shivering souls

"The worst things in life are the best things gone wrong." -Tim Sandlin

"Hey, Wise Girl," Percy said, plopping down on the park bench next to her. She put down the book she'd been reading-The Fault in Our Stars, which had to be one of the best and worst books-to look at him.

"Hi, Seaweed Brain," she said back. "What prompted you to come find me in the middle of Central Park as I read this terribly life-ruining book?"He chuckled and leaned over to read the title.

"The Fault... In Our... Stars. Hmm, must be an interesting book. What," he said, kissing her cheek. "I can't come find my girlfriend when I feel like it?" She shrugged and leaned into the hollow of his neck, breathing in his familiar scent.

"I'm not complaining," she mumbled.

He put a hand on her forehead, moving it down to cup her cheek. She closed her eyes and let him do that; it felt nice, his cool skin on her feverish, flushed face. He stayed like that, mushing their bodies against each other.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice coming out as a dry croak. "You didn't have to do this for me." He pulled her closer, pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"It's not okay that you're sick, and I'm fine, alright? We're sticking together, even if you have a fever and a stomachache and might throw up on me." She smiled briefly; he could always manage to make her feel better.

She slapped his hand away.

"Percy," she scolded. He pouted, before resuming his attempts to grab a cookie and stuff it in his mouth. She slapped his hand again, this time crushing it against the kitchen counter so it couldn't move.

"Please?" he begged, eyes wide. Gods, he looked so cute, but nope, she wasn't ruining the picnic food for him.

"Percy, it's just fifteen more minutes before Paul gets back and we all head for Montauk, okay? We're saving the cookies until then." He groaned.

They were sitting at the counter, in those cool swivel chairs people would see at frozen yogurt shops, and Annabeth was just trying to stare out of the window calmly without distraction. (Of course, the city of New York was interesting, especially some of the buildings. Architecture and all.) But it wasn't happening, because the idiot that was her boyfriend wanted food.

He reached again, for another cookie, but she slapped his hand away. Percy toppled forwards, yelling as he landed on the floor, swivel chair still spinning. She threw a hand over her mouth, but she still couldn't stop the laughter from pouring out of her mouth as he laughed, too.

Her boyfriend was practically jumping with joy, and she meant it.

"We're going to New Rome!" he cheered. "And we're going to see Reyna again, and Jason, I mean when they aren't sucking each other's faces off, and we'll see Frank and Hazel and Dakota and Bobby and Gwen, and maybe even Octavian, but I'll probably punch him in the face fo-"

He sounded so excited for the trip that she couldn't help but smile as he bounced around, chattering happily.

"Come on, dance with me," he said, his tone serious. She took his offered hand, feeling a little self-conscious; she hadn't really danced in front of anyone before, but these were her friends.

He spun her in slow, lazy circles, and suddenly she didn't care that she was barefoot, or that she'd probably get splinters, or that the rest of the Seven was watching, or that they were in the middle of a quest.

Percy looked so solid then, so real and alive, even though they were sailing to their doom. But that was okay. They were together.

"I think they're going to kill each other," she murmured to her friend. Piper laughed.

"Too true. Boys," she said, sighing. "I don't even know why I'm dating Jason sometimes. He's so stupid and so obtuse, and sometimes he forgets that I'm his effing girlfriend who might be sitting right next to him as he talks about all the different girls he's dated-" Percy interrupted, not knowing what they were talking about.

"Annabeth," he called. "Piper, come join us!" They exchanged looks; Percy seemed to sincerely want them there, despite the he-was-stupid-boyfriend-sometimes, and although Piper rejected, she joined him on the couch and grabbed a remote.

"I'm going to crush you both," she declared. Percy just laughed and chose to be Kirby, one of her favorite characters. Well, there was nothing like a game of Super Smash Mario Brothers to make up with stupid boyfriends.

"We rattle this town, / we rattle this scene. / Oh, Anna Sun. / Oh, Anna Sun. / What do you know, / this house is falling apart / What can I say, / this house is falling apart / We got no money / but we got heart."

Percy's singing was pretty terrible, and off-key at parts, but she listened to him and loved him for it anyway.

"If you steal my ice cream, can I steal yours?" She rolled her eyes and kept scooping spoons of his chocolate ice cream and shoving it in her mouth. Her own ice cream was sweet but not overly so, so the only reason she stole his ice cream was to annoy.

He took her silence as a yes and took giant spoonfuls of mint chocolate chip ice cream. When she looked up from absentmindedly studying the swirls in the chocolate, he kissed her.

And he tasted like mint chocolate chip- sweet, but not overly so.

He flicked some water at her, which shouldn't have actually touched her at all, but he was using the whole son-of-Poseidon powers to cheat, so she was now officially wet. Wonderful. He flicked more at her, and she brushed it off, turning her face towards the sun and relishing in its warmth.

Flick. Her hand curled in the sand. Flick. She closed her hand, annoyed. Flick. She opened her eyes, glaring, and threw sand at him. Of course, she missed, covering herself in sand in the process.

She sighed, shaking her head and wondering why she even bothered. Percy, at the water's edge, simply grinned.

"Okay?" she asked. He looked up and smiled, the lines in his face more pronounced. He was bone-tired, worried, going through pretty much every negative emotion there was, yet he still found the strength to smile.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he asked from his position on the floor, leaning against the bottom of the couch she was on. "You're the one who shattered a bone in the middle of a fight." And it hurt. She kept that to herself and reached down to ruffle his hair.

"I'll live," she noted, and he made a sound of agreement, moving so he could hold her hand.

-and she blinked.

"Annabeth," Sally said, shaking her. The older woman looked worried; she furrowed her brows in confusion. There was nothing wrong. Feeling stupid, she spoke.

"Of course I'm okay. I'm okay." She repeated the words out loud.

"Annabeth, you zoned out. We were talking, and you blanked out. Your eyes went all fuzzy, and you just stared at the wall. I kept calling your name, Annabeth," she trailed off. Annabeth stared at the wall, at the white, peeling plaster and the cracks in it.

"Percy," she said. "Percy. Can I talk to him?" Sally's face fell, and then reality fell from the ceiling. Bits and pieces came back, slowly, then all at once, and she slid off of her chair and onto the floor, her throat suddenly dry. No. No, he couldn't be, he'd been there all those times, stealing ice cream and flicking water at her...

"No," she said. "No, he was right there with me, we were there-" Her voice broke. She remembered everything now.

Percy was in the other room, bandages around his head. His eyes closed. Skin pale. The only thing signifying that he was alive his breathing and the heart monitor, beeping steadily. She put her head in her hands.

"It felt so real, though," she protested feebly. "I thought... he was there."

"Oh, sweetie," Sally said, sliding down so they could sit together on the cold floor. "I know. I know." She leaned into the soft flannel of Sally's shirt, and they stayed there, staring at the crumbling wall.

And she let herself slip back into the realm of imagination, just so she could see him, smiling and laughing again, even if it would hurt to wake up.

1,482, for the Shipping Wars. I know, I'm so cruel to these characters...

If you liked this (or if you thought it was pure Rick Riordan troll), please review. If you didn't like this, please review. If you don't want to review, review.

Okay, you don't have to, but it'd be preferred. Go check out my other stories; they might be a little happier and might mend your broken heart... might.

achieving elysium