I have a oneshot I wrote for christmas. Currently like 30,000 words but its not finished yet. I'm wondering if I should just finish it up and post it? Or leave it for next christmas.

Chapter 10

With time, he was able to at least control the memory. It was the first step in shuffling it away. In the meantime, he avoided all topics revolving around anything remotely similar. There were times that he could see in Annabeth's face that she wanted to ask something but he never encouraged her to do so. Just like he avoided other things.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?" Percy answered less than elegantly. It was hard to speak with peanut butter and bread glued to the roof of your mouth. Harder still was when you were eating and rushing to get out the door at the same time. All the while, Nico's curious gaze never separated from him.

"Some guy named Leo called while you were out. Wanted to know if you were down to having a few drinks with these other people?" Nico scrunched his eyebrows together. "You know him?"

"Mmh Mmmm." Percy garbled through his full cheeks as he yanked on a jacket. How late he was pinning him in the back of his mind.

She's gonna kill me.

Nico's confusion seemed to deepen. "Going out somewhere?"

His eyes were still trained solely on Percy, oddly enough. The game console wasn't even on. Nico was just chilling in the living room. Something he'd never done before.

"Meeting Annabeth at the beach." He finally swallowed as he tugged on his boots. The laces felt awkward in his fingers as he scrambled to move faster.

"I thought you said you weren't dating her." Nico rolled his eyes.

"I'm not."

"Really bro? You're going for a walk on the beach with this chick almost daily and you still won't confess?"

"I'm not dating her." Percy grumbled a final time, stepping out the door. A small nod in farewell tipping off his head before he shut the door tightly behind him. Clouds of vapor trailed behind him as he shoved his hands into the depths of his pocket.

Jack, he pondered slowly. Leo called the homeline for me.

Finding his way to the beach was as easy as a needle following the groove of a record. Took him less than ten minutes from the second he stepped out his door to wind up on stiff sand. Quietly enjoying the brisk smell of salty waves and how the brittle wind pinched his cheeks. A spring of familiarity warmed his heart as he stared up to the sky painted in white frosty clouds.

Are you sad?

No. Not right now. The world was fresh and beautiful, and he had a friend waiting for him.

At the beach, light and life buzzed around the quaint seafood restaurant from within its panes of foggy glass Percy noticed. He could make out a couple of faces peering out at the odd girl sitting cross legged on the bright red blanket with a book in her fingers. Percy's heart did a little spin and he jogged up to her.

"It's freezing," Percy said happily.

Annabeth snapped her head up at him and glowered upon recognition. "You're late."

"And you're sitting in negative weather to read a book. Aren't you cold?"

"I'm warmed by well written words and the company of the waves." Annabeth answered stiffly, returning to her story.

"Just admit it, you're cold." Percy smirked. Seating himself next to her with such umph that he bumped her shoulder. Annabeth paused to give him a drawn out death glare.

"What makes me cold is the state of affairs the world has fallen into and people with the punctuality of a sloth with a limp."

"You're mad and cold."

"Just mad."

"But also cold."

"Tell me I'm cold one more time and I'll carve your eyes out with a spoon, blend them into a smoothie before force feeding it to you. Maybe then you can look inside yourself and figure out what happened to make you such a tardy mess," Annabeth seethed.

Percy put his hands up in surrender. He didn't comment when she went back to her book in silence. A knot of confusion and concern bobbed around in his gut.

Something's up.

There was a rigidness in her fingers, and in the way she gripped the pages. Beneath her eyes was a notable sag, and tint of purple he hadn't noticed at first. Following the deep line down from her nose to the edge of her mouth, Percy found that she was unconsciously pursing her lips which created dimples in her cold kissed cheeks.

Not to mention between the sound of waves and distant clicks and chatter from the diner to their far left, he could hear the angry whale noises of an empty stomach rattling from under her layers of coats and sweaters.

Delicately, he reached out his hand and grazed it over hers. Prying her fingers from the edge of paper and pushing the cover closed. Annabeh jerked her head at him with distaste leaching through her grey eyes. Before she could voice a single word Percy had reached up and placed a finger on her plush lips.

