The moment Percy got out of the water facility, he didn't want to go back to the safe house. It was like walking into a place you said you'd abandon. And now walking back was Percy's only option. Life was just so... complicated. It wasn't sunshine and rainbows like his teacher told him when he was in pre-school. It wasn't. But Percy was an Olympian. He was born for suffering.
And that's how he had to live his very short life.
He opened the doors to the safe house and sighed when he saw Annabeth and Thalia sitting next to each other, Nico on the floor playing with his fingers. ADHD didn't leave him, did it? They must've not notice him, so Percy cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
All three heads whipped up.
"I'm supposed to give you a tour--"
"Percy, we were so worried!" Annabeth practically pounced onto Percy and gave him a large kiss on his cheek.
Percy froze. Those warm, soft, pink lips and that strawberry flavor that had filled his mouth on that day. Thalia was staring at him in concern. Same with Nico.
"What are you talking about?" he finally asked like the idiot he was.
"What are we talking about? We're talking about the fact that you literally fell off a fourteen-story building to save us. Are you okay?" Thalia asked, feeling his forehead.
"Let's just... get the tour started," Percy sighed. "Obviously, this is the living room. If you look over there, it's the kitchen. Over there in the doors to the left of the living room is the dining room. If you get out of the living room, it's the gym, where we train and work out. Got it?"
They followed him in silence.
"Over here is the start of the halls. You just keep going and look at the signs. Each room has a name labeled on it, so you'll know which room you're in."
The tour was long, boring... and Percy practically wanted to just stop right there. But eventually, it all came to an end. He turned to leave but he felt an arm grab his. Annabeth was holding him in place, forbidding him to move. Thalia and Nico hadn't stayed, they had just walked away, but Annabeth was holding on.
"Remove your arm, Annabeth."
"No, Percy."
"I said, remove your arm--"
"Percy, you're not gonna keep doing this. Grover told me and it's not like that! You're the best thing that ever happened in my life! You taught me that someone cared about me! You were the reason I kept hoping! You're not dangerous. It's not wrong of you to love us. It's dangerous for you to isolate yourself like this and it's wrong of you to think you can't love us!"
Silence. Percy didn't know what to do. The words hit Percy. It hit him deep. He was killing himself. Hurting himself. Weakening himself. Making his life as terrible as possible. Percy then realized that being an Olympian didn't mean he had to suffer. It meant he had to try to be happy through the suffering. He was selfish for hurting her. For thinking he could leave without a trace.
"Percy, you promised," Annabeth whispered. "You promised me and you even promised you'd never break your promise. Percy Jackson never breaks his promises. Don't try to convince me otherwise."
"I won't..." Percy breathed, still staring at her. Stupid, Percy! Why are you staring at her like a creep?
He was still frozen until Annabeth grabbed his face, pulling him down for a kiss. His heart was pounding at this point, screaming at him to kiss back. To love her. To be grateful that someone loved him as much as Annabeth did. So he kissed back, wrapping her arms around her. He realized too late that he had let go of his crutches and he toppled forward, but Annabeth grabbed him. Well, she also realized her mistake too late because she fell with him.
"What have you been eating?!" she panted.
"Protein," Percy responded.
"Seaweed Brain..." Annabeth breathed, kissing him again.
The kiss was soft and delicate, their kisses moving in sync with their hearts. Love pulsed around the room and Percy was surprised it hadn't attracted any Aphrodite kids yet.
"You promised," Annabeth whispered. "Are you... Are you Percy Jackson? The boy who never gave up? The boy who literally taught Thalia love? The boy who taught Nico forgiveness? The boy who taught me trust? You are everything to me."
"Wise Girl..." Percy found himself crying at this point.
All the labor of pushing down his pain, missing his friends, wishing everything was normal... It was coming out. Annabeth pulled him in and wiped the tears off his face with her hands. Soft and delicate.
"Percy?" Drew Tanaka. "What happened?"
Percy didn't respond. He didn't need to respond. Drew didn't need to know. Drew stared at Annabeth before walking away, heels clicking against the surface.
"So will you?" Annabeth asked, sitting up.
"Will I what?" Percy asked, confused.
Annabeth laughed, giving him a look that had become endearing over the years.
"Will you stop being such a seaweed brain and stop distancing yourself from us?"
Percy knew it would take time, but he was willing to take that risk.
"I won't stop being a seaweed brain... but I guess I could cut back on distancing. I promised and I promise again."
The moment Annabeth's smile broke out on her face, Percy was smiling, too.
"But all these years of being distant to everyone kinda took a toll on me, so I'd like you to deliver that message to Thalia and Nico because Clarisse and I have to do something together."
"What do you have to do?" Annabeth's protectiveness came out and Percy had admit... she looked pretty damn hot when she did it.
"Nothing, nothing," Percy laughed. "Leo, Clarisse, and I pulled a prank on Clarisse's dad, he got mad, somehow, Leo managed to wiggle out of it, and now Clarisse and I have to assist him in his war facility as punishment."
"For two more weeks if you're late today!" Clarisse's voice came through on Percy's watch. "Get to your car, Prissy. My dad had a coffee today and we need to take advantage of his miraculously good mood."
"Well..." Percy stood up. "See ya, Wise Girl."
"WISE GIRL?!" A yell came from Percy's watch and he knew Piper had been listening.
"Yes, Piper--"
"PERCY! PERCY! PERCY!" Screams came out of Piper's mouth as she raced through the halls, bonking into random items.
"BYE!" Percy dashed out of the house, to his car, where Clarisse was waiting.
"I was about to catch a cold, Prissy."
"Well get in the car now, you bozo!" Percy scoffed and Clarisse got in, clearly unhappy about the wait.
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We Olympians (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 1
फैनफिक्शनPercy Jackson grew up in the town of Manhattan, New York. He was a nobody there. At his school, he had no one but his best friend, Annabeth Chase. They'd been friends since they were in kindergarten, when he stood up for her when a boy told her she...
