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If there was one thing in the whole world Annabeth hoped she’d be able to see forever, it was her boyfriend’s smile.
To be fair, she loved everything about him, from his humor to his stubbornness, even when the latter could quickly become one his most annoying traits and it sometimes clashed with her own. Nevertheless, in her personal (undeniably right) opinion nothing could really beat his smile — except maybe for the words that usually followed one.
She loved the type that popped up on his mouth creating dimples at its corners. It was his playful grin, the one he sported when he was happy around his friends or having fun at camp doing whichever activity presented itself as enjoyable for the day.
Then there was the smile he kept for his family alone, one that transpired comfort and safety and which perfectly mirrored his mother Sally’s. Annabeth was sure it had taken no time for him to pull it out with Tyson, too, and she found it adorable because somehow the baby cyclops also had a similar smile despite the two brothers not exactly being fully blood-related.
Last but not least, as cheesy as it sounded, she liked best the soft one he reserved for her only. It was always so unbearably sweet and charged with utter care and adoration that it made it near impossible for her to refrain herself from grabbing his face and pecking his lips on the spot.
And that was the perfect depiction of the situation she was currently in.
It was late in the evening, night was slowly falling and the two of them were sitting on the couch of the Jackson’s living room; Percy had one arm wrapped around Annabeth’s shoulders while she was tucked as close to him as humanly possible. Her head was resting on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat, one of her hands absentmindedly playing with his on his lap, and occasionally she would lift her chin up just to look at him for a few seconds.
Admiring him had easily become one of her favorite habits. She enjoyed noticing the little details that constituted his face, such as the deep, crystal clear blue of his eyes that she swore changed shade depending on his emotions, and the freckles stretching like sparkles across his nose and cheeks. Her second favorite habit had to be counting all of them, one hand cupping the side of his jaw and caressing it with her thumb as Percy closed his eyes to relax and her fingers lightly traced invisible lines between one sprinkled dot and another.
His pink lips also tended to catch her attention possibly just as much as hers constantly caught his. It was just too easy to get lost in them. He would be talking about something, and Annabeth was listening to him, really, but sometimes the distraction got too intense to ignore and she couldn’t do anything but leap forward to feel the touch of his mouth on hers as many times as their breaths allowed.
Even in that very moment on the couch, her brown eyes went to his lips like magnets moved by an unstoppable force. They were slightly parted, which tended to occur when he was focused, and she struggled not to raise a hand and trace the shape of them with her thumb.
It was still unbelievable to her that she did have the possibility to just… do that. To show him a special kind of affection that no other person could receive from her, simply because she was in love with him and he was in love with her and Annabeth often thought her heart would burst from the fierceness of it all.
She knew she was never going to get used to the amount of love he showed her every minute of every day, and some minuscular part of her from time to time still told her she didn’t deserve it nor was made for it. But that only increased her determination in wanting to give that same amount of love back to him, if not more.
Which is why she was excited to have movie nights with him, like the one they were supposed to be enjoying as she was losing herself in him while he focused on the television screen in front of them.
He was so invested in any of the films they watched, and got so immersed in them that his brows would creak just slightly, and Annabeth’s heart skipped at the sight of the concentration on his face.
Although, to be correct, at that very moment his pretty eyes were a bit glassy.
“Are you crying again?” She asked incredulously, a soft smile creeping up.
“I might be,” he admitted.
“But we watched it thrice this week.”
“And every time was better than the last!”
The two were watching La La Land again, much to Percy’s amusement.
Annabeth had been the one to suggest the film in the first place, despite knowing that he was more the classic rock type. She also preferred jazz rather than whatever genre musicals included, but their friend from the Apollo cabin, Will Solace, recommended it to her by saying it would “capture her interest”. And since she and Percy (and Grover, when he wasn’t busy helping out at camp or spending his well-deserved time with his girlfriend Juniper) had made it their own habit to sit down and entertain themselves with a new movie every week, usually at his place, there was no one better to be joined in her endeavour by.
And, to be fair, it did escape Sally how giddy and excitable Percy had been after watching Mamma Mia with her and Tyson, to the point where he would sometimes come out of his bedroom in the morning to lean on the kitchen’s entrance and sing a very high-pitched and out of tune version of “Lay All Your Love On Me” for them. That might have also been an interesting incentive to ask him (and what sparked his positive answer).
After a while of letting herself be entranced by the colorful and dream-like, upon first glance, world the protagonists danced in she understood what Will had meant.
