#percabeth midnight meetings

[booksforevermore13]

Words Unsaid

Summary: A look into a moment Annabeth shared with Percy before he went missing. Set before the events in the Son of Neptune. Chronologically, a few months after the Olympian War. Fluff, and then the angst comes. Loosely based on the song 'Knocking on Heaven's Door ' by RAIGN

Author's Note: It's been more than a year since I've posted anything, mostly because I've been so swamped with schoolwork and assignments and everything that seems unfair and wrong to a student :D But, I finally found time again to write and decided to start with a Percabeth fic for a change. It's my first, and I hope you like it. Reviews would be an absolute treat, and I would very much appreciate them so much.

...

Mama take this badge from me I can't use it anymore It's getting dark, too dark to see

...

It hadn't started with love. No, it really hadn't, for Annabeth was sure that the first time she had seen Percy Jackson, she had absolutely loathed him.

She had despised him, not in the way she despised the folk of the Aphrodite cabin with their daily gimmick and mockery, not in the way she hated her stepmom for creating a rift between her and her dad, not even in the way she despised her own father for letting her leave. No, Annabeth despised Percy Jackson because even with all the odds against him, he still somehow had faith in the world. Faith that Annabeth had lost.

But that had changed. Percy Jackson had crept into her life, and cemented his place in it in a way no one had been able to do. She had learned to believe, not in the world which was set to kill her or snatch away from her, her happiness at any moment possible, but in the boy who had taught her to love, and to hope; the boy whose eyes had witnessed worse things than anybody she could think of and yet it was his green eyes that warmed up to a stranger first. It was his green eyes she sought out when they were in danger, and it was his green eyes that she had learnt to love.

Annabeth had fallen in love with Percy Jackson slowly, and then all at once.

And he had changed everything about her.

There was once a time when she didn't even see herself living beyond sixteen.

But then, here she was, four months into her sixteenth year of life, creeping to cabin three in the middle of the night, not because she had any work to do, but because she simply wanted to see her boyfriend.

Camp Half BLood seemed ethereal in the moonlight. In the distance, she could see the faint strawberry fields, dimly lit by the blinking glow of the fireflies. She had left the Athena Cabin behind her, with its stone walls and camaraderie, and could just faintly make out her way towards Cabin Three, mostly because it always seemed to have the scent of ocean water lingering around it.

Somehow, it always seemed to smell like Percy.

After years navigating around Camp Halfblood, this had become second nature.

Annabeth skipped over the creaky stone that entailed the steps toward the cabin door, bypassing the door, and instead, heading straight towards the window.

Percy always had his window open.

"Hey there, Seaweed Brain," she announced herself softly, as she pulled herself over the edge.

"What-", Percy exclaimed, startled, as he sat up on his bed, putting aside his shield. He watched as Annabeth stepped into his room, and then, almost automatically burst into a grin

"Hi there, Wise Girl."

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked, her voice just above a whisper, lest the Harpies sense her in the wrong cabin.

"Oh, just the shield," Percy replied, offering Annabeth a hand, as he pulled her onto the bed. She gladly accepted the blanket he offered her, tucking her legs in as she settled herself beside Percy. Sometimes, Annabeth still couldn't believe they had reached the point in their relationship where she could be so comfortable around him like that. "

I know Tyson fixed it, but it seems different now."

"Is there anything broken?" Annabeth asked, instinctively looking over the shield for any changes.

"Not that you can see," Percy smiled sadly, "It just, it seems different from when he fixed it for me a few months ago."

Annabeth nodded wordlessly, as Percy shuffled closer to her, their shoulders now brushing, as they watched the waves crashing against the shore. It seemed angrier than usual, Annabeth noticed, more turbulent, more …..wild, and she exhaled as she seeked out Percy's hands, his fingers closing almost by habit over hers.

"Everything's changed," she said.

Percy squeezed her fingers, resting his head over hers. He towered over her, and yet in this position, it seemed just right. "Did Chiron tell you about the Hermes cabin?" he asked.

"Yeah," Annabeth replied, "It's nearly empty now. Apparently, Hermes did not, in fact, have so many kids."

Percy laughed, his voice resonating in the cabin, as the wind carried his voice towards the sea. "I remember, the first time in camp, there was so little space in the Hermes cabin, that I had to sleep on the cold floor, right under someone's bed. I swear, it might have been Travis's because only his socks could smell like something had died in it."

"Yeah, so like you to remember the smell of his socks." Annabeth laughed, memories of him being once shorter than her resurfacing. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back. "I remember, the first time I reached camp, Luke made me sleep on the bed, because I was too small, and people kept stepping over me." Annabeth laughed, then looked at Percy, "It was his bed, technically, because Hermes had claimed him the moment he had stepped foot in camp, but he still slept on the floor for an entire week before Athena claimed me."

Percy looked down at Annabeth, his thumb rubbing circles over the small junction between her index and middle finger, as if smoothing away the scars which had accumulated over the years of handling knives and blades.

She looked away, a sudden lump in her throat. Annabeth had accepted long ago that her Luke was gone, but perhaps under the weight of the world, she had never accepted the fact that she'd never be able to see him again.

"Everyone's gone," she said, inhaling sharply, as the waves crashed harder against the shore. Poseidon seemed clearly agitated today.

"Some of us are still here." Percy replied back, and Annabeth looked at him again, overcome with emotion, as her own muddled grey eyes gazed into his green ones, which were still warm, and still holding on.

Percy reached up, brushing away a single tear that Annabeth hadn't even realised had escaped.

"Since when does the Wise Girl have an existential crisis?" he joked weakly, and Annabeth laughed, a teary laugh as she opened her arms, Percy smiling warmly as he pulled her into him.

Annabeth breathed in deeply, absorbing the musky scent of sea-water and hot milk, a combination that she herself had never fathomed she'd adore.

"I love you." Percy said suddenly, and Annabeth's eyes snapped open, jerked out of her reverie as she pulled away slightly, her hands still around Percy.

"What, is it too early?" Percy stuttered, "I know, it just slipped out, I didn't -"

But Annabeth interrupted him, leaning forward to press her lips against his gently. Her eyes closed, she smiled as his hand raised up to cup her face, her thumb brushing against his cheek.

She rested her forehead against his, as they breathed in unison, against the noise of the waves pounding.

It hadn't started with love, but it had slowly grown into one. In a way, she had always known he would be the boy in the prophecy. He would never know, but she had kept her feelings aside, locked and kept away fearing for them if he ever happened to die. But last year, it had all changed, and her feelings, now front and centre, only revolved around one thing, to keep him alive.

Perhaps the Fates had listened to her at last. They had kept the boy in the prophecy alive, because she had begged so hard for him to not be taken away from her.

So in the blink of a moment, Annabeth thought to herself that perhaps this was meant to last. Even the Fates couldn't be so cruel to take this away from her. She was meant to love this boy and love him, she would.

Years later, she might scorn herself for being so blind and giddy in love but this was Percy and Annabeth loved him, and yet, as she opened her mouth, words very different from the ones she wanted to say came out.

"I can't lose you," she whispered instead, her hands coming up to rest against his cheek.

With bated breath she waited, hoping Percy would understand the truth between her words, and the emotion behind them.

"You won't," he said, at last, and in answer, capturing her lips in his, and pulling him towards her, even closer, as his arms interlocked around her waist. With Annabeth completely sitting on his lap, they fell back onto his bed, both of them lost to the world.

It seemed as if their kiss lasted for hours, but it was mere minutes before she heard the familiar screech of the Harpies outside the cabin.

Percy and Annabeth sprung apart, Annabeth scrambling up and above the bed, as she looked outside anxiously.

"I have to go," she whispered hurriedly, as Percy grumbled, her hand still trapped in his.

"Don't", he complained, as he pulled her towards him again. "Stay, please." He looked up towards her, his eyes wide and pleading and Annabeth laughed.

"I'll come back tomorrow. I promise, Seaweed Brain," she said, and she bent down to kiss him again.

Before he could deepen the kiss, Annabeth pushed him away, Percy falling back on his bed in mock annoyance, as she jumped out of his window, swiftly running down the path towards the Athena Cabin. She'd have a strict telling off, she knew that, but it would be worth it.

Percy loved her.

She smiled as she reached the familiar stone door, glaring at the owl above the door as it begrudgingly ushered her in.

It would be forever.

Annabeth tiptoed through the dormitory, making her way towards her room, locking her door swiftly behind her, and resting her back against the door, Percy's words in her head, and his voice.

She'd tell him tomorrow, how much she loved him. How long she had waited. She'd tell him she had loved him first.

Outside, the waves crashed relentlessly against the rocks, but Annabeth didn't mind.

…

Mama put my guns in the ground I can't shoot them anymore That cold black cloud is comin' down Feels like I'm Knockin' on Heaven's Door

...

The next day, when she woke up from a sleep that was much better than anything she had nowadays, Marcus looked at her judgingly, knowing very well what she'd been up to, but Annabeth could care less. All she wanted to do was find Percy.

Instead, that morning, Chiron issued a hurricane alert, and Annabeth was strictly ordered into her room by Marcus lest she try to sneak away again. She looked outside her window, worried.

Hurricanes were under Poseidon's domain, and a hurricane in Camp Half Blood was never a good idea.

She sat on her bed, her head resting against a pillow, as her eyes lazily floated over one of Daedulus' designs, slightly tweaked by her to make it better.

The next thing she knew, Marcus was waking her up, because Chiron was looking for her urgently.

Annabeth bounded out of the room, as she made her way out of Athena's cabin.

The skies were an abnormal grey, and even from such a distance, she could hear the sounds of thunder rolling over the sea.

The last time Chiron had called for her, Percy had disappeared with the Princess Andromeda.

"Chiron, what's wrong?" Annabeth yelled urgently, as she reached the Big House, her heart pounding in her chest, acutely noticing the lack of a certain son of Poseidon.

"It's Percy," Chiron replied, shaking his head, but Annabeth was gone, sprinting towards the Poseidon Cabin.

But there was no Percy, and no note. There was no wind in Cabin Three, and nor was there the musky blue scent she had always associated it with.

"Percy! Percy!" Annabeth yelled, knowing deep down it was no use.

She snatched a drachma from the bottom of the water fountain, throwing it into the rainbow in the corner of the cabin.

"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," Annabeth cried, her voice shaking, her heart beating painfully in her chest. "Show me Percy."

But there was no Percy, and as the rainbow faded away, she yelled angrily, eyes burning against the tears that were threatening to flow.

Everything was perfect last night.

What the hell had happened?

And Annabeth, Annabeth hadn't even….she hadn't even told him she loved him back.

But there was no Percy, and there was no note.

The Fates had yet again taken him away from her.

...

[m0osical]

huntlow au where they're both in highschool (no boiling isles/magic au) and they meet because they both work at a summer camp.

they’re the two workers that literally never stop playing pranks on each other (along with the rest of the hexsquad) and every single camper thats new always asks returning campers if they’re together, to which they get a chorus of groans and after year three of them working together, literal screams of frustration. of course no one dares ask huntlow themselves.

I’m talking percabeth type of relationship.

It’s the end of the summer, year three of them working at this camp. Hunter’s uncle owns it, and Willow would probably commit arson on the camp to spite Hunter’s uncle if it wasn’t such a great place to work and for kids to have a fun, free summer.

And if it wasn’t a way for Hunter himself to slip out of his uncle’s grip, except for the few times he visits the camp to check in on how it’s running. Those days find Hunter with shaking hands and he’s quiet and resigned. The kids hate it. Hunter’s one of their favourite councilors and they hate seeing him so anxious. (They also want to commit arson against his uncle. Willow gives them high fives for that. Luz says she couldn’t be prouder. It makes Hunter smile, maybe just a bit, and that’s enough.)

The kids have all supposedly gone to bed about 30 minutes ago, and one by one Hunter and  Willow’s friends slipped away under various excuses. So now it was just the two of them, and it was also Willow’s birthday in, oh, probably roughly 5 minutes, if he’s right in thinking it’s almost midnight. Hunter thinks it’s a perfect time to ask the thing he’s wanted to since the first summer they worked together, and every school break they hung out together, always at her place or Luz or Gus, never his or Amity’s.

He’s sitting by the fire with her, and requests she waits while he goes to get something. She smiles and shoos him to get whatever it is he’s getting, “and quick, because I’ll be cold sitting here without you.”

He comes back with a cupcake, and a present hidden behind his back. He bought all sorts of her favourite things, but the first thing she’ll see when she opens it is a card open saying “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Hunter is so nervous.

Of course it doesn’t go to plan, but in a good way. She almost squishes the cupcake in his hands from how fast she jumps up to give him a hug. She even kisses him on the cheek, which totally does not make his face turn red.

She enjoys her cupcake, courtesy of him and the rest of the gang. Just as she’s about to open the present, just as Hunter’s breath stops in his throat, she places it down on the ground and turns to him abruptly. Her hands are twisting with each other, and she looks nervous. Hunter’s just about to ask her what’s wrong when she blurts out, “I like you! Like a lot. And I’d like to go out with you, if you want to too.”

Hunter’s brain stalls, and he can’t say a thing. Poor Willow gets more and more nervous the longer they sit there in silence, and just as she’s about to apologize and just leave, Hunter all of a sudden grabs her shirt and tugs her towards him, kissing her.

