Got no reason, got no shame.
I can explain about my online absence for a few days, but I'd rather the Percy X Annabeth X Nico fan fiction do the talking first. Comments are loved of course.
Fire:
Perhaps, the easier word to describe their relationship could be the word ‘affair’, but Annabeth Chase refused to stoop to that level.
She would wait for him by the pool she built behind the Artemis cabin every summer Percy was gone, the warm water scalding her bare feet every time she dipped them in the chlorine waves that lapped against the rim.
Nico had grown over a few summers. His once tiny frame was now muscular and his broad chest burned her fingertips every time she placed her hands on him.
It had started out as an accident. A drunken and lonely night, she often explained to herself despondently. Percy spent most of his days with his father now, helping him rebuild his kingdom. His visits had been short and brief; the empty silences weighed down by slight grief and depression every time he slipped back into the shadows of the water.
It had started out with a kiss then. She recalled how his lips had seemed to burn her upon impact; her shuddering gasps of breath as the rough contours of his chin scraped against her soft skin.
The evidence was still there in the morning- an ugly, red mark caused by friction on her left cheek. She covered it with a plaster. Somehow, lies seemed way better than reality. Especially when it came to spending time with Nico.
Sometimes, she blamed herself for encouraging him. They would meet at the pool every night; the nights spent with passion and with reckless abandon. She liked the way he threw himself into her with a unplanned kind of recklessness, teeth bumping; chins scraping; hands wandering and exploring- he explored her limits with careless, fumbling actions, and she had to admit, she liked it at times.
She never did expect that she would ever lose her virginity to Nico. Somehow, the boy who always came to her mind whenever the topic was mentioned was Percy.
She was glad Nico was always distracted when they had sex- because the name always slipping off her tongue and drifting languidly in the air was Percy.
Ice:
Percy tasted like salt water taffies. Always had, always will.
Their kisses were like melting- the way their lips always moved together in ease and with rhythm; the way they both instinctively knew which way to turn every time the kisses deepened; the way Percy’s fingers would crush the small of her back every time he pressed her against him.
Days on the beach passed by with languid kisses and security. He sometimes laid his arm over like a pillow; pressing her head against his broad arm, he would tell her about his recent escapades- the latest adventures he experienced; and sometimes Annabeth felt like her life paled in comparison to his. Somehow, battling a sea monster of some kind sounded way better than designing a cabin for the children of Hades.
Lazy days of kisses and sometimes a little further than that could never please Annabeth. Every time she watched him slip back into the deep blue of the sea, she was reminded of his eyes and the urge to clutch his hand and never let go deepened.
Annabeth Chase knew that she had always been an independent person.
But there was something about Percy that made her cling onto him like a life buoy. She didn’t like it.
But she needed it.
Fire and ice:
There was no reason or shame left in her now, and sometimes Annabeth Chase wondered about the consequences of her actions.
There would be a gut-wrenching decision to come, but she tried not to think about it.
And as she allowed the rays of the sun to seep against her pale skin, she imagined the day when the world would be consumed by fire and ice.
-Finis-