#post botl

[skaterbeth]

hermes: do you know what that feels like? to be so close to someone you love, knowing neither of you has any choice but to keep hurting each other?

post botl & pre tlo percabeth:

[decaffeinatedpartymuggoop]

One of the relationships that I always think about in PJO is Percy and Rachel’s. Not on a romantic level, but on how they see each other and what the other represents for themselves and how I think they were a kind of escape from their lives .

Like with Percy, Rachel is normal. She’s mortal. She doesn’t have monsters after her, she’s not trying to raze nor save Olympus. She (at the time) isn’t involved in the war.

But, on the contrary, she CAN see through the mist. She’s seen cyclopses and centaurs and furies and hydras. She’s seen not just the Greek world, but the fantastical AND the horrifying. Just like Percy.

She’s removed enough to where talking to her isn’t hard. She’s not pressuring him about a war. But she’s also close enough to where he CAN talk to her if he wants to. She sees what he sees, sometimes before him, and won’t and doesn’t think he’s crazy.

She’s mortal, but he can still relate to her and talk and be a normal teenage boy. Something he can’t do with a lot of people at that point.

For Rachel, Percy might as well be her manic pixie dream boy. He came crashing into her life swinging a sword and proving to her she’s not crazy. Confirming all her suspicions and confusions.

He’s an escape from her dull reality, he’s got monsters and mythical creatures. He’s the son of a Greek GOD. He’s fun and new and fantastical and so colorful compared to what she goes home to.

But even with all these things, he’s still just a teenager, like her. He’s fantastical but also normal. He slays gorgons but still has to study for algebra. He’s on crazy adventures during the summer but still comes home to summer reading and packets that they both don’t do. She can escape her reality into his but they can still come back to the one they both know.

Percy takes Rachel on fun adventures into labyrinths and Rachel takes Percy on summer vacations. I don’t think they truly liked each other (on a romantic level), i just think they were what they needed at the time.

The look into each others lives with rose colored glasses, a little envious of what the other has. Because they’re both at a point were they’ll take neglectful hardass parents or a war over what they gave going on at home.

[thatcatangelwriter]

Should i write the fic where post botl percy confesses to Annabeth but she doesn't believe him or no ?

[dont-reyna-my-parade]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Connor Stoll, Rachel Elizabeth Dare Additional Tags: Canon Rewrite, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pretend Connor has a crush on Annabeth, Post-The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson), Book 5: The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson), Developing Relationship, Percy and Annabeth talk about their feelings, Feelings Realization, Percy is emotionally mature AU, Annabeth Chase deserves some validation, Jealous Percy Jackson, Jealous Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), percabeth Summary:

“He doesn’t like you back, Annabeth”

The words cut like a knife dipped in poison, but she couldn’t dignify this with a reaction. Just let it go, and she might’ve, if he didn’t keep digging.

“I’m sorry but its true! The whole camp knows how you feel about him, If he wanted to do something about it, he would!”

or

Percy and Annabeth are forced to confront their feelings after he overhears another's confession of feelings for her.

Takes place sometime before the war in The Last Olympian.

[catradored]

Wish You Were Sober (PJO Oneshot)

loosely based off the prompt “I love you.” “Tell me that when you’re sober.”

Post botl which i haven't reread in ages so im sorry for any weird inconsistencies with canon please tell me because i remember vague stuff about chiron and centaurs but not a lot

***

Percy hadn’t intended to be dragged to a party in the Hermes cabin. When he found out Chiron would be gone for a day, his main hope was that Beckendorf would let him sit with him and Silena without them making out right in front of him while he tried to eat teriyaki chicken.

They did not, in fact, do this, and allowed him to joke his way into their conversation at the Hephaestus table. Silena smiled at him as Beckendorf asked him to sit down, then looked back toward the other tables. Her eyebrows drew together, and she nudged Beckendorf.

He ignored her, smiling at Percy. “Hey. Nice that Chiron decided to leave us all alone a few weeks after a crazy battle, right?”

“And after mysteriously hanging out with all those centaurs, too,” Silena added.

Percy shrugged. Normally, he would be more than happy to make fun of anyone in authority, because they were usually shit. But Chiron at least tried with the demigods, and he could understand him needing to spend some time with his own kind. Grover was doing the same. “We could all use a break anyway.”

“True.” Silena glanced toward the other tables again and smiled tenderly at Percy. He shifted in his seat. The look reminded him of the way his mom looked every time he said he’d been kicked out of a new school.

Beckendorf finally looked where Silena had, and his lips pressed together. “Annabeth’s pissed at you.”

Percy pushed the rice around with his spoon. “What’s new?”

