Title: Overreacting
Genre: Percabeth Fanfiction
Word Count: 2571

Author's Note: wooooow I should not be awake. Anyways, prepare yourself for some dRAMATIC AS FuCK percabeth and some tEEn aNGSt. Also the title is bad so bare with me. But hope y'all like :) oh also this takes place after BoO

~-0-~

It was a Friday night at Camp Halfblood when everyone was celebrating the Fourth of July. Things had been back to normal lately, and Annabeth was grateful for that. Some normalcy was nice after once again saving the world.
Annabeth was excited to have fun with her friends. They deserved it after all they had been through. Frank and Hazel were spending The Fourth in Camp Jupiter, but Jason, Leo and Piper were here.

Percy came back to Annabeth with a soda for each of them. She smiled as she watched him walk through the crowd. The setting sun cast a golden glow over his face and hair, making it look silky soft. Which it was—Annabeth enjoyed running her hands through it more often than she'd like to admit. She couldn't help the grin on her face as he looked up and smiled at her. He made a motion as if he was going to throw the can of soda to her.

"Percy, no," she warned, almost laughing. She knew he was joking. He smirked.

He finally made it to her and carefully handed the can to her. "A ginger ale for the lady." He bowed.

Annabeth laughed. "Thank you. It would have exploded if you threw it, you know," she said, taking a sip.

"Of course I did, Wise Girl. But your reaction was pretty funny," he chuckled, sipping his coke.

"Shut up." She shoved him playfully. He just pulled her in by the waist and kissed the top of her head. She let her head rest on his shoulder, sighing in content. Her heart fluttered even after almost 3 years of dating, he just made her that happy.

Just then, Leo walked over. "Hey guys!" he exclaimed. He was using the tone that someone who wanted something used.

"What did you do now, Leo?" Annabeth asked exasperatedly. 

"What? I didn't do anything," he said, looking at them like, come on, me?

"Oh really? Then why is Piper storming over here?" Percy asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Leo looked back and squeaked. "Wow, she's almost as scary as Annabeth when she's angry," he mumbled. Annabeth internally smirked. "Hey, I'm just gonna... make my way..." Leo ran behind them both, hiding. It could have worked, considering they were both taller than him. But Piper had already seen him.

"Hey Leo," she called. "Would you happen to know how my drink started turning my teeth blue?" She showed her teeth. They were, in fact, very blue. Annabeth and Percy bit back snickers and stepped aside so Leo was visible.
He clung to Annabeth's arm and laughed nervously. She shook him off playfully.

"Uh... no, I-I have no idea," he said, his voice an octave higher.

"Oh really? Because this didn't start until after my conversation with you," she said through gritted, blue-stained teeth. 

"Oh is that Calypso calling me? I think it is. Gotta run," Leo laughed again before sprinting off in the other direction. Piper looked at Percy and Annabeth like, I can't catch a break.

Annabeth laughed sympathetically. "Good luck." Then Piper walked off. Percy reassumed his position of one hand around her waist. "You wanna dance?" she asked.

"Are you kidding?" Percy asked rhetorically.

"Come on," Annabeth whined, tugging on his hand. "You barely ever dance with me."

"And that's for very good reason," Percy said before sipping his soda.

"Exactly! Show us those famous Percy Jackson dance moves. Give the people what they want, Jackson," Annabeth joked. They laughed.

"Alright then," Percy sighed. He put down his drink and let Annabeth pull him towards the crowd. She felt giddy and happy as they made their way around the beach. The Apollo cabin was DJing, of course, and luckily, Annabeth got Percy with the perfect dancing song—I Don't Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Beaber. It was catchy enough, and it was one of the few pop songs where Annabeth really related to the lyrics. As long as she had Percy, she really didn't care what was happening around her, because she knew she'd be okay. And especially as she watched him dance ridiculously. He flailed his arms and failed to the wave. Annabeth laughed over the music.

"What is that?" she guffawed.

"What? I'm dancing," he yelled, smiling.

"That is not dancing." Annabeth shook her head.

