Percy keeps getting dumped, and it's always the same reason why. Some swearing and kissing at the bottom.

The first semester is over! Here's a little something to help me get back into writing. Not my best work, but huhu writing again makes everything so much better.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own PJO or HoO. All rights belong to Rick Riordan (the king).

Swings

Percy sighed miserably, pushing his legs towards the ground to at least let him take off on the tiny swing. He didn't soar off like he used to – he's way too tall now – but he liked to try nonetheless.

He wasn't even sure what the problem was this time. He had just arrived home from Christmas, set his bags in his room, and called his girlfriend to let her know that he had arrived in one piece.

And he was just talking to Marissa, merely sharing his sadness that his best friend Annabeth – who was away at some fancy architecture school in Greece – wouldn't be able to come home for the holidays.

That's when Marissa sighed exasperatedly. "There you go again," she had said, voice clearly more than annoyed. "You know what, Percy? I don't think this is working out at all."

"What?" he had asked dumbly, though genuinely confused.

"You know why," Marissa hissed over the phone. "Look, I have to go."

"Just like that? We're breaking up? Marissa, what the—"

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know, Percy."

"But I don't!"

"Yeah, whatever. I have to go."

Percy remembered blinking, staring at his phone for a good ten minutes before grabbing his beanie and his coat, saying good-bye to his mother and Paul and running outside of his house until he ended up where he was.

Those who knew him would know exactly where he goes when he's upset. The neighborhood park doesn't look like much now, but it meant the world to Percy when he was younger. This was where he and Annabeth first met – where they first argued over the swings, until they both decided on dominance and claimed it both theirs instead. As the years went by, the place provided him the comfort he needed whenever he just wanted to think.

And, boy, did he need to think now.

"What in the world did I do?" he grumbled to himself, although he's not surprised he's uttering those words again. Marissa was the third girl he'd ever dated and the third girl to break up with him. As usual, she'd assumed that he knew why she was breaking up with him.

But he didn't. He really, really didn't. Just like how he had no idea what was going on when Rachel just called it quits the day before high school graduation, and just like how he was totally clueless when Reyna just told him that they couldn't be together anymore the spring break of the first year of college, just before he was about to board a plane for Greece, because Annabeth had insisted and her mom had invited him to go.

"Gods, I suck at relationships," he muttered, and he almost had a heart attack when his proclamation was met with laughter.

He looked up at his intruder and his eyes nearly bugged out of its sockets.

"Annabeth!"

She smiled down at where he was still sitting on the swing. "Talking to yourself, I see."

He couldn't help it. He bounded off his seat and launched towards her to tackle her in a hug, almost making them tumble into the snow.

Was it possible that his best friend grew more beautiful since the last time he saw her? He really, really missed her, and gods her presence was just what he needed right now.

"How?" he sputtered, nuzzling his head onto her hair. "Your dad said you were staying with your mom this Christmas!" He remembered being heartbroken at the news, too.

She pulled back from his embrace. "Surprise?"

"You are evil," he declared. "You made me almost depressed at the thought that I would be eating blue Christmas cookies alone!"

She snorted. "Depressed? I'd say you'd be elated at having to eat them all by yourself!"

"Never." He shook his head seriously, grabbing her hand and leading her back to the swing.

"So…," she started, falling into rhythm with him as soon as he started swinging. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or am I going to force it out of you?"

He scowled for the first time since she arrived. "How do you know something's wrong? I'm fine."

"Don't be ridiculous, Percy." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I know you, and I know only a problem's going to make you come back here."

"Ah, but what if I just miss the park?"

"Your mom also said you stormed off out of the blue, just before I got to your house," she pointed out. "Perfect timing, by the way."

He sighed finally. "Yeah, well, you can blame Marissa's timing."

"Marissa?" Annabeth stopped swinging. "The Biology major who's been asking you to coffee for months? Really? Already?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and unfortunately."

"Shame," she said. "I never even got to meet her. Were you perhaps lucky this time and she told you why?"

"As usual," he grumbled miserably for the millionth time that day. "I don't even know what I did wrong. I was just telling her that it sucked that you weren't coming home for Christmas, and she just… ended it. Just like that."

