The Sound of Silence

Percy had always been known for the quiet troublemaker kid in school. That's the reputation you unavoidably get when you switch schools every year, don't have a lot of friends and sit at the back of the class quietly trying not to cause any trouble. And well, simply not really giving a fuck.

But at home he talked a lot. He used to tell his mother everything. He told her about the cool bug he saw on his way to school or the ink of his pen running out. He didn't care about what it was about, if only he could just talk, to let his opinion be heard. Just talk.

Only later, when he had a busy toddler himself who wouldn't stop talking, he realized what he'd put his mother through. Though when he told her just that she had laughed it off and kissed his cheek telling him that she loved him and his talking.

She had never snapped at him or told him to shut up.

Yet when he reached the age of twelve he didn't want to talk to his mother about everything. He still talked to her all the time, but not as much as he used to.

And at camp he didn't feel the need to talk too much to everyone. Except for one person.

Though they hadn't gotten along at the beginning once they had started talking at his quest it felt like they never stopped.

He could talk to Annabeth about everything - well except his undying love for her (though later he would declare it to her every day). They talked about camp, family, friends, Greek mythology, teachers and school in general.

The older they got the more intense the conversations between them got. The more personal and about the more touchy subjects.

There was this one time when they were fifteen and when it was in the late evening and they had snuck up on the roof of his cabin.

Annabeth complained about her mother and how she had warned her yet again about Percy.

"It's driving me crazy when she starts talking about you and your father again. How dangerous he is and so you must be too." She explained, taking a sip of her coke, "I mean mom, just stop!" She shouted at the sky, getting nothing in return. Athena was probably too mad to do anything just now.

Percy stared at her in shock, his mouth hanging a bit open. When she saw his face she laughed and softly closed his mouth with her hand, grabbing his chin.

He suddenly got a flashback of when she had did that just a few weeks ago, when she had kissed him in the Labyrinth. Only now there weren't evil seals wanting to kill them and an erupting volcano. And he knew there wasn't any fire around them, but damn, it felt like there was.

"I like this new side of you." He complimented, voice low and faces dangerously closer than they had been a few minutes ago.

He truly did like this side of her. Since the Labyrinth she had gotten more rebellious towards the gods. The Annabeth Chase of six months ago would not have just yelled that at her mother.

She smiled - and did he see that right? - she was even blushing.

"Not that you needed the rebellious side, I just like that you stand up for yourself now. You deserve it." He added hastily.

Hell, Annabeth deserved anything.

But of course he didn't tell her that. 

"Thanks, Perce."

As much as he didn't want to, panic rose inside of him. Should he kiss her? He really wanted to. But did she want to? She was still holding his chin and leaning close into him.

He debated this philosophical question if he should kiss the most likely love of his life or not. But panic won and he pulled away and laid down on the roof and she did as well.

"So what do we think of Paul?" He asked, she had been at his birthday yesterday and met Paul Blofis, his mother's boyfriend of a couple of months by now.

"He seems really nice. And he seems to really like your mother. And you." She added the last part.

Percy chuckled, "Yeah I like him too. He treats her well. And it's best if someone is there when I'm- you know... dead next year."

At that she slapped his arm and sat up.

"Percy-"

"What? It's true. I'm most likely dead by next year."

She wrapped her arms around her knees and looked away.

"I don't want to discuss that. It sounds like you've already given up."

"I'm not giving up." He shot back.

"Don't talk that way then!" She snapped, tears in her eyes.

"Wise Girl..." He started, grabbing her arm, but she already cut him off.

"You're my best friend Percy. Probably the only person in this whole world I trust completely. I can't lose you. Promise me you won't give up. Promise me you'll try to survive."

He nodded and grabbed a hand, now smaller than his. Gods, he was so glad he had started to grow. He put her hand on his heart, which was beating fastly, and covered her hand with his.

"As long as this heart beats, I promise you that I will try to survive. You're not getting rid of me that easily, Wise Girl."

She let out a watery laugh and fell in his arms. He wrapped them around her, a bit shocked, and held her hoping this would last for forever.

—----------

"Do you want to talk about this?" Percy asked as he was shoved against the outside wall of his cabin.

"No." Annabeth replied as she carefully looked around her one last time. "Enough talking, not enough kissing." She muttered, her lips against his.

