I'm feeling more awake since I met you
Smiling more and getting butterflies in my bedroom
Laying awake at night or daydreaming at noon
I can't get you out my mind
I'm consumed by you
“Hey,” he smiles at the sight of her. She looks fantastic in a loose-fitting white blouse and light blue denim shorts that did nothing to help his concentration—her long legs seemed to glow in the sunlight and he had to fight to keep his eyes on her face. She beams back at him, happier than he’d seen her in months—maybe it’s because there was no war looming over their shoulders, no promise of souls getting reaped—maybe it’s because they could finally be together. He knows that was the reason he felt lighter than he had in years.
Being the child of the prophecy meant his future wasn’t guaranteed—Annabeth had struggled with her share of abandonment in her lifetime. His fate hanging in the balance had stopped her from seeking out a relationship with him. It was extremely difficult—getting close to someone and falling in love with them, thinking they were going to die and leave you at the end of the day, despite all the good they had done for the world and those around them, despite everything they had endured thus far to survive. Now, that burden was gone—or at least, alleviated. She could rest easy. And he could finally confront the feelings he has for her head-on. He was so ridiculously glad they were done skirting around each other; there had been an Annabeth-shaped ache in his heart this last year, ever since they’d started growing distant (and their feelings had started growing unbearably stronger).
Percy had his best friend back—now with the added bonus of kissing. If he’d learned anything from last night, it was that her kisses were the most intoxicating thing in the world—more addictive than any ambrosia, nectar, or cookie his mom could make. He was already a little insatiable when it came to her touch, but she was more than happy to oblige. Percy was sure he’d never get used to it—any of it: being able to kiss his best friend, hold her hand, play with her hair, all without the uncertainty of the future and their feelings tainting their easy dynamic. He was the luckiest demigod alive, and he was sure he looked the part as he stares at her now with something like awe in his eyes.
“Good morning, Perce,” she returns, an easy grin on her face, but he can sense some underlying nervousness. They had kissed the previous night—a lot—but that doesn’t do much to eliminate his nerves as he looks back up at her unfairly beautiful face.
I love the way your head fits on my shoulder
I could get used to my heart feeling warmer
We're like a puzzle and we got the perfect match
Every single piece of you was made for me, there's no catch
After they had stopped making out in his little convenient bubble, he had held her close and contemplated what to say besides “Wow.” She was the one to break the silence, nudging him, “You got anything to ask me, Perce?”, giving him the confidence and assurance he needed to make the proposition. He kind of loathed himself for not being able to make that one move himself but she had a habit of turning him into a nervous wreck.
“Would you like to be my girlfriend?” he had stuttered out, cheeks far too warm in the cold air of the bubble.
She hadn’t accepted without a little teasing, but he hadn’t expected anything less from her. “I don’t know, you’re a decent kisser, I guess. But I’m not sold just yet,” she had replied, bumping his shoulder with hers playfully, eyes sparkling and lips pulling up into a cute smirk.
“Oh,” he’d said dumbly, terrified she was being serious for an awful five seconds until she’d rolled her eyes at his expression and leaned forward to press a kiss to cheek, making it grow infinitely warmer.
“I didn’t kiss you for ten minutes in this freezing lake to not make you my boyfriend, dummy.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah, I knew that.”
“Uh huh,” she deadpanned.
“Shut it, owl head,” he muttered, leaning in to close the gap between their lips again.
“That’s not any way to talk to your girlfriend,” she chided jokingly, dimple pressed into her right cheek.
“Forgive me, darling,” he said with faux-seriousness, kissing the back of her hand.
“Ew, no.”
He laughed, titling his head to kiss her cheek just because he wanted to and he could. “No? You don’t like darling? How ’bout honey?”
“Still no. We’re not a married middle-aged couple,” she said with a roll of her eyes. He blushed at the thought and pushed down his sudden desire for that very thing. Gods, he needed to get a grip.
“Okay, okay. Sweetheart?”
“Eh. That’s better. But it can get a little excessive.”
“Okay, so we got one. Babe? Baby?”
Annabeth wrinkled her nose in thought. “...I’m not opposed to it,” she decided, after a few moments of deliberation.
“Interesting. I for sure thought you would say no.”
“Really? Why?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know, didn’t seem like your thing.”
