I really do warn you, if you like serious structure, stop reading. This fanfiction is just for the random babblings of Percabeth. No real plot. So don't complain pretty please because I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING.

Thank you! You can read now.

oOo

"Open your eyes, demigod. Now is not the time for stillness quite yet."

Into the dream I was pulled feet-first. My eyelids, though heavy, peeled open and I found myself in a white room.

The ceiling was at least twenty feet tall, beautiful white marble carved with birds and trees and overlapping shapes that were unidentifiable. Columns lined the four walls, all matching and shining with a blinding quality.

"Look at me, Percy."

The voice was feminine, alluring, somewhat familiar, but beautiful. It played like honey in my ears, too persuasive. I turned eagerly to pinpoint the owner.

My eyes automatically snapped to a woman.

She was tall, slender. A dark dress cascaded liked a waterfall down the curves of her waist. High cheekbones, full lips, eyelashes that framed eyes—I could not tell the color. The colors of her irises and her hair were not fully recognizable, morphing before my eyes, ever-changing but more beautiful by the second. Her presence made something behind my naval tug towards her.

Who better to enter my dreams than the goddess of love herself: Aphrodite?

She smiled, melting my insides a little unintentionally. "You've grown since I last spoke to you, Percy Jackson. Not so much the boy who helped us on Olympus last year."

Not knowing what else to say, I ducked my head. "Thank you, My Lady."

Aphrodite smiled again and stepped closer to me, examining my face like it was a piece of art. "Do not be so humble, young half-blood. You did us a great service." She let out a laugh like a chorus of angels and put her hand to her chest. "Oh, but I'm not here to talk politics. You know why I'm here, don't you, Perseus?"

She was the goddess of love.

Of course I knew.

My cheeks grew red automatically and I dropped my gaze with embarrassment to the shining tiled floor. "…Annabeth and I aren't…aren't serious, Lady Aphrodite. It wasn't even me who invited her along on the vacation."

"Asides from a sour attitude, denial is love's worst enemy," the goddess said knowingly. "There's no need to try and contradict your feelings, honey. You two are more than just friends, are you not?"

It was a week after Kronos' destruction last year, I remembered, and Annabeth and I were in Central Park together after getting lunch. We were talking and walking down a path through the trees, and out of the blue, she took my hand. It took several minutes after that, but I finally got up the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend—it sounded so lame and awkward to my own ears, but she laughed and accepted with a punch to the shoulder.

Although we were technically dating, we'd gone slowly. Even kisses were somewhat rare compared to the other couples seen around New York. Despite that…yes, I cared a great deal for her. I couldn't help it. I loved holding her hand and listening to her laugh at me when I did stupid things, and times when we'd sneak out of our cabins to sit on the dock to watch a meteor shower.

I couldn't say we were just friends.

"See?" Aphrodite gave me a shrewd little smile. "Even you cannot deny there is something happening. Maybe you're not completely aware of it yet, but that is where I come in." After a bit, the goddess said, "…Your father visited you."

"Yes, ma'am." I kept silent, brows furrowed with concern while she looked me over some more.

"Oh, don't worry, Percy, I already know." She laughed as if that was terribly funny, smoothing her dress down her front. "Would you like to know what he wanted to talk to your mother about?"

That's right. He did ask where Mom was, but it never really occurred to me to wonder why exactly. If this goddess wanted to bring it up, it couldn't have been too good.

"Have you wondered why you and Annabeth have not been scolded for sleeping together?"

Blood rushed to my face and I was about to stutter when she gave me a look, and I shut my mouth quickly.

"Yes, Perseus, I've been keeping my eye on you two. Olympus' most endearing demigod couple—" Aphrodite clapped her hands together, and I could see ten perfectly manicured nails. "So much potential. We wouldn't want any mortal parental feelings hindering that, now, would we?"

"My dad told Mom to—to let—me and Annabeth—?" The words would not come out correctly. I was mortified.

"Not to the degree you're thinking of, dear." She pulled a small compact out of nowhere and checked her makeup in it. "Please don't act like that was such a terrible thing. Even you can admit your love life needed a little sprucing up. I would have visited myself, but something tells me your mother listens to Poseidon a lot more than she would me. Thank goodness she did listen."

Aphrodite put the compact away and turned her mouth upwards in a sly expression. "You've noticed she's been leaving you two to your business? Leaving for a number of reasons to go to town, off 'writing' in her room, turning a blind eye on your sleeping arrangements. That w—"

"My Lady Aphrodite, no offense," I started hastily, still humiliated, not caring I just interrupted a goddess, "but mine and Annabeth's relationship is nothing like that. We wouldn't consider—I-I mean, we're only seventeen, ma'am."