"Can I say that this is really hot?" He muttered back, the feeling of her lips against his driving him insane.

She only laughed before kissing him.

He melted and suddenly couldn't form any coherent thought.

When she pulled away they were both out of breath.

"Was that good?" He asked, one hand on her waist and the other one holding her cheek. He wasn't used to this. Holding her like this and actually kissing her.

She laughed, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. "Good is an understatement, Seaweed Brain."

He sighed relieved.

"I think that this is pretty much the best birthday gift ever." He said earnestly and leaned down to kiss her again.

They had just gotten out of the lake, before they had kissed and he was pretty sure they were together now. Well, of course they were together now, they were kissing. But like, together together. As in, "I want to spend my whole life with you. I want to see you everyday, kiss you everyday, talk to you everyday, just be with you everyday."

He had already fallen hard, hadn't he?

He didn't really care though. Because why would you, when Annabeth Chase; the most amazing, smartest, beautifulest girl in the whole wide world, wanted to be with you too?

He smiled as he pulled away again from the kiss and looked closely in her eyes, never being more thankful for everything that happened to him.

"I think that everything we have been through has been worth it because of this." He told her, though he sounded confident he was as nervous as could be.

"I like that thought." She told him back a bit giddily.

"I like you."

Though he had expected that she would hesitate, she didn't and replied without hesitation, "I like you too."

"I love you." He almost said, but he knew Annabeth well enough that he knew that that would scare her. Maybe it was too fast.

Maybe everything moved too fast. But he didn't care because she was right there with him and he was sure he loved her.

But that was for now just a private thought.

She interrupted his thought, dragging him down a bit, by pulling his neck down so that his face was closer to hers.

"I know you love to talk, I love talking to you as well. But I really want to kiss again." She joked.

He laughed and cupped her face with one hand, the other pulling her even closer and kissing her again.

He knew that nothing was sure. Everything could be changed, if not only by the gods' wills. But yet he knew for a fact that this was something that would last forever.

And from that moment on that was something that would last forever.

"Can you believe this?" He asked.

"Percy please go to sleep." Annabeth muttered, sounding exhausted.

"I'm sorry but I just can't believe it. I can't believe that we're finally here."

"New Rome? Yeah it will take some adjusting."

"Yes but we're doing it, Beth. We're alive and going to college." He smiled and pulled her close to him.

"I'm just so happy right now."

"Me too." Annabeth replied and rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Want to stay up late?" She asked, "We can go to a diner."

He smiled and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, "I'd love to."

From then on going to a diner in the middle of the night kind of became a monthly tradition, well until they were 27 and the baby came along.

They would pull an all-nighter and eat, drink and talk. Even when it felt like there was some distance between them or they were busy, those nights would always bring them closer.

He remembered every time they walked to the different diners, holding hands and Annabeth slightly dragging Percy along as they talked and joked.

Sometimes he would stop and swirl her around and kiss her. Sometimes they huddled together under an umbrella or ran in the rain and tried to push the other in a puddle.

He would always remember that smile and the sound of her laughter.

———————

"Percy!"

"Percy!"

Percy sat up in their bed and rubbed his eyes as he looked at the alarm clock and saw it was only 7 a.m, he couldn't quite locate where the sound had come from, but he did notice Annabeth wasn't next to him.

Though he didn't have to wait long to see where she was as he saw his beautiful wife running out of the bathroom, probably one of the biggest smiles on her face as she threw something at him.

He caught it and looked at it with confusion, his mind still fogged with sleep.

Annabeth jumped on the bed and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

He squinted his eyes and suddenly saw it; two lines on a stick, one vaguer than the other, but still there.

"Wait. Is this-" He stammered, not wanting to jump to conclusions but also overjoyed if it was what he thought it was.

She nodded excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"You mean..." Though he allowed himself to smile.

She nodded again and this time he couldn't contain his grin, also spreading from ear to ear.

"We're going to have a baby?"

"We're going to have a baby." She repeated softly, smiling sweetly, sounding as if she couldn't quite believe it herself.

He jumped up and pulled her with him, laughing and picking her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and giggled as he twirled them around.

"We're going to have a baby!"

He couldn't quite believe it. They had been trying for a half a year, and he knew that it wasn't that long, but it truly felt like a gift from the gods.

