Chapter 15: We Roast Each Other (Not Literally)

November 26

Percy

"Annabeth, stop being stupid and just listen to me for once!"

Annabeth got right in his face, gray eyes storming, she pointed a finger to his chest (it would be more intimidating if she wasn't on her toes). "I can make my own decisions Percy. I don't need you to tell me what to do," she countered.

Percy balled his fists. "I'm not the one that screwed shit up. That was all you."

"Maybe your instructions were just crap to begin with!" She yelled. "Ever thought of that."

"Annabeth, you blatantly ignored my instructions. You thought you could do a better job by yourself and ignored me. Now look what you did."

She sighed. "Ok, you have a point." They looked into each other's eyes, their resolves slowly cracking and then she started grinning. They stared at each other for a minute before they started laughing. They clutched their stomachs because they were laughing so hard.

"Ok, ok Annabeth. I get you're your own person but follow my instructions for this one. You already messed up three cookie batches." Percy said with a grin.

"I told you I was sorry!" Annabeth exclaimed indignantly. Her face and hair were still slightly covered in flour and whipped butter from an earlier incident involving a hand mixer at the max setting.

"Alright, good Annabeth, you're getting the hang of it. Now just fold together your dry and wet ingredients. Let me know when you're done so we can shape and bake the cookies," Percy said encouragingly.

Annabeth nodded. He turned around to wash some of the dishes on the sink. Suddenly there was a yelp, followed by a scream and bowls hitting the floor. He quickly turned around, afraid that something horrible had happened. "Annabeth what's wrong-" he sputtered trying to figure out what was wrong.

Instead, he was greeted with a comical scene. Annabeth was standing near the counter, face, and clothes full of flour, bowls on the floor, hand mixer in her right hand on maximum, spinning like crazy and throwing butter all over the place.

Percy clamped his hand over his mouth and tried for exactly two seconds to not laugh. He couldn't hold it in. He leaned against the kitchen sink, hand still clasped over his mouth and laughed until his stomach hurt and tears came out his eyes.

Annabeth crossed her arms and glared at him the entire time as his laughs slowly subsided. Once he was done he stepped close to her, assessing the mess she made. When he got close, he couldn't hold it in again and laughed at how ridiculous she looked.

Her expression darkened and she wacked him on the shoulder with considerable force. "Stop laughing!" She yelled. "I did what you told me to!"

"Annabeth, you need to calm down. You're being too loud," Percy smirked, knowing that this line would only get more on her nerves. "You should just Shake it Off."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you go using Taylor Swift's songs against me."

He changed the subject, not wanting to goad her into an argument. "So, what happened here? My instructions didn't say to spill flour and butter across the kitchen. We're not trying to bake the kitchen Annabeth."

"I did what you told me Percy! I tried mixing in the wet to the dry and this happened."

"I didn't say mix it Annabeth! I said fold wet into the dry." Annabeth opened her mouth to argue but he cut her off, "there's a difference."

Her shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry Percy. I made a mess of the kitchen."

Percy shook his head. "It's alright Beth." He stepped closer, putting his hand on her chin so he could look into her eyes. He saw genuine remorse in those stormy gray eyes. But she did look a bit ridiculous with flour on her eyelashes. He leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Why don't you go get cleaned up? I'll clean this place up and we can start over."

Annabeth opened her mouth argue but he was faster. He clamped his hand over her mouth. "Nope Annabeth. Don't apologize anymore it was an accident. Just go get cleaned up so we can start from step one."

Her stormy expression changed to calmer one but she went to the restroom to get cleaned up. He looked around at the mess she made. The bowls were easy enough to clean, the problem would be getting the ingredients off the cabinets, the floor, the counter and all the remaining nooks where it snuck in. He grabbed a dishrag and started cleaning the place up, putting the dirty bowls into the sink to be washed. He also cleaned the hand mixer that she was using.

He never understood how Annabeth always made a huge mess whenever she tried to cook. He tried to be a supportive boyfriend and guide her through the steps, but Annabeth just seemed to have a natural talent for turning whatever it is she was making inedible. She made him cookies once and he almost broke a tooth trying to eat them. You could probably use her cookies as bricks to build houses if he was being honest.

