Okay, so this was one of my much older fanfictions I found a few days ago written in an ancient moldy notebook packed away in storage. So I know it's probably going to be weird, but that's okay. We like weird.

Oh, and you may think: "Any second now a monster is going to show up and eat them!" because that's just what the PJO books are about, buuutt… That's why I wrote this. To get away from the stress and just spend time with one of our FAAAAAVORITE couples!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson books or the characters or settings or—Do we really have to go through this? Just read already.

oOo

It was the last day of camp for us half-bloods. I was busy picking up my belongings when a sharp buzzing filled my back pocket. Though phones were obviously not the smartest idea for demigods, my mom made sure I brought mine just in case. Despite reminding her several times that I would be safe, she still insisted, if only for emergencies.

That was why I was so curious when my cell rang. Inside camp borders I was safe, so I decided to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Percy!" It was my mom, of course, sounding breathless and rushed. "Is it too late? Have you left camp yet?"

My stepdad, Paul Blofis, was picking me up, so I guessed my mom didn't know if he had arrived yet.

"No, I'm still packing."

She sighed in relief. "That's good. I wanted to ask you something."

Considering Mom, it was probably something slightly irrelevant, but no matter. "Okay," I said, and waited.

"I have arranged a small vacation for us after you get back." She gushed the news. "The people who own the cabin in Montauk recently redid it, and apparently it looks really nice, so I decided—why not?"

I processed this.

"Next week," she continued, still bursting with excitement. "The price went up a bit, but since it's a special occasion of you completing your fifth year at camp, we're going to spend an entire week there."

My mom sounded so excited, but I didn't see why she couldn't wait until I got home to tell me.

When she didn't elaborate immediately, I toyed with the zipper of my backpack and cleared my throat. "Okay…?"

Mo took a deep breath. "And I was wondering if you'd like to invite Annabeth to come with us."

My eyebrows raised with surprised, and all I said was, "Oh."

My mom really liked Annabeth, but this was not at all what I expected. Normally the cabin was just mine and Mom's getaway place. Not ever Paul went with us that often. Her proposition seemed so crazy, I had a feeling it would never be offered again.

I'd began packing faster before she even finished her sentence, though. "That…would be awesome. I'm going to have to find her and ask, though." I snuck a quick glance at the time. "Paul isn't going to be here for another half-hour, though, so there isn't much of a rush."

Mom laughed. "Sorry, sweetie. You don't have to call back if you don't want. Just find out from Annabeth and we'll discuss things when you get home."

"Okay. Thank you, Mom."

"Love you, Percy!"

I closed my phone and shoved it into my pocket, resisting the urge to dance around the (still) empty Poseidon cabin with joy. A week by the sea with Annabeth? No quests to worry about? Approved by my mom? It was better than I could ever hope for.

I tossed the rest of my things haphazardly into my pack, not caring about what going where. Leaving camp seemed considerably more exciting. Sure, it was the end of summer and the water would probably be too cold to swim in—not to mention yet another school for me to join began in three weeks—but man.

I looked one more time at my unnaturally tidy mini-manor before heading out. Most people were gone by the, but a few of the old-timers who weren't staying the year liked to hang back until everyone else left. I thanked the gods that Annabeth was one of them.

It wasn't too hard finding her, to be honest. She was laying on the hill just outside the border surrounding Camp Half-Blood, staring intently at the laptop that was open on the grass in front of her. Without hesitation, I plopped down next to her.

She glanced up for a minute. "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"Hey."

I watched as she snapped her computer shut, stuffed it into the back next to her, and rolled onto her stomach. Ringlets of bright blond hair were tied back behind her head, seeming to flaunt the scar of grey streaking into the band. Her eyes seemed brighter, less worried as they did so often our past years. If you counted the beads on her necklace, you'd find ten lined neatly in a row.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me and shook a stray strand of hair from her face. "What's up?"

I had a difficult time not staring at her. "Nothing, really. Just waiting for Paul."

A pause.

"Listen, Annabeth, my mom just called and…"I fumbled getting the words out, knowing my face was turning pink. "See, every summer we go to this seaside cottage for a few days, and uh… Mom called to see if-if you'd like to come along."

Thankfully, she just grinned, relieving some pressure. "That sounds like fun. I'd have to ask my dad, though. You know how parents are." Annabeth dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Luckily, he knows you. If it had been any other boy he wouldn't think twice before refusing."

She was good at that, being so casual and offhand, flipping onto her back and looking up at the ski as though nothing was odd or shying about the situation. I knew my face was bright red—as it turned every time I was around her—but I'd given up on trying to act sane around her. We both know it was never going to happen.