Annabeth suddenly grew quiet, so he continued. "Why does that keep happening to me? Why don't they think I deserve closure? Why do they always assume that I know what's going on? I mean, yeah, I wasn't in love with any of them or anything, but I—" he suddenly noticed her expression. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She hesitated before answering. "I think I know why."

"Huh?"

"Percy," she said quietly. "I think that… I think that for as long as you're friends with me, no girl's going to last."

He stopped so abruptly that he almost became a lanky projectile. "What?"

"I haven't been completely honest with you," she admitted, suddenly becoming very interested on the ground. "Before graduation, Rachel came to talk to me."

He didn't know what to feel. "What'd she say?" His throat suddenly felt a little dry.

She merely stared at him with guilty eyes.

"Wise Girl." He used her old nickname, nudging her leg with his.

She sighed. "She told me to take care of you."

"Oh." He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. "Oh, all right. That's it?" Her expression was enough of an answer. "Annabeth, what did she say? It's not going to matter anymore, I promise," he assured her, smiling slightly but sadly. "That was… what? Almost three years ago? Gods, I'm over her." He added a snort for effect, which worked because she kind of smiled. He reached a hand for his best friend, which she took and swung between them.

"Okay," she started, squeezing his hand and putting on an apologetic expression. "This is going to be so embarrassing."

"Please," he snickered. "We took baths together when we were little kids and we've seen each other go through braces and acne."

"Stop reminding me," she whined.

"Hey, remember that time that you thought you could swing so high that you could fly? You fell face flat."

"You were the one who told me it was possible!"

"You were the smarter one and you believed me!" He was laughing now.

"Cut it out, you Seaweed Brain." She kicked his leg playfully, making the swing she was sitting on sway from side to side.

And he had to smile at his old nickname, one he hasn't heard in a while. Annabeth was the only person who could utter Seaweed Brain to his face without making the name sound offensive. He only ever heard it now through the messages she sent him, although they were becoming too few now, what with only less than two years of college left. They were becoming too busy, and he couldn't think of an exaggeration (which wasn't, really) for missing Annabeth.

Man, he was so glad she was here right now.

"So…," he started again. "Rachel…?"

She shook her head. "Oh, yeah. Well… she broke up with you because she thought that…" She shrugged. "She thought that you were in love with me."

His heart stopped.

"What?"

She let go of his hand suddenly, wrapping it around the rail instead. She started swinging again, avoiding his gaze once more. "I know," she coughed awkwardly. "I told her she was ridiculous, but she seemed pretty convinced. Something about the damage being already done. Whatever that means."

Percy couldn't answer, and he felt as if he was seeing Annabeth for the first time.

"So." He tried not to choke. "When you said that I can't get a girlfriend because of you…?"

She still wasn't looking at him. "Just think about it, Percy."

And he did. Oh, how he did. No wonder Rachel broke up with him; back in high school, people could barely tell that she was his girlfriend because Annabeth was always around and it was always her house that he went to after school for homework and for studying. It looked it as if he was spending more time with her than with Rachel, and he probably did. Reyna broke up with him before his flight to see Annabeth in Greece, and Marissa just lost it when he was complaining about Annabeth not being around for the holidays (while Marissa, being the girlfriend, wasn't around, too).

And the other things started making sense, too.

How he was so tempted to argue with her when she first announced that she was taking up architecture across the globe (but he didn't, because he knew how much she loved her dream and he knew how much potential she had). How he can't seem to be able to wait for their next Skype date. How he can't seem to stop talking about her all the time – even while he was on dates with other girls. How it always seemed to bother him whenever his roommate Leo jokes about introducing the two of them because she's so hot. How he just spent hours lying on his bed because it's been days since she last replied to his message. How he uncontrollably missed her and their neighborhood and this park because it was just so full of memories of them.

Oh my gods.

He understood now.

It took him a while but – excuse his French – holy shit he understood now.

Why in the world did it have to take three ex-girlfriends for him to realize that he was in love with Annabeth Chase?

He really, really, really is a Seaweed Brain.

She was opening her mouth to say something, but it seemed his senses were too amazed to function, as if his mind was slowly reeling in the mind-blowing fact he just discovered.