“You should talk to her,” Silena said, her voice quiet. It was almost like a song, calming, easing the constant shaking in his leg. He wasn’t sure if Silena was able to charmspeak, but if he couldn’t feel the heat from Annabeth’s glare, he might have gone up and apologized to her right then and there, even though he was pretty sure he didn’t do anything wrong.

“I’m good,” he said instead. “Everytime we talk it’s like, we start off fine. She’s nice to me. And then I say something she doesn’t like and she blows up at me and won’t look me in the eyes.”

“You have a point,” Beckendorf said, but Silena just daintily placed tofu in her mouth, her eyes distant.

Percy and Beckendorf continued eating, discussing Capture the Flag and new weapons and how likely Beckendorf was to make varsity track next year if he went to school. Annabeth had stopped looking at them. Percy didn’t check, but he could tell.

“Percy,” Silena cut in, and the boys went silent. “I could talk to Annabeth, if you wanted.”

His gaze went down again. “Er--you really don’t have to do that.”

Silena smiled. “Annabeth may be my friend, but you’re mine, too. And don’t tell her this, but I think you’re right. Annabeth has her reasons for everything she does, but that doesn’t make everything she does right.”

Percy cracked his knuckles, not looking Silena in the eyes. “Thanks. I mean, like it’s really cool of you to do that. If you want.”

“It’s my job. As a daughter of Aphrodite, and your friend.” She grabbed Percy’s hand mid-fidget and held it. Percy glanced at Beckendorf, but he just ate his chicken. “Hey, how about you come to a party with us tonight? The Stolls are throwing it. It could be fun.”

Percy smiled and agreed, wondering why exactly a daughter of Aphrodite found it so important to meddle into his and Annabeth’s friendship.

***

He rushed to take a shower before the party because he still stunk of the canoe lake. Then he tossed on a camp t-shirt and shorts and ran after Beckendorf as he passed his cabin.

“You ready?” Beckendorf asked.

“Sure.”

“I heard the Stolls got some alcohol. Should be an interesting time.”

“I don’t even wanna know what they’re like drunk.”

“Aw, c’mon. Everyone will be happy you’re there. You’re becoming close to a celebrity at camp.”

Percy grinned. “I guess that’s what happens when you have a whole prophecy made about you. Or at least, no more getting my head stuck down a toilet.”

Beckendorf laughed, and they reached the Hermes cabin’s entrance. Silena was waiting for them and kissed Beckendorf on the cheek, then took Percy’s hand and dragged him through the door.

Immediately, Percy realized that having the Stolls of all people plan a party in an already overcrowded cabin wasn’t the best idea. People were practically pushed against each other, because it looked like every demigod thirteen and older had come.

And then there was the stench of liquor. Completely overwhelming and familiar and made Percy want to gag. It was like seeing a bunch of Smelly Gabes but younger and a bit friendlier cramped into one small, dim room, and he was about to run out the door when someone caught his arm.

He spun, expecting it to be Silena, but instead he was face to face with Annabeth’s fierce eyes. Percy jumped back a bit, but her grip on his arm didn’t break.

She looked different. A small smile was on her face. Her eyes still looked as intimidating as the day he first met her, still made his stomach flip, but there was less focus than he was used to with Annabeth. Her body was looser, like a rubber band that snapped from being taut for so long.

“Percy!” she said, practically yelling in his ear above whatever crap music the Stolls had blared, and that was when Percy realized that she was very, very, very drunk.

He immediately turned, looking for anyone around to help, but everyone else was focused on themselves and whoever they were intimately tucked into a corner.

“Hi,” Percy said, hesitantly. He really didn’t want to be around a drunk Annabeth, because being around a drunk anyone honestly sucked like, 99% of the time, but he was also a bit curious. The way she was practically leaning on him, and the small glint of humor in her eyes reminded him of the mortal girls from his school, who didn’t have to worry about fighting a titan lord next year.

It turned out, Annabeth was a very talkative drunk.

It was like when she talked about architecture, but using 100 more words per sentence and making sense with only every other. And she just didn’t stop. Usually she could go on for about five minutes before realizing Percy was spacing out and let him squeeze a few words in, but that didn’t seem to be a part of her plan.

And it was honestly really funny. Percy wished demigods could use phones, because holy shit, Annabeth actually talking about pop culture? That was a once in a lifetime experience, even if it was her debating with herself on whether social media was a positive or negative influence on today’s youth.

Not to mention, she was smiling a lot more at him and touching him more than she had in three years of friendship. The weird bubbly warm feeling he got when they hugged before the Labyrinth quest was back, because her hands roamed up and down his back as she swung her arms around him and changed her position, but refused to stay still. At one point she stepped on his foot in an effort to demonstrate the impact of her words, and with a complete lack of spatial awareness, and she profusely apologized for a whole five minutes.