Annabeth had realized that she was quite selective in her taste in movies. She particularly enjoyed the ones that tested her intelligence, rich in details and structure; the ones that were perfectly calculated. Those waiting for her to unfold all of their secrets like a present’s wrapping paper.
La La Land had been carefully manufactured for her to crack open with attentive eyes, tongue in between her lips, as she dissected every aspect of it in her mind with Percy’s comments in the background. He was always there to help her focus return to what was being offered to them on a surface level, first.
When the closing credits rolled out, she decided it had earned the title of one of her personal favorite films to date. It moved her, so much so that she asked the boy silently weeping with emotion by her side if they could press rewind and watch it again. And he obliged, blinking down at her in satisfaction at the thought that she liked the movie (their conversation near the lake at camp from two years before resurfaced in his mind every time this happened, and he couldn’t help but be happy and somewhat proud of how far they had come).
The second time, Annabeth found herself identifying all the different color patterns in the costumes and the lightning and the paths they created, pointing them out to Percy and receiving a look of endearment in return that never failed to make her heart race. She was captivated by the way the director used purples and blues and all the other colors and shades meant to lead and subtly preview the story’s progress.
Maybe if she looked back on the past hardships and choices life had presented her as an array of colors guiding her to where she truly belonged, it wouldn’t sting nearly the same as it usually did to remember them.
What they’d had to face before defeating Kronos once and for all just a few months prior had been painful and brought the two of them to inadvertently hurt one another in more ways than one. She hated to think about any of it. But they had made it through in the end, and that was what mattered.
The invisible string tying Mia and Sebastian together had broken, yet she believed now that the one intertwining her to Percy was too strong to ever even bump into the same destiny in the future.
She didn’t really know how they ended up watching the film a third time, but she could probably blame it on Percy and the kisses he’d peppered her face with to get her to accept – which didn’t take long. He made it so difficult for her to say no to him with that puppy dog face of his: he’d furrow his brows, making them arch up in the middle, and pull his lips into a pout she couldn’t bear to see without giving into whatever he requested moments later.
Annabeth adjusted herself, tilting her head up to him and raising a hand to cup his cheek. She gently started brushing away the tears that wetted his skin and smiled. “You’re cute when you get all emotional.”
He gave her a curious smile of his own. “Am I, now?”
“Mhm-mhm”, she nodded, her thumb lingering at the corner of his mouth and caressing in a feather-light touch.
“And are there any other things that make you think I’m cute or…?”
Annabeth giggled at the way his face was lightning up, his smile turning into one of the infectious grins which made her flutter every single time.
At times she wondered whether she’d ever stop feeling this way around him, if she’d get so used to his presence and the effect his very being had on her that her body would simply cease to react, but she didn’t think it was possible. It seemed that the instant she allowed herself to feel, knowing no other impending prophecy or war could take Percy away from her, her heart grew in size to make space for all the emotions that threatened to rip her chest wide open.
“Mhmmmm,” she squinted her eyes and crinkled her nose in a fake pensive expression, unable to hold her laughter for more than a few seconds.
“Oh, okay,” he grinned even wider, elated. “I see how it is.”
“You didn’t even let me think for real!”
“I bet Grover can come up with an answer much faster, anyway.”
“Well, you’re wrong,” she said, using her index finger to lightly boop his nose amidst her own giggles.
“And…?”
“You’re really not gonna let this go, are you?”
“You know I’m not.”
Annabeth shuffled closer to him, one knee knocking his and their bodies facing one another, and she breathed in deeply. She couldn’t name all the things that endeared her about Percy because the list was too long. He’d have to settle for just a few of them.
“I think your pouting face is cute…” she started.
“My pout?” He repeated, amusement clear in his voice, his smile growing.
“Yep.”
His gaze diverted for a moment, the way it did when he was thinking, lips pulled in one line to mimic her reflective motion from earlier. “You see, though, I think yours is way cuter than mine so I can’t really count that as a valid answer.”
Annabeth didn’t know what to do with his reply as she felt her cheeks heating up, so she just played along.
She still hadn’t learned how to take sweet comments like these from him, but she was slowly getting more and more accustomed to them as Percy wasn’t shy when it came to complimenting her.
“Really?”
“Sorry,” he brushed a quick kiss to her nose just to get a laugh out of her.
“This is not all I’ve got, Percy, let me finish.”
“Right, yeah. Go on.” Percy conceded as he then nonchalantly placed his hands on both sides of her waist, like it was the most natural thing in the world (and it was now) and warmth flooded Annabeth’s veins.
