Chapter Text
Percy woke up to the sun filtering through the window of his bedroom in New Rome. There were times he missed his cabin at Camp Half-Blood or the apartment he shared with hi mom, his sister, and Paul in New York City, but he had to admit, it was nice to be safe. Even nicer to wake up beside the girl he was in love with.
He turned his head on the pillow to look at Annabeth. Her back was turned from him, her breathing still deep. There seemed to be no tension in her body. She was the bravest and smartest person he knew and could handle herself in a fight, but it was nice to think that here she was able to be free from the worrying about monster attacks.
Percy rolled over and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the blond curls on the top of her head. The two half-bloods were in their second year of college in New Rome. Annabeth was studying architecture and history. While she was the smartest person he knew, having already redesigned Mount Olympus, Percy could tell she loved learning all the ins and outs of it. Percy had decided to study oceanography (at Annabeth’s suggestion) and had to admit that it was actually interesting to learn about it, helped by the fact that his dyslexia wasn’t interfering with the Latin in the textbooks.
Percy and Annabeth had opted to live separately, but that didn’t mean Percy didn’t cherish the weekend nights they spent in each other’s rooms- talking, kissing, more than kissing. Having survived so many awful, life-threatening moments to get to where they were, Percy would never get tired of waking up beside her. He enjoyed taking things slow with her, to savor all of the new sensationsand experiences together.
Thinking of that, he pulled her even closer, burying his face in the crook of her neck, breathing in her.
“G’morning,” she mumbled, still groggy from sleep. Her arm wrapped around his head, holding him in place.
“I love you,” he said. Percy felt like he said it so many times, but it was always true and he wanted her to hear it.
“I love you too.” Percy could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke.
Percy kissed her neck slowly. She sighed and rolled over. He propped myself up on his elbow and looked deep into her beautiful, intelligent, gray eyes. She cupped his face with one of her hands. Despite being her boyfriend for four year, he still felt butterflies in his chest when she looked at him the way she was now; a soft smile on her lips and her eyes bright with joy.
“Do you want to get breakfast soon?” she whispered. There were many coffee shops around New Rome. Percy had long since learned which baristas would put blue food coloring in his drinks if he asked.
He laid a soft kiss on her cheek. “Can we stay here a little longer?” he whispered back. Hey, he was comfortable under the covers, surrounded by her warmth.
“Mm mm,” was her reply. He laid back down on the bed and she shifted so her head was on his chest, her body tucked next to his. He absently stroked her side with his hand.
“I was thinking, Christmas break is coming up soon, would you spend it in New York City with me?” he asked, hesitantly.
“What?” she said, propping herself up on her elbows to look him in the eyes.
“I understand if you’d want to spend it with your father, step-mother, and brothers, but I was thinking it could be nice. My mom loves you and of course there’s Estelle and I know they’d love it if you were there. And New York isn’t SO far from Boston that you couldn’t drop by or invite Magnus.”
“I would love that,” Annabeth said, taking his face in her hands and kissing him softly. Yes, after everything they had been through, Percy's life was finally perfect.