i'm pretending there's a dock in the lake ok? ok
inspired by this fanart post/131092505616/together-x
When it was summer, Annabeth and Percy always went to camp to help Chiron out, and most of their tasks involved dealing with the newer campers. This had been decided after the few times they visited, and the new arrivals always freaked out, since they had heard all the stories about them from the moment they came to camp. The cabin counselors' go-to bonfire tales were mostly about the epic quests the all-time favorite senior campers had been in, usually throwing in a bit of dramatic play acting while the rest of camp oohed and awed (the most played part was, of course, the first official kiss of Percy and Annabeth, and their unwilling dip in the lake), so it came as no surprise that the new campers came to idolize the heroes in the stories.
It was just a bit after the start of the summer after the Second Giant War when Percy finally managed to come visit camp; he had been itching to come since he knew Annabeth had arrived a few days ago—not before a short visit to his apartment, of course. They both needed the rest and comfort the other brought (and which had been lacking the months before; turns out it wasn't that easy to see each other through the school year). She had spent the night, a fact his mom wasn't exactly happy about, but she allowed it because she knew it was something they needed for their health, even if it didn't really help the codependency they had developed after Tartarus. After they came out, it was hard to be apart—as soon as the other was out of sight, it was impossible to stop the panicked thoughts (where is she, what happened to him, is she hurt, where did he go), so they started to need to be in constant physical contact to really be sure they were okay. This, naturally, led to restless nights if they weren't with each other, since only they knew the type of horrific things their minds would conjure up.
However, their unhealthy codependency was forced to stop because of their living situations and, well, the fact that they weren't old enough to live together (it was something Percy had high on his priority list, to do everything he could to finally live with Annabeth when they went to college). Of course, since they were forced apart so soon after the war, it was a hard year for both, with constant trips back and forth, and nights filled with nightmares and restless sleep. Winter break was a relief for everyone—mostly their families, probably, since they had to watch their kids struggle through every day, the mornings filled with coffee and the afternoons with headaches—, and they spent every night together, with little complaint from their reluctant but concerned parents.
Shaking his head to clear it of unpleasant thoughts, Percy basically skipped to the Big House to say a rushed hi to Chiron and asked where Annabeth was. After getting an amused chuckle and informing him that she had taken the younger kids canoeing. Percy saluted him and went off in a jog towards the lake; a wide smile illuminated his face when he saw the sun rays lighting up the pale blonde hair that was tied up in a ponytail.
Annabeth was closely watching the young campers struggle their way through the water with a soft smile on her face; every once in a while a kid would look back at her and yell excitedly, "Look, look! I'm halfway already!", and she'd clap and yell back encouragement. She was doing just that when someone suddenly stood right at her back, startling her and making her let out a yelp. Percy laughed at her unconvincing glare and bent down to give her a kiss, with a background chorus of ewwws from the kids.
"It was about time, seaweed brain," she whispered against his lips. "Don't take so long next time." He chuckled at her command.
"I promise."