Hold Me Close

Ch. 29

Annabeth

"We should go swimming."

It was Leo's idea at first as he drove them down the coast towards North Carolina. But, of course, after that Percy wouldn't stop talking about it.

"We could go to Florida!" He said excitedly.

"The only good beaches are on the gulf side." I said, leaning my head back against the seat. Percy nodded sadly in agreement but still rambled on about it.

"At least lets go to a water park." He offered.

"You just want to see Annabeth in a bathing suit." Leo piped up from the driver's seat. Percy blushed.

"Well, yeah." He sent me a wink. I rolled my eyes and flicked the side of his face, "But I also love the water."

"We deserve a little break." I agreed quietly, thinking back to how he had been planning and planning for days now. Nonstop we brainstormed about what to do. And we were still unsure.

At the end of it all I wondered if it'd be worth it to just give Luke back his journal and let him kill me. I wondered if he'd leave my friends alone then. But, of course, then he'd carry out his plan and no one would know about it. He'd kill and maim until the world trembled at his name and then he'd become the dictator at last.

I looked over at Percy, who was excitedly listing off beaches and water parks he used to go to. I decided it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth wasting my life when it had just gotten to the good part.

"Let's go." I said, smiling. Percy looked at me in surprise then grinned.

"Yes!" He shouted, then leaned over and kissed me.

"Ew, okay, I've seen enough of you guys kissing to last me twelve lifetimes." Leo said, covering up the rearview mirror with his hand.

"Keep your hand over the mirror, Leo." I said and kissed Percy back.

"Ew!"

()()()

We ended up going to an indoor pool at a motel that we decided to stay in.

It was already getting dark by the time we got there but there was no one near the pool to make us leave it alone. It looked dark in there and eerily quiet but we still snuck in for a while.

We didn't have swimming suits so the boys and I wore shorts and I had a tank top on. I sat on the edge of the pool and watched as Percy and Leo tried to see who could hold their breath while underwater the longest.

Percy won 3-0 but Leo still wanted to prove that he was better so he challenged him to who could hold an underwater handstand the longest. I intervened.

"Just accept that you lost, Valdez." I smiled. Leo narrowed his eyes at me.

"Afraid of getting wet, Princess?" He asked, splashing water at me. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't want to be in the water with two stinky boys." I explained, scrunching my nose. Leo mocked me and Percy feigned being hurt.

"What's the real reason?" Leo asked, putting his arms on the side of the pool.

"I don't know." I admitted, "I don't want to be challenged to a contest or held underwater." I glared at him.

Leo shrugged and grinned, "Whatever. All this swimming is making me thirsty, I'm gonna go get some water. Be right back." Typical Leo, always wandering off somewhere.

Percy swam over to me, keeping his face out of the water from the top of his lips up like a crocodile.

"What are you doing?" I asked hesitantly. He grinned underwater then lifted his head up a little so he could speak.

"Can you swim?"

"Of course." I said, "I took swimming lessons when I was at an orphanage, required, and Leo and I used to swim in lakes when we were little. Malcolm got a pool on his seventh birthday. But Sophie had an accident in it so I never got to use it."

Percy grinned brighter, "Good." He took a hold of my knees and dragged me into the water, laughing his head off.

"Percy!" I tried to push him away but that was difficult in the water. He smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist, still managing to keep us afloat, even though it wasn't strictly necessary.

Percy pulled me closer, his eyes soft and his smile even softer. He reached up and wiped a bit of hair from my face, his warm hand a contrast against the cool water.

His hair hung over his eyes so I swiped it back over the top of his head to get a better look at them.

"I think this is the first time I've seen your forehead." I teased, referring to his new, sweeping hairdo. Percy grinned at me and tightened his arms around my waist. We were pressed completely together. "You need a haircut."

"You don't like the rugged look?" He asked, pouting.

"This isn't a rugged look, Percy. If your hair gets any longer you'll be able to put it in a pony tail." I reached behind his neck to take the ends of his hair in my hands and tug playfully. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head like a dog.

"Then I'll match you." He tugged at my own ponytail. I tried to arch away from his hand but he swiftly pulled my elastic out.

"Now my hair is gonna be wet." I gave him an angry look as I felt my hair drifting over the top of the water.

"It's not gonna kill you." Percy laughed, the sound echoing.

We dissolved into silence, Percy's eyes starting to bore into me. His hair fell back over his eyes and he pushed it back, not breaking the gaze. Something about the way he was staring was intimate and made me slightly panicked. I wasn't sure if it was because my absence of 'romance' for the past couple of years or what, but my stomach was churning and I only gave Percy a few short glances. But every time I did look at him his look said the same thing. He couldn't get enough of me.

It was sweet, it really was, to see him with his small smile and soft eyes as he looked at me. To feel his hands lightly on my hips. But it was sparking something inside me. A want. A need for his presence to be constant in my life.

And it scared me.

I really liked Percy. I really did. But things had come about to quickly that I hadn't had time to assess my whirlwind of emotions that I had felt for him. Not only in these past days but before that. One half of my being screamed that I shouldn't trust him, that I should wait, that I should take it slow.

But the other half grabbed his face and pulled his lips to mine.

()()()

Quick filler chapter before the real schist goes down! But I really needed to give you guys another peek into Annabeth's mind so at least it wasn't unnecessary.