Leaving camp had never been so easy. Usually it was a depressing thing; like saying goodbye to a best friend that you knew you wouldn't see for a long time. But now as I sprinted after Annabeth down the mortal side of Half-Blood Hill, leaving was as easy as breathing. Maybe it's because I was finally bringing the most important part of it with me. And as an added bonus, she was my girlfriend now too.

After the past year of fear, loss, and exhaustion, I was praying to every god I knew (which was quite a few) for a quiet school year with no nasty surprises. I wasn't too hopeful, but a demigod can dream.

Annabeth smacked the side of the van which would be carrying us to the mortal world and said with a smirk

"I won". A rebuttal involving the word cheating started to form in my head, but her smile caused it to melt as quickly as it had come.

"No surprise", I'm sure I had a stupid grin on my face. But looking at her, I didn't much mind . We slid into the van, and were on our way.

Half an hour later, I stood at the front door of my apartment. Annabeth was beside me, our hands intertwined. I think she was just as excited to see my mom as I was. I knocked with the the little rhythm that let my mom know it was me before she even opened the door. The door swung open to reveal Sally Jackson-Blowfis, whose eyes lit up with relief when she saw my face. It hadn't been that long since I'd seen her (for once), but I knew she couldn't help but worry. She gave Annabeth a smile too, then let her eyes wander down to our clasped hands. She raised an eyebrow and grinned

"About time". Both of our cheeks went red. She laughed as we walked into the apartment, both still shaking off the embarrassment. Neither of us were quite used to the whole dating thing. My mother seemed to be eating it up though.

"So when did it happen? How'd it happen? Should I be expecting any little grand babies anytime soon?", She said with a mischievous grin. After a few seconds of shocked stammering from both Annabeth and myself, my mom burst into a fit of laughter which left my cheeks even more flushed than they were before.

"I'm only teasing. For both of your sakes, you'd better hope not", she said. "But seriously", she continued, "give me the details!". And so, we explained how it all went down on my birthday. The lumpy blue cupcake, the first kiss, our unexpected swim, etc. Annabeth did most of the talking, which was normal. What wasn't normal however, were the smiles on everyone's faces as she did. Normally when recalling a story to my mom, I'm looking for any details I can leave out to try and save her as much worry and heartbreak as possible. But now the story was one that would leave her happier than she was before. That was a welcome change.

My mom had a warm look in her eyes as we finished our story.

"I'm so happy for you two. You both deserve to be happy more than anyone else I know", she said. I knew that later I would have to endure all the "I told you so's" she had in her, but for now it was good. She stood up from her kitchen chair and said

"Well, I told Paul I would bring him lunch from that little Mediterranean place on 82nd. If someone would have IM'd me and told me he was coming home, I would have told him to fend for himself. I'll be back in an hour or so. Percy, be good." She gave me her classic mom look, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door. Annabeth and I exchanged a look.

"I think your mom is a little too enthusiastic about us dating", she said.

"Tell me about it", I moaned, flopping down on the couch face first.

"Oh, don't be dramatic", she said. I could hear the grin in her voice. "She's just excited that her little kelp head has his first girlfriend. That's a big deal to a mom". It was quiet for a moment. She tugged at my hair until I turned my head to look up at her.

"Can I see your room?", She asked.

"Haven't you already seen it? You know, when you were stalking me?", I feigned animosity. She rolled her eyes.

"That was three years ago seaweed brain, get over it".

"Whatever you say, creeper", I chided as I got up from the couch and headed towards my bedroom. I could feel Annabeth rolling her eyes yet again.

I opened my bedroom door to find the small room exactly as I had left it. The twin bed was pushed into the back left corner of the room, the blue and grey blankets still a mess from the last time I had slept under them. Band posters hung from the walls, and my skateboard was leaning up against my desk. I was never really sure why I had a desk; I didn't do much studying. I guess my mom had gotten it in hopes that it would encourage me to be more scholarly. It didn't.

I turned to Annabeth, and found her taking in my habitat with a curious expression.

"It's cleaner than I would have thought". Now that I thought about it, it did seem like my mom had cleared away the dirty clothes that had been strewn about and straightened up my things a bit. I made a mental note to thank her for that later.

"You really should expect more from me, wise girl", I sighed. She gave me a small smile.

"I guess so". We stood in silence for a moment. It was comfortable silence, though. Annabeth reached out and grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug. I was tall enough now that her head fit nicely into the crook of my neck. I sighed into her lemon scented hair. I could have lived forever in that moment. I was finally home. No monsters, no prophecy, no gods. Just Annabeth and I, content to be in each other's arms.