Disclaimer for chapters 11-20: I am not a forty year old guy who is rich as has kids. Trust me, I don't own PJO. If i did MoA wouldn't have ended with a literal cliffhanger.
"What have we done to get ourselves thought of as a couple?" Annabeth asked, talking mostly to herself. "Why would I want to be thought of as the girlfriend of seaweed brain? Are they crazy?"
"Hey, I am offended by your statement." Percy said, hearing what Annabeth had said. "Although I don't get it either."
Two Weeks Later
Annabeth sat in the now empty hospital room. It had been her home for over a month now, and as excited as it was to be going home, she couldn't help but feel a small pang of sadness. Deep in her heart she knew that the reason for this feeling was that she was now going to be separated from Percy. Their respective apartments were only five blocks away, but that was so much more than two minutes-
She stopped that train of thought. 'You are not some girl who needs a boy to hang onto. You are just attached to him because you both went through a traumatic experience together. Anyway, you will see him in a couple days for Christmas, then at school every day.' Annabeth whispered to herself, frustrated.
Taking one last glance at the now bland room, Annabeth walked out of the room and into the floor lounge, were everyone was waiting. Her parents were chatting with Sally and Pons, and Percy was sitting there, playing with her 6 year old brothers, Matthew and Bobby. When he looked for a second, he spotted Annabeth and the smile on his face grew impossibly bigger before he gestured for her to come over to them.
When she got to the trio, her legs were suddenly attacked by Matthew and Bobby, who both hugged her tightly. If she hadn't been leaning on her crutches, she probably would have fallen down. As it was, She just swayed slightly before chuckling. She sat down in the seat next to Percy before asking, "What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing, just telling them about some of my adventures over the years." Percy replied.
"Annabeth, did you know that Percy once blew up a bus?" Matthew cut in excitedly.
"Yea, and he once dumped his class into a shark pool!" Bobby added, eyes popping out from amazement.
"Really? I wonder how he did that?" Annabeth said, turning to Percy with a questioning look on her face.
"Well you see, we were at the aquarium, and on this catwalk and-"
Percy was interrupted by Sally coming up to the four and saying, "Well, I hate to say it, but it's time for us to be going. We have things we need to do, and unfortunately, not a lot of time to do them. But we will see you at the party in a few days, ok?" Sally bent down and gave a small kiss to Annabeth's forehead before telling her, "Stay safe, ok?"
"I will, don't worry." She said, trying to stop the unwanted tears from coming to the surface, She turn to Percy but before she could say anything, she was being engulfed in a warm hug.
"Don't forget to text, ok?" He said. If Annabeth really listened, she thought that his voice sounded slightly more rough that usual, as if he too was holding back tears.
Annabeth nodded, before she pulled away and smiled at him. Then, Sally was wheeling Percy away, but not before similar scenes happened with her mom and dad, who both hugged Percy tightly. Then, he was wheeled out into the elevator, and away from Annabeth.
Percy was lifted in the air, his struggles lowly ceasing as Bruce chocked the life out of him. Then, He let go and Percy fell to the ground limply. Bruce pushed him over to Annabeth, who suddenly had her hands untied.
"Percy?" She said, forgetting about the fake names. "Percy, can you here me?" She said, starting to panic. She found his neck and searched for a pulse. She found none. She held her hand over his mouth, hoping to feel him breathing, but she couldn't.
"Percy?" She said, tears starting to fall. He didn't respond, and she grew more panicked. She started to shake him frantically, desperate to get any kind of response from him.
"Percy?"
"Percy?!"
"PERCY!"
Annabeth shot up in bed, tears falling down her cheeks, a sob barely stopped from escaping her mouth.
'Its just a dream.' She told herself. 'Percy is fine.' Even so, she knew she wouldn't calm down until she got proof that he was all right. She searched her nightstand blindly before she found her phone. Then, she clicked the number three speed dial and waited.
After a few tense moments of ringing, a male voice answered the phone saying, "Hello, Annabeth? Why are you calling, it's two in the morning."
