[✔] False God ━ Percabeth AU

xxxvii. This Love

xxxvii. This Love

Annabeth woke up with a pounding headache and quickly shielded her eyes from the glaring sunlight that shone through her window. She was still very tired. It was definitely because Annabeth had stayed up all night working on her midterms project even though they weren't due till next week (her anxiety had kept her awake and she didn't want her precious time to go wasted).

A smile formed on her face as she glanced beside her to see a sleeping Thalia (who had complained of a backache from sleeping on the floor and they now shared a bed) and Mrs. O'Leary. Because the apartment complex that the Blofis lived in did not allowed pets, her family had offered to take care of Mrs. O'Leary and let Estelle and Percy come over to hangout with her. It was a win-win situation: her family loved Mrs. O'Leary, Estelle and Percy was still in kept the dog, and they frequently came over to her place—meaning she saw her boyfriend a lot.

Annabeth got ready for the day and Thalia and Mrs. O'Leary was awake when she was done.

"Good morning, Thals. Do you have any plans today? Percy, Estelle, Mrs. O'Leary and I are going to the shopping today."

"That sounds fun," Thalia then sheepishly smiled, "I wish I could go, but I'm hanging out with this girl who I met a couple of days ago at the cafe later today."

"Ohmygod, really?" Annabeth exclaimed, "Who? I can't believe you didn't tell me you met someone here! What's her name?!"

"Her name is Renya," answered Thalia, "She's also from California and is here on vacation! She's very cool and I quite like her—as a friend, of course."

Annabeth beamed, "Well, I'm glad you met someone new here! Have fun hanging out with each other! Tell me how it goes!"

"Likewise: tell me how your day goes," Thalia half-smiled.

After breakfast, Percy and Estelle arrived and she headed out with them with Mrs. O'Leary who was very excited to see the little girl. They placed Mrs. O'Leary in a IKEA bag with holes for the legs (so they didn't break the law) and rode the subway.

They arrived at the Build a Bear workshop on 34th street of Manhattan and Annabeth softly smiled at little kids with their parents and watched as them ran up to Estelle to pet Mrs. O'Leary, not noticing that Percy softly gazing at her.

"I'm going to make Mrs. O'Leary as a stuffed animal, so we never apart!" exclaimed Estelle as they walked around the store.

"That's a good idea," Annabeth smiled then beamed, pointing at the the unstuffed penguin, "Ohmygod, it's so cute!"

Percy chuckled, grabbing it from the shelf, "It is. You should get it. It'll look cute on your bed. Besides, it's on me today."

"Oh?" she furrowed her eyebrows, "Percy—"

"Nope, nope, I'm not going to listen, I know you're going to convince me not to pay and I will not let that happen," he cheekily smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Well, I hope you know I'm going to pay you back later!" she laughed.

"I only accept kisses or cuddles!"

They left the store with a stuffed animal for each of them (including one for Thalia) and they roamed around Manhattan till they decided to go back to her apartment. While Estelle played with the twins in the living room, Annabeth and Percy sat on her bed, backs against the bed board, (with the door opened due to Helen's request) and continued studying for midterms.

Annabeth then blushed when she yawned and her eyes flickered from fatigue, "Sorry, I'm just very tired."

"Don't apologize," Percy reassured then frowned, "Annabeth, what time did you head to bed last night?"

"4am," she then explained, "I couldn't sleep last night so I decided to work on my midterms!!"

He sighed, "No wonder why you're tired—you only had four hours of sleep today! You should take a nap!"

"There's no need to," Annabeth yawned again and her eyes sleepily drooped, "Alright...I'm going to take a nap."

Percy nodded and quickly moved their schoolwork out of the way then laid on the bed. Annabeth rested her head on his chest and wrapped around his waist; a smile formed on her face, breathing in his lavender scent, and she instantly fell asleep.

Percy then covered themselves with the white, cozy blankets and softly smiled as they snuggled, her face nuzzling his neck. His eyes fluttered from the sudden sleepiness and Annabeth's warmth and he softly kissed on the top of her head.

"You know how you told me that night that you fell in love with ever since we went to Randalls and Wards Islands?" Percy softly smiled, recalling being half-awake when she had confessed to him, "Well, I fell in love you ever since homecoming night. I think you're rambling about a book plot and I couldn't look away—you look so gorgeous—and I just can remember thinking: I love you, Annabeth Chase."

[originally published on 12/5/20.]

[almost three years, I'm happy to say 1989 (Taylor's version) is here!!! December 2020 Lucinda would be so happy :') it's my favorite album of hers 🤭.]

[12/5/20] author's note! The ending does mean something-you just have to think a lot about it...anyways, I'm currently jamming out to 1989 by taylor swift on my Saturday night!! I hope everyone is had a good Saturday and weekend! I think I'm going to start shorting my author's note because I don't have much say anymore! Thank you for reading and have a good day/night! Much love, Lucinda! 💙