“Sorry, she gets what?”
She laughed. “How serious I am about you, Seaweed Brain.”
My chest tightened, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling—more like a snug woolly sweater being wrapped around me. “So you think she helped me for your sake?”
As I said it, I realized it made a lot of sense. At least, way more sense than Athena helping me for any other reason.
“She knows I am going to see this through,” Annabeth said. “I’m going to make sure we both get to adulthood and have a chance to settle down—hopefully after having a lot of fun while we’re in college.”
“You had me at fun,” I said. “Actually, you had me at the whole thing.”
I told her what I had thought about while I wrestled Geras, how I’d decided to hug it out with old age because any future that had us in it was a future I wanted to live through.
“Oh, my gods.” Annabeth brushed away a tear. “You know, sometimes you can be so sweet.”
“Only sometimes?”
“Let’s stay focused, shall we? You still have two more letters of recommendation to get before winter break. That means two more quests for the gods.”
“Easy-queasy.”
“You mean peasy.”
“No, I’m pretty sure it makes me queasy. But we’ll make it, right? I mean, if even your mom is on our side . . .”
“I wouldn’t press too hard on that point, but it’s a good sign. And, yes, we’ll make it. Hey, Percy?”
“Yeah.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I think I might love you.”
“Ah, crud. I was afraid of that. I love you, too.”
“Finish your homework. Good night.”
“Good night, Wise Girl.”
And as we always did, we rolled toward each other, breaking the Iris-message as we came together, but in the mist and the last flecks of light, I thought I could smell her presence, and feel the warmth of her hug.
Honestly, that was enough to make me believe anything was possible.
Except homework. I fell asleep almost immediately. And for once, I had pleasant dreams.