He almost immediately pulls away, bright red and sputtering apologies about how he should’ve asked first, he’s so sorry, and that was not how he meant to say his answer.

Willow laughs, and places a finger on his lips in a shushing gesture. “It’s okay Hunter. More than okay. I think I understand what you were trying to say.” and she pulls him in again.

They’re immediately startled by cheers and their friends, along with the kids that should be asleep now, rushing in to crush them in a group hug, all of them saying something along the lines of “FINALLY OH MY GOD”

When all is said and done and everyone’s gone to bed, Hunter points out she never opened his present, and he looks like he’s going to laugh. She lifts an eyebrow, and then opens the box.

The two of them look at each other, Willow back down to the box, and then back to Hunter. She laughs, and crushes him in a hug that sends them both sprawling to the floor in giggles.

Brilliant minds think alike after all.

[annabethy]

57. “I come here whenever I need a quiet place to think…to sort my head out.”

and/or

36. "How do you even know that this is here?"

in which Percy and Annabeth aren't the best of friends, but meet on the rooftop and discover that maybe, they're exactly what the other needs,, percabeth

It’s two in the morning, and Annabeth finds that she can’t bring herself to sleep.

She tries to hold her eyes shut in hopes of the sleepiness she’s felt all week slipping over her, but another hour passes and she’s still wide awake.

When Annabeth sits up in her bed, she has no intentions of slipping out of the apartment, past her dad’s room, but then she looks out the window where the city lights are awake as can be, and she finds herself already unlocking her window and stepping onto the fire escape.

It’s a long journey up the metal stairs, so she takes her time to appreciate the blow of the winter wind and the noise of New York City that she’s come to love. It’s a biting chill, one that has her wishing she’d put on a jacket prior to her midnight voyage to the top of her apartment building, but it comforting and welcome.

When she does reach the end of the fire escape, she hops onto the ledge of the building and stares off into the skyline. It should be dark so late at night, but instead, it’s glowing. It’s beautiful, she thinks, the industrial feel of the city. It’s so unnatural, but it’s where she’s grown up. She’s used to the honking of horns and the noises that fill the silence.

Annabeth walks along the edge carefully, focusing on the views further in the distance. She wonders if she’d be able to see where the Earth begins to curve and thinks about how big the planet really is (and how small she is in comparison). She can spot the point where the lights seem to have a gap, and she thinks she’s looking at what would be a river in the daylight.

She feels as though she can finally breathe in this moment, though she hadn’t realized how suffocated she had felt before, stuffed into the small space that was her room. Her hair blows in the wind, and she refrains from thinking about how difficult it’ll be to brush it out later. It’s freeing, relieving, and—

“Don’t fall,” a voice warns.

Annabeth rolls her eyes at the voice that is all too familiar, turning her head to she can look over her shoulder. It’s darker atop the building, but even she can spot the mischievous glimmer in her eyes that’s always irked her much more rigid personality.

“Jackson,” she says, a tone of sarcasm in her voice, “What a pleasure.”

“I always am,” he says, grinning. He’s leaning against a metal unit, staring at her, and had they been anywhere else, at any other moment in time, she might’ve made some snarky remark to wipe the grin off his face. She tells herself she doesn’t have the energy to deal with it right now, and that it’s the reason for her silence. “You plan on getting down from there anytime soon?”

“Aw. It’s so sweet you’re worried.” She knows it’s true, despite the small laugh she hears pushed from his lungs. That’s something that she’s discovered about him. Even with the person he hates most in the world, he cares.

“If you fell, people would probably think I pushed you.”

Annabeth snorts.

He’s not particularly wrong. The rivalry they have going on in school is strong, and people probably wouldn’t put murder beyond them.

“Seriously,” he says. “Get down.”

She jumps down from the short ledge towards him. Her eyes adjust slightly to the light, and she can see him better now. He’s in a windbreaker, and his own hair is ruffled in the wind. She finds herself wanting to run her fingers through it before catching herself. It surprises even her – Percy’s made her life nothing but literal hell, and she’d rather die than get caught playing friendly with him.

Annabeth stands next to him but doesn’t sit yet.

“What are you even doing here?” she asks.

“I’m stalking you,” is his answer.

Annabeth kicks him lightly and suppresses a laugh at his dramatic hiss of pain. “What are you actually doing here? You don’t live in this area.”

“I come here whenever I need a quiet place to think…to sort my head out.”

“Percy Jackson can think?”

“Haha, you dick.”

“I’m messing with you,” she says. She chooses then to sit down beside him. She thinks it may be the first time she’s sat near him voluntarily. Annabeth supposes there’s no harm if there’s no one there to see. “How do you even know that this is here?”

Percy shoots her a look, though not an unkind one. It has her neck flushing red despite the temperature outside. “How do I know that this building has a roof?”

“You know what I mean, smartass.”

Percy shrugs and extends his legs. His feet nudge hers playfully. “I’ve lived in this corner my entire life. I know just about everything there is.”

“That’s fair.”

“How about you, Chase? Why is my princess out past curfew?”

Annabeth chooses to ignore the nickname she’s hated for so long (and the way he calls her his).

“Couldn’t sleep,” she admits.

“Something bothering you?”

She hums. “Nothing in particular. I just figured if I was going to be awake, I might as well spend it outside.”

“And spend it with me,” Percy teases, elbowing her lightly.

“Because I love spending time with you,” Annabeth says. There’s a particularly harsh blow of wind that has her crossing her arms over her chest.

“Are you cold?”

“I’m fine.”

“Do you want my jacket?”

Annabeth’s never been one to swallow her pride, but it seems to have gotten significantly colder in minutes, and she’d rather not sit outside for who knows how long without any barrier from the wind. Still, she’s hesitant. “Are you sure?”

Percy chuckles lightly and slips his jacket off his shoulders. “Here.”

When she puts it on, it’s immediate relief. It’s still warm from his body heat, and it smells like him. It’s nicer than she cares to admit, and somehow, she feels comfort in the oversized fabric that she’s practically drowning in.

As she tightens it around her, breathing in the scent of him, she mumbles, “Thank you.”

Percy’s response is a brush against her arm with his fingers.

“So, what were you thinking about?” she asks. “When you came to my secret place?”

“Your secret place?”

“I called dibs. If you wanted it to be yours, maybe you should’ve tried harder.”

Percy gives her his lopsided smile at her remark. “I’m not really sure. Life, I guess.”

“About how you plan to torture me at school next week?”

“Oh, of course.”

“That spider was not funny, you know.”

“It’s because I have a crush on you.”

“And here I thought you hated me.”

“Do you think I would give my jacket to someone I hate?”

“I guess not,” she says, laughing. “You can have it back if you want.”

Percy shakes his head. “I’m alright.”

“Are you sure, though? It’s cold outside, and we’re not exactly best friends.”

He grabs her hand from her lap and squeezes it. “I’m alright, Annabeth. I want you to have it.”

Annabeth bites her lower lip, but gives in, sinking further into the jacket. It’s kind of heaven, she hates to admit. She feels as though she should hate this, spending time with Percy Jackson so late into the night, but somehow, she feels more at home than she has in a long time.

“Also,” Percy begins again, “not best friends?”

“Do you really consider us best friends?”

“I mean…you’d definitely have to define best friends. Two people that playfully bully each other? Sure.”

“Playful?” Annabeth chokes out. “Nothing about our relationship is playful. You hit me in the eye with a pencil a few days ago.”

“In my defense, that was actually an accident. I felt really bad about it.”

“Mh-hm.”

“But that doesn’t mean we’re not friends, right? I mean, I’d totally kiss you if you wanted me to. I think that qualifies as friends?”

Annabeth is no stranger to his lighthearted flirting, so she just rolls her eyes fondly. “That qualifies as something entirely different.”

“Probably.” Percy squeezes her hand again, and she realizes that he’d never actually let go. “But I’m actually going to miss bullying you every day once we graduate.”

“You’ll find a way, I’m sure. You’re going to NYU?”

“And you’re going to Columbia,” he responds back.

“I’ll be close enough to be bullied, then.”

“I guess so. Maybe I don’t want to bully you, though.”

“Aw, bummer. What would our relationship be without your flirtatious bullying?”

“Maybe something more?”

Annabeth looks at him then. He seems to be genuine, and so she finds she can’t look away.

“I do actually consider us friends, Annabeth. I mean it.”

Somehow, she knows he does.

“I guess friends isn’t so bad,” Annabeth says quietly, “if sitting up here is any indication.”

“We could have our weekly ventures to our secret spot.”

“My secret spot,” she corrects.

Percy grins brightly.

“But I wouldn’t be so opposed to that, as long as you never try to hit me with a pencil.”

“I didn’t mean to the first time,” he says lightly.

“Then friends,” she says.

“We’re living our own enemies to lover story.”

“Ew. Never mind. I don’t want to be your friend.”

“Aw.”

Annabeth just muffles a laugh into the sleeve of his jacket, choking out a quick kidding, and he pinches her in indignation. They fall into a silence, and the sounds of New York drown out in her ears. All she can hear is the rhythm of his breathing, and she can only focus on the warmth of his body.

“Do you actually have a crush on me?” she asks, suddenly curious.

“Maybe I do. I guess you’ll just have to stick around long enough to find out.”

Annabeth’s heart flutters. “I guess I will.”

Really, she’s starting to think maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. Perhaps he’s never been as awful as she’s been telling herself. Maybe it was always just her pride.

Maybe Percy Jackson is exactly what she’s always needed.

Annabeth really has no control over it when her eyes begin to flutter shut. She doesn’t even realize it’s happening until Percy opens his arms towards her – an invitation – and she slides right in. His arms wrap around her, his face pressing into the top of her head, and she lets herself drift into the sleep she’s been wishing for.

She doesn’t wake up until the sun begins to peek over the horizon. She’s nestled deep against him, able to feel every breath he takes and hear his heartbeat. He’s sleeping when she lifts her head, so she allows herself to fall back against him, a subtle smile on her face.

It’s unexpected, but she feels safe in his embrace. It’s warm and happy in their secret spot, and she never wants to leave.

Annabeth stays here with him, in their secret spot, for just a bit longer.

[bbyannabeth]

Can u plss write a percabeth illicit affairs fic ??

ya this fic has straight up cheating, like full on adultery, so if that is not your thing, do not read!

percy was only a little out of breath when annabeth opened her door. he shuffled inside quickly.

“where did you tell her you were going?” annabeth asked.

“out with jason,” he replied. “she didn’t suspect a thing.”

annabeth nodded and then her lips quirked up into a smile. “so i guess we have a few hours then?”

percy smiled back. he felt the whirlwind in his stomach that he thought was too aggressive to just be butterflies. “guess so,” he whispered. his hand found annabeth’s and he tugged her close, immediately closing the gap between their lips.

it had been an accident, the first time it happened. and the second and third time. but then they decided they couldn’t get enough of each other, and after that, it was no longer an accident. it became their little secret, something that they hid from their friends. and percy’s girlfriend, of course.

he loved rachel. or rather, he had still loved her when he and annabeth first started hooking up. now, months later… well, he wasn’t sure. he was still with rachel because she was easy to be with and she loved him and on some level, he did still love her. just… not as much as he’d grown to love annabeth.

he’d figure it out eventually. that wasn’t a very easy thing to do, though, when annabeth slid her hands under the hem of his shirt and began to fumble with the button on his jeans.

-

when percy got home just after midnight, he had expected the apartment to be dark and quiet. he expected to find rachel asleep in there bed. he had not expected to find her up, waiting for him with her arms crossed.

“hey babe…” percy said slowly. anxiety grew quickly in his chest.

“hey babe,” rachel echoed, deceptively sweet. “how was hanging out with jason?”

“uh, good?” percy replied. “we just hung out at a bar and rewatched the game.”

“oh?” rachel nodded before walking over to the table by the entryway and placing her hand a toolbox. percy tensed immediately. “so then why did jason come over earlier to drop this off?”

percy blinked. “when?” he asked, his voice shaking more than it should’ve.

“around 9:30. you know, the time you said you were meeting him.” percy didn’t know what to say, so rachel continued, “and when i asked him if he was going to meet you after he dropped it off, he had no idea what i was talking about.”

percy stared at her. rachel’s knuckles were white as she gripped the toolbox handle. “where were you, percy?”

he took a breath. “okay, i can explain,” he said, his mind racing as he tried to think of something, anything. but there was nothing. “i-”

“please don’t lie to me, percy,” rachel whispered. her eyes were glossy and all the fight went out of him. it was bound to end anyway, he couldn’t have gone on like this forever, but he had never wanted it to end like this. he’d never wanted to hurt her.

“i was with annabeth,” he said. a million emotions flew through rachel’s eyes at once, but the ones percy recognized most were confusion, shock, anger, and hurt.

“annabeth?” she breathed. “why? why would you lie about being with her?”

he knew rachel already suspected why, maybe she already knew why. she has never liked annabeth all that much because of her natural jealous streak. but she had tolerated her and been civil with her because annabeth was percy’s best friend. and maybe rachel had sensed the intensity of his feelings for annabeth before he had even realized the depth of them himself.

