The Hate Between Us (Percabeth&Solangelo)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sally Jackson

Annabeth POV:

The sun woke me up. It streamed through the window and fell on my face, making me wince. I felt strange. There was something... missing, inside of me. It took a long time for me to realise that what was missing was hurt. For so long I had been filled with all this... anguish. I had resented the world for taking Thalia away from me, I had resented my parents for abandoning me, I had resented myself for being so lost and misguided and unwanted. But this morning, with Percy by my side – after everything that had been said and done last night – I finally felt at peace. He put a happiness inside of me that I hadn't even known was possible.

I turned over and watched him sleep. Still drooling, but so impossibly handsome. The sunlight made him look peaceful, chiseled, perfect – like a god. I smiled at the thought of spending many mornings like this – an eternity with him by my side. I think I deserved something good like that, at the very least.

But soon I grew restless, waiting for him to wake, because I wanted to hear his voice. I reached out tentatively and, as delicately as I could, traced my fingers across his face, trying to learn every groove of him. He stirred in his sleep, and his eyes opened. Bluer than the sea. I could get lost in them for hours. I had never got to see them this close.

"Were you watching me sleep?" He asked groggily, his voice deeper than usual from the sleep. Attractive. I smiled.

"I'll try not to make it a habit," I whispered.

"No, please do, it boosts my ego. Makes me feel handsome."

"You are handsome," I giggled. "But you still drool when you sleep."

"It's my most endearing quality. You'll grow to love it."

"I already do."

He grinned and then leaned forwards, propping himself up on his elbow to kiss my forehead lightly.

"Gods, if only we hadn't immediately started hating each other when we first met. We could have saved ourselves a whole lot of trouble."

"I still find you annoying, Seaweed Brain. I think, if anything, you'll be an even greater pain in my ass now that you'll be around more."

He laughed again and wrapped an arm around my waist. Even after everything we went through last night, it still flustered me to have him so close, to be this intimate. He gave me goosebumps. I liked the feeling.

"Well you'll have to get used to me, Wise Girl. I'm decidedly never leaving your side."

I pushed my fingers through his messy hair, noticing a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Okay," I just about managed to say before he kissed me. I guess we hadn't quite gotten over the 'desperation' phase, because the kiss escalated very quickly, and suddenly I was filled with that very hungry, desperate need for him. I enjoyed the taste of his lips on mind, his tongue in my mouth, my hands in his hair, his hands on my body. I needed more.

Later, we managed to make it to the morning lectures with only a few seconds to spare. Having Percy by my side during the classes proved to be a new form of distraction now, when all I could really focus on was his eyes, and all I could think about was the events of last night. Over and over again in my head, making me oblivious to the world. At some point Percy leaned closer to me and whispered, "you're blushing, by the way," which made me blush more. I wouldn't tell him why.

And later still, after the other lectures and workshops and after I went to the soccer practise that the college was advertising, Percy and I declined all the offers from the other applicants to go out for drinks. We had the night to ourselves, as we hoped many other nights would be, talking long into the night until the sun came up again. I was disappointed when its golden rays entered the room, because it meant that we'd have to leave Harvard, possibly never to return. But Percy reassured me that things would be fine as long as we had each other, and we joked and laughed together the entire train journey back to Manhattan.