"We," he said in a very deliberate seriousness, "are going to a cool little restaurant I know of."

Annabeth scowled and shoved his hand away. "Why?"

"Because you're cold and hungry and tired," Percy explained. "And that's making you grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy." She harrumphed like a child. Turning away to bury her nose into her book again. Evidently done with the conversation and with the idea of leaving the beach.

Unfortunately, Percy wasn't taking no for an answer.

Nonchalantly he whipped the red wooly blanket up around her form and without missing a beat, hoisted her onto his shoulder and started off. For a moment he stumbled from her weight lopsiding his body but he soon found his footing and chugged forward. Grinning at her muffled shouts and curses and feeble kickings and struggles. He had barely made it to the sidewalk before he needed to put her down.

She was like trying to hold up a fish made of butter.

"Perseus Jackson!" Annabeth smacked his chest. Anger burned in a brooding shade from her thunderstorm eyes. "How fucking dare you… you… you kidnapper!"

"Well you can either walk the rest of the way, or be carried," Percy smirked at her again.

Annabeth conjured her most threatening glare and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. If Percy didn't know her, he might've been intimidated. But Percy knew her.

Unpleasant? Yes.

Impossible? Absolutely.

But the weight of her curses and namecalling had long since faded.

"Carried it is." He outstretched her arms towards her.

Annabeth scuttled away with a defensive hiss. Like a kitten threatened by a spray of water.

"Then walk."

"No. I'm not going. I won't be forced to do something."

Percy shot her an unimpressed look then scooped up her book lying splayed on the sidewalk next to the rumpled blanket.

"Fine, then I'm keeping this hostage."

"But that's a library book!"

"Then you'll just have to deal with getting a late fee," Percy said behind a wicked grin.

Annabeth balked. Heated fight trembling over every surface of her body. He could see her weighing the options in her eyes. One of them might've been lunging at him and throttling his neck until his face turned blue. Finally she cursed and whipped up the blanket off the ground.

"I'll go but I'm not eating anything!"

.:oOo:.

She ate almost as much as a python does in one sitting. At first she wouldn't even glance at the large plate divided up by steak, french fries, and cesar salad. After a while, Percy had to pretend like he didn't see her sneaking a fry or two as he diligently crunched down on his own food in silence. At last her hunger won and she abandoned her pride the moment she plucked up the knife and fork to cut into the tender sides of the steak.

Percy pretended not to notice this either. Instead he examined every little part of the tiny restaurant to keep his eyes away from her. Studying the short row of old empty booths stretched with red seats and the wall lined with framed newspaper clippings of events he didn't recognize. In the corner sat a single man with salt and pepper hair and beard, sipping on a slow coffee in a white porcelain mug. His back against the large saltwater aquarium set aglow in blue and coasting with vibrant fish. From behind Percy came the shine of the late evening sun through the advertisement riddled glass front door. It spilled across their table and illuminated Annabeth, bringing out the gold in her hair and the silver in her eyes. Under her coat, she was still in her work clothes.

Percy had been there several times already. He knew the floor was black and white tiled, he knew the hanging light fixtures above occasionally flickered, he knew the owner of the joint, Ruth, liked to sit out back with a cigarette hung between her weathered lips. There was no other reason for him to glance around so religiously other than to keep his eyes off of Annabeth. For her pride, he guessed.

When her plate was empty Annabeth set aside her utensils with business-like intent, crossed her arms on the table and looked him dead in the eye. Unwaveringly so.

"Thanks," she said casually. As if Percy didn't have to struggle to get her to go there in the first place.

"You're tired," Percy returned. He was willing to bet that with the copious amounts of food she just ate, the heavy warmth filling the diner and the soft background music playing she would be feeling dozy pretty soon.

In response she looked down. Fracturing her image of perfect calmness. "I am."

"Is something wrong?" Percy tilted his head to the side to try and catch her gaze.

