That Silly Pact

12

In the morning, Annabeth stood in the kitchen, humming to herself as she drank some coffee. Her eyes were half closed, and she was still tired. She wanted breakfast, but she was too tired to cook, or get dressed for that matter. She was in one of Percy's t-shirts, again. It had become a habit of hers to wear his clothes when they were in high school, and she'd fallen out of said habit when she'd moved in with Luke. Of course, now that she was living with Percy again, and now that she tended to wake up without a shirt, if not without all her clothes, it had become a habit again to just take his shirts and put them on.

Annabeth sighed, pulling her phone out. She was slightly worried. Percy hadn't come back from work before she'd woken up. He may have been working extra shifts, but he always got back around 1 in the morning. Always. It was 7 in the morning. She typed a text, a frown on her face.

'Hey, you okay?'

It wasn't the first one she'd sent. She'd sent him several texts already, but she had yet to receive a response. Annabeth frowned, putting her coffee cup down and rubbing the back of her neck. Annabeth sighed, putting her phone down as well. She needed to relax, but she was paranoid. What if something happened to him? A car accident, or what happened to her? She hoped not, but her mind still went into panic mode.

She turned quickly as the sound of the front door opening got her attention. Her mug full of hot coffee fell to the floor with a loud crack. Annabeth screamed, jumping backwards. "Annabeth!?"

Percy appeared in the kitchen arch, eyes wide, a worried look on his face. "What happened?"

She didn't answer him, jumping over the coffee puddle. She threw her arms around his neck, tears in her eyes, face pressed into his arm. He put his arms around her waist, holding her close, his face in her neck. "You scared me, Seaweed Brain!"

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her, nuzzling her neck. "I went to Jason's to get something, and I fell asleep. I'm so sorry."

She pulled away from him and slapped his shoulder. "You couldn't even call me? Or text me!? I thought something happened to you!"

"I'm sorry." He was. She could see it in his eyes, the way the corners of his lips turned down, and the color of his eyes darkened, looking much like the murky waters of the East River. "My phone died, I couldn't turn it on."

She glared at him, wanting to be angry, but instead, she couldn't feel it in her heart to be upset. She hugged him again, laying her head on his shoulder. "You scared me so much, Percy." He held her close still.

"I'm sorry. I told Jason to let you know where I was. He said he'd text you-"

Her phone buzzed as he said it and Annabeth pulled away, grabbing her phone from the counter. It was a text from Jason, saying that Percy had been at his place. Annabeth closed her eyes, putting the phone back. "Just got the message..."

"How long have you been waiting for me?"

"Since 5:30. Gods, I was so scared, Percy... I was about to call the hospital..." She pressed her foreheads against his, kissing him deeply. "Don't do that to me." She started crying.

Percy pulled her closer to him, a hand on the back of her head. "I love you. I'm so sorry, Annabeth, I tried, I really did."

She didn't want to say anything, still staying hidden in his shoulder. "I just don't want to lose you. Ever."

"You won't. Not in this life time. It would take more than a car crash to take me away from you." He whispered to her. Annabeth sighed in relief, nuzzling his neck.

"Good." She pulled away, "I have to clean this up-"

"Let me worry about it, Annabeth. I scared you, I owe you." He kissed her forehead before picking her up and carrying her to the couch. "Just relax. I'll take care of it."