A/N: Hey guys back with another chapter! Hope you guys like it!
Annabeth's feeling it when she walks over to the door, but her vision of a night spent wrapped up in her boyfriend's arms fades the moment she sees his face. Immediately, she can tell that something's up, he's rubbing the back of his neck and stumbling over words and telling her he's going to Maine for a week and a half.
Actually, it's the first thing he blurts at her before even walking in, and it's so out of left field and the complete opposite of what she was feeling that she's left speechless. He takes the silence as a bad thing and continues to stumble over words that don't make such sense, still standing in the doorway before she finally shuts him up.
"Percy, it's fine. Calm down and get inside, it's getting cold." It comes out harsher than she meant it to and he quietly shuffles in with his head hung down.
"I'm sorry," he mumbles and she instantly feels bad. She honestly hadn't meant for it to come out like that, it had just surprised her so much that the flash of hurt must have tumbled out of her mouth before her brain had fully processed it.
She lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," He looks up and she meets his eyes. "It's honestly okay."
He stares at her for a second more, probably trying to read her face and she tries to school it into a more neutral fashion. She takes a step back and motions for him to sit.
"So why Maine?" she asks in what she hopes is a lighter tone.
He takes the bait. "Grover, my best friend." She nods remembering some stories he's told her. "He lives there and I'm staying with him and Juniper, his girlfriend. You'd like her, she loves Doctor Who."
Annabeth nods approvingly and tries valiantly to squish the part of her that wants to go with him. She can't anyway, she has work.
"That's cool, I'm sure it'll be nice."
Percy nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, it'll be great to see him, it's been a long time."
She nods again, unable to come up with any other words.
"It'll also be nice to just get away for a bit," Percy continues. "It might help with my writing. I've been stuck on it and maybe a change of pace will get it going."
She tries to pretend the words don't stab her heart but the hurt welling up inside her is too much. She knows he doesn't mean it in any way towards her, but the irrational part of her brain can't help but take it personally. That he wants, he needs, to get away from her.
She nods, because what else can she say? Her silence doesn't go unnoticed and she sees Percy watching at her to gauge her reaction. She immediately starts talking.
"Yeah I mean, hopefully it helps."
She's not entirely sure it's all that convincing, but he doesn't comment. It's a blessing and a curse because deep down she knows it's not about her, that he just wants to see some friends and get some writing done. But the parts of her mind not as deep down are hurting. She also knows it's unfair to want him to stay when a break will probably be good.
"I promise to send you lots of pictures," he vows and she continues to nod along.
"So, when do you leave?" she asks, realizing she doesn't know this crucial piece of information.
"In two days," he replies, looking sheepish because even he knows that's really soon. "It was kind of a last minute plan."
She nods for the four hundredth time, because that is way too soon but what can she do about it?
The rest of the evening passes like a blur. She doesn't know what they talk about, or what happens, but she knows that when he goes in for a deep kiss she doesn't let it go on and just says she's tired.
And she knows there's a flash of hurt in his eyes at the rejection, but he complies and leaves soon after.
Closing the door behind him, she wonders why the ever-living fuck did she act like that. She isn't happy he's gone, she isn't happy they ended on a weird note. She hates the feeling, her actions, and the situation.
As soon as she closes the door, she wants to open it again and call after him.
But she doesn't do that. She holds it in and goes to sleep.
-.-
Percy is like eighty-five percent sure that Annabeth is okay with this. She's driving him to the airport after all, but he can't help but feel like something's off between them. He's not entirely sure what—it's probably to do with this last minute trip he's planned— but he has no idea how to address it so they continue to sit in silence.
When she pulls up to the curb, she just stares blankly ahead and he wishes he knew what she was thinking.
"Hey," he says softly, reaching over to turn her face towards him. Their eyes meet and for the first time in a long while, they're an unreadable stormy grey.
He aches to fix this and he hates that he doesn't know how. He decides to simply go with the truth.
"I'm going to miss you," he whispers softly, drawing her closer. Because if there's anything deterring him from this trip, it's how much he's going to miss Annabeth.
"Yeah," she says quietly. "Me too."
He leans closer and bridges the gap, capturing her lips in his and something inside his heart just clicks. It's soft and sweet and when he pulls away he feels better than he has in a while.
She offers him a small smile and he sighs. "Have fun," she says, leaving her hand by the side of his face.
He nuzzles into the touch, before stealing another quick kiss. "I'll see you soon."
