I sat in my dark cabin. A clock claimed it was 2:51 AM, but it could have been 12 if I cared.

Riptide glowed, my only source of light. I held it to the only picture I have of me and Annabeth. It was during the summer before she died. The summer we went to the beach and had the best day of our lives.

"Percy!" she called out to me from the water, holding up a piece of seaweed she found. "I found one of your long lost relatives!"

I smirked and swam over to her, dragging her into deep water. She yelped when her feet no longer touched the seafloor, but I held her close anyways.

"Don't be afraid, Wise Girl," I whispered into her ear. I pulled her underwater in our little bubble. "I won't ever let you get hurt."

Annabeth locked eyes with me. Her startling gray orbs have never shone as brightly as they did now.

"I love you," she whispered, pulling her arms around my neck. Her camp necklace dangled on my chest, brushing mine.

"I know, Wise Girl," I replied with my trademark troublemaker smile.

And then I kissed her, right there. An asteroid could have landed, and we'd never notice.

"I love you too."

"I miss you," I whispered to the picture. "I miss you so much.

"I miss you more than I'd like to admit. "

I looked at the door, sort of expecting Y/N to come through to comfort me. But she wouldn't. She doesn't know what's going on.

"It's so hard," I said. "It's so hard to live without you. And I'm trying to be happy, but I'm not entirely sure how.

"Wise Girl, you were my happiness. You made me remember what being happy was like.

"But since you left, 2 years ago, it's just a shadow."

I set down the picture frame on my dresser. The dresser against the wall I kissed Y/N on. The wall that I did some things to Y/N when she came over.

"When can I see you again?" I whispered, with a tear trickling down my face. I leaned on the wall for support, my hands feeling the cold wood.

"I want to see you again."

But it will never be enough. I'll kiss her again, and want to do it again. I'll crave the scent of Annabeth more and more until I won't be able to live without our lips connected at all times. Kissing for infinity can't stop desire, if your desire is strong enough.

My cabin door creaked open. I immediately got into a fighting stance, the tear already gone from my face.

"Y/N," I breathed.

"I can't sleep," she explained, looking at my clock. "Nico talks in his sleep, and hearing about all Will doesn't help."

My shoulders slackened as I put Riptide back into my pocket. "The top bunk's mine," I said.

Y/N shook her head. "I want to sleep," she said hesitantly. "But -- but with you."

"The harpies --"

"I don't care," Y/N mumbled. "I just want to be with you."

I smiled slightly. "I'm going up first," I said. "Another week of kitchen duties isn't that bad of a punishment."

After getting up, Y/N climbed up to my bed quickly in a white camisole and sweatpants. I draped my arms around hers in a spooning position, feeling the beat of her heart.

"You're beating fast," I whispered. "Do I really make you feel that way?"

Even in the darkness, I could tell Y/N rolled her eyes. "You wish," she replied. "I'm smaller than you so I have a faster heartbeat."

I leaned in closer to her face, dropping a light kiss on her temple. "Let's just pretend I'm right," I said. "And that you get nervous around me and my coolness."

"You choked on your hot dog during dinner and chugged down a 24 ounce bottle of coke to get it down," Y/N accused. "Yeah, you're pretty cool."

"You're right with the 'pretty' part," I replied.

"Shut up and let me sleep," she snapped in a nice way. How do you snap in a nice way? Maybe I should stop thinking.

I brushed Y/N's hair away from her face, my lips brushing her ear.

"Good night," I whispered.

She smiled, and held my cold hand.

"Are you suggesting I have a good night, or commanding me?" Y/N asked. "Could you be saying that it is a good night, or are you saying it will be?"

To my silence, she laughed.

"I got that from the Lord of the Rings," she explained. "Good night, Percy."

I closed my eyes and waited until her breathing evened out.

"Thank you, Y/N," I whispered to long hair in my face. "I know what happy is again."

I looked at my hands wrapped around Y/N's slender body. Cold air escaped from an open window. Winter.

"I am thawing."