***So, it turns out that quarantine is a good time for writing (I'm not sick, fortunately, just stuck under a stay-at-home order). This story takes place during the spring of Percy and Annabeth's sophomore year of college. Like I said with my story "College Studying," this one is occasionally a little more suggestive than some of my other stories—because they're in college—but there's nothing explicit; just the usual kissing. I've tried to be as canon-compliant as possible (as of Tyrant's Tomb). This is the first chapter. A second chapter will be up later this week.***

They were hanging out in Annabeth's dorm room in early March of their sophomore year of college when Percy said he had some exciting news.

"Oh yeah?" Annabeth was leaning back against the arm of the battered old sofa (which technically belonged to her roommate), her legs across Percy's lap while she tried to finish reading a novel for her required ancient literature class. Most of the time they hung out in Percy's dorm because one of his former-praetor perks was a private room, but Annabeth's room actually had the better TV (again, courtesy of this year's roommate, Christine). So, tonight, since Christine was out somewhere anyway, they were chilling here. Annabeth had looked up from her book when Percy said he had news, but he seemed to be distracted by whatever was on TV. She nudged him and asked, "What's the news?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. You know my professor for my marine ecology class got that grant for some major research project?" When she nodded, he said, "Well, he was looking for students to help out with the first phase, which is three weeks of night dives off the coast, studying populations in their environments and tracking some trends. And I was one of the students he asked to participate."

"Seriously?" Annabeth sat up straighter. "Percy, that's awesome!"

"Yeah." He smiled, but it looked a little forced. "It starts next week."

"You're excited, right?"

"Definitely. It's a great opportunity." His voice was strangely flat, though, and he looked down at a stray thread in the sofa he was toying with.

Annabeth frowned slightly, then reached over to brush his hair back. He probably needed to get it cut soon. As gently as she could, she said, "You don't have to take it."

Percy looked up with a small smile. "Sure I do. It's a great opportunity."

"That's the second time you've said that and I didn't believe it either time."

Percy exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. "But it is. I should be excited. Everyone else who was picked is thrilled. Bouncing around like you when your professors compliment your designs," he added, squeezing her foot.

Annabeth made a face at him, then poked him in the arm. "So why aren't you?"

Percy shrugged. "I mean, I kind of am. We're actually going out on the boat, I'll get to do some diving, and we should be doing some real conservation work, tracking populations and looking for patterns we can use. Plus, I'll get to spend time gossiping with fish." He grinned when Annabeth laughed. "So all that's good. I'm probably just not looking forward to being up all night to do it."

"That part is rough," Annabeth agreed. "But it's only for a few weeks, right?"

"Yeah." Percy sighed. "I'll survive."

"Probably." Annabeth smoothed out a wrinkle in his t-shirt. "Considering you've survived…well, everything else," Percy actually snorted at that, "I think you can survive working nights for a few weeks."

"When you put it like that," Percy grumbled, but he smiled when she kissed his cheek.

"It'll be fine."

"Yeah, it will." He rolled his neck to look at her. "No free nights for three weeks, though."

Annabeth ducked her head to hide her smile. "Mmhm. That does sound like a problem."

"It is." Percy scooted closer. "Working nights, trying to sleep during the day and keep up with my other classes. It'll be pretty busy."

"Sounds like it." Annabeth trailed her fingers along his arm, enjoying what it did to his breathing. "Not sure you'll even have time for your girlfriend."

"We'll figure it out. We're good at that." His arm settled around her shoulders and he pulled her close. "Good at other stuff, too."

She rolled her eyes at that, but kissed him anyway. And that was the end of the conversation for the evening.

A few days later, Annabeth was in the UC Berkeley computer lab, finishing up a design for one of her classes. She was so focused on her project, she didn't hear her phone until the second time it rang. And even then, she only realized it because the guy at the next computer gave her a very dirty look and loudly cleared his throat when her phone buzzed on the desk again.

"Sorry," she muttered, grabbing her phone and quickly hitting save on the computer before answering. "Hello?"

"Hey, you busy?" Percy asked.

"Working on my design project for next week." Guy-at-the-next-computer cleared his throat again. Annabeth resisted the urge to give him the finger. Instead, she began closing out of the programs she was in. "But I'm about done for the day. What are you doing?"

"I was going to see if you wanted to get dinner. Before, you know, I have to go in to work tonight."

"Oh yeah." Annabeth logged off the computer, gathered up her stuff, and threw her own nasty look at irritated guy before heading out of the lab. "Sure, I can do dinner. Where do you want to meet?"

