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“No.”
Reyna’s body moved away from Percy, confusion and anger clear on her face. If Reyna was anything like Annabeth, she definitely didn’t like when people didn’t do what she expected them to. “Excuse me?”
“No offense Reyna,” Percy said, judging by Reyna's body language she was in fact offended. “But not only have I not seen Annabeth in six months, but I also have no idea what the fuck has been going on with my family and friends.”
“Well, I’m sure your girlfriend can update you after I’m done talking to her.” Reyna’s eyes were hard, challenging her in front of her camp was probably not Percy’s brightest idea, but Annabeth couldn’t say she didn’t agree with him.
“Well, Annabeth is not only my girlfriend but also my best friend, and right now she's the only person who can fill me in on the months since I was kidnaped by Hera. So if you'll excuse me, we're going to go for a walk so she can tell me how my mother is doing.” Percy started standing up. “After everything that I have gone through lately I think I deserve at least that.”
Reyna’s eyes were murderous, and while Percy flinched at her stare he didn’t back down, and if Annabeth was being honest in that moment she didn’t care much about being diplomatic and accepting Reyna’s offer. She hadn’t seen her boyfriend in six months, the one thing she wanted to do right now was to be alone with Percy and kiss him senseless, not going for a walk with a practical stranger. Sure, Reyna was in charge of the Roman demigods, but Annabeth’s current priority was Percy; she and Reyna could talk politics later.
Percy turned, the bravado he had shown seconds ago was gone, instead, he looked at Annabeth with some panic on his face and quickly gestured for them to leave the forum, probably before Reyna’s shock ended and she started yelling at him.
“Reyna looked pissed,” Annabeth said once they were outside the forum and had started to walk towards the hills that she assumed were where the city was located.
“Oh believe me, she's super pissed.” Percy squeezed her hand. “She's probably cursed me a hundred times already and is thinking up ways to kill me in a political way.”
His tone was joking but Annabeth knew him and she could see he was tense and she didn’t know why. It wasn’t because of his exchange with Reyna, she had first noticed the way his shoulders had been rigid and his jaw was clenched during lunch. He was good at hiding it, and Annabeth wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been studying him so intently. He didn’t say more, he just held her hand and kept walking, face full of determination. If it hadn't been for his hand firmly intertwined with hers, and the soft way his thumb caressed her skin, she would have been filled with anxiety.
Annabeth could start to see what she assumed was New Rome. Colorful houses and buildings in what looked like a mix of Italian and Ancient Rome architecture. Under different circumstances she would have felt anticipation run in her veins, the idea of studying those beautiful buildings would have made her fingers itch with the need to sketch. But right now all that mattered to her was to be with Percy. With every step the buildings were taking form, she could appreciate their beauty and it was making up for the fact she had felt unwelcome in this camp filled with Romans. The Triumphal arch welcoming them into the city was getting closer when Percy changed their direction, instead leading her towards the forest on the outskirts of the city.
“Perce? Is this a short cut?” Annabeth asked, curiosity prominent in her voice.
“Yes, no, actually no,” Percy said, as they made it into the forest. “I’m just trying to find a spot but honestly I've barely spent like two full days here so I’m just winging it.”
They walked a little farther into the forest, and Annabeth gasped at the sight in front of her. She had been so busy looking at Percy and New Rome that she had missed the massive Redwoods, as beautiful as they were, she didn’t have time to fully observe them. Percy had stopped and before she could ask him anything, he turned around to face her and gently pushed her back against the trunk of a tree. And then his lips were moving against hers, hot, desperate, and hungry. His hands resting on her cheeks and hers wrapped around his neck. Annabeth was glad the tree was behind her for support or her knees would have given up the moment she felt his tongue lick her lower lip, making her part her lips and give him the freedom to enter her mouth. It was a messy kiss, tongues clashing, lips being pulled, bitten, and sucked. His body was pressed hard against hers and she wasn’t sure if the moaning she heard had come from him or her. Her lungs were on fire, begging her to take a break but Annabeth only kissed him harder, letting her hands roam from his neck to his back, chest, arms. His hands had ended up on her waist, under her shirt, a firm strong grip against her skin anchoring herself to him. When they finally pulled apart they were both breathing hard, she could feel his breath against her lips, his forehead resting against hers.
