19. Spain

"PlayadelaCatedrales: the name means 'beach of the cathedrals' in Spanish, presumably because of the extraordinary rock formations-Percy, what are you doing? You can't go swimming right now! It says to beware of the rip tides! Gods, this is useless-what are you doing? Percy Jackson, what do you think you are-ah! Put me down! If a shark eats me, I'll make Nico kill you for me you stupid, moronic, idiotic Seaweed Brain!"

20. Hold

They're at the bottom of the Sea of Monsters. She's so miserable he's afraid she's going to break, and all he can do is try to hold her together.

21. Spy

He stares out at his friends, clapping each other on the back, supporting wounded siblings, mending broken spears, and in the back of his mind wonders if the spy is among the countless dead or if he's still hiding, just waiting to end them all.

22. Lamb

"I find it quite derogatory, actually," Annabeth sniffed, eyeing a gaggle of mortal teens messing around on the other side of the street. There were two girls, dressed provocatively and definitely not age-appropriately, surrounded by a number of boys. They might have been his age, but the two girls definitely looked a little younger. It was hard for Percy to imagine Annabeth acting anything like them, hanging on each other's arms and shrieking when they stepped into puddles or were startled by one of the prankster boys.

"What?" He asked, not exactly interested in the group loitering outside of the sketchy tattoo parlor. "Are they besmirching the name of girlhood or something?"

Annabeth shot him a fierce, grey-eyed glare over the edge of her book. She looked pretty comfortable, half reclined on the park bench and half on him, but it was still relatively unnerving. At times like these he was truly reminded of who her mother was.

"No. Just the names they want to be called."

Percy frowned, running his fingers through her princess curls despite her apparent irritation at the other kids. He had better things to concentrate on. "You don't like nicknames?"

"Clearly, I don't mind nicknames, SeaweedBrain." She muttered, and he grinned, pleased to see that her irritated mask broke somewhat. Percy loved that even in the midst of an argument, he could make her smile. "But what I do mind are those terrible pet names some girls love. Like 'Baby' or 'Chick.' I would kill you."

"A kid at my school calls his girlfriend 'Lambie,'" Percy admitted absently. "I don't really understand the obsession with farm animals, honestly."

Annabeth half-laughed, rolling her eyes as she looked up at him. Percy grinned.

"Exactly!" She said, but the conversation no longer sounded like a debate, something Annabeth was arguing to him only because she couldn't argue with the world. She was simply happy, to be here with him and nothing made him happier than that. "If you didn't call me Wise Girl, I'd want something creative and powerful. Queen Elizabeth. Boadicea. Atalanta."

"Who was Boadicea?"

Annabeth settled deeper into him, resting the book on her stomach. "A warrior queen. Rebelled against the Romans. Or maybe Queen Tomyris."

"I'm sensing a theme here," Percy teased, tugging lightly on her curl. "You're certainly not a lamb."

"I'm not a queen, either." She reminded him practically, and he rolled his eyes.

"Nope. I don't a need queen, though. Just a Wise Girl."

As soon as he said it, Percy felt his face heat up. He didn't tend to say, well, what Rachel would call "adorable and so romantic" things. He was a Seaweed Brain, not Leonardo di freaking Caprio. Annabeth was startled, her eyes flying wide, and for a moment they both looked at each other and Percy tried to stammer something out that maybe wouldn't sound so, so…

And then Annabeth smiled, and rested her head back on his lap. "Thanks, Seaweed Brain." She whispered, and Percy was still blushing. "I don't need a king, either. Plus the only kings I've heard of are jerks."

"Who was that one who chopped off his wife's head?"

Annabeth exhaled heavily, closing her eyes. "Given history, you need to be more specific than that, Seaweed Brain."

He shrugged, looking back out at the group then back at Annabeth.

"You know, Boadicea would be an awesome team name or something." He admitted. "Or if we ever go bowling, and we have to put our names in? You can be Boadicea. Or what if we go to that Starbucks? You know how they call out customer names? That would be pretty funny."

"Her husband was Prasutagas. You sure you want to go there? Actually, your names are similar enough as it is. You can totally go undercover as Prasutagas. Actually, hold on, let me test Grover-" she fumbled for her phone, and laughing, Percy snatched it from her before she could commit the crime.

"Okay, so maybe no Boadicea," Percy said, handing it back to a grinning Annabeth. Gods, he'd already been burdened with Perseus-having substitute teachers call him by his full name had always been a nightmare-he did not have to go there. She smiled, a little smirk of triumph. He wasn't a Prasu-something or other, but she could be a Boadicea. She already had the princess curls.

23. Roof

He had thought the New York City skyline was a fantastic view, but it fell far short of sneaking onto the roof of Cabin Three with Annabeth so she could point out the constellations and tell him stories as the ocean lulled them to sleep.