Percy had always felt that he belonged with the ragtag group of friends he had.
He loved each and every one of his friends, they were the only ones around whom he felt he could actually be himself. Especially with the somewhat friendliness between the Greeks and the Romans, he'd found even more friends. Of course, he still felt safest with Annabeth, but it was an entirely new experience to have friends he could rely on.
It honestly still surprised him everyday, when he woke up and saw the faces of his friends. Friends weren't something Percy was all that great at making, and he felt a twinge of relief that they were still by his side everyday.
Now, when with Annabeth's family...
That was a completely different story.
Percy never felt more alone and lonesome than when he was at Annabeth's house, eating some of the loaves of bread that were always in a plastic basket in the center of the kitchen counter and staring off into space as they all four discussed something excitedly.
Frederick would be laughing about something, his eyes scrunched up in relief and joy at the sight of his daughter seated across from him. His wife would be in the kitchen, looking at the happy family with a wistful look glowing on her face and curling her mouth up. Bobby and Mathew would be rolling and tussling with each other in the living room one moment, bickering with each other at the dinner table the next.
They were something like a family. And when Annabeth looked at the four of them, there was something like love in her eyes.
Percy tried not to feel jealous. It was the highlight of Annabeth's family life, probably. He knew how miserable she'd been before, and he should be beyond happy that she was happy with her family now, that she loved them. But when she raved about her stepmother's new spaghetti recipe or refused to let go of her father's college sweatshirt, Percy couldn't help but feel jealousy.
He'd been there for Annabeth throughout it all, but here she was, abandoning him time and time again for the love she felt for her family. He knew she loved him too – of course she did, they'd gone through Tartarus together and things like that have a way of bonding people forever.
But he always felt the strangest feeling, like he was an outcast in this happiness. As if they were a whole, complete family and he was trying to break them up.
"Do you love them?" he'd asked once, after a particularly miserable trip to Annabeth's. "Your family?"
Annabeth laughed, shook out her blonde curls and smiled. "Of course I do," she responded easily, twanging a rubber band on her wrist as she looked up at Percy. "I know we've had a few rough patches with each other, but I'll love them like nobody else."
Percy had pursed his lips and tried not to show his hurt as he looked towards his feet and nodded. "That's good," he'd managed. "I'm glad it worked out for you."
He supposed he was being unfair. After all, Annabeth never said a word about his mom or Paul and their relationship with him. But he couldn't help feeling that it was a different situation with the Chases. They didn't particularly like him, and they wanted to keep her away from everything else in the world.
He was being cynical again.
Gods, he should really stop.
And so he continued on feeling miserable as Annabeth discussed how wonderful her family was once again. He stayed seated on one side of the desk as Annabeth twirled a pencil and tried to work on her math homework while talking, although Percy was pretty sure she was just writing random gibberish at this point.
"Percy," Annabeth's voice rang in his ears. "Percy? Percy! Are you even listening to me at this point? I was talking about how Bobby and Mathew were fighting about this completely stupid thing, and–"
She cut herself off as she saw the drained look on his face. "Hey," she said softly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, 'course i am," he muttered. "Go on. So what happened with Brad and Mathew?"
A completely offended look made its way to Annabeth's face as she started at him, jaw dropped open. "Brad?" she spluttered. "Did you just call Bobby Brad?"
Percy shrugged, resisting the urge to bury his face under his arms and just scream away his frustration. He didn't understand why Annabeth's love for her family made him so insecure, didn't quite understand the feeling that twinged at his gut when she said she loved her family like nobody else.
"Honestly, Percy!" Annabeth snapped, crossing her arms. "I've finally fixed things with my family, and I'm completely happy with them! You could at least have the common decency to get my brother's name right! And, oh, gods, you could at least listen to me whenever I talk about them, because I love them so much and if you disagree with that, it's okay, just act or whatever!"
Percy shot to his feet, pushing the chair to the side as he groaned and said, in a voice that wavered between a shout and a ragged whisper. "I've been acting, Annabeth, I've been acting and acting and acting! But it just... whenever you're with them, you just forget about me, Annabeth, and there's nothing I can do but watch you love them."
Annabeth shook herself off and glared at Percy. "Acting?" she demanded. "So you're, what, unhappy that I love my family?"
"No! Of course not! It's just... you don't love me like you love them. You'll love them forever and ever and you just... there's this look in your eyes when you look at them, like you're so glad you have them and would give up the world for them. And it's just that I only wish you'd think of me like you do them, Annabeth! I wish!"
"You wish? Of course I think of you in that way! I love you forever and ever, and I thank the gods every day that you're still here with me. Oh, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth tipped Percy's chin with her index finger, "are you jealous?"
Percy shuffled his feet and shook his head abashedly. "No," he muttered. "It's just that..."
"You're scared." Annabeth finished. "Scared that I don't love you. Oh, but Percy, what you don't understand is that I love you in a way that's impossible to even understand, because when I'm with you everything will be alright, and I'd die for you and I'd sacrifice anything for you, Percy. Of course I love you!"
"But you don't even look at me," Percy said softly. "Whenever you're at your dad's place, you don't even look at me. And I mean, you look so at home there, so happy and so free of worry, that I just can't help but think you'd rather live like that."
He laughed dryly. "After all, there's only four letters in love, isn't there? Maybe it's fate there's four people in your family. They'll get all your love, Wise Girl, and–"
"Stop right there, Percy," Annabeth said, the humor dropping from her face. "That's where you're wrong, Percy. It's not four letters, not at all."
She locked eyes with Percy.
"There's five – the 'u' is silent. And it's for you, Percy. Because you'll forever and always be with me. Don't you dare be jealous, because you're my fifth in love, and you're all my loves at once."
A small smile made its way onto Percy's face. "A 'u'?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "How would that even work? 'Louve'?"
Annabeth burst into laughter at the thought, curling into Percy's chest and beaming. "Something like that," she agreed. "And in that case, I really, really 'louve' you, Percy Jackson."
Percy grinned, feeling a sudden urge to kiss a certain Annabeth Chase and tilting his head down towards her.
"And I you, Annabeth. All five letters."