"…Demigods tend to die at a younger age, honey. When it comes to love, there is no such thing as rushing."

Boy, could I disagree with that.

I stuttered and blushed and shuffled my feet awkwardly. "Why does it—I mean, why should you even…why are you caring whether or not Annabeth and I—"

Aphrodite tutted her ruby-red lips and shook her head at me. "I do not interfere in other people's courtships, half-blood. I am the goddess of love; it's my job to make lovers like yourself and Ms. Chase simply realize your options and pull yourselves out of possible denial and realize that your paths have met and do not intend on parting any time soon."

"Look, I appreciate your concern for our relationship, My Lady," I started, finding it very difficult to look her in the eye with confidence, "but Annabeth doesn't even think of me in that way."

The meaningful grin that spread across the love goddess' face was almost frightening. "Are you so sure about that, Perseus Jackson?" She motioned behind me and I turned to see on the wall a giant mirror—but it wasn't a mirror.

Through it, the scene was dark. If it weren't for some godly crystal-ball powers, I probably wouldn't have been able to see at all, but there it was.

I saw a familiar-looking bed in a familiar-looking room. There were the faint sounds of a passing storm in the background, but even that was just barely audible. On the bed was two people; one was fast asleep, laying on his back with his head on his shoulder and mouth closed and hands laced on his chest.

Next to the boy was, of course, a girl, but unlike the person next to her, she was awake and sitting up. One of her arms was draped across her waist, ending on a hand just barely touching the boy's shirt. The other was curled over to the other side of the boy's head, and through the dark I saw her fingers stroking a bit of hair back from his forehead with a tender touch.

Even the look in her eyes was gentle. Tired, but gentle. Why was she not sleeping?

My cheeks remained red and my throat closed up a little as I snuck a quick glance at Aphrodite. She looked highly pleased.

"Well, Percy?" Aphrodite asked, raising a finely shaped eyebrow at me. "Are you going to show her that her affection is reciprocated?"

"What?"

"Are you going to do something about that or are you going to let her believe that you are not aware of her feelings?" she repeated patiently, turning her head back to the glass on the wall. "Not tonight, of course."

"…My Lady?"

Aphrodite looked at me and smiled. "You have plenty of time for that. For now, young demigod, rest."

And with that, she disappeared, leaving behind only the faint scent of designer perfume and a sense of unease in my gut.

The scene was still up on the wall.

I walked over to it, closer, and put my hand on the surface. It felt hard and cold, but did nothing to the picture behind it. Annabeth still stayed there, gazing down at my sleeping form. She was so much unlike the Annabeth I knew every day. She looked soft and gentle; no cocky expression or raised eyebrow or smirk adorned her face. Was that even her?

It couldn't be anyone else.

I closed my eyes from the dream and felt myself surface, but just barely, like floating on water, just your nose and the tips of your toes in the air. Like that I could feel her fingers stroking my forehead, her curled next to me.

Do not be afraid of love, my child. It has the power to rule worlds.

With that, both the dream and the real world melted away as I drifted into blackness.

I woke up with a mild headache and morning breath sticking my lips together. Letting out a soft grunt, I opened my eyes to find the bed next to me empty. It was to be expected, Annabeth waking up before I did, but whenever that happened I couldn't help but feel a little sad. Maybe she really didn't fall asleep next to me and it was just my pathetic old brain making things up to make me feel better.

Did that mean—?

No, Annabeth did fall asleep next to me. Aphrodite would not have visited. What she had told me still echoed in my head. Did she really want us to—?

I brushed that off. Whatever happens will happen. There was no way I was going to push anything on Annabeth. Stull… It took effort, but I brushed it off again and sung my legs from the bed, stumbling upright.

The bathroom door was open a crack, so I shuffled over, yawning, and pushed it open. What I found started me. Annabeth was already in there. She was standing in front of the mirror, humming, dressed in only a tank-top and underwear, brushing out her wet, golden hair. When I pushed the door open, she turned, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Oh, gods. Sorry, Annabeth," I said hastily, turning a mortified shade of red, and started backing out of the bathroom hastily.

She just laughed, not bothering to close the door after me or anything. "I didn't expect you to be awake this early."

I kept my gaze ducked and shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "…Sorry," I repeated.

"Don't be." Annabeth turned and began brushing her hair again. "We've seen each other in a lot worse states. Your second year at camp when we were out looking for the Golden Fleece, and the ship blew up. When I pulled you from the water, your clothes were almost completely blown off."

I stared at her, mouth open in mortification.

