#ananbeth

The front door of the apartment bursts open and Annabeth stumbles over the threshold as Percy holds her waist from behind, trying to keep her balanced. She cackles as he hooks her arm around his neck to keep her upright long enough to make it over to the couch where she sits with a plop. Percy takes a knee in front of her and begins to unlace her shoes.

“Thanks again for picking me up,” she says as she swings her feet, adding a challenge to Percy’s task. “That bartender was being such a buzzkill.”

Percy laughs as he grabs her ankle to hold it still long enough to slip her first shoe off. “I don’t know, I think I might have to agree that you hit the Woo Woo’s a little hard.”

Annabeth frowns as Percy pulls off her other shoe. “Then don’t run a promotion called Woo Woo Wednesday.”

Percy shrugs. “That’s a fair point… Still, it’s not really like you to party in the middle of the week. Everything okay?”

Annabeth bites her bottom lip and looks down at her mismatched socks, wiggling her toes. “Dad stuff,” she answers quietly.

“Ah,” he says, grunting as he lifts himself up to sit next to her. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

She leans into him ever so slightly, the feel of his steady shoulder against hers providing immediate comfort. “Him and the boys aren’t coming to visit after all. Seems they had a family trip planned that they had… forgotten about.”

“Family trip,” Percy repeats with a scoff. He shakes his head, and puts his hand on top of hers. “I’m sorry, Annabeth.”

She swallows hard, trying to ignore the rumble of the peach schnapps and vodka deep in her gut as she wipes away a stray tear. “He didn’t even realize what he said.”

“Did you get to talk to your brothers?”

She shakes her head. “They were at a Boy Scouts meeting or something. My dad was cagey  about it.”

Percy is silent as he presses his body a bit closer to Annabeth’s. They have had a version of this same conversation for years, and it never gets any easier.

“Should we get you to bed?” he finally asks.

Annabeth silently nods, letting Percy lift her to her feet. They stand still for a moment to give her some time to steady herself with her hands on Percy’s shoulders.

“Why won’t he ever just be my dad?” Annabeth asks as her voice cracks and her hands squeeze Percy. “No matter what I do, he just… He won’t be mine.”

Percy reaches out for her, his thumb softly stroking her cheekbone before tucking a loose curl behind her ear. “I don’t know,” he answers honestly. “But he’s a fucking idiot for choosing to not be part of your life.”

Annabeth sniffles, and again wipes at her tears. “Percy?”

“Yeah?”

“Will… Will you hug me?” she asks with a sigh. “If you don’t hug me right now I might fall apart.”

Without hesitation, Percy steps into Annabeth’s space to wrap his arms around her and hug her as tightly as possible. They stay like that for a few moments, until that familiar rumble rolls through Annabeth’s stomach.

“Percy, I don’t feel so good,” she announces.

“That turned fast,” he teases, quickly pulling away and transporting her to the bathroom where he holds her hair as the Woo Woo’s fight back.

“Thanks,” she mumbles through a mouthful of toothpaste while she brushes her teeth.

Percy leans against the doorframe, watching her with a reassuring smile. “Any time, kid.”

Getting her to bed is relatively smooth, and she only tips over twice while putting on her pajama bottoms, which she counts as a personal drunken best. He tucks her in snugly, watching in amusement as she rearranges her pillows and pulls one tightly to chest and tucks it under her chin.

Once she’s settled, Percy leans down to place a kiss to her forehead. “Night, Annabeth.”

But before he can stand, she tugs at his shirt sleeve to keep him in place.

“Sleep over?” she asks, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. “Please?”

“You’re drunk,” he reminds her.

“You’re my best friend,” she retorts. “Please? I really don’t wanna be alone.”

Percy thinks for a moment, chewing on the inside of his lip.

“You know you’re gonna say yes,” Annabeth whispers teasingly.

Percy drops his head back as he rolls his eyes. “Are my sweats still here from movie night?”

Annabeth nods emphatically and points over to her dresser, where Percy quickly grabs his pants and heads down the hall to change. He returns looking much more comfortable, and Annabeth scoots over in bed, throwing the comforter open to make room for him.

“You know,” Percy says as he gets situated. “My mom still has all those airline miles from her book tour.”

“Is that so?” Annabeth asks, snuggling against Percy’s shoulder as she hugs his arm.  

