Chapter Text
“So, tell me…” Annabeth hesitated, clearly nervous, looking down at the blanket spread under them by the lake.
She looked up and met Percy’s glance, her gray eyes seeming to grow more confident as she continued.
“Did you… you know, before we got together,” Annabeth paused, then rushed out the rest of the question. “Did you ever... like like Rachel?”
Oh gods, Percy thought, a flare of panic setting in. Now it was his turn to break eye contact as he thought about what he could say to leave the lakeside later without Annabeth’s celestial bronze dagger sticking out of the weak spot on the small of his back.
Answering different types of questions from his girlfriend had become a pretty regular occurrence in the two months that they had been dating, in the two months since the Battle of Manhattan.
Each time they had hung out recently, they had begun asking each other a series of questions. They had agreed to answer these questions, which varied in depth (anywhere from “what’s your favorite song” to “what do you like most about me”), honestly, and they were limited to one question each, per day.
It had been Annabeth’s idea (of course, most ideas were).
“I know we’ve known each other for so long now,” Annabeth had said. “But I still feel like there’s so much we need to talk about and so much I’d like to know about you, now that, you know, I plan to keep on knowing you for a long time.”
That last part had made Percy feel so warm inside that he had agreed to his girlfriend’s idea without thinking about the potential for any awkward questions.
She was also looking at him with her wide, sparkling, pleading eyes when she did, so, all-in-all, he definitely wasn’t thinking straight when he’d agreed, then got a quick kiss, then answered her first question: “What’s your favorite thing about New York City?”
That one had been easy, (the abundance of good pizza that was available, obviously), and he’d spent some of his free time since then jotting down some questions that he’d like to ask her.
Some of them, sure, he could have just asked without the need for the whole question game. He was Annabeth’s boyfriend now, after all, and they spent a lot of time together. But it had also been nice, kind of having a reason to think about what else he’d like to know about her. She had read a book about couples communication (because daughter of Athena) and said that she thought that healthy, open lines of communication would be beneficial as they made the surprisingly easy transition from how they had treated each other as best friends to starting their relationship.
Well, the easy transition once they had gotten past the weirdness of last summer, what with the war, Luke, and, oh, right, Rachel.
Percy looked back up at an Annabeth that seemed to be waffling between eagerness and nervousness.
It was a peaceful Saturday in the late afternoon, though a bit chilly in the October wind. But that fact left Annabeth pressed warmly against Percy’s side, so he didn’t really mind.
They had decided to spend the weekend at camp, their first time back since leaving at the end of summer. Annabeth had the weekend off from the whole “Architect of Olympus” thing, and Percy was tired from the definitely equally-taxing task of attending Goode High School.
Percy considered her question, looking at those piercing gray eyes. Looking at the face of the girl that had been his lifeline to mortality when he bathed in the Styx. The girl that had been his first thought when the gods had offered him immortality. The girl that had fought beside him since they were 12.
She couldn’t lie to her, with those earnest eyes looking back at him. Fortunately, he realized, he doesn’t want to — or have to.
“No,” he said, and the confidence in his voice surprised even him.
A momentary look of surprise crossed Annabeth’s face as he said it.
“I mean, it’s totally ok if you did. We weren’t together at the time, and I know you enjoyed spending time with her over the summer,” Annabeth said, nervously pulling at her camp necklace.
“Besides,” she said, a smile starting to grow on her face. “I know for a fact you like me now, Seaweed Brain, so it doesn’t bother me if you did.”
Percy should have been concerned. The very mention of Rachel’s name would have been a minefield, would have caused an argument just two short months ago.
But he wasn’t. It was different now, talking to Annabeth about these topics that would have been considered taboo before. He wanted to share everything with her, even the parts that he would have felt devastated about if she found them out a few weeks ago.
“Honestly,” he began. “She’s cool. I think even you see that now,” Percy playfully poked her shoulder as he talked. “And I did and I do really enjoy her company. But, no, I don’t think I ever actually liked her. In that way. In our way.”
He pulled her closer and placed a soft kiss on her forehead as he said the last part.
“I’ll admit that I wasn’t totally sure how I felt to start with,” Percy started, Annabeth looking back up at him. “When we were hanging out over the summer.”
“I just… I needed some way to decompress, with the war and the deadline and everything. And we were… Well I know now why we weren’t seeing eye to eye-”
“Understatement,” Annabeth snorted, but her eyes remained kind.
“Well, you know what I mean,” Percy said. “But, we weren’t talking as much, or in the same way, as before. And I just needed someone to be normal with. I mean, not that she was a replacement for you or anything, because I wanted more than anything for our relationship to be normal, but, she just… let me be a kid with the whole turning 16 deadline coming up.”