He said it with ease and aloofness. A nicety, he didn't truly expect her to take the question too seriously. But it changed her. Something in her eyes steeped, her shoulders straightened. When their gazes locked, Percy felt every ounce of carefree happiness he'd been feeling all that day dry in less time then it took for his heart to skip a beat.

Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.

Annabeth released a deep shaky sigh and shook her head. The kind of sigh that came right before a stream of tears, and a symphony of throat achy sobs. Dejectedly, she unfolded a hand and laid it upwards on the table towards Percy. Seeking comfort.

Something lurched in his chest. She didn't honestly expect him to take her hand, did she? Was she really okay with that? Was she really that desperate? Swallowing hard, he extended his hand towards her. Thinking of it, thinking of it, thinking of it.

Sinner. Sinner. Sinner.

Wait, exactly how many people had he killed with those hands again?

Clearing his throat, Percy pulled back again. Covering it by scratching the back of his neck. "What's wrong?"

Annabeth was still staring at her plate. Not meeting his eyes. A slight tremble in her jaw as if she were reconsidering telling him anything at all. But then-

"Someone… someone tried to break into my house again last night," she whispered.

A flare of hot scurried through Percy's blood, making his hair rise with anger.

"What?!"

"They tried getting in through my bedroom skylight while I was asleep… if it wasn't for my security system I would be… " Trembling, she released another one of those sighs. Without another word she raised her hand to her face to rub the tension out from the bridge of her nose. Hiding her lower lip under a row of teeth.

A throb ached his heart.

"Did they catch whoever was-"

"No."

"Did you at least see what they looked like?"

"All I could focus on was the thing they were holding." A tremble passed through her shoulders. "I… I think it was a taser stick. It was long and black and-"

"Here's your double chocolate, hot fudge, banana split for two." The waitress suddenly appeared and set a shallow dish on the table. Annabeth instantly snapped upright as if she had been stung. "Can I get you two anything else? How about a refill on those sodas."

Percy stared at the pile of plump balls of ice cream cradled on two pale bananas and peppered with chocolate dipped strawberries. On the tip of the mound poked out a chocolate cookie heart and the whole thing was swimming in fragrant hot fudge sauce.

"No thanks," Percy uttered. "And we didn't order this."

"Oh I know, doll. It's from the couple at the end there. They're a fan of young love and just wanted you to know that they wish you two all the happiness in the world. You're awfully sweet together, they said."

Percy glanced over Annabeth's shoulder down to where the waitress was pointing. Sure enough two elderly faces stared back at him with wide grins. The man was missing one of his front teeth so he had the odd aura of a six year old who just got a baseball to the mouth.

Percy gave his most convincing smile back to them accompanied by a friendly wave while Annabeth ducked her head down below their sight. Hiding behind her own curtain of golden hair.

When the waitress left, Percy softly reached across the table and grabbed a single curl. Tugging it to catch Annabeth's flighty attention.

"You were saying?" he whispered. Dropping his head to her level, close to the top of the hard plastic table top.

Annabeth diverted her gaze from him. The red that tainted her cheeks started to leak down the curves of her neck. She looked like she was struggling to catch a decent breath.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine," she sputtered. "I'm… I'm just..."

"Scared?"

"I'm not scared." Her tone was instantly frosted in anger.

"Okay," Percy said calmly. Pulling back a little and averting his gaze a bit. "But I hope you know that makes you a bit of a freak."

Her eyes were on him. Trying to unwork him. Trying to figure out his words before he explained. Trying to get one step ahead of him through figuring out the mechanics of his brain.

"So you'd be scared then?" she tried to rationalize. "Of someone trying to get into your house?"

"While they were holding something that looked like a giant taser?" Percy asked back as if it were obvious. "Fuck yes. I'd piss my pants."

Which was only a half truth, but half true all the same.

Again, she held him in that soul sucking stare. Drawing him in as he was captivated by how he could see her mind spin behind her eyes.

"Let's just say I'm not comfortable with what happened last night." she said quietly. Still unwilling to admit her fears but self correcting her intentions again.