He nods as he reaches to turn off the light on the nightstand. “Six hours on a plane, a rental car, and a quick stop at a grocery store, and boom! Your dad’s car and house are covered in eggs. Happens all the time.”

“You know I’ve heard that.”

“Sweeping the nation.”

“Damn kids these days.”

“Incorrigible,” he says indignantly. He presses a kiss to the top of Annabeth’s head. “Goodnight, Annabeth.”

“Goodnight, Percy. And thanks.”

“For what?” he asks, leaning his head against hers. 

Percy spends his thirteenth birthday with his mom in their new apartment, his stomach stuffed full of blue cookies and his chest full of love. There are only a few days between the end of summer and the start of the school year, and he isn't sure how he feels about the sudden disparity of Sally Jackson hugs he's staring down. Summers used to be theirs, and now they belong to camp, to the gods, to trying not to die.

His mom's eyes flicker to the scar from the pit scorpion every time she thinks he isn't looking.

That doesn't mean it isn't a happy day. The Jacksons are home under the same roof, sea breeze blowing through the open window and all. That's always a happy day.

Percy tells her about Waterland, his face heating up as he skips over the Tunnel of Love; he tells her about the zoo truck and the fact that he can apparently talk to horses now; he tells her about Gladiola the poodle—“Did you know dogs can read?!?" He doesn't tell her about Medusa, the Furies, Crusty, the Lotus Hotel, or any of the other monsters that tried to kill him along the way. They don't need those names echoing in this little apartment, where the air smells like the sea instead of smog, where there are no smoke stains on the walls. Gabe and all the other monsters are behind them. It is a new beginning, one Percy doesn't want to ruin.

His mom looks at him like he's never ruined a thing in his life.

"Thirteen," she says, a bit weepy in a my-son-is-a-teenager way, which was a miracle before the monsters. "I am so proud of you, Percy. Happy birthday."

And he hears everything that doesn't say. You are everything to me. You are so much like your father, and I lost him too. And perhaps loudest of all, You are my son. Anything that hurts you will have to go through me.

Percy lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, one that has ballooned in his lungs since Gabe's Camero flipped at the start of the season. He was right to go home. He has never felt safer than he has in his mother's arms, which open without him having to ask. She takes his hand—or maybe he takes hers—and the breeze sighs in relief alongside them.

#42 I’m going to save you from the terrible date you’re having,, percabeth

Annabeth’s sure her face looks incredibly pained right now as she stares her date in the eyes. She’s been on quite a few dates before. She thought she'd seen rock bottom by now, but no. This was rock bottom. Every two seconds her date was finding ways to insult her, and she was about one more comment from snapping.

“So, why did you decide to become an architect?” Luke asks. He leans forwards onto his elbows, and for once he looks genuinely interested by her answer. She truly doesn’t want to answer, but she knows that she’s stuck here for at least another hour if she doesn’t want to stoop to his level, so she doesn’t see any option other than to answer.

“I’ve just always been so interested by it,” Annabeth says, leaning forwards to match his stance. She smiles hesitantly when his eyes trail down the front v of her dress she had mistakenly decided to wear. She pauses for a few seconds, thinking maybe he’d have the decency to look away, but his eyes stay glued to her chest, prompting her to sit back up and pretend to scratch her neck just to block his view. “Ever since I was a little girl, I just wanted to be an architect, I guess.”

Luke clears his throat. “I can’t imagine why you’d ever want to do that though.”

“Uh—what?”

“Architecture is so… boring. Not only is it boring, but it’s for people that are good with math and have a big future ahead of them, and I just don’t get those vibes from you.”

Annabeth scoffs in his face.

“We’re both looking for something serious—“

“Never said that.”

“—so I’m going to be straight to the point. I want my wife to be someone there for me. I’ve a busy man, and I’m going to need your help so I can’t have you working your own job.”

Annabeth honestly didn’t think people like this actually existed. She’s met some despicable guys before; she was practically a magnet for them. But Luke had seemed like such a generous person, and she somehow thought that today would be enjoyable. She has never been more wrong.

“So what do you think?”

“I think…no?”

“Annabeth Chase may be a highly intelligent criminal, but she’s a criminal all the same. It’s our job to make sure people like her get put away, and now is when you get to decide if you’re going to let her take you down with her.”