She absentmindedly played with her fingers, not meeting his gaze. “Maybe it can be our thing,” she whispered ina voice shier than he’d ever heard her.
He couldn’t stop the full-blown grin that had made its way onto his face. “Yeah?”
“Mhm.”
He hesitated for a second, still not used to being able to shower her with affection, and pressed his lips to hers in a soft promise. “Sounds good, baby.”
Annabeth flushed at the nickname, as if everything hadn’t sunk in until that moment. She never knew she’d like that word coming from his lips so much. “I’m cold, let’s go back up.” She really didn’t want to leave this private bubble of just the two of them, away from prying eyes and nosy campers, but it was getting late and she didn’t want to get caught making out with her boyfriend—her brain caught onto the word—on their first night together.
“Okay,” he agreed reluctantly, taking her hand in his and guiding them back to the surface. They pulled themselves out of the water and shivered as the summer breeze brushed past their wet skin. Percy tried not to pay attention to the way Annabeth’s clothes clung tightly to her skin, but it wasn’t an easy feat. Percy closed his eyes to concentrate, desperately trying to push thoughts of her out of his mind so he could will himself to dry. She wrung out her camp shirt and her wet curls, groaning. “I feel so icky,” she complained.
He laughed, putting one hand on her goosebumped arm. “Here, let me.” It was a little harder to concentrate this time around, with her skin burning into his, but he managed to dry her off. Her curls were still a little damp, but he’d done his best to wick the moisture out of them.
“Thanks,” she said, softly, shy all of a sudden, as she looked up at him through her lashes. Her tone made his stomach flutter and his heart skip a beat.
“Of course. You don’t ever have to thank me,” he said, trying for an easy smile. “Unless it’s in kisses.”
She rolled her eyes at him again, arms winding around his neck, fingers tangling in his messy hair, pulling him closer to her face. “Since you asked so nicely.” She pecked him quickly on the lips and turned to jog away from his momentarily dazed form.
“Hey! Wait up!” he protested, following her giggling form after a moment. “Annabeth!”
The sun had long sunk into the horizon and a pitch blackness had settled into their surroundings—he couldn’t tell where she’d ended up disappearing to. “Annabeth?” No response. His heart hammered in his chest a little faster now, for different reasons. “Babe?” he called out.
Suddenly, he felt two arms encircle his neck and a pair of legs wrap around his waist. He almost threw her off his back in surprise. The sweet sound of her laughter resonated in his ears and he couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed.
“f*ck, you scared me.”
She leans her head down, dropping a kiss to the exposed skin of his neck. He suppressed a shiver. That was new. “I demand a piggy-back ride back to my cabin.”
“Oh, you demand one, do you? I could just throw you off my back for being a nuisance, you know.”
“You’d never do that to your girlfriend.”
He hated how right she was. And he hated how easily flustered he was when she referred to herself as his girlfriend—his cheeks and his tongue betrayed him, the word ringing in his ears like a divine prayer. A reminder he hadn’t dreamt this whole thing. “I hate that you’re right,” he huffed, pretending the warmth in his chest wasn’t expanding like a balloon, making its way to the apples of his cheeks, to his fingers where they tightly gripped her ankles, to his toes pressing into the leather of his sandals.
“I always am,” she let out a happy hum, leaning into him and resting her head on top of his as he made his way to the Athena cabin. He really hoped the goddess couldn’t see them right now. The last thing he needed was to die after all this prophecy bullsh*t had blown over just because his girlfriend’s mom wasn’t happy with their relationship. “I carried you on my back all these years, it’s your turn.”
He gaped, offended, even though she could hardly see his face. “Damn, okay. Don’t hold back, I guess.”
She laughed again, and he decided he’d never get tired of the sound. It sounded like coming home. “It’s only cause I love you,” she said, without thinking.
He froze, hands moving up to grab her knee. He hated not being able to see her face. He let her admission sink in. It wasn’t as though the concept of love was new between them. He was sure he loved her—he had for a long time. She wasn’t the person he trusted most, his anchor to mortality, his best friend because he didn’t love her—he knew he loved her with every fiber of his being. But he hadn’t expected her to tell him she loved him already. He couldn’t find it within himself to complain; he was high on a feeling he wasn’t coming down from anytime soon.
