Deeper Than Appearances (A Percy Jackson and Twilight Crossover)

Chapter 6

Just as Sally predicted, it's late when Percy finally makes it home. He stumbles in the door, mumbles a good night to the couple curled up on the couch and goes up to his room. He's asleep before his head ever actually hits the pillow which says something considering his new reputation for restless nights.

The next day, Saturday, Percy is woken up much earlier than he can bear. His clock displays the proud numbers 6,4, and 9, sadly in that order. He's so tired that he almost ignores the blonde standing in his doorway, staring disapprovingly at his disheveled form. Almost.

He slowly peaks out from under the covers and gives her a goofy smile. "Trying to ambush me Wise Girl?"

Annabeth smirks. "If I was you'd already be done for. Now get your lazy butt up. You're giving me the grand tour of Forks today."

"It's gray. There's the handle and the prongs, not much more to see than that." He says sitting up and stretching, not the least bit concerned that he's still in his swim shorts from last night. Truthfully it's not the first time he's woken up like this. When you can dry yourself off simply by thinking about it, you sometimes forget what's actually swimwear and what's not.

"So you don't want to eat the blue waffles your mom made and then go find somewhere that sells pizza this early in the morning?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Waffles?" he asks, suddenly serious. She doesn't even finish nodding before he's out the door and down the stairs.

So much for a greeting kiss.

Sally chuckles and sits an oversized mound of the delectable blue treats down on the table. She gives Annabeth a knowing smile before going back to the stove to make more. She must say that despite the reprieve from constant baking due to her son's recent lack of proper hunger, the motions still come to her naturally. She mixes the batter, pours in a lot of food coloring, and dumps some of it into the waffle iron. She mixes a little rice cereal for Andie and starts on the toast for Paul. It's a lively morning, especially with Annabeth and Percy going to war over the waffles, but that's just how she likes it.

On second thought, was that the new dish she just bought last week? She'd better stop them before something catches fire.

Percy looks guilty, even as he scrambles to hide the broken dish from his mother while his girlfriend laughs.

After breakfast Percy and Annabeth head out. Despite Annabeth's earlier remark they likely won't be getting any pizza for a while. Turns out that since Percy's been on an almost-no-food diet since the war, his stomach can't handle much. They found that out really quickly after the fourth waffle. Instead, they opt for the quick tour, ending with the beach because Percy says he just has to go back or he might die. He doesn't feel like he's being overdramatic. She does.

They settle into the sand. She's laughing a bit and he's smiling that cheeky grin, just like old times and for once Percy feels at ease.

"So Wise Girl," he starts, "am a I lucky enough to get you for the week or ...?"

She smiles and nudges his shoulder. "All year."

His eyes widen comically and she laughs. "Seriously?!"

"Seriously," she says, leaning in to peck him on the lips. "I told Chiron that I need the time away and while I don't think he bought it, I got to come all the same."

He seems so happy and a warmth spreads through her chest. Sure she didn't get out of this war unscathed. Heck, no one did. However, Percy took it the hardest. His health never quite recovered like it should have and he began sinking into frequent spells of depression. She knows he needs this; time away from everything with just his family. 

Of course, family includes her too.

So they talk. Mostly because she makes him, but it's something that's needed. Percy tells her all about his first week and a half in Forks, mentioning Jacob and his tribe, the Cullens, and lastly his prolonged illness. Annabeth is without a doubt concerned at hearing about his fever and she has more than a few remarks about his new friends. She rambles on and on about him being careful, not getting into with the wrong people (they could end up eating or sacrificing him), and eating enough (healthy food!).

"You're worse than my mom!" Percy groans.

Annabeth only shrugs, tugging her hair out of its ponytail so she can fix the flyaways. "Honestly Percy, you need an army of moms to take care of you."  

"I beg your pardon, but I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" he cries with an indigent air, though his green eyes sparkle with mirth.

"The world and your doctor must disagree," Annabeth smirks, beginning to pull her hair back up. However, Percy stops her, pulling her hand away.

"Oh, yeah?" he says, yanking her towards him and kissing her lightly. He tastes coffee, black and flavorless, even though she claimed she was going to cut back on the caffeine addition. He pulls always enough that they can both breathe, but their foreheads remain touching. She smells like strawberries and old books. He chuckles at her flushed face. "I'm a big boy Annabeth. I can take care of myself just fine."

Her blush deepens as his warm breath tickles her nose. She can't respond and she really hates when he does this. As a daughter of wisdom, she likes the logical and this chaotic mess of high and happy emotions battling for dominance right now are not that. Yet she likes- even yearns for these moments when he's sappy and takes her by surprise the way only her Seaweed Brain can. 

"I hate you," Annabeth grumbles.

"I know," he whispers back and kisses her again.

This time though she's ready. Without warning she has fingers dancing quickly along his sides. He tries to squirm away, but she tackles to him the ground. Their laughter rings clear in the morning air, carrying across the ocean, probably reaching the other side of the world at some point. They lay there together, smiles on their faces, happy just to be alone together after all this time.

"Hey, is that you Percy?!" Shit, maybe not. They sit up to see none other than Jacob Black approaching, a big grin on his face. "Who's this?"

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A/N Finally update!

Anyway, I just wanted to say something. I read Blood of Olympus and was seriously let down. I did not like it. There were some funny parts, I'll give Uncle Rick that, but seriously the whole thing seemed too rushed and fake.

I almost thought a fangirl had wrote it. (not that that's always a bad thing, some fanfics are seriously out of this world) It should have been broken up into two or three books and Geae for all the talk, literally did nothing once she was awake. Not only that, but all he did was an appeal to the fans. It was TOO happily ever after. We really didn't get any angst.

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE LACK OF PERCY TIME AND POV! Seriously I read the series for him suddenly he seemed more like a minor character!

Anyway, while I can rant forever about this, I wanted to know what you guys thought if you've read it. I can't possibly be alone in thinking these things.

PS I will likely just ignore the last book while writing.