“rach,” he whispered. it was all he could say.

all of her breath left her in a harsh exhale. “you. were you- did you? percy,” she said, her breathing uneven. the anger in her was building because it came out in the next punch. “i always knew it. i knew you loved her,” she spat.

percy couldn’t deny it if he wanted to. he stayed silent, his eyes dropping. rachel let out a sob and next thing he knew, she was pushing him out the door and telling him to get the fuck out. he went willingly. and he did the only thing he could think of - he called annabeth.

twenty minutes later, he was stepping into her apartment again like he’d done hours ago. he hadn’t told annabeth much on the phone other than the fact that rachel was kicking him out. “what happened?” she asked.

“well she was up when i got home and she asked how hanging out with jason was,” percy started and he watched annabeth’s eyes widen.

“oh god,” she muttered.

“and i said fun,” percy continued. “and then she asked if that was the case, why did jason bring over the toolbox he borrowed last week and then proceed to have no idea that he was supposed to be meeting at the bar.”

“fuck,” annabeth whispered.

percy nodded. “yeah i didn’t realize it until i was on my way home, but he texted me a little after 9:30 asking where i was. i never replied to it but it makes more sense now.”

“what happened next?”

“she asked where i was and i was going to try to just… make something up but then she told me not to lie to her and i just… i couldn’t,” percy said, shrugging. “so i told her i was with you. she figured it out after that.”

annabeth frowned. “figured it out?” she asked. “we’re friends though, we could’ve been… hanging out.”

“i wouldn’t have lied about that,” he said, averting his eyes. and she said she knew i loved you.

“oh. yeah,” annabeth said, realizing that the planning had been more incriminating than she had thought. she wrapped her arms around her middle. “what happens now then?”

percy shrugged. “i knew it was gonna end eventually,” he said. he probably should’ve been more upset about it than he was, but annabeth was looking at him with worried eyes and he was happier here now than he could’ve ever been with rachel. the intensity and tenderness of her gaze is what made him spit out his next words. “she knew i loved you. that’s why she figured it out.”

annabeth blinked. she blinked several times, as if she couldn’t process what he said. “you what?”

“love you,” he whispered. “i didn’t mean for that to happen but you’re… my best friend and i love you.”

annabeth stared at him for another second with those big, gray eyes he knew so well. he’d always been so used to them over the years but in the last couple months, the stolen glances across the room or the mischievous flickers when he’d smile at her were more prevalent in his mind than they should’ve been. for a moment, he thought he’d ruined everything. and then she crossed the room and tugged him into a hard kiss.

“fuck. i love you,” she muttered. percy gripped her waist tighter, already steering them down the familiar path to her room.

“i love you,” he mumbled back. maybe he should’ve been more concerned about rachel, or how badly jumping into something with annabeth could be, but it was so damn hard to be concerned about anything at all when annabeth was tearing off his shirt.

[banannabethchase]

person a seducing person b into taking a few steps back/backing them against the wall (”oh look, how did that mistletoe get right there????”) or “we’re co workers who hate each other but you had too much to drink at the staff christmas party and admitted your love for me i don’t know how to act around you now” if you're up for it

Okay I combined these two together, because I got two other Percabeth prompts for the coworkers AU so I hope you enjoy!

What You Want

On A03

~

“Do you really,” she says, leaning against the door, sparkle in her eye, “think I give you so much shit because I don’t like you?”

Percy shrugs, trying to make sure he doesn’t fall over or stumble over these stupid dress shoes. These shoes were so expensive. Why are shoes so expensive?

“I have no idea, but you’re really focusing on shoes right now?” Annabeth replies.

“Oops,” Percy says, blinking, “I didn’t realize I said that out loud.”

“You know what I shouldn’t say out loud?” Annabeth says, “I shouldn’t say out loud that you’re so stupidly hot and competent that it pisses me off.”

Percy blinks. “Hot and competent?”

“Yeah,” Annabeth says, “like, we’re here, at the opening of your new aquarium, that you designed to best meet the needs of all the fish and whatever in here, and you just get it, you know?” Her eyes are closed now, but she still manages to guide the glass of champagne to her lips. Her red, plush, sinful looking lips.

Percy swallows and focuses on reviewing the anatomy of a jellyfish, then immediately realizes he’s an idiot when that’s the worst anatomy review to distract yourself. So much champagne.

“Are you even listening to me?” she asks. “Doesn’t matter, I shouldn’t be saying it at all, but I really wish you’d put on a shirt when you’re working because it’s so hard to make sure I’m doing my job when you’re like…” she trails off, and the way she looks him up and down makes him want to jump out of his clothes. “Except now you’re in a suit, and I’m still -” She cuts herself off.

“Well, then, I wish you hadn’t worn that dress,” he retorts, trying his best to sound firm. “Because I can see, like, most of your leg with that slit, and then I think about other things and what the dress IS covering, and then, like…” It’s his turn to trail off. “Are we saying too much?”

She grins at him. “Probably.” She looks up. “Oh, would you look at that.” She licks her lips, and Percy realizes there’s nothing more he wants than to taste that smile. “Mistletoe.” He finally follows her gaze up, to see mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.

“That would be against company policy,” Percy blurts out.

Annabeth shrugs. “That is no longer the case as of,” she checks her watch, “thirty-six minutes ago.” She meets his eyes again. “As of December 22nd, I’m not longer working on this building. The grand opening was my last day, and it’s after midnight.”

This time Percy’s licking his lips. “So, like,” he walks toward her, eyes still locked on hers, “if we kissed, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

“Not at all.” Then she grins. “Well, unless we made it a bad thing.”

The wink is what gets him. He takes another step into her space, so close he can smell the champagne on her lips. “Would you want to make it a bad thing?”

She shrugs. “I guess you’ll have to kiss me and I’ll make my decision from there.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Percy leans in and finally, finally, gets to taste those lips, the hint of champagne, the attitude she’s been giving him for the past six months of this project, and he’s realizing it’s not that he couldn’t stand her, it’s that he wanted her so bad he couldn’t stand himself.

The little sigh she makes sends a charge through him, and he slides his hand into her hair as their mouths open, tongues sliding together, and he can taste the champagne and snark even more now.

“Ms. Chase, I – oh, damn.”

Percy and Annabeth break apart to see the project’s graphic designer, Piper, looking smug as all hell.

“Oh, I knew it,” she says, grinning like the Cheshire cat, “Hazel owes me twenty bucks. I TOLD her it would be before New Year’s!” She bounces off with a grin.

“We might need to go, uh, take care of,” Percy forces himself to take a step back. “Take care of work stuff before, uh…”

Annabeth, looking ruffled and taken off guard for the first time he’s ever seen it, nods. “Yeah, b-back to work.” She shakes her head a little. “But, uh, after that.” The grin is back. “You wanna come back to my place?”

Percy nods faster than he thought was possible. “When can we get out of here?”

“Whenever you want, Mr. Jackson,” she says, those eyes giving him an idea of just what she might want, “you’re the one in charge.”

[worldofpjo]

Percabeth breakup au

I wrote these at midnight cause I was so invested in this storyline so lmk if you want a part 2!

It's a few months after Percy and Annabeth started dating.

They're at camp for winter break, enjoying each other's company, but something's bothering Annabeth.

She's been wanting to break up with Percy for about 2 weeks, but being the oblivious person he is, he has no idea.

It's too hard for her knowing that the love of her life could be killed at any second. She knows she could be killed too, but she's more worried about Percy.

She's scared that he'll be in a dangerous situation that results in him dying, and her crying over his body, begging, pleading for him to come back to her, but he never will.

She's too scared to lose him. She tells herself that it's not worth loving someone if she's only going to lose them soon. She doesn't want Percy to abandon her like everyone else in her life did.

She knows that he would never voluntarily leave her. The only thing that could separate them is death. It's hard being a teenage demigod. Someone always wants you dead.

Annabeth decides to tell him by the lake, the place where they shared an underwater kiss. She knows that no one's ever there, so they won't have an audience.

She tells Percy she wants to break up, and he just laughs. He thinks she's joking, and Annabeth’s heart breaks a little more.

He notices her sad expression, and asks, "You're kidding, right?". His voice cracks on the last word.

The look on her face says otherwise. "No, Percy," she says softly, "I'm not."

He sits down in the snow, staring at the frozen lake, completely silent.

After a minute of just standing there, Annabeth sits down next to him.

They don’t speak for a few minutes. Percy’s in shock, and Annabeth doesn’t know what to say. Finally, Percy says, “Did I do something wrong?” He puts her hand over hers, but she immediately takes it back, and Percy flinches.

Annabeth shakes her head. “No, it’s not your fault.” Percy raises his eyes to meet hers, but she looks away. “Then why-?” Percy can’t get out a full sentence without his voice breaking.

“Because,” Annabeth says, still avoiding his gaze, “it’s easier to let go of each other now. I can’t stand the thought of losing you without saying goodbye.” She takes a breath, waiting for Percy’s reaction.

“Annabeth,” he says softly, putting his hand on her face, and this time she doesn’t pull away. “You know I would never leave you.”

“I know,” she says, trying to steady her voice, “but I also know that when you die, I won’t be okay for a long time. It’s better to break up now than to deal with that.” She removes Percy’s hand from her face, placing it on his knee.

“Hey,” he says sharply, “I’m not planning on dying anytime soon; I’m still invincible. Anyways, I lo-”

Annabeth puts her gloved hand over Percy’s mouth, blinking back tears. She knows that if he completes that sentence, she won’t be able to finish breaking up with him.

He doesn’t move her hand away, understanding that Annabeth isn’t going to change her mind. A few seconds later her hand drops to her side. She stands up and walks away from Percy, tears flowing freely down her face.

Percy stays by the lake for a few hours, unable to comprehend the situation. His girlfriend, the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, had dumped him. Just like that. He’s hurt. It’s worse than any other pain he’s ever felt before. Bathing in the Styx was relaxing compared to this.

The conch shell blows, and Percy treks to the dining pavilion. He grabs his meal, and walks straight to his table, not making eye contact with anyone. He eats in silence, retreating back to his cabin immediately after he’s done.

Annabeth can’t help feeling awful. She knows it’s her fault that Percy didn’t interact with anyone at dinner. Demigods ask her why her boyfriend is so quiet all of a sudden, but she doesn’t have the heart to answer. He’s not even her boyfriend anymore.

She lays awake at night, conflicted. She’s sure she did the right thing, but her heart’s telling her to go get back together with Percy.

The next day, Percy's gone. It's like he just vanished into thin air.

Annabeth thinks it's her fault. She thinks he left because of her. He probably packed up a duffel bag and went to stay with his mom for the break. She asks around in the morning, but no one knows where Percy went. She even calls Sally, but he’s not with her.

A week later, she finds out that he’s at a Roman camp for demigods. She’s itching to see him, to make sure he’s okay, but she has to wait six months.

Those six months are the worst six months of her life. She can’t close her eyes without seeing Percy. His face, his smile, his eyes, his messy hair. She thought it would be easy to let go of him, but it’s not. The pain is excruciating; she misses him. She wishes she had never broken up with him in the first place. Maybe he’d still be here.

She’s so consumed with guilt that she forgets to eat one day. Chiron puts her in the infirmary, so someone can make sure she gets more than three hours of sleep..

After six painful months of waiting, it’s finally time for Annabeth and her friends to set sail on the Argo II.

As they fly over Camp Jupiter, she spots Percy. When the ship lands, she runs towards him. Maybe he’d forgiven her for breaking up with him. She hopes so.

When Percy sees Annabeth, memories flash through his mind. Them in the air bubble at the bottom of the Sea of Monsters, her holding the sky, her kissing him right before he went to Calypso’s island, them being happy together after the war. Her breaking up with him when he thought everything was going great.

She was the only thing he remembered after he woke up. However, he wished she wasn’t. Anger bubbles in Percy’s chest. She had healed his heart, only to break it.

As Annabeth runs toward him, she looks ecstatic to see him. Percy had missed her, but being with her was almost more painful than being without her.

Training with the Romans has taught him to show no emotion, so his face remains expressionless and he watches Annabeth approach him. She gives him a small smile, but he doesn’t budge. As much as he wants to wrap his arms around her and never let go, he can’t. She hurt him, and he can never forget that. “Annabeth,” he says curtly, and her smile starts to fade.

Annabeth wonders why Percy’s acting so strangely. Even though they weren’t together, hadn’t he missed her at all? She regretted hurting him, but she had hoped that he would give her a second chance. She sees him whisper to girl in a toga with long dark hair. She looks at Annabeth, then whispers something in Percy’s ear.

Percy knows that being around Annabeth is only going to make him angry, so he asks Reyna if he can leave, and she lets him. As he walks away, he realizes that the life he had before coming to Camp Jupiter is over. Things will never go back to the way they were. And it’s all because of her.

[bookswitchcraftandcats]

Shipmas Day 12: Percabeth Headcanons

Last day of Shipmas!

The holidays at the Jackson-Blofis apartment is always fun and exciting. They celebrate mostly the Winter Solstice because Percy and Annabeth are literally children of pagan deities. It isn’t that much different from Christmas (because that’s what Christmas was based off of) and they still celebrate on the 25th because Percy and Annabeth go to the mount Olympus meeting thing every year and like to spend a few days at camp to see their friends and everything.

They have one of the fake trees because they come in blue and how could they resist? 

On Christmas morning they stay in their pajamas and eat Sally’s blue pancakes and then exchange gifts. 

They go to see the ball drop in Times Square at least once and of course kiss at midnight. 