I stretched onto my back next to her, our arms almost touching.

Everything was so quiet, so peaceful, with the sun shining hot and the sounds of satyrs playing music in the camp below and the faint lapping of waves on the shore and the scent of strawberries…

A few minutes—or seconds, maybe—passed before Annabeth turned to rest her head on my shoulder. My lungs kind of froze and I was about to glance around to see who was watching before I realized there honestly was no reason I should care.

I closed my eyes, too.

I really could have stayed there that way forever, but someone above us cleared his throat.

"Percy?"

That someone was my stepdad.

I shot upright and felt the blood rush to my cheeks yet again. "Paul!" Gods, that was awkward. "I, uh, have my things packed and…uh… We should probably…go."

Annabeth gave a hesitant wave to my stepdad. "Hi, Mr. Blofis."

"Annabeth." Paul nodded his head to her politely.

Though there had never once been any animosity or dislike, Paul observed her from a sort of distance. Maybe it was his weird way of trying not to humiliate me in front of my friends, but it made things less comfortable.

I avoided looking anyone in the eyes as I stood up, backpack slung over my shoulder.

"Bye, Percy." Annabeth got up with me and grinned. "Call me tonight, okay? If I don't call you first." She shook hands with Paul and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I was rewarded with my face turning beet red. Again.

In Paul's Prius, everything was quiet and uncomfortable for the first thirty minutes of the ride. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Sorry I embarrassed you, Percy."

"It's no problem. Really." I showed how unaffected I was by rolling down my window and turning the radio up.

We got to our apartment a little after 2:00. Of course, as soon as I walked in the door, my mom caught me in a hug that nearly made my eyes pop out of their sockets. Less violent than my brother Tyson's hugs, but somehow still a near-death experience.

"Percy!" she said, finally letting me go. "It's great to have you back home, baby. Did you have a good time?"

I accepted her offer or a blue sugar cookie she must have made just for this celebration. "Yeah. It was great!"

Considering how I didn't blow anything (major) up or have any close calls with death, I'd say it was a fairly decent summer.

"So what did Annabeth say?" she asked after collecting herself a little, using a less "deranged mom" voice.

"She has to ask her dad. She's calling again tonight, but she seemed really excited and eager."

Mom smiled and straightened the bead necklace around my neck. "Of course. Now, Percy, there's something I want to talk to you about before next week."

"Oh, no," I groaned.

She stared me in the eyes with her important maternal look that all mothers give when they're about to say something mortifying. "Now, you are a very handsome, very adolescent young man—"

"Mom—"

"—And Annabeth is a very pretty young lady—"

"Mom, please—"

"—And I know how much you like her—"

"Seriously, M—"

"—And I just want to tell you that ev—"

"MOM. Honestly." I put my hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "You gave me this lecture when I was ten. I won't do anything stupid."

"Oh, honey, I know what it's like to be in love." My mom sighed, taking one of my hands in her slightly worn ones. "One second you think you've got everything in control and the next…" She sighed again, and then gave me a look. What she was going to say was: …you're pregnant with the sea god's child.

I long pause followed.

Paul and I shuffled on our feet awkwardly.

"I'm going to go unpack now," I said finally, making a mad dash to avoid more talk.

It was a few hours later. I was sprawled out on my bed, whittling absentmindedly at a stick with one of my pocketknives. The smell of cooking lasagna wafted in from the kitchen, and I heard muted sounds of the TV in the background from the living room. Somewhere in our apartment the phone rang.

Ten seconds later there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

My mom entered, holding the phone out to me.

I took it, propping my feet up on the wooden headboard of my bed. "Hello?"

"Hi, Percy!"

It was Annabeth, of course.

Through the crack in the door she was peeking in from, I saw my mom smile widely and give me an encouraging thumbs-up.

I couldn't help but feel that little skip of happiness that I oh-so-unwillingly admitted ever existed. "Hey, Annabeth! What did your dad say?"

"He said yes!" She seemed so thrilled, her voice grew so high I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "As long as I promise to behave and call and be safe and not get pregnant and blahblahblah. You know dads."

Not entirely. I didn't have a dad for a major portion of my laugh, and when I did, he most certainly didn't tell me not to get pregnant. Thank the gods for that.

Deciding to ignore the twitch in my eye her last comment brought on, I laughed. "My mom basically said the exact same thing. You should have heard her earlier."