“I know,” Annabeth said softly. “And, looking back, I wasn’t understanding enough. But I was just so-”
“Yes, now I know why you were frustrated,” Percy laughed. “I’m not all that bright at my best, but I was clueless when it came to feelings. You know, some people even have this nickname for me, like Algae Face or something?”
“Ooooh, that’s a new one, I’m stealing it,” Annabeth laughed.
“But, yeah, I don’t know, I didn’t really know how I felt then,” Percy continued. “But then, I had a vision of a certain someone on the banks of the River Styx-”
“I bet it was Clarisse,” Annabeth deadpanned, but her shining eyes told him to go on.
“Oh, gross,” Percy faked gagging. “But, seriously, I mean, I knew I liked you before, but, at that moment, even with everything else going on, that moment made everything just… fall into place for me. I had no doubts then.”
“You knew you had to confess your feelings for Clarisse?” Annabeth joked, but he could see a tear in the corner of her eye.
“Oh, shut upppp,” Percy whined.
They were silent for a moment, and Percy wondered whether that would be the end of the conversation. Then, Annabeth laced their fingers together and turned back towards him.
“So, you knew you liked me before that?” Annabeth said coyly.
“Maybe a little,” Percy teased.
“When did you first start liking me?”
“I thought this was supposed to be one question each?” Percy responded with a half smile.
“Oh hush, it’s a natural follow-up,” Annabeth said, lightly slapping his arm.
“That’s not in the rules.”
“I made the game up, I say what the rules are.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Hmm, what were the words?” Annabeth acted like she was in deep thought. “Oh right, ‘I am never going to make things easy on you, Seaweed Brain.’ This is one of those times.”
“Whatever,” Percy said.
He played it up, but he was definitely willing to answer her second question. Unlike a few months ago, it was much easier now for Percy to talk about his feelings for Annabeth. He had had to stop those feelings from coming to his lips so many times over the past couple of years, holding them back like a dam dam.
The sea doesn’t like to be restrained, after all, and, now that they had no reason to be held back, Percy let those declarations of his feelings flow.
“Like I said, it was all super jumbled and confusing at the time,” Percy said, starting to blush. “But… I think I’ve liked you for a while.”
“Like how long of a while?”
“That’s another question.”
“No it’s not, it’s like… a prompt for a more specific answer to the previous question.”
“Alright, alright,” Percy waved her off and started to think.
If he was being honest with himself now, he thinks that it was probably when they were 12, at least when he began crushing on her. It didn’t really feel that way at the time, and he was immature even by 12-year-old standards, so he really wasn’t prepared to rationalize any of those feelings yet.
He remembered thinking she was pretty then, her blonde princess hair being one of his first memories of Camp Half-Blood. Remembered thinking she hated him at the start of that first quest. Remembered all the adventures of that summer, and of their conversation in the animal truck on the way to Las Vegas, when she had told him that she would fight beside him even if Poseidon and Athena fought each other.
He remembered how he carried her picture around in his notebook during seventh grade. Was that normal for friends? He remembered how she looked after Circe’s makeover, remembered holding her as she sobbed at the bottom of the Sea of Monsters after hearing the Sirens’ song. He remembered worrying over her when she was injured in the fight with Polyphemus, and he remembered the kiss on his cheek after the chariot race that summer.
He remembered the absolute terror and longing when she tumbled over that cliff after they found Nico and Bianca at Westover Hall. How he couldn’t rest until she was found when she went missing. How Aphrodite had told him he was on the quest for love, and he had brushed her off. He remembered the panic he’d felt when he briefly thought Annabeth was going to join the Hunters of Artemis and remembered her asking him afterward what he had wanted to tell her when he was panicking.
That was it, he decided. He had a crush on her from near the moment they met. But that was when he definitely knew.
“You remember when Thalia joined the Hunters?” Percy asked.
“Yeah,” Annabeth said, then her face melted into a smile of understanding. “That’s why you looked sick. That’s what you wanted to tell me.”
“I was going to confess,” Percy said, his face reddening. “I didn’t really plan it, and I couldn’t really explain it. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you joining the Hunters. Of you swearing off… Of you leaving me.”
“But then you… You had talked to mom,” Annabeth said, remembering.
Percy nodded, then tried in his best commanding Athena-like voice, “I do not approve of your friendship with my daughter…”
“Oh,” Annabeth responded.
“Yeah,” Percy said. “And then, that summer, I was so excited to go to the movies with you. My mom kept calling it a date, and I fought back on it, but I kinda hoped it was too. And then the Labyrinth. And then Mt. St. Helens…”
Now it was Annabeth’s turn to get red-faced.
“You mean you knew you liked me, and you let me kiss you, and we still didn’t end up together?” Annabeth said in mock questioning.
“We didn’t end up together yet ,” Percy squeezed her hand. “I wanted to, you know, talk about it when I got back. But Rachel, and then Luke, and the battle… I… I was going to tell you when I was going back home at the end of summer. Everything just felt so…. complicated. And I didn’t know how.”
