Hold Me Close

Ch. 25

Percy

I couldn't get her words out of my head.

"Here, try this. You'd look good in it." She had said about a million things. It was a foreign idea to me that she would think I looked good but the possibility that she would think I looked good was enough to make me jump at the chance.

But I still felt slightly guilty. She had fallen out of bed that morning because she was startled to see me asleep beside her. I didn't want to know what had ran through her head when she saw me in the same bed as her.

Now we were in the car and Annabeth seemed fine. She kept teasing me by brushing her fingers against my hand and up my arm but when I tried to hold her hand she would pull away. Leo was asleep in the backseat so I whispered when I spoke.

"You know exactly what you do to me and yet you still do all this." I shook my head. Annabeth smirked, running her fingertips up my arm again. All my muscles tensed when she did that and it took all my self-control to keep my eyes on the road.

"Hmm, and what is it that I do to you, Seaweed Brain?" She asked. I glared at her from the side of my eye and she smiled innocently.

"You're a lot more irritating now that you've opened up to me." I decided. She grinned harder.

"Sorry, then. Do you not like it--" She moved her hand away from my arm but I grabbed it and laced our fingers together.

"That's better." I decided, squeezing her hand. She glanced back at Leo but he was still snoring.

I kissed her knuckles lightly, "I have a question."

Annabeth rubbed her thumb across the back of my hand and hummed, looking over at me. Her gaze still made my body temperature rise but I managed to hide my awkwardness as I tried to figure out how to word it.

"What are we?" I asked. Annabeth was quiet as she looked at our hands that were entwined on the arm rest.

"I don't know." She admitted, "What do you want us to be?"

I paused, "I want... I want this to not be just fun and games. I want it to be real. I want... I want whatever you feel for me to be the same as what I feel for you because... What I feel for you is stronger than anything I've ever felt."

Annabeth looked touched, her lips parted and her eyes wide. Then she smiled and leaned forward to kiss my cheek, "I feel the same."

()()()

We stopped at a gas station after about two hours of driving. There was no one there but the cashier, who looked annoyed when we walked in because it meant he couldn't read his magazine any longer and had to do his job, so we didn't have a line to wait in. After getting some drinks and doing our business we were off again.

Annabeth drove so I got a chance to have a snack of Cheez Its and a granola bar. Leo kept wiggling around in the backseat until Annabeth told him to calm himself or she'd turn the car right around and head home. He plugged in headphones to my phone and listened to my music instead while he fiddled with pipe cleaners.

I didn't take the chance of reaching over and taking Annabeth's hand for fear that Leo would see. But I did press my shoulder against hers as she drove which would have looked casual to Leo.

"So, tell me about your sister." I said, chewing a stick of gum. Annabeth kept her eyes on the road but I could see the hurt flash in them.

"Well, she was about two years old when she was adopted by my... By my adoptive father." She swallowed, "Malcolm was the first one to be adopted. Two years later it was me, when I was five, and then two months later it was... It was her."

"What was her name?" I asked softly. Annabeth gripped the steering wheel, turning her knuckles white.

"I don't... I don't want to talk about her right now." She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. Annabeth shook her head.

"No, Percy, it's alright." She sighed, "I need to prepare myself for... For if we find her."

"We will." I promised. Annabeth didn't respond so I respected her space and leaned back against my chair, staring out the front window.

"Sophie." She whispered.

"Huh?"

"Her name was Sophie."

()()()

The rest of the car ride was long and tiring. I took a nap and woke up two hours later, much to my surprise.

Annabeth was still driving, her eyes trained on the road and her mouth set in a line. I looked back to see that Leo was asleep again. I sat up, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Annabeth you've been driving for three hours. Pull over, it's my turn again." I said softly. Annabeth blinked, probably exhausted.

"We have three hours left." She said as she veered to the side of the empty road. She got out of the car and walked around to my side.

Before she could get in the passenger's seat I placed my hand on her hip and the other at the side of her face. Making sure Leo was asleep, I kissed her. Annabeth wrapped her arms around my waist and held me close, moving her lips with mine.

"Get some rest." I told her, brushing some hair from her face and kissing her forehead.

"Yessir..." She chuckled, kissing my jaw lightly before getting in the car.

My body was buzzing from kissing her-- Lord, the things she did to me-- but I managed to get the car off the side of the road and moving again. Annabeth laid her head against her window and closed her eyes. Her breath evened in barely a minute.

"Have a little snack before you started driving, bro?" I heard Leo ask quietly. I startled, the car jerking slightly before I got it back under control.

"Leo! Um..."

"I know you did. I mean, I saw you and Annabeth eating each other's faces on the side of the road." Leo grinned.

"I don't..." I swallowed. I wished Annabeth would wake up and help me with this but I didn't want to disturb her sleep. I guessed if just have to bear through it.

"Yeah you do. Now, exactly when did that happen?" Leo asked, "When did you guys become novios?"

"Novio- We haven't really discussed... I mean... I haven't asked her to be my, uh, novia." I stuttered. Leo patted my shoulder.

"You should! I mean, you want to be her boyfriend right?" He asked.

"Um, yeah."

"Then ask her! I bet she wants to be your girlfriend!" He said in a sing-songy voice.

"Shush, Leo." I blushed, looking over at Annabeth, "I told her I liked her just last night. I don't want to push her."

"Aw, man! That's what I missed while I was in the gas station!" Leo shook his head, "Oh well. Just, don't hurt her okay? And, please no more face-eating while I'm present. She's like my sister."

"Um... Deal." I nodded.

Leo seemed content and laid back in his seat again, looking out the window.

Oh boy, I thought, this is going to be a long trip...