"I have a feeling I wouldn't have wanted to." Annabeth sniggered, and in the background I heard something shatter. "Oops," she muttered. "Listen, I have to go, but I'll call again tomorrow."

"Okay, Annabeth." I paused for a second, letting my gaze wander over for a second to a picture I have of me and her taped up on my wall. "…Sleep well."

"You too, Percy."

She was the first to hang up. I kept the phone held to my ear stupidly, listening to her voice repeat in my ear until Mom came into my room and took it from me.

"Well?" she asked.

As if she hadn't heard, eavesdropping like that.

Despite my slight annoyance at my mother, a grin quickly and unexpectedly stretched across my face. "Her dad's letting her."

Mom smiled knowingly, as if this brought her more pleasure than it did to me. "Oh, good! Sweet girl…" She walked out of my room, looking like she was going to burst again. She was acting odd, but good. I didn't mind that side of my mom.

It was surprising how slow time went by as I waited. On August fifth—two days after leaving camp, my birthday—Annabeth sent me an Iris-Message and we spent about fifteen drachmas talking and laughing late into the night until my mom came in to stop it. I'd fallen asleep with the picture of her in her crazy purple pajamas in my head.

Time seemed to go past like the blink of an eye on the Thursday before we left. I was practically tapping my foot, waiting, going to bed early and repacking my backpack a dozen times, making sure my teeth were brushed twice a day so I didn't develop dragon breath by Friday—and trust me when I say, you do not want that coming at you.

"Hey, Percy," my mom called from across the apartment Thursday afternoon. "I'm renting a few movies for the trip. Any requests?"

I turned off the TV and sighed. Letting my mom rent movies that I'll be watching with someone other than family was bad. She always chooses the movie that would apply the maximum dose of awkward to the situation. The last time Grover was over… I shuddered at the memory.

"I don't know. Anything, I guess," I told her. "No chick flicks or movies with dogs in them. I'm sick of dogs."

I heard my mother laugh. "Okay. I'll be back in a little bit!"

After Mom came back and made dinner, I wolfed it down and went straight to bed. Sleep didn't find me immediately, though. My mind was too full of…thoughts.

It was so weird for my mom to let me spend more than a day with a girl, let alone a week. I prayed to the gods that she wouldn't do anything horribly mortifying, but I doubted even the gods could do anything to stop her.

With terribly funny and horrifying images related to that thought floating around in my head, I fell into an eager, light sleep.

Frantic beeping filled my brain with such a surprise I unwillingly pulled myself out of a sleep. With a groan, I slammed my fist into the alarm clock.

Then I remembered what that day was and apologized to my poor clock.

With speed rivaling a centaurs', I dressed and grabbed my backpack before dashing out of the room. I had my bag packed (okay, it was packed the day after leaving camp) and all I had to do was to not forget it.

In the kitchen, my mom was fixing a giant batch of (yes, blue) waffles. The smell of bitter, black coffee wafted in front the mug in Paul's hand as he read the newspaper at the table.

I sat down on the chair closest to the stove where Mom was working. "Hey, when are we—"

"I know what you're going to ask, Percy," she said with a light laugh, putting a plate of breakfast in front of me. "Just be patient. We're leaving right after lunchtime."

Paul looked up from his paper, one brow raised in an amused, curious look. "Been talking non-stop about her. You know, when I picked you up, you two seemed pretty ser—"

"Do not say 'serious,' Paul."

My stepdad raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay."

So what if I liked Annabeth? You'd like someone a lot, too, if you had nearly died together several times. And okay, I admit, she is beautiful (—gorgeous—), and she is smart (—mastermind) and—

"Who's her mother again?" Paul interrupted my thoughts, peering under his glasses at the paper. "Aphrodite?"

"Athena," I corrected, taking a bite of syrup-soggy waffle.

He chuckled, thanking my mom briefly for the breakfast she set in front of him as well, before looking up and giving me a sly smile only he could give. "Could have fooled me. The way you look at her."

I was about to argue, heat rushing to my face, but Mom cut me off.

"No less than a goddess." She laughed, taking a seat between us.

"Gods, you two…" I grumbled, feeling humiliated and uncomfortable. "She's…really smart. And we've saved each other's life a lot."

"Are you sure those are the only reasons?" Mom laughed again, but stopped when I scowled at her. "Sorry, baby. We're just teasing. I'm sure things will go just fine."

It was a very long drive from our apartment to Annabeth's house. On the way, Mom put in one of her old people CD's and started singing along, brown hair streaming lose behind her back in the wind. She seemed happier than I'd ever seen her, and I was so glad, I didn't even complain about the music for the first part of the ride.

