Fatal Flaw. Annabeth (f) Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

[PaperThings]

"Just wait until my mom sees us," Percy said, his ruddy cheeks creased with excitement. "She's going to be so excited!"

"Yeah?" Annabeth replied. She wanted to smile back, bolster this rare enthusiasm of Percy's. After all, it was the first real "trip" they'd taken together, if you could call it that. They were going to spend the last week of December in New York, with Sally and Paul. Annabeth had been excited; after all, how often did she get to spend time with a real family during the holidays? Besides, a whole uninterrupted week with her boyfriend didn't sound so bad.

"Hey, are you okay? You look kind of..." He hesitated. "...Gray?"

"Gray?" she choked out a sarcastic laugh, shaking her head. "Gee, thanks Percy."

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. I guess you look like, tired or something."

Sighing, Annabeth folded her arms. "I guess... I don't know, I just don't feel great." She silently cursed Apollo, who controlled health, for making her sick today.

"Aw, yeah? What's wrong?"

Headache. Sore throat. Itchy, tickling, burning nose. "Nothing," Annabeth replied, trying not to show her exasperation. If she said she felt sick, Percy might try and change their plans. And that kind of babying simply didn't sit well with her; she didn't like feeling taken care of. After all, daughters of Athena were known for their pride issues for a reason. "What is it you want to see next?"

"Uh, some museum you wanted, last stop before my mom's, but Annabeth..."

"Percy," she said warningly. "Don't you dare back out of the things I wanted to see. Come on, I'm fine. See," she straightened up, forcing a smile. Museums always made her happy, regardless of how she was feeling. "And it's not 'some museum', it's called the Guggenheim. Gods Percy, how can you not know that after growing up in New York?"

"Sor-ry." But he was smiling, cheered by the return of her admonishments. Awkwardly, he grabbed her hand, reminding them both that they'd moved from the friendship phase to the relationship one. Despite their frequent make out sessions, it was still easy to forget sometimes.

The walk down to the museum was a fairly short one, but Annabeth felt all the worse by the end of it. Usually snow fascinated her, but this time... gods. Each snowflake sizzled against her skin, chilling her bones to an anguished degree. Her head spun wildly, and the stupid itch in her nose wouldn't go away. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this sick; well, she couldn't remember hating it this much.

"You okay?" Percy asked, feeling her shiver against him.

"Fine," she said flatly. "You better not be asking that all morning, Seaweed Brain."

"Ah, my old pet name, how I've missed it..." Grinning, he squeezed her hand all the tighter.

With a hearty scrub against the tip of her nose, she paid their entrance fee - real money for once, rather than the golden drachmas - and they entered the museum. "Wow," Percy deadpanned, "it's just as boring as I imagined."

Suddenly feeling too sick to respond, Annabeth let him lead them down the line of artwork. "Don't let me ruin your fun though," Percy said, misinterpreting her silence. "I know, I know, I've had my fun, and - hey, are you okay?"

Annabeth had stopped walking, taken the hand not in Percy's and pressed it against her nose. Her lips had parted, pausing in anguished wait of their snap back together. It was the blank, stalled look on her face that caused Percy's concern. Eyelashes fluttering painfully, she managed half a glare back in his direction. "I'm fi - hih - ine," she growled, but she didn't manage to finish the word before her face bent into her hand. "hih-kshieww!" Sniffing, looking enraged, she snatched her other hand out of Percy's.

"Uh... bless you?" Percy said, staring at her.

She clamped both hands to her face now, lacking the time to retort with her usual wit. "Heh..." The tiny, pink edges of her nose flapped in rhythm with her eyelids, drawing her face in and out of its usual guarded stance. All at once her face opened completely, just as her gray eyes disappeared from sight. "Hah - " Then it backed off, and she blinked teary eyes in fury.

"It usually helps me if I look at the light," Percy suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She jerked away, going against every rule of life by following Percy's advice. She glanced up at the fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling, and released the prickly needles in her nose without a second's warning. "Ehhtshoo!" pausing a second, she tried her best to wipe away the tickle, but - "Hehkshoo! Hihshiew! She blinked again, using the back of her hand to discreetly wipe her nose.

"Annabeth, you're obviously sick... come on, let's just head back to my house."

Her cheeks heated up, embarrassed and angry. She did not want to appear this way in front of Sally and Paul. "No. Bercy, I'b fide!" she snapped, wheeling away from him. "Led's just look at the buseub like we pladd."

Frowning, her grabbed her arm. "Let me feel your forehead."

"No."

Her sickness slowed her combat skills though, and Percy clamped his massive hand over her head before she could stop him. "Annabeth, you're burning up! Come on, we're leaving."

"No." But her protests were interrupted by a coughing fit, and then another ticklish knife through the stuffed insides of her nose. She stopped walking again, groaning and cursing in Greek.

"What? Another sneeze?" Percy asked, suddenly a know-it-all on sickness. It made her hate him, momentarily anyway. "Remember, the ligh - "

"I am no-heh-t looking -at hih " He gave a gentle poke to her chin, tilting it skyward. She tried to spin away, but this time Percy put his hand over hers, holding it in place against her mouth and nose. She waited impatiently, despising this part of the sneeze. All her senses sat poised on the brink of sweet release, squirming hot and angry against their net of control. Shutting her eyes in preparation, she finally surrendered and squinted up at the ceiling. Its effect was instantaneous, and jerked her neck forward against the clasp of their hands. "Hekshooh! Shihhoo! K'tshiew!" The final of the three squeezed out with a note of desperation, leaving a lingering itching sensation up her nasal passages.