When she tried making pancakes, he didn't understand how her pancakes ended up both burned and raw at the same time. He honestly didn't know how she did it.

She also set off the smoke alarm in an incident regarding soup, but he didn't want to talk about that.

He reasoned that the universe bought them together, so they balance each other out. Percy was horrible at math, schoolwork, planning, organization… and a ton of other things but Annabeth wasn't. She was a terrible (cursed) cook, but he thought he balanced it out with his cooking.

A minute after, Annabeth came out of the bathroom. She got most of the flour and butter off her but there were still a couple of streaks here and there.

"Hey," she called. She still looked a bit guilty from earlier. She honestly looked really cute.

"You look really cute with that apron on by the way," he said, trying to cheer her up. She did look nice on her gray apron.

Her face flushed a light pink and made her way closer to him, looking over the scene. "Why do we need to make these so early anyway?"

"It's Thanksgiving Annabeth. The kitchen gets busy in the afternoon and then there's no time to make them."

"When will your parents be back?" She moved next to him to wash the dishes.

Percy's parents had gone to the supermarket to get some last-minute items. "They said they would be back in about an hour." He looked over at her and grinned. "That gives us plenty of time to finish these guys."

"As long as I don't mess up again," she argued, guilt still present in her voice.

"Hey," Percy said softly. He grabbed one her hands into his and looked into her eyes. "That was an accident Annabeth don't feel bad. I'll be right next to you this time, so you don't screw it up again."

Her guilty expression turned into a more annoyed one. "You better Seaweed Brain. I don't think your mom will be happy if we're wasting all the ingredients and making a mess in her kitchen."

He laughed then grabbed her hand. He rolled up the sleeves of his flannel shirt. "Come on, let's start from square one." When they got the point that involved folding in the wet and dry ingredients in, Percy demonstrated the correct folding technique.

"Wouldn't it just be faster to use the mixer but at a lower setting?" Annabeth complained.

Percy shrugged. "We can, but they don't taste the same if you do like that. Trust me. I've tried."

They added the blue dye to the cookie batter and then started partitioning the batter into small spheres for them to bake. Annabeth placed the baking sheets in the oven and placed a timer. Afterwards, they started cleaning up the kitchen.

Percy leaned against the counter, sipping on a mug of coffee. "So, your dad wants me to go with you to San Francisco for Christmas?"

Annabeth took a seat on the dining table, sipping on her own mug. "Yeah, he seemed insistent on it. Maybe he wants to make sure that you're treating me right."

"I treat you right," Percy argued indignantly. "There was that time you got sick, remember? Or all those times I made food for you. How about our anniversary? Remember those?"

"Well, you did call me stupid earlier, and you did throw me into that pool once." She countered with a smirk.

"Those were perfectly justified Annabeth, don't even start with me."

She smiled. "Honestly, I think he just wants to see how we're both doing after that entire Gaia quest."

Percy took another sip of his coffee. Gods it had been a while since he thought about that. Leo was still out there with Calypso, hopefully on their way to camp. The camps had been repaired and rebuilt. Jason and Piper were in California. Frank was praetor along with Reyna. Hazel continued her duties in the fifth cohort. Nico was staying and socializing better at camp. And the gods didn't seem to be up to their usual bullshit. Things looked up for once.

Going to California for Christmas was going to feel strange. For as long as he knew, he had spent every Christmas in New York so spending it somewhere else would feel strange. On the bright side, many of their friends were in California so it would be a perfect opportunity to reconnect with them. They still couldn't figure out why their phone calls didn't go through all the way to California or why the Iris messages also didn't go through.

"Did your dad say how we'll get to California?" Percy asked. Taking another sip of his coffee. "As a matter of fact, how did you even contact him if our phones aren't going through."

"I didn't use my cellphone Seaweed Brain. We just wrote letters to each other like it's the 19th century." Annabeth responded.

"Huh," was all he came up with. Of course, that was the practical solution she came up with. He took another sip. "Alright, well let him know I'll be going with you then."

"What about your parents? Won't they be upset if you go?"