"Who would be?" Percy sympathized gently.

He wished he'd grabbed her hand when he had the chance. She looked so alone, so small, a being in need of comfort. Remembering the hug she gave him in her kitchen not so long ago… How many people did she have to comfort her?

Idiot.

"Do you want to talk it out?" he offered instead.

Annabeth shook her head.

"Then what do you want to talk about?"

Annabeth paused thoughtfully. A searching element in her eyes when she reached out and plucked the cookie chocolate heart right off its mountain of melty cream. She broke it in half, and held out a ragged piece to him as she took a little bite of her own.

Percy's heart plunged in his chest with a dizzying warmth. It felt like a sin to eat the cookie she had just offered to him so freakin adorably, but he followed her lead and took a bite anyway. Finishing it in two.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

Percy made a face out of perplexion. "Thanks for what? Eating that cookie?"

Annabeth ignored him and heaved in a breath. Like she was preparing to climb a mountain, or had just learned that she was next up on the public speaking platform.

"It's easier to be brave when you feel like you're not alone," she said.

Percy just about died. Waves of tingles were strangling him.

Give her something. Give her warmth. Anything. You fool. She needs physical affirmation. Warmth.

Shakily, with his heart in his throat, he reached across the table and brushed the hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. But it was wrong, it backfired the moment he made contact. That was all he was supposed to do, clear her hair from her face.

The moment he tips of his fingers grazed against the heat of her skin it was like he was reeled in. Enveloped. His hand lingered, then traced down the side of her jaw until he could push her face up by the smooth underside of her chin. Connecting their eyes in a deep lock.

Now he couldn't stop.

"You are so much braver than I could ever be," he breathed.

And it was true.

Everytime he felt like he was in danger he fled. A new place, a new country, a new city, a new home. He never had the courage to even think about trying for a new life.

And when it came to emotions, he had rocks. Not bravery.

Abort. Abort. His brain warned. It was misfiring obviously. His heart was pounding, hammering against his head and ribcage. His lungs were tight. Just as he was about to pull away, Annabeth melted into his touch. He thought his heart would split out of his chest. The way her deep grey eyes softened sent him spinning in a way that drowned him in confusion.

Sinner. Something deep inside of him was screaming in protest. SINNER.

"See there Martha, ice cream solves all sorts of fights," a scraggly voice said.

Instantly Annabeth shied away from his hand, and Percy retracted himself to his own side of the booth. It took a few minutes to stabilize his faulty organs and even then his face burned a persistent pink.

The elderly couple from the back were walking by. Arm in arm.

"Shhhh George. They'll hear you."

"I hope to heaven they do," George said. Clearly raising his near bald eyebrows at Percy. "Y'know how many times I cured my honey of her anger episodes with just a little bit of sugar? Enough to last a marriage that's what."

Martha slapped her husband on the shoulder with her weak vein webbed hand. "George Anguis! Leave the poor boy alone, he's got it under control."

George elbowed his wife out of the way and leaned in. Sharply smelling of dryer lint and musty ear ointment. A vibrant look in his murky green eyes. "I always have a little bag of marshmallow mice on me. Those are her favorites."

Martha snagged her husband by the ear and dragged him away with an apologetic smile. Primping her grey curls with her other ring ladened hand and ignoring Georges squawks in protest.

"Don't listen to him. Darling if you want my advice then just don't propose by the side of a lake. Too many mosquitoes out there. That's all I have to say."

"Propose?" Percy felt the heat rise in his cheeks. A flutter of butterflies followed.

"Oh come now, don't play bashful." Martha grinned in yellow. "I saw the look in your darling girl's eye. You've got her hook, line and sinker. Isn't that right sweetie?"

"Uuh," Annabeth was more vivid than a stop light.

A giddy spray of bubbles flurried through Percy's gut. Seeing Annabeth so tongue tied, so embarrassed, so shy was priceless. This was an opportunity he had to take on.

