It's the end of the day and they've been fighting. Again.

She throws herself onto her bed and screams into her pillow, knowing that across their tiny New York City apartment, he's probably doing the exact same. Her cheeks are flushed and her grey eyes are smarting with tears. She gulps for a few even breaths and tries to calm herself down, hardly able to even remember what they'd been fighting about this time. Rolling over on her side so she can look at the rain pouring outside on the fire escape, Annabeth tries to recall how it had even started, that fight. Who made the first cutting remark? Who fed fuel to the fire?

Closing her eyes, the demi-god continues to take deep breaths and calm the raging storm going on in her head. Of anger, of hurt...what had she said to him? How many times in that five minute fight had she managed to insult some part of his Seaweed Brain?

She hates fighting with him. But what she hates even worse is the silence after the fight. It's too quiet, and the thoughts in her head have no where to be directed at. She can't concentrate on how mad she is at him because suddenly, he's not there. The silence swallows up her anger in seconds.

And then she realizes how much she wants...needs him to walk back into the room. Maybe smile at her, make some joke at how stupid this fight was anyways. She needs some sort of anchor in her life, something that reassures her that some things just can't and won't change.

Sighing, she stands and brushes the last of her tears from her cheek. In less than five seconds she's at the door, and walking across the room to the couch. He's leaning back, his eyes closed and he's breathing just as slowly as she is.

"Percy?" Her voice wavers.

He opens one eye, and then the other, to look at her. They don't say much; words have never been their forte when it comes to relationships. He holds his arms open, an invitation, and she takes it. Walking forward gingerly, Annabeth melts into his embrace, curling up in his lap and resting her head in the crook of his neck. The rhythmic beat of his heart is more comforting than she could ever know, and his arms around her are just what she needs.

"I'm sorry." He mutters somewhere in her hair and she nods, repeating the same words back. They sit there, and Annabeth knows that everything is right again.

Because they may fight, they may drive each other crazy, they may say things they never meant to say, but at the end of the day, when all is said and done, she knows she'll end up right back here. In his arms, listening to his heart and just being with him.

At the end of the day--no matter what happens--she'll end up loving him all the same.

Author's Note: Written for the PJO fic battle on LJ, posted here. Not my usual standard Percabeth, but I hope you liked it, please review!