Homecoming

Chapter XII: A Touch of Family

Annabeth had been staring at the open dresser drawer for the past several minutes, her eyes gazing unfocused upon the final tee-shirt waiting to be packed. She wasn't sure why she had not just grabbed the garment and shoved it in her travel bag, except for the simple answer that she was stalling. Completing the task would mean she was ever closer to leaving the comforts of the Jackson-Blofis home and traveling with Percy to visit her family in San Francisco. In truth, she wasn't sure if she was prepared for that.

Her contemplative thoughts were halted however as Percy's arms wound themselves around her waist, his head resting on her shoulder as his eyes followed hers to the lone article of clothing that had been left abandoned. "I always liked that shirt," he said simply, his words tickling the nape of her neck were soon followed by the gentle kiss he placed just below her ear, at that point where her jawline and neck touched. It was a spot upon her body that never failed to elicit a reaction from the beautiful blonde, and this time was no different.

A sound, somewhere between a sigh and a moan slipped from her lips as she leaned back into his embrace. Her hands instinctively covered his as she turned her head, exposing the slender column of her throat and allowing her fiance to trail burning kisses down her neck. "Percy," she managed to moan as his arms tightened in response to her shaky voice. "Your parents are in the other room."

A growl rumbled within his chest as he continued to trail kisses along the muscles of her neck and down her shoulder, as she turned her face to gaze at him through partially closed lids that burned with a barely contained hunger. He responded in kind, his lips moving to hers as their tentative kiss grew more passionate. She spun in his arms to fully face him, her fingers threading through his hair and pulling his face closer to hers as the pair deepened the kiss with a desire that had begun to grow ever more ravenous in the last few weeks.

After several minutes of passion, at the point they knew if they had not stopped there would be no turning back for them, they reluctantly pulled away, both breathless and haunted by promises they could not yet fulfill. It was not a lack of need or desire that prevented them from consummating their relationship, quite the opposite. They had both agreed that they wanted their first time to be free of all the pain and horrors of their past, to devote themselves fully; body, mind and soul in an act that would be the culmination of their love for each other. When Annabeth and Percy would finally give themselves completely to one another, there would be no baggage or hang-ups lingering from PTSD or a need to bury the pain with pleasure. They wanted, needed, their first time to be free of everything but the one they would fully give themselves to. That was why knew their limits and knew where the point of no return would take them. No matter how much they wanted or needed it, they simply were not ready.

That of course did not prevent it from being painfully agonizing to retrain themselves, but they both knew, if there first time would be the most special moment in their relationship, then they were going to make sure it was the right time for them.

As they stood in the center of the room, Annabeth lay her head against Percy's chest and held him in her arms, taking pleasure in the warmth and comfort he never failed to offer just by being there. "I don't know how you always know how to make everything better Percy, but please don't ever stop."

"Never," he whispered into her hair as he held her closer to him. For several minutes they simply stood together, holding each other in comfort before Percy spoke again, "Do you want to me what's wrong?"

She knew it was pointless to pretend she was not nervous, he knew her too well to believe it. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and just relaxed into his arms. "I haven't been in the same room with my dad for over a year, what if...what if he sees me and doesn't recognize me? What if he does recognize me and doesn't like what I've become?"

"Annabeth, that's..."

"Face it Percy, Tartarus changed us. We're not the same people we were before we went in. There's a darker edge to us both, and...I-I never told my dad about falling into that hell. I'm not even sure if he'd understand what it all means, but, my father's very smart. He may not be the most observant person in the world, but he'll see this change in me, and...I just don't want him to reject me again..."

"Hey," Percy interrupted his beloved fiance, his hands cradling her face as he gently turned her attention to him. "That's not going to happen."

"You don't know that," she countered, pulling away from his fingers and once more resting her head against his chest.

"You're right, I don't," he relented, his head resting on top of hers as he took his time to just hold her. "But whatever happens, we're in this together, okay? No matter what, I am going to be right there with you, because I will always have your back."

Eyes softening as she moved to stare into the determined irises of her treasured lover, she nodded her head and offered a slight smile. "I know you are Percy, and thank you. I guess I just needed to hear that."