“I know Percy,” she smiled. “Part of that was my fault too. I just… I was just worried about the prophecy. I…” she paused and looked at him. “I’ve known for a while too. That I liked you, I mean. And with Rachel, I was just so scared that she’d take you away from me too, and I’d have no one.”
“I know,” Percy said, squeezing her into a hug.
That was one thing he definitely understood about his longtime best friend and new girlfriend. She had gone through so much pain in her life because of people she loved, people she looked up to, abandoning her. It was something he knew he couldn’t really fix. The best thing he could do was to be there for her and not become the next someone that left her. He would never.
“But hey,” He said, pulling back and looking into her eyes. “I wouldn’t change anything, even now with hindsight. We’re here now. We’re together.”
He paused.
“Even knowing for as long as I have known about magic and gods and prophecies and fate, it still seems weird to think about it all. But, I think us, you know, you and me? I think we were fated to be together. And so, yeah, it took a long time, and there were times that made me worry whether it would happen. But it did. I guess it worked out how it was supposed to. And I wouldn’t change a thing.”
That drew Annabeth closer, and she kissed him, long and slow.
They broke apart, and she laid her head on his shoulder. They both looked back at the lake.
“You know, for a Seaweed Brain anyway,” Annabeth squeezed him tight. “You do have a way with words sometimes.”
Percy chuckled. “I try.”
They sat in silence for another few minutes. The sun had started to set, and it was almost time for dinner at the dining pavilion.
Percy knew because his stomach just growled.
“Hungry, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth laughed, pushed herself to her feet and offered him a hand.
“How’d ya know?” Percy played dumb as he was lifted to his feet.
“I know you,” Annabeth paused. “And I’m not deaf.”
Percy laughed as they gathered the blanket they’d been sitting on, locked hands and began trudging toward the dining pavilion.
“So, what’s your question?” Annabeth asked.
Percy thought about it. Her question was about Rachel, and a similar one popped into his head about Luke. Much like Rachel had been for her, Luke had been the other figure he had worried might have captured her heart. She had told Luke as he died that she had loved him as a brother.
Was that always the case, or was there more there before? Of course, she was so young then. Hadn’t he had silly childhood crushes too? They had chosen each other, after all, and that was all that mattered to him now. He knew he had nothing to worry about, but he was still curious to hear what she’d say.
He considered it, but decided he’d ask that one another time. They ended on a good note tonight, and, although he was confident that he’ll be as satisfied with her answer as she seemed to be about his answer to the Rachel question, he wanted to ask it when they had more time to talk.
Instead, his growling stomach guided his next line of thinking.
“What’s your favorite food?” Percy blurted, realizing that he didn’t know that simple thing about his girlfriend. It was those types of questions too that had made him thankful for the question game. He knew so much about her, but he wanted to know as much as he could.
“I go and get all deep on you, and your question is about food?” Annabeth laughed.
“Hey, you heard the stomach,” Percy quipped.
“Well,” Annabeth considered. “Really, it’s anything they serve here, at camp. I hear people talking about the comforts of a home-cooked meal. But, this has always been my home. At least since I was seven.”
Percy considered what to say, but Annabeth continued.
“Although…” She drew out the word. “Sally Jackson’s lasagna is starting to win me over.”
Sally’s home-cooked meals reminded Annabeth of home. Percy’s favorite meals are those his mom makes too. Percy let the idea roll around in his kelp-filled head and smiled. Maybe one day their homes might be one in the same.
After dinner, Percy walked Annabeth back to Cabin 6. They didn’t say anything, but held hands in a companionable silence, and Percy thought back on the day.
He thought about her question about Rachel. How it must have still been bothering her, at least in the back of her mind, even after two months of dating. How just the idea of Rachel was such a no-go before. How easily they were able to talk about it and how much better it felt to have everything out in the open.
He loved that part of their relationship. They were always each other’s sounding board for all things except feelings before that underwater kiss, so it feels good to finally be able to be open with everything.
In the year leading up to the Battle of Manhattan, when they had barely talked, had been the worst few months of Percy’s life, even without the war and the deadline hanging over his head. He had missed just sharing his life with Annabeth, and he really didn’t ever want to go without getting to talk openly with her again.
Thinking about that summer reminded him of one more thing about Rachel that he hadn’t shared with Annabeth that night.
It felt a little like he was pulling a pin and lobbing a grenade, but, hey, honest and open is honest and open.
“Hey, Annabeth,” he said, pulling her aside from the well-worn path before they reached the cabins.
“What is it?” She asked, tucking a loose strand of her curly blond hair behind her ear as they settled behind a tree just off the path to the cabins.
“Just… one more thing about Rachel, that I forgot to mention.”
Annabeth looked nervous, but let him continue.