Aside from the holiday headcanons I have this strangely specific one that wont leave my mind: 

After the giant war, Percy and Annabeth send the gods a very well written and professional resignation letter as to why they no longer want to/will go on quests and fight in wars. Some of these reasons include things like “i’m tired” and “we have to graduate high school” and “Sally said no more”

The gods are a bit taken aback by this, no one has ever resigned from being a Hero of Olympus before. they kind of think it is funny? 

They are both morning people and are always up early. They are also coffee people and make breakfast and coffee together every morning. Annabeth sits on the counter drinking a cup of coffee while Percy flips pancakes and the early morning sun is just starting to stream through the window. 

Another post giant war headcanon, I don’t think they would be partying and whatever, I think they would just go take a freaking nap. They did so much and this was not that long after the Titan war when Percy went missing, they had to be tired. 

Eventually like Grover or someone notices they are missing and he finds them sleeping in the Poseidon cabin. They look exhausted so he just leaves them be but makes fun of Percy for it later. 

This one has been living in my head for a while but any ways I think that after Tartarus like how other people headcanon that their powers got stronger and it enhanced their abilities, what if it made them better at speaking ancient Greek. 

Like how their brains are hardwired with ancient Greek, what if they became fluent to the point where it was almost their first language. There are so many opportunities with this and I have thought of almost all of them. 

One day they are just hanging out in the kitchen and speaking Greek and Sally is just kind of like what?????

They could say bad things about the rest of the seven behind their backs.

If there was a monster at school or something they could let each other know in just a few words and no one would even catch it. 

They pass notes to each other in class and no teacher can read them. 

Sometimes they copy English homework into google translate and then laugh about how inaccurate and weird the translation is. 

saying cute things to each other in Greek. 

I really hope Rick was lying and will write more books about these two, they are like half my childhood and personality. 

[zephyrcove]

New Year’s Day (percabeth)

read on ao3!

2 am, NYD

The darkened sidewalks downstairs are still alive with drunken tourists and loud New Yorkers making the odyssey out of Times Square. Girls carrying their shoes through the lobby and men in comically oversized hats and glasses trek out onto the streets of Manhattan as the city recovers from the drop of the ball ringing in the new year.

Percy groaned from his spot face up on the couch as he looked around bleerily at the post-party chaos of his apartment. The floor was scattered with glittery confetti, polaroid snapshots of the night before, and drips of wax by the windows where the sparkler candles had gotten out of hand. Swiping a hand over his face he pushed himself up to his elbows to better survey the room. His guests had left about an hour after the ball dropped, Grover, patting him on the shoulder as he collapsed on the couch, being the final one to go. Now he was just alone in his apartment, overwhelmed by the alcohol and the bits of the evening that were slowly coming back to him. 

He cringed as he recalled his last interaction with Annabeth. His words, born from champagne and his fear of change, and the hurt in her eyes as she tore off through his apartment. She must have left then, moments before the ball dropped, and he could kick himself for the way that had played out. Percy sat a few more moments in the silence of his loft, staring out the vaulted windows and picking up the traffic lights and scattered shouts of the people on the streets below. 

As he reached over to pull the string on the lamp beside his sofa, resigning himself to an uncomfortable night on the leather cushions and a wicked hangover in the morning, he heard a clinking sound from somewhere in his apartment. He shot up and scrambled to look over his shoulder and stopped when he saw her outline a couple feet away from him, garbage bag in hand. Percy could make out the smudged mascara under his best friend’s eyes, but she looked as pretty as ever standing there in that dress, with the glow of the lamplight and the city reflecting off his windows.

“Annabeth.” He didn’t know what else to say to her. She was still here. Hours later she was here and she was beautiful and she was cleaning up the bottles from his hardwood floors for no reason. She stayed, despite it all.

“Hey.” She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she set the black plastic bag down, its contents clinking against the wood. “Figured you might want to get a headstart on the mess. Not carry it too much further into the New Year, ya know?”

Percy blinked up at her, still in disbelief that she was standing there in front of him amongst the glitter and the remains of the chaotic night. “I thought…”

Annabeth looked down and inhaled before moving to sit gingerly beside him on the couch. Her toes nudged another stray bottle and they both watched it spin as they sat in silence, knowing they had things to say but not yet knowing how they would get them out. Her fingers danced in her lap and drew his attention. 

“I’m sorry,” Percy whispered. She looked to him behind her curtain of curls, pushing them out of the way as she turned to face him. Their knees bumped and a pink flush spread on both of their cheeks.

“Earlier… before the ball drop… I don’t know why I said any of that. I think I got too caught up in what that––er––change would mean for us, and I started worrying about what would happen if I lost you and I...couldn’t deal with that. Losing you. For any reason. I couldn’t survive that. But it’s not that I didn’t want to––gods I how could I not want to––but my fucked up head said it could lead to losing you and that isn’t something I could risk. I was lost and scared, and I turned you away...” She stopped her fidgeting hands and covered his fingers with her own.

The crinkle in her brow deepened as she watched him think, and his eyes roved her face another time. None of the excuses he had built up as a reason to stop her could stack up against the possibility of losing her. His best friend, his warrior, his everything. He felt her squeeze his hand three times, pulling him gently from his thoughts. Percy glanced down to the bottles bagged in plastic on the floor beside them. She had stayed and she was there, more than a memory and more important than anything he had ever known. 

“You stayed.”

He felt the static bristling between them as he drew closer to her, cautiously meeting her eyes before he shut his own and felt her eyelashes brush his cheek as their lips met. He intertwined their fingers in his lap where they’d been resting and his other hand came to her hip, solidifying her place in his arms, in his apartment, in his life. Annabeth’s slender fingers made their way up to his messy hair, ghosting over his neck and gracing the sensitive skin behind his ear on the way. Her lips met his with a matched passion and they kissed with the ebb and flow of two people who have been so close to this for so long. 

Percy couldn’t imagine why he’d pushed her away earlier when she’d boldly suggested they do this at midnight. He was two hours late but coming to the same conclusion she had. That they were dancing around eachother for no reason, puzzle pieces that were a perfect fit if only they’d find eachothers’ right side.  She pushed another firm kiss against his lips before slowly pulling back, her forehead resting against his. 

“Percy… Of course I stayed. I’ll always stay. When it’s hard, or it’s wrong, or we’re making mistakes. I’ll be here. As long as you want me to.” Annabeth’s soft voice was soothing and full of love and the final piece clicked into place in Percy’s mind. He pushed aside the forgotten bag of bottles as he slid closer to her on the couch. Hands cupping her face, his lips ghosting hers, he whispered, “Then I will hold onto you.”

[trainwreckwips]

The Story Behind Camp’s Therapy Program

Word Count: 2,653 (thought it would be more but that’s fine lol)

Pairings: Solangelo, Percabeth. The cannon stuff, but not Caleo because I honestly could care less about Calypso. Deal with it.

Warnings: Nightmares, crying, depression, PTSD. Let me know if I need to add more.

Authors Note: This took me so freaking long, I'm sorry. If you don't already know, this story is based off of this post I made a while ago. Kinda rushed the ending but I tried, okay? Enjoy!

Will didn't intend to start a therapy program at Camp Half-Blood Not that he regrets it- he's not blind to how much it's improved the campers' mood- it just wasn't intentional.

See, he and Nico had been talking again. Working in the infirmary, Will knew nearly everything going on in Camp at all times. So obviously when he discovered the rumors of Nico having nightmares, he sought out the truth. After finishing his rounds with the sick and injured campers, he hiked out to the small clearing in the woods where he and Nico liked to meet up. Nico liked to clear his head there in the quiet darkness, so if something was indeed bothering him, Will knew he could find him there.

When he got to their meeting spot, he found Nico sitting on the fallen tree they'd been using as a bench. His eyes were closed, his hands in fists at his sides, and tears glistened against his pale skin at the corner of his eyes. Will sat next to him and gently took his hand.

"Are you okay, Nico?" he asked softly. Nico slowly shook his head. Will slid closer and pulled his boyfriend into a hug. Nico rested his head on Wills's shoulder as tears slid silently down his face. As much as Will wanted to know what was wrong, he knew that sitting together in silence was the best way to calm Nico. They stayed like that until Will had lost track of time. Once Nico had stopped crying, Will shifted so he was facing him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nico sniffled and shook his head, paused, then nodded. The couple had done this several times before. They would meet up here, sit together until they were both feeling better, then talk about what was bothering them. They had even found ways to keep each other calm while talking about not-so-fun topics. Will fidgeted when he was upset, and Nico- surprisingly- liked hugs and reminders that he wasn't alone. They often ended up playing with each other's hair as they talked.

Will smiled gently. His gaze drifted to a large patch of white flowers at the edge of the clearing. He walked over and picked a large handful of them, then returned to Nico's side. Will smiled and tucked one of the flowers behind Nico's ear, then sat down next to him. He heard Nico take a shaky breath and listened intently as Nico quietly told Will about his nightmare.

"I was back... there, again," he whispered. The 'there' in this situation, of course, referred to Tartarus. Nico had been slowly reliving his trials across the hellscape in his dreams. Though Will tried not to let it show- for Nico's sake- his boyfriend worried him. He had been listening to Nico recount his nightmares for the past two and a half weeks, with each day getting darker and darker. Of course, he wouldn't want to add anything to Nico's fears, so he kept the depth of his concern to himself, opting instead to comfort Nico in any way possible.

By the time Nico had finished recalling his nightmare, Will had weaved the flowers into a delicate crown. He set the crown on top of Nico's midnight curls with a gentle smile and a light kiss, then wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist.

"It's going to be okay, Nico. You're here now. You're safe." Now, neither of the boys were stupid. They both knew that they- any demigods, in fact- were never entirely safe. But just hearing Will say that, being held close, listened to... Nico felt better. Will looked up at the sky and breathed in deeply.

"It's going to be dark soon. We should get back to camp." Nico nodded. They both stood and, holding hands the entire way, walked slowly back to camp.

~About a week later~

Nico frowned. Something felt off. He and Will were in their normal meeting spot. Nico had been quietly telling his boyfriend about his latest nightmares, but had trailed off. The birds had gone silent suddenly, and the temperature dropped. He froze and scanned the shadows beneath the trees and spotted... something. It was large and dark, and slowly slinking towards them.

"What is it?" Will asked quietly. Nico didn't answer. He stood slowly and reached for his sword. Then he cursed quietly under his breath as he realized he'd left it in his cabin. A stupid mistake. He glanced over to see Will instinctively reach for his bow, then realize that he, too, had left his weapon at camp. Nico looked back at the dark figure in the woods, which had grown significantly in size as it neared. He turned to Will and grabbed his hand.

"Will, I need you to trust me. When I give the cue, you run to that tree." He pointed to a larger tree on the other side of the clearing, in the opposite direction from the tree. Will looked at him for a moment, concern shining in his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and nodded.

"I trust you." Nico slowly let go of Will's hand. He reached down and touched his fingertips to the ground at his feet. The dirt around his hand bubbled as if it were boiling. The sharp tip of a bone bladed throwing dagger raised from the ground. Nico carefully picked up the weapon and clutched its hilt. He studied it for a moment, then decided it would be effective as a last resort. Just what he needed.

He heard a low growl from not far behind him. He tensed, and saw Will do the same. Then, in one fluent motion, he spun around and threw the dagger at the monster. He was no child of Apollo, so the blade didn't kill the monster, but it did it's intended job: confuse it.

