All Her Life

Chapter 17 - UNCOMFORTABLE

"What!? What are you doing!? I haven't done anything!" Percy's breaths were panicked.

"You violently attacked a man-"

"He was raping her! He's been doing it for two weeks!" Percy yelled. "Please! I was helping her!"

He saw Annabeth at the end of the alley way, pointing towards Percy. He couldn't hear her words, but the female officer nodded to the man restraining him. He lead Percy to where Annabeth was, uncuffing him when the officer told him too. Percy put his arms around her, and she clung to him. He kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back. Annabeth had her eyes closed, staring into his chest silently. He'd failed. Mark had touched her, had forced himself on her, pushed inside her, hurt her, scared her. He was pissed! At himself, for not protecting her like he promised he would. At Mark, for threatening Annabeth into having sex with him. At Drew, who had threatened to kill Annabeth if she didn't give in to Mark.

He silently swore that no one would hurt her on his watch ever again. No one was ever allowed to touch her again. He wouldn't let anyone touch his girl ever again. Percy couldn't believe he was calling her his girl in his head, but he couldn't help it. He was falling for her, big time...

***

Percy sat with Annabeth in her apartment, arms around her waist. She was sitting in front of him, in between his legs. Her father had been called, asked to come home and see his daughter. Unsurprisingly, Frederick Chase had shown up and told Annabeth it was her own fault that she got raped. She'd gone mute. Then, her dad threatened to have security remove Percy from the apartment, an hour after they'd began yelling at each other. Percy yelling at Frederick for not giving a shit about his daughter, Fredrick yelling at Percy for caring about Annabeth. Annabeth had begun crying during their yelling, especially when Percy asked if Fredrick wanted to get his nose broken for good.

The only reason Percy was still there, was because Annabeth had gotten to her feet and screamed at her father until her voice was hoarse. He'd been so stunned that he couldn't argue with her, and just walked out of the apartment instead. Percy cuddled Annabeth to his chest, wishing he could have moved fast enough to save her. He whispered in her ear. "You okay, beautiful?"

She shrugged. "I've been better." She mumbled softly. Percy frowned and kissed her neck lightly. She leaned more into him, head tilting to the side. He trailed kisses down the side of her neck, never forgetting how it helped her relax. Annabeth relaxed against his chest, her hands resting over his, fingers threaded through his. Percy had called his mom to let her know where he was, to ask for her to call him into the school. She'd agreed, understanding that Annabeth needed him. He'd kind of told her that he was falling for Annabeth, and his mom had just smiled and handed him a blue cookie.

Now, he couldn't even imagine going to school. Not with Annabeth so scared, not with Annabeth scarred, upset and hurting. Percy pulled away from her neck, kissing her cheek. "Talk to me, Wise Girl. About anything, I'll listen."

"I know." She whispered. "Just... I know what people are going to say... Especially Drew. They'll do everything they can to hurt me."

"I won't let them. I screwed up last time, I failed last time. I absolutely refuse to fail again." He hugged her tightly. "We are going to be okay. I won't let you go this time." Annabeth turned in his arms, sitting on his lap. She put her head on his shoulder, holding their hands together over her stomach. She suddenly whimpered.

"Percy, what if I'm pregnant?" Annabeth looked terrified. Percy hugged her tightly, burying his face in her hair. "I don't want to be pregnant!"

"I highly doubt you are, Wise Girl, it'll be okay."

"What if I am, though? What do I do?"

"If, and that's a big if, you are, I'll be here every step of the way." He rubbed her back, putting a kiss to her neck. "I'll never leave you." He closed his eyes and brought his voice to a whisper, lips still against her skin. "Because I'm falling in love with you..."

Percy pulled away from her neck and kissed her forehead, holding her close to his chest. She had her eyes closed, her cheeks tear stained. He rested his hand on her hip, and she flinched. He frowned, before carefully picking her up. She didn't fight him, leaning into him more as he carried her to her room. Percy laid her on the bed and went to her dresser. The first drawer he opened made him blush. It was filled with colorful bra's. He closed it quickly, hearing a stifled laugh from Annabeth. The next one he opened was just as bad. Underwear. In the few seconds that he saw them,he could see a couple that matched some of the bra's from the other drawer. He closed it without a noise, getting another soft laugh from Annabeth. The next one was okay. It had different sets of pajama's. Percy hesitated. Outside of the building, it was freezing, snowing in fact. Percy blinked, before realizing that it was New Years Eve. Inside, it was fairly warm. He grabbed a pair of fluffy, loose pajama pant's for Annabeth and walked back to the bed. He took his sweatshirt off, leaving him in a tank top.

"Here." He handed her the sweatshirt and pajama pants. "I'll even go hide in the bathroom while you change."

She smiled at him, and sat up, putting her hand on the side of his face, her thumb rubbing over his still red face. "You just want to see the bruises."

"I want you to be comfortable." He whispered. "But I do want to see them, to see how bad they are." She sighed, and Percy put his arms around her waist, forehead on her collar bone. "I don't want to accidentally hurt you, Wise Girl."

He felt her kiss his temple, her hand running through his black hair. She looked beautiful, in her dress, with long socks that went all the way up past the hem of the dress. "Well, get off me, Seaweed Brain."

He pulled away, and she stood up. Percy moved to go to the bathroom, but she stopped him. "I can't unzip the dress by myself." She whispered. Percy smiled, thankful that she trusted him. He unzipped her dress, standing up behind her. He was tempted to kiss her neck, but he pulled away instead and sat down, covering his eyes with his hand. He was very confused when she pulled his hands away. "It's okay, Percy, you can look."

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable-"

"You've never once made me feel uncomfortable, Seaweed Brain." She smiled, hands on the sides of his face. Percy sighed in relief and kissed the palm of one of her hands.

Before Percy knew what was happening, she took her dress off. Percy averted his eyes, not wanting to overwhelm her. She said that she wasn't uncomfortable, but he didn't care. She'd never taken her shirt off around him. He was the one who took his off in front of her.

Sure, he'd seen her in a bikini, but that was meant to be shown off. Her simple black bra and underwear weren't. Not for people their ages, at least. She came up to him, and he saw her feet, her legs covered in the soft pajama pants. He looked up at her, sucking in a breath when he realized she still didn't have on a shirt. Percy would have been lying if he said he wasn't physically attracted to Annabeth.

She was lean, tan, muscular, even though the most active thing she'd done was judo flip him. Her blonde hair complimented her tan gorgeously, her grey eyes were so intimidating and brilliant, with a dark ring around the outside of her iris. She was amazing. He lips were a dusty rose color, her teeth perfectly straight and dazzlingly white. She still looked like a goddess. His eyes went from her face, to her hips, where he knew her bruises would be. They were covered by the pajama pants. He glanced up at her, hand reaching out towards her. She nodded, and he slowly moved the top of the pants so he could see.

His heart broke. Not at the sight of the bruises and the scabs that were surely left by fingernails, but at the wince on Annabeth's face when his fingers grazed her skin on accident. He immediately stood, cupping her face in his hands, bending down the three inches needed to kiss her lips. Annabeth sighed softly, her hands resting on his chest. His heart was racing, and he was certain she could feel it. Shortly after, Percy broke away, forehead against hers, rubbing their noses together. He could feel it now, worse than ever. He was head over heels in love with Annabeth. He was done falling. He'd been done falling for a while now. He'd hit the bottom, and he loved it. He loved her.

And no one could tell him otherwise.