A/N: Hey everyone! So . . . after the first chapter of this story was posted, I got a request to write one from Percy's POV. Of course I obliged! So, without further ado, Percy's turn!

He was shivering, but it wasn't from the cold. The sobs that racked his body threatened to crush him; he gripped at the hard ground.

He was only vaguely aware of the voices shouting at him from above. They were telling him that he had to go; the cavern was going to collapse in on itself at any second and they would all fall into the abyss. But Percy didn't care. He didn't care if he fell into Tartarus. Because that's where Annabeth had fallen only moments before.

He had tried to catch her. He had tried to jump in after her. But Frank and Nico had made it to him fast enough. They were struggling against his strength to hold him back – barely.

Percy grunted in exhaustion, crying out for Annabeth. Her name echoed on the walls, spiraling down the pit, following her.

All he could think about was the fact that he had promised her. He had promised her that they would never be apart again; that they would never be separated; that he would never leave her side. And yet, here he was. Grasping for her after he had just broken the most important promise he had ever made. He was finding it hard to breathe.

He wasn't aware of the fact that he was screaming until his voice gave out. His throat was raw, but the hot tears that fell from his eyes and rolled into his mouth soothed the burning. He croaked out her name again before collapsing into the arms of Frank.

He fought them still as Frank and Jason tried to airlift him towards the Argo II. He slashed and punched and jabbed with his elbows, trying to forced them to let him go. Once they gave up and let him fall back to the floor, he crawled to the edge of the pit – looking into the utter emptiness.

Without a second thought, he jumped.

He jolted awake, panting hard. The dream had felt like falling – which he supposed was exactly what had happened – and he woke up needing to find some sort of stability. As his mind cleared, the dream came back to him. Annabeth. Where was she?

It took him less than a second to find her – as she was already sitting up next to him in bed. She wasn't speaking, only taking his face in her hands and bringing him into a hug.

For years, this had been routine. Almost every night, one – sometimes both – of them woke up from a nightmare, usually one about losing the other. For Percy, it was almost always the same - not catching her in time. Or sometimes it was worse. But those nights he preferred not to think about.

Annabeth's thin arms wrapped around his shoulders. Her mouth brushed soothingly over his neck; it helped him get his mind off of the dream. Instead he focused on her shaky breath against his skin.

In the four years since the Giant War, the nightmares hadn't managed to become any less frightening. It was almost like a curse, a punishment from the Earth Goddess herself. Like, you beat me, I'll break you.

But Percy and Annabeth were both too strong to let Gaea do that to them – even if it wasn't directly from her; which Percy assumed was the case. The nightmares were more of a bonus for her; something she hadn't counted on, but was now probably more than ecstatic over them.

Annabeth was usually the only thing that could calm Percy down after one of his nightmares – since most of them revolved around her. There had been one time when Annabeth hadn't been there though, and he had to make do with his mother rubbing his back and telling him that Annabeth was fine.

The day after the traumatic experience, Percy had driven himself straight to Camp where, upon arrival, he hadn't let Annabeth out of his embrace for a full ten minutes – not that she minded.

Luckily for him, there were no longer any nights he was forced to spend without her. Since they were twenty-one now, living together in New Rome, there was no reason either of them would have to face the dark alone. Consistency was nice, for a change.

"What if that had been real?" Percy whispered into Annabeth's hair.

His words were muted, as her hair was thick and curly and tangled in his fingers. But he knew she heard him. She always heard him.

"It wasn't," she said.

"But what if it was?" Percy insisted, searching for an answer.

What ifs floated through Percy's head constantly – always when he had nothing to busy himself with. What if he hadn't caught her in time? What if they hadn't made it out alive? What if, what if, what if. They tortured him. They bit at his heart. They made it had to imagine a future. They made it hard to breathe.

But Annabeth made it better, most of the time. He didn't need her help to breathe, but when she was around, it was always a little easier to take a deep breath. He thought that's what love was; not being dependent, but appreciating how much better and/or easier the other person made life.

"What if I hadn't caught you in time?"

"But you did," Annabeth said again, refusing to let him pull out of her grasp to look at her. "Isn't that what matters?"

Percy ignored her. He wanted a real answer. What would she have done – what would he have done, if she had fallen from his fingers, alone, into the pit.

"You would've found a way to meet me at the bottom."

Percy could hear the smirk in her voice. He knew she was right. She knew she was right. He would've done everything in his power to get to her – even if it meant risking his own life – without a second thought. His subconscious had told him that in his dream. Even after Frank and Jason had held him back, he had still jumped in after her. It wasn't even a question.

"That's why your fatal flaw is loyalty," Annabeth continued. "You sacrificed yourself just to make sure I was okay. I'll never be able to repay you-"

"Stop it," Percy pulled away from her arms.

He didn't want to hear about how she would never be able to repay him for risking himself again. She said that so much she was starting to remind him of a broken record. He didn't need to be repaid. And Annabeth knew it. He thought it just made her feel better abut everything.

"I fell with you and I would do it a million times over again if I had to. The alternative wasn't an option. I don't need to be repaid."

He held her face in his hands as he said this. He could feel her cheeks warm under his palms.

"Right there," she whispered. "that's why you need to stop dwelling on what could've happened. Because what could've happened didn't – you wouldn't have let it. You just proved me right."

Percy mock groaned as he leaned towards her a little. "I hate it when you're right."

Annabeth chuckled and rested her forehead against his. He closed his eyes at her touch. Her breath was steady and warm on his face, and he leaned forward to press his mouth to hers.

She responded to his lips, kissing him back. Their kisses were like conversations; unspoken words that both of them needn't be reminded of – but it was nice all the same.

"I love you," Percy murmured when Annabeth finally pulled away.

He didn't know why (or maybe he did and just didn't want to admit it) but he had a not-so-bad-habit of telling Annabeth those same three words upwards to twenty times a day. He had a suspicion that it was because there was always a good chance he would forget to say it one day and then Annabeth would fail to come home – leaving him filled with regret.

Plus, he never wanted her to doubt it. He never wanted her to wonder if he loved her, because he did.

"I love you too," Annabeth smiled against his mouth.

Eventually they fell back to sleep; only finding the strength to close their eyes in each other. And when the dreams came again, they just held on tighter. Because nothing – nothing – was more important than the other.

A/N: There you are! I hope everyone enjoyed it! R&R!

- Kenzie