august

you were never mine to lose

 Annabeth hated summer.

She decided she officially hated the season when the summer solstice came around and once again, Percy wasn't by her side. The last time Annabeth had seen the son of Poseidon, she'd almost worked up enough courage to tell him the truth. To tell him everything. To tell him every last emotion he made her body engulf in. It was ridiculous. The daughter of Athena knew this. She knew better than to let herself fall for this... this boy. But yet, her stupid heart persisted, even if her mind knew better.

Every part of her longed for somebody she couldn't have, because the second their eyes locked, and he made that stupid grin of his... She remembered that he was never hers to begin with. He was Rachel's. Gods, Rachel. The red-headed mortal girl who liked to paint. Who liked to scribble on her pants with markers. Who liked to insert herself where she didn't belong. Who, worst of all, liked Percy. And he liked her back.

Of course, Percy never told her straight up that he was in love with Rachel, and that he probably kissed her every day, and that he was probably spending every night at the beach with her, and that he probably wanted to spend every remaining day of his life with her. No, he didn't tell her anything at all. Annabeth was left to assume what she already suspected, after last summer ended, and Percy told Annabeth he would be returning to school where he would see that stupid red head every day.

She couldn't stand the idea of Percy being with someone else. As she looked around the dining pavilion, she remembered everything they'd gone through together. She remembered specifically, one night last summer, when she'd broken camp rules just to see him. They'd spent the entire night in his cabin together... Annabeth could remember them twisted in his bedsheets, and how warm his chest had felt as she rested her head on it. (AN: no, they didn't fuck, they literally just slept in the same bed. they're 15. that's gross.) She remembered how he smelled like the ocean- calming, yet powerful. She remembered waking up the next morning and being able to taste the salt that drifted through the air into his cabin. She'd thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd tell her that he loved her.

But he didn't. Instead, he acted like they were still just buddies, and that nothing had happened between them. But she knew that he knew that his hand had been in her's, that her head had rested on his chest, and that her lips had touched his. And it angered Annabeth. What was he so afraid of? Why wouldn't he just tell her he wanted to be with her? No, he wouldn't tell her that. He would, instead, go off with some mortal for his summer.

So Annabeth spent her days alone. She had no one to team with for capture the flag... Well, nobody she wanted to team with, that was. Nobody to spar with. Nobody to climb the rock wall with. It hurt her every waking moment. After dinner was over, Annabeth found herself wandering towards the beach, like she usually did on days where she missed him the most.

Some part of her secretly hoped he'd emerge from the waves and come back to her. Whether she would pummel him or kiss him when he did, she wasn't sure.

The beach reminded Annabeth of Percy for reasons beyond the obvious. Of course, he was literally the son of the god who reigned over the ocean, but there were other aspects of him that were like the ocean lived in him. The way Percy's chest rose and fell with each breath, much like the ocean crashing into the shore, and retreating seconds later. The way she could tell when Percy might blow up when he got quiet, like the tide withdrawing before a tsunami. She could remember him blowing up at her like a hurricane when she had implored to him one too many times about his feelings for her. One word crossed her mind when she thought about the argument- coward.

Annabeth knelt where the waves crashed into the shore and put her hand in the wet sand, picking up the largest shell she could find. Instead of making the green-eyed son of Poseidon the target of her anger, she decided this shell would have to do. She broke it into pieces and threw it at the water, screaming greek curses as she kicked the sand. Once she exhausted herself, she fell to the sand with her knees to her chest where she sobbed until there were no tears left in her body. Any tears she had, had joined the ocean where Percy was probably swimming with Rachel right around now.

Annabeth probably would have fallen asleep there if one of her siblings hadn't come and found her. Malcolm, a son of Athena who was younger than Annabeth by a few years, joined her on the sand.

"Annabeth?" He murmured, a tinge of fear in his voice, maybe wondering if she were even breathing

"I'm fine," Annabeth responded softly as she lifted her head, "I'm fine. Sorry."

"Uhm... campfire is starting. We kind of need our counselor," Malcolm said quietly.

"Right. I'm coming," She responded as he stood

"And... Annabeth?" He asked

"Don't ask," Annabeth pleaded

"Is this about Percy?"

Of course he asked.

"It's... it's complicated, Malcolm."

"That's a yes."

"And what about it?!" Annabeth defended

"Nothing, Annabeth. Just... we're here for you. None of us like seeing you in this much pain over him."

With that, Malcolm and Annabeth walked to the campfire in silence.

Annabeth wasn't in the mood for singing that night.

She went to bed alone, once again, left thinking about that night last August, when Annabeth had rested her head over Percy's heart. Instead, now, she had to rest her head on a cold pillow where her tears fell silently as she drifted off to sleep.

He was never hers to lose.