“It’s okay,” Percy reassured her once again, barely able to keep himself from laughing. Annabeth didn’t have the same self control.

“I’m sorry, I’m so…rry, s-orry,” she said between giggles, and then her head fell onto Percy’s chest, and their bodies were so close he could practically feel the heat from hers on his arms. And it was so strong it felt like a forest fire.

He was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a long time, because the next thing he remembered was Annabeth looking up at him, her face clouding over, and Percy braced himself for the yelling. But instead she just dug her head back into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I like you a lot, Percy.”

“Huh?”

Her voice was muffled, and he could feel her lips grazing against the thin separation of his t-shirt and his chest, and he was definitely not breathing now. “I said I like you a lot, Percy Jackson.”

He smiled for a second, and her lips rested for a few seconds too long against his chest, until she flipped her head so her cheek was against it again. His brain seemed to be screaming “look here!” about Annabeth’s hands around her waist, but also her cheek on his chest, the ends of her ponytail tickling his elbow, and just every bit of her that was so familiar but also completely new to him.

Then he lifted his eyes and caught Clarisse’s smirk, and blushed and pushed himself a bit from Annabeth. “You’re really drunk.”

“Mmhm.”

“And tomorrow you’ll go back to hating me.”

“No. No.” Annabeth shook her head, finally pushing herself from his arms. “No, Silena talked to me. She said-she-she-” her words were slurring, and Percy’s head started to spin. “She told-t-told me, she-” Annabeth blinked, shook her head, took a deep breath.

When she opened her mouth again and met her eyes, it was like the words collapsed seconds before being spoken. He could see her start to tear up.

“Do you need to go outside?” Percy asked, almost reaching to grab her shoulders, but stopped. His arms hung limply by his side. “What do you need?”

Annabeth blinked again, mumbled, “Bye,” and clumsily shoved her way through the crowd.

Percy had been wrong. Being around anyone drunk sucked 100% of the time.

[thehopeofitalll]

you've been stressed out lately (yeah, me too)

read it on ao3!!

Percy wakes up with a dull throbbing in his head. It’s how he wakes up most of the time these days. He gazes at the stars above him, the faint snores of his friends nearby creating a cozy atmosphere.

He shifts to his side with a grunt, beginning to close his eyes to try and doze off when he notices a silhouette in front of him.

He sits up straight and squints. “...Annabeth?”

She jumps, clearly startled. Turning around to see him, she says, “Oh good, you’re awake too.” Even in the darkness, he could feel Annabeth roll her eyes.

“What are you doing?” He asks, scooting towards where she sat, on the soft grass.

“Couldn’t sleep, so...I was just sitting here and thinking,” she replies, glancing at him for a second.

“Thinking?”

“Yeah...quest stuff, you know?” Annabeth shrugs.

Percy knew how rare it was to have peaceful conversations with her. Lately, all the times they talked ended up in a fight. He hesitates briefly, not wanting this talk to end up with them storming away from each other again.

“Wise Girl…” he begins, noticing the way her eyes soften at the nickname as she stares at the stars (and him gazing at her), and desperately trying to ignore the familiar knot in his stomach. “I know you. And I know you aren’t just thinking about the quest.”

She takes in a sharp breath. “I’m...scared.”

“Scared?”

Percy could think of a million words to describe Annabeth Chase: she was smart, wise, annoyingly right most of the time, and one of the bravest people he’d ever seen.

But scared? He’d never thought of her like that.

“Scared of what?” he asks.

“I...never mind, it’s nothing,” she mumbles, turning away from him. “Go back to sleep, Percy. You don’t need to hear me ramble in the middle of the night.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I do,” he says, placing his hand on her shoulder, gently forcing her to look at him. “Annabeth, you can tell me anything. Even the most stupid things you think about.”

“I just feel so useless,” she says, her fingers pulling at the grass they’re sitting on. “A huge war is coming on our way, and I can’t do anything to stop it.”

“Annabeth, that isn’t your fault,” he replies. “You strategize and lead quests that make us win. You are helping, even if you can’t stop the war.”

She sighs. Percy doesn’t know what she does. He doesn’t know about how Luke had come to her, unarmed. If she’d just done something, anything, they wouldn’t be facing Kronos now.

The prophecy that kills Percy wouldn’t be coming true.

“Hey…” he continues, his voice barely a whisper. “You aren’t blaming yourself right?”

“Yeah, no, I’m fine,” she answers. “A bit...worried, I guess.”