She opened her mouth to backtrack, mortified she’d let the thought slip out loud to her boyfriend of less than half an hour. Percy sensed her trepidation and gently set her down on the ground, turning around to face her, not even bothering to hide the grin threatening to split his face in half. He grabbed both her hands in his and brought them to his lips, holding them there. He looked into her eyes—those stunningly deadly stormy eyes—and whispered into the tranquil silence of the night, “I love you, Beth.”
She seemed surprised at his reciprocation, even though she shouldn’t have been. “Really?” she asked timidly, that shyness bleeding into her voice once again.
It was his turn to roll his eyes at her obliviousness. “No, Annabeth, I thought of you when my soul was literally f*cking dissolving in the Styx because I absolutely loathed you and I willed myself not to die just so I could come back and torture you for the rest of my life.”
“Oh, it all makes sense now,” her lips quirked up into a gentle smile, eyes dancing with humor.
“Of course I love you. You’re my best friend.” He pressed a sweet kiss to her warm forehead, one hand coming up to fist in her curls. “Who lets me kiss her sometimes. So I can’t complain.”
She stepped closer to him, until their bodies were pressed against each other with no space in between. Her hands tangled in his hair and she captured his lips in a meaningful kiss—deeper than all the rest. His heart leapt into his throat and his senses went haywire, narrowing in on the scent of her hair filling his nostrils, on the pleasant sensation of her hands tugging on his hair, on the lingering sweetness of her lips against his. If this was what Elysium felt like, he didn’t mind dying.
“I love you,” he whispered again, once she broke apart for air. That was one phrase he’d never exhaust of. “And this is proof of it,” he guided her hands to his back, slipping slightly underneath his shirt. Her fingers traced the delicate spot every so gently, and a pleasant shudder ran through his body, every nerve ending on fire in the best way possible. She had his life in her hands. “f*ck,” he murmured. “Never gonna get used to that.”
“I love you, baby,” she returned, pressing a chaste kiss to his awaiting lips before spinning him around and hooking her legs around his waist again. “Don’t you have somewhere to carry me, peasant?”
He chuckled, a warm sound resonating from deep within his chest. “Sorry for getting sidetracked, princess. That’s my bad.”
“You can make it up to me if you kiss me goodnight.”
“I think I can manage that,” he declared, adjusting her on his shoulders and trudging towards the cabin that glowed a faint silver in the moonlight. The giddy smile adorning his face wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so long as she didn’t get sick of him.
Once they reached the porch of the cabin, he bent down to let her hop off his shoulders and straightened, only to be greeted with the owl engraved into the front of the cabin glaring daggers at him. It’s sharp eyes seemed to pierce into his soul, accusatory and disapproving. He quickly averted his gaze and turned to his girlfriend. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow for breakfast?”
“Sounds good.”
“And you’ll give me a piggyback ride to my cabin this time?”
She rolled her eyes. “Fair is fair.”
“I knew I made the right choice.”
She scoffed, shoving his shoulder lightly and he laughed. “Actually, I think Connor is waiting for me in his bunk right now, I should go check on him.”
“Annabeth!” he whined and she snickered. “I’m kidding. I love you and only you. And I will literally decimate Connor in a swordfight if he so much as touches you.”
“You’re invulnerable. I think that’s a bit unfair.”
“Just admit I’m cooler.”
“Never,” she whispered against his mouth, pulling him down for one last kiss before calling it a night. His lips molded to hers easily, as if it were the most natural thing in the world and she smiled into the kiss.
“Goodnight, girlfriend,” he muttered after pulling back, gazing down at her adoringly. The moon bathed half his face in white, and his eyes glowed in the surrounding darkness. He looked ethereal and she had to convince herself she wasn’t dreaming.
“Goodnight, dumbass,” she said with a squeeze of her hand, voice slightly hoarse. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” he grinned, eyes softening. He resisted the urge to pull her to him and kiss her over and over again because he could do that now, but he figured if he didn’t stop himself now he’d never let her go. As the door shut behind her, he sighed at the sudden emptiness that seeped into his soul—it was like walking away with a piece of him left left at the doorstep.
You're on my brain in the morning or the evening
Replaying moments in my head
That's how I'm feeling
Our love is sweet and your kiss has so much meaning
I'm high on our love and I feel like I'm the ceiling
He offers her his hand now, and she accepts it, palms fitting together like they had all these years. He swallows his anxiousness and hopes nothing’s changed on her behalf since last night. She can feel his uncertainty before he says anything, and pulls his lips to hers in a mind-numbing kiss. What a start to the morning, he thinks.
