Annabeth POV, somewhere in Manhattan: 

I have never seen Percy look so irritated in the six years that I've known him. When he came home earlier with his hair spiked up and still wet, a dark look in his eyes, and his lips a second from being barred in a snarl. Okay so maybe irritated wasn't the best word to choose. However, I found out why he was so bothered. When he came into the apartment, he was being trailed by a boy around the same age as us, who looked almost like the spitting image of Paul. I almost spit out my cocoa when I saw the two of them. I assumed that the other guy was Loki who was putting on a show, by the way he constantly asked Percy questions all the way into Percy's bedroom. I turned to look at Sally, who was baking cookies in the kitchen.

"Am I imagining this?" Sally shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. They still think he's just a kid, no doubt that is true by his age, and believes he need some form of protection. The problem is, they dumped the babysitting job of the Norse god on Percy rather than just have someone set up in a vacant apartment down the hall or something. He's pretty upset by it." Paul said, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and getting some water.

I couldn't make out the words, but I could tell that Percy and Loki were arguing, almost yelling at each other. I politely excused myself from the kitchen and gently banged my knuckles against the door. Percy opened the door rather aggressively, and I watched his expression soften when he saw me. Loki on the other hand, looked exasperated for some reason I couldn't figure out. Percy grabbed me by the elbow and hauled me into the room. Then, he turned to his 'brother' hissed out "time to leave Link. Now."

Loki put his hands up in surrender and headed for the door, but not before sending me an amused smile. I didn't care that he was a god, I wanted to punch him where the sun doesn't shine.

"You alright?" I asked. Percy turned back to me and enveloped me in his arms. He smelled like ocean spray mixed with a delightful amount of cologne. The scent was intoxicating and I inhaled as deep as I could.

"I'm better now that I'm with you." He whispered in my ear.

I could tell by his body language and the way he sighed heavily, that he was already regretting being consultant or whatever to that Nick Fury guy. Percy had enough going on as it is, he didn't need to be part of this superhero band. I knew that when I wasn't there, he was more susceptible to having nightmares about the past two wars, and all the quests he had to endure, including escaping the Pit with me last summer. Not to mention juggling classes for the rest of junior and senior year, avoiding the occasional monsters that get through the measures the gods put into place, working at the aquarium, and having swim meets. He surprised even me with how hard he's been working on himself. Gone are the days where he doesn't put in the effort and settling for C's.

I pulled away from him and searched his eyes. I wanted to make sure that he was okay with how much is on his plate now.

"Percy," I started. I didn't know how to finish. Was I going to tell him he could still back out of the consulting position? That he can take a weekend off and relax at camp? And there was still the concern of him asking about the future last week after he had taken the job.

"I know Wise Girl. It's written all over your face. I just wanted normal, and this is somewhat normal. Although, you could be going to school with me, and Tyson would be here instead of the god because I swear on the Styx to you, I don't wish anyone the job of hanging out with him. Mom's going to make him stay on the couch so it's just you and me." He said softly.

"What about homework?" I asked as Percy's fingers played with a loose curl.

"Paul's helping me translate everything tomorrow. There's nothing to worry about for tonight." He said before kissing me.

I melted into his kiss, remembering the first time I kissed him when we were fourteen, and then when we kissed under the water in the canoe lake after the Second Titan war. Percy's scent almost completely overwhelmed me when his hand came up to pull out my hair tie and tangle itself in my hair. It was only a week since we kissed like this, but by the gods it had felt like forever.