Can't Beat the Classics

The sun was high in the sky, breaking through the full leaved trees on the edge of the woods, creating shade and a place to escape the heat at. Somewhere off, a little ways in the distance, the Long Island Sound was crashing against the beach shoreline. She could hear it, almost like an echo of someone calling her name, someone she knew well.

Annabeth breathed in the sweet scent of baking strawberries and sighed. There was no better place to spend summer at than Camp Half-Blood. She and Percy were lying in the grass, having just finished instructing a sword fighting lesson for a group of younger campers. They had demonstrated a typical parry-strike-thrust-dodge battle that Annabeth had walked away victorious from, much to the amusement of the kids. "But you're Percy Jackson!" They had exclaimed to Percy. "You're supposed to be the best!" And Percy had given a little shrug of his shoulder and said, "Never underestimate the power of your girlfriend--or, uh, boyfriend."

He was awkward like that.

Annabeth smiled to herself and felt for his sweaty hand in the grass. Percy was such a dork sometimes, but he never failed to bring a smile to her face. Even when he was doing something totally obnoxious and moronic and Annabeth was three seconds away from slapping him silly, it was somehow endearing. Those kinds of actions, along with a new level of cheesiness sprinkled on top of every one, had only seemed to increase once they'd started dating.

Annabeth fingered the smooth red pendant hanging near her father's college ring on her Camp necklace. Percy had given it to her a few days ago with an exclaimed, "Happy Week-aversary!" His hair had been sticking up every which way and there had been a huge goofy grin on his face, leaving Annabeth to question as to what lengths he had went to get her present.

She'd said, "You know there's no such thing as a 'Week-aversary', right?"

Percy had waved his hand. "Okay, fine. So I was visiting my dad's palace and I saw this and thought it was pretty… I thought of you, because it’s the color of strawberries and you always smell like them. But if you don't want it..."

"Of course I want it, you idiot." Annabeth had shoved his shoulder lightly, and then untied her necklace. Percy had slipped the coral pendant on to the leather chain, sweeping aside some of her hair to tie the necklace back around her neck. It had all been very sweet in a very Percy-like way.

"People always give each other stuff when they go out, right?" He'd said. "So think of this like that. We are officially dating now."

"Nobody's done that since like the 50s, Seaweed Brain."

Percy had smiled "Can't beat the classics." And Annabeth had kissed him, because it was the only thing she had wanted to do after that.

Lying in the grass beside him now, she had never felt so happy and serene.

Percy bumped her shoulder suddenly, and Annabeth bumped him back. He bumped her again, more insistently now, and Annabeth jabbed him in the ribs. He turned his head to look at her, the sunlight sparkling off his smiling green eyes. Annabeth could feel herself smirking. So that was how he wanted to play.

Percy tried to tickle her but Annabeth threw her hands up and grabbed his wrists, laughing anyways. They wrestled for a bit, trying to see who could push the other back the hardest. "Percy, stop!" said Annabeth, but it couldn't have been farther from the truth.

He grinned at her through his messy mop of hair. "Admit defeat!" he demanded.

"Never!" Annabeth twisted one of his wrists back, then kneed him in the stomach and flipped him on to his back. She rolled with him, and came up sitting on his chest, her legs on each side of him, breathing hard.

Percy looked breathless to, his face full of such bewilderment that Annabeth couldn't help but laugh. She leaned down, brushed her lips softly, teasingly, against his mouth. "Never underestimate the power of your girlfriend," she murmured.