Disclaimer- Me no own PJO, or grammar apparently.

Chapter 7

Annabeth POV

I dragged Percy to my room, his weight seemingly growing every step. Gotta lay off the sweets Seaweed Brain. I muse to myself. Either that or I'm not as strong as I think I am. All the while, my delirious boyfriend kept mumbling and trying to stand up by himself, effectively slowing me down. Nurses stepped forward to help me, but I waved them off. At first I felt kinda possessive, but then I justified myself with the thought of who cares? I was definitely past the stage of caring how others thought of me by now.

Anyway, once we reached my room, we both collapsed on the bed. Percy groaned and rolled on his back, while I caught my breath.

"Perce. You ok now?" I ask, wheezing. "C'mon Percy talk to me."

"Did I…" He gasped hoarsely, "Did I faint… gracefully?"

I chuckle, partly in relief. "Of course not you big oaf. Face-planting does not count as 'graceful'. Personally, I'd say you looked like… a hippo?" I grin slyly.

He moans and rolls over. "You wound me." His muffled voice mumbles.

"Seriously Perce… are you okay? They… they usually aren't that bad." Occasionally he has these flashbacks, but he can snap out of them pretty fast. He's never actually blacked out before.

He sits up. "I'm fine. Just a bit more vivid that's all. Don't worry about it." He looks out the window at this kid flying a kite. The kid is running around, then trips on a rock and falls on his face. I wonder if his kite got away? I shake my head. Doesn't matter Annabeth. Percy matters right now.

"Percy. You are not fine. Stop being a hero. It's okay to show weakness around me remember? I won't judge. Much." I punch his arm lightly.

He looks back at me. "I know Wise Girl…" He takes a deep breath. "It's just… I guess thinking about it so much, purposefully remembering details… I can't get it out of my head. The memories take over and I can't escape them. Feeling so helpless, you almost falling off that cliff, the Arai, Nyx, Alkyls… Bob and Damasen… I-I can't stop thinking about it and feeling those emotions all over again. It's overwhelming." A tear drips down his face and he takes deep breaths, almost hyperventilating.

I reach out and wrap him in a hug. "I know… and I don't know what to do about it. It's a great weight to bear. I'd almost want to carry the sky again instead. At least it's physical, not emotional. Stupid gods. It's all their fault for sending us. All their fault for fooling around with mortals. And it's all m-my fault for taunting Arachne and pulling you into Tar-that place. If only I fought my pride and just got out of there… then none of this would be happening." I brushed the hair out of my eyes and found they were wet. I realized all this was my fault. I made Percy suffer. I killed Bob and Damasen. All my doing.

"Annabeth. Listen to me." Percy's strong, calm voice whispered in my ear. "It is not your fault. You did not drag me with you. I jumped in to be with you. Someone had to open the Doors from that side. If you didn't go in there, the quest would have failed. You saved the world Annabeth. You don't owe anyone anything. Especially not me." He rubbed my back, and I calmed down.

"How am I supposed to comfort you if you always end up comforting me Seaweed Brain?" We separated and sat up.

"It's what I do." He grinned sadly.

"Ugh. I feel like we are wasting our time here." I rubbed the palm of my hand, a habit I found myself doing when I feel frustrated. "This Dr. Wright guy can't help us if he doesn't know anything. Gods why did they send us here?"

"I have no idea. I really don't want to tell him though… yet. I don't want to involve another mortal. Honestly though, right now I just want to go to sleep. My body aches."

I smile, "Yeah it should, you were shaking like Apollo's singing voice back there. I literally had to dump water in your mouth to wake you up."

"Oh yeah? How'd that go?"

"The doctor tried to stop me, saying you might drown or something. I told him to back off."

"Really? Miss-polite-and-decent told him to 'back off and let my drown my boyfriend'? That must have been fun."

"Yeah, his face was kind of amusing when it worked."

"Too bad I missed it." He pouted, "Well, I'm going to take a nap. Care to join me?"

"You bet I-"

I was rudely interrupted by a loud knocking on the door.

"If that's another nurse I'm gonna…" I grumbled, leaving my threat unvoiced. I crawled out of bed and shuffled to the door. I opened it, and stood dumbfounded as I saw who stood there.

"Nico?"

Author's Note

Ugh, sorry it's so short again. I try to find time to write, so I write bits and pieces, and send them out as soon as I can.

But Hey! Nico's here!

Song of the Chapter

This time the song is "Something Better" By Audien Ft. Lady Antebellum

It's another percabeth song, and very Son of Neptuneish So check it out!

Until next time!

~Ellie