“I… I wasn’t really trying to hide it but I realized I never told you… But, um… she kissed me once.”
“Oh,” Annabeth said, but he thought he saw a momentary look of something else in her eyes before it turned to what looked like surprise. Was she fighting back a smile? “I mean, we weren’t together yet,” she shrugged. “I can’t really hold that against you.”
“I know, I just… I wanted to tell you, because I hate there being secrets between us. It was weird, and she kissed me before I could even react when she asked me to go on vacation with her family, and I felt kind of bad because in hindsight it probably looks like I was leading her on and-”
“Hey,” Annabeth said softly. “It’s ok. I… I’m glad you told me. But you didn’t have to, and it’s really not a big deal.”
“Hey, healthy and open lines of communication, right?” Percy said sheepishly, referencing her book that had given her the idea of the question game.
“Right,” Annabeth said with a smile. And then she pulled Percy in for a long kiss.
“Besides,” she said when they pulled apart. “I get to kiss you whenever I want now.”
“You certainly do,” Percy said, still collecting his breath.
“And, for the record,” He said, his eyes still a little unfocused. “That other kiss didn’t feel anyyyyything like that. It was just… confusing.”
“Good,” Annabeth laughed as they resumed the walk back to the cabins.
Outside of the Athena cabin, Percy pulled her in for another kiss.
“Yeah,” he said when they broke apart. “You’re the only person I ever want to kiss again.”
“I better be,” she laughed, then turned steely, the smile vanishing and replaced with a fierce glare. She leaned up, her lips barely a centimeter from his ear.
“Don’t forget,” she said in an icy whisper, running her fingers along the small of his back. “I know how to kill you.”
Percy hoped it was mostly a joke, but, then again, if he did something to mess this up, he would deserve it.
Annabeth’s warm smile returned, and she pulled him into a tight hug.
“See you tomorrow?”
“Can’t wait,” Percy said. They planned another lazy day at camp before they had to head back into the city for another week of school.
“Goodnight, Seaweed Brain.”
“Goodnight, Wise Girl.”
Annabeth was glad she got back to an empty cabin. She immediately found her phone and hit call on the contact icon for Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
“Hey Annabeth,” the camp’s new Oracle answered, presumably from her finishing school, Clarion Academy. “What’s up?”
“Percy just told me about you kissing him!” Annabeth shrieked.
“Oh. my. gods,” Rachel said. “That boy is bold! Did you tell him you already knew?”
Annabeth smirked. Not too long ago, she would have had to consider murdering Rachel if she’d known that she’d kissed Percy. Just consider. Probably.
But they had become fast friends without the territorial battle over Percy going on anymore. Annabeth couldn’t say whether she’d have been friends with Rachel if the battle had gone the other way, but, luckily, she didn’t have to.
They’d had a deep talk after the Battle of Manhattan, and Annabeth now knew that Rachel had also been a little confused in her feelings for Percy. She’d thought she’d liked him at first and she’d confessed to Annabeth about the kiss, but she also told Annabeth about her conversation with Percy at Olympus, how she had been drawn to him because he opened the door to her true calling of becoming the new host for the Oracle of Delphi.
Rachel had told Annabeth how she’d seen the way Percy had looked at Annabeth after she had saved Rachel in the helicopter, and that was when she’d known that Percy’s feelings were clear.
She’d accepted Annabeth’s numerous apologies about how Annabeth had treated her (not Annabeth’s proudest moments) and apologized herself for trying to come between them (“Because, of course, it was obvious you liked him,” Rachel had said. Annabeth’s face had reddened at that).
Rachel had said she was now 100% supportive of “Percabeth” (as she’d dubbed Percy and Annabeth’s relationship). Any doubts at all Annabeth had about Percy and Rachel were completely erased with Percy’s answers earlier that night.
“I didn’t,” Annabeth said. “I was so shocked he would actually tell me that it didn’t even cross my mind. Although maybe I should. It would freak him out to know we talk about him.”
“It really would,” Rachel cackled.
Annabeth decided that it would be a little mean, especially considering how honest and earnest Percy had been in answering her question. That made her feel a little bad too, knowing that she was sort of keeping something from him, and she decided that she’d tell him tomorrow that Rachel and her had talked. That was what made her think of her question she had posed to Percy in the first place. She liked this open and honest communication thing too, and she knew it went both ways.
After she hung up with Rachel, she sat back on her bed and enjoyed the silence of the cabin.
She thought back on the evening and how good it had felt to just hear Percy talk about his feelings, especially considering how long she had wanted him to confess those feelings in the first place. She also thought about how warm it had made her feel to hear Percy allude to the possibility of a long future ahead for them. It was a little scary to think about, but also not. Especially if she and her boyfriend could have more conversations like they’d had tonight.
She rolled over, grabbed a pen, and started jotting down more questions she wanted to ask.