They agreed on a restaurant near the marina where Percy would be leaving from that night, then hung up. Annabeth paused by a bench to reorganize her bag, since she'd just grabbed her stuff and jammed everything in while rushing to leave. As a sophomore architecture student, she was spending a lot of time drafting designs in the UC Berkeley computer lab—they had better software programs than her own laptop. Now, if she'd still had Daedalus's laptop…Annabeth sighed. Then she hoisted her bag back onto her shoulder and set off to meet Percy.

It was early spring, so the air was a little nippy, and Annabeth zipped her jacket all the way up to protect herself from the wind. She'd forgotten that Percy's research project with his professor started today, which made her feel a bit like a terrible girlfriend. It had just been a hectic week. She'd had a major group project due in one class, which was always complicated, and now she was working on this design for another class, which was due next week and worth 25% of her grade. Plus, balancing architecture classes at UC Berkeley with her general education classes at the University of New Rome was sometimes tricky. Still, she needed to make sure her boyfriend made it on her priority list as well.

Especially since, as usual, her heart picked up its pace when she saw him standing outside the restaurant waiting for her. In his faded blue sweatshirt and battered jeans, he wasn't even trying to look good, he just did. She couldn't help the wide smile on her face as she walked up and said, "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"Hey yourself, Wise Girl." Percy was smiling too as he kissed her cheek. "How's the project coming along?"

"Ugh, it's a colossal pain in the ass," Annabeth said as they walked into the restaurant. Her heart fluttered again when Percy held the door open for her. "But I'll get it done."

The hostess led them right to a table which looked out over San Francisco Bay. The day was cloudy, so there wasn't much sunset to speak of, but it was still a pretty great view. After they ordered, Annabeth asked, "So are you ready for your first night of research?"

"I think so." Percy fiddled with his utensils. "Should be better than being in the lab, anyway. I think I like it more when I'm out actually doing stuff."

"Makes sense." Annabeth studied him. Percy was doing pretty well as a marine biology major, not only because a lot of it came naturally to him, but also because he was working hard at his classes, determined to pass. But from little things he'd said and his attitude about it sometimes, Annabeth wondered if he was really enjoying his major. However, the few times she'd tried to bring it up, he'd waved her off, saying it was fine, he was good. So she'd let it drop. Now, she just said, "You'll be able to do some actual hands-on work tonight, right? That will definitely be better than being in the lab."

"For sure." Percy looked up and smiled. "Might even be able to save a few dolphins or lobsters or something."

"Does that mean I get to call you Aquaman?" Annabeth asked sweetly.

"Not if you love me."

"Fine. I guess." She heaved a put-out sigh, but then caught his eye and they both laughed.

Annabeth called Percy the next morning when she woke up. He'd worked from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., so she figured he should just be getting back to his dorm. When he answered and said, "Hey, babe," his voice sounded wrung out.

"Hey." Annabeth balanced the phone on her shoulder as she pulled her hair up. "How'd it go?"

"It was fine. Kind of boring for a few hours while we were waiting for stuff to happen, but we got some good results in the end. And helped out a few sea creatures so, you know, yay." He seriously sounded drained. "Hey, I think I might get breakfast before I pass out. Want to meet me?"

"Sure."

They met at a pancake place they frequented. Percy was leaning against the side of the building, head hanging. For a moment, Annabeth thought he was actually asleep on his feet, but when she reached him he looked up and managed a small smile. "Hey."

"Hi, baby." She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "You ready for pancakes?"

"Gods, yes."

While they ate, Percy filled Annabeth in more on his night. "It was different than I expected, though. I mean, I know we're doing the night dives because that's when more of the animals we're studying are out, like a lot of them are nocturnal, so I figured we'd be busy. Instead, it was about four hours of waiting around and setting up equipment, then another hour of waiting for anything to show up, then like two hours of diving, which was cool, but it was just, I don't know, most of it was kind of boring."

Annabeth twirled her fork, making patterns in her syrup. "It was just the first night though. I mean, anytime you're doing research or experiments, it takes a bit to get everything set up. Tonight should be better."

"Yeah, hopefully." Percy sighed, then took a big bite of pancakes, followed by a gulp of orange juice. "I just…never mind."

"What?"

"Nah, nothing." He took another swig of orange juice. "It was just a long night. I'm tired. And I still have to go to my noon class today."

"I thought they were letting you out of your class while you did this project with the professor?"

"Just out of my one ecology class for now. I still have to go to my other three."

"Oh. Well, it's only for a few weeks. You're going to do fine."

"Hope so." Percy's smile was tired. "I mean, I've made it through much tougher stuff than this."

"Exactly." Annabeth reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "You've got this, Percy."

She believed that completely. Hopefully, he did, too, but she wasn't sure.

***Thanks for reading! Hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy, physically and mentally! Chapter Two will be up in a couple of days!***