DISCLAIMER: All the characters belong to Rick Riordan.
Let's cover Sea of Monsters in this chapter. This is a small turning point to them. To see how they work so good together and the lenghts they go for each other.
This is the beginning of their journey with emotions and burdens into the mix.
Annabeth is thirteen when it hits her that Percy is probably all she has left.
She looked forward to seeing him, they still had their ups and downs but their days at camp usually ended with them laughing on the lake dock. He had grown and was getting closer to her height, something that annoyed her a little bit. But his eyes weren't as sad as they used to be and his shoulders weren't as scrunched as they had been last year. He laughed more freely now, which made her laugh along with him.
She reaches his apartment after so many days of running. She climbs the fire escape holding her dagger, looking into windows to catch a glimpse of her best friend. And after almost a year of being away from camp, Percy is a sight for sore eyes— Annabeth actually smiles at the sight of him, bleary-eyed and kind of adorable, with his hair sticking up everywhere, searching desperately for his backpack.
Percy is nowhere near perfect but that works for her, he doesn't look the least bit like a hero of old but she likes the fact that he thinks like one. He's not a hero in the looks department, yet but a hero in the character. Looks can be decieving, she'd learned the hard way. He's irritating and impertinent, but he's still loyal as they come and she knows that she can put her life in his hands and know that he will take care of it. Whenever Annabeth thinks of the prophecy, she looks at Percy cracking up at his own jokes and feels a pang of sorrow. He has so much of his life left to live and he's already doomed.
Annabeth tails him all day with mixture of amusement, admiration and horror as he helps the mortals escape the Lastrygonians attack. And when they've won, Annabeth punches the Sloan kid in the nose for tearing her photo Percy had carried with him. Percy's face is elated and she has to admit it feels good.
Turns out he was safe for most of the year, which relieves her, but something inside her dies when she finds it is because of a monster. What's worse is to hear it call her pretty and Percy look at it almost fondly. Turns out he hadn't even known the thing was a Cyclops. She finds herself biting her tongue a lot of the time, wanting so, so badly to say something rude but knowing how much it'll upset Percy. They reach camp only to find it in shambles.
Because Thalia's tree was dying, and Chiron was no longer at camp, Tyson is a son of Poseidon and Luke was still plotting against them, against her, and Annabeth was feeling lost, lost, lost, lost. Chiron made her swear an oath to keep Percy safe, which she readily accepts, because who else can do a better job and she's proud to tell that it's her who keeps him in line.
She can tell when Percy's upset and he remains upset for days to come after the news of his new brother. He seems okay to have a monster friend but not a brother. Go figure. The teasing goes on and on like it will never stop and Tantalus bullying them too. She tries to distract him with the chariot racing when they lash out at each other. She stomps away angrily, a lone tear spring to her eyes. She wipes it away and glares back resentfully at his hunched figure. She can see it that it hurt him arguing with her, but all she can think about is wipe the floor with him in the race.
Once again, they prove to be a dynamic duo for any problem, arguing or not, by saving the camp from an angry metallic bird flock. They succeeded in completing a herculean task on their own. What more can you ask for? Kitchen duty, perhaps?
She's never realized how much she's missed this, explaining all these things to Percy, him asking her about her favorite topics. They're back together now, an unbeatable team, fighting against all the unfair things that seem to meet them at every turn. She knows him and he knows her, and he tells her about Grover and they both know unanimously that they need a quest to figure things out. She's reminded again and again of her words to him last summer, "We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway."
Their request is denied and given to Clarisse instead. She bolts upright from her sleep when she hears Percy's voice in the distance calling for her help.
She's jerked out of her slumber and doesn't even grab her cap as she darts out of the door. All she's thinking is Thalia dying while she could only watch in horror, the Prophecy, her role to aid Percy, and her promise to Chiron to keep him safe. There's genuine concern, worry, panic for him too. Because now it's too late, and he's slowly wriggled his way into her conscience. He's there and so is she and she's grown to...appreciate him for who he is, mostly because he does the same for her. Percy is erratic and impulsive and doesn't think before he acts, which is dangerous, but that's why she's there for him, isn't she? She's the sane one, she's the one who has to be there to pull him out of trouble.