"No worries," he offered with a smile of his own, soft and delicate in his own way before he reached down to grip her hand and offer a slight squeeze in support. "I'm going to go tell mom, Paul and Estelle goodbye, then make sure Mrs. O' Leary is ready. But there's no rush, when you're ready to go, we can leave." He said, kissing her again before stepping away, his fingers holding her hand for a lingering moment before turning and leaving their room.

The familiar ache his absence caused instantly settled itself within her center the moment he departed their bedroom, leaving Annabeth to tighten her jaw against the feeling of powerless dependence for the black-haired demigod. This had always happened, at least to some measure since they had begun dating, and more so after Percy's abduction. But as of late, the need to feel one another close at hand had begun to build to a painful degree.

Swallowing down the anxiety that she felt rising within her, Annabeth grabbed her tee-shirt and shoved it into her travel bag while doing a quick inventory of her contents. She had packed the thumb drive that had hers and Percy's completed assignments until the end of the year so that they could email their teachers on the due dates of each scheduled task. She had her itinerary, toiletries, week's worth of clothing, I-Pod, three books she would read for leisure, and the cardboard tube that held the blueprints she would deliver to Frank and Hazel for the design of the house to be built for her and Percy. Finally, she made sure her knife and bronze bracer were both secured before zipping the bag closed.

With her eyes performing a final sweep of the room, she nodded with a satisfied glimmer before following Percy into the living room. The moment she entered the room, the tension within Percy seemed to melt from his posture, and he became more relaxed at just having Annabeth by his side, a reaction that did not pass unnoticed from Sally, though she chose to remain silent on this matter.

As the blonde demigod reached his side, she laced her fingers with his, a comforted smile parting her lips as she playfully nudged her shoulder against his.

"Well, we should be heading out now," he said at last, taking a moment for his mother to step forward and embrace him tightly, kissing him on the cheek before doing the same to Annabeth.

"You two call when you get settled, and let me know if you need anything, and Annabeth, tell Frederick I said hello and...well...I'm just stalling now, so I should let you go."

"Mom, you'll see us in a couple weeks."

"I know sweetheart," Sally answered, smiling to her son as she stepped back, "Just...just preparing myself for when you finally move...oh I shouldn't say that. Just have a good time you two."

The atmosphere had turned awkward as Percy shuffled his feet while staring at the ground as Annabeth turned her attention to her fiance and squeezed his hand in support. "We should, you know, probably be heading out," he said at last, offering one final smile to his family.

"Yeah," Annabeth replied, offering another hug to Sally before moving to tickle Estelle's belly and kiss her on the cheek. "They'll probably be expecting us in a few minutes." As it was going on 11 o' clock, it would be approaching eight in San Francisco as the pair offered a final goodbye and stepped from the home. They made their way towards the place Mrs O' Leary who had been waiting for them, her tail wagging when she had spotted the pair and offered both a sloppy kiss.

"Ugh," I already took a shower girl, I didn't need a slobber bath," Percy grimaced as he pet his dog's head affectionately. Jumping onto the hellhound's back, he waited for Annabeth to join him. "Have you ever shadow traveled before?"

Considering the question, she shook her head. "Never had the pleasure."

Offering a slight laugh, Percy shook his head before continuing, "Pleasure isn't quite the word for it. It's a bit rough, especially for your first time. Exhale all the air from your lungs, that'll help."

"Great to know," the blonde hero remarked as she repositioned the strap of her bag over her shoulder and followed Percy's guidance. "Ready," she said breathlessly as Percy loudly exhaled as well. With a final wave to their family, Percy tapped Mrs. O' Leary who leapt forward into the shadow of the house and vanished.

Instantly, the pair arrived at a park, disoriented and shaken so badly that Annabeth had fallen sideways off of the side of Mrs. O' Leary's broad back and fell to the ground. Percy leapt from his dog's back and crouched over his fiance to check if she were okay. "Oh, gods, Annabeth, are you alright?"

"Yeah," she remarked, shaking her head to clear the image of the world spinning too fast for her to focus. "Not going to lie, that's not my favorite."

"I know, kind of sucks, but it does get easier the more you do it," he said, waiting until her vision could center on him and she could get her feet under her before he helped her up.

"Does it really?" she asked, her legs shaking as she again shook her head.

"No, no it doesn't," he replied, his words winning themselves a laugh from his beautiful fiance. "Anyway, Mrs O' Leary, go ahead and rest up, we won't be needing to head back for a couple weeks, so have fun, but don't eat any mortals, and we'll call you if we need you, okay girl?" Percy offered, scratching the giant mastiff behind her right ear.

