The prompt for this chapter was something I found on Facebook that said, "My ex used to get drunk and scream in my face about how much he couldn't stand me…my current boyfriend gets drunk and tells me he loves me 900 times in 4 hours because 'I just don't ever want you to forget how much you mean to me' and that is the difference between dirt and gold."

Warning: Adult drinking

Surprisingly, Annabeth was having a good time. Normally, Annabeth hated parties, because she normally only knew one or two people, and was quickly bored. But this was Jason's 25th birthday party, and all her friends were here. It was good to spend some time with them all in one place, especially since getting to do so was becoming more and more difficult as they got older.

Annabeth took a sip of her hard cider and surveyed the room. Piper, Hazel, and Calypso were in the living room, fawning over Hazel's engagement ring. Frank had finally popped the question two weeks ago, on their anniversary, and it was definitely the hot gossip of the evening. Jason, Frank, and Leo were in the den, tinkering with Leo's latest invention. Grover and Juniper were talking with some of Jason's friends from college, while their kids Willow, Laurel, and Aspen ran around the apartment playing some game she couldn't discern. A few more people she didn't know talked in small groups, stealing food from the snack table at various intervals. Everyone seemed happy. Finally.

The next thing she knew, she was hearing her name being yelled halfway across the house. "ANNABETH!" She knew it was her name, despite it coming out half slurred.

"Annabeth where are—ow!"

Percy walked right into her. "Hey, I'm right here, Seaweed Brain. What's wrong? Are you drunk?"

"I'm not drunk," Percy slurred.

"He's totally drunk," Nico told her, coming down the hallway. "I tried to stop him, Annabeth, but he claimed he could handle it."

"We all know Percy definitely can't handle it." Percy was probably the biggest lightweight she knew, though he refused to admit it. "Thanks for trying, Nico."

"No thanks needed. But lover boy is your problem now." He turned to leave.

"Lover boy?" She questioned.

"Yea. Your fiancé here hasn't shut up about how much he loves you in an hour."

"Because I LOVE HER, death boy!" Percy yelled. Nico just rolled his eyes.

"I'll take it from here, Nico. Thanks for putting up with him." She smiled at him apologetically.

"Sure thing. But he owes me for this one." With that, Nico turned and disappeared down the hallway, probably looking for Will.

"I love you, Annabeth," Percy told her.

"I know, Seaweed Brain."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yes, Percy I know you love me!" Now she was getting exasperated with him. "I'm taking you home."

"Don't want to go home, Wise Girl," he pouted.

"Should've thought of that before you got stupid drunk, Percy. We're leaving. NOW."

Dragging him by the arm, she quickly said goodbye to all their friends, and promised to see them soon. Percy was barely standing at this point, and even though she was mildly annoyed with him for not being more careful with his liquor consumption and forcing them to leave early, she wasn't really mad. "I love you," he told her again as she led him out of Jason and Piper's apartment. She rolled her eyes. "I love you too. Come on."

She led him down the hall to the elevator. She practically had to push him into the elevator, as he was quickly becoming dead weight. "I love you so much, Annabeth," Percy said, planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek. "Yea, yea, Seaweed Brain, I know." She wiped his saliva from her cheek. "You're gonna owe Nico and me by the end of tonight," she muttered. He didn't hear her.

When they got to the lobby and she was practically carrying him, she realized that taking the subway was out of the question. She took out her phone and called a Lyft. When it arrived she pushed him into the back seat and buckled his seat belt before fastening her own. The car peeled off the curb and headed towards their apartment. She thought he had fallen asleep because his eyes were closed, when suddenly he grabbed her hand. He ran his thumb over her engagement ring. "You're mine," he declared to her.

"I'm yours," she conceded.

"Because I love you," he told her earnestly, opening his eyes to look at her.

She rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that night. "I love you too, Percy Jackson," she whispered. "Even when you're so drunk that I practically have to carry you home."

The car pulled up to their building, and Annabeth tipped the driver nicely after getting her plastered fiancé out of the car. She forced him into the elevator and pressed the button for their floor, which was no easy task when holding up all 175 pounds of her boyfriend. His head drooped, and he rubbed his nose in her hair. "Thanks for caring for me, babe. Love you." To Annabeth, it felt like the 900th time he had told her he loved her that night.

She finally got them into the apartment, and deposited him on the couch. She looked at her fiancé, and could see that he was still totally wired. "I'm going to get you a glass of water, and you're going to drink it without arguing with me."

"Awww, you're the best Annabeth!" He yelled after her as she walked to the kitchen. "I love you!"

When she returned to the couch with his water, he took it readily. She plopped down next to him, and curled into his side. "Percy, why do you keep telling me you love me?"

"Why?" He asked, as if he were confused as to why she would even ask such a question. He thought for a second, and then replied, "Because I never want you to forget how much you mean to me."

It took everything in her not to burst into tears right there. She was the sober one! She should not be crying! But she came darn close. Because Percy's words made her think about all the times her ex-boyfriend, Luke, had showed up at her door, completely wasted, and screamed at her about how much he couldn't stand her. The last straw had been when he turned up at 3 am, screaming drunk, and tried to hit her. She knew that if he acted this way when he was drunk, eventually he would start acting that way when he was sober. Leaving him was the best thing she ever did, especially because shortly after she found Percy. Sweet, loving, still very drunk Percy.

She took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. "I love you, Perseus Jackson. And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." She kissed him softly, pouring all the emotions she was feeling at that moment into the kiss. He responded to her in kind, tangling his hand in her hair.

She knew she had found the perfect man, and couldn't believe how lucky she was. When Luke was drunk, he would tell her how much he hated her. When Percy was drunk, he couldn't stop telling her he loved her. That's the difference between dirt and gold. And she was so grateful that she had found gold.