Hey! So... I'm going to be honest. I've been slacking really bad with writing. My buffer? Destroyed. I started summer classes in college and I'm planning on starting a Beach Volleyball club at my school so I've been swamped. Also, I've started Once Upon A Time and I'm hooked. I promise though that I will continue to write to get these chapters to you on time and once I go on my two-week break, I will get my buffer back. So, forgive me. Anyways, I've got a pretty good idea of how much longer this story is going to run for. I won't tell you exactly how long but I just wanted to let you know that I do have a plan and I'm not just stringing you through holes. After this and my Chuck story, I will be taking a small break from writing until I have another plot in mind and can develop it nicely. I'll admit that when I came up with the premise of this story, I kind of jumped the gun and uploaded it without a full plan, but now I do have one so it's all good. :) Well, enough of my confessions, let's get to your reviews and then on to the chapter!
AncientTide: OMG I didn't even realize the part about the baboon! It's perfect! And a Percabeth kiss? That early? NAAAHHH! LOL! Soon though, very soon.
PerseusTheSlayer: YAY! Another reader who, for some strange reason, gets and like my sense of humor! LOL! I'm glad you enjoy the story. I've been racking my brain to the end of the earth trying to get over this terrible writer's block that has slowly killed my chapter buffer. So, while I wish I could just stop posting and wait until I build it back up, I promised you all a chapter every two weeks and that's what I'm going to give you!
A Faulty Spell Casting Demigod: Well, if you like Fluff, then... I shall say no more.
Forever-Fangirl-PJO-HP: Yeah. I'm thinking of minoring in Psychology. It's only a couple extra classes so I should be pretty set. Who knows?
Cuthcavs55: Yeah. Percy is and always will be a Seaweed Brain. I don't know if people are getting offended by how stupid he seems to act but the way I write the characters is that, no matter what the situation is, I try to think like them and have them do what I think they would do if they really were in that position. So... Yeah.
redconverse 23: I didn't say you were a guest this time but I need to keep up the consistency on how I format my chapters so as long as your review is signed as a guest, then I have to mark you as a guest. It's really more for me so that I can keep track of things. I've seen your video. It's... interesting. Umm... I wasn't really sure what it was for? If it was a one-time thing for fun then that's great. If this is something you want to continue, then I would suggest getting a tripod to hold the camera and to keep everything focused. Storyline wise... I got the general concept but I didn't quite get where it was going so... That's all I really have to say about that. I'm pretty addicted to Fanfiction and I'm 18 and in college. I like to think of it as a way to continue fictional lives past the last page or the last episode. Also, when I read, I take it as a chance to learn different styles of writing and vocab in order to help and improve my own. Because, no matter how good people say I am, I still think that there are places where I can improve. Maybe after I finish med school and residency, I'll think about writing a book. And thank you for your compliments! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Percy Jackson and the Olympians... Obviously since I am in no way, shape, or form Rick Riordan.
"Ow!" Percy cringed again as Annabeth dabbed the alcohol towelette on the open cut on the palm of his hand.
"Will you quit complaining?" Annabeth asked, sitting back slightly. She was starting to get annoyed ata Percy's whining. On their way back to the plane, he was acting all macho, saying that he didn't need to be treated and that he was fine, but the minute she pulled out the first aid kit, he'd been acting like a child going to get his chicken pox shot.
"Sorry! It just stings."
"That means it's doing its job." She dabbed to towelette on his cut again and Annabeth could tell that he held in another groan. Checking back over her work, she determined that the wound was clean enough, she pulled out the antibiotic ointment and the roll of gauze. Applying the ointment, Annabeth started the gauze and wrapped it securely around his hand, keeping it tight but not tight enough to cut off his circulation. "There," she said once she secured the gauze with the clips. "Try to avoid moving that hand too much."
"Yes, Dr. Chase," Percy smirked. Annabeth made a face to him and began to re-pack everything back into the first aid kit. After a while, Percy spoke up again. "So, you're an heiress for two different companies. Which one are you getting?" he asked, turning more serious.
Annabeth stared at him for his random inquiry. "I'm getting my mother's. My twin brothers, Bobby and Matthew, are going to split my dad's," she said hesitantly. Annabeth had never been comfortable talking about her family because people already seemed to know her business due to the tabloids.
"And your brothers are okay with sharing?
"Well, yeah. I mean, Bobby really likes the restoration process of the planes and Matthew tends to lean toward the business aspect of the business so it works out well for them." Percy simply nodded in understanding. "And what about you? Mr. Marine Biologist." Annabeth gave him a smile and Percy reciprocated it.
"What about me?"
"Why marine biology?"