"…but it's probably not true," he realized that she was rambling once he was able to finally ground himself to reality. "I mean, I haven't even met Marissa yet. She must've been pretty crazy to let go of someone like you." She turned her attention to him, and she had a small smile on her face. "In fact, they were all crazy to break up with Percy Jackson."

He didn't know what forced him to choke on his next words. "Maybe they weren't."

She pursed her lips, probably preventing a laugh upon seeing his dumbstruck expression. "What?"

"They weren't crazy." He stood up, eyes still on her and probably shock dancing among them because dude where is your confidence coming from. He took one of her hands that was wrapped around the chains and used it to pull her up. "Oh my gods, Annabeth, I—"

"Percy?"

He suddenly hugged her, wrapping both of his arms tightly around her as strong as he could, burying his face onto the crook of her neck. A few seconds later she was hugging him back, too, but she needed to know that this wasn't just an I-haven't-seen-you-in-almost-forever-and-I-really-missed-you kind of hug.

No, this was definitely different.

He missed her and he just realized he was in love with her, and now he was hugging the life out of her and thinking of a way to make her understand, because who knows how much time he wasted.

"I'm in love with you," he muttered, and he was pretty sure that she heard him. "I'm in love with you, Wise Girl. I love you, Annabeth."

For a scary moment she remained silent, arms still around him but not responding to his proclamation.

And then came his next holy shit moment, because why in the world did he just announce that he loved her oh-so suddenly, when he didn't know if she loved him back?

"I'm an idiot," he said, pulling away to look at her but still keeping his arms wrapped around her frame. "Annabeth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just—"

She surprised him by laughing quietly. "Shut up, Percy."

He almost whined. "Why in the world are you laughing? Here I am, embarrassing myself by proclaiming—"

"Shut up, Percy," she chastised him lightly before her chuckles died down. "I just… you just broke up with Marissa and maybe this is just a spur of the moment kind of thing—" He opened his mouth to protest but she shut him up by placing a hand on his cheek (and he had to quiet down because uhhh she's never done that before?)—"and of course I'm wondering. Are you sure, Percy?"

Wondering. She was always wondering. That's what made him call her Wise Girl in the first place.

But she didn't need to wonder about this now, because unlike all the other girls he's ever been with… he was sure this time.

And she needed to know what.

Holy shit moment number three came when he followed his stupid, stupid senses and leaned down to capture her lips in his.

Then came a number of holy shit holy shit holy shits after that, because holy shit he was kissing his gorgeous best friend since forever, and holy shit it wasn't like the stoic ones he got from Reyna – she rarely kissed him back, being the "independent woman" that she was—nor was it like the sloppy, eager ones he got from Marissa.

And holy shit did Annabeth really just run her tongue on his bottom lip?

He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and she pulled him even closer by tugging his beanie off, running her fingers through his already messy hair before pulling his face closer to hers. Percy could've sworn he died when he felt her sigh into his mouth.

"Love you," he managed to say breathlessly before he kissed her again – slowly this time, because gods he wanted to prove to her and to the heavens of how genuine he was. He moved one of his hands from her hop to cup her face. Annabeth did the same to one of her hands tangled in his hair.

She laughed when he pulled away. "I can't believe it took you three girlfriends to realize that," she joked. "I've known I was in love with you since high school. Who knows how many girls more I had to fall in line after?"

"They all would've realized I'm in love with you, anyway," he said, kind of dizzy from the kiss and kind of amazed that oh wow since high school, really?

"Smart girls."

"And I'm an idiot," he proclaimed – stating the obvious, really. "Gods, how much time have I wasted?"

She shook her head before pulling out of his grasp. She grabbed his fallen beanie on the ground and put it on her own head. His heart had to stop once more, because holy shit she's never looked more beautiful. He made a mental note to make most of the holidays.

She grabbed his hand and started pulling him out the park. "Come on, Seaweed Brain, there's so much we have to talk about and so much blue cookies to eat." He might've had a stupid grin on his face as she pulled him along.

She stopped near the entrance. "Whoops, forgot something." She stood up on her toes and turned around to kiss him on the cheek. "I love you, too."

Percy snuck a glance at the swings once they exited. Today just gave him another reason to love the place.

:)

tumblr: itsscaryyoke