"Shut up already!" I yelled. I guess we were most certainly not past the strangle-each-other phase. You'd think we'd grow out of bickering like children once we turned seventeen, but I guess that didn't happen.

"Gods, Percy! You are such a seaweed-brain!" she yelled at me, her grey eyes as stormy as ever. I guess being son of the sea god, I could cause some pretty intense tempests myself. You know, just not as cool as my dad's. And twice as terrifying.

"I don't even know why I talk to you sometimes!" She thrust my jacket at me so hard I might have had the wind knocked out of me. Or maybe it was just because Annabeth had a tendency of having that effect on me generally.

"I don't either!"

"Fine! I'll just leave then!" She was fuming mad, face bright red and lips pursed tightly. She looked kind of like a grumpy bunny that was being held a little bit too tight in the hands of a toddler.

"Fine then! Go!"

She narrowed her eyes as she turned, reached for the door handle, and gave the door a shove, stopping abruptly with a frustrated grunt when the door didn't move.

"Opens in, Wise-Girl!"

"Shut up, I knew that!" She snapped at me, turning around. "Stupid Poseidon cabin…" she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that? The brilliant Annabeth Chase can't figure out the 'stupid Poseidon cabin?' "

"No!- I mean- Yes!- No!..." she hesitated, successfully opening the door this time.

"Need me to repeat the question?" I teased.

"No! UGH maybe if you had less kelp in your head you'd make more sense!" She threw her fists down at her sides and started toward me, her face scrunching up again. As much as I hated it- and I mean really hated it- she was still kind of cute when she was mad. Well, despite the fact she scared me enough to want to hide in the depths of Tartarus and never come out.

"Maybe if you were smart enough, you could understand me!" I pushed a little far there. I mean, it did hit me for a second that we were currently arguing about doors. I was still really mad though.

For a brief moment, we just glared at each other so angrily, I felt like I might accidentally create the world's biggest eruption of water ever, and Annabeth might just blurt out something like the true meaning of life or what lies beyond the universe if her powers worked anything like mine. But what happened made even less sense than that.

We both broke at the same time, but there was no water explosion or spontaneous burst of infinite knowledge as we collided passionately with a kiss, slamming up against the door. The energy was insane; I kind of got the idea of what it'd feel like to instantaneously create a whole universe. I felt her hands move down my body as mine felt hers. She tugged on my shirt. I took the cue.

Orange camp shirts were sluffed onto the floor. Our skin touched; it was like an electric shock I just couldn't get enough of. After skirting my feelings for years, it was unfair how impossible it was to pretend I didn't want her. That I didn't love every little thing about her. Even the way she could aggravate me like nobody else could ever even hope to.

This was finally happening, and the way Annabeth kissed me was proof she agreed: we've waited plenty long enough. And if that wasn't clear through the kiss, her hands moved lower, feeling the bulge in my jeans. I was almost startled by the sensation, drawing a quick breath and shuddering for a second.

"Hold on. Are you sure? I mean your mom spontaneously combusted to make sure I wouldn't touch you."

"In case you didn't notice, we're already half naked against a wall. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as touching, Seaweed-Brain."

"But… but that is a whole different ball game! I mean, we- she- I-" She kissed me.

"Don't worry about it." She smirked at me. "I'm not my mother, but I'm sharp enough to know that this is okay."

"Promise?"

"On the Styx"

"But how can you be so su-"

"Shut up and kiss me" she laughed, leaning into my favorite kiss probably ever. Aphrodite, spare me. I prayed.

The pile of clothes on the floor was now compiled of two camp shirts, a worn-out pair of shorts, and some undergarments; my jeans were still around my ankles. I pressed her closer. I felt her arms wrap over my shoulders, around my neck, just before she wrapped her legs around me. Then, I went for a trick that the Aphrodite kids talked about. I pulsed my lips down Annabeth's neck, gently sucking on every kiss I planted. She arched, tilting her head back with a gasp. "Percy…" her eyelids fluttered a little bit, and her fingers wove themselves in my hair. "Percy-"

I kissed her hard. I used every little thing I heard about anything from the Aphrodite kids when I kissed her. Her lips broke from mine.

"Percy," she breathed, then nodded as she looked at me, flushed a rosy pink. "Now."

I wasn't about to wait. It actually didn't even occur to me that my bed was maybe five or ten feet away until Annabeth mentioned it. "Bed-" she said, already light of breath.

She drew a thick gasp, wincing as I slid into her. I could tell she hurt from the way her jaw clenched. She let out a high-pitched moan, and encouraged me to continue, wrapping her legs around my waist as she pressed her lips against mine again. So after a short amount of time, I was no longer hesitating. "More." The word jumped off of her shuddering lips. I pushed all the way in. Ohwow- was honestly my first thought. Oh- Wow. I'd imagine I probably looked strange as we climbed higher, and I pushed deeper with my eyebrows pulling together and my mouth hinged open. Her legs knit tighter around me. "Oh my Gods, Percy!" We moved faster still. "Percy, where did you- Oh my Gods!" my heartbeat was hammering faster than a storm spirit could race, and her breathing nearly matched pace. Oh gods- I thought. I was close. Holy-

Annabeth let out another moan, louder than the rest. And that's what sent me over the edge. "Percy!"

You'd think that no edge could be more intense than falling off the edge of the ocean, like when the world was still considered flat. I would think that too. Boy, was I wrong. I felt like everything was so heightened—the crinkling of the sheets, the feeling of every square inch of awareness, the scent of her light vanilla lotion and her honeysuckle shampoo, her fingers clenched on my back, her breathing and moaning. Plus the fact it was like having that montage of your life flash before your eyes in less than half a second. I saw the first time I met her. I saw the first time we fought. When she'd first called me her friend. I saw when I'd held her underwater when she sobbed relentlessly after the sirens. And before our quest to the labyrinth. And the first time she kissed me.

And all at the same time, everything was dulled and black, and it was like all I could feel was how incredible this was right now. And it was pretty damn incredible. The sensation was so intense, I almost actually blacked out. From the feel of it, she felt the same way, as she writhed and screamed under me. "Ohmygods! Percy- Percy!" not a second later, I was overcome by a wave of sheer pleasure, and I came with a warm gush. Annabeth let another scream free from her chest. Man, she was complete perfection.

We collapsed down on my bed, pulling the sheets over us, still breathing heavily. She tucked her soft blonde curls behind her ear and snuggled up to me, laying her head on my chest. I was almost afraid we'd regret it. Or she'd regret it. I certainly didn't.

"No." she mumbled.

"What?" I was suddenly jolted, afraid of what that could mean.

"I don't regret it." I have to say, she did always have a way of pulling thoughts right out of my head. "You're cute when you're worried." She laughed as I stroked her hair absentmindedly. Before I could think of moving or doing anything else, we drifted off to sleep. And for the first time in what seems like eons, neither of us had a single dream.