A/N: Hey guys! Back with the first drabble of 2021! Hope you like it!

Percy's not the kind of person who talks about this kind of thing. Maybe it's because he'd rather not dwell on it, but something in the way she looks in the moonlight makes the words slip out of his mouth.

"You know I always tried to pick my battles."

She turns at the sound of his voice, eyes meeting his in question, but she stays silent, letting him continue.

"But then they just started picking me. It was like no matter what I did, or didn't do, was a problem. And it was miserable."

Annabeth's hand comes to hold his and she raises it to her face, holding it just below her lips, eyes still trained on him. Her hands are warm around his and he finds himself shuffling just a little closer to her.

His past has always been a sore subject, and Annabeth being the angel that she is, has never brought it up. Even though she knows, she was there when his last two years at college went down, and probably has questions of her own.

But something about tonight, with the moonlight streaming directly through the window on the couch where they sat and the low light of the Netflix on the TV asking if they were still watching with Annabeth right by his side, makes him feel like he can talk about it.

"It's like I was in an alley, surrounded on all sides, with a knife that cut me as much as it did anyone else."

He's not sure if the poetic language is a result of the late hour of his inability to really talk through it all.

"People put me on this pedestal that I never asked for." He frowns, remembering the people who took his success in the field and made it into something bigger than him.

"And when I inevitably fell, I fell far, right down the rabbit hole and—"

He cuts himself off, unable to continue and Annabeth brings their intertwined hands to her lips, placing a soft kiss. She hasn't said a word, letting him do all the talking, but she doesn't need to say anything.

He sighs, running his other hand through his hair. "Long story short, it was a bad time."

And understatement, but it's true. He'd crumbled under the pressure, all those eyes on him, waiting for anything to happen so they could have something to say, regardless of whether or not they were involved.

"I was pushed off and I…" he struggles to find the words, "I guess I clung to the nearest…"

Red lips, pulled up in a smile, that he trusted and fell towards and…

Annabeth's looking at him with the same curious gaze, but he sees her eyes harden at these words as she clutches his hand tighter.

Yeah….he isn't a fan of her either, especially since he'd placed his trust on her and she'd...well she'd dropped it like a glass of champagne.

"Long story short," he pushes on, "it was the wrong girl."

He pulls Annabeth closer, wrapping his other arm around her and pressing a kiss to her head. "And now, I'm all about you."

She smiles, rolling her eyes, but leaning into his side.

"Seriously," he pulls back to look at her. "I dropped it all, the fighting, the sword, and found you. And it's the most peace I've had in a long time. But I swear if someone comes at us—"

He breaks off, eyes hard, the anger rising up at just the thought of someone trying to come for her.

Annabeth shakes her head, reaching forward to turn his face towards her. The softness in them makes his anger melt as she leans forward to kiss him.

Her lips feel like home and as they say, if the shoe fits…

Walk in it, everywhere you go.

He lets out a content sigh after they break apart, leaning into her warmth as she snuggles even closer, drawing up the blanket.

With her, there is no bullshit, no keeping score, no tug of war, no having to be on the lookout. Just love. Always more love.

How he had managed to find her still baffles him, she is as rare as a comet, and somehow, he has an angel in his arms.

Her hands move from the blanket she'd been adjusting and find his again. Her dark eyes meet his once more and she smiles.

"So," she says softly, speaking up for the first time. He waits in bated breath to hear what she has to say about all this.

"Long story short," she starts, bringing the hand she was holding up to her face again.

"You survived."

Percy's not the kind of person who talks about this kind of thing. Maybe its because it makes his heart swell with emotion. So, in the moonlight, he slips the ring on her finger and hopes she's as much about him as he is about her.

(She most definitely is)

A/N: Very obviously based HEAVILY off of Taylor Swift's song long story short. As soon as I heard the song I thought I have to write on this concept, of overcoming bad times to survive and even find love and thrive. I also wants to switch it to Percy's perspective because I don't think this kind of thing is covered with guys as much so it was an interesting role switch. I don't specify what went down really, I'll leave it up to you, but that's not really the important part in this piece, it's that no matter what it was, he survived it.

Also thought it was a good, sweet, percabeth drabble to ring in the new year.

Hope you guys liked this, Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

And as always, thanks for reading!

See ya! :)