"Now!" Nico said loudly. He and Will turned in perfect unison and sprinted out of the clearing. As soon as their feet touched the shadows, Nico grabbed Will's hand. The shadows grew suddenly darker, and both boys vanished.

~~~

Nico didn't really know where they were going to end up. Usually, when he shadow travelled, he had a place in mind. This time, though, the only thing running through his mind was 'Get me and Will out of here safely.' At least that part was effective.

Nico and Will reappeared suddenly, stumbling out of the shadows and collapsing in a heap in the light. After a moment, Will groaned and pulled himself into a sitting position. A wave of nausea rolled over him, and it took all his will power not to vomit. He must have gone pale because when Nico sat up and looked at him, he laughed despite him not looking much better.

"Yeah, probably should've warned you before doing that. First times the worst, don't worry." Will pushed himself off the floor and to his feet. He glared down at Nico, but Nico saw the faint smile playing at his boyfriend's lips. Nico clumsily stood and brushed the dirt and dust off his clothes. He looked around.

"Where..." he was about to ask, but stopped short as he saw the giant banner hung from the ceiling. It read 'Bunker Nine'. He exhaled. Of course he would wind up in the ONE building he didn't know the exit too. And supper had already started, so Leo would be at the dining hall. And Nico was too tired to shadow travel again. Meaning... they were stuck there.

At least, he thought so.

A loud clang echoed through the large room, followed by a string of what Nico assumed were not so friendly Spanish words. Smoke poured out of a machine in the middle of the room. Will and Nico shot each other surprised looks. As they made their way through the various potentially dangerous projects and machines towards the smoking one, a disgruntled looking Leo Valdez crawled out from under the machine. He halfheartedly patted out the flames in his hair as he grumbled at a stack of blueprints on a nearby table. Realizing that Leo had no idea they were there, Will cleared his throat to get his attention. Leo jumped and spun around to face them.

"Who- what are you guys doing here? How did you GET IN here?" As Nico explained why they were there, Will took a moment to study Leo. Leo looked... awful, to say the least. His hair was a mess and he was covered in dirt and grease, which really wasn't something new, but it was worse than usual. The bags under his eyes were so dark they could've passed as eye shadow. He looked exhausted. His hands trembled but had none of the nervous energy they usually did. And he looked like he was starving, he was so thin. Come to think of it, Will couldn't remember seeing Leo around Camp at all lately, not even at the campfire or in the dining pavilion. Will's instinct kicked in, and he interrupted Nico.

"My gods, Leo! When was the last time you slept? Or ate something?" Leo stared at him for a moment, then frowned and muttered to himself. He glanced nervously around the workshop before his gaze stilled, staring down at the ground by his feet. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh... what day is it?" Nico laughed but cut off abruptly when Leo flinched. He didn't look up from the floor. Will's brow creased with worry.

"Leo... when did you last take a break from your, um... work? What was the date?" Leo shifted uncomfortably again. His trembling fingers nervously against his tool belt. He seemed to think for a minute.

"It was... the fifth, I think." Nico's eyes widened. Will's stomach sunk. He rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced anxiously over at his boyfriend. They seemed to come to a silent understanding. Nico nodded slowly, then vanished. Leo jumped slightly in surprise. After a few seconds, he seemed to relax a bit, as if Nico's presence had had him on edge, but he still wouldn't look Will in the eye. Will spoke in a soft voice.

"So you haven't ate or slept in three days?" Leo flinched slightly. He looked down at the blueprints on the table next to him, running his fingertips thoughtfully over the papers.

"I... lost track of time I guess."

"Lost track of time?"

"...yeah."

"Really? Because it sounds to me like you're avoiding people." Leo laughed lightly. Will noted that it sounded forced. He stepped forward to look at the blueprints on the table. Leo tapped them softly.

"I've been busy." Will slowly realized what the writing on the paper was. He blinked, ever so slightly surprised.

"You're rebuilding Festus? I thought..." He trailed off, deciding not to bring up the explosion. Leo had gotten the cure, by some miracle, and was resurrected, but Festus had been severely damaged. Will had assumed he was unfixable. Then again, this was LEO. Leo smiled sadly.

"Yeah, I've managed to find and repair most of him." Will nodded, understanding where he was coming from.

"You still need to eat. And sleep. And generally take care of yourself." Leo sighed. The small amount of energy he had drained out of him.

"I know. I'll... I'll come to dinner tonight." Will nodded encouragingly.

"And get some sleep?" Leo tapped the tabled and bit his lip, not looking up at Will. He seemed... reluctant, to say the least. Will sighed.

"Leo, you really do need to sleep," he said sternly. Leo put a hand over his mouth to stifle a sob, and Will realized with a jolt that his friend was crying. He immediately realized it was probably his fault, too. He put a hand on Leo's shoulder. He lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Is there a certain reason you're avoiding sleep. If so, I could try to help-" He internally winced as his voice cracked slightly. Leo took a shaky breath, shaking his head.

"I can't, Will. YOU can't." Will frowned slightly in confusion. Can't what? Sleep? Help? He thought for a moment.

"I know it's not my business, really, but if you're having nightmares... I-I helped Nico with his, maybe I could..." He stuttered. Leo went silent for a moment. He silently wiped away the tears from his face, leaving streaks of grime across his cheeks.

"Would... COULD you?" he asked quietly after several minutes. Will nodded.

"I'll do anything I can to help you."

~The Next Day~

Leo fidgeted nervously. He had quickly tidied up his workshop, taken a shower, and was currently sitting cross-legged on one of the tables that were usually covered in spare parts, tools, and blueprints. He glanced at the watch on his wrist, then at the door. He frowned and tapped his fingers against his knee. Maybe Will had forgotten, or decided he wasn't worth the trouble. He was about to give up when suddenly the door swung open.

"Sorry I'm late, Cecil broke his wrist and everyone else was busy so I had to take care of him-" Will rambled, flustered and out of breath, probably from running here. Leo smiled slightly and shrugged.

"It's fine." Will smiled gratefully and hopped up to sit on the table next to Leo. Leo tapped his fingers against the table and took a deep breath.

"So... where do we start?" Will thought for a moment.

"Well... If you're comfortable with it, you could tell me what's keeping you from sleeping. Sometimes just talking about it helps. Only if you're okay with it, of course." Leo stayed silent for a moment. He fidgeted with some pipe cleaners and paper clips he had pulled out from his tool belt, twisting them together absentmindedly.

"I... have nightmares. Well, more like flashbacks, really." Will raised an eyebrow.

"Flashbacks?" Leo nodded.

"Yeah. It's like I'm reliving my... my death. Every night." Will looked at Leo.

"You don't have to tell me about it, if it makes you nervous." Leo took a shaky breath.

"No. No, I want... I need to tell someone about this." He fell silent for a moment, then started to recount his nightmares, slowly and carefully. He told Will everything, from the moment of the explosion to waking up on Festus's back. By the time he had finished, he was crying. Will had his arm wrapped around Leo's shoulder comfortingly. After a moment of silence, Leo looked up at Will with a ghost of a smile.

"Thank you. Believe it or not, that really helped." Will smiled kindly.

"Of course. I'll always make time to listen." His eyes caught the time on Leo's watch, and he sighed lightly.

"I have to get back to the infirmary. We can talk more after dinner, if you would like." Leo sniffled a bit and nodded.

"I... would like that." He looked down at his hands. He had unintentionally created a small makeshift helicopter, similar to the one he had made at the Grand Canyon what felt like ages ago. He wound it up and launched it into the hair. Both boys laughed quietly as it flew in a wide circle before crashing into the 'Bunker Nine' banner and falling to the floor. Will hopped down off the table and walked to the door.

"Hey, Will?" Leo said, louder than he had spoken all day. Will stopped and looked over his shoulder at his friend. Leo smiled.

"Really, thank you."

~~~

So, yeah. Will talked with Leo several more times in the following weeks, checking in on him and giving advice. He also continued to meet up with Nico (obviously). Eventually, he also helped Percy and Annabeth with their nightmares and fears that Tartarus had left them with, and in what felt like no time at all, Camp Half-Blood had a full therapy program.

The demigods were healing, finally.

[empathy-lynx]

The Battle of the Labyrinth Timeline (SPOILERS) -Made by Yours Truly-

2008 (Year 3 in Riordanverse)

January

• 28th - Nico turns 11 (not stated in book)

~

June [BOTL Begins]

• 2nd (Monday morning, first week of June) - Goode HS orientation; Percy remeets Rachel and they're attacked by Kelli and Tammi the empousai; they escape and run into Annabeth, she gets jealous, and her and Percy head to camp; Percy meets Quintus and Mrs O'Leary; Percy gets ride from Chiron to Grover's Council of Cloven Elders meeting; Grover has a week left to find Pan or they'll take his searcher's license; Percy goes to his cabin, finds Tyson there, and catches up with him; at dinner Percy tells Tyson about Nico; about midnight = Percy gets first Iris-message of Nico: him sitting on the banks of the River Styx by a fire talking to a ghost

• 3rd - at breakfast Annabeth, Percy, and Grover discuss Labyrinth; after dinner = Percabeth is teamed up for war games; they fight 3 scorpions and find entrance to labyrinth; Percy has first dream of Daedalus and his son: he sees the son first, as a young boy, then Daedalus gets thrown into the room all beaten up by guards and he sees king Minos

• 4th - war council discusses labyrinth entrance; Annabeth visits the Oracle; Percy goes to check on her but sees Chris and Clarisse in basement; Annabeth returns with prophecy and chooses 3 companions (Percy, Grover, and Tyson) instead of 2 to go with her; Percy checks on Annabeth in her cabin and Annabeth kinda breaks down and gets a hug from him; night = Percy has dream vision of Luke on the Andromeda talking with Kronos, found out there's a spy at camp, and Kelli the empousa came in and sensed him; then Percy woke up in the middle of the night and has second Iris message of Nico who summoned and talked Theseus; Nico gets upset and the powerfulness breaks Percy's water basin

• June 5th: they enter the labyrinth

• in maze - they encounter Janus, then Hera

• out of maze - they stumbled/tunnel into Alcatraz and meet Briares and encounter/fight/escape from Kampê

• in maze - they camp for the "night"; Percy has second dream/vision of Daedalus with him attaching wings to him and his son and escaping and Icarus falling toward the Sea; once they wake up they come across a cattle guard leading out

• 12th (out of maze) - meet Eurytion and Orthus (two-headed dog); Eurytion takes them "to see the boss"; they meet Geryon and Nicois there; everyone gets a tour; Percy cleans the stables; Percy fights and defeats Geryon; after dark = they summon Bianca and she tells Nico to stop blaming Percy and let go of his hate; they stay the night at the ranch; night = Percy has dream of Luke on Mount Tam, then of Daedalus and his nephew Perdix; Percy wakes up at 2am and Grover tells him it's the 13th and that his deadline for finding Pan is already up

• 13th - they go back into maze following the spider towards Hephaestus' forge

• in maze - they encounter/escape from the Sphinx; they meet Hephaestus and he makes a deal with them: if they go and see who/what is using his forge at Mount St Helens, then he'll tell them how to get to Daedalus; as they head towards Mount St Helens, they pass a side tunnel that Grover is sure leads to Pan, so Grover and Tyson split off from Percy and Annabeth; the two of them get to the forge; they encounter/fight Telkhines; Annabeth escapes with invisibility and Percy makes the volcano explode and blacks out

• on Ogygia - Percy meets Calypso; he helps her plant moonlace; he stays a bit and gets his strength back up; he learns about why Calypso is on the island; Hephaestus visits and shows him the damage he did and told him how to find Daedalus (that he already had the means to do so); Percy finds out about Calypso's curse of being sent a companion who can never stay; at daybreak he leave the island

[The day Percy got back from Ogygia was a Friday (the day after when they go into the city it says it's a Saturday, pg 242). He was gone from the real world for two weeks. After they went back into the Labyrinth from Triple G Ranch on the 13th, by my best estimation, they were in the Labyrinth for a few hours Labyrinth time (no more than a day real time). From there, the Friday two weeks later is June 27th.]

• June 27th - Percy gets back to CHB and finds out he's been gone for 2 weeks; Chiron tells Percy Quintus disappeared 3 nights ago; night = Percy has dream of Minos and him getting killed by the king's 3 daughters who were hiding Daedalus; then he dreamt of Luke and his army traveling through the maze (no string)

• June 28th - Percy and Annabeth go into the city to visit Percy's mom; Percy calls Rachel; they meet up with her and enter the maze

• in maze - they get caught and led to an arena; they meet Antaeus, son of Poseidon; Percy fights Ethan Nakamura; Percy fights and defeats Antaeus; Mrs O'Leary comes to the rescue as a distraction as Percy, Annabeth, Rachel, and Ethan escape; Ethan goes off on his own; they make camp and sleep; Percy has a dream that Kronos shows him a vision of Tyson and Grover being in trouble; they wake up, go further into the maze, and arrive at Daedalus' workshop; they find out Quintus is Daedalus; he tells them Luke already has the string; Kelli the empousa and Minos burst in with 2 laistrygonians and Nico in chains; Nico said he was tricked into going back in the maze by Minos saying Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover were in danger; a fight breaks out; when Minos says that he is the ghost king, Nico says "No, I am." then the ground swallows up Minos and the rest of the spirits that were gathering; Annabeth kills Kelli as Kelli is on top of Percy about to kill him; Nico, Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel escape using the metal wings and leave Daedalus and Mrs O'Leary behind

• out of maze - they fly over Colorado Springs and quickly land; Rachel "suspiciously" gets a luxury ride into town so they can search for an entrance into the maze; they find one through an abandoned mine shaft

• in maze - as they're walking they pass a side tunnel that leads to Mount Tamalpais; Annabeth gives her invisibility cap to Percy and he goes to investigate

• out of maze - he hears/sees Ethan Nakamura with some Telkhines unwrapping something; once it's uncovered Percy realizes it's Kronos' scythe and runs away from is fast as he can; Percy comes into the room that holds Kronos' sarcophagus, approaches it, pushes back the lid, and finds Luke inside looking "very, very dead"; Ethan pledges his allegiance and Kronos rises; when he's about to attack Percy, Rachel "hit the Lord of the Titan's in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush"; they run away back into the maze; Nico makes a solid black wall come out of the ground so that they can't follow

• in maze - they run until they can't anymore and come into a cave; as they're about to head to New York, they find Grover's cap on the ground and his and Tyson's footprints leading deeper into the cave; they get reunited with Grover and Tyson and go through a sort of archway that they can feel a strong presence; they find Pan laying in a bed with various extinct animals: Dede the dodo bird, cross between a tiger and a wolf, a huge rodent "like the mother of all guinea pigs," and a wooly mammoth; Pan tells them that he is fading/dying and gives each of the (except Nico) a blessing of sorts to carry on his legacy/the Wild; Pan gives final blessing and dies

• June 30th (out of maze) - they come out in Times Square; all but Rachel fly to camp on Blackjack and his Pegasi buddies; they prep for battle and not too long after all Hades breaks loose; Percy sees one of Dionysus' kids gets stabbed in the arm and knocked out; Nico summons undead warriors in order to keep monsters from invading Camp; Percy kills a hellhound and helps Grover and Juniper put out a tree fire; Kampê makes her entrance; Percy runs toward her with Annabeth alongside him: "This might be it." / "Could be." / "Nice fighting with you Seaweed Brain." / "Ditto"; Mrs O'Leary saves Percy and Annabeth from Kampê and her and Daedalus and Briares join the fight; Grover screams/makes a horrific sound and all the enemies flee back into the maze; Daedalus' apologizes for his previous actions and gives Annabeth one of his laptops he salvaged from the fire; Nico decides not to use Daedalus' soul to bring Bianca back and helps release his spirit; "That night was the first time I actually saw camp burial shrouds used on bodies, and it was not something I wanted to see again."; among the dead, Lee Fletcher (Apollo) and Castor (Dionysus)

