A Big Misunderstanding

Chapter 13

Piper POV:

It had been a few days since Annabeth had fallen asleep next to me in the forest. I was now in front of Athena's house walking up to the door. I knocked on it and then waited for someone to answer. At first, Athena opened the door, scowling, but then her expression flickered to something similar to relief.

"Thank goodness."

"Uhm, what?" I asked, slightly surprised. I was honestly expecting her to be annoyed at the sight of me.

"Annabeth's in her room, she had a table there made for planning battle strategies, she's been going over imaginary battles over and over, nothing's even happening, she just stays by that table," Athena explained, she sounded a bit concerned. A bit.

"Alright, uhm, I'll go check on her."

"Go ahead, and be careful, she has her dagger up there," Athena said as she stepped aside to let me in. "Upstairs, down the hall, three doors to the right."

I stopped walking, "Hold on, three?"

"Well, yes, Annabeth made sure to design the house herself, and she felt the need to add quite a few rooms."

"Okay, then..." I said, and then I kept walking. I followed Athena's directions and ended up in front of a white door with a placard with Annabeth's name on it. I opened the door and before I could even cross the threshold I saw Annabeth. She hadn't noticed that someone had opened the door and was moving small figures around on a table muttering herself.

I walked into the room, closed the door behind me, and looked around. There was a work desk, a bed, and a few pictures of people I could guess were friends of hers since in a few of the pictures I saw her smiling with them, giving them side hugs, and stuff like that, and I saw a small digital clock on the side table by her bed.

The room seemed like it had been meticulously organized. I remembered Annabeth mentioning once that it was easier for her to focus when she had the space organized. It had been an off-handed comment, but I'd remembered.

I walked over to Annabeth, standing next to her, I guess she sensed a presence close to her because she grabbed the dagger, which had been right next to her hand the whole time. I grabbed her dagger hand as she started to turn around.

"Stand down, soldier," I joked to mask how nervous I was at the thought of being stabbed. I wouldn't die, well, not permanently, I'd wake up after a few minutes, but it'd still hurt.

"Oh, gods, uhm, sorry Pipes." She said, realizing it was just me.

I let go of her hand and she set the dagger down on the table.

"So, why are you going over imaginary battle plans like a madwoman?" I asked casually as I looked around her at the table.

She picked up a small piece shaped like hellhound and turned it gingerly in her hands, "I've just been... Thinking about things..."

"What kind of things?" I asked as I walked around the table.

"Not important," She said too quickly.

She went to put the hellhound piece back, but hesitated, like she was trying to remember where it had been. I gently grabbed her hand, taking the piece. Her face reddened just a bit at the contact.

"Not everything has to be perfect," I said quietly.

She let out a breath that I don't think she knew she'd been holding, nodding ever so slightly.