Chapter 24: Hangover Anxiety

Annabeth POV

The first thought that crossed my mind when I pried my eyes open the next morning was "holy shit I need to chug a gallon of water." The second was wondering where my fake (or was he real at this point?) boyfriend was, if he wasn't snoring next to me in the lavender sheets.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and peered around the room with blurry vision. At least I had remembered to take my contacts out. The red silky dress was littered on the floor and there was an orange stain on my pillow, indicating that I did not wash my face before losing consciousness last night. One look in the full body mirror in the room showed my raccoon eyes with smudged mascara.

God it was bright in here.

As I peered around in my hungover and dazed state, I didn't notice any sign of Percy. In fact, his entire suitcase was neatly packed up in the corner of the room. That was odd. We weren't set to depart until tomorrow…. Unless something had happened last night that I had forgotten in my drunken haze. My heart dropped to my stomach.

I frantically ran through the events of last night, trying to pinpoint where things turned south. We were dancing to techno music, making out under the neon glow of the club, bumping into the bodies of other sweaty club goers, and agreeing for me to come to Aspen with him. Did I scare him off by asking? Was I misreading the situation, stupidly assuming that he wanted me to come stay with him?

I grabbed my phone off the bedside table, hoping to find some clues from the night. My jaw dropped when I saw the time. 12:33 in the afternoon. I hadn't slept past noon since college.

I opened my call history, starting there. I saw a call with an unknown number at 3 am, with a San Francisco area code. Must have been the cab driver. I briefly remembered Percy taking my phone to communicate with the man when I couldn't stop laughing while trying to explain our location to the driver. No other suspicious calls.

I opened my message app. I had texted both Piper and my smelly roommate/landlord Argus. I started with the thread with Argus, unsure what on earth I could have possibly had to say to the guy who was barely even an acquaintance.

The blue message that I had sent said "Hey roomie! Thasnks forrr the room but I gotcha move out at the end of the months. I wille cleansups before I go thx. Btw youd should wear better deodorant" I cringed at the drunken typos, and even more so at the fact that I was burning bridges with my landlord when I wasn't sure if Percy was even offering me a place to stay in Aspen, or if he just was assuming I'd just visit for a week or so. What the hell was I thinking last night?

I opened my texts with Piper. I had left her a long string of messages ranging from "I am moving to Aspen for a bit" to "I think I love him" to "He's just so perfect" and then later on in the night "I need to tell him I love him Piper he's just the best you and Jason would love him!" She had replied with a bunch of turtle emojis, our cue for a needed phone call, but also said "It's good to hear you sound so happy Annabeth, we can't wait to meet this dude, and would love to have a reason to visit Aspen. Fuck your internship and trust your heart. Jason will try to keep his fanboying down to a minimum."

At this point I felt my heart beating 150 beats per minute, and my throat clog up with anxiety. What could have gone so wrong so quickly? What did I say to Percy to scare him away? What was I thinking placing my heart in the hands of a random stranger?

I looked to the bedside table, and saw a water bottled filled to the brim with ice cold water. Shocked I had remembered to fill up my bottle last night, I took multiple large gulps of water, silently trying to calm my nerves down. I had been awake for all of 10 minutes, and I had already worked my way into a panic attack based on my quick assumptions.

My dry throat finally started to feel like I could form words and speak again, but my head began to pound. I heard slight noises coming from downstairs, but I couldn't bring myself to rise from the bed and check out the situation downstairs. I buried my head deeper into the pillow. Where was Percy?

As if he telepathically heard my thoughts, the door slowly cracked open. A mop of raven black hair popped in first, and he gently shut the door behind him, attempting to stay quiet. I slowly lifted my head and found his foam green eyes searching for mine. In his hands were two cups of coffee from the local shop down the street.

In my delirious state, probably still with remnants of alcohol still in my system, I started laughing.

Percy approached and sat on the end of the bed, setting one of the paper cups of coffee on the bedside table. I could smell the intoxicating scent.

As the bed caved in where he sat, he reached over and rubbed his hands over my messy hair, brushing the flyaways away from my face. "Good morning angel," he spoke gently as he kept stroking my curls. "I was worried you'd never wake up. Did you have some of the water? I finally figured out that fancy icemaker downstairs."

My laughs turned into tears welling in my eyes. I was sitting here assuming the worst, while this man was preemptively taking steps to make sure I felt better when I woke up. Of course he was responsible for the ice cold water next to my bed, and now my favorite latte, hand delivered.

