Chapter Text
I wake up in Cabin 3, which is where Percy used to stay at camp. It’s just the two of us taking up the whole space, rolling around in the double bed. His arm is behind my back and I’m leaning against his chest listening to his heartbeat.
“Are you awake?” He hums, and I feel his words echo on the top of my head.
“No.” I respond. Percy squeezes my sides and I start laughing hysterically, begging him to stop. “Well I’m definitely wide awake now.”
At last, he adjusts slightly so we’re both lying face to face. All of our most honest chats with one another have taken place in this exact position while we’ve been in bed. And every time I think about how far we’ve come; I don’t even try to stop the warmth spreading across my chest.
“Did you sleep well?” Leisurely he tucks a braid behind my ear and trails his thumb down the side of my cheek, sending shivers down my spine.
“Yeah, but when I woke up it did take me a while to realise where I am.”
“Same.” Percy presses a kiss to my forehead and then proceeds to get out of bed. He rummages through his duffle bag and pulls out two orange shirts that I know far too well. “It’s time to get dressed, Wise Girl. A lot to do today.”
He tosses the old camp shirt at my face, and I catch it just in time, “What are we going to do?”
“Many things. Starting off with breakfast.”
After getting dressed and making ourselves look presentable, we headed towards the dining pavilion. Decorations from last night were still scattered everywhere, but now the whole area was masked in a delicious aroma of breakfast foods.
Charles and Silena were standing by a portable electric hot plate, cooking eggs, bacon, pancakes, and a dozen more dishes. Everyone was sat, passing around the plates and juices, all wearing their old orange t-shirts. I stay still for a moment at the front of the table, staring at all of my friends and how it seems like no time has passed by.
“For M’lady.” Percy hands me a paper plate and escorts me towards two spaces on the bench in the centre.
Silena drops an egg on my plate and then Percy’s. She gives me a warm smile, “Don’t be shy to let Charles know how bland his eggs are.”
“I can hear you!” Charles shouts from the cooking station.
“That was my fucking intention!”
I laugh at the couple, and how they’ve been together since the beginning of camp. How they haven’t changed a single bit and are still the same lovable duo they’ve always been.
The mountain of bacon finally reaches us, and I empty out a couple strips on our plates, I do the same with the pancakes and sausages.
Clarisse gives us the hashbrowns and has a devilish look on her face, “Just for the record, I always knew you guys would end up together. It makes sense, you know?”
I roll my eyes, “Yeah, you’re not the first person to say that. I mean, seriously? You’ve all just been observing us for years and no one’s mentioned a single thing?”
Nico takes a bite of his food, “I wanted to, but Grover said it’s best to let you guys figure it out. Whatever thatmeans.”
Grover shoves him, “It means that as one of your closest friends, I knew that eventually you’d find each other. Even if it’s taken a painful, painful, painful amount of time.”
“I think you guys are cute,” Thalia smiles, but then turns to Percy and goes serious, “But if you ever hurt her, I swear to the Gods, Jackson. I will not hesitate to rip you apar-”
I clear my throat.
She sighs, “Just take good care of each other.”
Percy gives her a grin, “That we can do.”
We carry on eating until 11:00am, and I make a conscious note not to devour too much because I know that Percy has a whole day of activities planned. Collectively, the twelve of us tidy up the leftovers and wipe down the tables before moving to an open area next to the woods.
It was the archery field. Lining up on one side, we all grab a bow and some of the arrows arranged in a quiver. On the other side were a few targets that look extremely worn out. Over the years we’ve learned some pretty cool skills that I’m not sure when we’ll ever need them, but nonetheless are still awesome.
Effortlessly, everyone was taking turns pulling back the string and letting the arrows fly into the distance.
“You’ve always been shit, but wow this is a new level.” Connor laughs at his brother.
Travis shoves the bow at him, “Fine, you think you’re any better? Be my guest, show us how it’s really done then.”
Connor gives a cocky grin and aligns himself in front of the target. He closes one eye and as he lets go, the arrow goes soaring nowhere near the bullseye. A roar of laughter erupts, and everyone starts mocking him for his over confidence.