Relief shot through the grey-eyed girl as she said, "I just needed to make sure you were okay." She hated how needy and weak it made her sound, but it was true.
"Nightmare?" Percy asked, sounding more awake now that it had clicked to him why she had called him. After a couple nights, both were used to the other calling them at all times of the night after a bad dream. They both both knew that the other would need to make sure that they were all right, before they would be able to succumb to sleep again. In fact, Percy had already called Annabeth at eleven last night.
"Yeah." Annabeth muttered, reluctant to admit what the nightmare had been about.
"Oh. Well I'm alright. In fact, you are going to see me later today for the Christmas Eve party our parents are having. Then, in two days, we are going to see the state governor for that whole 'sorry for your ordeal, what can we do to make you happy' thing. So don't worry, we will be seeing plenty of each other over the next couple days. Goodnight Anna. Sleep well."
"Don't call me Anna. Goodnight Percy. Thanks." She said, a small smile gracing her face before she hung the phone, and settled back down to sleep. For the rest of the night, both teenagers slept peacefully, content in the knowledge that they would be reunited later that day
The next day, Annabeth couldn't have been more excited to go to Percy's house for Christmas Eve. Even though it had only been four days since she saw him, it felt like ten times more. Coupled with the nightmares they both had been having, She was practically bouncing in place as they pulled up in front of Percy's apartment building shortly after five.
Helen saw how restless her step-daughter was, and couldn't resist chuckling. "Calm down Annabeth, It's only been four days. You can hold on for five more minutes."
Annabeth turned to her and said, "I know, I am just excited to see them all, and to exchange presents. To bad Bobby and Matthew couldn't be here though." The twins had decided that they would rather go to a friends house, so it would only be the six of them tonight.
"Yes, I am sure that Sally would have doted on them. Anyway come on, we're here, and in order to actually see Percy, you need to get out of the car. Give me a second, and I'll come around to you and help."
Annabeth shook her head and said, "No, I can get out by myself." To prove her point, Annabeth opened the door, and with some degree of difficulty, was able to get her self out of the car. Helen shook her head at the sight, before helping Fredrick to get the presents for the other family out of the trunk. Once they had everything, The trio walked into the building, and across the lobby to the elevator. Once there, they pushed the twelfth floor button.
Once they got off the elevator, they made their way down to room 1203. To their surprise, the door was different from all the rest. Instead of a plain, boring, dark brown, it was a sea blue with christmas decorations covering the whole of it. They only knocked on the door once, before it was swung open, and Annabeth was engulf ed in a warm hug that smelled of cookies and cany. Annabeth recognized it as signature scent that alway followed Sally around. She leaned in the hug as a way of reciprocating for a few seconds before she pulled away.
Sally clasped her cheeks before saying, "Annabeth! You so pretty! Come in, we're having dinner in about fifteen minutes. Percy is in the family room." Annabeth nodded before stepping into the apartment that Percy called home.
The first thing she noticed was how blue it was. It wasn't tacky though. It somehow just flowed together and made the place feel very calming. The apartment had a very open feel. Of to the side, she could see a small kitchen, and a dining table. In the other part of the apartment was a living room. On the TV was charlie Brown, and sitting in front of it was one Percy Jackson. He was so engrossed in the show that he didn't notice that Annabeth was there until she grabbed the remote and and muted the TV.
"Hey, who muted Char-" Percy said, turning around, but stopping his rant once he saw who it was that muted Charlie Brown. Once it hit him that Annabeth was there, his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped.
"Speechless, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth said, smirking a little bit. She couldn't help herself, it made a pretty funny picture.
"No, I just didn't hear you." He said, then he wheeled himself forward and gave her a hug around the waist. "Could you please bend down and hug me too, so I don't feel like a really short dweeb." His muffled voice said. Annabeth gave another chuckle and complied with his wishes. Once, they were both ensconced in each others arms, Annabeth had to resist the urdge to, god forbit, melt into Percys arm. 'You don't love him, you are just friends.' she reminded herself.
