Percy was woken up by a nurse for a check-up; it didn't bother him, the checkups, but when the checkup was at seven, it did make him a bit cranky. Especially when it was a winter morning and he liked to stay all cosy in his warm blanket, and the nurse poked cold metal around his chest and asked him questions while he was still drunk on sleep.

He was now bored, constantly switching channels on the TV screen as the remote control kept lagging, making him increasingly frustrated. In desperation, he even tried banging the remote against his other hand, only for it to fly off and land on the floor. This incident left him flustered, as a woman who had been staring at him for the past ten minutes seemed to be getting impatient.

Percy bent down, being careful not to rip his stitches, as he scrambled for the remote. It was still far from his reach; he sighed and sat up straight. He peeked at the reception area; the woman was now walking toward him.

He gaped at her as she picked up the remote, setting it beside his bed. She was analyzing him, which just made him even more uncomfortable; finally, she spoke.

"So you are Perseus Jackson ?" she asked calmly

"Yess...and you are? " Percy asked narrowing his eyes, trying to come up with a name.

"Annabeth didn't tell me she married someone, " she said, completely ignoring his question.

Percy raised an eyebrow; he strained to come up with a response but couldn't figure out who she was, so he obviously couldn't tell her. If she was mad about the marriage, how mad would she be when she found out the real reason?

"I'm aware of the deal you made," she said bitterly. "Annabeth is a good surgeon... I find it hard to believe that she would agree to something like this." The harshness in her eyes and voice was very evident. She looked a lot like Annabeth, and it hit him - this wasn't just some random woman, this was Annabeth's mother.

Percy was seriously at a loss for words; should he talk back to his wife's mother, or should he just ignore her? Well, he couldn't ignore her, not with her piercing gaze; she looked like she wanted to burn him alive.

So Percy settled with the approach which seemed least likely to get him injured "Dr Chase, I presume...? The marriage was out of convenience for me but I can assure you...we have discussed this matter thoroughly, and she is completely okay with the... Arrangement."

"It doesn't please me that you are exploiting my daughter," she said, pointing a finger at him, which just added to his agitation. "This is inappropriate and fraudulent... I won't let my only daughter throw away her bright career like this." She paused, then pointed again. "This is going to end, very soon. I'll see to that."

Percy was at the end of his breaking point, but what Dr Chase was saying...was pretty much the truth; it was endangering Annabeth's career, and if anyone caught them, they could end up in jail.

He looked at her and spoke as calmly as possible, trying not to aggravate her even more. "I have no intention of hurting Annabeth; truly…I'm sorry if it hurts your feelings."

She looked at him as if he were an alien, just blabbering some nonsensical gibberish that she couldn't comprehend.

"Mom?" Annabelle said slowly walking into the room, a confused expression itching its way onto her face. She looked at him briefly, a mortified look on his face as he mouthed "I'm sorry".

She gave him a reassuring glance back, slightly shaking her head. She looked back at her mother who was struggling to smile at her, a weak and false one.

"Annabeth, I just had the pleasure to meet your husband. He seemed to have the idea that, you are all okay with this nonsense notion."

Annabeth crossed her arms, trying to build her confidence. "This is between us, Mother. Please don't interfere."

Athena looked outraged by that, God this was going very wrong, and he got the front seat to it.

"You don't want me to interfere, you are what you are because of me, had I hadn't interfered, you would have been a slimy architect, at some low firm ."

Annabeth's eyes showed a look of despair, but it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by a look of confidence; "I'm not having this conversation again. What's done is done, you should leave. Dr. Chiron wanted to meet you, he's waiting."

Athena clenched her jaw, refraining from saying anything else, she looked back at Percy, a clear warning on her face. She turned around, looking at Annabeth she spoke "We'll talk after my meeting " As she left.

Annabeth's shoulders relaxed from the tension, she walked over to him sighing as she looked down "I'm sorry bout that, she's just stressed "

Percy smiled softly as he took hold of her hand, this made her look at him. "It's ok, I don't mind, " he said as she gave him a weak smile, she smelled of sweet lemon, her hair in a perfect ponytail, they stared at each other in a way that was not uncomfortable..., her beeper suddenly went off, breaking their eye contact as she fished it out, groaning a bit as she pushed it back in her pocket.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" Percy asked, his voice sounding like a thick whisper, sending chills down her spine. She cleared her throat, no longer looking at him.