“Gods, that was- you are-” Percy said between breaths.
“Yeah,” Annabeth agreed. “You too.”
They stayed in that position trying to get their breathing back to normal, arms wrapped around each other. After six terrible months of desperation and uncertainty, Percy was finally back with her.
“I've wanted to do that since the moment I saw you leave the ship.” His hands cupped her face, his thumbs gently caressing her cheeks. “I can’t believe you're here.”
His bright sea-green eyes, filled with so much awe, love and adoration mixed with the gentle touch of his hands against her skin finally made her crumble. All the stress, anger, fear, nervousness, desperation, and sadness she had felt for the past six months could finally leave her body because Percy was reunited with her. And they left in the form of tears. Not small soft crying with tears gently falling from her eyes, but the ugly body shaking sobbing mess that left her gasping for air from how hard she was crying. She had definitely taken Percy by surprise, if his widened eyes and look of panic were any indication. But Annabeth couldn’t stop even if she wanted to, the dam had been broken and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.
“I was so scared you wouldn’t remember me,” she said between sobs, sobs that were loud and awful, making her have trouble breathing. “I thought I had lost you.”
Percy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Her head rested against his chest, her hands clutching his purple shirt. Annabeth thought of his bright orange camp shirts, the ones she had packed for him and cried even harder. Seeing him wearing the Camp Jupiter shirt felt so wrong, it was another reminder that he had been taken away from their home, from her.
His hands rubbed patterns on her back, she barely heard the comforting words mixed with apologies he was whispering against her hair. She wasn’t sure how long they had stayed that way, with her desperately clinging to him while he pulled her as close as he could to him.
“I’m sorry,” Percy said once her body had stopped shaking and her sobbing had become an occasional gasp for air. “I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” She mumbled against his shirt. Her body felt exhausted after the roller coaster of emotions she had felt in the past hour. “This was Hera’s doing.”
“I know but-” He gently grabbed her chin, angling her face so she could face him. “What matters right now is that we are here, together and that holding you is no longer a dream.”
“You remembered me.”
“Of course I did, how could I not?” He closed the distance between them, kissing her lips slowly, gently, mumbling against her lips between kisses. “Not even the Queen of the gods could make me forget you.”
Annabeth deepened the kiss and pulled him as close as she physically could. She tried to convey her feelings through her kiss. You are my world she thought while she took his lower lip in her teeth. You make me feel loved like I have never felt before her tongue clashed against his. You are my soulmate, he pulled her lips with his teeth. We belong together, her tongue caressed his making him moan against her.
It was an intense kiss, like the one they had shared moments ago before her breakdown, but at the same time it was totally different. This kiss wasn’t filled with longing, need and desperation or relief of being together again but with passion, with the need to convey the love they felt for each other.
Percy broke off the kiss so he could kiss her forehead, nose, cheeks. He kissed every inch of her face he could and she giggled happily in return.
“I like you better in orange.” It was a childish thing to say, she knew, but especially after the moment they had.
Percy looked down at his clothes, he blinked a few times as if remembering where they were, in a forest in Northern California, not in the familiar woods of Long Island, hiding from other campers so they could have some moments alone. He touched his shirt with his hands, a conflicted look on his face. He had taken off his toga before their walk and Annabeth had been secretly glad about that.
“I like me better in orange too.” He looked at her shirt, probably noticing that it was looser and longer on her than all of the other shirts she owned, how the sleeves were closer to her elbows, the little burn mark around the hem after a marshmallow roasting gone wrong.
He smirked at her, his eyes shining with mischief. “So, am I going to find my shirts in your room or in mine?”
“What makes you think I packed clothes for you?” She had, in fact, taken a stupid amount of time planning and designing his room on the Argo II, and she put more thought into what to pack for him than her own clothes for the quest.
He interlocked their hands, the smile still present on his face. “A hunch, I guess.”
“Your clothes are in your room,” Annabeth mumbled, winning a laugh from her boyfriend. Gods, how had she missed that sound.
“Come on,” Percy said, pulling her hand. “I might not know much about New Rome but I know one thing for sure, they have killer hot chocolate.”