"Oh really?" he asked. "How about this?" He changed things up—he started doing the robot. Annabeth laughed even harder. "Or this?" She assumed he was trying to break dance, but it was hard to say. He kept making eye contact with her every so often, making stupid faces. She was nearly in tears. It was the kind of bust-a-gut laughing that only certain people could get out of you.

"Let me help you," Annabeth insisted. Percy let her take his hands. She was still out of breath as Percy grinned from ear to ear at her. They began doing a sort of fast sway, which wasn't as funny as Percy's dancing, but was still a lot of fun. He spun her, and they laughed. She was having so much fun, and for the first time in a long time, she wasn't worrying about a prophecy or a deadline. She was just having fun with the love of her life.

~-0-~

Annabeth had left Percy for a second. They had been dancing for a while, and at this point were both ready to take a break. She went to get them water while Percy waited for her around the bonfire. She grabbed two waters and started making her way back across the beach. She caught her breath as she stared down at her shoes. She was finally a few feet away from the bonfire when she looked up.

And she couldn't believe what she saw.

It was Percy and his lips on someone else's.

Annabeth recognized the girl as someone from the Hermes cabin. She dropped the waters. It seemed to happen in slow motion. Percy suddenly pulled away and saw Annabeth. His eyes went wide.

"Annabeth, it's not- I swear, I-" he stumbled over his words.

"Save it," Annabeth said, cutting him off abruptly. She felt tears stinging her eyes as she turned around and walked off the beach. She could feel everyone staring at her, their eyes like lasers burning right through her. Percy called after her, but she ignored him. She ran off the beach and all the way back to the Athena cabin. Of course, she had to run into one of her siblings, and of course they had to be making out with another camper.

"Please get out," she said, trying to stop her voice from wavering. They quickly left, no questions asked. Annabeth finally sat on her bed, and the tears began pouring. She couldn't help it.

He was the love of her life. He was everything to her, and that was a lot coming from her. It was difficult for her to fully commit to someone like that, but with Percy she just knew. Time after time, she was ready to lose everything for him. She remembered when she was offered a spot on the Hunters of Artemis. She remembered the look on his face—it was like his stomach had just fallen out of his body and hit the floor. She had felt the same way when he was offered immortality. They had given up these incredible opportunities for each other because they loved each other. And it wasn't just romance; it was deeper than anything Annabeth had ever felt before. He was her best friend, her other half. When they had fallen into Tartarus, Annabeth wasn't sure if they would make it. But she wouldn't let Percy or herself die; there was no way one would be able to live without the other.

Even after all they had been through—every near-death experience, every loss, every victory—it didn't seem to matter anymore. Because he had kissed someone else. He had wanted someone else. Annabeth fully trusted Percy with her heart and her reliance. But he threw it away. It hurt so much because she knew she would never, ever do something like that to him.

Annabeth let herself cry. She wasn't sure for how long, but no one had come into the cabin. She finally got herself up off the bed and wiped her face. She focused on taking deep breaths. She knew that it was unwise to jump to conclusions, but she couldn't help it. She decided to go to Rachel's cave. She needed to clear her head for a moment, and that was the perfect place to do it. Rachel said that Annabeth was welcome anytime, and no one would be there now.

Annabeth finally got there, lanterns lighting up the space. It was quite nice. She could just barely hear the party over at the beach, which meant that the cave was otherwise silent. She sat in the middle, on the floor. She closed her eyes and let the silence overcome her.

~-0-~

It had been two days since the party. Annabeth hadn't talked to Percy since. If she did, she'd probably end up judo-flipping him and then storming off with tears in her eyes. So instead of embarrassing herself, she avoided him all together.

That morning at breakfast, she sat with her siblings at the Athena cabin's table. She glanced over at Percy every so often. He looked miserable. There were heavy bags under his eyes and, from what she could see, stubble along his jaw. She tried to push every urge to walk over to him that she had away. She stared down at her food and made light conversation with her siblings. They all seemed to be tiptoeing around her. She wasn't focused on it enough to care really, her head was just such a whirlwind of thoughts that it was hard to navigate.