By the twelfth song I was about ready to jump out of the moving vehicle, but the gods were merciful and we turned into the drive to Annabeth's house as the suicidal thoughts kicked in.

Both my mom and I walked up to the door, and after knocking, Annabeth's dad answered. "Percy! Sally!" he greeted us graciously. "Please come in."

The house was a lot tidier than it was the last time I saw it. It looked like the perfect example of a normal persons' house; pictures hanging the walls and potted plants thriving on tables and clean floors and a smell like some kind of flower drifted around the air. However, Annabeth's stepmom was nowhere in sight.

"Would you like something, Sally?" Mr. Chase offered my mom. "Tea? Coffee?"

Mom and Annabeth's dad walked into the kitchen. Over his shoulder, Mr. Chase said, "I think Annabeth's still in her room, Percy. Last door on your right in the hall."

To be honest, I'd only been to her house three or four times. I hadn't even seen her bedroom, and he just… I wasn't sure whether to be flattered at the trust bestowed upon me, or what.

As I made my way nervously to Annabeth's room, I heard the familiar gurgle of a coffee maker and the chatter of adults talking about the upcoming trip.

When I got to the last door on the right, I noticed it was open. I walked up and peered inside. It looked a lot like the Athena cabin at camp. Books piled high on shelves in alphabetical order, charts of constellations and topographical maps and buildings cut in half, a desk strewn with graph paper and designs and pencils and math equipment I'd only ever seen in classrooms.

Annabeth was laying stomach-down on her bed, the laptop open in front of her (no surprise there). It was obvious she wasn't ready at all; her blond hair was done up in two braids on either side of her head for sleeping, there was a duffel bag sitting on the chair of her desk that was open and had stuff draping out of it, and she was wearing a pair of wrinkled green pajamas.

She didn't hear me at her door, so I knocked lightly.

When Annabeth glanced up and saw me standing there, she freaked.

"Ah! Percy! Um—" She scrambled out of bed, skittering around, disoriented. "You're early! Ah—"

Part of me wondered why she was still in her pajamas after lunchtime, but whatever. I kicked the doorframe with my heel. "…No, I'm not. It's past lunchtime."

"It is?" She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and cursed in ancient Greek, smacking her forehead. "I lost track of time, I'm sorry. I—" Annabeth froze, glancing down at her pajamas, and then back up at me.

I didn't have any time to say anything back before she darted to the door and slammed it in my face.

"Sorry, Percy. Just give me ten minutes and I'll be out. Wait there for me!"

I leaned against the wall, listening to the sounds of Annabeth running around her room. A few times I heard her curse and something fall to the ground with a thump. It made me laugh.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Annabeth came back out, looking flustered, but otherwise ready. Her hair was down (but brushed) and she was wearing a grey tank-top that had the Tootsie-Roll owl on it over shorts.

"I'm okay," she said, smiling with embarrassment. "Where's Dad? And your mom?"

I shrugged. "I think they're in the kitchen talking about us behind our backs."

"Oh." She exhaled a gusty sigh that sounded like a laugh and glanced behind her into her room. "I…guess you can come in if you want."

Annabeth shuffled inside, picking up her laptop in one hand and her NYC duffel bag in the other. She had a mini internal battle whether or not to pack the computer. Her nose was scrunched into a scowl.

I took a seat in her swiveling desk chair and watched through amused eyes as she let out a groan of reluctance and stored it in her closet, shutting it for good measure. When Annabeth turned back and saw my expression, she rolled her eyes. "I need a break from it."

The silence following only gave me time to realize that I was in a girls' bedroom. Alone. With her. Luckily, there was little time to blush because I heard my mom's voice raise from the hall.

"Percy?"

"In here, mom."

My mother appeared in the doorway, wearing her usual 'you darling kids' look. She gave Annabeth a brief hug. "Are you all ready?"

"Yes, Mrs...um..."

"Just call me Sally."

"Okay, Sally." Annabeth smiled again, easy and winning. "I was just putting my laptop away."

Mom laughed. "I see. Well, come on, kids. Let's go get in the car."

Oh, gods. "Mom, don't call us kids." Apparently my plea to them about my mother embarrassing me in front of Annabeth didn't work.

"Sorry, baby." She tried ruffling my hair but I ducked out of the way.

"Mom!"

Annabeth stifled a laugh as she adjusted the bag over her shoulder. I saw her lips pursed into a smile that she did not hold back as she looked away.

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled to her on the way down the hall.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

oOo

Terrible… It'll get better!