"Hey hey," he whispered, as he watched my eyes grow wet, "It's just a hangover. And lucky for you, I am an expert at nursing these away. Lots of practice. Let me help you."

His kindness only furthered the mini meltdown I was experiencing. I did not deserve this level of thoughtfulness. It felt so foreign, yet somehow like a feeling I had been searching for my whole life.

"I thought something had happened last night, and you were gone," I croaked out as I graciously brought the latte up to my lips. The second the warm liquid hit my tongue, I felt the life flooding back into my body.

"Of course not Annabeth. I am not leaving this place unless you're coming with me," he trailed off. "Unless you're having second thoughts? I knew I should have waited until we were sober to try and convince you to come, but I just couldn't wait any longer." His green eyes bore into me, seeing into my soul.

He seemed to get nervous, and continued his word vomit, "I called Grover and asked him to start clearing out my second bedroom for your office, and even ordered a desk to put in there for you to eventually continue your design work. I know I'm asking you to completely turn your life upside down for me, but I want you to be as comfortable as possible there, but I can ask him to hold off until you see what you want to do with the space. You have full permission to decorate however your interior design eye thinks," His rate of speech kept increasing with each sentence, and I couldn't help the smile overtaking my face at his sheepishness. "I talked to my mom this morning and her and Paul want to bring the kids out to come meet you next month and do some ski lessons. Wait, do you also need lessons? I know it's been a few years since you've been on the slopes, but I am a great teacher. I should be able to get you all of the essential gear from my sponsors…"

I couldn't handle him anymore. I sat up, threw my arms around his neck, and buried my face in his freshly showered hair. As he wound his arms around my waist, I wasn't thinking about how I probably still reeked of alcohol and sweat, or how I was naked from the waist up, or any of the logistics of the move or quitting my job and finding a new one. All I could think about was how right this moment felt. And how I wanted to foster this feeling for the rest of my life.

With my face pushed up against his neck, I finally found my voice, "Slow down Sulky. I was worried I scared you away last night….. I'm not going anywhere but to Aspen with you to meet this Great Dane of yours, and Grover, and your family, and get to know all of the parts of you that I am yet to explore," my voice got quieter as I pulled back to make eye contact.

At this point both of our eyes were blurry with tears as we locked eyes. I couldn't hold back the words that had been on the tip of my tongue for the last week.

"I am in love with you Percy Jackson, and I don't care how insane that is," I laughed as his eyes twinkled and the corners of his mouth tilted up. "I want to continue this crazy adventure with you."

His hands came to grip both sides of my face and he lowered his forehead to mine. "I love you Annabeth Chase. Thank you for reminding me to love myself too."

It felt like I could finally breathe again, as he gently placed a lingering kiss on my chapped lips. I felt his smirk as he pulled away.

"We are clinically insane for this, aren't we?" Percy asked with his dimple in full display.

I brushed his hair back from his forehead, and returned the smirk with a nod. We gave each other a smile. One of those smiles that is meant only for one person.

"I allegedly already texted my landlord that I am moving out," I said. "So I'm glad you're still expecting a new guest for the foreseeable future. I was scared I was homeless."

He barked a laugh. "Not just the foreseeable future. Forever angel. You and me." His eyes finally dipped down to my exposed skin. "Now please, go take a shower and brush your teeth. You smell like tequila."

I couldn't help but laugh, as a feeling of relief settled deep into my bones. He was here; he wasn't going anywhere. We would continue to face our demons, no longer as individuals in a constant battle. But as a strategic team, who was stronger together.

"We need to call the airline to change my flight," I said as I slowly stood from the bed, Percy's hand on my waist steadying me.

"Mmm-hmmm," he murmured, as he unashamedly watched my naked body as I stood.

"I know you've already had a whole morning and took a shower, but would you like to join me Sulky?" I asked.

"Always Angel," he said with a sincerity I felt in my bones.

Authors Note: I started this story when I was 16 years old, and would have never guessed I would be here, nine years later, as a 25 year old with a full time engineering job, still contributing and writing chapters for this silly little fanfic, but here I am! I recently remembered this story, reread it, and experienced the little love story again, loved it, and realized that you readers deserve a conclusive ending, no matter how rushed and long overdue it may be. If you have been a long time reader, or if you just discovered this fic, THANK YOU for reading and supporting. There will be one (maybe two) more chapter(s) and maybe an epilogue after that! Hopefully formatting looks okay...