"Nah it will be fine. Paul and Mom are flying to Canada to go see his family." Percy looked around, making sure no one was listening. Once the coast was clear he beckoned Annabeth closer. "Just between you and me. His family is kinda boring. Don't tell him I said that though."

"If you think they're boring then you'll find my family even more boring."

"Yeah, but at least you'll be there with me to make things less boring. And your little brothers are fun."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Annoying would be more like it. Last time I visited they pranked me by putting peanut butter in my shoes."

Percy grinned. "Perhaps we'll join forces to make your life miserable."

"You better not Percy. I can come up with very creative ways to make your life miserable."

He laughed, knowing that she wasn't serious. Hopefully.

"I don't doubt that for a second."

The timer for the cookies rang. They clambered over to the oven where Percy took the trays out.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "They look raw. Don't they need more time?"

"Must you always question me?" She rolled her eyes at that. "Just trust the process Wise Girl."

He placed the trays on the counter to let them cool. He then remembered the cookies that Annabeth gave him that nearly broke his teeth. "Is that how you made those cookies so hard? Did you overbake them?"

Annabeth looked away from him, glancing anywhere but his eyes. "They just didn't look right. They looked raw so I put them in for longer… and I may have forgotten about them when I got the inspiration for a new temple."

"You know, biting into those cookies was like biting into a rock. I felt like I was about to break a tooth." He got closer, placing his hands on her shoulders, she looked into his eyes.

"Yeah, we can't have that. Especially after your crooked teeth finally fixed themselves up."

"Excuse me? They were barely crooked; I'll have you know."

"Remember when we met? You were so short, scrawny, with a big attitude, crooked teeth, and acne." She laughed. Was Annabeth just trying to roast him? If she wanted to start he could go.

"You were like two inches taller. I hardly call that a huge difference."

"Yeah, but you were ignorant, annoying, a crybaby, with no special skills and-"

"What do you have against Lil' Percy?"

"-Not to mention you drooled in your sleep, were reckless-"

"Well Lil' Annabeth wasn't a joy to be around either." He taunted. "When I woke up I thought 'wow this girl seems nice. I bet we can get along,' but then you went and opened your mouth."

"Excuse me?"

If Annabeth wanted to play with fire, Percy could play with fire.

"You were so stuck up, prideful, uptight, with the biggest head I had ever seen. I honestly started considering if you had a stick up your ass by how insufferable you were."

"Your head if full of kelp."

"And yours is full of hot air."

"At least I don't drool in my sleep."

"At least my head wasn't stuck so far up my ass that-"

"Percy. I would consider your next words very carefully if I were you," she warned.

Annabeth was using her stern teacher's voice. It was not nice when she used that voice. He got the message regardless. He would back down, especially since he knew that neither of them were serious. They were just playfully roasting each other. At least he was, he was pretty sure she was too but he couldn't one hundred percent tell.

He sighed. "You never make things easy do you?"

"I'll never make things easy for you."

He leaned in but she stopped him. "Nope after what you said, you're not getting out of this with a kiss."

He wasn't deturbed though, so he went for her neck right where he knew she liked. He bit gently and sucked on her neck which caused her to quietly gasp. He lifted her up onto the kitchen counter where he continued to press his lips onto her neck.

"…Percy…" She gasped. Her hands gripped his arms trying to keep him at bay, but he wouldn't go down that easily.

"Shh baby, you said kisses wouldn't work so I'm doing this instead. Are you complaining?"

She didn't respond, instead she wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him closer to her.

The close proximity and her familiar lemon scent was starting to send blood south. He could feel his pants start to tighten.

"How long did your parents say they would be gone?"

Percy split himself long enough to say. "They said an hour ago but who knows how long ago that was."

"Do you think we…ah… have time to…oh… you know."

"Use your words Wise Girl, else I can't understand you," he teased.

She ran her hands through his hair, pressing onto his scalp as he continued to kiss her neck. "You're making- shit- this too hard."

"Well, you're making me too hard right now."

She had a good point though. His parents were gone, and they were getting worked up. If they wanted, they could definitely do it. …Maybe on the kitchen counter, they hadn't tried that yet.

