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Annabeth was never impulsive. Afterall, she was a daughter of Athena, renowned for her flawless precision and always – always – thinking everything through. But standing at the bathroom sink of her dorm room with a box of hair dye next to her, she could’ve believed otherwise.
Her hands were planted on either side of the sink as she stared at herself in the mirror, looking over the features she’d had for years that somehow seemed so strange to her now. The past 6 months had been rough, and it showed. She could see the dark circles around her eyes and the new scars her body carried that disclosed the ever-growing cracks inside of her.
Her focus, however, was on the grey strands of hair that spread along one side of her hair. She looked at them accusingly, like they were the sole reason for all her pain and misery. The idea wasn’t a stretch, she’d earned them from her time bearing Atlas’s burden of the sky, a position she was put in by her traitorous brother and saved from by the sister she’d lost. A burden she’d shared with the prophecy boy. Her boy who’d snuck on a quest across the country to save her and now bore the same grey streak because of it. Percy, her best friend, her enemy.
Selina would often tell Annbeth that if she weren’t Athena’s daughter, she’d be Aphrodite’s. She never believed that. Annabeth had fallen in love with the boy who was destined to die in August. And if that wasn’t torturous enough, he’d shown up to camp a total of 5 times in the past six months, each time only lasting a couple days and ending in a screaming match. He’d found a new girl to hang out with and left her here alone standing in front of her mirror wondering what happened to the boy who would do anything to stay by her side.
They’d always talked about their grey streaks being a sign of their bond, of all the shared memories and the pain that accompanied half of them. They were inseparable, everyone knew that. Their grey streaks only strengthened that feeling. Now, she couldn’t feel more cut off from him if she tried. They were so careful on the few occasions they did see each other until one gave up and they ended up fighting. Again. The same people, the same things, brought up again and again. Seeing her grey streak was no longer a comfort for her, it only reminded her of the boy who would soon leave her to join Hades and already seemed to have left her for the mortal world anyways.
Today had made all these feelings worse. She’d been out on a recon mission, nothing too big, but it was enough to have her out until six and she decided she’d just head back to her dorm and go back to camp in the morning. On the way there she decided she’d get some more snacks and instant noodles from the convenience store around the corner from her school. The first stretch of the street had a bunch of cafes and restaurants she’d never been in to but always heard the other girls at school talk about. She walked past them, looking in their windows at all the food and people. She was almost at the corner when she passed the pizza place. She’d almost made it home without seeing anybody she knew and this stupid pizza place just happened to have the two people she wanted to see least sitting in the front window. Rachel’s unmistakable red curls and green eyes stared right back at Percy who’s back was facing her. Annabeth hurried past the shop window as quickly as she could hoping they wouldn’t see her and the tears she was trying her hardest to stop.
She had never been impulsive, but the box of hair dye was staring straight at her, so she bought it. She’d left it in the bathroom while she ate her food and got dressed into whatever clothes she had left in her drawer hoping the idea only came up because she was tired and hungry. After two hours it still hadn’t left her mind so now here, she was standing in her bathroom with her gaze switching between the hair dye and her reflection.
Tears had started to well up again after all her thinking and to top off things she only just realised the shirt she’d grabbed was Percy’s. They never really looked to hard into the fact that their clothes had become mixed together. Annabeth would always rationalise it by thinking it was useful when they were on missions, wherever they ended up they each had clothes to change into. Deep down though there was more emotional reason for her having his shirts in her drawers. The irony of her wearing his shirt while contemplating erasing the physical symbol of their connection was not lost on her.
She was about to walk out to her drawers and change when a shimmering image appeared in front the mirror. Percy’s worried look made her stomach drop, had something bad happened?
“Annabeth,” he sounded almost relieved.
“…hi?” she replied, confused as to why he was so relieved to see her.
“I um…” he paused for a second, like he couldn’t remember what he was going to say, “Rachel told me she saw you walk past the pizza place we were at. I thought you were supposed to be at camp?”
She breathed in before replying, trying to keep an even tone, “Yeah, I’m just on a recon mission here. I didn’t know she saw me.”
Percy looked a little taken aback when she said that.
“You saw us? Why didn’t you come in and say hi?”
“I…I really wanted a shower.” She said weakly.
It wasn’t a lie, she did really want a shower, but it was a pathetic excuse. She knew that. They both knew the real reason she didn’t, and she braced herself for another argument. But the insults never came. Instead, he sighed heavily and said something she was not expecting.
“I’ve been looking for that shirt.”
Her gaze snapped back to him from the box of hair dye. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so she just stood there and looked at him. The ever witty daughter of Athena had no sassy comeback to hide her blush behind. Luckily, Sally saved her from the awkward silence that was about to ensue.
“Percy can you – oh hey Annabeth how are you sweetheart?”
“I’m good Sally how are you?”
“Great thanks hun. How is boarding school going?”
“It’s alright, I’m spending more time at camp right now, but it’s been pretty good.” Annabeth said, hoping Sally wouldn’t look into why she was spending more time at camp.
“That’s good to hear. You should come over soon, I haven’t seen you in ages.” Sally said.
“Yeah, I’ll definitely come around soon.”
With that, Sally left Percy’s room, and it was just the two of them again. They stared at each other for a moment until something caught Percy’s eye. She followed his gaze to the box of hair dye that was on the bench next to her. Shit. She’d completely forgot that was there, forgotten she was even considering it at all. She looked up at Percy, trying to decipher what was going on inside his head. It was clear the dye was for her and there was really only one reason she’d have it. A look of realisation came over his face as he looked between her and the box. She opened her mouth to say something, explain herself and tell him she was never going to go through with it, but he spoke first.
“I’m coming over.”