~

July

• July 1st - they treated the wounded, which was basically everyone, and repaired damage; noon = Council of Cloven Elders meeting; Grover's noise = a gift from Pan: panic; Mr D steps in and supports/defends Grover, so that he doesn't get exiled; afternoon = Percy goes to beach where Tyson and Briares are and they say goodbye to Briares who's going to the forces and Tyson is staying at camp with Percy; after dinner = Nico went into woods, Percy followed, and Nico says he is leaving to find answers about his past… and something else ..; Percy gives him the Hades Mythomagic figurine and tells him maybe it's okay to still be a kid once in a while; after Nico leaves Mr D appears and walks with Percy back to campfire; Percy sees that Mr D cured Chris of madness: "You cured him?" / "Madness is my specialty. It was quite simple." / "But...you did something nice. Why?" / I am nice! I simply ooze niceness, Perry Johnson. Haven't you noticed?"; then he gets serious and tells Percy sometimes small things can become very large indeed

• 4th - fireworks on the beach

• 12th - Annabeth turns 15 (not stated in book)

~

August

• 16th (last day of camp) - 10am = Percy stood on half-blood hill; him and Annabeth talk briefly and he finds out the last line of her prophecy: "and lose a love to worse than death"; Hera appears and says that her quest was a success, and points out ways she helped, and that the ones who died are better off dead and that Nico was right that no one wanted him around, then said she would welcome a sacrifice for her efforts [and so the hatred for Hera begins]; Annabeth says that Hera is the one who doesn't belong, then Hera says, "You will regret this insult, Annabeth. You will regret this very much." then she leaves

• 18th - Percy turns 15; his mom threw a small party, and Paul and Tyson were there; Tyson and Sally blew up balloons while Paul asked Percy to help him in the kitchen; Paul guesses he had a rough summer, lost someone important, and was having girl trouble; then Paul asked Percy's permission to propose to Sally and Percy approves; a bit later, Poseidon shows up and gets to meet Paul, then talks to Percy privately; Percy tells him what happened over the summer, and Poseidon tells him of the trouble he's been having with the old sea gods; Poseidon gives him a sand dollar; Percy asks about Antaeus, and Poseidon tells him that he is his favorite son; then he tells him that the incident on Mount St Helens caused Typhon to stir, and that in a few months, or a year at best, he will escape his prison; then Poseidon leaves; the rest of them eat cake and play games, then Percy goes to his room with another slice of blue birthday cake; Percy finds the moonlace flower in his pocket and plants it outside his apartment window; then Nico appears out of nowhere; he tells him that he has an offer for Percy, a way to beat Luke, and Percy invites him in for cake and ice cream while they discuss the plans Nico has

[BOTL ENDS]

~

September

• at some point - Percy starts 9th grade

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOTL Prophecy

You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,

The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise.

You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,

The Child of Athena's final stand.

Destroy with a hero's final breath,

And lose a love to worse than death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lightning Thief Timeline

The Sea of Monsters Timeline

The Titan’s Curse Timeline

PJ & the Sword of Hades (Short Story) Timeline/Summary

PJ & the Bronze Dragon (Short Story) Timeline/Summary

The Last Olympian Timeline

HOO Timelines (leads to TLH)

[martyfrommadagascar]

questions

thanks for tagging me @stubblephil​

Name: madigan

Nickname: mattye kay, doodle

Gender: Female

Star sign: Sagittarius 

Height: 5'6 ish

Sexuality: bisexual

Hogwarts house: Slytherin

Favourite animal(s): cats, pigeons lmao 

Average hours of sleep: around 4-5 on weekdays, 6-7 on weekends

Dream trip(s): London, Japan, ohio (to meet @fuckyeaptv​ ofc) 

Dream job: ive always wanted to be a model but ppl laugh when i tell them so idrk 

When I created my blog: three years ago 

Why I decided to have a Tumblr: to meet people, and tumblr is where the phandom gets Lit 

Reason for url: i honestly wanna change it i just dont know what to 

Relationship status: not single

Favourite colour: pastel blue or purple

Lipstick or Chapstick: Chapstick cause my lips are like the grand canyon

Last Song I Listened to: “move” by saint motel

Last movie: daddys home 2

Last TV show: the flash 

Top 3 shows: the flash, that 70′s show, friends

Top 3 ships: Phan, destiel, percabeth 

Time: 3:45 

Favourite band(s): MCR, P!ATD, FOB, TØP, saint motel, arctic monkeys 

Favourite solo artist: dylan gardner 

Song stuck in your head: FOOLS by troye sivan 

What do you post/reblog: dip and pip 

Last thing you googled: difference between a motorbike and a motorcycle (spoiler, there is no difference, a motorbike is just a less formal name) 

I follow: 148 

Lucky number: 3

Instrument:ukulele, piano 

What are you wearing: white converse, black leggins, v fluffysweater  

Favourite food: pizza, pasta, fried rice i cant choose

Last book I read: “Lady Midnight” by cassandra clare 

Appearance: brown hair, brown eyes, the stereoptypical bisexual haircut 

Hobbies: reading, staying up all night watching youtube/netflix, complaining, eating (i either dont eat a lot or i eat too much) 

Relationship: in one 

i tag @fluffycuddlesphan @citrouillephan @jupiterhowell and @willowdan

[bbyannabeth]

fic masterpost

my ao3 / my writing tag

Percabeth

AUs

thank you, alcohol / 7.23.20 - the one in which percy confesses his feelings. kinda.

apple pie / 8.3.20 - the one on which annabeth is a waitress and percy tips her way too much

sundays / 8.16.20 - the one in which they have a lazy day in bed and they’re very in love

(not) high school sweethearts / 8.24.20 - the one in which a high school reunion brings them together in more ways than they expected, not that they're complaining

seventeen / 8.25.20 - the one in which neither of them has had their first kiss. so they change that.

a game of catch. kinda. / 8.30.20 - the one in which he tosses an apple and she catches it

hypothetically speaking / 8.31.20 - the one in which annabeth skips the cliche and it doesn't work out for her... at first

surprise / 9.11.20 - the one in which percy surprises annabeth

my baby’s fit like a daydream / 9.12.20 - the one in which percy has a crush and piper really doesn't help him out there. except she kinda does.

beautiful / 9.16.20 - the one in which annabeth learns sign language just to talk to the cute customer at her cafe

"like that?" / 9.20.20 - the one in which percy teaches annabeth about kissing… kinda

worth the risk / 9.22.20 - the one in which annabeth decides not having percy at all is a lot worse than being scared to have all of him

honeymoon phase / 9.28.20 - the one in which percy complains and annabeth kinda loves it

right now, right now / 9.29.20 - the one in which annabeth isn't really pregnant. but she wants to be.

just because we can / 10.1.20 -  the one in which they're too busy for each other. until they're not.

expectations / 10.2.20 - the one in which percy teases annabeth when he really shouldn’t

the best kind of cliche / 10.6.20 - the one in which annabeth decides some cliches are okay

realities / 10.11.20 - the one in which percy teases annabeth when he really shouldn't

my (sister’s) babysitter / 10.14.20 - the one in which annabeth babysits estelle because sally doesn't trust percy to

simp / 10.16.20 - the one in which percy really loves annabeth

completely at home / 10.19.20 - the one in which percy comforts annabeth and it feels better than it should

we have history (class together) / 11.9.20 - the one in which estelle really exposes percy

bubbles / 11.18.20 - the one in which they shower together

blacked out / 11.24.20 - the one in which annabeth doesn't remember what she said last night

48 hours with annabeth chase / 12.7.20 - the one in which percy and annabeth are internet friends and finally meet

speak now / 1.4.21 - the one in which percy (almost) marries the wrong girl

got it on record / 1.22.21 - the one in which annabeth tells percy she’s pregnant

a little misunderstanding can hurt a lot / 3.4.21 - the one in which annabeth thinks percy may be cheating on her

with you, on new year's day / 3.9.21 - the one in which they're cleaning up bottles on new year's day

got me right where you want me, baby (could i be more obvious?) / 7.13.21 [complete] - the one in which annabeth moves into luke's apartment while he's away, and his roommate is really... something else (in a very good way)

tripping, falling (with no safety net) / 8.13.21 - the one in which annabeth has a (very) last minute realization

kiss me twice 'cause it's gonna be alright / 8.18.21 - the one in which they (kinda) get married on the first date

coffee at midnight / 9.23.21 - the one in which they go on (another) midnight drive

if we loved again / 10.8.21 [complete] - the one where Percy is dared to hook up with a girl, and it doesn’t go exactly as planned

where every wish comes true / 12.1.21 [complete] - 25 christmas prompts, 25 oneshots

i'd write this in the sky / 12.31.21 - the one in which they meet at a wedding, and life takes them from there

i know you by heart / 2.14.22 -the one in which it's valentine's day, and percy surprises annabeth

Canon

territorial / 7.20.20 - the one in which percy returns from calypso’s island

my achilles spot / 7.20.20 - the one in which annabeth takes the knife for percy and they talk about it

idiot / 7.20.20 - the one in which artemis asks annabeth to join the hunt. and she doesn’t.

i kissed him / 7.20.20 - the one in which annabeth thinks percy dies

she doesn’t compare to you / 7.20.20 - the one in which percy tells annabeth about when aphrodite visited him

anchor / 7.20.20 - the one in which percy tells annabeth about what he saw in the styx

i’m glad you did / 7.24.20 - the one in which annabeth allows herself to be vulnerable

i’m just happy / 7.25.20 - the one in which they wake up together and percy loves it

who do you think, wise girl? / 7.24.20 - the one in which annabeth thinks she's going lose percy. and then she doesn't.

i know he’s alive / 7.30.20 - the one in which annabeth tells sally that percy is missing

the jealous type / 8.5.20 - the one in which annabeth is jealous and she really doesn’t need to be

resistible / 8.16.20 - the one in which annabeth isn’t really jealous

lover of mine / 8.18.20 - the one in which they dance around the living room

happy late birthday / 8.27.20 - the one in which percy wishes annabeth happy birthday at a more convenient time

k-i-s-s-i-n-g / 9.3.20 - the one in which piper is annoying but they allow it anyways

irrational / 9.8.20 - the one in which percy is late and it scares the hell out of annabeth

perseus / 9.12.20 - the one in which annabeth gets a new tattoo

“don’t even try it” / 9.25.20 - the one in which annabeth gets hurt and percy helps

no regrets / 10.8.20 - the one in which annabeth just needs some reassurance

light em up / 12.11.20 - the one in which they watch the fireworks together

you were always right beside me / 12.22.20 - the one in which they're just happy to be alive and together

stay here, honey (i don’t wanna share) / 2.23.21 - the one in which annabeth learns percy and rachel kissed

all's well that ends well to end up with you / 7.15.21 - the one in which it's annabeth's birthday throughout the years

but if, gods forbid, fate should step in / 8.24.21 - the one in which annabeth tries so hard to get percy back

i can see the end as it begins / 10.21.21 [incomplete] - the two rewrite where they get together a little sooner

Solangelo

“I’ll keep that in mind, Death Boy” / 9.21.20 - Nico doesn’t seem to mind it when Will touches him

Nico doesn’t cuddle… usually / 10.1.20 - “Today, for the first time in his life, Nico had an overwhelming urge to cuddle.”

Someone tell Nico he isn’t scary / 10.22.20 - Nico thinks people are scared of him and Will simply disagrees

[annabethy]

can you write a percabeth tiktoker fic

im pretty sure you sent this prompt to many people but yolo,, percabeth

Annabeth doesn’t get a lot of sleep. She’s simply a mess, constantly fretting over things she can’t control, and that makes it hard for her to really relax enough to actually doze off.

That, and she may have an issue with tiktok.

She’s so busy with school all the time that any chance she gets to do something for herself, she uses it. And that time usually comes at night around two in the morning which is precisely how she finds herself up at six in the morning with a class only an hour later.

That is also exactly how she stumbled upon his account.

Percy Jackson was a pretty popular account. He has a couple million of followers and after a bit of stalking, she finds that he was just recently verified.

Normally, she wouldn’t get so distracted by an account that she’s up so long without any concept of time, but Percy did it for her. It wasn’t that he was attractive (which he was so so attractive) but he was just funny. He’d make videos of pretty much any nature, but he always manages to bring a smile to Annabeth face.

So Annabeth’s basically become a zombie on her feet all day because she can’t get off of tiktok long enough to actually make it to the REM stage of sleep.

As Annabeth stares at her phone, she has no idea how this happened. She swears that she only made one video in the midnight hazed inspiration, but that one video turned into five and then ten and now she is suddenly at two million followers and she is absolutely lost.

“Wow,” Piper says, peeking over her shoulder. “That’s a lot of followers.”

“I just—” Annabeth gestures vaguely, clearly overwhelmed. “I don’t understand how this happened.”

“You’re funny and also hot. Also you have a fat ass.”