But what's pretty awesome about Percy is that he doesn't judge for her aversion to Tyson. He's one of those utterly selfless people who never thinks about themselves, is always willing to listen, who accepts people for who they are, no strings attached. And maybe that's why he'll probably be more of a hero than Luke ever was, maybe that's why she likes him so much. He tolerates her for her aversion to cyclopes and she promises to do the same for him.
When they meet Luke again Annabeth is dealt a hard blow by just how much he's changed. It's like the old Luke was simply a facade to get her so close to him. It might've been a mistake, because he knows her far too well now. Her ambitions, deepest, darkest fears—he doesn't just rub it in, he just slams it at her face in the worst possible ways.
But the thing is, she can't hate him. Try as she might, she can't hate Luke because whenever she does, some of her early memories resurface—Luke smiling at her, ruffling her hair, telling he's her new family. Then she remembers who he is, who he's become, only for her to feel sickened with herself.
Percy hates Luke now too with an intensity, she doesn't know why. She's never seen him dislike anyone this much and he gets this ugly look when he talks about Luke. She truly wonders where this hate is coming from. But there's an annoying part of her decides that it's because of her that hate is born in him.
Reluctantly, she tells Percy about Thalia, and Luke. While she talks, she sees a queer look begin to form on his face, but it vanishes almost instantly. But she knows how to read people, and Percy is an open book to her. She searches around for a word to match his look and zeroes in on jealousy. It surprises her, because Percy has no reason to be jealous. He manages to see the bright side of everything, even when there isn't one. He's easygoing and light and he makes her feel better about herself. He gives off this aura of cheer, whereas she can only invite solemnity.
He widens his place in her heart slowly and she found herself panicking to find him after the ship blew up and she cannot find him in the wreckage. She feels relief only after fishing him out of the waters, utterly conked out. Regret wash over soon enough, regret that she'd hated Tyson so much and now he's gone because he tried to get them out of there. There's nothing to change her mistake. She wonders if Percy would hate her too and even her pride couldn't keep her from accepting that it tears her heart at the prospect of Percy hating her.
Nothing happens like that, and she's grateful for his big heart. But he asks her about the Great Prophecy which causes her to panic because she's reminded again that Percy wouldn't live long. The words reiterate in her mind, and she nearly chokes up again, because she somehow cannot imagine a world without him, a world where Percy does not sneak up behind her, where he does not ask her about an old Greek legend with that blank expression on his face...
He pesters and pesters with his big and pleading eyes like a baby seal and she can't help but relent. She tells him all she knows and can see her own alarm reflect in his eyes.
She's tempted by Circe's offer but freaks out Percy being a rodent. Her imagination of world without him eats her inside. Later, she might wave it off and laugh, but then it's horrifying. The tongue-tied and mesmerized along with the apologetic look on his face makes her launch forward at him and throw her arms around him before he's even requested for forgiveness.
She removes all the makeup from her face and takes the golden stuff out of her hair, because this is not her and it never will be. She also sees Percy smile slightly as she lets one ribbon fall right underneath her foot. He knows, too. She appreciates how much he knows about the real her.
Her world is darkening again but just like the constellation that shared his name, Percy's a shining star in the darkness. As long as Percy was by her side her world wasn't shrouded in darkness. Even when she was in a dark ocean swimming to her dream life that was ripped away from her, Percy was there holding her, letting her cry her heart out.
She cries out because reality hit her like a freight train. Her father doesn't want her. Athena would always remain a non-entity for her and the promise Luke gave her was broken long ago. He too doesn't want her, since he's on a revenge spree for Thalia. The only one remained even with dangers surrounding her was the boy holding her in the middle of nowhere.
"You're safe now," Percy whispered against her ear in the middle of the sea of monsters. A comforting hand clumsily patting her back while a skinny arm wrapped around her, his fingers trace absentminded patterns near the back of her neck, anchoring her to him somehow. She doesn't exactly know why, but it's soothing. She knows it not like her dream but it's real and felt like home. She suddenly has the urge to stay like that for a while longer.