The iris message disappeared, and she was left staring at her reflection. She expected to be more stressed about what he was going to say and what she’d say back. But the thought that he was coming over only seemed to bring her comfort. She wanted Percy. Her best friend, the boy who truly knew her and still loved her anyways. She missed him more than anything and she was a mess without the permanence of him behind her. She wanted him back by her side and that’s where he was going to be, even if they fought.
Annabeth wasn’t technically allowed to have anyone stay in her dorm, or come over at eight o’clock at night, but she was sure she’d get out of it if anyone ever found out. The knock came about ten minutes after the iris message had ended. Percy must have flown over om Blackjack, he would’ve taken a lot longer to get there by car, but she was glad to have him there quickly. She crossed the dorm to her door and opened it. Percy looked desperate, his hair was windswept from the flight over here and he was breathing hard like he’d sprinted all the way up the stairs. Maybe he had, she wouldn’t let her mind wander to far into that idea though. They stood in the doorway for a moment, silence stretching between them as they took each other in.
The sound of other girls’ voices brought them back to reality and Annabeth quickly pulled Percy into her dorm and shut the door. She turned back to him and found him staring at her. Annabeth wished she could read what he was thinking, he didn’t seem angry or sad or happy and it killed her that she just couldn’t figure him out. She waited for him to say something, get mad or ask why or just anything really. The tension in the air thickened as the silence stretched on until Percy closed the short distance between them, pulling her into a hug. Annabeth melted into his arms, his familiarity washing over her in a wave of comfort. The past months of pain and stress that had pent up was released through the tears that she had fought back so many times that day. He pulled her in tighter, and she wrapped her arms around his torso. He moved one arm up to stroke her hair, rocking them side to side as she gently whispered in her ear.
“I’m here Beth, I’m right here.”
They stayed like that for a while, holding each other like they had all the time in the world. She really did need him, it just hadn’t hit her how much until that moment. After a while, she moved her head to look up at him, only then did the thought come to her that both their shirts (well, both his shirts) were going to be soaked with tears. He didn’t say anything about it though, just moved the hair off her face and smiled at her gently. He left an arm around her waist, keeping her close while she calmed herself.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t actually going to do it, I was just having a bad day and then I saw you and Rachel and the dye, so I bought it and I just…” she was rambling, blurting out anything that came to her.
He shushed her and wiped the fresh tears from her cheeks. His touch was warm and gentle despite the callouses that had formed from years of wielding Riptide. She stared up at him, eyes searching his for the reason he was being so gentle with her after she’d thought of doing such a thing as dyeing her grey streak.
“It’s ok Wise Girl.”
“It’s not.” She said, looking down from the guilt.
“Hey,” he moved his head so that her eyes met his, making her look back up at him, “we’re ok, I’m right here with you. I’m sorry that I haven’t been.”
He touched his forehead to hers and she hoped he could feel everything she couldn’t put into words. What a mess the two of them were, apologising for things they never should’ve let happen. Annabeth soaked him in and reminded herself of the bond that their grey streaks embodied. The two of them were inseparable, even if all they’d done for the past few months was fight they still came back to each other every time.
She’d really tried not to like him, when they were younger, she’d followed her mother so blindly, believing that Poseidon and pretty much anything to do with him was horrible. Percy was simply a means to go on a quest and obtain glory. And maybe she was a little curious about him, but Athena hated Poseidon, so she would follow suit. She tried to she really did, but Percy was…well, Percy. He managed to find a soft spot in her heart too quickly for her liking but here they were now, and she would never regret letting him in. Percy had stuck with her through everything, backed her every move and defended her against anyone who had ever dared questioned her. They’d been separated a million times over but every time they would fight to get back to each other.
She’d flown back to the Jackson-Blofis apartment with him that night. Sally had always treated her as if she were her daughter and never made her feel unwelcome. Paul was a newer addition to the Jackson family, but he’d always taken interest in getting to know her and helped her with her English assignments when she asked for it. He never made her feel dumb and she appreciated that. Sally and Paul were happy to see her when she walked into the apartment, wrapping her in a big joint hug. They sat in the kitchen and talked, telling stories and catching up. Every now and then a cheeky comment about the two of them would be slid into the conversation, earning an eye roll as those comments always did. They’d grown used to it and usually the comments were at Percy’s expense, so Annabeth didn’t mind much.
Percy and Annabeth had stopped bothering with the inflatable mattress a while ago. Percy had a double bed now and after so many quests together they didn’t mind sleeping close to each other. Maybe they even secretly enjoyed it too, but you’d never hear them admitting to it. Annabeth was lying on her side, facing away from Percy and hoping he’d stop staring at her. She could feel his eyes on her, and she got the feeling that he was waiting for her to give up ignoring him and turn around. She gave in, she always did when it came to him. She rolled over and gave him her best ‘what do you want seaweed brain’ look. He just grinned at her and held his arms out for her to move into. Annabeth stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and shuffling towards him. He chuckled a little and wrapped his arms around her.
It was moments like these, tucked into his side, that made her confused about whether he felt the same way about her. She had been confused about where she stood with him for a long time. He’d never brought up their kiss, so she’d assumed he didn’t like her back and just wanted to be friends. But here they were cuddled up in his bed, her wearing his shirt like it was most natural thing in the world. Sometimes she would come so close to just asking him what she meant to him and sorting this out once and for all. But her pride and jealousy got the best of her, so they continued to fight and make-up time and again. She knew time was running out, but that was another reason she wouldn’t say anything. She didn’t want to ruin anything and spend the last months of his life not talking to him. It was all just so complicated. For now though, she let the rhythm of his heartbeat lull her to sleep, knowing that no matter what happens, they’ll be ok.