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Annabeth with Piper, a usual occurrence, the two of them walking through camp casually and talking about whatever came to mind. Neither of them had anything going on, their afternoons were free, so that meant some quality “girl time”.
“Listen, I love Jason, but he leaves his dirty socks everywhere! I found one under my mattress for gods sake!” Piper groaned, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Under your mattress?” The daughter of Athena questioned, tilting her head to the side.
“My siblings are practically clean freaks. We clean everything, and I mean everything at least twice a week.” Piper scoffed, rolling her eyes. She kicked a stone, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her shorts. “That’s why I stay with Jay as much as I can, even if I don’t like Cabin One much either.” She said, looking to her friend with a smile.
“I’ll smuggle you into the Poseidon cabin.” Annabeth joked, pulling her hair up into a ponytail when she began to feel the back of her neck dampen with sweat. “We have a few weighted blankets we could sha-“
“Annabeth!”
The blonde turned quickly at the shout of her name, her eyes landing on the sock-dropper himself. The son of Zeus seemed out of breath, he looked like he had just run a marathon.
“Jason?” Annabeth frowned. “What’s wrong? You’re redder than the strawberry fields.” She asked, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head to the side.
Jason hunched over, braving his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. “Per-“ he straightened up and took a deep breath. “Percy, he- We were just sparring, ‘Beth, I don’t know what happened, he suddenly just looked at me and started screaming and-and I don’t know, man,” He sighed. “He needs you.”
Annabeth nodded quickly, wasting no time and running past Jason while shouting apologies to Piper. She ran as fast as her Converse-clad feet could take her. Thankfully the Arena wasn’t too far from where Piper and her were walking, but having to shove past other campers was a major inconvenience.
She entered the arena, looking around with wide eyes. It was hard not to spot Percy, curled up on the ground with his arms shielding his head. She rushed to him, dropping to her knees with her hands hovering over his trembling frame.
“Percy,” She whispered. “It’s Annabeth, Hon, can I touch you?” She asked, twisting her fingers together and carefully scooting closer to him.
Percy heaved out a sob, giving Annabeth a shaky nod. He tensed for a second when he felt her hands guide his arms away from his face and helped him to rest his head on her lap. She brushed her thumb over his cheek, brushing away his never ending tears.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Annabeth whispered. She had a few guesses as to what set her boyfriend off, but she wouldn’t assume anything.
The son of Poseidon took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Annabeth always seemed to calm him down no matter what. She always helped him.
“He- He- L-Luke- He-“ he gasped out, holding onto his girlfriend’s shorts and sobbing quietly. All his progress in calming down had practically been reversed. “D-Don’t want him to h-hurt you…”
Annabeth’s frown deepened when she heard her late friend’s name. Although it still sometimes pained her to think of the son of Hermes, she was long past that and had since gotten over his death. She leaned down, pressing a lingering kiss to Percy’s temple. She brushed his hair back, rubbing the back of his neck. She rested their foreheads together, closing her eyes for a brief moment. She whispered soft reassuring words to him, continuing to brush through his hair gently.
“I think it was Jason.”
Annabeth looked up, staring straight at Nico di Angelo. He was sat on the sidelines, Jason and Piper standing beside him. She held Percy closer to her, allowing him to rest his head against her stomach and try to calm himself down.
“Percy May have been disoriented or something and saw Jason’s...blondeness...and thought it was that backstabbing bastard.” The son of Hades grumbled, his voice monotonous as he polished his sword.
“Wait, who’s Luke?” Jason asked, looking between Nico and Annabeth in confusion.
“I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Nico replied instantly.
Annabeth sighed, watching the two friends continue to bicker before gazing back down at Percy. His tear-filled, yet incredibly handsome, sea green eyes stared back up at her. She gave him a small smile, grazing his cheek with her thumb.
“Luke is gone, Percy, trust me. He won’t hurt me, that’s not something you need to worry about anymore, Seaweed Brain.” She said with a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood while comforting her boyfriend.
Percy nodded, sniffling and wiping his eyes. He took a deep breath before slowly sitting up. He looked around, frowning softly. “Can we go to my cabin?” He asked his girlfriend, his voice a bit raw from crying.
Annabeth nodded, getting to her feet before extending her hands to Percy to help him up. She linked their arms together and kissed his cheek before leading him to the Poseidon cabin.
- ••
Percy had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, his head on Annabeth’s chest and his arms around her waist. He was hugging her tightly, snoring quietly into her shirt. It didn’t take much coaxing to get him to sleep. She knew he loved laying on her chest and listening to her heart, so it didn’t take much convincing to get him to lay down.
Annabeth rubbed her nose against his hair, rubbing his back slowly. “You’re heavy but that’s okay.” She whispered, smiling when he didn’t stir. “I love you, you’re so brave and strong. I won’t let anyone hurt you, I won’t let anyone take you away from me ever again. You’re safe he-“ She immediately shut up when he shifted, snuggling impossibly closer to her body. She kissed the crown of his head, gazing lovingly at him.
It wasn’t long after that when Annabeth fell asleep as well, holding her boyfriend close and burying her nose in his dark hair.
Everything was going to be okay.