"Plus she's prettier than a buttercup in june. You'd be an idiot to let this one go," George said while rubbing his ear.

"Naw, I wouldn't marry her because she's pretty," Percy waved off.

George and Martha looked taken aback.

"I'd marry her because she's feisty." Percy leaned towards the couple to say. As if it were some great secret he had to share.

Annabeth's face instantly dropped two shades darker, and a deep cantankerous glare rose in her stormy eyes. A clear what do you think you're doing? written in those pools.

"Plus she has the temper of a raccoon forced out of hibernation," Percy smirked at her. "Augh, and don't get me started on her know-it-all rants. Such an egg-head this one."

George laughed a weak wispy noise, displaying his gap tooth smile. "So she's passionate. She's a fighter-"

"-and smart to boot," Percy finished.

"We'll leave you lovers to it then. Wouldn't want your ice cream to melt," Martha said while tugging on George's arm. "Nice to meet the two of you!"

With a creak from the old glass door and a whoosh of frigid air they were gone. Leaving a light smile on Percy's until he caught Annabeth's dark expression.

"What?" he asked defensively. "They gave us ice-cream. I wasn't going to tell them the truth!"

Annabeth just glared, bright red, and tugged the ice cream dish onto her side of the table. Chowing in silently with venom in her eyes. When he reached for it, she hissed at him, mimicking a raccoon.

Percy could only smile.

.:oOo:.

The thought of leaving Annabeth alone for even a moment while another sinner was on her tail made Percy sick. If he glanced away for even a second she could be gone forever. This turned on his stalker mode.

The next day he found himself across the street again, feet dangling down from the dizzying height and staring into her office. Everytime she brushed out to deliver some paperwork for a colleague, or get some coffee, or even go to the bathroom, Percy would hold his breath.

He specialized in taking lives, not preserving them.

Somehow he found himself obsessively browsing first aid videos. How to stitch wounds, how to staunch bleeding, how to deliver CPR and mouth to mouth resuscitation to another person. Things he never learned, and things he never thought he needed to learn.

Whenever he was injured in his line of work he'd stagger into an underground doctors office. Usually, a person who had been to med school but had their license revoked. They charged less, and had the good graces to never keep a record of your existence.

How will I make her vomit if she ingests poison? Percy pondered. Scrolling through more videos on his phone. Taking a second to glance up to make sure that Annabeth was still tapping away at her computer. What would I do if she was asphyxiated?

Stressed, Percy ran a hand through his hair and hit the home button on his screen. All those videos were in case an accident took place. There wasn't exactly a 'How to prevent death when attacked by an assassin 101'.

It was cold. He'd been out there for hours sitting next to icicles and clapping his hands together for warmth. Everytime he even entertained the idea of going inside to warm up he was hit with the terror of losing Annabeth.

My one and only friend. Percy gazed at her again. Propping up one knee so he could rest his chin on it.

He didn't know how she made a semi-messy ponytail so business appropriate but she did. By the expression puckering up her pretty face, she was dealing with something difficult. A mass of calculations or a messy report someone had submitted.

Percy hugged his knee. A glowing warmth blossoming in his chest. He remembered how she sat across from them in that diner. Eyes shining, lips parted as she relaxed into his palm.

Suddenly an image invaded his mind. That night, her house, how he pressed a gun to the side of her face. His intentions, his willingness at the start, his cruel uncaring nature.

Sinner. Sinner. SINNER.

Percy shook his head clear of thoughts and sighed. How ridiculous was he to dwell on those small moments? Even sitting on those thoughts was… was…

Preposterous.

Annabeth abruptly stood up and left the room. A file of papers in her grip. Percy's heart clenched.

Please come back. Please, please please come back.

Anxiously he chewed the corner of his lip. Not stopping when he tasted blood.

The door to her office opened again. Percy let go a long exhale.

But it wasn't her.

It was a man.

Hope you guys are having a wonderful break! I was on discord recently and saw a few people who were excited to be able to catch up in reading. I would echo that excitement if I didn't have such a busy holiday season :')