Building Something Permanent

Chapter Four

**Annabeth's POV**

The entire Athena cabin has me up on their shoulders, parading me around camp.  It's a little bit of an overreaction, but it's nice for a change.  No more of me being named the worst shot in camp.  I've probably been here the longest of all the campers, and this is my first time getting a bullseye in archery. 

We pass by the swordfighting arena and I see Percy looking at me.  He's practically the only one paying any attention. I smile at him and give him a thumbs-up.  Let's see if he's really paying attention.  He does the same.  I'm overjoyed that he hasn't completely ignored me.  I let out a laugh. Nobody can hear it, but I have a feeling he knows.

He waves before we are completely out of sight.  In this moment, I know I'm his.  There is nothing that can separate us now.  We are safe at camp. There isn't any war or quest or deadly hole that we can fall into. Nothing can break us apart this time.  No Romans attacking the Greeks. No Giants trying to kill us. Of course, we are never completely safe. We're demigods. We're never safe. 

There shouldn't be any concerns with Percy anymore. He was just being his Seaweed Brain self.  It was nothing to be terribly worried about.

I might talk to him before this evening.  Then he might tell me where we are going for our date.  That'll make me feel better.

The crowd makes their round through camp and we come back to the archery range.  The whole celebration took most of the time, which I guess was good for me since I hate archery.  

We go to the climbing tower, the one with the lava spewing down the sides as you try climbing up and the vibrations it gives when you are close to the top.  I've climbed it tons of times and it gets a little easier each time.  I still find it a challenge and I enjoy it.  After Tartarus, though, it seems like practically nothing.  I scale the side and reach the top in record time.  I've never climbed it so quickly before.

When I get down from the top, I expect everybody to make a huge deal out of it.  Only Piper congratulates me.  I'm fine with it.  I've never liked being the center of attention.

Once everyone has gone up, or at least tried going up, it's free time.  I can talk to Percy now.

"Hey, Annabeth," Piper says as she grabs my arm.

"Hmm?"

"Uh, I'm gonna go with Jason. He says he wants to talk to me.  If you want to go to Percy or something, that'd be fine. Is that okay?" she asks.

I shrug. "That's fine.  I was planning on talking to Percy anyway.  We can hang out another time."

She smiles. "Okay. I'll see you at dinner then."

Before she leaves I say, "Maybe tomorrow.  Percy has a date planned for us tonight."

"But isn't capture the flag tonight?"

I curse under my breath. "It is, isn't it?  I'll talk to him about that too.  I'll find you later okay?"

"Alright. "

Then I'm off to find my boyfriend among all of the orange shirts around camp.  Ever since the minor demigods have begun being claimed, camp has been more crowded than ever.  And you can never find anyone.  Chiron seriously needs to assign colors for certain cabins. Then I'd be able to spot a bright blue shirt in the middle of camp instead of a tall, black-haired guy. There's tons of those.   Do you know how hard it is to find Percy among all of these people?

Luckily, he finds me. I feel his arms wrap around my waist from behind and his warm breath hits my neck as he lifts me up.

"Percy. Put me down," I say.

"Not until I get something," he says teasingly.

I turn my head around to meet his sparkling green eyes.  They, as always, are full of mischief and sarcasm.

"Mhm.  And what would that be, Seaweed Brain?"

He smirks before he plants his warm, salty lips on mine.

I've kissed him more times than I can count, but I feel something different in this one.  This one is more urgent and endearing.  It makes me want so many more. I don't want to be put down anymore.  I want to stay, wrapped up in his arms, safe and sound where no monsters or gods or evil faces in the ground can get either of us.  I want just us. Nobody around, nobody watching, no crowds surrounding our moments like in the past.  We've almost never been truly alone for even a minute.  There's always danger, always quests, always prophecies. And to tell you the truth, I'm tired of it.  This moment now, if we weren't in the middle of Camp Half-Blood, would be perfect to stay in forever.

He's the one to pull back.  We are nose-to-nose.

"Annabeth, I'm sorry I've been avoiding you.  I've just had a lot on my mind about tonight.  I just want everything to go perfectly," he says, gently placing me on the ground.

"Nothing about tonight has to be perfect.  Think about our past dates.  How many of them would you call 'perfect'?" I ask.

He stops for a moment before answering, "None, actually."

I smile. "Exactly. None of them are perfect. And neither are we.  So why should this be perfect?"

He hesitates before saying, "You're right."

I nod. "I usually am, aren't I?"

He slips his hand into mine.  "I didn't ask for your modesty, Wise Girl."

"And I didn't ask for your sarcasm, Seaweed Brain."

The few people who were watching us slowly walk away. The two of us begin to walk. I'm not sure where we're going, but I'm sure Percy has at least an idea of where it would be.