“Worried about who?”

Annabeth meets his eyes. “You.”

Percy’s eyes widen, as if he hadn’t expected that answer. Annabeth was suddenly very aware of his hand still resting on her shoulder, brushing against her neck.

The moment felt far too intimate, considering the way they’d nearly strangled each other the past few months. And maybe , she thinks, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“And...this war, Luke, and the campers and everyone, of course,” she hastily adds.

“Yeah, Luke,” Percy mutters, his hand leaving her shoulder. Annabeth missed the warmth almost immediately.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the upcoming battles,” she says. “Any of us could die.”

“I know,” Percy says, lying down on the grass.

Annabeth glances at him, before lying down beside him. “We could die.”

“I know,” he simply repeats.

He said it with such ease, as if he was prepared. It pained Annabeth to know that he would actually die, according to the quest.

She didn’t know who she was mad at this point.

She hated herself, hated him and the rest of the world. She hated the Fates for making her fall for him, despite knowing that he was a dead man walking.

Annabeth thought she was numb to pain. She was used to seeing important people in her life leave. Her father, no matter how much they tried to reconcile, was still distant. Her mother was a Greek goddess, whom she could never contact even if she wanted to.

She lost Thalia when she was seven. She spent years walking to the pine tree, sitting down and recounting whatever happened as if Thalia could hear.

Now, Thalia was back. But she was still so far away, a Hunter of Artemis.

She lost Luke. Lost him when she decided to waste her chance to save him when he came to see her. She still hoped, hopes , but somewhere deep down she knew he was doomed.

And now, Annabeth was slowly losing Percy. She was tired of chasing him, and trying to reach out only to realize that she’d lost him since the day they met. All because of some stupid prophecy.

Percy doesn’t deserve to die, she thinks, as the familiar sinking feeling starts. He needs to live.

“I’m so tired, Percy,” she says. “Everything feels so hopeless. It’s like there’s this darkness around us that we can never escape.”

“I know.”

She pauses, choosing her next words carefully. “I’m also tired of fighting. With you,” she continues. “I miss us.”

“I hate this too,” he replies. “I don’t want to fight with you. I just want to go back to being friends.”

Annabeth ignores the twinge of disappointment she felt. She didn’t want to be just friends, and she wishes she could tell him that, but she pushes the urge away.

“Gods, I’m so stupid,” she mumbles, softly laughing. “Talking about all this when we have to continue our quest tomorrow.”

He smiles. “I don’t think it’s stupid. Maybe talking about your feelings helps?”

“Really cheesy, Seaweed Brain,” she says, his smile mirroring on her face.

“Well Rachel’s cheesy all the time, I think I’ve been spending too much time with her,” Percy says, grinning.

And there it was. One of the reasons why she kept pushing Percy away, even if she wanted to spend time with him. It hurt, knowing that he was with Rachel way more than he’d been with her for months now.

He slightly tenses up, and Annabeth wonders if he was bracing himself for a fight, since it’s all they ever do.

“Yeah, you have,” she replies, hoping that he doesn’t notice the bitter undertone to her seemingly well remark.

(And he doesn’t because he’s so oblivious, she sometimes wonders how she ever fell in love with him.)

“But maybe you are right,” Annabeth continues. “I do feel strangely a little bit calmer after that rant.”

“Aha! Who’s the wise one now?”

“Still me,” she says, smirking as she bumps his shoulder playfully. “Also, thanks. You could’ve gone back to sleep, instead of sitting here with me.”

“Nah, I probably couldn’t have slept. I’d have just stared at nothing till either the sun rises or I get tired and fall asleep.”

“I’m trying to say a nice thing, Percy!”

“Of course,” he says, trying hard not to grin. “Continue.”

She takes a deep breath. “What I’m saying is that...it means a lot to me, that you sat here, listened to my ramblings and didn’t judge me.”

“I’ve never judged you,” he says, shrugging.

“Twelve year old Percy would disagree,” she says.

“Hey! Twelve year old Percy was the most respectful boy you’d ever see!” Percy exclaims.

“Sure,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Just...thank you. For everything.”

“Anytime, Wise Girl. And…” he begins. “There’s always going to be some things that you can’t control.”

“Ugh, I hate those kinds of things.”

He smiles softly. “I know. But you can’t blame yourself for how those things went down, you can’t try to control them either. And even though you’ve never told me about it, I have a gut feeling that you worry about things like that a lot.”

“Wow,” Annabeth says, impressed. “That was really wise.”

“So, who’s the wise one now? ” he asks.

She shakes her head and laughed. “It’s still me. But you are getting closer.”