Tyson is bent over with his hands on his knees, “Yep, that was definitely the best shot I’ve ever seen.”
The laughter dies down, and I look behind me at Percy. Percy always manages to master any sport he tries, but unfortunately archery is not one of them.
I step towards him and lift his elbow up slightly, “Make sure the arrowhead is pointing directly at the centre.” My hand reaches to cover one of his eyes. “And try to aim using your dominant eye, it might help.”
As he releases, we watch the outline of the yellow circle get pierced. His face lights up, “That’s the best I’ve ever hit.”
“You just needed a better coach.” I flash him a wink, which he returns with a playful smirk.
A couple of rounds go by, and many bets are made. As always Thalia wins every time, never missing an attempt, which until this day I still think she should start competing.
“That’s another $5. Will, hand it over.” She uses her finger to gesture for him to come closer.
“Fuck. I thought you’d for sure miss it from this distance.” Will reaches into his wallet and complains as he slams the bill into her hand.
Once we realise that there’s only so much archery you can do before your arm feels like it’s going to fall off, we decide to move onto our next activity.
We meet by the lake at 2:00pm, all in our swimsuits. I expect to turn the corner and see a row of canoe boats, except I’m greeted by a large inflatable course sitting on top of the water. My jaw drops as I feel a wave of nostalgic summer afternoons come over me.
Grover stands to my side, “I’m convinced that either Percy secretly lives here and has access to all of the camp equipment… or that he just loves you more than anything and wants to see you happy 24/7.”
Hearing Grover say that Percy loves me, is enough to make my feet stand frozen in shock.
“I’m 90% sure he did this for selfish reasons to prove he’s actually good at sports. Since he’s shit at archery.”
“Whatever you say, Annabeth.” Grover shakes his head with a gleam.
One by one I watch as my friends run up to the opening, all trying to get on. It is chaos! Expectantly, Clarisse sprints over the first hurdles and is in the lead. She’s followed by Percy and Thalia who are taking this way too seriously, I can hear a ton of rude names being called out.
Charles and Tyson aren’t getting involved with the race, and instead are trying to sabotage everyone else to fall into the lake. This causes Nico and Silena to start play-wrestling them.
Of course Connor and Travis aren’t making it anywhere, because they’re too occupied with trying to prank Will with liquid soap, making everything extra slippery.
They are a mess, but extremely entertaining to watch.
After ten minutes, Clarisse stands at the end of the obstacle course with both her hands in the air. “I did it! I win! Suck it up Jackson-”
Before she could finish her sentence, Percy jumps forward, pushing her into the Lake. “The finish line’s up here Clarisse, maybe next time we should put directions.”
Suddenly, Thalia reaches the end and uses her foot to barge Percy into the lake next to Clarisse. She starts making fun of his scream and begins jumping up and down, “You’re both shit. I’m the real winner here!”
Laughing at how ridiculously competitive the three of them are, I gesture to Grover to make our way to the start line.
I can’t even count the number of races that take place. I pride myself in knowing I had the best tactics and know the correct feet placements to make in every section. Obviously, I beat Grover and Nico. They were too focused on speed and not accuracy, so I’d consider them my warmups.
Me and Thalia tied, and I blame it on the Stoll brothers’ soap messing up my side of the inflatables.
“Not bad little sis,” She pats my shoulder, “You’re getting too good.”
Percy appears next to me, his curls soaked and his dimples showing. “Can I have a go?”
“Only if you’re prepared to lose.” I state.
He runs a hand through his hair. “You’re that positive you’re going to win, huh?”
“Against you? Definitely.” I bite my lip, attempting to cover my smile.
We both brace ourselves, and after the count of three. I surge forward. Swiftly, we climb the ramp and jump over the steppingstones. I spot the climbing wall in the distance and recall which handles where the easiest to hold onto last time. We’re neck to neck at this point.
On the other side of the wall is a slide, and I drop straight down until I reach a thin platform with swinging balls, going from left to right. I time it perfectly and balance on the beam, avoiding the barriers.
