She's sitting (very tentatively) between his legs, leaning against his chest and trying to focus on the blueprint she's working on and not the firm muscles under Percy's shirt. The day is hot and windless, and Annabeth is extremely self-conscious of the sweat beading on the back of her neck, the stray hairs poking out of her ponytail.

She is even more conscious of Percy's hands on the front of her waist, and the breaths she can feel him taking, his lungs filling and collapsing. It's somehow comforting – not just the fact that he is breathing at all, that he is alive and so is she, but that she knows it is okay for her to do this. It's not overstepping any kind of boundaries they'd tried to place between them. The thought is so nice she can't hold back a smile.

"What?" says Percy, giving her a playful little shake.

"Nothing," Annabeth says as she draws a few more lines. When she looks back at him, she's still smiling, and he just looks at her for a long moment that she ends with a quick, but nonetheless deep, kiss.

She pulls away and tucks some hair behind her ear. "I just like being able to do that."

Percy's eyes are sparkling. "I like it, too."

Annabeth turns back to her sketch and he drops his chin onto her shoulder.

"Nice doodle," he says.

"It's not a doodle," she says automatically. "It's a design."

"A design for what?"

"A temple."

"A temple for who?"

A glance to the side reveals his grin.

"Do you ever stop?" she asks, but it's good to know that some things never change.

"No," Percy says, and repeats, "A temple for who?"

Annabeth hesitates, then says, "Hestia."

His eyebrows raise in her periphery. "Hestia?"

"Well, yeah." And then maybe her words are a little rushed, a little defensive, a little embarrassed: "I'm not actually sure they'll let me build it, because she's a 'minor goddess,' but I don't think she should be, anyway, because – well, home is more important than anything, right? It's more important than war or music or – or even wisdom sometimes, because home is… it's home, you know? It's where the people you love are, and they… they come first. They're important."

By the end of this she's blushing, ready for a witty remark, but Percy just says, "Yeah." She can feel it rumble in his chest.

"I hope that wasn't too Hallmark for you," she says a few seconds later.

He chuckles, saying nothing except, "Well, that temple's looking pretty good."

"Thanks."

Then he says quietly, "Hey, Annabeth?"

She can feel his heart banging and is suddenly anxious. "Yeah?"

Percy takes a breath; his exhale gives her goosebumps. Then, before she can even register what's happening, he's brushing feather-soft kisses along the side of her neck. The touch of his lips against the sensitive skin there is electric, and she barely realizes that she's holding her breath.

"That tickles," she murmurs, half-involuntarily shrugging him off and trying not to gasp.

Knowing him, Annabeth guesses that Percy smirks in the pause that follows.

"Really?" he says, the smile in his voice. "You're not laughing…"

And as he moves to resume, she turns her head so his mouth finds hers again – he tastes like the ocean and the sun and a lingering finally – she thinks he could become her home someday, and that she has all the summer she'll ever need right here.

a/n: my annual birthday present (a day late) for my friend Zoe. happy birthday! again!

this takes place close to the end of summer in TLO. percy and annabeth are still adjusting to being a couple, so this moment is... definitely new for them.

reviews would be very much appreciated... for this as well as for my other stories. ;D

thanks so much for reading!

~whispered touches

disclaimer: i do not own percy jackson. it belongs to rick riordan. no copyright infringement is intended.