“And that’s a victory as far as I’m concerned.”

She rolls her eyes again. “Of course it is, you dork,” she mumbles, feeling the most peaceful she has in months.

She watches the stars twinkle as they settle into a comfortable silence. She turns, finding Percy’s nose an inch away from hers. He’s closing his eyes, and she thanks all the gods he doesn’t see her ears rapidly turning pink.

She almost thinks he’s fallen asleep, but then his hand falls on hers, and he gives it a slight squeeze.

Annabeth smiles, and squeezes his hand three times. I love you. She doubts she’ll ever say it to him, but for now she doesn’t mind just talking with him for hours.

—

something gave you the nerve to touch my hand, it’s nice to have a friend.

[hellpotter]

Hi! I love the one after Battle of the Labyrinth so much!!! Since you’re obviously amazing at writing percabeth angst, can you do 14 with annabeth and someone like silena?? Thank you so much!!

i have nothing left | percabeth

okay so i wrote this as some kind of continuation or like annabeth’s pov for this fic, but it’s not attached

Annabeth doesn’t even realize when she starts running. She’s leaving the stables, jaw clenched to stop the tears in her eyes from coming down. One minute, she’s thinking about getting back to the Athena cabin as soon as she can, to deal with her feelings alone and in peace as she explores her Dedalus computer. The other, her legs are working on their own and running through the green lawn from Camp Half Blood, automatically following the instructions of “getting there as soon as possible”. Until she bumps in Silena Beaugard and her ass lands loudly on the ground, as she falls back.

That’s also the moment she notices she’s failed on her task not to cry publicly, since she can feel tears slowly coming down her already wet cheeks.

“Ouch!” Silena turns around, half bothered, half hurt, but her expression rapidly changes when she sees Annabeth on the ground. “Annabeth?”

“Hey,” she takes the hand the Aphrodite’s daughter offers her and gets up. “Sorry, Silena. I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s ok.” They look at each other other for a moment, until Silena reaches out and dries Annabeth’s cheek softly. “Are you okay?”

Annabeth decides to pretend she doesn’t know Silena’s talking about the crying. “Yeah, it was nothing. Again, I’m really sorry for bumping into you.”

She only nods slightly and keeps looking at her empathetically. Annabeth waits for a moment, expecting she would say something, but there’s only silence, so she takes one step to go away. That’s when Silena grabs her wrist, and she stops.

“I have something to show you. Can you come with me?”

Annabeth frowns, slightly annoyed. It is obvious that she was upset, and she just wants to be alone and cry in peace. Out of all things, one she’d never associated with Silena was insensibility. But there she is, asking Annabeth to go and see something when she clearly isn’t up for it.

“Sure,” she says, taking a deep breath to swallow her tears as she follows her friend towards the beach.

They walk in silence until they reach the beach, where Silena keeps walking and looking for something Annabeth doesn’t now what it is. This is the last place she’d wish to be at this moment. A part of Percy is the ocean itself, and being there is almost like him being all around her.

“Here,” Silena stops suddenly at a opening between some rocks that meet each other in different ways and places, forming some kind of cave. She goes in and turns to Annabeth, “Come.”

Annabeth walks behind her and they sit on some rocks, quietly. Somehow, it’s comfortable and cozy. The rocks protect them from the wind and sand, but they’re so close to the sea that every time a stronger wave comes, Annabeth wonders if it won’t reach them.

They sit in silence for a while, staring at the ocean as the sun starts to come down in the horizon. Silena doesn’t say anything, which Annabeth actually finds weird, since she’s a very talkative person. So they just sit there.

Until a stronger blow of salty wind suddenly comes and rustles their hairs and makes Annabeth’s eyes burn, and then the ocean in front of her and the waves and everything is just too much– too Percy for her... And she can’t hold it back anymore. And then she’s sobbing desperately and her face is just so wet she can’t tell how much of is from crying and how much is from the salt air. And Silena holds her and caresses her hair and, thanks Athena, doesn’t try to calm her down or say things will be fine. She’s just there, and Annabeth couldn’t be any more thankful.

After a while, she’s stopped sobbing enough to breathe, and she’s just too angry and desperate and hurt not to say anything.

“I- I can’t lose him,” when she speaks, it becomes harder to breathe and easier to cry. “I can’t- I...”

She finally looks Silena in the eye, and she’s so glad she does. She never would imagine it, but it feels like coming home to a lightened fireplace. Annabeth realizes she’d never thought about it that way – probably because love had always hurt her and left her alone -, but love could also be about comfort. And permanence.

“You’re not gonna lose him,” Silena speaks softly, pulling one of Annabeth’s blond curls behind her ear. “He’s right here.”

