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It was getting worse. The sleepless, restless nights; the ones slowly draining Annabeth of her energy, her confidence.
She laid in her bed, listening to the sounds of the camp which had been draped with a peaceful stillness.
The sound of crickets and the distant sound of waves used to be able to lull her to sleep. But not anymore. It was pointless.
Now, the sound of the water made her want to... she didn't even know. Cry? Scream? Both. She wanted to do both.
Gods, she was pathetic.
It was hard enough, putting on a false face of strength for her peers and siblings around her, her ruse was even good enough to trick herself for a while. Until the grand canyon. Now, she was failing miserably.
Annabeth could practically feel her brain numbing with each failed attempt to find Percy. And Gods, it scared the shit out of her.
She was supposed to be fearless, strong, wise, intelligent. It would be nothing but embarrassing if anyone were to notice how scared she really was deep down.
She found herself staring at the ceiling for hours as if she'd lost her mind. ( Maybe she had.)
The past few nights were no exception, this was a common occurrence.
She could hear her brothers and sisters breathing softly in their sleep, and jealous longing filled her. Gods, how she missed sleep , even with the threat of nightmares. Nightmares were always something that demigods we're accustomed to. It was part of the deal.
But maybe, if she were able to fall asleep, just this once, she might be able to contact Percy, wherever he might be.
Annabeth shook her head violently, inhaling sharply as she felt her eyes fog up with tears. A small heave escaped her lips as she sat up as quietly as she could. Her bed didn't make a noise as she shuffled around, thankfully . In her state, she wouldn't have been able to muster up the courage to answer any questions from her curious siblings.
She swung her feet off the bed and paid no attention to the biting cold as her bare feet came into contact with the marble flooring. Carefully, she made her way out of the Athena cabin.
Once outside, she paid even less attention to the cool breeze that blew passed as she walked barefoot through the grass, wearing nothing but her t-shirt and pajama shorts.
If there was anybody to witness her shuffling past in her half tear-stricken daze, it wouldn't have been such a stretch to assume she was possessed.
Annabeth inhaled deeply as her eyes darted around the empty camp, adjusting to the dark as she searched for any Harpies that loomed around the grounds, or any spying campers up past their bedtime. It would be embarrassing to be caught sneaking out past curfew, especially if you were the leader of the Athena cabin.
At the moment though, Annabeth was too tired and emotionally drained to care if someone saw her out of her cabin. A Harpie could eat her for all she cared. She just wanted to be near Percy again.
Annabeth ignored the ever looming exhaustion that filled her body, and instead focused ahead on her destination: cabin three.
Annabeth felt a pang in her chest. A confusing mix of emotions:
excitement, sadness, love, anxiety, hopefulness. She could practically smell the scent of the ocean as if she were amidst it's waves.
The blonde demigod ran a hand across her face and through her hair, while letting out a silent curse in Ancient Greek. She felt a wave lightheadedness, an ever so frequent symptom of her sleep deprivation roll over her. She kept moving.
Annabeth zoned out after that, with the shuffling of her bare feet in the grass, the curtain of drowsiness slowly absorbing her energy and the increasing amount of tears threatening to spill out onto her cheeks, she found herself standing in front of the Poseidon Cabin.
As soon as she stepped inside, the smell of a fresh ocean breeze filled her nose, which immediately triggered a sob of both happiness and pain from inside her. It reminded her so much of him, it was almost too painful for her crumbling sanity to handle. Yet it was just as comforting being in cabin number three. The Poseidon cabin. Percy's Cabin.
She wasn't supposed to be there, of course.
This was against the camp rules.
No child of another Godly parent is permitted to spend the night in a cabin that wasn't of their own mother or father.
Annabeth didn't care though. Not at the moment.
She walked around the bed to Percy's nightstand, which still held the many objects abandoned by his absence.
There was a blue sweatshirt that was hanging off the table, Percy probably tossed it aside while in a hurry to get to breakfast on time.
Grabbing it tenderly with both hands, she took the Swim Team sweater and raised it to her face, inhaling the scent. Annabeth let out a shaky laugh, tears streaming down her face as she inhaled the scent of her boyfriend again.
Without a second thought, she slipped her boyfriend, her best friend's sweatshirt over her head, looking down tenderly as it hung down over her thighs and past her hands.
Annabeth then crawled onto the bed, and laid back against his pillow. She exhaled contently, and turned onto her side, curling into a fetal position as she whipped away a few stray tears.
Being in his cabin, in his bed gave her more hope than she had felt in a long time. It made her feel closer to Percy. He was still out there. He had to be. It made Annabeth feel almost giddy.
Now that she wasn't in her own bed, she felt as though she could finally sleep, as if being in his bed was enough to make her feel like everything was going to be alright. She felt calm, as if Percy was in the room next to her trying to lull her to sleep.
Exhaustion passed through her once more and finally, after days without proper rest, Annabeth finally fell asleep.