She bites her lip and nods as he gets his bag and steps out of the car. He turns around once he's outside and blows her a kiss. As cheesy as it is, she smiles and catches it and his heart feels much lighter knowing that even though he's leaving, they're okay.
He sends her a text when he passes through security, knowing she's probably still driving, and calls Nico to let him know he's made it.
Nico tells him to have fun but not too much fun. Will tells him to ignore Nico and get some relaxation time. Nico tells Will that he's being mean. Will tells Nico that he can show mean. Percy tells them both he needs to board now.
-.-
Maine is a breath of fresh air. Or rather, a breath of freezing air, but either way it wakes him right up. Grover is waiting at the airport when he arrives, and though his facial hair has grown significantly and he looks a little older, his grin immediately takes Percy back to their childhood days.
It's great to see him.
"G-man!"
"Perseus!"
"I hate that name!" They say it at the same time and burst out laughing, easily falling back into their old antics. Juniper rolls her eyes but still gives him a hug.
"Good to see you again, Percy."
They make their way to Grover's old jeep, Percy thanking them profusely for letting him stay at their place the whole way until Grover threatens to chuck a shoe at his face and Juniper, more politely, tells him to shut up.
Along with a book he saw at the airport, the cat that dashed across the street, the Doctor Who coasters are the third thing that remind him of Annabeth. He'd sent a text to her and Nico letting them know he had landed, but it wasn't enough to fully encapsulate everything he wanted to say to her.
"I can't believe you actually, finally watched the show," Juniper says, handing him a glass of water that he sets on the coaster.
"Annabeth loves it and when we started watching it, it became an excuse to come over."
"Annabeth is that girl you're seeing right?" Grover asks, trying to remember their last conversation.
"My girlfriend, actually," he responds with a grin. Even though they've been together for a while, saying the words 'my girlfriend' still makes him giddy. He realizes he hasn't sent her another text yet so he pulls out his phone and snaps her a video of the three of them saying hi.
-.-
Annabeth wakes up the next morning to a snap from Percy. It brings a smile to her face and she feels a little better about him leaving.
She doesn't know why it's hitting her this hard. She thinks it wouldn't normally be a big deal, but the way she's been feeling lately is obviously a contributing factor.
The days are dark, cold and short, work feels like more of a chore, life feels drab and now with Percy gone, a sense of loneliness creeps over her.
Actually, she realizes with a start, it's the first time since moving in that she's actually felt lonely in her little one bedroom apartment.
It's probably because she's used to Percy being around, or her other friends, so alone time used to be appreciated, but now it just feels... lonely.
Now with Percy in Maine and Piper busy with her new boyfriend, the seasonal depression is hitting her harder than ever and the feeling isn't going away, so she just ends up feeling horrible.
This is, she knows, an Unproductive Line of Thinking and Annabeth sighs, trying to channel her inner Piper. Piper would tell her to reach out to one of her multiple friends.
She pulls out her phone and hovers over Percy's name.
She should just do it. She doesn't know why she's even hesitating. Sensing her hesitation, the evil part of her mind goads her, telling her that Percy's having a lot of fun without her and she really shouldn't bother. (She really does try to ignore that part).
Three seconds, that's what they say right? Three seconds to make a decision.
Her finger moves without thinking and the phone is ringing before she knows it.
He picks up on the third ring. "Hey babe!"
She lets out a breath she doesn't know she was holding at the sound of his voice.
"Hey, how's it going?" She can hear muted sounds in the background.
"Great! Maine is freezing but it's nice, we're chilling at Grover's place. How's it going with you?"
She's not about to tell him about feeling lonely and sad, so instead she tells him that she was watching Youtube.
"Of course," he says with a laugh. "Don't know what I expected. Anything good on?"
It's a joke between them because of how Annabeth treats Youtube like TV. Her response is always, "There's always something good on."
Talking to him makes her feel better, even after they hang up, she decides to keep it going and stay true to her word focusing her attention on Youtube.
That always helps anyway.
A/N: And there you have it, an appearance from Grover and Juniper! And of course, Percy trying to figure his shit out and Annabeth trying to deal with hers. But also just the struggle when someone else's words or actions affect you even though they aren't towards you, we've all taken things a little personally at some point or the other and I wanted Annabeth to be aware of it. Of course, that doesn't make it any less hard and she's still struggling with it.
Relationships get the most difficult, I think, when both people are dealing with things. Usually, ideally, one person can support someone through the difficult thing, but in this case they're both struggling and it can be hard to have the same amount of support as usual.
Anyway, I hope you guys liked this! Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)