“But he’s not, though. He’s not here enough. He’s not here enough to train and learn. He’s not here enough to make sure he’s not gonna be killed soon. He’s not-,” she sobs. “He’s not here enough to notice that I- That I lov...”

She’s crying too much to complete her sentence again.

“To notice that you love him,” Silena whispers.

It’s too cruel. Annabeth’s sure she doesn’t deserve this. She knows demigods have difficult lives, but she’s had enough trouble for a lifetime already. She didn’t deserve to be pulled into this whole mess. She didn’t even want to be friends with him in the first place. And now she has to deal with these stupid feelings and it’s just too complicated and too much for it not to hurt so bad that he doesn’t even care. And that, even if he did, he might die in a few weeks and it wouldn’t matter anyway.

“I hate love,” she finally says.

“You don’t hate love. You hate that you care about it. And that it leaves you,” Silena’s voice is gentle, but fierce. “You don’t know if you’re gonna lose him, Annabeth.”

“I just- If he leaves me, I’ll be alone again. If he dies, I’ll... I have nothing left.”

Annabeth just knows he will leave. Like her father. Like Thalia, in some way. Like Luke.

“Percy’s strong,” Silena says. “He’ll survive. I- I believe he will.”

Suddenly, her voice is cracking and she stares at the ground. Annabeth can’t figure out why exactly.

“I- I kissed him,” Annabeth’s not sure why she tells Silena that. She just does. Her friend looks up at her, mouth opened. “At Mount St. Helen, last summer. When I thought he was gonna die, I... I kissed him.”

“What’d he say?”

She shrugs. “We never talked about it. I don’t know how he feels.”

“Oh dear Aphrodite, the two of you...”

When Annabeth looks at Silena again, she’s smiling softly.

“Annabeth, I’m pretty sure he loves you too. Maybe he doesn’t understand it yet. Boys are stupid that way.”

That takes out a slight smile from her.

“I know you’re tired, and scared, but... Have a little faith on him. And on us. You’re not alone, and you won’t be.”

Annabeth nods calmly.

“Now c’mon, we have to get ready for dinner,” Silena gets up and offers her one hand. “Also, I’ve been thinking of something we could use in our favor for capture the flag. And maybe we can get ourselves some dates for the 4th of July with that...”

Annabeth has no idea what she’s talking about, but it sure sounds like a plan. And, well, plans are definitely her thing. So she follows.

[catradored]

and i can’t even be with you alone now (PJO Oneshot)

This is a pretty long one! Set the spring before The Last Olympian. Some angst with a hopeful ending of Percy realizing Annabeth and him are drifting apart and getting some advice. Canon-compliant.

“Percy!” Silena and Beckendorf ran up Camp Half-Blood, Silena wrapping him in a hug while Beckendorf patted him on the back. “I’ve been waiting for you all day!”

“You have?” Percy gave Beckendorf a startled look as Silena grabbed his arm and led him down the hill. His friend just shrugged. 

“Charlie told me you were coming! And since Grover and Annabeth aren’t here, we figured we’d greet you to make sure you weren’t alone.”

“That’s nice...wait, Annabeth’s not here?” Percy looked around the camp. More kids than usual were there for the spring, sparring in full armor. It was weird to think his birthday was like a timer, and as it got closer, Camp became less and less like how he remembered.

Silena was right. Annabeth wasn’t there. The one person he could usually rely on to be at Camp at pretty much any time of year.

“Yeah. She had some big thing at school.”

“What?”

Silena gave Beckendorf a look, and he coughed, giving a strong one-armed hug to Percy as he began to walk away. “Um, I’m going to go. Michael Yew was screaming at me earlier about making some special arrow for the Apollo cabin. I dunno.” 

Percy watched as he jogged down the hill while Silena kept a hand on his arm. He liked Silena, she was one of his closer friends. But she was still a daughter of Aphrodite, and being alone with her wasn’t exactly promising with the topic of Annabeth.

The Aphrodite kids had taken interest in Percy soon after his trip to Mount Tam, and a lot of it was about him and Annabeth. They sometimes lurked when they were sparring together or whispered at campfire as Percy was trying to concentrate on some type of architecture Annabeth was explaining. Silena had never been as involved, only smiling at the two of them when they walked past, but that was also just her being her nice self. But still, asking Beckendorf to leave when they had seemed pretty inseparable the last time he’d seen them got his guard up.

“When’s the last time you talked to Annabeth?” Silena asked, leading them toward the fields where some campers were picking strawberries. Miranda and Katie waved to them, and Silena barely let Percy wave back as she dragged him under a tall tree, leading them out of the harsh sunbeams. 