She inhaled once again, and chuckled to herself for what she was going to say next. “What about your nose and cheeks turning all red when you’re embarrassed? That’s cute.”
He pouted in response, which made her laugh in his face because he proved her previous point. “You only say that ‘cause I’m pale as hell.”
“Obviously,” she replied. “Your dad didn’t transfer you his tan, but he did give you freckles instead.”
“Ironic considering he’s got none, and neither does Mom.”
“To me, that makes you more unique.”
A blush colored his skin, eyes sparkling, and she felt his fingers caressing her gently in circles. It was her turn to place a kiss on his nose and since she couldn’t help it she also pressed quick pecks to his cheeks, earning herself a laugh and a feeling like sunlight bursting through her whole body at the sound.
Her eyes involuntarily fell to his lips then, and she heard him make a joke but found it very difficult to lift her gaze.
“My eyes are up here, Wise Girl,” he teased in a giggle, and Annabeth believed that small doses of it injected in her veins would be just as good to her health as divine nectar.
“I think your smile is better.”
His brows knitted in fake indignation, his mouth opening. “Better than my eyes?”
“Mhm.” Focus, Annabeth. If she weren’t so hypnotized she would be huffing at him (still endeared by the little joke in his tone).
He just chuckled at the way she nodded, so uncharacteristically unfocused on his words.
“Wow. And to think all this time I was sure my eyes were what made you fall in love with me.”
“Oh, shut up.” She took the opportunity to lean in and kiss him because she couldn’t wait anymore, hands grabbing his hoodie to pull him closer.
Percy tasted like popcorn and salted caramel, the two things they were eating while watching the movie – he had insisted on adding the caramel to have her “try something new”. Strangely enough, she liked the mix. And she enjoyed the taste of it on his lips even more.
Each kiss they shared was better than the last; their mouths fit together so well Annabeth believed more and more everyday that they were simply fated to meet. And yet she still had to pinch herself every now and then to remember that it was all real and not an image she had conjured up, clinging to it like a safety net. Just like she used to do after Mount St Helens, and the year after.
The second she began pulling away, Percy responded by lingering longer, deepening the kiss and smiling into it. And every bad thought starting to form in her head was whisked away in a heartbeat.
When he finally let her lips leave his, they were both breathless and inhaling deeply and the only thing crossing her mind was Percy, Percy, Percy. “I still like your eyes a lot,” she whispered, and maybe it was just a thought she voiced out loud, because really her head was too clouded by him to take note of what her mouth was coming up with on the spot.
“Apparently not as much as my smile, though,” he countered playfully.
Her head fell back slightly, tilting to the right, just enough to return his look. His irises were so painfully blue she almost wished he’d wear brown contacts, for her own sake. “When you smile it’s like being blinded by light. It’s warm. Peaceful.”
As if on cue, a grin slowly stretched across his face and Annabeth felt herself mimicking him.
She was so done for.
“Like that,” she said softly, and she hoped he could hear her own heart ferociously spill everything she felt for him in those simple words.
“Nice to know,” he replied in a still teasing tone.
She loosened her grip on his hoodie to place one of her stray curls behind her ear with one hand, his gaze never losing her. “You know I like everything about you, right?” She asked, because she needed to remind him as many times as she could.
His cheeks flashed bright red, yet somehow his eyes lit up with even more intensity despite his smile reducing itself and turning softer, toothless, with two dimples at either corner of his mouth. She had tried doodling that same expression before; it didn’t come out nearly as nicely as one of Percy’s drawings but she thought it easily conveyed how beautiful joy was on him.
“Only like? You wound me.”
“Percy.”
“Annabeth.”
She pouted and he chuckled and pecked her lips again, just because he could.
And he didn’t stop there, because suddenly her waist felt cold as he grabbed her face to slowly press a kiss or two everywhere he could reach. Her cheeks, her chin, her jaw, her nose, the forehead, the eyelids. He didn’t leave a single area untouched.
No wonder she hadn’t been able to say no to him at his request of watching the film a third time that week alone.
“I’m serious,” she tried again when he stopped, his thumbs stroking her cheeks so carefully she’d argue that single touch could be enough to paint her golden.
Percy was looking at her intensely now, as if she were holding out the secret of the universe.
And in a way, maybe, she was. Because then the words tumbled out of her mouth as easily as when she first admitted the feeling to herself, “I love you.”
And it’s not like she expected him to panic and make that one dumbstruck face of his that endeared her deeply, but she didn’t exactly expect him to look so calm about it either. And most of all, to say it at the same exact time as her.
