"Perseus Jackson!"

  Annabeth stormed out of the house holding up a dark blue sopping-wet towel. "I found this on my side of the bed!" She fumed. "How many times do I have to tell-"

  A plume of water engulfed Annabeth, leaving her soaking wet. Percy grinned, grabbed the hose, and ducked around the side of the house. They'd been married four years now, and he still never got tired of pranking her.

  Annabeth sputtered, then ran after Percy, unsheathing her knife from her side. Another blast of water hit her as she turned the corner, but this time she leapt through it and snatched the hose away. Annabeth aimed it at Percy, but the hose refused to cooperate. Controlled by Percy, the water spun back into her face until she dropped it, gasping. Then her foot slipped on the muddy ground, and she cried out and fell.

  Percy immediately abandoned the hose and dashed to her side. "Annabeth?" He touched her shoulder. "What hap-"

  Annabeth leaped up suddenly, tackling him into the mud. She put her knee to his stomach and her hand at his throat, and smiled down at him triumphantly. "I believe I win," she smirked.

  Percy hooked his foot around her legs and heaved her over, putting her in the same position. "Not quite," he retorted.

  Annabeth raised an eyebrow, than spat a gob of saliva on Percy's neck. As he jerked back, she punched him in the stomach, then sprang up and ran back the way she'd come. Percy sprinted after her, heedless of his muddy jeans.

  Percy chased her around their small house out in the woods, laughing the whole way. Closing in on her, he hollered, "Can't outrun me, Wise Girl!"

  Annabeth swung herself up into a nearby tree, balancing carefully. Percy hauled himself up after her as she climbed higher, trying to escape him, but he caught her ankle and pulled her back down onto the lowest tree branch.

  Percy steadied her with his arm, then pressed her against the tree trunk teasingly. He brushed her wet curls out of her face, then kissed her lips gently. Annabeth melted into him and returned the kiss eagerly.

  After a few moments, Annabeth tilted her head back out of his reach and whispered, "Just don't put your wet towels on my side of the bed again."

  Percy laughed. "I promise it won't happen again," he murmured back, pulling her head back within his reach. He kissed her again, savoring the lemony scent of her hair and the way she leaned into him as he kissed her. He remembered their first real kiss, at the bottom of the lake at Camp Half-Blood, and then their wedding four years ago, how radiant she'd looked. And as he'd done many times since the age of sixteen, Percy fell in love with her all over again as they kissed in the branches of the birch tree.

  "Yoo-hoo!" Grover's voice came from the driveway of the house. There he was, getting out of his dark green Jeep, grinning madly as if Percy and Annabeth had just gotten together. "Hate to break this up, but just letting you know I'll be inside!" He trotted inside the house, knowing he was always welcome.

  Percy looked at Annabeth and smiled. "Guess we should go hang out with him, since he came all the way out here to visit us," he said.

  "Guess so," Annabeth agreed. Then she pushed him off the branch, laughing as he crashed down onto his rear.

  "Hey!" He yelled playfully, brushing himself off. Annabeth jumped out of the tree, landing gracefully on her feet, and took off running again towards the house. Percy scrambled up, and they both laughed merrily as the chase began all over again.

By a_girl_of_fidelity