Percy simply stared out into the forest as the sun began to make its descent in the sky. "I've just always loved the water. My mom says that I get it from my dad. My real dad. He was a boat captain and one day, he set sail and never returned. When they finally found his ship, it was completely wrecked and the entire crew was eventually found. There wasn't a single survivor. I don't know. I knew that I wanted to do something with water and soon, I found that I really loved sea creatures and I wanted to learn more about them. So, when I got accepted into NYU under a full-ride for swimming, I took up a major in biology with a specialization in marine life. One day, I want to open my own research center that also doubles as a marine life clinic where injured sea animals can be treated." Annabeth watched the black haired man sitting next to her with a newfound respect in her eyes. He was so passionate about his dreams and the fact that he found his path all on his own was even more incredible in Annabeth's eyes.
While she loved business and architecture, her taking over her mother's company was always expected of her. She just got lucky that she admired her mother's work and wanted to do great things when she got older as well. The transition for her would be easy and simple. But, listening to Percy's story, how he figured out what he wanted to do for the rest of his life made Annabeth wonder what she would have chosen to do with her life had it not been planned out by those around her. She probably would have still gone into architecture since she just loved the idea of building something to last for ages, but she couldn't help but wonder all the other opportunities that she could have taken. She could've chosen to be a Greek professor at Columbia or a history teacher, or even a doctor. The possibilities were endless. "Well, at least now you know what you want to do with the rest of your life and you're one step closer to reaching your ultimate goal. I, on the other hand, am virtually jobless until my mother decides to retire and pass on the company to me."
"That's not so bad," Percy stated, turning to face her. "You're basically free to do whatever you want until then."
"It doesn't exactly work that way."
"How so?"
"Well, first, since I'm young, the media really pays close attention to everything that I do and if I do anything crazy or socially unacceptable, then both my mother and father's companies get ripped on and they lose stocks and business. So, I always have to be on my best behavior. Second, even though I'm not technically working, I have to sit in during the executive meetings to learn the way that the business runs. And third, I really want the company but when she retires, my mother will choose what's best for her company and if I show that I'm untrustworthy, then she'd pass it on to one of her other executives, most probably Malcolm, her senior architect and basically her right hand," Annabeth explained.
"Wow, that's rough," was all Percy seemed to be able to say. "I guess being an heiress isn't all fun and games."
"No, it's not." Percy paused for a while, letting a moment of silence surround them.
"So, if there's a lot of stress into inheriting a company, then why do all the other heiresses act like dimwits?" he eventually asked, causing Annabeth to chuckle.
"That's because their parents spoiled them growing up and never really stressed how important knowing a business inside and out is when you're going to inherit it. My parents weren't like that. Even though the house had maids, my brothers and I still had to clean our own rooms and wash our own dishes. And, once we were old enough, they made us do our own laundry, too." Annabeth smiled at the memory of her and her brothers complaining about having to do all their own chores even though there were people around them getting paid to do it for them. But, now that she was older, she appreciated it since she knew how to take care of herself and live independently. "They weren't the best, but my parents did their jobs and made sure that my brothers and I would be ready to take on the world when it was time for us to."
"Well, they did a great job." Annabeth smiled at her companion. The sun had already touched the horizon and it was getting dark, fast. Annabeth realized that she hadn't been able to light their giant bon fire signal. She would never make it to the beach and back before nightfall.
"I think we should go to bed," she said, beginning to get up. She made her way to the bunkroom that she barely used lately and right before she disappeared behind the curtain, Percy called out to her. She turned to look at him.
"I know that you said that you're bed is back there," he began. "But what else is behind there?" Annabeth suddenly felt guilty. Whenever they stayed the night in the plane, Annabeth had been sleeping on a decent mattress and pillow indoors while Percy practically stayed outside on a pile of blankets and a neck pillow. Before, the detail wouldn't have bothered the blonde, but now that they were friends, she couldn't knowingly leave him to struggle, especially since he was injured.
"Umm, it's really just a bed."
"Like, an actual bed?" Annabeth bit her lip.
"Yes?" she responded more like a question than a statement. Annabeth was scared that Percy would get angry. The entire time they were on the island, Annabeth had done the 'getting angry' so she was on edge because she knew that pretty soon, Percy would blow up and Annabeth did not like to apologize.
"Oh," was all he said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to know if you had a real bed. I read up on models of 747 airplanes because I don't like to fly so knowing where everything is made me feel secure. I remembered reading about there being a bunkroom at the tail of the plane for the attendants to take a nap during the long, international flights," he explained. Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. He isn't mad.
"Well, goodnight."
Percy moved toward his bedroll and was climbing in when Annabeth blurted, "Do you want to sleep in there?"
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
Percy froze as he was carefully pulling back the sheets of his bedroll. He turned to face the blonde heiress he recently considered a friend. "I'm sorry?"