With a final sloppy kiss, the great beast bound off further into the park, leaving the two to stare at the collection of houses on the road opposite their current position. "So, which house is it, I've only been there once."

Staring at the row of homes before them, Annabeth chewed her lip a moment before finally turning to the corner street sign and squinted her eyes as she attempted to read the street name. Dyslexia was a burden for all demigods, yet her mind generally allowed her to decode words in a sentence based on context. Words standing alone, such as posted on a street sign was not so easily deciphered. "We came out facing the wrong street," she said simply, turning completely around to face the opposite direction and pointed to the line of houses visible through the clearing on the other side of the park. "That's the right street over there."

"Oh, um..." Percy had paused, not sure how to proceed as he scratched the back of his head, uncertain what to say about what he determined was a clear screw-up on his part.

"Come on," Annabeth saved him any awkwardness as she took his hand and began walking towards the sidewalk that encircled the park. "It's only a few blocks long, we can have a nice little walk while we make our way around the park to my dad's house."

"Sounds nice," Percy said, readjusting his bag as he reached out his hand for Annabeth to take. Fingers twined, the pair began making their way along the sidewalk in comfortable silence before Annabeth nudged his shoulder with her own.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked cautiously at the apparent silence and the young man's pensive expression.

Furrowing his brow, he nodded as he offered a reassuring smile. "Yeah, just, digesting I guess. I mean, I am meeting the father of my amazing fiance."

"You've met him before Percy," she said, incredulous at his words and the idea that he could face down gods, titans, giants and primordial beings, but her mortal father made him nervous. It was such a 'normal' reaction that she could not help but smile at the thought.

"Sure I've met him, when I was just Percy 'the friend'. I've never met him when we were dating, never had the chance actually because...you know, Hera..." he said, allowing his words to taper off before Annabeth squeezed his hand again.

"Hey, not your fault."

"I know, it's just...anyway," he said, shaking the bitterness of too often being a tool of the gods from his mind as he refocused all of his attention on the blonde haired hero at his side. "now we're engaged. Seems a lot to throw at your dad all at once."

"Well, for what its worth, he already knows."

"He does?" he asked, as the pair continued their journey along the outside of the park.

"Of course, did you think I could keep something like this a secret?" she asked, a playful glint in her eyes as she nudged her shoulder against his. "Did you think I'd want to?"

"No, its just, uh...well, what, uh...what did he say?"

"He was surprised to say the least, but I explained it to him. All the horrible things we've been through in our lives, we needed something truly special, something that would be our hope to hold onto; to know that there was actually a future waiting for us that would drown out the dark. Besides, being engaged doesn't mean we're married, it just means that the rest of the world knows we belong to each other.

"I think he understood, or tried to. No matter how hard he tries to understand, the concept of demigods still puzzle him. He knows our lives are, as a general rule, tragically short. But he's naive to the idea that short lives means we have to cram in as much life as we can in the time we're given."

"Hey," Percy paused in their journey as he pulled Annabeth into his arms and held her against him. "I don't want to hear any talk about short lives okay? We're going to be living in New Rome and we're going to have a life together Annabeth Chase, with children and grandchildren and great grand-kids, and the whole shebang."

"You've really planned this out, haven't you," she smiled lovingly at him, her lips finding his quickly in a soft kiss. "But, that sounds like a future I look forward to sharing."

"I'm glad, because I'm not going to share it with anyone but you," he remarked as the pair continued their walk along the edges of the park. Their journey was halted again however as Percy, spotting a playground, led his fiance to the vacant swing set.

It had become a running theme with them that, after confessing that she had never had the luxury of a simple childhood, having never enjoyed such often overlooked pleasures as swinging on a set of swings, Percy made it his mission that they would play on the swingset together as a way to make up for lost childhood joys. It was simple and silly, and completely cheesy, but it made Annabeth laugh, and above all, made her love him so much more than she ever knew possible.

As a daughter of Athena, she was trained to never be surprised, and yet Percy was every bit the exception to that rule. And she loved him so much for that. She adored him for his devotion and need to make everything within their lives so magical and heartfelt. It had staggered her more times that she could count that, just when she felt she could love him as much as humanly possible, he would say something or do something that made her love him even more. It was terrifying as much as it was beautiful, and there was no one she would rather take this journey with than Percy.