Annabeth blinks. “I have a... big? Butt?”

“No,” Piper stresses, leaning back against the chair. “I said you have a fat ass.”

Annabeth preens, but only slightly. She carries on making videos, though she doesn’t have the slightest clue as to what’s going on. That two million becomes five million in only two months. It all has Annabeth feeling a little lightheaded.

It’s kind of fun, she has to admit. Not that she gets much time to actually make tiktoks, but apparently that’s what makes her good to watch because whatever she does end up posting is usually her half asleep rambling on about whatever crosses her mind. She doesn’t think it’s quite healthy, and her comments let her know that but also demand that she doesn’t stop.

She’s having too much fun to stop anyways. It’s fine. She’s fine.

She continues to watch Percy’s tiktoks, and he’s grown to over twenty million. It’s insane in her opinion that so many people could follow someone, and she almost doubts it, but then all she has to do is take a look at her account.

People begin to recognize her too. It’s not often, and it always catches her off guard, but it does happen. She tries to look at least somewhat presentable, which basically means she at least redoes a messy bun before leaving, but today’s luck has clearly run out.

Annabeth is running around through the city, just trying to find the specific pasta noodles that her roommate had asked for. She’s sure she looks like a hazardous mess, wearing plain grey sweatpants and a red Cornell hoodie just to spite Columbia kids, but she forgot until she was out the door and it was too late. She finally manages to find the pasta and she snatches the last package off the shelf, ready to fend it with her life. She checks out quickly before she’s back outside, running down the New York sidewalk. She’s not looking up at all, instead staring straight at her phone, but so was the other person, so what happens next is really not entirely her fault.

She slams directly into someone, and her box of noodles go flying to the floor, hitting the pavement with a thump that matches the sudden anger in her heart.

She looks up, wanting to scold the person, and then—

“Annabeth?”

Just her luck, Percy Jackson is staring back at her, a kind smile on his face. He takes one look at her scowl and his smile falls as he takes a subtle step away from her.

“I’m sorry,” he says. He ends up picking the box up for her, and she takes it from him with hesitant fingers. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, so it’s my bad.”

Annabeth just smiled painfully.

“Pasta?” he asks kindly. “Sounds good.”

“Yeah.”

Percy is beginning to look mildly uncomfortable as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his own hoodie. “Well, I guess I’ll just be going. Sorry to bother you, but it was nice meeting you.”

She has enough decency to mutter out a “You too,” as he turns to leave. It’s not until he takes a few steps away that it dawns on her that he knew her name.

“Wait a second,” she says more to herself, but Percy still stops. “You know who I am?”

“I mean... yeah.”

“But you’re you.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Yes, I’m me. Thank you.”

“You watch my tiktoks?”

“I have for a while,” he says, a slight smirk. “I didn’t think someone with millions of followers would be so surprised that I know their name.”

“You’re a lot bigger than me.”

He shrugs. “We’re both up there, I guess.”

She takes a step closer to him this time. “Modest.”

“I try,” he says. “So now that you look less ready to stab me, I can say that I love your videos.”

“I wasn’t going to stab you,” she says dismissingly. “But thanks. Yours are pretty cool too.”

He snorts. “Thanks.”

“You have no idea how long I’ve been watching you.”

“That sounds vaguely creepy.”

“So is running into you on the streets of New York.”

Percy smiles again, and she could drown in him. “It’s cool though. A sign from above.”

“What could this possibly be a sign of?”

“That we should do a collab.”

Annabeth pauses. “What?”

“No?”

“Why would you work with me of all people?”

“For starters, you’re here right now, but also because I like you. I think you’d be so fun to do something with.”

Annabeth feels like screaming, but then she remembers that she is supposedly also cool and keeps her calm. “I would do it.”

“You look like you’re going to explode.”

“I feel like I’m going to explode. Percy Jackson? Wanting to do tiktoks with me?”

“It’s not as impossible as you think,” he says. “You’re cute.”

“Oh?” Annabeth did not expect that to be the next thing out of his mouth, but she can’t say it doesn’t make her beam. “Boosting my ego over here.”

“Good.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket, “so let’s exchange numbers and I’ll take you out sometime and we can make some tiktoks.”

Annabeth grabs his phone to put her number in. “Is this going out a part of the tiktoks or something extra?”

“Whichever you want.” Percy takes his phone back, flashed her the prettiest look that makes her weak. “I’ll call you.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she says. Percy ends up stepping forwards to give her a hug, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she notes how he’s the perfect height for her.

He leaves with a goodbye and another promise of calling. Annabeth turns away too so she can head towards her apartment, and she feels that her breath has been taken away.

Her and Percy Jackson?

More possible than she would think, apparently.

(Works much better than she would’ve imagined, too.)

[annabethy]

Internet crush au i love the thought that both percy and annabeth try to subtly flirt with each other whist being an ocean apart on youtube (and all of they’re followers know they’re simps) idk just a thought for if you’re still wanting prompts ❤️❤️

oceans apart: percabeth internet crush au

“Not again.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, pointedly sipping her cup of coffee and ignoring Piper’s whine for attention.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to,” Annabeth lies.

“Oh, so you’re not sparking up an online romance with the infamous Percy Jackson?”

Annabeth hums, taking another slow sip of her drink. “I am merely responding to his message.”

“Over twitter. In front of millions of people.”

Annabeth snorts, staring at the phone in hand. It was true, really. Somehow, Annabeth had managed to gain quite a big following on youtube during her years spent studying at Oxford, and at some point, a guy from UCLA took an interest in her. It had been pretty hilarious, especially to the millions of people watching her every move, and she just hadn’t been able to put a stop to the online flirting, which is precisely why she was flirting with a man that was oceans apart from her.

“You’re never even met this man,” Piper points out.

“That’s what makes it fun,” Annabeth says. “An online romance. Who doesn’t love it?”

“I’m not saying no one loves it because this is the best thing to happen in all of the twenty-first century, but he’s in California, and you’re not.”

“It’s all fun and games,” Annabeth says.

“Yeah, right.”

Annabeth blinks. “Do you have something you’d like to tell me?”

“You two are practically in love with each other.”

Annabeth flushes. “Are not.”

“What are you typing then?”

Annabeth looks down at the thread being sent back and forth between the two popular youtubers. By this point, their entire conversation was being filled with hundreds of thousands of people having mental breakdowns, thinking the two were actually going to get together.

Not that she would mind that. No, she hadn’t seen him in person, but they’re practically best friends, and he’s a huge sweetheart.

“Nothing.”

“Lies,” Piper says, snatching the phone. “Percy tweeted ‘honey, I think you and I should get married.’”

“He’s kidding.”

“You responded, ‘come to the UK and I’ll consider it.’”

“It’s all just some good-natured fun.”

“He responded, ‘give me a kiss?’ and you said, ‘show up alive, and then we’ll see.’”

Annabeth snickers, snatching her phone back. “You’re reading too far into this.”

“No, I’m not. You two are just in love with each other.”

“You are incorrect, actually.”

Piper raises an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? What about last week when he uploaded the video that was literally spent listing off the reasons you should marry him?”

“Publicity stunt. It got millions of views.”

“You’re in love with him.”

Annabeth pinches her fingers. “Only a little bit, but no one has to know.”

“Oh, honey, everyone knows.”

A part of her floods with warmth. Ever since he’d first left a comment on one of her videos, their friendship had blossomed. It was just what they did — uploading videos just to tease one another and accept marriage proposals. He’s probably proposed five times by this point, and Annabeth has jokingly accepted five times.

They were the unofficially-official couple as people like to put it, and it was a lovely arrangement in her opinion.

Annabeth’s phone vibrates in her hand, and when she looks down, she sees Percy telling her, bought a plane ticket. on my way babe.

“Oh god,” Piper groans, looking over Annabeth’s shoulder as another smile breaks out across Annabeth’s face. “You two disgust me.”

“That’s funny, considering you admitted that you were our biggest shipper.”

Piper gasps. “Who told you?”

“Jason told Percy who told me.”

“Betrayal.”

“Precisely.” Annabeth hums. “We should be going soon. I have to get another video up in two days and you promised you’d help me.”

“What is it this time? Writing the perfect love letter to Percy?”

“Making a shrine to Percy,” Annabeth corrects.

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was,” Annabeth says. “It was his idea.”

“Of course it was,” Piper mutters, but she’s already scooting her chair away from the table of the café and standing up. “Let’s get going then, you booger.”

The walk back to their shared apartment was filled with Piper’s rants about a certain two careless youtubers, and the video Annabeth dragged Piper to film was no different. All things considered though, it went quite well. It might as well be a shitpost, but it was interesting enough and would have to suffice.

The video did take a lot longer to film than expected, so by the time Annabeth was finally ready to go on with the day, it was almost midnight.

“This sucks,” Annabeth says, peeking out the window at the dark sky.

“It’s no big deal.” Piper stretches and yawns, and Annabeth thinks she may fall asleep right there. “London never sleeps so we can still go out.”

“You’re practically drooling already.”

“We have things to do. People to see.”

Annabeth scrunches her brows. “Who?”

“People,” Piper says ominously. As she sits up, she looks Annabeth up and down before shrugging, which doesn’t do much to help her confidence. “You look good enough. Let’s go.”

Piper barely gives Annabeth time to process what was happening before she was being dragged out the door. Realistically, Piper did give her like five minutes to grab a few things, but it felt like no time at all because Piper refused to say anything besides they were meeting up with some friends at a cozy diner in the middle of the city.

The walk there was a bit chilly, so as Annabeth tightens her long black peacoat around her body, she glances at Piper out of the corner of her eye.

“So,” Annabeth says, sniffling and rubbing her nose to soothe the sharp bite of wind. “Would you mind telling me why we’re heading to the city? We never go out late. That’s, like, our motto.”

“You looked cute today, and it would be a shame to waste that by just staying in.” Piper grabs Annabeth’s hand and laces their fingers together to swing their arms back and forth. “I must say I’m loving the white sweater and black jeans. My fashion is rubbing off on you.”

“What fashion?”

“I hate you.”

By the time they finally reach the diner, Annabeth’s fingers and toes are numb, but the view was definitely worth it. Annabeth’s surprised she hadn’t ever seen this place before after having lived here for almost four years, but it’s no surprise Piper knew of it. There were fairy lights strewn up around the outer portion of the restaurant, and there was gentle music flowing through the air. Even though it was cold, the image of this place was a drastic difference, and it melted the aching in her bones.

Piper leads Annabeth to a table outside, and Annabeth is hardly surprised to see Jason waiting for them. He stands up to give each of the girls a quick hug, before they all settle into their respective seats.

“You brought me here to be a third wheel? Is that what this is?” Annabeth says playfully as she sits.

“You and I both know that I’m the real third wheel here,” Jason says kindly. “But maybe it’s Piper, because she’s the only one here who doesn’t make videos.”

“I don’t need to because I was lucky enough to have my best friend introduce me to another youtuber,” Piper says.

“You should be thanking me for your relationship,” Annabeth tells the two of them. “Without me, you would’ve never found the love of your life.”

Jason’s eyes gleam. “And how about you? Have you found the love of your life?”

“I can’t say that I have.”

“I saw the messages between you and Percy earlier,” Jason says. “It was a beautiful proposal, really.”

“I try.”

“When you meet him, you should consider eloping.”

“That’s if I meet him,” Annabeth corrects.

“Of course. My apologies.” Jason grins, and Annabeth is slightly unnerved. “You would make a cute couple.”

“How so?”

“You two are the biggest simps for each other,” Jason says.

“Told you so,” Piper chimes in.

“I’m going to leave if you two brought me here just to insult me.” Annabeth looks beside herself and her eyes focus on the empty chair. “Are we waiting for someone else?”

“I invited a friend, but I’m not sure where he is,” Jason says. “They must be running late.”

“Who is it?”

“Oh, I’m not sure if you’d know them,” he dismisses.

Piper and Jason begin talking again, but Annabeth tunes them out. If she was going to be forced to sit with stranger while Piper and Jason snogged in front of them, then she would be severely unhappy.

Annabeth doesn’t know what to expect, but she does know that she should be worried when Piper and Jason share a conspicuous glance with each other before heading off to the bar, under the excuse of getting them some drinks.

Annabeth groans, lacing her hands together on the table in front of her. She was definitely starting to regret this decision of joining Piper on her midnight adventure, not that it was much of a decision at all. She was dragged alongside her, and if she could go back in time, she would probably end up pushing Piper off a bridge to stop this utter boredom from taking over.

All things considered though, it’s not too terrible. She might be able to drink the night away and forget all this happened, and—

“Babe!”

Annabeth’s head snaps up because of the voice. It was a voice she’d recognize anywhere.

She whirls around in her chair, and right there, standing in all his glory, was Percy Jackson.

Percy holds his arms out as he approaches her, and Annabeth laughs as she stumbles up to give him a crushing hug. They stay like that for a few seconds, and it feels like it should be awkward because they’d never actually met before, but it just feels like a piece of a puzzle if fitting into place.

“What are you doing here?” Annabeth asks, grinning as she pulls away and tilts her chin to look up at him. From here, he’s a lot taller than she expected, and he looks so much better in person than on camera, which says a lot.

“I’m here for our wedding!” Percy smiles cheekily, pulling her in for another quick hug before stepping back and just looking at her. She feels warm and fuzzy under his gaze. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten.”