"I meant to ask, did you want to sleep with me?" Realizing what her words sounded like, Annabeth flushed and began rambling. A first for her, Percy realized. "I mean, not sleep with me, but sleep in the bed with me. It should be big enough to fit us both and sleeping on that pile of blankets cannot be good for your back. Plus, you're injured so you deserve some form of luxury-"
"Annabeth," Percy interrupted. The blonde promptly stopped speaking. "If I say yes, will you stop your rambling?" Annabeth's eyes widened, much to Percy's amusement, and nodded. Getting up, Percy followed Annabeth into the bunkroom, Percy figured that the bed was big enough for the two of them, but only if he basically spooned her. He was beginning to doubt his decision, but when he saw Annabeth already climbing into bed, he couldn't get himself to back out. And, it's not like we're gonna do anything bad, we're just going to sleep, he thought to himself. Resolve in mind, Percy climbed into the bed, next to Annabeth and faced the wall so that he wasn't spooning her.
The next morning, Percy woke up to something tickling his nose. Tilting his head back, he got a good sight of nothing but blonde. Using the arm that was sandwiches between his own body and the bed, Percy leant up in confusion and found that he was pressed flush against the only other inhabitant on the island, with his hand wrapped securely around her waist and their legs intertwined. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He was spooning Annabeth.
Since he had shifted, he probably caused some discomfort for Annabeth because she turned in her sleep and ended up facing him, her face still relaxed. Now, Percy had seen Annabeth asleep before and had even noticed that she was actually a hundred times cuter than she was awake (when she was in a good mood), but being this close to her, Percy thought she was just precious.
And, yes, it sounded completely bizarre and creepy, stalker-ish, but Percy didn't know how else to describe it. Every feature on her face was just amplified to the max. Her button nose was slightly more round, her long eyelashes were even longer, her sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose were more prominent, and her soft pink lips were even softer and even more pink.
Suddenly, the black haired man had a burning urge to just tilt her chin up just enough for him to place his lips on hers. Thankfully, he didn't have to fight the urge for long because Annabeth began to stir and her eyes fluttered open to reveal her stormy grey eyes that seemed to swirl around the way that storm clouds did just before a downpour. As she yawned and stretched in his arms, Percy couldn't help but smile at how adorable she was. "Good morning," he said when she was done. Her head snapped up to look him in the eye so fast that he was surprised she didn't get whiplash.
"Uh…" Her face began to turn red. "What are you doing?"
"Me? I just woke up. What are you doing?" Annabeth shook her head.
"No, I mean, what are you doing in my bed?"
"Do you not remember?" Percy asked. "You asked me to share the bed with you last night. And, here we are." Remembrance of the night before seemed to have hit Annabeth in the face as she turned redder than she was before, most probably embarrassed that she didn't remember that she had asked him. The sight made Percy smile grow just slightly. "I'm just messing with you, Annabeth. It's kind of my fault we're in this position. I must have turned in my sleep and put us in this… compromising position."
Annabeth cleared her throat. "We should… We should probably get up." She sat up causing Percy's arm to slide down her waist and fall onto her lap. Annabeth looked down at the limb and seemed to notice where it was for the first time. Percy watched her amusedly as she swallowed hard. "Um… Percy?"
"Yes?" He was really enjoying watching Annabeth in discomfort. Well, not really, but he enjoyed having the tables turned so that she was the awkward one and not him.
"Your hand seems to be…" Her eyes flickered to his hand, which remained in her lap, hanging limply. She could have easily moved it or even just gotten up but she looked quite terrified of it.
"Yes?" he repeated, an eyebrow raising.
"Your hand."
"What about it?"
"Can you move it?"
"Oh, sure." He retracted his hand from its place on her lap and Annabeth hesitated slightly before swinging her legs out of the bunk and exiting the small room without another word.
With a goofy smile on his face, Percy laid back down on the bed resting his hands behind his head and sighed in content. When they first crash landed here, Percy was sure that either he or Annabeth would kill the other and when she found that knife and strapped it to her waist as though she'd been doing it all her life. In fact, he was sure that she would be the one doing the killing, and every time she got mad at him, Percy was sure that the only thing holding her back was the fact that they were all the other had and it wouldn't be smart to off the only other person that could keep you sane. But then, the days went by (although they felt like eternities), and he and Annabeth really began to bond and now, he really liked to consider them to be friends. And, hopefully, if things continued in this direction, then they'd probably be more. Who knew?
He didn't know whether or not they'd be rescued or whether or not he and Annabeth would get together, but he did know that if they were the only two people on the island and they were doomed to be stuck there forever, then Percy wouldn't mind one bit, as long as he got to wake up next to Annabeth every morning.
So yeah, short and sweet. Not much happening in this chapter since I wanted to get some thought processes in on Percy's point of view. We'll see where this takes us.
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