The Revivers

Chapter 12

“Well Grover, Juniper and Daisy are probably going to find their own place. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jason and Piper, and Frank and Hazel did too. Leo will be helping everyone hook up their lights and stuff probably. Nico will finally ask Thalia out and they’ll live happily ever after…” Percy looked up at me expectantly, “I’d hate to break that pattern the other couples have made.” His tone made it sound like a joke, however his eyes made it a serious question. I pulled my hand out of his grasp and slid so that our knees overlapped. My arms went around his neck and I looked him straight in the eyes.

“I bet apartments will be a lot cheaper.” I said, smiling. He beamed and stretched his neck to kiss me.

“Can we have a DVD player? Cable probably won’t be up for ages, and I miss television.” I chuckled and mussed his hair.

“Only if we have some movies that I like.” I said.

“It’s a deal!” We shook on it, and the deal was sealed. Percy sighed as he looked out the window, “It’s getting late.” He said forlornly, “We need to get some rest.”

“We’ll need all our strength for tomorrow.” I agreed, though I wasn’t ready for him to leave me just yet. Percy stood up and bent down to kiss me goodnight.

“Night, Annabeth.” He whispered. I grabbed his hand as he moved to stand up.

“Could you stay with me tonight?” I asked, “I’ve been alone a lot lately.” He smiled gently at me.

“Of course I will.” He said.

We lay on our sides facing each other. Percy had one arm over my waist and the other I used as a pillow.

“Are you scared?” He asked, “About tomorrow, I mean.” Was I? It was hard to tell what scared was anymore. After living with that terror in your belly for so long, you got used to it. My fear scale had been out of whack ever since this started.

“I’m scared of what we might find.” I finally decided, “I’m desperately hoping that Malcolm’s still alive, but that scream… it’s hard to believe he survived.” My voice cracked a little bit. I couldn’t help the tears that came next. I was crying a lot lately and I hated it. Percy pulled me closer and put his chin on my head.

“It’s ok, it’s ok.” He soothed me.

“He’s the only family I have left.” I whispered, “I don’t want to lose him yet.”

“I understand.” He said, “I hope he’s alive too.” He paused for a second, “I just hope he doesn’t want to have the boyfriend talk with me. I already got that from Jason.” Oh Percy, the only boy who could possibly make me smile when I feel so down.

“Goodnight Percy.”

“I love you, Annabeth.”

“I feel like we do this a lot.” Hazel said as we all stood at the front door, preparing to leave. Juniper nodded as she squeezed us each one by one.

“Tell me about it.” She grumbled. Daisy waddled after her mother and squeezed around each person’s thighs just after Juniper. We guessed that her birthday was sometime around now, which meant that she was now six years old.

“See you soon.” She said to everyone. We all smiled and kissed her cheek as she went by. Her youth was a good way to remind everyone that life still goes on. Sometimes, it goes on for a little too long.

“Have fun, Perce.” Grover said. “Send us a postcard or something from Camp.”

“Will do, G-Man.” They bumped fists and that was the end of that goodbye.