A/N: Hey guys! Back again with a two-parter actually. Here's Part 1, hope you like it!
They were fighting.
Again.
It had been a bad week. Small arguments over small things all building up bit by bit until Friday hit and tensions were running high.
There wasn't any screaming or shouting but the silence between them as they sat across the room from each other said enough.
Percy was determinedly staring at the TV as if the lions on screen were the most fascinating thing on the planet.
Frustration had overtaken him and he tried to hold back a scowl as the documentary played. She could be so…ugh! The word was as hard to place as the anger. Why she felt the need to close up on him yet pick at every little thing he did was beyond him. It was just so…annoying!
Who cares if the dishes weren't put away? He'd get to it. She was just so picky, and stubborn. Didn't se care about how he felt?
Annoyance, frustration and anger coursed through his body, on screen the lions were chasing a hoard of gazelle.
He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. It didn't work and he was still pissed.
He stole a glance at her. She was sitting across the room and staring just as determinedly at her phone. Not scrolling or typing just staring immovably at the screen. She wore a frown on her face too.
He turned back to the tv and the silence continued.
What a way to spend a Friday night.
Percy's phone ringing caused them both to jump.
It was Rachel, his good friend and coworker. He stared at the screen for ten seconds before finally picking it up.
She wanted to know if he wanted to watch the new Disney movie. Her other friend had cancelled and she had an extra ticket.
He was silent. It would be great to get out of the stuffy living room filled with silence and tension. He looked back at Annabeth. She had resumed staring at the screen and had probably heard part of the conversation given the quiet room and Rachel's naturally loud voice.
"Percy?" Rachel's voice came through the phone. "You can bring Annabeth too you know," she added, trying to decipher his silence.
If only.
He'd love to get out of here. He took another look at Annabeth. Her hair was a mess, falling out of her ponytail in the way he knew she hated and yet she had made no move to fix it. Her face was set, cold and detached and he felt her retreat the longer the phone conversation went on.
He sighed and told Rachel he wasn't feeling up to it.
"You okay Percy?" she sounded concerned. Concern, that was a change from his life as of the late. But the anger didn't rise the same way and he could feel himself getting tired.
"Yeah, just doing a night in."
"Alright, have fun, tell Annabeth I said hi."
And with that, the room plunged once more into silence.
He was still frustrated, still annoyed and so so done with all this shit and he had just turned down an offer to get out of it.
Slowly, he moved so he was facing Annabeth's direction and opened his mouth to speak but before he could, she broke the silence.
"Thank you."
It was said quietly but rang loud in the quiet apartment. She continued to stare at her phone.
Well at least it was a start.
"We need to figure this out," he replied tiredly.
"You should listen to me."
A simple statement, with no inherent tone.
He felt himself get mad at the words. "And what about me? How come you don't listen to me!"
"Listen to you? This is the tenth time I told you to put away the dishes!"
"Who cares about the dishes! So what if I didn't put them away, are they that big of a deal? Why do you pick at everything I do all the time!"
"I don't! I ask reasonable things that you just ignore!"
"Ignore? I just turned down Rachel so I could stay and fix this and you say I ignore you!"
"Then why don't you just go with her then!"
Their eyes met for the first time.
The grey had turned to storm clouds and the rain was about to come with the way her eyes were watering.
He looked away with a scowl. Why did she make him feel bad about what he was feeling.
The argument was getting out of hand, he knew it, and he knew that not everything was they way he was taking it but it was clouding him.
"You pick at everything! Why can't you leave me alone!" he yelled.
"I will if that's what you want!" she screamed back.
And the room went silent once again. Despite her threat, she had not moved and Percy felt tears come to his own eyes.
God this was so stupid! They were fighting over dishes for god's sake.
He turned to her, tears more apparent now. "It's annoying as fuck when you tell me to do things I was already going to do."
"And this is so stupid, this fight over the fucking dishes!"
He stopped his tirade before it could go on any longer and tried to calm down his breathing.
Annabeth hadn't moved, hadn't said anything and the silence settled in again.
He had managed to calm his breathing by the time she had finally moved. One step closer to him. He turned to look at her.
Three words. That's all it took for the anger to drain away like pulling a plug out of a full sink of water.
"I love you."
Quiet, whispered almost, but audible. And everything he needed.
She took more steps, until she was right in front of him.
Her eyes were no longer cold or withdrawn, but filled with concern, he sensed the warmth in them now.
And after the brief moment of eye contact she walked into his arms, hugging him tightly.
He responded right away and the silence became a little bit more bearable.
Everything wasn't better, but they would get there. There would need to be talks, discussions, compromises. There was a lot of work ahead of them but foe now they were alright, on the right track. For now, all that was needed was:
"I love you too."
A/N: So what did you think? This is, like I said before, the first part to this scenario. Love is not always happy, as we know, but fights are a part of it too. You can fight with someone you love. Sometimes it just happens, we're only human after all. But love is making the choice to stay and work through something. In the end they choose each other, despite the anger.
Part 2 will be coming out next week and will have more of a resolution to this.
Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)