She blinked, letting go of his hand, "I -I have to go, I'll meet you later " she fumbled as she hurriedly walked away, leaving him curious and wistful.

"Take your medications regularly, and check your blood sugar often. If you feel strange, nauseated, or have excessive sweating, go to the hospital, okay?"

Percy nodded at the nurse, giving her a thumbs up. She picked up his chart and made her way out. Annabeth was waiting at the doorframe; she smiled at the nurse and slowly walked into the room.

She said, "Hey," as she shoved her hands into her coat pockets and smiled at him.

"Hey," Percy said as he zipped his bag and turned towards her.

"So, officially discharged, how are you feeling?"

"Considering that I've done this a thousand times, pretty okay, what about you, your shift's over?"

She said, "I just got out of there, thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing before my mom finds me." She shrugged her shoulders.

"that bad?"

"She is the epitome of ludicrous," she said waving her hands in exaggeration .

Percy nodded; she seemed stressed, possibly because of her mother. But was it all because of him? If she hadn't married him, all of this wouldn't be happening. He looked at her, wondering if he should ask her to come with him, would she think it was weird, would it make things awkward?

"Look, I usually go to this place after my procedures; it calms my mind, it's relaxing and peaceful, and...well, it's just really good." He paused, wondering if he should continue, but why not? It might as well go all the way. "I was wondering if you wanted to come as well; it'll take your mind off things, it'll be good for you."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, deciding as she bit her lip. Finally, she looked at her watch and then at him, smiling.

"Um, sure.…. I'd like that "

Percy gave her a grin, his eyes shining bright " alright, then, let's go "

"You go ahead," Annabeth said. "I'll join you in the parking lot. I've got something to take care of first."

"Okay, I'll be waiting," Percy said, hoisting his bag onto his shoulder. He walked out, waving to the receptionist who smiled at him. A few minutes later, he was out of the hospital and in the car. As soon as he got seated, he pulled out his phone and went straight to the call log.

He called his mom, taking a deep breath, he put the phone to his ear, he was going to tell her the truth about everything, not on the phone but personally. Can't really tell someone you don't have a kidney on the phone, nope, it would be better face-to-face.

"Hey Percy," his mom's sweet voice came over the phone.

"Hey Mom "

"How's everything going, honey?" she asked.

"Everything's good; I just haven't talked to you in a while. I was thinking about dropping by a couple of days later." He said.

"Of course, Percy. I'll even bake you your favorite chocolate chip cookies; you know Estelle loves them too—last time, I couldn't save any for Paul," she said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I remember; how's her school?" he asked.

"Actually, she does pretty well in math. She has a bit of difficulty with fractions though."

"God, I hated fractions," he mumbled.

"Oh, I remember…that was so long ago," she said laughing. "Anyway, how's the job? Any recent dives you want to tell me about?"

"It's just the same old, nothing new " he lied, waving his hands through his hair.

"Okay, be cautious though; I don't like the idea of you swimming alongside great whites," she said.

"Don't worry, mom," he said, looking in the rearview mirror as Annbeth walked toward his car. "I'll talk to you later, mom. Something just came up."

"Okay dear, visit soon."

"Yah okay mom, love you, " he said as he cut the call, The door to the passenger seat opened, Annabeth sat down, giving him a smile .

"so where is this secret place?" Annabeth asked as she finished putting on the seatbelt.

"Now, what's the fun in that?" Percy asked.

"How do I know you're not going to get me killed at some shady place?"

"Are you asking if I'm a serial killer?"

"maybe ...are you?"

"I don't know, how many kills does it take to become a serial killer?"

"I'd say about 3 "

"Ooooh, missed by one...maybe you could be my third?" Percy said, raising his eyebrows and smiling mischievously.

"No thanks, I've already become your wife and that's the best you're going to get."

