Camellia

+1: "Te amo."

Standing outside the Forge, Annabeth wasn't sure when exactly she had fallen in love with Pax Barrera. It had been a gradual process; one day she had just looked at him and realised that she couldn't imagine a world without him. Luke had left a hole in her heart and over time Pax had managed to fill the gap he'd left behind. 

After Luke's death, Pax had been the main comforter out of all her friends. He had given her a sense of purpose by encouraging and supporting her as she designed Olympus and when Nico went missing and a mysterious boy named Jason Grace showed up at camp, he invited her to come along with him and Will to search for him. 

Their search had been unsuccessful though Will had been grateful for the help and Hope had arrived in the form of Pax's new half-brother, Leo Valdez, who had announced his plans to build and fly a warship to Camp Jupiter (a Roman camp which was another secret on the long list of important bits of information that Chiron had neglected to tell them, and where, Will had convinced himself, Nico was probably going though hell). 

Thus, the Prophecy of the Seven, had begun (though it soon became the Nine-Ten if you included Gleeson Hedge-as Nico had insisted that they needed a healer and Leo had wanted another child of Hephaestus on board in case things went wrong, and so Will and Pax had become honorary members). Still, even though it had been a bit cramped, Annabeth hadn't minded. Though she didn't admit it, having Pax along had made things enjoyable-he and Will were great peace-makers; just what the crew needed. 

And though she hadn't asked for one, Leo had nominated himself her official wingman, enthusiastically teaching her Spanish to surprise Pax. Though he didn't seem great at the time, he must have done something right because Annabeth and Pax had shared their first kiss before hurrying to save Camp Half-Blood from Gaia. 

Annabeth smiled fondly as she remembered the kiss, but that quickly faded as she caught Pax's figure huddled in the Forge. 

"Hola Handyman," she said, as brightly as she could, "What's up?"

She, of course, knew perfectly well what was wrong. Leo Valdez had died bravely, albeit foolishly, battling Gaia. And as Jake and Nyssa were planning on going to college, they wanted Pax to step up and become Head Counsellor of Cabin Nine. For someone who chose to go about unnoticed, it was a big responsibility. 

"Hi Annabeth," he replied quietly, not turning around from a strap on a piece of armour he was fiddling with. Annabeth sat down beside him, relieved that the usually heaving Forge was alone apart from them. Pax sighed and stopped fiddling with the armour. He turned to face her. 

"I..." he began, but cut off, staring down at his hands. "Every..." He stopped, took a deep breath and tried again, "Every Head Counsellor has had something special about them. Beckendorf was...well, you know, Beckendorf. " He smiled ruefully, "Jake's a mechanical genius. Nyssa's pretty amazing when it comes to hand-to-hand combat and she always has a cool head and Leo is..." He grimaced, swallowed hard as if he was fighting back tears and then corrected himself, "was...a Fire User. And I'm...I'm not any of those things."

He raised his head to look at her and his brown eyes swelled with tears. "I...I'm not anything special. You and the others might think I'm great and all but I...I'm not. H...How can they possibly expect a useless guy like me to fill their shoes?"

He turned away now, putting his head into his hands, and took shuddering breaths. Annabeth gently placed her arm around him, "No one's expecting you to fill their shoes," she murmured. Pax winced, but Annabeth continued, "Sure, you're not a Fire User, swordfighter, genius mechanic or a Beckendorf," she scoffed, "But no one cares about any of that."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Pax mumbled out of his hands. 

"No I'm not!" Annabeth protested, then she paused, "Ok, maybe I am," she amended, "But Pax look at me," she commanded, grabbing his arms and pulling them away from his face. Pax blanched slightly at her steely expression, "You may not be any of those things, but that doesn't matter. What matters is your strengths. You're warm and kind and you're always there for someone whether they like it or not." Pax looked away abashed, "And that's exactly what the Hephaestus cabin need right now. They need a brother who can take care of them and console them."

Pax glanced up at her hopefully, "You think?"

"I don't think, I know, " said Annabeth gently, "Who cares if you're a pacifist? We've got plenty of fighters. Your peaceful nature is why the Hephaestus cabin want you as their leader. And it's why I love you."

Pax's eyes widened, all insecurities forgotten, "Wait, you love me?"

Annabeth laughed incredulously, "Yes, you cretin. Why else do you think I kissed you earlier?"

Pax shrugged, embarrassed, "I don't know. I thought it was a heat of a moment, type of thing." Annabeth scoffed, "No, don't laugh," he protested, "I've got a book here that says..."

He cut off as Annabeth burst into a round of giggles. "What?" He asked, hurt. 

"It's just-" Annabeth took a deep breath, and grinned, "You're even more socially inept that I am."

Pax smiled awkwardly, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"C'mere Handyman," said Annabeth, and, still giggling slightly, pulled him into a kiss. 

It had a taken a while, but Annabeth knew well and truly that she loved Pax Barrera. 

Whew! And that's the end! That may have been one of the most romantic things I've ever written (I find it really awkward to write). Let me know what you think and, as always, please give feedback :-)