A blood curdling scream woke up the household for the seventh time in less than two weeks. Annabeth was curled up tight on her side, eyes wide open and breathing heavily. Frederick Chase once again rushed into the room but stopped when he reached the side of his daughter's bed. He learned earlier on that there was no comforting Annabeth. On better nights, she wouldn't even notice that he was holding her but on the worse nights, she would panic, scream, and thrash at a single touch. It has been almost a month since Gaea was defeated. Annabeth stayed in Camp Half-Blood for the rest of summer vacation and with Frederick's insistence returned to her family in San Francisco to repeat eleventh grade.

Last December, Annabeth dropped out of her school in New York to focus all her time and effort in searching for her missing boyfriend, Percy Jackson. Frederick struggled to stay in contact with his daughter while at camp through letters but eventually lost the connection completely when she went on her journey in the Argo II. He drove to Camp Half-Blood many times over the course of those months but they wouldn't tell him anything. Only when everything was over did he find out of the terrible and powerful forces that his daughter had to face and even to the point of going to hell and back. He was scared. He was scared of losing his daughter again. He lost her once, and he thought he had lost her again so many times after that. He convinced her to come live with them again and to continue her studies in San Francisco instead. Frederick realizes his mistake now. He wasn't the one who has been fighting by her side all these years. He isn't the one who can comfort her. She needs the boy whose name she whispers every night.

"P…Percy…"

"Dude, you gotta lay back on the video games. How long did you sleep? You look like a zombie." Red commented, walking besides Percy and Chester in the halls of Goode High School.

"Two hours. Hard time, " Percy yawned in reply, "Sleeping."

Chester fixed the glasses slipping down his nose, "Don't you know? The light from screens disrupts the rise of melatonin levels which hinders your ability to fall asleep. Playing video games also rouses emotional responses which makes sleeping even harder."

Red pursed his lips and turned to look at Chester with a deadpan look in his eyes. This is usually the part where Percy makes a good-natured joke on Chester's expense and they would have completed their normal conversation routine. But Percy just yawned again and mumbled, "Yeah, that's great," as he continued to walk towards their lockers.

Red and Chester, used to their friend's morning sluggishness, just shrugged and followed.

Percy stared at the dial to his locker for twenty whole seconds, his sleep addled brain wondering what he was supposed to do again, before his friends brought him out of his reverie and turned the combination for him.

"Now, Percy, first period is Biology." Chester pronounced every word, akin to when one is talking to a toddler, while pointing out the needed books. "That's this blue book here."

Red was laughing on Percy's other side.

Percy gave Chester a half-hearted glare and snatched the Biology book and two others to put in his bag, his friends' antics finally waking him up.

"Who's that? She's hot." Chester said with a mouth hanging slightly open.

Nicole, another one of their friends, just arrived in time to hear, "I heard some of the gossips talk about her. Her name's -"

Percy had already turned around and couldn't believe his eyes. He wondered if it was just him seeing things because he really needs sleep but he rubbed his eyes and blinked multiple times. She was really there.

She was looking a bit lost as she scanned the number plates on top of each locker door, probably looking for hers. Percy left his friends and strode over to her, maneuvering through the crowd. She took notice of someone's eyes on her and turned. They froze.

Percy felt his breath leave him, not because of the few steps that he took, but because she was really there. Two weeks hardly seemed like anything after all those months Hera separated the two of them or when he had to let Annabeth find the Mark of Athena alone. But these two weeks definitely took a toll on him. Being away from camp and separated from Annabeth brought to the surface all the memories he wanted to bury from their missions. But she was there now. Right in front of him, to be exact. There were a hundred questions he wanted to ask her, a hundred thoughts suddenly running through his brain, but nothing came out and before he knew it, she was already in his arms.

Annabeth felt tears prickle in her eyes. She wanted to hit herself. Since when did Annabeth Chase let emotions rule her? She blinked away the tears and snuggled deeper under Percy's chin. Annabeth never wanted to leave New York. She wanted to help repair Camp Half-Blood and stay with Percy but having accepted death many times over in the past months made her realize how much she also wanted to mend her shaky relationship with her family. Aboard the Argo II, she would sometimes imagine herself spending time with her family. It would bring a smile to her face and fuel her motivation to stop Gaea but at times it simply made her sad. Her thoughts were a reminder of everything that she wasn't able to do with her family - she couldn't even tell Bobby and Matthew apart. But after her first week at home and her fourth nightmare, the twins were sent to stay over at their friend's house while she dealt with her trauma. The thought brought a bitter taste to her mouth and made unwelcome memories resurface. She pushed them aside. Annabeth was simply glad to be back in Percy's arms.

Percy kissed her then and all her inner demons vanished. They broke apart and Percy smirked, "Do I get to judo flip you this time?"

Annabeth quirked a smirk of her own, "You could or I could just do this." She reached up and gave Percy another kiss. "That works," Percy replied with a smile on his lips against hers.

"Ehem-ehem," Annabeth heard someone cough behind Percy, forcing them to break apart.

Annabeth blinked blankly at the girl who interrupted them.

"Oh, sorry," Percy said, wrapping an arm around Annabeth's shoulders. "Annabeth, these are my friends - Nicole, Red, and Chester. Guys, this is Annabeth, my girlfriend."

Nicole was shorter than Annabeth and was leaning on the round side. She seemed to be of mixed race. She had tan skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair cut in a messy bob. She had a bold fashion statement. Nicole was wearing a bright orange button down with a neon pink skater skirt and flats. She reminded Annabeth of Clarisse for some reason. On closer inspection she realized that both Nicole and Clarisse gave off a I-won't-take-any-shit-from-anyone vibe.

"Hullo. Pleasure to meet you," British accent, Annabeth noted. Nicole held out her hand for Annabeth to shake and she firmly shook it.

Red was as tall as Annabeth was. He had a gangly figure with scrawny looking arms. He was a typical all-American teenage boy wearing a Coldplay band shirt and pants.

"Hi," he also offered a hand for Annabeth to shake.

Chester was undoubtedly round. He looked like a stereotypical nerd with glasses and a pimply face. Annabeth has only been in school for the first time last year but she knew what bullies looked for in a target and Chester seemed like the perfect poster boy.

"Hi, welcome to Goode," Annabeth also shook Chester's hand.

"We didn't think Percy was actually telling the truth when he mentioned a girlfriend," Nicole laughed.

"Hey!" Percy grinned back at them and down at Annabeth.

Annabeth grinned at all of them. They were an odd mix of people with their own quirky, individual personalities but they were so… normal. She felt great. Annabeth needed some normal in her life and with Percy by her side, Annabeth is looking forward to the Goode life.