He was about to bring the idea up to her when the apartment's front door opened and Paul called out, "We're home."

"Fuck!" They both whispered.

They disentangled themselves and he helped her down the counter while trying to fix their clothes and hair. He hoped their faces weren't too flustered. He looked over at Annabeth… fuck he got carried away and left two hickeys on her neck.

"Oh, it smells lovely here. Like cookies," his mom gushed. Both Paul and his mom came into the kitchen.

Paul gave them a sly look. "Did you kids have fun?" Paul asked, once they were all in the kitchen putting away the groceries.

"Yeah, we got to make some cookies and Annabeth roasted me." Percy said trying to tame his tone.

"That's only because you called me stupid and said I have a stick up my ass," Annabeth corrected.

"Perseus! Don't ever call a lady those names," his mom chided.

"Honestly Mom, she called me reckless, ignorant annoying and a bunch of other names."

"There's no excuses young man. That's why you're going to help me prepare the entire Thanksgiving dinner." She then turned to Annabeth. "Annabeth sweetheart, you're free to go until dinner."

"Oh, come on Mom!" Percy complained. His mom only winked at him. Percy then looked at Paul. "Paul come on. Maybe I can help you fix something or clean the place up."

Paul only grinned. "Sorry kiddo, looks like you'll be making dinner with your mother."

Percy's shoulders slumped. It's not that he didn't want to make dinner with his mom the entire day, he just wanted to spend some time with Annabeth and maybe catch a movie or two.

Annabeth placed her hand on his shoulders. He turned to look at her, her eyes were amused. "I look forward to whatever you and your mom make." She then left the room along with Paul, just leaving him and his mom in the room.

"Well before we start Percy, I need to tell you something." His mom was giving him an amused sly look. "Please keep it in the bedroom."

"Mom! I- what- you- we- what?"

"Don't think we didn't notice. I know the two are you are mature and responsible, but please keep such activities for the bedroom. We don't need the kitchen desecrated."

"Mom- we- what- we weren't -huh?" Percy had no idea how to even respond. How did his mom seem to know everything about what was going on? Mother's intuition?

Percy sighed they've been caught somewhat red handed. It could have been worse; they could have been caught doing that on the kitchen counter. He shuddered; he didn't want to think about it. He looked at his mom who was still giving him and amused look.

"Alright mom. What are we making?" Changing the subject before things got awkward again.

"Let's see," she mused. She pulled out a piece of paper from her jacket pocket and handed it to him. It said.

Thanksgiving Food List

Lasagna (Paul's recipe)

Turkey (Jackson Specialty)

Stuffing

Fresh Bread

Mac and Cheese (Percy)

Roasted Potatoes with Carrots

Green Bean Casserole

Gravy

Pumpkin Pie

Blue Cookies

Percy whistled. This was a long list of food. They would probably have to spend almost the entire day making this. "This is a lot of food mom. Are we having guests over?"

Sally was in drawers already pulling out some pots and pans. "No, it will just be the four of us. But you eat enough for five people."

"Gee thanks. I feel well appreciated." He grumbled.

"It's alright dear. You have a big appetite. Although I do always wonder where all that food goes. You never seem to put on extra fat. It's like your stomach is a black hole," she mused. She gently patted his stomach.

Percy shrugged. "Who knows, perhaps my stomach is a black hole." He looked at the list again. "Anything specific you need me to do."

"Well dear. If you could make your mac and cheese, bake the bread, make the pie and help me with the lasagna that would be great." She pulled the turkey out the refrigerator. "I'll take care of the rest and you can head on out about your day."

"Sounds like a plan." He went over to counter, gathering the ingredients and equipment he would need.

Percy spent the next couple of hours helping out in the kitchen. His mom had put the turkey into the oven not too long ago. He wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his forearm. The kitchen had gotten quite warm with the oven and the stove going at full blast to cook their meal.

His mom had opened a window not too long ago to let some of the heat escape the kitchen.

He had just finished making his mac and cheese. He was waiting for the bread rolls to be done with their second rise before baking them. He also finished making the crust for the pie as well as the filling. The last things had still had to worry about was the lasagna. Luckily, he just finished making the meat sauce and the bechamel for the lasagna so all that was left was to assemble the product.