When she had determined she had spent enough time on the swings, she slid her feet against the ground, halting her momentum and rose from her perch. As Percy moved to join her, she smiled and threw her arms about his neck, hugging him in gratitude for how much he tried to make everything for her so much better. When she had pulled away, Percy had gathered both of their travel bags in his left hand while holding out his right for Annabeth to take.

"I can carry my own bag Seaweed Brain," she teased, accepting his offered hand and twining her fingers with his.

"I know," he stated simply as he smiled to his lovely fiance, "but my mom would never forgive me if I didn't try to be a gentleman, you know?"

Laughing at his reply, she relinquished her need of independence for the moment to allow him to take care of her. After all, they would have an entire lifetime to take turns pampering each other.

For the next several minutes, they walked in a comfortable silence, sharing the peace they seemed to be granted in their often tenuous lives until they had at last reached the front door of Annabeth's mortal family. Through the grip on his hand, the young man could feel her trembling, his focus turning to the stony expression she wore as a look a concern dawned upon his face.

He offered her hand a supportive squeeze, reminding her he was with her, as she returned a grateful smile, took a deep, calming breath, raised her free hand and knocked on the door. It was less than a minute before door was opened, Dr. Frederic Chase standing on the other side. A slow smile parted his features as his eyes fell upon his daughter.

"I was beginning to worry, you were nearly an hour late from when you said you'd arrive," he said, pulling his daughter into a warm, albeit awkward hug and marshaling her inside with Percy following closely behind. "Helen, they're here," he called over his shoulder as his wife entered the room, drying her hands on a dish towel.

Moving to hold his daughter at arms length, his eyes surveyed her, settling periodically on a new scar or blemish that was not present the last time she visited. Despite his joyful continence, a hesitation seemed to settle within him, most noticeably when he had locked eyes with this daughter, his attention fully comprehending the distant stare present in his daughter. However, he released her smiling happily as his wife arrived to embrace the blonde demigod. If Frederic's greeting had been awkward, the hug Annabeth received from her step-mother was extremely uncomfortable.

Both women held each other in a stiff posture, uncertain how far their relationship allowed them to display any measure of affection. Likewise, Frederic was not quite certain how to greet Percy, whether to offer a hug or a pat on the shoulder, until they finally settled on a handshake. The entire exchange was as though acquaintances were reconnecting after years of separation, and not sure where the line of propriety had been marked.

"It's a shame, the twins just headed off for school," Helen smiled as she stepped away from Annabeth. "They were hoping to use you as an excuse to stay home today."

"I bet," Annabeth laughed as she stood for a moment, the sense of awkward uncertainty permeating through the home. "So uh...guess we should probably unpack first and then talk about plans for the next two weeks?"

"Of course," Frederic replied, his mustache shifting with his smile as he turned his eyes towards the stairway leading to the upper floor. "I know you said Annabeth that, uh, you and Percy have been sharing a bed but...you know, we do have the guest room prepared..."

"Dad," Annabeth interrupted, her eyes steely as she fixed her father with a grim expression that this topic was not open for debate. "I told you, we can't sleep apart from each other, unless you want us to wake the whole house with our nightmares."

"Right, of course," he responded, his expression somewhat uncomfortable. "I'll leave you two to then to get settled. When you're finished, come join us at the kitchen table, we can talk about plans and what you'd like to see while you're in town."

As the pair had turned away and began walking up the stairs, Frederic caused them to pause with one final request, "And, if it isn't too much of a bother, could you leave the door open?"

Audibly sighing at the mandate applied by her father, Annabeth stomped up the stairs, followed by Percy as the two entered her bedroom. Immediately the blonde demigod threw her travel bag on her bed, mumbling about trust and privacy as she opened the top drawer on her dresser to prepare organizing her clothes she would wear for the next week.

As she was stuffing the articles of clothing roughly into her drawer however, she had noticed Percy had not joined her as she turned her attention immediately upon her fiance. As her eyes fixed on him, she was curious about the strange expression he wore, somewhere between vexed confusion and teasing amusement.

It took her only a moment to realize what had garnered such a response from Percy as her eyes fell upon the decorations applies throughout her bedroom. Immediately her face burned as she hid her embarrassed expression in her hands. "I can't believe I forgot about this..." she said simply.