“Uh, I don’t know. Last week I think. She was wondering what I could do with water if we needed to get somewhere quickly. How fast it would take to get somewhere at top speed I guess.”

Silena nodded. “Do you remember anything else she said?”

“No, why? Did something happen?” Percy sat up straight. “Is she hurt? Is she in the hospital or something?”

“No!” Silena said, grabbing his hand. “She’s alright, calm down. I just think it’s odd.”

“What is?”

“Annabeth won an award at her school’s design program. She had been bragging about it for weeks, and she had to fly back to California to go to some ceremony for the end of the year. I thought she would have told you.”

“She didn’t.” Percy picked at the grass. Normally Annabeth would have called him, or at least written a really hasty email with a lot of spelling mistakes telling him about it including at least three thinly veiled jabs. He knew she was giving him space. But he’d been kind of hoping this trip back to Camp would allow them to see each other again. And that things could maybe go back to normal.

“She also got asked out by two people in her design program,” Silena said. Her tone was casual, but Percy saw her looking at him as  she said it. 

And he hated it up, but he did tense up a little at the thought. But it wasn’t Annabeth dating someone. She’d been giving him shit for months just because he was friends with Rachel, a mortal, but she was allowed to date mortals? What the hell? 

They were supposed to be best friends, but she didn’t tell him the first time something good happened at school. They were supposed to be best friends, but she didn’t mention that two people had asked her out. He knew more about Grover’s life from the one message he’d received since he left on his mission as the Lord of the Wild! 

He sat there, fuming, uprooting grass at an increasingly fast rate as Silena just sat there looking out at the fields. “And so what? Why are you telling me this? She obviously didn’t want to tell me, so-” He huffed, throwing the blades until they landed only a few feet away. 

“I think she’d like you to know. Maybe there’s a reason she didn’t tell you.”

“Yeah, because she’s a hypocrite,” Percy muttered, then grimaced at Silena. “Sorry, I’m being a jerk. I’m not mad at you.”

“I know,” Silena said with a sad smile. “Maybe you should call her. The ceremony starts in an hour.”

Percy crossed and uncrossed his legs, looked around, fidgeted all around trying to sort out his thoughts. Gods, this grass was uncomfortable. Why did he have to be here? Why were they talking about this? What was even the point? Annabeth obviously hated him…

His head lurched up, and Silena’s did as well as she looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“Does she hate me?” he asked.

“What?” 

“Does Annabeth hate me? Obviously she’s talking to you way more than me, and she always seems angry at me lately! Did I do something wrong? I mean, she’s been angry at me before, but usually we fight about it. She’s just ignoring me now!”

“She doesn’t hate you!” Silena said quickly, ripping the blades of grass he kept ripping out of his hands. “And if you’re this stressed about it, I think you really should call her. Because I know she wants to talk to you too.”

Percy looked at Silena. She was a daughter of Aphrodite. And she was technically talking about him and Annabeth. But she wasn’t singing “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid at him (true story, Annabeth almost throttled a ten year old), and everything in her voice just felt sincere. It was just a friend giving another friend advice.

“Beckendorf is really lucky to have you, Silena,” Percy said, giving her a hug.

“I’m lucky to have him. And you’re lucky to have Annabeth. I’m rooting for you guys, whatever happens.”

Percy smiled at her as he stood up. Whatever happens. He wasn’t sure about his feelings for Annabeth, or how things would go after this. But in his heart, he was rooting for them, too.

He gave Silena a high-five as he ran from the fields toward his cabin.

*****

He’d forgotten what a mess Cabin 3 was.

Gum wrappers and chips the Stolls had stolen for him last time he was at Camp were still littering the floors, and his bed was unmade. But the fountain was still running, probably thanks to Tyson, and he rushed toward it, fishing a drachma from his pocket.

He checked his watch. He still had forty five minutes until Annabeth’s ceremony. That should be plenty of time.

He dropped the coin in the water and said, “Show me Annabeth Chase.”

His voice shook a bit, and his whole body felt like it was vibrating so hard he had to keep opening and closing his fists, but then the water cleared and Annabeth was shown in a bathroom, combing her hair.

Percy just watched her for a second, smiling as she cursed when the brush hit a snag, but then saw the fancy blue dress she had on and remembered what was happening.

“Annabeth!” he said, and she jumped so hard the brush fell into the sink. 

And he couldn’t help it, he started cracking up as he watched her turn with a furious look on her face. It just kept coming as she took the brush and pointed it at him, continuing to curse loudly.

“What is it?” she finally said as he quieted down and she was done with the profanity.