Later than evening, the two families sat next to the Jackson family tree, a boy what a tree it was. It was covered from trunk to tip in tinsel, popcorn chains, lights, and oraments. In Annabeth's opinion, the best was the one of Percy when he was five. His cheeks were chubby, and he had a tooth missing, giving him a gap-toothed smile.
Anyway, they all sat around a big circle of presents, that were about to be given away.
"Ok, first present goes to Annabeth. Merry Christmas Darling." Sally said, handing her a decently sized presnt. I was too big to be a book, so Annabeth was totally in the dark about what it was. "This is from Pons and I. Percy got you his own present."
Annabeth smiled and grasped the presnt. She was surprised when it was moderately heavy. Once she had carefully unwrapped the present, she couldn't resist a gasp at what she had been given.
"An architecture model kit of the Parthenon? This is great!" Annabeth said, amazed at her gift. Percy had heard her ramble on about architecture before, more specifically, Ancient Greek architecture. He must have told his parents. "Thanks, this is great." She said again.
"Ok, now, her is our gift to you, Percy. Annabeth did the same as you, and got a separate gift." Fredrick said, handing over the gift to Percy, who leaned out of his chair to get it. Unlike Annabeths, Percy's gift was small and slim.
Percy unwrapped the gift, and once he saw what it was, a smile broke out on his face. "The newest White Stripes CD? That only came out yesterday! Its sold out everywhere. This is awesome, thanks guys!"
They both watched as the adults then exchanged their own gifts. Sally got a new mixer, and Pons got a new fishing rod. Helen got a 100$ gift card to Tiffany's, and Fredrick got a book on WWII planes and other aircraft.
Later, after the adults had retreated to the kitchen to talk, Annabeth and Percy went out onto the small porch to exchange their personal gifts.
Percy went first "So, um, I ah, saw how much you liked my necklace so, here you go" He said sheepishly, handing her a small box. Gingerly, She took it, and unwrapped it. It was a small velvet box with a small pegasus print on the front. She opened it, and inside laid a necklace identical to the one Percy was currently wearing. Lying next to it were three beads. One was a gray one with faint swirl of blue. Another was a charm with the empire state building. The final was a small owl with golden eyes.
"Percy, you shouldn't have! This is gorgeous, it myst have been so expensive." Annabeth said, her hand flying to her mouth cover how it was gaping open. "Thank you!" She said, giving him a huge hug. Then, she reached behind her and pulled out her present.
"Well, I guess we must have been thinking along the same lines. Merry Christmas" She said as she handed him his present. It was much smaller than the box she had received. Percy took it and opened the box after unwrapping it. Inside, lay half of a pendant. It was a gold, with the words "friends forever" inscribed on it. On the back, it simply had "Annabeth".
"I have the other half and I was going to put it on my key chain, but I guess I will put it on my new necklace. I had them made." She said, a little shyly.
"Its great. I like it, a lot. I will put it on my necklace when I get a chance. Thanks Anna." Percy said, a light smile on his face.
"Don't call me Anna, but you're welcome." She said.
For the rest of the night, the two teenagers sat together in silence, out on the porch. They looked at the stars, and simply sat with eachother. And when the time came for Annabeth to leave, she found that it was easier to leave with the necklace, like a piece of Percy with hed. She bade him farewell, telling him she would see him in two days. And both fell asleep that night, and for that one night, were free of the nightmares that tortured them.
Yes, I know its late. I never got a reply for my Beta, thats what I was waiting for, so this chapter is UNBETAED, so it might have a few mistakes. Anyway, Is anybody else, psyched that this chapter is over 2,00o words? I was so happy that I went downstairs doing a happy dance in front of my parents.
I regret tell you guys that updates will so down to once a week from now on. The reason is that I start school on Monday, and won't have as much free time. So please go to the poll on my page, to vote on what day I should update. Friday or Saturday are not possible because I have swim team those days. If I don't get enough votes, I'm pulling it out of a hat.
Another thing. My Grandmother is dying, and the doctors are saying its going to be this week. If you don't get any updates thats why.
Ciao,
CR