“Of course I haven’t,” she says, playing along. “But why are you really here?”

“I wanted to see my beautiful girlfriend.”

Annabeth bites her bottom lip, holding back a laugh. “I don’t recall agreeing to this.”

“You agreed to marry me, so I think that means we’re dating.”

“Yeah, but we both know we were messing around.”

Percy clicks his teeth, his eyes sparkling. “I don’t know. You did respond when I called you babe, so…”

“I guess I did.” Annabeth looks over at where Piper and Jason had disappeared off to. They were taking their sweet time, and suddenly Annabeth realized that it was for a reason, and that they knew all along. She doesn’t know whether to thank them or punch them. “It looks like they’re not coming back anytime soon.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “That might be because I asked them to let me have you all to myself for a while.”

“You did?”

“Of course I did.” Percy stares at her for a while, and she stares back. It feels like she’s known him for all of her life, and she never wants this moment to end. So long talking over the phone and sending messages through videos, and they were finally alone, just the two of them, and it was so much better than she could’ve imagined.

“I’m not sure what to do now,” Annabeth admits as Percy takes a step closer, like he’s done it a million times. Soon, his face is inches away from hers.

“I have an idea,” Percy tells her quietly, his green eyes vibrant in the dim lighting of the outdoor patio.

“And what’s that?”

“Go on a date with me.”

Annabeth tilts her head, lips lifting in a coy smile. “I thought we were already engaged?”

“I’m still working towards that kiss,” he says, and his smile is blinding.

A beat skips, and she can’t help herself, and then—

“Who says you have to wait?”

Annabeth doesn’t know what prompts her to step forwards, but she does anyways, and her stomach flutters when he does the same. There was just something about this situation that seems so familiar, and she trusts him, probably more than she should. But this was Percy, and she knew him. He wouldn’t hurt her.

Percy’s hands go to cup her face, his fingers gently tracing over her skin, cold in the London winter, and there is a blazing heat in her body. For a second, they look into each other’s eyes, and then both of their eyes are fluttering shut as Percy brings her face to his and kisses her sweetly.

It’s slow and gentle, and somehow, she can see a future with them. This has been building up since she first saw his kind words on her video, and it was strengthened through their twitter declarations of love and youtube proposals. She shouldn’t feel like this, but she does, and that’s okay.

He pulls away but his hands stay in place. His smile is so breathtaking, and it fits so well with the delicate snowflakes that started falling and the pretty glow of the fairy lights.

“What do you say?” Percy asks. “I’ll take you on the date of your life.”

“And then you’ll marry me?”

“What’s a date if it doesn’t end in marriage?”

Annabeth’s lips twitch up, and she brushes a strand of her blowing hair behind her ear. She really liked him, and she just knew that it would be alright. He was in Los Angeles and she was in London, and they were oceans apart, but it would be okay.

“I’m holding you to that,” she says, and so he takes her hand, and leads her on the date of a lifetime.

[annabethy]

under the mistletoe, watching the fire glow: day 5

Character A and Character B are co-workers, but they barely know each other. But they both have to work through the holidays,, percabeth

Annabeth finds herself staring out the window in front of her desk instead of doing any actual work. She’s been trying to pay attention to the glowing computer in front of her, but she’s accepted the fact that it’s not going to be happening tonight.

She’s too entranced by the snow that is falling outside. It’s a magical sight on Christmas Eve, with the colorful lights of Central Park that she can see from out the window, and the families moving around together. She’s always loved living in the city, but days like this make her fall in love with it all over again.

Her attention is brought back to inside the building as someone coughs. It brings her mood back down as she is reminded that she’s stuck here on the one night that she wants to be home. She didn’t have to work, but she was already struggling to get by and really needed the money.

She sighs, looking back at her computer. She’s not entirely sure what report she’s writing up, but she supposes she has all night to figure it out, and–

Someone coughs again, much more insistent, and she stiffens. The last thing she needs is to get sick, but the coughing persists from right behind her.

She turns in her chair slowly, eyes seeking out them out. She finds a guy she recognizes staring at her from the desk behind her, and she blinks. “Do you need something?”

His mouth drops slightly. “Uh– no.”

With that, she tries to turn back around, but then he seems to choke on his own air.

“What?”

He searches for words, but then all he can come up with is, “I’m bored.” “I’m sorry?” Annabeth is only slightly annoyed, but she is much more amused now because he’s looking at her pleadingly, but she doesn’t have the slightest clue as to what he’s asking her.

“I really don’t want to work anymore,” he says. His green eyes seem to stare into her soul, and it reminds her of the lights right outside the window in front of her. She is tempted to look back outside, to see if his eyes were brighter than the lights, but she restrains. “I get that,” she says, “but I don’t see what you want me to do.”

“Come steal snacks from the break room with me.”

“And get fired? No thanks.”

“There’s like five people here, and none of them care.”

“Do you even know me?”

He shrugs. “I know you’re least likely to kill me out of everyone here. They all have, like, kids and families so they won’t have fun. But it’s Christmas! Do you know what that means?”

“No.”

“It means we have to drink all the eggnog and get drunk, so come on.”

He doesn’t leave her much time to consider it before he’s hopping out of his chair and walking down the quiet corridors. Annabeth is smart enough to know that it’s probably not the smartest idea to get drunk at work, but if she doesn’t get caught, then she’s fine. And if she does get caught, it means she can quit this job that causes her physical pain. There’s no losing, she figures, so she gets out of her own chair, lightly chasing after him.

She catches up as he’s rounding a corner, and she looks around at the empty desks, one or two with people looking as miserable as she’s sure she looked. It’s kind of creepy working so late because the lights are all off, the only things glowing being people’s computers. It all has an eerie vibe to it, and if she wasn’t with this person she still doesn’t know the name of, she would not be caught dead walking around by herself.

He leads her into a breakroom on another floor, flicking the lights on. She blinks as her pupils adjust, and then she’s standing there as he goes to pull something out of the fridge.

He holds it up above his head like he is about to sacrifice it to the gods. “Eggnog!”

She just nods slowly. “You brought alcohol to work.”

“It’s not possible to do this job without being wasted,” he says.

“I do.”

“I’m sure your life is miserable.”

Well, he isn’t wrong.

He begins to pour the drink into two separate paper cups that she’s sure the company picked up from the dollar store. As he hands it to her, she has to say she doesn’t think she’s ever seen people drink out of paper cups. And as she sits onto the couch beside him that is pushed up against the wall, she is reminded that she still doesn’t know his name.

She takes a deep gulp of the eggnog. “What even is your name?”

“I’m not sure I should tell you. You might tell the boss I get drunk at work.”

She rolls her eyes.

“I’m Percy. Please don’t report me.”

“I’m Annabeth. I’m going to report you.”

Percy just gives her a lopsided smile, like he can sense the lie. “Seeing as you’re going to get drunk with me, I think I can report you back.”

“Hm.”

They fall into a silence just long enough for it to become awkward. While she doesn’t hate him, she still doesn’t know him either, and there is not anything she can think to say in this moment. Instead of speaking, she takes this time to look at him. His eyes are trained on something in the distance, so she gets to take in his face, his hair, his torso without judgement. She finds that she quite likes what meets her eyes.

“So,” Percy starts, turning his attention back to her. She quickly averts her eyes. She doesn’t know if he caught her staring, but he doesn’t say anything if he did. “How’s life?”

She snorts, taking another sip. “Not great.” “That’s simply not an acceptable answer. It’s Christmas, so life must be spectacular.”

“You caught me. I’m just faking my awful life. I’m secretly rich and am only speaking to a peasant like you to blend in.”

He touches over his heart. “How sweet.”

“Unlike this eggnog,” she says, lifting it to her nose like she was an eggnog connoisseur. “What did you put in this?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest. I just put enough of every drink ever so that when you blackout, you see God.”

“Oh.” She shrugs, gulping down the rest. “Sounds good.”

Percy smiles, and she suddenly feels the rush of heat down her back. She isn’t sure if it’s from the alcohol taking quick effect or something else. She holds out the cup for a refill and brings it back to her lips.

“Careful,” he says, “Drink too much and it really will knock you right out.”

“At least you’re here with me to get caught by D in the morning.”

“Serious question. Do we know what D stands for?”

“Dick?” she offers.

“Yes.”

Annabeth shakes her head fondly as she kicks off her shoes so that she can curl her socked feet underneath her. Despite the heat that has been trickling down her spine each time he gives her a look, the building is actually really cold. She shivers slightly, and Percy frowns.

“Are you cold?”

“Only a tiny bit,” she lies.

Percy sets down his drink like it was his prized possession before he pulls his sweater over his head. He doesn’t even give her time to protest before he’s chucking it at her.

“This is your jacket,” she says, tossing it back.

“I’m not cold,” he says, shoving it back to her.

“You’re seriously going to let a stranger wear your jacket?”

“We’re hardly strangers now, Annabeth. We’re best friends.”

“Oh, wow. That’s a big jump.”

“Yes, well, we’re drinking eggnog on Christmas together, so.” With that, Percy pouts his lower lip. “Please put it on?”

He looks so cute like that that she can’t resist. She gives Percy her drink to hold as she wrestles it on, and she nearly sighs in its warmth. She can still feel the body heat from Percy, and it’s surprisingly not as weird as she would’ve thought. It smells really good too, reminding her of the breeze at a beach, of a stormy night, and now, of him.

“Better?” he asks smugly.

She pulls the sleeves to over her fingers. “Shut up.”

“So, Annabeth, tell me about yourself.” He nudges her knee with his foot. “Why are you working overnight on Christmas?”

She shrugs. “Needed the money.”

“No one to go home to?”

“Other than family I’d rather not see? No.”

He gives her a sympathetic glance. “No one special?”

“You mean an extraordinarily sexy, funny, smart husband?” She laughs incredulously. “Absolutely not.”

“Today’s your lucky day! I know just the person for you. They check off all of those qualities.”

“Who?” she asks, disbelieving. “Me!”

She blows a raspberry in his face.

“Okay, I have to admit I’m not the smartest person out there, but I do think I’m not totally ugly.”

He’s not totally ugly. Quite the opposite, in Annabeth’s opinion. She’d never tell him that though.

“Worst comes to worst, you can always marry me.”

“What? You don’t think I can be one of those Hallmark characters who find the love of their life on Christmas?”

“Newsflash baby, we are those Hallmark characters. Meeting on Christmas Eve, working until Christmas day? Love story if I’ve ever seen one.”

She looks at him skeptically.

“Fine,” he says. “Let’s make one of those pacts. If we’re both still single by, I don’t know, midnight? Then we marry each other.”

She looks at the clock on her phone. “You’re giving me one hour to find the love of my life before I’m forced to resort to you?”

“Yes. That’s plenty of time.”

“Sure,” she says, laughing.

“I mean, you’re already wearing my sweater. If that doesn’t make you wife material, I don’t know what does. Besides, it wouldn’t be terrible to marry me. I know you like my body.”

The looks he’s giving her lets her know that he did see her staring at him earlier. She smacks his arm. “You asshole.”

“What?” he says defensively, rubbing his forearm.

“Why didn’t you say anything!?”

“It didn’t bother me! Besides, I think you’re, like, really attractive too!”

She leans back. “So that’s why you want to marry me in an hour? So no one swoops in and steals the love of your life?”

“Precisely.”

Annabeth quickly learns she likes talking to Percy. He’s so easy to get along with, and he’s constantly getting her to laugh so hard she can’t breathe. He’s also really sweet and selfless, and he looks amazing in the midnight haze, and as they slowly both get closer and closer to being totally wasted, it just gets better.

She has no idea how she never knew his name before now because they’re practically best friends already. She feels like she’s known him her entire life. It’s so natural and perfect, the tense feeling long gone.

At some point, Percy falls over her, squishing her into the cushions of the couch. Her drink falls somewhere out of her hand, but that’s okay because she’s already half a bottle deep, and she’d much rather hold him in her arms anyways. Her fingers trace over the lean muscles of his back as he dies of laughter in the crook of her neck. She also quickly learns that Percy’ love language is touch, especially when he’s drunk. He’s an affectionate person, which is good because he balances her out perfectly.

Percy’s weight drops completely as he gives up on holding himself up. She isn’t sure how long they spend like that, sprawled out on top of one another, but she doesn’t care. This is a carefully constructed Christmas feeling she is too scared to destroy.

At some point though, she looks down to check the time on her phone.

11:59

She pokes Percy in the neck to get him to stop chucking into the cushions, and she waits until the clock strikes twelve. When it does, she’s lacing her fingers in his hair so she can pull him up to look her in the eyes.

“Hey, pretty boy,” she giggles, “It’s twelve.”

“Merry Christmas!” he yells a bit too loudly.

She’s laughing so hard that it comes out silent, and she can’t breathe. “No!”

“Oh! You mean the whole marriage thing?”

“Yes, silly,” she says.

Percy’s head drops back to the couch cushions. “So did you find the love of your life, or do you have to settle for me?”

“I think I may have found the love of my life,” she says.

Percy whines into the couch miserably.

“I’d hardly call it settling, though,” is what she says, and Percy’s head suddenly jumps back to meet her eyes.

Percy’s eyes flicker down to her lips, and she wants it so badly. She doesn’t care that they just met because this one hour with him has been better than the past twenty years of her life spent with anyone else.

So she whispers, “You may now kiss the bride,” and Percy takes her breath away.