"Oh, wait. You were unconscious for that part." Her brows furrowed and she blinked. "…Anyways, I'll be out in a minute."

Feeling horribly awkward, I went over to m pack and absentmindedly pulled a pair of clothes from it. The image of Annabeth in her lacy red underwear wouldn't leave my mind, nor would Aphrodite's visit.

Stop it, stop it. You do not think of her in that way, Percy Jackson.

I felt terrible, ashamed to be even thinking like that. We'd been friends for year, and that's what we'll always be.

Are you so sure about that, Perseus Jackson? a sugary-sweet voice asked in my head.

"Shut up," I snarled, stomping into the only other bathroom in the house to change.

Trying to keep a relatively blank mind (as free of Annabeth as it could, which was not very) I took a 2-minute shower, changed clothes, brushed my teeth, and tried to comb down my mop of hair. It needed a trim, but oh well. The guys back at camp were constantly reassuring me that girls loved shaggy hair.

Annabeth was already in the kitchen when I got out. She was wearing short denim shorts, a button-up blouse, and her hair was braided down on shoulder. The clay bead necklace from camp was on her neck, and it went surprisingly well with the outfit.

When I came in, she rolled her eyes.

"Your shirt's on backwards, Percy."

It was.

Ignoring that, I went over to the cupboards and proceeded to pour out two bowls of cereal. It was impossible to stop thinking about…it. I must have been putting off vibes of some kind because Annabeth addressed it.

"Percy, seriously. Don't sweat it," she said. "You look like you're about to throw up."

"It's not just that," I began to tell her, but was suddenly cut off.

My mom walked into the kitchen. Her hair was still messy, but at least she wasn't in her embarrassing nightdress and hair-rollers like last time.

She went over and grabbed a mug from a hook in the wall and started some coffee. "Did you kids sleep well with that storm?"

Thankfully, it had stopped the worst part some time early in the morning. Rain was no longer falling in lethal waves, the sea was no longer trying to smash the shore into oblivion, and the lightning and thunder had stopped. Now, the sky was just a flat shade of gray. Not even wind touched the trees nearby.

We both answered Mom with vague "yeses" and tried not to act too suspicious, even though we both knew that Mom knew that we slept in the same room. Okay, fine, the same bed. It didn't hurt anything.

After filling her coffee cup and grabbing a bagel, Mom left again and I was confronted.

"What were you about to tell me?" Annabeth asked, folding her hands into her pockets.

"Um… Nothing." Something small and shiny tumbled out of the cereal box as I poured the last of it in a bowl. I caught the object, looked at it for a moment and then pocketed it.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

I don't know what made me hide the stupid thing. Something inside of me told to keep it just in case I needed it for something. Who would need a stupid cereal-box ring? For anything?

Annabeth did not look amused, but she didn't push me. She only gave me a peculiar, narrow-eyed, suspicious glance and then took her breakfast back to the table.

After breakfast, Annabeth tried to persuade me to play volleyball with her. It took a while, but I agreed, and we took the ancient, semi-flat ball out onto the beach to smack it around. To cut a long story short, I failed miserably. Annabeth was always hitting it perfectly and either smacking it in my face or I missed by several feet.

It was fun, all in all, but when we went in for lunch we didn't go back out for a while because a cold drizzle had started falling.

After that, it was mainly a lazy day. Annabeth sat on the couch, a book balanced on her knees, deeply engrossed in George Orwell. I draped myself across the couch (putting my feet across her lap) and napped, despite her whining that my feet smelled like fish.

They most definitely did not.

Around six o'clock, Mom zipped to the store and came back with a massive bag of baseball-sized strawberry marshmallows and packets of slimy, cold hotdogs, announcing the rain had stopped so we could have a campfire. Annabeth pulled herself away from her book and helped us gather firewood.

Soon we had a big bonfire crackling on the sands of the beach, roaring a bright orange color. It was not as fun as the fire back at camp, but it was better because there were no annoying campers taking bets on whether or not I'd kiss Annabeth.

I speared some marshmallows on two sticks and handed one to Annabeth, and sat next down to her. In the firelight her hair seemed to look white-hot. It was quite mesmerizing, but I made the mistake of staring at it for a second too long and my marshmallow caught on fire.

I ended up tossing the entire thing in the fire as an offering for Athena, praying she didn't kill me.

As the sun disappeared completely behind the horizon the moment became more dazzling. Mom bid us goodnight (I winced, remembering what Aphrodite had said about why my mom was leaving Annabeth and I alone so often) and went in early, leaving just the two of us sitting side-by-side in front of a campfire, burning nearly every marshmallow we got our hands on.