He just seemed to shine brighter, his eyes catching the light coming from the lamp on one side of the couch they were on.
“Well, I’d hope you did, seeing as we’ve been hugging and kissing more than your mother would ever allow me to if we hadn’t saved her and all her relatives just a few months ago.”
“Percy!”
He laughed so radiantly she was sure somewhere a fairy was just born, just like Tinker Bell in that one movie Percy had shown her because she wanted to know her origins after they’d watched Peter Pan. She couldn’t help but giggle back.
“I didn’t think you’d be so relaxed about this.”
“Trust me, my heart feels like it’s running a marathon right now. I’m freaking out,” he replied.
That eased the little pressure in her lungs, and another fit of giggles left both of their mouths.
“Well, turns out my dad was right,” he said when they could finally breathe again, a small sigh of contentment falling off his lips as his left hand went to rest in the curve between her jaw and her neckline.
Annabeth frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”
As much as Percy had learned to appreciate his father through the years, it wasn’t everyday he’d outright say the God of the Sea (or any of the Gods, for that matter) was right about something.
His fingers slowly started to play with the couple strands of curls that hung by her temple, escaping from the braids pulled into the singular one that fell down her back. Since she had discovered on one of their very first dates how much he liked it, twirling her hair gently in a way that apparently tranquilized him, she let a few of her curls free from being styled more often.
“Remember when we got Thalia out of the pine tree and she struck me with lightning?”
Of course she remembered. She couldn’t think of that single moment without once again feeling all the fear that had made her stomach drop and twist and her heart pound in her chest at the sight of her best friend and the girl that was like a sister to her laying limp on the ground.
At the time, she thought she knew what having Thalia Grace back would bring: a shoulder for Percy to share the burden of the Great Prophecy with. A single choice that could save Olympus or make it crumble. A choice the two children of the eldest three could make together, she had supposed.
How naive she had been.
Annabeth gulped. “Yeah, you said you had a dream while you were passed out, didn’t you?”
“I did, and my dad was there. He warned me about what was about to come in his very ambiguous way, as usual,” he answered, his focus fixed on caressing her hair with his fingers as gently as he could muster. “But he also said something else.”
She nodded for him to continue.
“He said that there are forces more powerful than the will of the gods. And even though fate is one of them, love is another.”
Butterflies swirled in Annabeth’s stomach as her brain caught up with the sentence the boy in front of her, the boy she loved, uttered. And she tried, she really tried to keep her cool but he wasn’t making it easy.
The blue of his eyes was a sea of emotions, fierce and stormy in its devotion yet calm and peaceful enough for her to walk on its surface with the security that the ties would never let her go under because he was there to guide her.
“The gods never stood a chance against us, Wise Girl,” he whispered, the smile on his face soft and delicate as his hand cupped the side of her jaw while her own hand laced her fingers with his atop his knee.
This boy, Annabeth thought. “As much as I like you saying this, I don’t think you should push it too much, Seaweed Brain. They can still hear you,” she warned in what was an entertained tone.
“Let them. They owe me anyway.”
He bent forward, his sea-salt and citrusy scent filling her nostrils once again and eliciting a sigh of comfort out of her, and he nuzzled his nose with hers.
Percy was alive and breathing. He was right there, more solid than any dream could ever aim to be. He loved her back. And he was staying. She had to repeat that much to herself once, twice, as many times as the realization needed to sink in.
It wasn’t easy for someone like her, so used to people leaving her behind and letting her believe that it was her fault. Someone that thought she was hard to love and be with. But Percy was nothing if not patient and persistent, and there didn’t seem to exist in the world something that could make him willingly move from her side.
He stroked her skin with his finger pads, leaning his forehead to touch hers, and inhaled deeply. The only sound in the living room were their mingled breaths and the music coming from the closing credits of the movie, still playing on the television in the background.
“Hey,” he called softly after a few moments, his blond curls tickling her, “You know I can play the piano, right?” He was so close his voice sent shivers down her spine.
Annabeth, in fact, did not know this. How did she not know this?
“Where did you even learn?” She asked curiously as she blinked up at him. Of course, his signature grin was quick to morph his features again, warming her inside out.
“School had to be good for something,” he beamed. “And if you didn’t notice, I'm full of surprises.”
Percy’s big eyes drowned in her deep brown ones. And Annabeth's heart did a somersault as her boyfriend led her to his bedroom to teach her how to play the piano (technically, a very small keys she had no idea where he got from) and stole a few more kisses out of her, and she thought to herself, not for the first time, that she’d finally found her something permanent.