Percy laughed, shaking his head as he spoke. "Then, as your husband, have some faith on me ."

"alright , but just so you know I do cut people for a living " Annabeth said raising her eyebrow.

Percy let out a laugh, turning towards her. "I'll gladly let you cut me open," he said with a glint in his eye and a smile on his lips.

Annabelle's eyes met his, slightly lowering her gaze to his lips, then his beautiful neck. Her eyes shifted back to his eyes; he was still staring back at her.

She looked away, clearing her throat, trying hard to breathe again. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," she said, looking out the window.

Percy scrunched his eyebrows. "Anyway, I won't kill you...not until we need insurance." He glanced around. "This place is a bit on the hillside."

"So you are taking me to some shady place?"

"Just be patient; I guarantee it's nothing you've seen before."

Annabeth's phone started to ring, and she pulled it out of her purse. "It's Piper," she said before picking up the phone.

"Yeah I'm with Percy, " she said, listing to Piper's blabbing ," yeah no, don't wait up", she kept humming, finally ending the call.

They sat in silence, listening to the soft radio playing in the background, Annabeth looked out the window, and after a while of driving the road started getting rougher and deserted .

"Well, we're nearly there," Percy said as he drove into the thick woods, finally coming to a stop near a tall tree.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and said, "We'll have to walk a bit."

"Okay…" Annabeth said slowly getting out of the car; now she could make out her surroundings, the forest had grown even thicker ahead, meaning there was no way for a car to drive through it.

Percy grabbed a blanket from his backseat, Annabeth raised an eyebrowlooking at it , "Don't worry, it's for the ground; just follow me and be careful, there are a lot of rocks."

Annabeth looked at the way they had come from, biting her lip. It was awfully quiet. "Annabeth," Percy called out for her.

She carefully walked up to him, and they started walking up the hill. She stumbled a couple of times, but Percy walked as if he had done it a thousand times, knowing exactly where each pit lay and where the ground was slippery.

After five minutes of trekking, the woods became less thick, until they came to a clearing, which was a cliff, overlooking the city, and the open sky filled with tiny stars and the full moon. It was simply breathtaking, Annabeth stated at aw, taking in a deep breath of fresh air.

"So do you like it ?" Percy asked, from his place on the blanket, he was sat up, his arms supporting him.

She walked toward him, removing her shoes as she sat beside him. "Gosh, it's beautiful," she said delightedly. "How did you find it?" she asked, facing him.

"It was when I found out about my disorder that things started to get tough; I was emotionally and financially struggling, so one day I just drove, with no destination in mind. I kept driving, and my car broke down." He chuckled. "Literally, on the side of the road. I called Grover; he said it would take him some time, so I wandered into the woods...I know that was dumb, to go into the woods alone, at night, but look what came out of that."

He gestured to the surroundings. "It's just so soothing," he said, then leaned back on the blanket. "Look at the sky," he continued. "Just endless, the stars which are light-years away from us, shining so brightly."

She looked up at the sky, lying beside him; the designs of the constellations, the slight blue tint on the sky merging with the black, the cool breeze slightly crashing against her face. She closed her eyes, taking it all in.

"I can't even hear the noise of the city, the crazy bustling of the crowd, the honking cars, no stupid drunk idiots, nothing. Just pure silence and the sound of nature "She suddenly opened her eyes and turned towards him "There are no bears here, right ?"

Percy let out a laugh, "don't worry there's a very slim chance of a bear coming here "

"And how can you be so sure ?" she said suddenly alert

"Because it's the hills and I've never seen a bear here, like ever," he said exaggerating.

"That doesn't sound very assuring to me, " Annabeth said, nevertheless lying back on the blanket, looking at the sky again.

"It's gorgeous, Percy, " she said scanning around, " it is" he replied, she looked at him grinning but he was already looking at her, softly smiling, looking at her lost in a trance.z

Her eyes met his deep green one, his eyes shifted to her lips, and he swallowed, making his Adam's apple prominent, his eyes met hers again, and they were inches apart, Percy leaned in, and he could feel her breath on his face just as she closed the gap between them.