ELYSIAN, the riordanverse

48

ALWAYS YOU

[ a song fic, set in a mortal au ]

[ tw ; smoking. smoking is injurious to health and I do not condone it in any way. It's only been used as this is fiction and was necessary. ]

***

Percy sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. He'd just got off the plane back to New York after traveling everywhere him and Annabeth had gone. The two had traveled the world, their wanderlust only heightening and heightening more. They'd been everywhere.

I went to Amsterdam without you,
and all I could do was think about you

The first place Percy had gone was Amsterdam. It had all started in Amsterdam. He still remembered the girl in the soft grey sweater, arms crossed, gazing at the painting of a city skyline, nothing but adoration in her eyes. He'd walked up to her, she'd turned, their eyes had met and everything had made sense. Percy had gone back to that museum. He'd stood in the exact same spot as he had the last time and the only thing running through his head was Annabeth Annabeth Annabeth.

And oh-oh-oh, I should've known

Maybe Percy should've known that going back would bring nothing but rue.

I went to Tokyo to let it go, drink after drink and I still felt alone

Tokyo was something different, Percy remembered. Annabeth and him had lounged at a hotel, sipping wine, eating food, watching tv. They'd peppered each other with soft, sweet kisses, the movement of her lips dotting his body. It was something from a dream. Percy had flown to Tokyo once more, booked a room in the same hotel, had drunk the same wine, and after finishing an entire bottle, he had still felt alone. He'd looked at the other bed in his hotel room and his mind had brought him to his happiest days.

I should've known

Percy should've known that getting drunk while watching the city skyline would be nothing without her.

I went to so many places, looking for you in their faces

Percy collapsed into a taxi, tiredly waving hi to the driver. He'd gone everywhere. Everywhere they had been, he'd reminisced all of it. He'd spent so many of those nights in bars, desperately trying to find her in other people. But it had never worked. Men, women, everyone. But it wasn't the same. No one had the same dip in their waist, no one had the same dimples in their back at the bottom of their spine. No one was the same as her. Percy had wasted his time looking for her in their faces. He would never find her.

I can feel it. Oh, I can feel it

Percy could feel the regret coursing through his veins. The sorrow.

I'm wastin' my time, when it was always you, always you

He'd been traveling nonsensically for a year, jumping from country to country, city to city, wasting not only his time, but his money too. He knew he would never find her. He knew she'd erased herself from his life, but it was always Annabeth. It was always her. And he was so so stupid to not have realized sooner.