"Thank you," she half-sobbed half-whispered against his shirt in pure gratitude. She isn't sure if he's able to hear her, her brain remembering something about wax. The world is a scary place but Annabeth has a bright star guiding her way. There is a weird fondness for him that courses through her body when he holds her close to him for the first time in her life, but she lets it go, for the time being.
Her body feels wobbly, she can't think straight in the fight and her head feels woozy—like some blowing in her ears. Her body weighed a tonne on her, which wasn't like her at all. Throughout the noises and wind, she hears him.
"You're a genius" he whispers.
She doesn't know why, but it sounded like the best compliment she'd ever bestowed. It takes so much effort to open her eyes but she drifts off into sleep. When she comes around, he's asleep holding the neck of her hippocampus to hold her—like a sleeping pillow. There it is again, the weird sense of fondness for him, welling inside of her, coursing through her body, but she can't place a finger on it.
But after they win the chariot race and Percy's announcement, she feels it again, stronger now and she finds herself on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. She feels that thing again, that strange surge of warmth that fills her entire body with joy. Which is illogical and stupid and completely insane, but she has been rather happy lately.
Annabeth watches him walk and the bottom of her stomach drops and her heart grows icy and shivering. And she suddenly understands what is happening to her and no, no, no. She cannot like Percy Jackson, because he is him and no, just no.
Thalia coming back caused something weird between them. As she watches him walk to the bottom, he turns and waves at her and grins and she waves back without hesitation and it's happening, it's happening, and there is nothing she can do to stop it.
Percy is thirteen when he figured he'd follow Annabeth anywhere.
Percy was ecstatic to return to camp, return to Annabeth, because there's no point in denying. He missed her so much during the school year, that he even resented the idea of them leaving camp for school a little bit. It alleviates a little when she posts a picture of her to him.
She even appeared at a perfect timimg, just so like her. He felt elated to see her again. But she has an aversion towards the big guy who'd saved him. She even snapped at him, which wasn't like her at all. They all move back to camp, but it's a lot different than before.
Thalia's tree is poisoned, Chiron is fired from camp, and camp is endangered. Chiron makes Annabeth swear an oath to keep him safe, which is pretty dangerous, but she readily swears one and take on the responsibility. He swears to himself to keep her safe too.
Then Tyson's claimed as his brother, and he feels all of it come crashing down. He's embarrased and felt humiliated for being a son of Poseidon. Annabeth tries to distract him with the chariot racing and one thing lead to another and they lash out at each other. She snaps out at him and leaves him to fend for himself. He breathes deeply, shoulders hunched over with the weight of shame, humiliation, anger and embarrasment.
They both devise strategies to save the camp only to earn themselves a punishment. They found themselves in the kitchens together wearing hideous gloves and scraping lava off plates, discussing strategies and possibilities.
And they're back to normal once again. Percy would never admit it to her face—she'd never let him live this down, but he missed being back in their groove—him asking with her answering. Her planning with him improvising. They both know each other well enough to finish each others sentences. They pool their resources together to solve camp's problem and save Grover.
They're refused while Clarisse is granted a quest. He simply cannot accept the reality and a visit from a god makes him made up his mind.
Annabeth appears in time like she always does, albeit ecstatic and angry. She's here to share the burden with him, and he simply can't trust anyone with that. A silent conversation takes between them. Why is there even a decision to make? Of course they're doing the quest.
They meet Luke again on the ship, and he felt like a joke Hermes played on him to make him board a ship full of monsters and a betrayed friend. True to his promise, he tried to convince Luke of his way and about his father. He angrily points out at Annabeth about dishouring Thalia by associating with Tyson. That did it.
Percy hates Luke like never before. He didn't even feel this angry for trying to kill him. But for denouncing Tyson and playing with Annabeth's fears caused him to hate the older guy like never before. His aversion is caused by Annabeth's trust and Luke playing with her emotions.
