Annabeth didn't seem like the type of girl to have insecurities. She was so good in everything she did; her aim in archery was perfect, her fighting skills didn't have a flaw, and she did well in school. She was also very beautiful.

But, believe it or not, she had two big insecurities.

One, that Percy would leave her one day. Of course, she knew he wouldn't but some nights, when she laid alone in bed while he was taking a shower or staying out late at a campfire, she couldn't help but overthink.

Two, her hair. It was blonde. There should be nothing wrong with having blonde hair, it was a normal color. It wasn't like pink or blue so it shouldn't have bothered her. But she hated being stereotyped. The stupid dumb blonde joked she'd hear once in a while walking down the halls of Goode High. How people just assume she's dumb because of her hair color!

It was annoying! Annabeth had put up with the comments and jokes for almost three years. They started when she began going to school again Sophomore year. And now she was a senior, attending Goode with Percy. Of course, no one said anything when she was with him because they didn't want to upset Percy Jackson, captain of the swim team.

Annabeth was done with it. She was done with the jokes. She was done with the comments. She was done with people judging her because of her hair color. She was sick of her blonde hair.

And maybe she was just being dramatic because she's a teenage girl on her period but who cares! Let a girl do what she wants when she's having a mental break down.

So here she was, in her boyfriend's cabin while he was busy doing art and crafts. She should be taking archery classes right now but she had better things to do.

In hand, was a box of brown hair dye.

She stared down at it, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Annabeth wanted to dye her hair so bad. Then, when people meet her, they will only see the brown hair. They'd stop with the snarky side comments and just leave her alone.

Was dying her hair too much? She'd already gotten a haircut, claiming that her hair was getting too long and it hurt just having it down. Now, it ended just below her shoulders. Percy wasn't very fond of the idea but he was sweet enough to let her do what she wanted. So he wouldn't mind her dying her blonde hair brown, right?

She lifted her grey eyes and stared at herself in the mirror. It seemed as though everything was in slow motion. Her plain white T-shirt covered in splattered blue paint (a story for another time) moved up and down slowly with each intake of breath. Water droplets rolled down the wet strands of her blonde hair and dripped down into the sink.

Annabeth knew she was being stupid. She knew that she shouldn't be dying her hair because of what people were saying. Her mother would have been appalled at her decision.

But, you only live once, right? Isn't that what normal teenage girls say? That even though the action might not be smart that you should do it anyway because you may never be able to do it again?

Since when did she ever begin to have a mindset like a cliche teenage girl?

Annabeth shook her head and opened the box. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out all the contents; a bottle full of brown hair dye, instructions, and plastic gloves.

The jokes and comments started running through her head as she started to put everything back in the box. Annabeth was suddenly angry again. She was not a dumb blonde! And she didn't want to be called one!

She slowly slipped the gloves on and picked up the bottle, unscrewing the cap.

Right before she squeezed some of the die onto her covered palm, the door to the bathroom slammed open. Annabeth gasped and whipped around, coming face to face with Percy.

He was breathing hard and looked worried. "I was looking everywhere for you! I didn't know where you were and I started to get worried." His eyes glanced down at the item in her hand. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Annabeth set the bottle down on the counter.

Percy frowned and surged forward. Annabeth pushed everything behind her. "Annabeth, what were you doing?" She shrugged. "Annabeth..."

"I wasn't doing anything!" She defended. Percy reached behind her and grabbed the box. He stared down at it and back up at her with wide eyes. "Look, I wasn't actually going to do it! I was just thinking about doing it."

"Yeah right." He gave her a disbelieving look.

Annabeth sighed. "I wasn't!"

Percy grabbed her hands and pulled the gloves off. "Why? Why were you going to dye your hair?" He threw the box in the garbage can after the dye, gloves, and instructions were back inside.

"I don't- I don't." Damn periods and break downs! They were making her emotional which is why her eyes were tearing up.

Percy must have noticed something was super off because she almost never cried unless something was really bothering her. "Oh, Annabeth. Come here." He held his arms open and she walked right in.

Annabeth sniffed and pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to his rhythmic heartbeat. It calmed her. His right hand rubbed up and down her back while the other stroked her hair. "W-why'd you throw it away?"

