Letters of Love: A Percabeth story

Chapter 8

I told Thalia to wait for a full day before delivering the next letter so that Percy wouldn’t get suspicious. In reality, however, it was just so I could have him to myself for a day or two without getting bombarded with questions about the letters.

We set out for the dock as soon as breakfast was over, trying to find a way to get our personal items back (thank you Aphrodite). It had been an hour, and so far all that Percy and I had managed to do was lie on our backs, teasing each other and sharing random memories.

“Do you remember that time you were turned into a guinea pig?” I asked in between snorts of laughter. Percy blushed and scowled. “Hey, that was not funny,” he muttered.

“Oh, it so WAS. You were so cute and fluffy, just squeaking away in your little cage-“

“You thought I was cute?” His question caught me off guard. I stammered.

“Uh… well yeah, you were a guinea pig. All guinea pigs are cute.”

“And now?” I inwardly froze.

“Now?”

“Yeah. Do you think I’m cute now?”

Holy Hades, what was I supposed to say to that? Of COURSE I thought he was cute; I was in love with him for the God’s sakes!!

“Why do you want to know so bad?”

“Self-esteem issues.”

“You are so full of it, Seaweed Brain,” I laughed. As usual he grinned when I called him by his nickname. “You always do that,” I said. He looked confused.

“Do what?”

“Smile. Whenever I call you Seaweed Brain, you smile.”

“Really? I do?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Geez, Annabeth, why do you want to know so bad?” He parroted my earlier statement, drawing a small smile from me. “I don’t know… it’s my nickname. It’s like your trademark, I guess… you know, when you call me Seaweed Brain it makes me feel like-“ he suddenly stopped and looked at me. I took that moment to notice that we were… well, the only word for it is snuggled together. My head was right by his chest on top of his arm, and he had wrapped said arm around my shoulders. I could feel his breath ruffle my messy blond hair, and it made me shiver in a way that had nothing to do with being cold. But the thing I noticed the most was that his heartbeat had picked up. Like, majorly. My heart seemed to sense this and it started beating even faster, as though our two hearts were racing each other. Well, my heart was certainly racing.

“Why don’t we play 21 questions?” He suddenly asked, shattering the silence.

“Uh- how do you play?”

“We each ask the other a question, and the other has to answer honestly- but we’re not allowed to talk about the question or the answer afterwards. At all,” he added for extra seriousness.

“Okay. You start,” I said.

“What’s your favorite thing about me?” He asked. Everything, I wanted to say, but I settled on only one thing.

“Your eyes.” He blinked and fluttered his lashes like a beauty pageant contestant, and I couldn’t help my giggle. “Okay, my turn. What’s your favorite thing about ME?” I restated. He snorted.

“Your smile.”

“Seriously? You actually like something about me?” I feigned shock.

“Annabeth, how could I not like EVERYTHING about you?” Percy said quietly. I couldn’t think of anything to say to that. Both of our hearts were pounding.