"I take it you'll be going to San Francisco with Annabeth for Christmas?" His mom asked as she was cutting potatoes and carrots.

"Yeah. Dr. Chase said he would really like to see Annabeth and I after the entire Gaia mess."

"I see," she responded. She placed her cut potatoes and carrots on a dish then moved to cut the green beans. "How are you feeling sweetheart? I know it's been a couple months since you came back and you've been seeing the therapist, but how are you feeling?"

Percy was definitely feeling way better than before. He had made much progress in his recovery both physically and emotionally. He didn't get horrible nightmares as much as he used to. He used to get them multiple times a week and the occurrence had gone down to a few times per month. The same with the flashbacks and panic attacks, they weren't as regular as they used to be.

Percy started layering the lasagna. "I've been feeling a lot better Mom," he said. "I don't have as many horrifying nightmares as before and well; I just feel a lot better physically and emotionally."

She turned to face him. Placing gentle hands on his face. He looked into her calm motherly blue eyes. "I'm glad Percy, I'm really glad." She ran a hand over his hair. "But if you ever need anything sweetheart, don't hesitate to ask. I'm your mother. It's my job to take care of you."

Percy wrapped his arms around his mom. "I love you, Mom," he breathed.

She rested her head on his chest. "I love you too Percy," she breathed. "It looks like you're almost done with your list. Why not finish what you have and set them aside? I'll take care of the rest."

"Sweet, thanks mom," he leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

"Maybe afterwards you can go help Paul clean the rest of the apartment," she suggested.

Percy had no intention of doing that. After spending time in the kitchen for the past couple of hours, he wanted to lay down with Annabeth for an hour or two and watch a movie. "Sure Mom," he said.

He finished with the pie, placing it in the oven, the rolls had also finished their second rising, so they were ready for the oven as well. The last thing he had to do was set the lasagna to bake. He placed the lasagna into the oven then called. "Alright Mom, all done here. I'm going to head out now and hang out with Annabeth."

She narrowed her eyes. "I thought you were going to help Paul out."

Crap he just gave away his plans. He rubbed the back of his head. "I mean… I uh… yeah I'll go hang out with Annabeth after I'm done with helping Paul."

Sally nodded with a grin. "That's what I like to hear, now run along."

Annabeth

Now Annabeth could not cook to save her life, but she was great at cleaning. As the head counselor of the Athena cabin, Annabeth prided herself on her cleanliness and order. That meant that her cabin never scored below a perfect score when it came to cabin inspection. The only other cabin that could rival the Athena cabin in cleanliness was the Aphrodite cabin.

So, there she was with Paul, moving furniture and cleaning every surface that she could see. Paul told her earlier that she didn't have to help, that she was a guest in their home, but Annabeth insisted that cleaning would give her something to keep her mind occupied.

"How are things with your family Annabeth? Everything going well?" Paul inquired as they cleaned out the fireplace.

Annabeth's relationship with her father and stepmother Helen had been better in recent years. Things were still awkward around the two of them. Her dad tried his best to parent but she knew he would never be able to make up all the years he spent neglecting her. Her stepmother was more tolerable than she used to be. She was more understanding of her status as a demigod and no longer shunned her away from the family. That's not to say things were peachy, Helen still made snide remarks and they got into fights from time to time with her father refusing to take sides.

Her brothers on the other hand are as annoying as ever. They constantly pranked her, cracked jokes at her expense and were an overall menace to society.

"Things are a lot better, or rather better than they used to be," she responded.

"I see. Baby steps then." He said. "I hear you plan to go to San Francisco during Christmas."

"My dad was insistent I visit. I think he wants to make sure I'm doing well after everything that occurred over the summer," she drawled while cleaning the picture frames. "He insisted I bring Percy with me as well."

Paul chuckled. "Well hopefully it's not for another round of 'man talks'. He gets so annoyed whenever I speak to him about his sex life."

Annabeth paled when she remembered what she and Percy were doing minutes ago. "I have a feeling my father is going to bring up the subject. Oh gods, it's going to be so awkward."

