Annabeth was asleep beside him, both of them laying on his bunk in the Percy's cabin on the Argo II. Percy was on top of the covers, and he had managed to pull the blanket up to Annabeth's waist. She had to be cold in her camp tank top and athletic shorts, he knew, but he hadn't wanted to wake her.

They were facing each other and Percy looked at her like he was scared to blink and her be gone. He ran his thumb across her cheekbone and jaw and she hummed slightly in her sleep, shifting. He smiled.

They had just talked in the stables and now they. Not that long ago he'd completed his journey with Frank and Hazel and Annabeth had found him and now they were together again.

The memories were fuzzy in his lack of sleep so he didn't try to tap into them. He was just too immersed in the present. Her head laying on his arm, her warm hand on his chest, the scent of lemons and sea-breeze mixing.

Percy couldn't sleep even though he was exhausted. He just wanted to run his hand down her arm and over her facial features until he could convince himself that she was actually there in front of him.

Her warm breath wafted over his lips. Mint from her toothpaste. He felt her shift again in her sleep and her hand balled up some of his shirt and tugged.

He barely suppressed a laugh as he obeyed her, pulling the cover onto her more and wrapping an arm around her. She curled into him with another little hum and was still again.

"Bossy." He muttered, smiling, "Even when you're asleep."

Annabeth didn't reply.

He started stroking her hair, running his fingers through it to relieve it of knots. She never combed her hair. He'd end up having to start brushing her hair for her so she wouldn't walk around with a rat's nest made of hair on her head. Maybe he'd do that when she woke up. A little thank-you treat for finding him at Camp Jupiter.

But it was hard to think of romantic things to do. It didn't seem like such a big deal with Annabeth as it would have felt with some other girl. She didn't pressure him to be romantic at all, she was his best friend and she understood him. But that didn't mean he never tried to be romantic. He just wanted to be romantic for her. But mostly he just went with the flow and sometimes he'd say sweet things he didn't think was sweet and make her blush so it had worked out pretty well so far.

It didn't feel like they'd been dating long but it also felt like they'd been dating for years. Must've been the whole 'growing up together' thing he supposed. That was another reason why he didn't feel pressured to be romantic. They had always been kind of romantic with each other whether they realized it or not.

But he'd been missing for a lot of the time they had been dating... That thought brought feelings rushing back to Percy and he had to shut his eyes. He remembered the times when he wasn't sure if she was dead or alive.

The worst pain rushed towards him as he thought of that. He squeezed his eyes shut even more and reached back to Annabeth's face and occupied himself with tracing her features. Nose. Eyes. Jaw. Lips.

While she was asleep he allowed himself to say something, "I thought I had lost you." He muttered. His heart swelled, "I love you."

Annabeth didn't budge so he assumed she was still asleep. His eyes started stinging as he remembered the horrible days after he had just woken up. The days of wondering if she was okay, alive even. Wondering how long he'd been asleep and if he'd just dreamed the time after the war with her. If that had even been real.

But now she was here and she was in his arms and she hadn't given up on him.

"Percy?" He heard her mutter, "You're crying."

Percy's hand wiped under his eyes but no tears had spilled just yet. He smiled and tried to hide the fact that his emotions were in turmoil from remembering the past months.

"I'm okay. Go back to sleep." He kissed her forehead softly but she didn't listen to him. She rolled to her stomach and pushed herself up onto her elbows. He looked up at her as she examined his facial expression.

Finally, she smiled softly and sat up, still leaning over him, and rubbed her thumb across his cheek and under his eyes.

"It's okay to cry you know." She said softly, "It won't make you any less of a man or anything."

Percy smiled sadly, "I don't need to cry."

"Everyone needs to cry sometimes, Percy." She moved his hair out of his eyes.

"Sometimes." He agreed, smiling. His smile broke though and he swallowed, "Don't leave me."

She looked so surprised you would've though he had said something preposterous.

"What?" She asked.

"I thought I'd lost you." He repeated, reaching over to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her next to him.

"I thought I'd lost you." Annabeth replied sadly.

He chuckled slightly and closed his eyes, "I'll go to sleep if you promise to be here when I wake up." He said.

She kissed his eyelids softly and rubbed her hand down his spine, leaning her forehead into his chest.

"I promise, Seaweed Brain. Go to sleep, I'll be here."

"Okay." Percy breathed, pulling her flush against him. As he was succumbing to sleep he felt her tug the blankets over them and he didn't even bother to think of the implied intimacy of the moment and what someone walking in might think had happened. He was too tired and too relieved that she was beside him.

When he woke up she had kept her promise. She was with him and would be for as long as they lived.