“C’mon, let’s go meet up with Grover. I think he’s missed quite a bit,” she laughs, winking at him. He ignores the wild racing of his heartbeat and follows her lead to the dining pavilion.
“Hey G-man,” he greets upon the spotting the shatter chewing on a spare utensil. Immediately, Grover’s eyes zero in on their interlocked hands and he studies them for a minute, as if trying to determine their relationship status. It certainly wasn’t the first time they’d held hands.
Annabeth sees the question is his eyes and leans up to press a soft kiss to Percy’s cheek and the raven-haired boy flushes in his response, kissing the top of her curls. The effect she had on him was a little embarrassing.
“Oh thank the gods,” Grover groans. “I was ready to pull my horns out if I had to deal with you guys skirting around each other for another summer. And I love my horns. They’re my best physical feature. Every other time you guys hung out you’d start arguing because it was just so hard to admit you loved each other. Gods, I was so sick of it. I almost wrote a love confession on Percy’s behalf to speed up the process.”
“What?” Percy squawks. Suddenly he was very glad he had the courage to admit his feelings to Annabeth yesterday.
Annabeth stifles a laugh. “I would’ve liked to read that.”
“Oh, you wanna read it? Sure, let me go grab it. I think I left it in my—“
“You wrote it?” Percy asks, incredulously.
“I’m not kidding when I said I was running low on patience.”
“Wait, now I have to see this,” Annabeth laughs, highly amused.
“It contains many direct quotes of Percy gushing about you,” Grover says proudly.
“Grover!”
The satyr shrugs. “You can’t be like Annabeth this, Annabeth that without expecting me to use it as ammunition.”
Percy looks betrayed. “I thought we had something.”
“We do. An empathy link. From which I hear all about how hot you think Annabeth looks in her armor and how she’s the most—”
“Okay!” Percy interrupts, cheeks flaming. “I think that’s enough exposing me for one day, jeez.”
“Percy, I was burdened with your little crush for four years. I reserve the right to bully you for it.” Percy opens his mouth to protest, but Grover continues, “The empathy link just made things infinitely worse, dude. And in some ways, it’s worse now that you’re together. Last night, I could tell you were getting very excited—”
“Grover! That’s enough! Really. I think we get the point.” Percy was seconds away from straight up walking into the Myrmekes’ lair and offering himself on a dinner platter. At this point, Annabeth’s face was also dusted pink and she was looking anywhere but Percy’s eyes. He clears his throat, praying Annabeth doesn’t decide to dump him for his borderline obsessive thoughts about her. “Anyway, I was thinking, beach day?”
“Sounds good,” Grover decided. “But, I swear to the gods if I hear a word about how Annabeth looks in her bathing suit in my head, I might have to feed you to the harpies.”
“Grover! Come on, man, stop embarrassing me in front of my girlfriend,” Percy complained, voice bordering on a whine.
“It’s literally Annabeth. She’s seen the worst there is to see. If you haven’t scared her away by now, she’s here to stay, Perce.”
Annabeth was flustered herself, but she seemed more interested in taking part in his humiliation. “It’s true,” she agrees. She raises an eyebrow at her boyfriend, taunting and flirtatious all the same. “Does that happen often?” she asks, addressing Grover.
“Oh, all the time. Like, I’m just trying to go about my day and suddenly I have this montage of you tying up your hair and slashing the dummies in the arena replaying in my head. Thankfully, it only happens when I’m in close proximity to this loser.”
“Really?” she smirks, “Interesting.”
“Guys,” the son of Poseidon complains. “I’m disowning both of you if you don’t shut up right now.”
“You wouldn’t. You love us too much.”
“You’re on thin f*cking ice,” he warns her, making a split-second decision, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.
“Percy!” she squeaks in surprise, hitting his back to make him let go. He doesn’t budge, though. “I’m going to kill you!”
“We’ll see about that,” he says, racing towards the water, daughter of Athena clinging onto his back.
“Here we go again,” the satyr mutters, rolling his eyes. “Third-wheeling til the end of time. f*ck this sh*t, I’m finding Juniper.”
Candy skies
Sunset wife
She makes flowers bloom under the moon
She's so divine
Skyline rides
Love at night
Living in the moment with you feels so right