The last obstacle is the monkey bars, which is not my strong suit. I notice Percy reaching for the handle and he’s only slightly in front of me. Frustratedly, I curse under my breath at how close I am. He swings effortlessly, and my view is disrupted with his back muscles, which I try not to get distracted by.
Out of nowhere, his hand slips from the bar and he tumbles into the water. Before I lose focus, reaching forward, I rush to the finish line.
“Woo! I told you, Seaweed Brain! I’m positive that I’ll win.”
He doesn’t hesitate before reaching for my ankle and dragging me into the lake with him. As I come up to the surface, it’s hard to be mad once I see his face and the stupid grin he has. Percy feels for my waist and pulls me closer to him.
“You do realise that was just by luck. If the Stoll’s didn’t fuck up the course with soap, I would have definitely won.”
I splash him with water. “Shut up. Don’t be a sore loser.”
Radiantly, he laughs and kisses me. His lips press against mine with a bit more force and I try to remember that our friends will probably join us in a second. So I place one more peck on his nose and swim away, “Race you to the ladder?”
“Oh, I’m not letting you beat me twice.”
A few more minutes pass by and as the time hits 5:30pm, we finish drying off and decide to cool down in the arts and crafts tent. There are stacks of canvases and ceramics available to decorate, with beads and gems on the side. Paints and glitters are covering the entire wooden table, which causes everyone to work around the mess.
“It’s everywhere! Get it off me!”
“Relax, Nico. Let me remove it.” Will gets out a wet wipe and helps clean the sequins from his arm.
The radio was playing in the background, and some badly designed art projects were dispersed around the place.
“How are you doing that?” Tyson asks.
In front of me, is a small structure I’ve managed to create with a glue gun and popsicle sticks. Carefully, I was sticking feathers at the base, making it look like carpet. “It’s pretty easy actually. You just need a strong foundation and a stable base.”
Tyson analyses the miniature building and nods, “Yeah, sure. Easy.”
“You know Annabeth, her brain’s always working. She’s going to be the most famous architect one day, making all these incredible buildings.” Thalia gives a thumbs up encouragingly.
“I hope so. But there’s no point focusing on Step 48 when we’re only on Step 5.” My hands carry on gluing.
Charles squeezes more paint onto a palette, “Yeah well whatever you make, just know your buildings will be 1000x better than whatever Travis is making.”
“Can you shut the fuck up.” Travis turns his canvas around to show an incredibly messy blob with what looks like horns on the top.
His brother laughs, “What is that? Are you trying to paint the minotaur?”
Percy rolls his eyes, “Don’t be stupid. It’s obviously Shrek.”
“Oh my Gods. Is it that bad? I was just trying to draw that bush with trees coming out.” He points into the distance at the forest.
“Well it’s shit.” Charles takes out his phone and snaps a quick picture, which causes Travis to try and snatch the phone from him.
As I move onto using sharpies to color in the roof, Silena sits beside me. A piece of card in her hand, and she’s doodling hearts and stars around the border. “I can’t wait to see all the structures you create.”
“I doubt it will be any time soon. Maybe in like 8, or even 10 years.”
“I think you’re going to do amazing things in the future, Annabeth.”
I pause, “You really think so?”
“I know so.” Her face is filled with such certainty, that I actually believe her.
---
Today has been perfect, and to finish it off we decided to have burgers and s’mores around the campfire. The clouds were now a dark orange, and the sky reminds me of all the beautiful sunsets I got to witness in Hawaii.
All my friends were sitting on logs roasting marshmallows and breaking out into conversation. I mentally scan everyone and only count 10 people. Someone is missing.
And it’s Percy.
I saw him not that long ago when we were setting up dinner, and now he’s disappeared. While the whole group’s occupied, I get up and do a quick turn to see if he’s anywhere close. Ambiguously, I walk to the cabins and look through the window, but no sign of him there.
Making my way towards the beach where we used to host fireworks, I keep an eye out. It’s not until I reach one of the long docks, when I finally find him. He’s sat at the edge of the wooden boards with his feet swinging in the water. His hands are pressed on either side of him and he’s staring at the view ahead.
