#spookyannabeth

Annabeth made a surprised sound, then started laughing as Percy groaned and turned onto his back, feeling the sting of the air hitting the new grazes on his hands and arms.

“At least you had your helmet on,” Annabeth laughed. They were the first words he’d heard her say in a month and the sound made his already racing heart stutter once in his chest. “Remind me never to let you teach me how to skateboard.”

She came to stand in front of him, hands on her hips and the sun at her back making her hair glow like a halo around her head. Percy thought he might faint.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” he squinted up at her, resting back on his elbows, “The rock snuck up on me.”

She shook her head at him, a fond smile curving her lips, “You’re such an idiot sometimes. Come on, take my hand.”

Percy reached up and took Annabeth’s outstretched hand, wincing slightly as her palm touched the damaged skin of his palms. When he was upright again, facing her, he noticed that they weren’t eye-to-eye like he remembered them being. In one month he’d grown enough that the top of Annabeth’s head only reached his eye level.

“Ha,” he smirked, “You’re shorter than me now. Loser.”

“Nice to see you too, Seaweed Brain.”

He grinned and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, resting his chin on her shoulder as he breathed her in, feeling her exhale against him and place her hands on his back.

He’d had a great summer, hanging out at the beach with his mom and the friends he’d made over the years at Montauk. He’d done nothing but swim and sleep and goof around but somehow standing here now with his arms around his best friend, a part of him he didn’t realise had been unsettled the entire month slots back into place. Percy wondered when Annabeth had started being such a necessary piece of his life, hoped she’ll stay that way for a while.

He cleared his throat and stepped back a little, enough to separate them but close enough that he could keep one arm around her shoulder. “So, how was August without me?” He asked, hoping that the lightness of his tone masked the fact that he was reeling from his realisation.

Annabeth sighed, “Long. The stepmonster had me tutoring Matthew and Bobby to prep for the new school year. They didn’t want to be there. I didn’t want to be there. Helen said it was my fault that we never got anything done. We fought. Dad did nothing.” She sighed again, “So same as every other year.”

She flashed him a tight smile, “How was your birthday?”

He ignored her attempt to change the subject and instead asked her, “Wanna come over for dinner tonight? You know mom is dying to see you.”

Her eyes flashed with an emotion that looked like yearning. Percy thought back to all the times since he and Annabeth had been friends when she’d just shown up at his apartment, asking if she could hang out for a couple of hours. She’d never said it, but Percy had noticed how she looked more at ease in his apartment than she ever had in her own house. Maybe at some point in the past four years his home had started to feel like hers too.

“I’d like that.” She said simply. “What time?”

“Now?” Percy asked, and the answering smile Annabeth gave him made him feel like he’d done something very right.

“I’m all sweaty from my run. Give me an hour.”

“An hour it is.” He saluted her with one hand and retrieved the other from around her shoulder. “Any requests for dessert?”

She was already walking backwards towards her front door, “Anything, as long as it’s blue.”

He grinned and flipped over his skateboard, “You got it.”