ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʙɪᴛᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xʟɪɪ ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ | ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʏ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋꜰᴀꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴀɪɴᴋɪʟʟᴇʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ᴄʟᴀᴡ

Percy wakes up to smells of citrus and fresh sheets and... rubbing alcohol?

He opens his eyes with a start, suddenly aware of his legs tangled up with someone else's.

Annabeth stirs a little in her sleep. She hasn't even woken up yet, but there are dark circles under her eyes.

Then Percy remembers why he's in this bed with his ex-girlfriend.

Should he wake her up? She seems peaceful at last, and clearly, she had a rough night.

Then again, she'll have a rough morning when she wakes up to find her face on his chest. What happened to the pillow barrier he put up last night?

He rests his head back against the mattress. She'll be pissed when she finally wakes up, but Annabeth needs rest. That's a priority for sure.

It's weird having Annabeth wrapped around him, holding onto his body as if it's a massive pillow. He shouldn't enjoy it as much as he does, but he can't help it.

Percy smiles, remembering what she said to him before falling asleep last night.

"Goodnight, Seaweed Brain."

Of course, she didn't really mean what she said to him; whatever Pothos hit her with had her pretty loopy.

He lets his forearm rest along her waist. Someone must have gotten too hot in the middle of the night; the comforter is thrown to the bottom of the bed and the sheet only covers Percy. At least there's one barrier between Annabeth's thigh and Percy's manhood. He's not sure he can withstand the embarrassment of Annabeth waking up and telling him that-

"Ew, you drooled on me!" Annabeth says.

"Oh shoot, uh, good morning?" Percy rubs his thumb across Annabeth's nose, trying to relieve her of his dribble. "Sorry 'bout that."

She sits up, pressing her palms against Percy's chest for leverage. When she stretches, he can see her lace underwear.

"If we slept together, I'm going to need you to forget about it because I sure as hell don't remember that part."

"Oh, we didn't have sex," says Percy. "Nico and Will left me to keep an eye on you last night when he found you, uh, at the bachelor party, and they never came back."

Annabeth opens the minifridge and cracks open a mango White Claw.

Knowing better than to judge her for drinking first thing in the morning, Percy continues, "We didn't have sex. You know I'd never take advantage of you like that."

"Look at you all high and mighty," she says sarcastically. "I guess I owe you for doing the bare minimum."

Percy rolls his eyes. He's not trying to get any special treatment for treating his crazy ex-girlfriend like a normal human being. He just wants her to know that he's someone she can trust.

"Well, that's the last time I ever take from the mystery bowl of pills," she says, taking another sip of hard seltzer. She must still be numb in the face; it's dribbling onto the shirt Percy lent her.

Mystery pills? That would make a lot of sense, but what she told Percy last night had been too real.

"I don't want to like, open this can of worms, but I'm not sure that's what happened," Percy says.

Annabeth continues talking as she disappears into the bathroom. "I remember being... uh..."

She doesn't remember.