Percabeth Dirty One Shots and Drabbles

The Roommate Agreement 8

Over the next week, Annabeth wrote about twenty texts to Percy that she ultimately never sent, each filled with increasingly cringe-worthy apologies. Her frustration mounted with each half-baked apology, and she managed to, with great will, sweep it under the proverbial rug. There was nothing that she could do now anyways. It was better that she left Percy alone. Trying to win him back with an apology would be selfish.

This is how she managed to convince herself to carry on with her life like nothing had changed. It was just really hard to do that when the apartment was so quiet and felt so empty. Annabeth had never had problems with loneliness before. In fact, she was much happier when she was away from others because she had time to herself. But ever since Percy had left, Annabeth felt so lonely she felt like she was dying.

And that was without the soul crushing guilt that oppressed her like a great weight. Annabeth was reminded of the titan Atlas who was sentenced to hold the weight of the sky for all of eternity, and she began to feel a certain kinship with him.

After the first week, she managed to sustain herself by going through the motions. She adhered stringently to a schedule she'd created, and even though it made her feel like a robot, at least it introduced some order back into her life. It made things only slightly easier, but she felt increasingly worn down with each passing day. Often, she found herself wishing to catch a glimpse of Percy on campus, partially to see if he was as miserable as she was, partially because she just really missed him.

When she heard some of her classmates talking about an upcoming swim meet, Annabeth bit her lip and had to try very hard to convince herself not to go. The odds were that Percy wouldn't even notice if she'd shown up, she'd argue, but in her heart she knew that it was only going to inspire greater loneliness instead of abating it.

It's about three weeks after Percy left the apartment that Annabeth recieved a call from someone she'd never expected to talk to again. She was laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with a glassy stare, when her phone began to vibrate, which prompted her to move and answer it.

"Hello?" she said tiredly.

"Annabeth?"

Annabeth sat bolt upright and felt her jaw clench. "Why are you calling me, Luke?" she hissed. "I thought I blocked your fucking number."

Luke laughed a little nervously and said, "Um, yeah, you did. I'm using a friend's phone actually. Please don't hang up."

"Funny, I distinctly remember you telling me that it was better if we didn't see or talk to each other again when you broke up with me," she said.

"I know what I said, and I'm sorry. I was an idiot."

Annabeth sighed and pressed her hand against her forehead. "What do you want, Luke?" she said warily.

"I, uh, I just- I just really missed you, okay? I wanted to get in touch with you, and see if maybe we could start over again. I know we didn't really end things well, but I really want to give it another try," he said.

"Well, I don't," Annabeth said flatly. "Now goodbye."

"Wait! Wait! Look, Annabeth, I just want you to know that I'm sorry. You were my first serious girlfriend, and I kind of freaked out. I wasn't sure I wanted to handle that commitment. I'm used to casual dating, not serious dating."

Talking about commitment made a searing lump form in Annabeth's throat and prevented her from putting the phone down. "You can't just abandon people and pick them up again at your convenience, Luke. You left me out to dry, literally. We were going to rent a place together."

"Annabeth, you're twenty years old, and I'm twenty two. I don't think either of us were ready to move in together. We rushed things. I'm not saying we should get back together or anything, but I think we could take a shot at being friends and just move slower this time," he said.