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The doorbell rang for half a second and Percy was on his feet, crossing the distance between his bedroom and the front door fast enough for Sally to snicker. He was too excited to notice, because the now open door revealed his girlfriend: Annabeth Chase in all her glory, her braided hair pulled back by a green bandana matching her private school uniform. She smiled up at Percy, and his heart skipped a beat or a thousand—would he ever get used to this?
“Hi,” he greeted her, pressing a kiss to her lips and pulling her into a hug. “Missed you.”
“You saw me two days ago,” Annabeth said, but he did not miss the way she melted into his touch anyway.
“And? Come on.”
Annabeth greeted Sally on the way to Percy’s room, and the older woman shot him a look— behave. He blushed and rushed Annabeth into the hallway.
Percy sat on his bed and watched Annabeth take off her shoes, place her backpack on the wall by the door, and pull out her pencil case and notebook.
“All business, as usual,” he said, teasingly.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Did you invite me over for homework with second intentions, Seaweed Brain?”
“Yes,” Percy deadpanned. “Even third and fourth intentions, if you can believe it.”
She was clearly trying not to smile when she sat across from him on the bed, legs crossed. “Maybe we’ll get to those if you finish your history paper.”
Percy flopped down on the bed. “ Why did I tell you about that again?”
“Because honesty is the foundation of a good relationship, or something.”
“Well, to be honest , I think I would rather study–” Percy paused, considering his next words carefully. He feigned seriousness, taking her hands in his and pursing his lips before continuing. “I would rather study those lips than the Qi Dynasty.”
“Oh, my gods, that was awful,” Annabeth said, but she was laughing, and Percy felt victorious. “You suck.”
“But you love me?” He poked her waist.
“Right now, I’m thinking about it,” she replied, which elicited a petulant pout from Percy. “I do. And you need to do your homework.” A pause. “And then we can see about the… alternative assignments you’re suggesting.”
Percy figured this was a win for now, so he also pulled out his notebook and history textbook.
Annabeth was already laser-focused on her own work, and she looked adorable with her notes propped open over her crossed legs and a curl falling over her face. Percy tucked it behind her ear and kissed her cheek before opening up his own, much less organized, notes.
Annabeth kept her eyes on the paper, but a small smile grew on her lips, and Percy knew then it would be a challenge to write his paper, and not only because his girlfriend was simply so much nicer to look at than his own messy handwriting. Seeing her here, sitting on his bed, wearing the coral bead he’d given her, knowing he could just lean over and kiss her was a definite impediment to his focus—never mind the fact that he had not absorbed a single fact about the Qi dynasty since Mr. Murphy had started covering the subject.
“Do you have a highlighter I can borrow?” Annabeth asked, interrupting Percy’s musings. “I think I left mine at my dorm.”
“If I do, it’ll be in the top drawer,” he replied, pointing over to his desk.
Annabeth went over and opened it. After a few moments, she pulled out an orange highlighter, and Percy watched her tense as she pulled out something else: a small pink thermos.
“Oh, right,” Percy said. “You left it here last week, totally forgot to tell you.”
She stared at the thermos, displeased. “Oh, that’s okay. I’m sorry.”
Percy furrowed his eyebrows. “Why are you sorry?”
“Just—it’s your room. I don’t mean to leave my stuff lying around.”
She wouldn’t look at him while she put the thermos back in her backpack.
“No, it’s okay,” Percy said, unsure of why this had bothered her so much. Was she mad he’d forgotten to tell her? “I mean, I meant to tell you I had it.”
Annabeth sat back on the bed, her posture a little straighter than it had been a minute ago, her hands clutching the orange highlighter a bit too tight. “No, don’t worry about it. It’s alright.”
“Mom, do you think Annabeth doesn’t like coming over?”
Sally looked up from her laptop, her legs crossed on the living room couch. She furrowed her eyebrows. “Why do you ask, honey?”
Percy shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like she’s uncomfortable, like, being in my room or sitting on the couch when I’m not there. Or, like, the other day, she was kind of upset because she realized she forgot her water bottle here. Like she didn’t want it to be in my room, or something.”
“Do you think she doesn’t like being here?” Sally asked.
“I mean… other than that stuff, I think she does, right? She always comes when I invite her,” Percy pondered, but wondered if she only said yes to be polite. Annabeth had always been neater than him, and though he tried to clean up his room before she came, maybe it was still too messy for her.
Sally nodded. “I think she does, too. She seems very happy when she comes over, don’t you think?”
“Right. But, then…”
Sally sighed and shut her laptop. “Percy, you know Annabeth better than I do, of course, but I get the impression that she doesn’t like taking up space in any way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, from the little I’ve learned about her parents—the mortal ones, that is—it seems like they might have left the impression that her presence is a burden,” Sally said. Her tone was lower, disapproving like it became when Gabe made another irresponsible purchase with his gambling money. “She probably feels very self-aware at her house in San Francisco, and she spent a lot of her childhood living out of a bunk at a summer camp, right?”
Percy nodded. His brain began to fill in some of the blanks his mother couldn’t—Annabeth’s life as a runaway, when leaving traces of herself could mean the difference between staying hidden or being followed. He imagined her as a small girl, scared and hurt, but not complaining out of fear of being an inconvenience, of being left behind.
