It had been a full three minutes since Percy swam beneath the waves, and Annabeth was getting impatient. She was standing in the ocean, her mother's nemesis's domain, clutching a handful of pretty seashells as the waves lapped against her body.
Percy had assured her it was safe, and she didn't doubt him, but it still made her nervous every time she went into any large body of water.
She waited another two minutes before she gave up, and called for him to come back and get her out of there already.
"Seaweed brain, hurry up! The tides are rising, and I'm close to freezing!" she yelled towards where he last appeared. The waves softened a bit, and somewhere nearer to her, Percy stood up from the ocean, seeming like he materialised there.
"So impatient huh, Wise Girl? I just met this crab named Sebastian, and we hit off immediately. He gave some great tips on the areas with more seashells."
"Yeah well, not all of us can withstand the waves and the winds that continuously attempt to blow me apart." She rolled her eyes, and offered an empty hand to him.
He reached into the pocket of his swim trunks and opened them, revealing a colourful variety of conch shells, lightning welk shells, and sand dollars, and poured them into her outstretched hand. Her eyes lit up at a pink conch shell.
"You know what this is perfect for? A pendant! I'm pretty sure the Arts & Crafts Center has tools to punch little holes in them," she exclaimed happily. Percy smiled at her excitement over the tiny shells, and put on his best puppy eyes as he looked at her pleadingly.
"One more dive, please?" he begged. She rolled her eyes again, but nodded, smiling. "Yay, love you Wise Girl! If you're cold, you should get on shore first." Annabeth made a noise of approval and slowly made her way towards the beach.
"I hate the feeling of sand stuck between my toes," she grumbled as she waded out of the shallow waves, stumbling at a branch sitting at the bottom of the water. Percy laughed in reply, and dove into the water again.
Her towel was still neatly folded on their picnic mat on the sand, and she wrapped it around her body, shivering against the sea breeze. The seashells went into the small compartment of the tote bag she brought here, and she sighed at the soothing sound of waves lapping against the beach. The sun was close to setting, and the clouds were already a gorgeous shade of pink with purple.
Percy appeared once again, closer to the beach than last time. Water dripped from his messy hair as he walked back onto the beach, and he waved at her cheerfully. She waved back, turning her gaze from the sunset to him.
"Look what I found!" he called out. "You'll definitely love this."
She stood up excitedly, wrapping the towel around her body again as she ran over to where he was. He winked at her, and took out more seashells, brighter and more colorful than the last batch.
"I didn't pick too many, but I found some really gorgeous ones. Here's a near perfect sand dollar you can definitely make into a charm or pendant," he said, placing it onto her palm. "Here's a tulip banded shell that absolutely fits the colour scheme of the conch you really loved." At this, he pulled out the seashell, sandy grey with purple bands around it, true to its name.
"Last but not leasttt–" his eyes twinkled at this, and he pulled out something from his pocket, smaller in size than the seashells he gave her. She reached over, and he opened his hand to reveal a gold ring, intricately made with small diamonds lining the side, and a large oval-cut emerald in the center.
He knelt on one knee, and Annabeth's eyes widened as she realized what was going on.
"Annabeth Chase, I have been confused and lost and lonely my entire life, but one thing I was always certain of was my love for you. I have loved you since the day we met, when you told me I drooled in my sleep, and I appreciate all my time with you since then, whether it's going on quests, saving the world, or having small coffee dates. I really enjoyed our time together as a couple, but I think we were always destined for more. Annabeth Lynn Chase, will you marry me, so we can spend our eternity together?" he asked, smiling up at her.
She nodded excitedly, tears gliding down her cheeks as he placed the ring delicately onto her ring finger, and hugged her tightly.
"Oh my gods I didn't think this would happen so soon, but YES of course I would love to spend our eternity together!" she replied, wiping at her tears. He laughed with joy, and kissed her gently, their promises of forever lingering in the breeze that blew delicately across the ocean.
AN: Heyya! It's super close to finals for me, and that's apparently also when I get the most motivation for writing. Really wanted to write more Percabeth fluff, so here this is haha. Hope you enjoyed the story 3