the aftermath (percabeth story)

sainity?

Annabeth POV
ever since that moment on the beach, percy has barely let go of my hand. of course we have been inseparable since tartarus, but even more so now that we have expressed how much we're struggling. neither of us are ready to talk about tartarus. even the name gives me chills and flashbacks. thinking about it takes over my body, causes me to break down. all of the awful monsters, the fear, ...when i thought percy left me. i didn't realize tears were streaming down my face.
get it together annabeth.
you will not loose it.
you will remain together.
***
all of the sudden i was broken out of my thoughts when percy opened the door to the posiden cabin. he stood there. starring at me. then, he started to cry.

Percy POV
i stood there, in the doorway of the posiden cabin, crying. why couldn't i stop crying. i didn't realize i was staring at annabeth. she was crying too. she got up and walked over to me. then she hugged me. we stood there, arms wrapped around each other, crying in the doorway of the posiden cabin. we were both shaking with terror and grief. annabeth was muttering things about tartarus. i wanted to yell at her to stop. i didn't. i wasn't going to help.
i'm not sure how long we were there. an hour? two? but we slowly calmed down a bit.
annabeth pulled away a little bit, just enough to look into my eyes.
"seaweed brain," she said, "i thought i was going to loose you." tears started to run down her face again.
"hey," i said gently. "annabeth look at me," i whispered gently again. "i am never, ever, going to leave you. ever. so you can get that out of your head right now."
"but tarterus..." she started to say.
"we're both still here aren't we," i said again gently, my voice breaking a little as i said it.
"i..."
then i kissed her. i kissed her with as much love as i could muster. she kissed me back, and for a minute, everything was perfect. we were both crying again, but this time with less tears of sadness and trauma, and more tears of love and relief.
i pulled away slightly, just enough to where i could look her in the eyes and said so softly i didn't think she heard me, "i'm never leaving you wise girl. i love you."
"i love you too," she replied.
we embraced again. holding each other as tight as we could.
after a while annabeth shut the cabin door after we realized that people walking past had been staring at us. we walked over to my bed and i sat down. i pulled her into my lap and she leaned back against my chest. i thought about all over our best memories. like that time that we were at the campfire and she had to sit on my lap because we had some minor gods there taking up all the seats (before we got together). we were both so embarrassed. i let out a little chuckle despite everything.
"what?" annabeth asked.
"i was just thinking about that time when the minor gods were visiting before we got together and you had to sit on my lap."
annabeth let out a little laugh. "yeah that was pretty embarrassing."
we smiled and lay back snuggling up to each other. grateful for each other's warmth and company. we fell asleep tears still drying on our faces. maybe we really would be okay.