“If she forgets something in your room, that’s a way of taking up space,” Sally continued. “It’s leaving some of herself behind, which I think she might believe is bothersome for you and everyone else. Does that make sense?”
Percy felt his heart crack in half. “Yeah, I think it does.”
Sally offered him a sad smile. “These things take time. I know you love her a lot, but you just started dating a couple of months ago. I think she’ll get used to it.”
They’d just watched High School Musical. Annabeth had never seen it before and Percy thought this was outrageous, given that he believed all three movies in the series were cinematic masterpieces (but not masterful enough that he wouldn’t want to make out with his girlfriend while it was playing. Percy had his priorities straight).
It was pretty late when it ended, and as the final notes of We’re All In This Together played, Percy got up to gather the blanket and pillow he’d bring to the couch. Sally and Paul allowed sleepovers as long as one of them slept in the living room, and though Percy didn’t intend on going to sleep just yet, he wanted visual evidence that he intended on obeying the rules just in case one of his parents happened to check.
Annabeth got up from the bed too, quickly turning to look back to where she’d been sitting. She picked up the pillow she’d been leaning against and moved it back to where it’d been when she arrived—nowhere in particular, and Percy wouldn’t have even noticed something was different if it wasn’t for Annabeth’s anxious examination of the bed.
Percy was reminded of his mother’s words: Annabeth doesn’t like taking up space. Seeing his girlfriend erasing the evidence of her presence in his room, he understood what Sally had meant.
He struggled with what to say to make her feel comfortable. His gut instinct, being a famously impulsive dumbass, was no good— Annabeth, I don’t care if you mess up my room, in fact, I’d prefer it, because any reminder that you exist is a present from the universe . He was honestly impressed his bold, bleeding-hearted declarations hadn’t scared her away yet. I mean, who takes their girlfriend to Paris on a one month anniversary?
“You tired?” Percy asked.
“Just a little,” Annabeth said. “Are you? I can take the couch this time.”
“What do you think I am, a Neanderthal?”
Annabeth laughed, loosening her shoulders a little.
“Besides,” Percy continued, “you’re gonna have to come wake me up when you do so we can watch High School Musical 2.”
“I might need to watch the first one again, since someone decided to get handsy during important parts of the plot.”
Percy shrugged. “I’m afraid it’ll yield the same result, but hey, feel free to pause and ask me questions. I’m an expert.”
Annabeth rolled her eyes and smiled at him. And, okay, Percy, could only hold back for so long. Honestly, he’d been doing great all night—hard to blurt shit out when one’s lips are otherwise occupied—but then Annabeth started to tuck her hair into two braids like she always did before bed, and it made her look really soft and pretty, and, I mean, can you blame him?
“Also, if you don’t sleep in my bed, then my pillow won’t smell like lemon shampoo tomorrow, which, you know, is a nice bonus.”
Annabeth widened her eyes just a little and pursed her lips, clearly suppressing a smile. “Okay, Seaweed Brain.”
“Great. And I am also not tired.”
“Great. I’m anxiously waiting to find out why you think Sharpay isn’t actually the villain.”
“I’ll tell you in excruciating detail after I brush my teeth, as well as my ranked preference for all the songs in the movie.”
And, well, by Sharpay Percy meant undoing Annabeth’s braids so he could run his fingers through her hair, and by ranked preference he meant kissing her until he couldn’t breathe, but he figured she would prefer that as well.
Percy consulted his mom, Grover, and surprisingly, Rachel before this new exploit. Talking to Rachel about Annabeth (and vice-versa) without creating conflict was a welcome development. Oh, the wonders of resolving years of unaddressed romantic tension.
Anyway, he needed a teenage girl’s opinion on his new project, and Rachel echoed the remainder of his evaluation committee: good idea, so Operation Drawer was a go.
He was admittedly nervous when he led Annabeth into his bedroom that Friday night, and not because it was important that she also thought High School Musical 3 was the best one.
“I have something to show you,” Percy said, standing by his desk while Annabeth shed her jacket and bag.
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”
He pulled open the bottom drawer on his desk, which he’s spent the past couple of days emptying out (who knew there’d be so much useless shit in there?) and filling up with some Annabeth essentials: the orange highlighter and other similar utensils, some tampons, a hair tie, and her favorite candy for late-night snacking.
Annabeth’s eyes widened as she examined the contents of the drawer.
“It’s for you to leave whatever you want here in case it’s easier than just bringing it over from your dorm every time,” Percy said, unable to help the nervousness creeping into his voice.
Annabeth looked back at him. “I— Percy, that’s so sweet, you didn’t have to.”
“I know, I wanted to. I like having stuff here that reminds me of you.”
She was concerningly silent for a second or two, tears brimming in her eyes, before she smiled widely and hugged Percy tightly. He held her, relieved.
“Thanks,” she whispered into his neck. “I love you.”
Percy’s heart fluttered. “I love you, too.”
A few days later, Annabeth discreetly put a toothbrush and a stick of lip balm in her drawer. Percy didn’t say anything, afraid she’d be put off by him making a big deal out of it, but for the next few days, he’d peer in and smile at the collections of Annabeth’s items. He wondered if hiding beneath the M&M packages were invisible butterflies that would persistently fly into his stomach every time he opened the drawer, refusing to fly back in for a good couple of minutes.