"As long as you two are being safe and responsible I don't see issues with it. I hope your parents have the same mindset."

"Let's hope so."

"Let's talk about something different. What about college? How's that going?"

Annabeth shrugged. "It's going as well as it could. As you know Percy needs three recommendation letters to get into New Rome University. We've only gotten Ganymede and Hecate so far and we are looking for the remaining one."

"Can't believe they would single him out after everything he's done."

"Zeus can be very… prickly most of the times. The Romans also don't have the highest opinions on the Greeks. There's tons of prejudice, especially around the older Romans." Annabeth said. "Reyna and Frank argued with the admissions committee but even they couldn't overturn the university's decision."

"That just sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen."

"You would think. But I guess it is what it is. Can't do much against Zeus requiring Percy to get rec letters."

"How about your application for Berkeley? How's that going?"

"I'm still waiting on the decision. They have a great architecture program and if everything goes according to plan, I'll take some classes in New Rome and some in Berkeley."

"Sounds intense."

"It will be. But I'm always up for a challenge." Annabeth started sweeping the floor. "I'm a bit worried you know. I promised to go to New Rome with Percy but if he can't get in, then that will derail the plan. I made some backup plans just in case. Some local colleges around the area and other universities as well, to alternative career paths."

"I'm sure everything will turn out well. Don't they always do with the two of you?"

Annabeth breathed. "Yeah… you could say that. But there's always that fear. Fear for the future and uncertainty."

"it's a bit ironic don't you think. After everything you two faced, college applications might be wat takes you both out. But I'm sure everything will turn out alright. Have hope."

"Thanks Paul."

"Anytime," he smiled. He started mopping the floors. "So, architecture then? That career path is set in stone for you?"

"Pretty much. It's been my dream for years to build and design structures. I'm getting experience in my firm right now and it's great so far."

"It's always nice to know what you want to be at such a young age," he mused. "You know, being an English teacher wasn't my dream when I was growing up."

"Really now?"

"When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut but when I was in college I fell in love with English literature and working with others. And as you could guess, the rest is history."

"That's quite heartwarming."

"Yeah. Funny how plans can change. I talked with Percy the other day about his career prospects. The poor boy was so confused he had no clue what he wanted to do," he chuckled.

"That's just like him. I've been showing him some options and seeing what he likes."

"I've taken a similar approach too. Discuss things that he would like to do. We came up with a list of options."

"What did you two decide on?"

"Well, his big strengths were helping and protecting others, marine subjects and wildlife and swimming. So, we came up with a couple options such as marine biology or oceanography, social work, or fire fighter, chef or he could take swimming into college and make it to the big leagues. I believe he has the potential to."

"Those all sound like great options. And I also think he could make it big swimming."

"I also emphasized he doesn't just have to do one. He could swim while being a marine biologist be firefighter. That he could mix in match. To not put himself in a single box."

"That's really helpful. I'll have to talk to him about it as well. Thanks Paul."

"You're welcome kiddo."

After finishing the living room and the dining room they moved on to the bedrooms. Paul would clean out his bedroom while he gave the task of cleaning's Percy's room to her.

Truth be told, his room was not as messy as it once was. Once she started scolding him about leaving his dirty laundry out, he had made a more conscious effort to clean his room. That didn't mean that the room wasn't messy. The bed was unmade, stuff was littered all across his desk, his bookshelf was a mess, and there was dirty laundry on the hamper that needed to be washed.

Gods. Was she about to wash her boyfriend's dirty laundry? It all just seemed way too domestic. Instead, she opted to cleaning out his desk. She threw out snack wrappers and drink bottles. Once the trash bags were filled, she took those out as well.

Once she got everything in a semi decent state, she tackled the problem of laundry. She rummaged through his laundry hamper, taking out pants, shirts, jackets, socks, hoodies underwear and towels.

"Why are you holding my underwear Annabeth?" She heard come from the door.

Percy was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. He gave her a mischievous grin.

"Maybe if you would wash them, I wouldn't have to do it for you," she answered. She placed his boxers on the growing laundry pile.

"It's not laundry day today." He spoke.