Percy took a breath. She looked nice. The dress wasn’t really that fancy now that he looked at it. He was just so used to seeing her with mud on her face and in camp clothes anything was pretty unexpected when it came to her. And her hair was down. It looked like when they first met, curly and clean.

“I heard you got an award and wanted to congratulate you and stuff,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” Annabeth turned back to the mirror, combing the ends of her hair. “Who told you?”

“Silena.”

“Of course. She had this weird look on her face and asked me if I was bringing anyone.” She looked back at him, eyes narrowing. “Are you at Camp?”

“Yeah. I thought you’d be here.”

“Well, yeah. I have this.”

She turned away again, and for the first time since they met, Percy felt invisible. Annabeth always took care to notice every detail about him when they saw each other. She could probably tell you how much he’d grown close enough to the quarter inch. She was barely meeting his eyes now.

Maybe it was easier not looking at her. She always intimidated him anyway.

“Silena and I talked more after that.”

“Oh no.”

“Shut up, you like Silena.”

“I do, I’m just worried her brain melted after having to spend too much time with you. Especially when you seem so serious.”

He smiled a little bit at her. “Yeah, well, it was weird. Because I talked to her more than I talked to you lately.”

Annabeth finally turned from the mirror at this and met his eyes. She didn’t do anything for a few seconds, then slowly crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah. I thought you didn’t want to.”

“I thought you didn’t want to.”

Annabeth shrugged. “Well, you’re busy. Without other people.” The way she said the last word hinted enough, and Percy shut his eyes for a second to try and calm the annoyance building up in him.

It really wasn’t fair, what she was doing. Annabeth knew it, he was sure. He knew her well enough, and saw that there was hurt in her eyes whenever she mentioned Rachel like that. Something was bothering her, but she just wouldn’t tell him, and it sucked. 

He just shrugged it off, the frustration, anger, and everything else that was going on in his head. “Yeah, but so are you. Grover’s gone and I don’t have anyone to talk to.”

“That’s a lie.”

“Okay, I want to talk to you.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you!”

“Fine!” Well, there it was. Thanks, Silena! Great idea, talk to the girl who likes to yell at him when he didn't do anything wrong! Percy raised his hand to strike it through the water but then Annabeth cried “Wait!”

He hovered over the fountain, then lowered his arm.

“I didn’t mean it,” she said, rubbing her eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was from jet lag or because she was crying. He really hoped she wasn’t crying. “I-it’s just been weird. Your birthday is soon, and the prophecy...it’s not…” She sighed. “I don’t. I-” She put a hand through her hair, then muttered something under her breath. “Gods!”

Percy stood there, watching, feeling numb. He still couldn’t tell if she was crying, or what she was doing. Finally, she just sat down on the ground and put her head in her hands.

“I didn’t tell you about my award because you’re the only person I cared about telling,” Annabeth said. “But things have felt so different, and I thought maybe you wouldn’t care.”

Percy looked at her. He didn’t really know how to respond. Annabeth didn’t usually talk to him like this after an argument. She would stomp away and then come back later and they would end up going on some quest that distracted them. But they couldn’t do this now.

It felt like when they were on the zoo truck, and it was dark, and it was just the two of them. When she finally told him something about herself, it felt so intimate and special he knew it meant something. He couldn’t forget what she told him then. His ADHD could make memory warped or hard to remember, but that moment was one of the clearest in his head.

Like that night, he paid close attention now. He noticed her irregular breaths and how miserable she looked. And he felt terrible for doing this to her. 

He still didn’t know what to say after watching her, so he just mumbled, “I’m happy for you.”

Annabeth looked at him. Her mouth tilted up slightly. “I know. I was stupid. I guess I’m just used to people walking out on me.” She looked at him a bit longer, then laughed, ducking her head. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

She was really smiling now. “I do miss you, Percy. And I know I’m not being super...great.” He knew how much saying that pained her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this thing.”

“It’s a big deal.”

“Yeah!” she grinned, and she got the sparkle in her eye that he knew meant she was about to begin ranting, but then her phone went off.

“Crap!” She reached up for it and silenced it. “That’s my alarm. I’ve got to go in five minutes.”

“Okay,” Percy said, feeling a bit disappointed as she picked up her brush. “Um, when will you be back?”

“Tomorrow morning. Will you still be there?”

“I think so.”

She smiled at him. “Cool. Don’t do anything stupid until then.”

“I won’t,” he promised, smirking.

Laughing, she said, “Bye, Seaweed Brain,” and the connection broke. Percy was alone in his cabin again.

His heart felt lighter. They still weren’t perfect. But whatever happens next, he believed it could be good.