"Because, you're not dying your hair." Percy pulled away, holding her at arm's length. "You're keeping it blonde."

"You can't decide that for me!"

"Well, I don't agree with you dying your hair."

"You didn't agree with me cutting it," Annabeth pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "So this shouldn't be a problem."

Percy ran a hand through his messy black hair. "That's different. It's changing the length of your hair, not changing the color!"

"I don't like my hair color!" Annabeth cries, one tear slipping down her cheek. "Please, Percy, please let me dye it. I can't be happy with blonde hair!" Wow, Annabeth, what a lame excuse, she thought.

He softened. "I make you happy, don't I? Or do we need to talk?"

"Of course you make me happy, Percy! You make me so happy!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Just I can't stand the comments! The jokes!"

"What are you talking about?" Percy squeezed her hand.

Annabeth mentally screamed. She was so irritable for no reason! "People at school! The dumb blonde jokes? I'm so done with being called a dumb blonde!"

Percy pulled her out of the bathroom so they were in a bigger space. He knew her so well. Knew that when she broke down which was very rare, she didn't like to be in small spaces, she liked open spaces. "But you're not a dumb blonde. You're the smartest person I know."

"But people at school don't know that!" Annabeth said, throwing her arms in the air for emphasis. "I don't want them to think I'm dumb by first glance."

"Who cares what people think," Percy said softly as he grabbed both her hands and rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. "All that matters is what I think, remember?"

Annabeth nodded. "What do you think?"

"I love your hair as it is. It proves people wrong about you and I love seeing their surprised faces." Percy grinned. "And I love you: the grey eyed, blonde haired, daughter of Athena."

Annabeth sniffed and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tight. She buried her face in his chest since he was a good head taller than him and sighed. "I love you," She whispered against him.

"More than anything." He hugged her back just as tight. "Now, let's talk. About everything. I know you need to let a lot of things out." He led her over to the bed and he laid down.

Instead of laying down next to him, Annabeth climbed on top, laying on his chest. Percy chuckled quietly as she threw one of her legs across his hips and his arms around his neck. "What are we talking about?"

"Anything. What's on your mind?"

Annabeth traced patterns onto his shoulder. "Never leave me."

"And why would I do that?" Percy kissed the top of her head. "I'll never leave you, have I not told you that I love you enough?"

"You could say it more often," Annabeth suggested with a small smile.

Percy laughed and flipped them over so he was now on top of her. He hovered over her, putting most of his weight on his arms so he wouldn't crush her. Gods, she was so beautiful. He'd never understand why she was insecure about herself.

"What?" She whispered.

"I love you." Percy kissed her cheek. "I love you. I love you. I love you." He ended each word with a kiss somewhere on her face. "I love you." He kissed her lips.

Annabeth laughed and pushed him off her so he was now laying next to her. She snuggled against him and sighed in content. "I'm so lucky. Percy, I love you so much. Like, I can't even tell you how much I love you."

Percy hummed and kissed her again. "I think the feeling is mutual."

"We have classes to get to." Annabeth tried to sit up but his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back down. "Percy. You have archery."

"Let's skip," He mumbled against her neck, pressing a gentle kiss there. "We can cuddle until dinner. Maybe even sleep."

Defeated, Annabeth snuggled back against him. "Okay."

"That didn't take me too much convincing," He joked.

Annabeth shrugged and slipped under the covers. "Laying in bed doesn't sound too bad. I'm on my period. I need my boyfriend cuddles."

Percy sat up. "Do you want me to go get you ibuprofen or chocolate?" She shook her head and closed her eyes. "You sure?" She nodded again. "Okay. Let me know if you need anything."

"Just lay down!" Annabeth grabbed his shirt and yanked him down next to her.

"Yes, Ma'am." He pulled the blankets up around them.

Annabeth turned around and pushed her back to his chest and asked him to hold her. Percy agreed and threw his arm over her waist, resting his hand against her stomach. She laced her fingers with his.

It was a few minutes before her breathing slowed, signaling she was asleep.

When Annabeth woke up a few hours later, two hershey bars, a bottle of water, and a bottle of ibuprofen laid next to her on the bed.

Annabeth grinned and shook her head. That boyfriend of hers.