He eventually stopped twirling and stood still, their foreheads together and looking into each other's eyes.

"You know, I never dared to dream of this. Having a family of my own, I mean. I thought I would be long dead by now. And especially never with someone as amazing as you. But here we are." He said so softly, it was almost a whisper, not wanting to break the silence.

"Here we are." She replied just as softly.

"And I couldn't be happier than to do this with you. I love you so much." He confessed, pressing a soft and short kiss to her lips. Hoping he could somehow express his never ending love for her.

"Me too. I love you so, so much, Percy. And I know you're going to be an amazing father."

Tears filled his eyes and though he felt the urge to look away or close his eyes, he kept looking straight in her eyes, wanting her to see his emotions. He didn't hide from her anymore. He was all hers and she was all his.

"You're going to be an amazing mother, Beth." He whispered.

Parenthood had been something they had both been insecure about. Neither of them had grown up with a good mother- or father figure - Annabeth with neither really - but as they had said a long time ago; as long as they were together. And both of them really wanted it. Someone that was part of their family.

And after a lot of long conversations about this, they both were sure about their child wish and started trying.

He looked again at her and smiled that soft, lopsided smile he only reserved for her.

She bit her lip softly before at the same time they leaned in for a kiss, Percy deepening it. Trying to tell her how he felt.

He slowly started to walk backwards until his legs bumped against the bed and he let himself fall backwards on the bed so that Annabeth was on top of him.

She let out a laugh, but they never really stopped kissing.

He put one hand on her stomach, the other one tangled up in her hair, still not really believing that there was a baby - well fetus - inside there. A little person that they had created.

A product of their love.

And well, about a year later here they were; walking on the beach in Montauk, with that product of their love.

Though that 'product' had a name now; Damon.

His heart fluttered and a smile spread on his face when he thought about his son.

"Is this good?" He asked Annabeth. She nodded and began unpacking the bag, unloading blankets and food and drinks.

It was April, Damon was three months old now, and they had agreed on keeping a Jackson tradition alive and taking Damon to Montauk.

As he took Damon out of the strawler he smiled, 'A Jackson tradition'. 'Jackson'. He looked at his son, Damon Jackson, and then looked at Annabeth who beckoned him over, Annabeth Jackson.

His name, his family, their family.

Something that he was a part of. Somewhere he was truly wanted.

"Percy Jackson, Annabeth Jackson and Damon Jackson." He whispered softly, just to be sure it was real. Because he still couldn't quite believe it; How could this beautiful girl have agreed to marry him and be with him forever?

Annabeth's and Damon's laughter interrupted his thoughts as she walked over to them and pressed a kiss to Damon's forehead, who was in Percy's arms. She softly grabbed his chin and kissed him.

"Your mouth was open."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be, it looked cute." She grabbed one arm of his and guided him to the blankets where they sat down. "Too deep sunken in your thoughts?" She asked, handing him some food.

He nodded, "Sometimes I just can't believe this."

She nodded understandingly, "Me too. When I look at you and him, see how much you're alike, I can't believe how lucky I am to love you."

He didn't say anything, but smiled and looked at Damon. He really looked alot like him, he had his eyes, nose and well actually face mostly. Though he had blonde curls that made him look like the most adorable baby. But you could say Percy was biased.

"It's amazing how things like these turn out, isn't it?" He asked, more as a rhetorical question.

It was exactly as what they had said to each other during the pregnancy, as comfort to each other. Upcoming parenthood had really scared the shit out of the both of them. Especially when they found out Annabeth was carrying a boy, Percy had had this panicky feeling from then on until the birth when he held Damon for the first time. Because how could he be a good father? How could he show him what it's like to be a man?

But things indeed turn out amazing.

He stretched his hand out for Annabeth to take it. And as always, she did.

"As long as we're together." He muttered.

She squeezed his hand in response, nothing else had to be said.

Words aren't always necessary. With Annabeth everything was clear, they knew each other so well, that they didn't need words to have a conversation. One look was enough, one squeeze of his hand was enough, one hug, one kiss was enough to understand each other.

And though he loved to talk, though he loved to share his thoughts with her, to make Damon laugh at his jokes, he closed his eyes now and listened to the waves, the seagulls from faraway and to the sound of silence.