general studies classes, spend all their time together, yet eventually they would be forced to diverge their academic pursuits as Annabeth and Percy would attend separate classes for their chosen degrees, and then beyond that, there would be their careers themselves.
And certainly there was the understanding that this was still at least two years away, they had made little progress in overcoming their trauma, plateauing in their efforts to live as full lives as they could. But all things considered, they weren't sure they wanted to if it meant being apart...and that above all else terrified them.
A/N: This is a really short one, but I love doing the deep dives into Percy and Annabeth and how they cope and function after everything they've endured. I mean how could they have not been changed after Tartarus, and the only thing that really keeps them going is each other, yet there's that underlining acceptance that that's also what's holding them back from healing, that their spending more time focusing collectively on their issues than individually and its a tough concept to traverse.
Anyway, if you feel so compelled, reviews are appreciated. Thank you.