The Demigods

Looking for Connection

I read something saying that after Tarturas, Percy was much more touchy with people. Not romantically, but that physical contact kept him grounded. He would hold hands with friends, sit closer than most, and hug for a beat longer than usual. Now I absolutely love this idea (love in the way that it breaks my heart), but let's be real, it got Percy in trouble.

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Annabeth glanced nervously at her boyfriend. 

She knew he didn't mean to, but he was sitting way to close to his friend Chelsea. They were deep in conversation at the other side of the coffee shop, and when Annabeth arrived she hadn't wanted to intrude. So instead she had found her own table, and was waiting for her boyfriend to either notice her or for their conversation to stop to that she could join him. 

Watching them interact though, Annabeth couldn't help but tense up when Percy touched Chelsea's arm.

She knew why he did it, since he did it with everyone. After Tarturas, he had relied on physical contact to keep him grounded to reality so that he didn't drift off. Sometimes life just didn't feel real to him. 

Chelsea didn't know this though, so as far as she was concerned, Percy was flirting with her. Annabeth could tell, she had seen other girls attracted to her boyfriend. 

She felt sort of bad for the girl. Percy had a way of wrapping people around his finger with out even noticing it. While he thought he was just being friendly, other girls would take his genuine kindness as a sign that he was interested in them.

Annabeth had tried to explain it to him. She told him that he was leading people on, even though she knew that he did not mean it. 

After they would talk about it, he would try to stop. He really would. His actions just meant something so different to him then they did to those he was interacting with. He just needed to make sure things were real. The only way to do that was touching some one around him.

Jason sat down at the counter next to Annabeth, glancing over to where she was staring. He  then sent her a sad smile.

"I'll go grab him," he said, going to stand back up.

"I don't want to interrupt their discussion" Annabeth stopped him, grabbing his arm.

"Well I don't want to see that girl get her heart broken when she finds out Percy doesn't like her," Jason replied, pulling away.

He walked towards the two, and jostled Percy's arm when he was close enough. Annabeth could see Percy respond to Jason's interruption with a smile as he greeted his best friend. Then Jason turned Percy's attention to Annabeth, who sent him a small wave.

Percy smiled widely, jumping up from his seat and making his way to Annabeth. 

Annabeth could see Chelsea's look of disappointment, but her attention was brought back to Percy as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Hey, Wise-Girl," he greeted, sitting in the seat that Jason had vacated. 

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth responded, smiling.

"Why didn't you come sit with me?" he asked curiously.

"I didn't want to interrupt," she told him.

"You are always a welcome interruption," he said, grasping her hand.

"I don't think that Chelsea would agree with you," Annabeth said in annoyance.

She felt bad though when she saw him looking guilty.

"I know you don't mean to, Percy," she said sweetly, pressing a kiss to his cheek," but you are going to break that girl's heart."

He squeezed her hand tightly in response.

"I love you, Wise-Girl," he told her, giving her a proper kiss.

"I love you too," she whispered into the kiss.

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A week later found them sitting at the same counter while Annabeth teased Percy about the whipped cream mustache he had gotten due to his drink.

His response had been to try and kiss her.

"Percy," a voice said, interrupting their laughter.

Percy turned around, and smiled.

"Hi, Chelsea," he greeted, accepting a napkin from Annabeth to wipe his mouth," how are you?"

"I actually needed to talk to you about something," she said, her eyes flickering over to Annabeth," alone."

Annabeth bit her tongue to keep from responding, knowing that Percy could handle himself.

"I don't understand why Annabeth can't hear this," he told the girl," but I guess."

He turned to Annabeth, who nodded her head and gave him a smile.

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He returned five minutes later, looking upset.

"What's wrong, Percy?" Annabeth questioned, grabbing his hands once he sat down.

"She told me that she loves me, and that she thinks I love her too," he muttered, staring at the ground," she said I'm always flirting, touching her arm and stuff, so she knows that I like her."

"What did you say," Annabeth asked, squeezing his hands.

"That I'm madly in love with you, and that I'm sorry I gave her the wrong idea," he told her," then she got really upset and defensive, and told me that I was lying to her."

"She's just heart broken, Percy," Annabeth assured him," I'm your girlfriend and I know that you weren't flirting with her. Stay here."

Annabeth jumped up from her seat and hurried out of the cafe.

"Chelsea," she called, once she saw the girl walking away from the cafe.

Chelsea turned around, her eyes going wide when she saw who it was.

"What do you want," she spat at Annabeth.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but didn't stop.

"Percy told me what happened," she told the girl," I came to clear things up with you."

"Percy was flirting with me," Chelsea told her, her chin raising slightly.

"Percy can't flirt," Annabeth told her honestly," he acts that way with every one. We don't like to talk about it, but we went through some pretty hard stuff together. He sometimes feels like what's happening isn't real. He touches people to ground himself, to assure himself that it's real."

"Why are you telling me this?" Chelsea asked, looking uncertainly.

"Because Percy feels awful," Annabeth told her," he values your friendship and doesn't like that he was leading you on."

"What am I supposed to do with this information?" Chelsea asked, her arms folding across her chest.

"That's up to you," Annabeth told her," I know it could be difficult to continue being friends with Percy after this, but it's your decision. I trust Percy."

"You put a lot of trust in that guy," Chelsea told her.

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "I'll see you around, Chelsea."

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So I wrote this a while ago, but finally decided to edit it and post. Sorry I haven't uploaded anything in a long time. I hope everyone is staying healthy, and that you enjoy this!