Heroes of Olympus - The Blood of Olympus (Discontinued)

Chapter 11 - Percy

Percy suddenly realized that is hand was numb. Lifting his head, he found his left arm was bandaged from shoulder to wrist, but his hand was free, and Annabeth was clasping it tightly in her own, sitting in a chair beside his bed, her head resting on Percy's lap, fast asleep. Judging by how she had a severe case of pillow head, Percy assumed she had been here for a while. Percy smiled to himself as he watched her. She looked so at peace when she slept, so beautiful, so precious to him. A lock of blonde hair had fallen across the bridge of her nose, fluttering every time she breathed.

Percy sat up carefully, leaning forward, and gently tucking it behind her ear. He leaned back, watching her still as she slept on. They had been through so much together. They had shared many adventures, many battles, many triumphs, and many silent moments of grief and happiness. Percy tried to recall every waking moment of being with her, and finally accepted the fact that the list was endless, stretching for miles on end. So he let it pass. His slight movements caused Annabeth to stir, and Percy cursed himself silently. But his frustration upon waking her instantly melted when she opened her eyes – her beautiful gray eyes – and looked up at him, from where her head rested on his lap. He smiled down at her her. "Hey Annabeth," he whispered.

She gazed at him for a second, then closed her eyes, smiling in a way Percy only recognized was pure relief. "Hey, Seaweed Brain," she whispered back, opening her eyes again.

"How are you feeling?" Percy asked her.

"I'm okay," she said. "The ambrosia fixed me up. It's you we were all worried about though."

Percy stayed silent for a few moments. "I'll be fine," he answered. Then he asked her, "what happened?"

"We won the game," Annabeth said, and Percy felt an immense surge of relief flood through him.

"Leo was able to keep the Nymphs and Nereids away from you as you guarded the flag. He was amazing. He covered Jason, Hazel and Frank all the way as they got the enemy flag back to our side."

Percy nodded, and then looked away. He tried to remember the battle, but his mind was still sluggish from sleep, his dreams of Tartarus still haunting his brain.

Annabeth gazed at him for a moment, then sat up suddenly in her chair, her movements causing Percy to look at her. "Percy, you were brilliant in there," she said intently, her gray eyes boring into his own. "You were absolutely brilliant."

Percy nodded in gratitude for her, his gaze slowly dropping.

Annabeth reached out and pressed her palm to his cheek, forcing him to look into her eyes. "And I'm sorry, Percy," she said, her voice beginning to slur, her eyes tearing up.

Percy stared at her. "For what?" he asked, stunned.

"I shouldn't have left you after you were injured," Annabeth said. "I knew I should've come back for you. And I didn't. I went for the flag instead." She looked down, her hand sliding slowly off his cheek. "You shouldn't have been left alone to fend off that entire army. And I'm so sorry, Percy."

"Annabeth..." Percy said, his voice gentle.

Annabeth looked away, hiding her face, trembling slightly.

"Hey, hey..." Percy soothed. "Annabeth, it's okay."

Annabeth wouldn't look at him.

"Annabeth," Percy said more sternly. "Annabeth look at me." He placed his hand under her chin, and gently turned her head up, her hands falling away from her face, her gray eyes streaked with tears. "Annabeth its okay," he told her, leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. For a moment, they held the kiss, before Percy pulled away, looking intently into her eyes, wiping away her tears. "You did your job as I did mine, and that's just as good as taking some of the enemy's force at the flag. We had to cooperate out there in multiple different tasks - all of us. If you have stayed at the flag with me, Frank would've been screwed."

"Frank held his own ground-"

"For a little while, maybe he could've," Percy interrupted. "I may not have seen what happened, but I know, just from instinctive inference, that you two worked like a well-oiled machine. He needed you out there, and you know it, and combined with the other guys' efforts, that repays any kind of favor of not fighting at my side. You never left me, Annabeth. And you never left the rest of us either."

For a moment, the two of them sat together, gazing into eachother's eyes, the gentle rocking of the Argo II giving a radiance of comfort to the silence that followed.

Finally, Annabeth smiled at him gratefully.

Percy smiled back at her, and held out his arms, Annabeth immediately finding a home within them, resting her head against his chest, curling up against him. "We're together," Percy murmured into her ear. "And we always will be."

For a while, they sat together like this, cuddling against each other, enjoying the gentle silence that engulfed them.

After around five minutes, there was a gentle knock on the door. Annabeth lifted her head up, gently untangling herself from Percy's arms, just as the door opened a crack and Jason poked his head in. "Sorry to bother," he said quietly. "Good to see you awake, Percy. How're you feeling?"

"I'm alright, thanks," Percy answered.

"Good," Jason answered. "Cause Ozzie and Teddi are still here. They've been waiting to speak with you."

Chapter 11 is here! Hooray! Thank you everyone for all your amazing comments so far. I smile so broadly every time I see a new comment. I'm SO glad you're all enjoying my story. And I'm sincerely enjoying writing every word of it!

Hope this chapter wasn't too 'fluffy' for you all. I finally got some Percabeth in!

So, I'm just reminding you all now. My summer class starts tomorrow. It ends on July 31. I have an IMMENSE amount of homework to do. They have to condense a 16 week class into 6 weeks so I have lots of work to do if I need to keep up with this class.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to update every day now like I said I would. Don't be expecting a new chapter every night. I'll TRY to get a new update in as soon as I can, but I'm not sure.

So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again for all your feedback!

Love you all!

Until next time