The source of the embarrassment for one and amusement of the other was that Annabeth's bedroom was painted a delicate blend of light green and deep blue, while decals and stickers of various sea life adorned nearly every inch of the walls within her room. She had effectively turned her bedroom into a painted aquarium and the implications this had implied was mortifying for the daughter of Athena.

Dropping to her bed and holding her face in her hands, she stayed prone for a moment before she felt the bed shift as Percy joined her. "So, should I ask about this?" he said, the humor in his voice apparent despite Annabeth refusing to look at him.

"No," she said simply, her hands dropping from her face as she finally turning towards her fiance, but upon seeing the teasing smirk, she knew he would not let the issue go without comment. "Fine, have your fun with it..."

"I wasn't going to tease you," he said, draping his arm over her shoulder and offering a reassuring squeeze, yet the playful smirk made her discount his promise. "I'm not going to lie, this is rather unexpected. So...how long have you had your bedroom decorated like this?"

Shoulders slumping as she leaned heavily on her knees, she turned her attention to Percy. "Promise you won't laugh..."

"Why would I laugh?" He asked, yet the smile spread wider on his face, causing Annabeth to arch an eyebrow in accusation.

"You're laughing right now!"

"No...fine, alright, I promise I won't laugh Annabeth, I swear."

"Okay," she replied in defeat as she pursed her lips and prepared for the worst of it. "I had this done after our dance on Mt. Olympus. It's just...being with you always made me feel safe. This was the best I could do."

Percy's eyes widened and mouth dropped open at the admission from Annabeth. That had been such a moment of stress and anxiety for him, traveling cross-country to rescue her, all the while terrified she was going to join the Hunters of Artemis, only to be made blatantly aware by Aphrodite how much he truly cared for her before being threatened by Athena. Now that he thought about it, goddesses who's names began with the letter 'A' had been nothing but trouble.

Regardless, his feelings for the brilliant demigod at the time had left him confused and naively hopeful despite his overwhelming fear that she might reject him. Now that he sat here on her bed, his arm holding her in a half-hug and staring at the collage that represented him, he felt incredibly stupid, wishing he had shared with her how much he wanted their relationship to change, or at the very least, to understand how much they had meant to each other, even back then.

"For what it's worth," he said, his voice soft and telling of how emotional he felt at the display that she had surrounded herself in his element, as though the presence of the underwater image was all she needed to keep her safe. "I'm really glad I got to see it."

She offered a small, apprehensive smile of appreciation that he did not mock her for her décor as she leaned against his side. "I know we already talked about this, but I really wish you and I could have just figured out our feelings back then so we didn't have to dance around all that stupid drama."

"Yeah," he said, pressing his lips to the curls of her hair as before resting his cheek against the side of her head. "But we made it here in the end. Despite everything this world's thrown at us, we're together, and there's no place I'd rather be."

"Same here," she said, her voice equally soft and emotional as she finally, and with great regret, moved from the warmth of his arms and proceeded to finish putting her clothing in the drawers.

"We should probably finish unpacking. You can have the bottom two drawers of my dresser, okay?" She replied as she placed the last of her tee-shirts in the second drawer. As she stepped away to make room for him to place his clothing, he turned his head to look over his shoulder, a playful smile adorning his features as he put his clothing in the designated drawer.

"One question about all of this," he said, nodding his head in the direction of the wall overlooking the backyard. "Why is there a painting of a guinea pig wearing a deep-sea helmet?"

-0-

A/N: I wanted this to be a bit lighter of a chapter, and the idea that Annabeth would decorate her room in a manner that would help her feel safe just seemed to resonate with me, plus that bit of a silly joke at the end I thought was funny. Also, I decided on having Mrs. Chase's name be Helen, I couldn't find any official name for her, but I've read so many fanfics using that as her name, and it seemed to fit somehow, so I went with it.

Anyway, planning a couple more chapters in San Francisco / New Rome before going back home where they'll have prom, graduation and a few other things. Expect some deep conversations in the next couple chapters though. Piper has been mentioned a few times in this story, so you'll find out what has happened to her, and while Nico isn't planned to make an appearance, his PTSD will definitely be addressed.

Anyway, hope this chapter was enjoyable. As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review. Thank you,