When they find a new hideout, Percy's amazed with its ingenuinity and conspicious locality. He instantly feels jealous for Annabeth to have such adventures with Thalia and Luke before meeting him. He fears him arriving later in her life and couldn't earn his place among them and might make her feel like he's intruding. He fears he could never join her circle. Annabeth voices her opinion of Thalia and him being so much alike that would make them either best friends or enemies. He forces his fear down by opting friends rather than enemies.
Tyson's loss makes him cherish Annabeth even more that he couldn't lash out at her for her aversion towards the big guy. He pesters her about the Great Prophecy and came to a conclusion that his life hangs by a loose thread even then and decides to cherish everything even more in whatever little time he had left.
Even after Circe turned him into guinea pig, with potential threat hanging around him, Annabeth facing the sorceress alone caused panic claw at his throat. He simply couldn't lose her just after Tyson. That would delve him into madness. He desparately squeal at her to escape immediately leaving him behind didn't surprise him as much Annabeth tackling him in a hug after his reversal. He learned there that Annabeth wouldn't leave him like he feared she would.
Though she looked pretty in the Greek dress, with makeup and hair in a braid, she looked like a complete different person. That's not like her at all. He'd have to point it out for her had she not removed everthing.
His trust in her overpower his judgement and he agrees to let her listen to the siren's song. Only later would he chide himself for this foolishness but now, he jumps after a desparate struggling Annabeth to reach the island. He saw her greatest desire where her mother, father and Luke without any flaws and inviting her home within a city of her design. The vision is too good to be true and Annabeth too could see it, for she breaks down crying in his embrace.
Percy could understand that everyone in her vision had abandoned Annabeth for something else and that became her greatest desire. He didn't know whether to be disappointed to be absent in her dream or compliment himself for having her back in any situation. He limits himself to console the grieving girl in his arms for now.
Percy felt like holding the world in his arms while he held her, trying everything to calm her down. He wondered how anyone can leave such an amazing person for something else. He would do everything in his power to hold onto her. Nothing would make him leave her. Even though he kinda wanted to hold her for a little while, he remembered Grover doesn't have much time left.
He still feels amazed at her ideas and strategy to save everyone. It lasted only a little while because his blood turned cold after she got herself caught with a bloody gash on her forehead. He didn't remember much after that except the burst of energy that made him want to kill the cyclops.
Everything went well with Tyson's arrival, Annabeth safe with the fleece's power and Grover rescued. Then everything went downhill with their ship sinking simply because of an arrogant taunt. He hauls Annabeth onto a hippocampus and praises her for her ingenuinity. He thinks he might be hallucinating as he saw her smile in her sleep. He sudenly got a weird craving to hold her close to him, once again. So he simply held her close to him and doze off.
He felt the sudden urge to hold her close to him after she kissed him on the cheek. But he held back, for now. He doesn't know why, but he felt content and peace holding her close to him, protecting from everything. It simply felt like right to him that she fit perfectly within him, like a puzzle piece.
Thalia's revival causes his fear of losing Annabeth to her old friends stirs inside him, but he clamps it down and helps Thalia settle into the camp. Being the new and big three kid is nerve wracking and he went through it. He could and would sympathize with her, atleast for Annabeth.
He could feel something in their dynamic change after their quest this summer. He felt close to her, closer than before and there's a new fear of losing her. He forces other thoughts to the back of his mind, for now. Annabeth's going to attend school in New york, nearer to him and that made up for every fear clawing at his throat.
xXx
A/N: Annabeth kissing him was definitely new to her. She never kissed anyone before. I don't think she'd kissed her siblings, Grover, or even Luke. Percy is totally different to other boys in her life. So, her feelings for him would be first time for her and there's nothing wrong to not realize it quickly. She's not a girly type-gossip girl to talk about boys all the time.
Her feelings for Luke were born from her admiration towards the older guy as a seven year old. Her crush is simply a misintrepreted one. She genuinely started liking Percy after SOM, it's totally different and first for her.
Percy feeling something and couldn't put a finger on it is pretty much expected of him. He's slow on the uptake regarding girls and only one girl his age existed in his life so far. His feelings for her would be genuine but couldn't naming them is expected. The next quest makes him realize, thanks to Luke.
