Uncomfortable Truths - Jercy, Jasiper, Percabeth

Uncomfortable Truths - Coming Clean - Annabeth - Chapter Two

Percy sits beside me on the couch.

We live in the University dormitories, Percy just down the hall from me, and while the rooms are small, I've maximized the space. At night, my bed folds down from the wall on top of the couch cushions and I installed storage drawers underneath to keep linens and pillows. It works for right now. Percy had wanted us to spring for a shared dorm, but I resisted, avoiding the real issues I had with the idea and explaining that I wanted to have a space that was all mine for the first time. I told him that if I could control my environment, I'd be better able to concentrate on my studies.

Now though, it really is time to be honest and hope that opening this door to another relationship isn't going to destroy everything we've built together the past seven years.

He seems to sense the conversation I'm about to start isn't something he's going to be comfortable with. I can read it in the way he picks at his jeans, the way his hands move as if to find anything to keep them busy, his forehead creased in the middle, his eyes wary.

"What?" he asks, drawing out the word, voice rising in pitch toward the end, worried. "This isn't about me missing our lunch date yesterday is it? Because I honestly was called away-"

"No," I cut him off. "It's not about that."

He relaxes his shoulders a fraction, but I can tell he's still on edge.

I reach over and rub his back. It's odd, thinking about what I'm about to propose. I've always considered myself a bit territorial, especially with the people I love, but, thinking about Percy and Jason doesn't give me the same urge to kill things with fire that thinking about Percy with somebody like Rachel Elizabeth Dare, or even Piper would. I dunno. Maybe it's because Jason isn't the sort of person who would deliberately try to break somebody's heart. Not even because of principle, but because he's just not that type of person. I know Piper tries to not be a heartbreaker, but she really does carry some of her mother's more irritating traits.

Percy tenses under my hand. I wonder if he can sense the big change I'm about suggest. He looks at me, those captivating sea-green eyes holding me in place, begging me not to hurt him. And I realize then why Jason doesn't bother me. Percy has looked at Jason with that same expression, the one I used to think was reserved for me, one that says I belong to you. Jason doesn't bother me because Percy loves him. Percy loves him and Percy loves me and I've only really started learning about how human sexuality has many manifestations this year. If Percy hadn't looked at me with those eyes back when we met, if he hadn't claimed me before either of us knew that was what we were doing, I would have joined the hunters of Artemis and that, too, would have been a satisfying life.

I'm not bitter I didn't choose it. Had I chosen to follow Artemis, I may not have had the chance to move ahead with my study of architecture. I wouldn't have met Dedalus and discovered the other layers of my personality, perhaps even after a thousand years. I'd have been frozen at age 12, happily living life as the wild child I once was. I'm more than okay with where I ended up.

"Annabeth..." he says, and I realize he paused not because there wasn't more to his sentence, but because he's choking up. I soften my gaze and lean forward, giving him a soft kiss. He smiles against my lips and I taste salt. He's trying not to cry. I pull back and look at him, tilting my head. "Please don't go."

"What are you talking about, Seaweed Brain? Who said I was going anywhere?"

He cocks his head, though I'm not sure if he's doing it to match me or because he thinks that is how one sees things from another angle. I hide the grin that threatens to inappropriately take over my face.

"What is it then? I'm getting some really weird vibes and I don't have a clue what they mean."

I settle my hand on his thigh and squeeze it. Nice and strong. He can take it. I just have to convince him that he can. "It is something, Percy," I admit. "A big something."