*Disclaimer, I do not own PJO or anything related to it. Also, this A/N was written a while ago, so while I am currently not on night duty right now, this was written in a sleep-deprived state of mind. I hope you can't tell. Everything past this disclaimer was written when I was slightly insane. I did do some edits though, I'm not a complete monster.*

I'm on night duty at a church camp and have nothing to do right now, so this monstrosity was born.

Bad for me because it's 1:30 am and I want to go to bed but I can't because my dorm is across campus and there's a police chase going on right now so we're on lockdown.

Translation: I'm panicking and I'm using fanfic to cope.

But good for you because you get content.

Anyway

The stars reflect on the surface of the lake, as if the water is full of floating diamonds. Annabeth marvels at the beauty before her. She relishes the cool air on her face, a sharp contrast to the stifiling heat of the Athena cabin, and she almost forgets why she came out here in the first place.

Almost.

Percy Jackson sits on the end of the pier, legs dangling over the edge, leaning back on his hands. Annabeth stops and watches him for a while, admiring his dark silhouette against the night sky. Ever so slowly, she walks toward him, arms folded tightly across her chest. She stops directly next to him, and the silence is painful as they wait for the other to speak.

"You can sit down," Percy says. His voice is strained and hoarse, and when Annabeth looks down at him, she's struck by how tired he looks. He had a reason, of course, this war had taken so much out of him. They'd lost so many of their friends, their family. Not to mention the fact that he'd just heard a prophecy telling of his death.

Oh Hades, why did she think that?

Tears come to her eyes, and she tries to force them back, but she fails. She wipes her eyes quickly, and resisting the urge to run up the beach back to her cabin, she sits down next to Percy.

"So," he begins, his voice trailing off.

Annabeth looks at him and frowns.

"So... what?" She asks. An annoyed look crosses his face.

"You know what." Annabeth looks away. She does know, in fact, and she really doesn't want to talk about it. Nevertheless, she does.

"Right," She says, swallowing hard. "The prophecy." Percy sighs and leans forward, folding his arms.

"Yeah. That." There's a long stretch of silence, where the two just stare out at the rippling water. Annabeth wills herself to try and say something, anything, but she can't find the words. She doesn't have to though, because Percy's voice cuts through the silence.

"You could have just told me," he says softly.

Annabeth closes her eyes.

"I know, she says.

"So why didn't you?"

"Because I was scared," She replied bitterly. "And I didn't want to think about it. Because- because everyone leaves me Percy. At one point or another, they always go. And now, because of that stupid prophecy, you're going to leave too." Silent tears run down Annabeth's face now, and she takes a shuddering breath as Percy speaks.

"It's not my choice," he says quietly. "I don't want this either."

"I know," Annabeth replies, "And that makes it even worse." There is another stretch of silence where the two of them listen to the waves, and eventually, Annabeth finds her voice again. "What am I supposed to do without you?" she whispers. "I can't just lose you like this."

They're facing each other now, and soon, Percy's arms are around her, holding her tightly. She relaxes into his embrace almost immediately.

"I can't do much about this prophecy," he whispers in her ear. "But I'll stay by your side and fight next to you for as long as I have left. I promise."

Suddenly, Annabeth's mind flashes back to when they were twelve, sitting on the floor of that zoo truck headed for L.A. She'd decided that she liked him that night, and her feelings had grown since then, into a mix of longing, pain, joy, and just about every emotion under the sun at this point.

Slowly, after what feels like an eternity, Annabeth pulls away to look at her best friend's face and is surprised to find tears of his own on his cheeks. A surge of guilt washes over her. Of all things, he's comforting her when, if anything, it should be the other way around. He was the one who the prophecy was about, wasn't he? He was the one who had limited time, not her.

"I'm so sorry," Annabeth blurts out. "Percy I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about the prophecy. I should have, but- it just- it hurt too much. And here you are, comforting me, when you-" her voice breaks, and she doesn't finish the sentence, instead she wipes at her eyes furiously, trying to hide the tears. Percy gives her a wry smile and takes her hand, squeezing it gently.

"Hey," he says wearily, "It's what friends are for, aren't they?"

A moment passes between them, and suddenly Annabeth is aware of how close they are to each other. She's mere inches away from his lips, and she sees the change in Percy's eyes as he looks at her. Annabeth raises her hand and puts it on his shoulder, and Percy raises his eyebrows in a question. Annabeth's heart begins beating rapidly, and she nods, inhaling sharply as Percy leans forward and kisses her.

And she kisses him back.

She knows this is a horrible idea. Knows that Percy is going to die in the next week. She knows that if she lets herself love Percy Jackson, then the loss is going to be infinitely more painful.

But she doesn't care anymore.

When they finally break apart, Annabeth mummers into his lips.

"Promise me you won't just give up," she says. "Please. Even though-" her voice catches, and she pulls away to get a better look at him. Percy nods.

"I promise," he says, "But you need to do the same. For me. Even if I-" his voice breaks as well, and he takes a deep breath. "Don't give up."

Annabeth looks into his eyes and tries not to think about how this could be one of the last times she will do so.

"Okay," she whispers. "Okay."

And she will.

I hope you enjoyed this story. Please leave a review! I like to know if what I' writing is enjoyable to read. More angst? Should I write more happy stuff? Pairs other than Percabeth? (I promise I do write other stuff, they're all just wips right now.)