"Bless you," Percy said kindly, this time letting her shove his hand away. "Okay, now here's what we're going to do. We're going to go to the gift shop and buy you tissues, then we're going to get you a hot chocolate at the cafe. Then, and I really don't care what you say, we're taking you back to my mom's apartment."

"No," she whined, the snuffly edge in her voice making her quite pitiable. "I can't..."

"Can't what? Annabeth, I'm your boyfriend, in case you forgot. If you can't accept the idea of me taking care of you, then maybe we shouldn't be together." He frowned, following her as she padded away from him. "Ugh," he sighed, "it's your stupid pride, isn't it? Well, I swear, one day you'll get to do this for me, okay? Will that make you feel better?"

In truth, Annabeth simply did not have the energy to fight him. As much as she wanted to stay independent, not need anybody, the idea of someone taking care of her just sounded so good. Maybe it wasn't in her genetics to want that, but it was certainly in her heart right now. Pride or not, she would accept; though of course, she would pretend to fight him the whole time. "Whatever." A pause, and then, "... Percy? My nose is itchy."

He laughed, provoking a glare from her. "Sorry," he said, touching her skin to cool it. "We'll get you to bed, alright?" She frowned but nodded after a moment, letting him pull her to the giftshop for her tissues.

They did help, though she felt a tiny bit embarrassed about blowing her nose in front of him. Even so, they came in handy when they caught six more "Eksheww!" sneezes in the lobby. The hot chocolate helped as well, as hard as it was to admit that. Somehow, Percy's stupidity didn't transition into care taking - he actually had a knack for it.

Annabeth drew the line when Percy tried to give her his coat, saying that then he would just get sick too. He shrugged, told her to suit herself, and grinned when they stepped out into the street. Annabeth's features swelled up, prodded into another sneeze. Her enflamed nose twitched uncomfortably, then finally pricked her face into letting out its air. "Hehsheww! Ehkskhioo!" She hadn't even pulled away her hand before Percy had his jacket around her, an arm supporting her every step.

"Don't even try it," he said, using his own finger to wipe her nose. She grimaced at this, but did not automatically pull away.

"Seaweed Brain - "

"What? What kind of protest are you going to do now?"

"Nothing," she said, looking somehow angelic with her red face pressed against the snow. "I just wanted to say thank you."

---

I hope this is kind of what you had in mind . Thanks for reading, everyone!

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Wow... just wow... (I'm sorry I'm replying before "The Artistic Paws", but I really loved reading this).

I'm not familiar with the fandom.... but the use of Greek Gods in a story makes me very happy. (Go Olympians )

Also, I loved how Annabel couldn't make a witty retort due to an impending sneeze.

[PaperThings]

Yay, thanks so much! I highly recommend the book series, since they're all about Greek Gods and everything. They're a little childish, but they're a lot of fun.

Thanks a lot for commenting!

[glowstick03]

hey, great job :] I love this series!

[zneeze]

Another series I know nothing about... but suddenly want to start reading. xD This was great! Hope you continue

[PaperThings]

Haha, thanks guys!

I definitely recommend the books. They're a little silly sometimes, but really fun to read. And they have some sneezing of their own (though all from a cyclops, so it's not too attractive...)

[Kiwifruit]

I've only read the first book, because books are expensive () but I keep meaning to get around to the others! But wait - when did they start dating? That. Is. AWESOME. I really enjoyed reading this anyway; you're a good author

[PaperThings]

Ugh, I know what you mean about books being expensive . It's so annoying.

Uh oh... should I have put a spoiler warning? Um, it's not until the very end (literally - last few chapters) of The Last Olympian.

Yay, thanks so much! I'm so glad you liked it!

[Bluebird]

Eep!

PaperThings, this was FANTASTIC! I loved every bit of it. Thank you so much

What would you like in return?

[PaperThings]

Yay, I'm so glad you liked it! It was really fun to write, since I love the PJO characters. Plus, I've never written F sneezing before, so it was nice to experiment.

If it's okay, I'd also love a PJO fic, Nico or Percy would be my top choices, but Luke would be fine too. Is M sneezing okay? If it's not, I can come up with something else. Thanks so much!

[Bluebird]

M sneezing is fine I'll whip up a Percy story, since I'm not too far in the series (only on book 2)

[PaperThings]

Okay, cool! Thank you SO much!

[Alexandria]

More more more more. Please write more this is an amazing story

[Ciuty80]

wooow it sounds cool

hope you will continue shiver storm when you have time

[ilovesneezing]

Must say I hated the film, but I liked Annabeth. Nice job

[Alexandria]

Please please please please please please please please please please write more of this awesome story! I love percy jackson and annabeth being sick and too proud to admit it is just the best!!!!!

[heckyeahsneezes]

Oh my goodness... That was amazing. O.O

[Meala]

one of the cutest things ever <3

[SuperWhoWolfImmortals]

You got their personalities exactly right! Love this! Especially how stubborn Annabeth is.