"I would have thought it was. The hamper was nearly overflowing."

"I just did the laundry like four days ago. It can't have gotten that full that quick."

"Knowing you, you probably thought you did it like four days ago when in reality it was more like ten."

He shrugged. "You know how bad I am at keeping time." He leaned it closer and sat with her on the floor. He leaned against her ear, lips to her ear. "By the way, my mom gave me a nice talk about not desecrating the kitchen."

"Oh gods…"

"I know, embarrassing right. But you know what's more embarrassing?" He smirked.

"You leaving your dirty laundry all over the place?"

"Besides that." He pointed to her neck. "You were walking around with two hickeys on your neck."

"What!?" She pulled out her phone and opened her front facing camera and lo and behold she spotted the two hickeys. She couldn't believe she had been walking around the apartment like this. No wonder Paul and Sally gave her sly looks when they saw her.

Out of irritation she grabbed his underwear and threw it at him. "You asshole! You did this!"

It hit him in the chest. He didn't look apologetic at all. "Sorry, but you looked really into it."

"Oh, for gods sake. Go move that furniture before I do something I might regret," she sneered.

He smirked. "You're in a mood today."

"Go!"

"Fine, fine. I'll see you in a bit, ok?"

He left a moment later. She was going to get him back.

An hour and half later, after cleaning his room and finishing his laundry. They had a quick lunch while watching a movie. As they were eating, she set her plan in motion.

He embarrassed her like that, so it was only fair she would do the same. She beckoned him over and started whispering all the things she wanted him to do to her. Once he was vulnerable, she attached her lips to his neck, right where she knew he liked. This caused his breath to hitch as she gently bit and sucked on the flesh.

"Annabeth… what are you doing?"

She pressed a finger on lips to keep him from talking. She released him and smirked when she saw the growing mark on his neck.

"There payback."

"You sucked my neck as a form a payback? I think it's more of a reward if being honest."

"I didn't give you a second one since I knew you would enjoy it too much."

His mischievous smile creeped on his face. "You know what," he began.

"What?"

"I feel like you need some teasing." Before she could move, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into him. Then he proceeded to use his hands to start tickling her in the abdomen. She tried to fight him, she really did, but the second his fingers touched her ticklish areas she fell apart.

"Percy- stop- stop- oh my gods- Percy- I can't- ha ha- no stop- haha- I swear I'm going to- hahaha!"

She managed to sneak to hand to his armpit. Which caused him to yelp in surprise and she used it to her advantage. She quickly gained the upper hand and now the tables turned.

"Gah- Annabeth- I'm sorry- haha- stop- hahaha."

After it was all said and done. She laid on top on him, head to his chest as he was still winding down from the tickling she gave him.

"I can never win, can I?" Percy managed through panting breaths. Chest rising up and down.

"Get used to it."

They watched another movie together when Sally came in asking Percy for more help with dinner. He left shortly after and she was left by herself on the couch.

She decided to productive and finish a secret project she was working on. She went back to his room where she pulled out her sketchpad. She was almost done with the redesigns for the Aphrodite, Hermes and Ares temples. She just had some finishing touches before she could submit them to Mt. Olympus.

She would be visiting Mt. Olympus before leaving for San Francisco to see how the rebuilding was going. She flipped the pages and set her sights on a secret project she was working on. It was Percy's Christmas present, and she was almost done with it as well. Just some final details to add. Once she was done, she would Hermes Express it to Tyson so he could forge it.

She hoped it would be a helpful present in helping her boyfriend keep track of time. He was always running late.

She continued for half an hour, then checked and doubled checked that it was perfect. She then placed the design on a folder and pulled out a drachma. She also wrote a short letter to Tyson letting him know her plans and how he was doing.

Once it was all set and done. She sent the package on its way.

She stretched her arms above her head and looked at the time. 5:37 PM. Sally said dinner would be ready by 7 PM. She pulled her bag from under Percy's bad and pulled out some clean clothes. She packed a bag earlier yesterday to stay the weekend at the apartment. Her dorm right now was like a ghost town with many of the girls going home to spend time with their families.

She took her toiletry bag and her clothes and headed to the shower. She promptly undressed and let the warm water seep into her skin.