Quiet settled upon us easily. The only sounds were the sharp hissing and crackling of the fire and the rumbling of the ocean.

Are you going to show her that her affection is reciprocated? Again, the goddess of love popped up in my head, urging me forwards.

No, no, no. Whatever I did I wanted to be on my terms.

But…They would be, right?

I peered sideways at Annabeth. She was wrestling a sticky, melting marshmallow that was sliding down the side of her roasting stick. A crease was between her eyebrows but a frustrated smile was on her mouth as she peeled the mess off and attempted to eat it without getting it smeared across her face.

It was incredibly endearing.

Annabeth looked at me and scowled slightly. "You're laughing at me."

"No, I'm not."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes I am." I grinned and leaned back on my arms.

My head still wouldn't shut up. I wanted to scream at it.

"Hey, Percy," Annabeth set down her roasting stick and drew her knees up to her chest, not looking at me. "Are you…okay? You've seemed odd today."

Why wouldn't I?

I feigned ignorance. "What do you mean 'odd'?"

She gave me a slightly reproachful, worried look. "You know what I mean. I know you do. So why don't you tell me?"

There was a moment of silence.

I put down my roasting stick, too, and considered the best way of explaining it. "Yeah, see, the goddess of love visited me in my sleep last night and she told us that she told my dad to tell my mom that we're free to mess around with each other. Not that I'm actually considering it, no! Oh, and she says she's watching us. Just for your information."

Something tells me that wouldn't fly too well with her.

Let's try to break it gentler, yes…

I rubbed the back of my neck with a hand and exhaled noisily. "See… I kind of…had a dream last night."

Annabeth immediately snapped to attention, sitting up straighter and pursing her lips. "Was it my mom? Oh gods, it was wasn't it? Percy—"

"It wasn't Athena," I reassured her feebly.

The greenish look to my face must have given me away perfectly.

If it was possible, Annabeth looked even more bummed. "Of course. Trust Aphrodite to make things awkward between us just when we were starting to have some fun… Percy, don't listen to anything she says."

Maybe that wasn't the best thing to be saying at that point (just for the sole reason that the gods had the power to blast her into a pile of ashes) but I didn't try to tell her off.

"Well, she…she said that she was the one that convinced my dad to talk to Mom." Since I was unable to look at Annabeth directly, I stared into the fire. "I was kind of wondering why she was being so…lenient with us. She sees more than we give her credit for, but the mom I'm used to would be locking my room at night."

Annabeth stared into the fire as well, looking very glum. "…So Aphrodite told Poseidon to tell your mom to lay off of us? That's so…low. We're perfectly fine the pace we're going."

The only reason I didn't say anything to that was because…well…I wasn't sure I agreed. Having so much time to think about it, about the possibilities… I mean, instead of sitting a few inches away from each other we might have been curled up in each other's arms. Instead of sleeping on top of the covers side-by-side we might have been under them, with her head on my shoulder and—

That was exactly why I didn't let myself think about it. Annabeth deserved so much more than someone who wanted— No, I didn't want. No.

I refused to believe I wanted her in that way. No way in Hades.

Instead of delving into the topic more, Annabeth just shook her head and leaned her shoulder against mine and put one of her arms around my torso. "I wouldn't worry, Percy. Don't let what she said mess with you, okay? I love you just how you are and we don't need any goddess to tell us what to do."

Did she just say…?

It took all of my mental power to figure out what to do or say to that. I ended up reaching up to brush away a strand of her hair and undo the necklace around her throat.

"What are you…?" she started to ask, but went quiet when she saw me slip the ring from the cereal box onto the string.

"Something to remember," I said simply, and tied it back on her.

Annabeth just smiled. "You're such a dork."

For once, I agreed with her and drew her closer to me to enjoy the warmth of the fire.

oOo

Duurrhurhur. I feel so nerdy writing things like that.

So guess what! I'm doing the 100 themes challenge from deviantart. You get a list of 100 themes and draw a picture (or write a poem or something) to go with each. I'm doing all of mine Percy Jackson style.

If any of you are interested, my deviantart account is mymonkey13. I don't get on often at all, but there are some pretty neat things I've drawn up there! Plus, if anyone knows how to change your pen name on there let me know because I want it to be SoggyBug and not mymonkey.

Thanks!

Please review, you guys!

Oh, and you guys understood what Aphrodite was talking about, right? Well, if any of you want (or don't want) it to go that way, let me know. I promise that if it does happen it'll stay strictly PG-13 or less.

So, question of the chapter, DO YOU WANT THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO GO THAT WAY?