Slowly, I make my way and take a seat next to him. We don’t say anything for a while just admiring the sunset and the warm breeze. Birds are chirping by the trees, and I focus on the shapes my toes make in the water.
“Do you want to come and join us?” My voice is quiet, scared to disturb his peace.
“In a bit. I’m just thinking.”
“That’s a first.”
He laughs faintly at my joke, but it doesn’t last long before he goes back to his previous state.
“What are you thinking about?”
Percy doesn’t say anything, and I assume he doesn’t hear my question. But as I’m about to ask it again he whispers, “You.”
“Me?”
He reaches into his pocket, “I have a gift for you.”
“Is this whole weekend away not already my gift?”
“It is, but earlier I realised that I never properly asked you out. We kind of just fell into this routine of being a couple, and I want to do it properly.” He holds out a small pouch.
I take it from him and open it. Inside is a small bead with an ocean wave painted on top.
“It’s not much, and I’m definitely not an artist. But when we were in the arts and crafts tent, I wanted to make you something to put on your camp necklace.”
No words leave my mouth, instead I touch the string resting on my chest and feel the other beads I’ve received for each year I was at camp.
My Seaweed Brain went out of his way to make something that I can hold close to me forever. Something that can sit with all my other happy memories and remind me of us.
Percy gently points at my neck, “May I?” I nod and turn away from him. His fingers lightly undo the knots at the back my necklace, and he drops the bead onto the string, before tying it up again.
“I painted a wave to remind you of the accident you had on the beach. But not the bad parts. I want you to remember that no matter what happens, I will always be there. We will always work together to solve anything.”
He continues, “I’ve been thinking back to what you said when we had that argument, about not wanting something temporary. I don’t want to be something temporary in your life, Annabeth. I want to be permanent; I want us to be permanent. I hope you know that no matter what happens, I will always be on your team.”
His eyes look delicate in the glow of the sun, and his lips are curving in a gentle smile that makes my stomach tighten.
Percy takes a breath, “Annabeth Chase, will you give me the absolute honour of officially being your boyfriend?
My body feels like its melting, and instantaneously I wrap my arms around him. “I thought you’d never ask.” My fingers move into his hair, and I tug him closer to me, so our lips meet.
I feel his tongue graze over mine, and I’ll never get over the sensation I feel whenever we kiss. For a moment I pull away and hold his hand. I focus on the arch of his nose and the lines between his eyebrows and think about how lucky we are to have found each other.
“I love you, Percy.”
The words don’t feel real coming out of my mouth, I’ve only ever thought about it but hearing it out loud feels so right.
He strokes my jaw with his thumb, “I have been in love with you since the very first day. And I will carry on loving you until my last.”
Butterflies erupt everywhere in my body, and we stay like this for a while, feeling each other’s warmth. The world could be ending, and I wouldn’t care, because the only thing that matters to me is what we have right now.
Gradually, he sits up and unlocks his phone, “There is one final surprise that I forgot to mention.”
“Percy-”
“It’s actually not from me.”
“Who’s it from?”
“The reason I wasn’t at the campfire is because Darren gave me a call… him and Reyna are getting married.”
“What?” I gasp.
“He proposed this week and said that they’re already planning everything. I was sent these links this morning.” Percy holds out the screen which shows two plane tickets to Greece, “They want us to come.”
At first, I’m confused as to why Reyna didn’t tell me any of this, but then remember how busy I’ve been at university, and I’ve barely had time to go on my phone. I make a mental note to call her later tonight.
“They already have a date for the wedding? What… this is insane. And in Greece?”
Percy laughs at my reaction, and bumps my arm with his, “What do you say Wise Girl? Want to do this whole thing over again?”
I flashback to the last two weeks of my life, and how utterly unpredictable they’ve been. I’m aware that I don’t even have to say anything for Percy to know my answer to his question. Instead I just smile and shake my head in disbelief, understanding that I get to start a new adventure with him by my side.
And as we sit on the pier, with Percy’s hand resting in mine, I know deep down that our love is only just beginning.