The Coming of Nico di Angelo

Tables...

She was so engrossed in her own musings that she didn't realize Percy had entered the room until he grabbed her arm and pulled her from the table. She put her hands on his waist on instinct and searched his gaze for the unexplainable cloud. And though she saw it, raging in the sea green abyss of his eyes, another emotion overtook the most violent parts of the storm.

Frustration.

His lips crushed hers, showering Annabeth in the kiss she'd almost forgotten. Not the kiss he gave her after destroying the locket, nor any other time she could remember. Though most of her mind was drenched in the impromptu moment--and the mechanics of climbing and lying on a table without letting Percy go--she scanned her memories for any other moment like that one. If none came to mind, how could she recognize the kiss?

Once they got their room, Percy laid Nico down on the bed, fixing the pillows under Nico's head with care.

"Why do you do that?" Annabeth asked.

Percy looked up from Nico, his eyebrows knit together. "Do what?"

"Act like that with Nico. Like he's your little brother or something. I mean, I know he's our friend and all, but you always go the extra mile with him."

"I do? Like when?"

"Like just now, fixing the pillows and stuff. You wouldn't do that for too many other people."

Percy looked back down at Nico, chest rising and falling. He gave a small, warm smile. "I dunno. He is my first cousin, after all. I just feel protective of him, especially 'cause it's kind of my fault he's got no mortal family left. Maybe I do think of him as my brother... I just feel like he needs someone, and if that someone's me, so be it."

Annabeth couldn't help but give a smile of her own. She crossed the room, pulled him close, and placed a small kiss on her boyfriend's lips. "That's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard you say. But Bianca's death wasn't your fault. And he has Hazel."

Percy nodded, drawing Annabeth in a little closer. "I know. But Hazel can't be here all the time, and Bianca... I promised Nico I'd protect her. When I couldn't do that, I told Bianca that I'd take care of him." His eyes moved back to Nico for half a second. "I won't break that promise. It was practically Bianca's dying wish."

Annabeth understood that. Or, at least, she understood the way that kind of duty felt. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she just held her boyfriend close, drinking in the moment. With her head resting on his shoulder, she felt completely and utterly at peace.

I love you, seaweed brain.

Percy lifted her head so she looked him in the eye; in the silence, they exchanged those words. Their lips met, forming a kiss which they'd never quite shared before; someone lit a fire in Annabeth's stomach, consuming her without any pain. Without ever realizing it, her hands gripped Percy's shirt and pushed him harder against the motel wall.

"Annabeth," Percy breathed, "Annabeth--stop. Not with Nico."

Annabeth slackened her grip on his shirt, and tilted her head back up, so their foreheads touched instead of their lips. Both of them were panting; Percy's eyes were shut tight like he was trying to relive the last minute. They both stood there like that, neither of them strong enough to pull away.

"I, uh..." Percy mumbled, with a bit of an embarrassed chuckle, "Need a shower..."

Annabeth shook her head at him with a laugh of her own. "We are on a quest. Find me when our lives are somehow put in mortal danger?"