She dressed herself in the bathroom then went back to his bedroom where Percy was rummaging through his closet getting his clothes as well.

"Hey," she called.

He turned around and frowned. "Hey, you showered without me."

She rolled her eyes. "We don't have to do everything together you know."

He stepped close to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and smirking. "I just like seeing you wet and naked."

She snorted. "I'm pretty sure if she showered together we would have ended up screwing."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe that was the plan."

"Just go get showered," she commanded.

He kissed her forehead. "Yes, ma'am." He willed her hair dry before he grabbed his clothes and left.

She brushed her hair and finished putting together her outfit. This would be the second thanksgiving with the Jackson-Blofis family. She opted for some jeans, a white blouse, and an orange cardigan. She tied her hair back in her usual ponytail.

She checked her phone. It was almost 7 PM. She opted to head to dinning room to see if there was anything she could do to help. When she got there, Paul was setting up the table.

"Anything I can do to help out Paul?"

"I got it. Thank you though kiddo. You can take seat if you'd like."

Annabeth nodded, standing near the table as she took it in. Paul was just bringing out the last of the silverware when the scent of ocean and sandalwood assaulted her. She felt arms around her, and a kiss being pressed on top of her head.

"Hope you didn't miss me," Percy mused. She turned around to take him in. He was wearing dark jeans and a dark blue Henley that was hugging his chest and arms maybe a bit too well.

She pressed a light kiss on his cheek. "Not even a little bit."

He released her and told her to take a seat. The food will be out soon. He went into the kitchen after she took a seat. A moment later the food was bought out. Sally and Percy placed down lasagna, roasted potatoes and carrots, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, a basket with dinner rolls, a pitcher of gravy, a pumpkin pie, a plate of blue cookies, and a large pitcher of blue tea.

Percy went back into the kitchen and bought out the turkey moments later. He placed it at the center of the table then took a seat next to her.

Annabeth couldn't wait to dig in. Everything looked so delicious.

"Alright. As for our tradition. We go around the table and share something that we are grateful for," Sally prompted. "I'll go first. I'm thankful that I'm spending this Thanksgiving with all my loved ones. With my loving husband Paul, my baby boy Percy, and my future daughter in law, Annabeth." Sally said that last part with a troublemaker smirk.

Annabeth felt herself blushing at the comment. Percy wasn't doing any better.

"I'll go next," Paul followed. "Like my dear wife, Sally, I'm thankful to be spending time with you all and all good things that happened this year. I'm also thankful for this little bundle of joy that we will be seeing soon." Paul placed a protective hand on Sally's stomach.

"I guess it's my turn then," Percy proceeded. "Thanks, mom, for always being there and counting me. Thanks, Paul, for supporting Mom and being understanding and caring about our situation. I know you still find it strange." He turned to look at her. "And most of all, thanks Annabeth for being with me through thick and thin. Through everything that we were faced with together and for being my incredible girlfriend."

Annabeth felt like crying. She cleared her throat. "Thank you all for having me today. Thank you, Sally for being like a mother to me. Thank you, Paul, for always being supportive and giving me advice." She turned to look into Percy's eyes. "Thank you, Percy, for being the best boyfriend I could ask for."

Sally and Paul were both smiling at them. "Ok now that we've all said our thanks. It's time to eat."

The food was as expected, incredible. They spent the rest of the night eating, joking with each other and talking about the future. After the cleaning was done, they all piled into the living room where they watched movies.

The rest of the weekend was incredible. They managed to get assignments and projects for school done.

She ate great food all weekend.

She spent some time finishing her temple designs.

Unfortunately, Sally and Paul were home all weekend long so they couldn't get alone time, but it was ok. Just being with each other was more than enough.

AN: We know Annabeth is going to do architecture but I don't think Rick has ever pointed to a specific field Percy would do. That's why I added some options to potential careers. Also fics with firefighter Percy are like incredibly sexy, idk why

I've been trying to keep updates regular for this fic but they're going to start becoming less regular. I'm working and posting other fics on my ao3 page if you're interested. I go under the same unsername.

Thanks for reading!