Troubled

43

chapter forty-three
percy

Annabeth was such a dork.

Of course Annabeth acted like such a huge tourist, insisting I take her everywhere in New York. She even wanted to go to some random old buildings to see the architecture.

"Are you tired yet?" I asked Annabeth as she slouched down in her seat on the metro.

She shook her head as she fought to keep her eyes open. "Nah, I could, yawn, fight an army right now..."

I rolled my eyes as she leaned her head on me. After a few minutes I helped her stand up and we made our way back to my apartment.

"You wanna go to bed?" I offered.

She peered at the clock and shook her head. "At seven? No way, I'll just make some coffee."

She stumbled around the kitchen tiredly, refusing any help I offered her. I rolled my eyes as I made my way to the living room.

Then my phone started ringing and I sighed. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw I had several missed calls from my mother.

"Percy?! Thank god you picked up, where are you?!" she exclaimed worriedly.

I sighed. "I'm at home, mom. Sorry to worry you, I was planning on calling you."

"You're at home?! How did you get there? And why did you drive away like that?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," I admitted, the guilt settling on me. "It's just...Annabeth. Her family said they'd take her home for the summer and then force her to stay away from all her friends. I just couldn't let that happen. I know it sound stupid."

My mom laughed. "Percy, you're too loyal. You sound like I used to. Just make sure Annabeth is alright and tell her hello from me. I'll be home tomorrow. You two can stay there until then."

"I love you, mom."

She sighed. "I love you, too."

Annabeth approached me once I'd hung up the phone, holding two mugs of coffee in her hands. She handed me one as she blew on her own cup to make it less hot.

We sat down at the counter and silently drank our coffees, too afraid to speak to each other.

"My mom says hello," I blurted out.

Annabeth smiled weakly as she peered into her cup of nearly finished coffee. "So, she knows I'm here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but she won't tell anyone. At least I don't think so. She also said that she was coming back tomorrow, so I should I probably clean up the place."

Annabeth and I hadn't completely trashed the apartment, but it certainly wasn't as clean as it was when we had arrived.

She grinned as she stood up instantly. "Great, let's clean! My guilty pleasure is actually cleaning."

I frowned. "It's not guilty if it's productive."

She shrugged as she set down her mug and started peering around the room. "Do you have, like, a radio or something? My phone's out of power and cleaning without music is no fun."

I laughed as I joined her standing up and led her to an old dusty radio that sat in the corner of our kitchen. I picked a random station and we began our cleaning.

Annabeth cleaned up the kitchen, which was nearly spotless once she was done with it. I had attempted to clean up the living room, but it had somehow ended up worst.

"God, you really are awful at cleaning," she said as she peered around the living room.

I shrugged. "It's a gift."

She rolled her eyes as she started commanding me to sweep the room while she tidied it up. She had somehow managed to fix my mess and I had somehow managed not to screw the sweeping up.

"Team effort," Annabeth said with a grin. Then the song changed on the radio and some cheesy slow song from the eighties came on. "Oh, god, this is awful! I think this was my uncle's wedding song."

"M'lady, may I have this dance?" I asked as I stuck out my hand for her, dropping the broom in the process.

She laughed as she nodded and accepted my hand. "You shall."

We both laughed as I pulled Annabeth tight to me and awkwardly led her in the dance. I wasn't quite sure how to dance, but I'd seen it on television shows and movies enough to get the just of it.

"How did you manage to step on my toe?" she teased as she winced in pain.

I sighed. "Oh, sorry about that. I genuinely don't know, wise girl. Here, let me spin you. I promise I won't drop you...."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, that's reassuring."

After the song finished we both crashed on the couch, both wearing matching smiles.

"You suck at dancing," Annabeth teased as she stuck her tongue out at me.

"No, you're just jealous of my amazing dancing skill."

"Oh, yes, sure I am."