Here is a really, really, really short piece I wrote last April but only saw again today.

I'm not sure if a lot of you have already experienced the same kind of "torture" mentioned in this story. Haha. Or maybe this is just me, because I'm a weird person and being in love has done wonders to me. Hahaha.

I hope you enjoy this particularly short story! Happy 2015! :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own PJO or HoO. All belong to Rick Riordan.

Torture.

Percy thinks it's torture.

He rolls onto his stomach and extends his arm towards the nightstand next to his bed, his fingers nervously searching for the item he had just tossed aside. They finally find it, and it lights up as he presses a button.

8:31 PM, his phone reads. Roughly a minute since 8:30, the last time he sent a text to Annabeth.

He stares blankly at the screen and the apparently non-existent new message. One minute, he thinks. Which means she's far away from her phone, because given Annabeth's amazing skills in everything and the past giggle-worthy, stomach-churning text sessions, Percy knows it takes her approximately forty-five seconds to reply to his texts. Not that he was counting, of course. That would be just weird.

Maybe she's eating dinner with her family now. Or maybe she has just decided to do her homework for the next day. Or maybe she's currently at the bathroom and left her phone for a few minutes.

Or, the ever non-supportive villain in his head tells him, you crept her out with your latest message and now she thinks you guys are moving too fast to speak to you ever again.

Crap.

He rereads the potential cause of his heartbreak and sighs frustratedly.

And then the doubt starts to sink in.

Oh no oh no oh no oh no

What he said earlier, when he dropped her off home, was too much, wasn't it? They weren't ready; they were only dating for a few months. Percy wasn't even sure how she was going to react when he stopped her from exiting the car. He grabbed her hand and blurted out the words he'd been keeping constrained his chest for a long time now.

Percy swears he heard every painful pound of his heart as time seemed to slow down, every second of her silence causing a percent of anxiety building up inside of him.

But Annabeth smiled, leaned back inside the car and kissed him oh so suddenly that he was caught off-guard.

And she said them back. And he felt like his heart was going to burst with happiness.

She kissed him goodbye one more time before finally heading inside her house.

He went home with the goofiest grin on his face.

Percy shakes his head to bring himself back to the present. 8:32 PM, the time on his phone reads. What? Was it possible that only a minute has gone by?

Gaaahhhh, he internally groans. Torture torture tortureeee

He made a mistake, he concludes. Annabeth must have probably started analyzing everything once she entered her home. She must've ended up with the conclusion that they were moving too fast.

What if she actually didn't mean what she said?

Percy glares at his phone and at his reflection. Stupid, he thinks. You're an idiot, Percy. You hope too much.

8:33 PM

Nothing new.

8: 34 PM

His phone vibrates. Percy leaps to read what the new message says. Jason's asking about homework the next day. He debates whether or not throwing his phone is a good idea. He wants to kill Jason the next day.

Not really. He's a good guy.

8:35 PM

His phone is already positioned in his hands. He contemplates whether outside the window is a good place for the device to land.

8:36 PM

He sits back down on his bed and decides that he kind of loves his phone and has developed an attachment to it since it's one of the factors that brought he and Annabeth closer.

He clicks it, seeing no new message. He throws it onto his bed instead.

But then it vibrates, and Percy scrambles like a ninja to get it.

I love you too :), it says.

The doubt disappears and he mentally slaps himself on the head for worrying too much.

The torture was only for a few minutes, after all.

He pumps his fist in the air before replying again.

End

If you guys have any questions, I am most likely to answer in my Tumblr ask: whayjhey. The link is on my profile. :) Thank you for reading!

-YJ