𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

139

"I kissed him in Tartarus"

"You did what?!"

Percy shushed her, watching her laugh maniacally as she stepped back and leaned on the rails. "You— In Tartarus? Really?" She wheezed, "Truly, the pinnacle of romance, seaweed brain"

"I— That's exactly what I'm worried about" Percy mumbled, "That I'm not... good enough. That he won't ever like me back"

"Have you two talked about it?"

"Not really" Percy shrugged, "We kind of avoid the topic"

"But you sleep in the same bed" Annabeth noted. Percy didn't ask how she figured it out. "Gods, you both are so dense"

"He kissed Jason twice!" Percy held up three fingers. Annabeth cleared her throat. He put one down. "Twice!"

He waved his fingers in front of her face.

"And they both said it was casual" Annabeth had good points.

"Jason kissed his cheek on his birthday!"

"You should've done it if you wanted to so bad" Annabeth argued back, "He won't know you like like him until you tell him"

"Times like these, I remember why you're wise girl and I'm seaweed brain"

Annabeth ruffled his hair and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Percy thought he heard something, but waved it off.

"Percy you're a great guy, you need to stop doubting yourself" Annabeth said, "Do you remember the summer we were fifteen? Do you have any idea how many people had a crush on you back then? Me, for instance"

"You liked me?" Percy wasn't sure why that was so surprising.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to judo flip him again.

"Yes, seaweed brain and if you had any brain cells, you'd know that. Plus Rachel and-" Annabeth swallowed like just saying the next name was physically hurting her, "Calypso and I'm pretty sure—"

Percy waited for her to say more. She didn't.

"Calypso" Percy mumbled, "I hadn't thought of her in a long time. When I was... in Tartarus, we met arai, curse spirits. And one of them affected Hadrian. I never thought about Calypso after the battle of Manhattan, but I think she cursed me"

"I don't think you need to actively hate a person to curse them" Annabeth tried to console him, "It's like breathing. It just happens. I'm sure she didn't mean to do it on purpose. You tried your best to make the gods listen. And besides, Leo told me he was working on a secret project— trying to find a way back to her"

Well, Percy hadn't thought of that. It was weird to imagine Leo with Calypso, but hey, whatever made the little guy happy.

"So, what are you? Of course, you don't need labels, but is there anything you identify as?" Annabeth asked him. They were close, bodies pressed against each other, but Percy had been close to Annabeth hundreds of times before, this just felt natural.

"I think I'm bi" Percy shrugged. He wasn't very hung up on it. Suddenly he was hit with the thought that if he died on this quest, he'd never get to come out to his mom. His mom would never know about Hadrian and a big part of Percy. Oh gods, Percy never got seasick, but the thought made him want to throw up.

"Cool," Annabeth said. "For the record, I need to know if you liked me back- before"

Percy hung his head and bit back a smile, "Yeah, for years. Since the first time I saw you"

Okay so now there was definitely some noise. But when Percy and Annabeth both turned around, they saw nothing.

"Weird" Annabeth mumbled, but shook her head and focused on Percy, "You used to like me, that's embarrassing"

Percy groaned again and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "I hate you" He mumbled into her hair.

He felt Annabeth shake with laughter and pat him on the back. "So, what are you going to do about it—  about Hadrian?"

"I don't know" Percy said truthfully, "I've never... I've never asked anyone out or done anything like this before- I don't want to fuck it up"

"You won't" Annabeth rubbed his shoulder, "Just be yourself— actually no, scratch that, garbage advice in your case"

"Hey! You liked me too!"

"Past tense" Annabeth poked him, Percy took a step back, "You should talk to him about it— the kiss, your feelings, everything"

"Or, I could bottle it up and never talk to him again"

"Percy—"

"I don't want to talk to him right now, he just has too much going on." He explained, rubbing his eyes. Percy lowered his voice even though it was just the two of them, "I don't know if he told you, but we met Kira in Tartarus"

"Kira" Annabeth blinked. "As in the person he was ready to betray us for? Must have been scary for you, not knowing if he would choose Kira or you"

"Not really" Percy shrugged, "I was scared at first, but then he promised me he'd bring me back to my mom. The thing is— Kira had to stay behind. They— uh... they had to help press the up button— we literally wouldn't be here without her. And I saw how broken he looked after he had to let them go again."

Annabeth raked her fingers through his hair. The grey streaks in both their hairs had faded away which made Percy feel like he was losing something important.

Percy breathed in deeply, if he was telling Annabeth everything, he meant everything. "Hadrian- he told me Kira died at the Williamsburg bridge, along with Michael Yew"

He felt Annabeth's hand stiffen up in his hair, recognition dawning  on her face. "Michael Yew, that's a name I haven't heard in a while"

"No Annabeth, you don't understand, I killed them"

"Percy it was war" She said firmly, "And you didn't do it on purpose, you didn't even know you would crack the bridge. It wasn't your fault"

He ducked and hugged her again, letting her rub circles on his back. He wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

"Why would he even think of me after that?" Percy mumbled.

"Because you're smart and amazing and a solid 5/10"

Percy couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up inside his throat. He pulled back from the hug. Gods, what would he do without Annabeth?

"Just a 5?"

Annabeth pretended to think, "Alright fine, 5.5"

"You're so mean"

"Ask Hadrian to rate you then" She challenged, "Bet you three drachmas he says you're a negative number"

Percy feigned shock.

They went back to staring out into the sea. The steady rocking of the boat was making Percy drowsy. He hadn't slept in a long time and now it was catching up to him.

"You know, when Hazel and I met Aphrodite back at Charleston Harbor, she hinted towards you two" Annabeth snickered, "Of course, I didn't realize it back then, but she talked in fanfiction tags— something about angst? Hurt/comfort?"

For the first time in a while, Percy had hope. Also for the first time, Aphrodite had been useful for something. He kissed Annabeth's temple and bid her good night before retreating back to Hadrian's room.

He tried the handle.

The door didn't budge. He tried it again. Still nothing. Was it possible that the door was stuck? or accidentally locked from the inside?

Whatever the case, Percy was sorely disappointed when he had to go sleep in his own cabin.

His rainbow fish was on his bed. Weird. He remembered leaving it in Hadrian's bed.

Suddenly, a hundred things made sense but it was too late. Percy's stomach felt like he was sinking. Being a child of Poseidon and all, he couldn't drown or sink more than he wanted to. But for the first time he understood how that might feel.

He knocked on Hadrian's cabin door, tried to call for him, but nothing worked. Eventually he gave up and went to sleep.

Hadrian couldn't avoid him forever.