After breakfast, she decided to go the combat arena again. She had been taking out her frustrations there. Yesterday she had cut up about 85 dummies and left the arena an absolute mess of straw and hay. Some other campers had gathered around to watch, including a few new campers. She didn't want to scare them, but it was a little late now.
She grabbed her dagger and invisibility cap; she liked to use it to get around. She didn't want Percy to see her. She was really working hard to avoid him. When she was finally at the arena, she pulled off her cap and set it aside. She unsheathed her dagger and pulled out a line of dummies. She began her motions; thrusting and slashing and everything in between. It was a frenzy of swinging and swiping and stabbing.

By the time she had finished, she was drenched in sweat. Once again, a few campers were looking on. It seemed that Annabeth had beaten her record. 93 dummies had been cut down at her hand. She focused on catching her breath and regulating her heart beat. She looked around at the crowd once again. But this time, she saw Percy, the last face she wanted to see. She ducked her head down after the split second of eye contact that they shared. She then sheathed her dagger and pulled on her cap. With her invisibility, she slipped out of the opposite entrance.

Annabeth made her way to the beach, avoiding the bonfire area. She walked as far down as she needed to; now she was alone, nothing but the sound of crashing waves around her. Annabeth placed her cap on the sand. She sat down at the shore and pulled off her sweaty shirt. She had a sports bra on, so it didn't really matter. She pulled off her sneakers and socks as well, leaving them with the rest of her things. She leaned back on her hands, looking out at the ocean.

It reminded her of that time in Rome when Percy came back in a huge wave to give her her dagger. She smiled at the thought, before feeling sad. The memories of the party rushed into her head, and tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them away.

"Annabeth," a familiar voice called. She knew who it was just by the rhythm of their steps. She didn't look up. "Annabeth, I need to talk to you." Percy sat beside her.

Annabeth was silent for a few moments. "Then talk."

"Look, what happened at that party, it wasn't me. She just sat down next to me and started talking. I didn't want to be rude so I just made light conversation," he rambled. "But then she kissed me, and I pulled away as fast as I could. She totally caught me off guard," he explained. Annabeth remembered the look on his face, the way he abruptly pulled away. Maybe she misunderstood it.

"But Annabeth, I love you. There is no one in this entire universe that I would rather be with than you." Annabeth sat and carefully listened. "You have given me everything that I could ever ask for. And out of all the shitty luck I've had, the fates at least gave me an incredible girlfriend and best friend, all in one brilliant, beautiful person. And I couldn't ask for anyone better, because that person... simply doesn't exist," he chuckled, making Annabeth as well. There were tears in her eyes, but not from sadness. She was so overwhelmingly touched. "I am so sorry that I ever made you, for a second, doubt how much I love you and how strong my faithfulness is." He paused, looking directly at her. She finally met his eyes, a tear running down her cheek. "Can you forgive me, Wise Girl?"

"Of course I can, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, smiling. Then he leaned in, kissing her softly. She pulled away and stared into his gorgeous eyes. "I'm sorry too," she started, staring at the ground. "I completely overreacted, and you didn't deserve that," she apologized.

"Its okay, Annabeth," Percy chuckled a bit.

"And now that I think about it, that was just stupid. You'd never cheat on me, you just love me too much," Annabeth joked, smiling.

"I do. I love you so much." Percy smiled.

"I love you too," she said. "And I know for sure that you do—I'm all sweaty and you're still kissing me."

Percy laughed. "I'd kiss you no matter what your state of hygiene was."

Now it was Annabeth's turn to laugh. "Yeah, but I should still hit the showers," Annabeth said. Percy stood up before grabbing Annabeth's hands and pulling her up as well. They began their walk down the beach.

"You know, I could probably slip in there too," he joked.

"Yeah right," Annabeth laughed, shoving him lightly. She was glad to be back. It felt good to have her Seaweed Brain back in her arms. She really didn't deserve him, but she was unbelievably grateful that he was in her life.

They just loved each other with everything they had.

And that was what really mattered.

~-0-~