Hi. My name is Annabeth Chase. I'm twenty-two years old. This is the story of how I and my boyfriend, Luke Castellan, had our normal lives ripped away from us by job transfers, love, and two people.

I hope you feel bad for me after reading this as well.

I was sitting in the main hall of my apartment, laughing as I watched a "Friends" episode. Ah, that show will never get old. I was sitting there, watching the television intently, trying (and failing) at trying to eat my ice cream with a spoon from a bowl, when my phone rang.

I balanced my bowl on my lap, and then looked at my phone. I smiled. It was Luke Castellan, my awesome boyfriend. He worked as a lawyer, and not to brag, but he is pretty good. That's actually how we met. This jerk called Track- no, Travis- stole my purse, and luckily the police caught him. I was that close to getting him in jail. Then he asked for his lawyer, who happened to be Luke.

Now, Luke wanted me to drop charges, and he would pay me an amount. I'll admit I was tempted, but on the other hand, I didn't want that a-hole Travis going away without a parting gift, now, did I? I told Luke that we'd take it to court if we had to. And we did. My lawyer and friend, Piper McLean is good, but she was no match for Luke, who explained about Travis's "troubled childhood" and "lack of a good role model", which I still think is some total bulls**t.

As we were leaving the courtroom, my mind was swirling with thoughts like, Damn, that thief got away easy!But that lawyer, though. He's good! Not to mention hot! Luke suddenly came up to me and said he hoped there were no hard feelings between us and asked me for my number. And what did I do? I gave it to him. Who could resist him? Certainly not this girl.

We went on a few dates and got to know each other before we started a more serious relationship. Luke moved into my apartment around a year ago. Since then, we've been in a solid relationship.

I answered the phone, and Luke's voice rang out.

'Hey, Annie,' he said. I actually hate that nickname, but I let Luke get away with it.

'Hey, Luke,' I said. Sorry if you expected "honey" or "babe", but we had both agreed pretty early on that nothing of that sort would be exchanged between us.

'So, as I just won the case I was working on, I've decided to take you out for dinner. So, where do you wanna go?'

That got me thinking. Where to go? Finally I said, 'Gramercy Tavern?'

I heard a sigh, and he started with the usual, 'Oh, but Annabeth, that place is such a pain to get a reservation in-' I cut him off with a please and more begging.

After a while, he finally said, 'Okay, get dressed, I'll be there in a minute,' before ending the call.

I ran into my bedroom and quickly changed out of my casual T-shirt and shorts into a pair of blue-black jeans and a checkered shirt.

I walked back into my hall, and had a look around to see if anything is out of place. It was a rare apartment which I'd gone through hell to get. Why did I have to go through hell to get it, you ask? It looked exactly like the apartment in the T.V show "Friends". You could have said I was a little bit obsessed.

Once through the door, to the left, there was a little kitchen, opposite which there was the T.V and two sofas. To the right and left of the T.V, there were two rooms. The one on the left was originally mine, at least until Luke moved in. Opposite my room, there was the bathroom. In between my room and the bathroom, there was the balcony. Opposite the balcony, there was nothing much, just another bathroom and a room that the owner told me not to open, though I'm not sure why.

I was just done with washing my bowl of ice cream in the sink when Luke walked into the apartment.

'Hey, Annie,' he said and immediately went and fell on the couch, suit in disarray and hair tousled. I sighed.

'What about dinner?' I asked menacingly, crossing my arms above my chest, head tilted. This was what Luke called my "convincing stance".

'Oh… um, I couldn't get a reservation for tonight, but, um, maybe we could go for a movie?' he suggested, every bit the nervous boyfriend faced with his very scary girlfriend.

I sat down beside him, trying not to let my disappointment show. 'Okay. But which movie?' His smirk did not reassure me.

'I was thinking…'

We stormed out of the cinema hall, laughing our heads off.

'That… was… hilarious!' I managed, trying to catch my breath from too much laughing.

Luke wasn't faring that well with the not-laughing-head-off thing. In fact, he seemed more winded than me.

'That is the first movie ever that managed to gross me out while making me laugh,' he said. 'I didn't know R-rated movies could be this funny!'

Once we managed to get in the car, we drove home, arguing about which one is better: rock and roll or rap. In case you're wondering, I'm for rock.

'"Light 'Em Up"!' I argued with Luke.

'"The Real Slim Shady" is much better,' he shot back.

'Granted, but what about "The Phoenix"?'

'You've got me there, but "Rap God"!'

'Oh, please! Eminem can do better! That song has no substance, just someone blabbering super-fast.'

'Fine, then. "Love The Way You Lie"?'

'"Centuries",' I stated as we pulled up at our building.

We continued arguing all the way up to our third floor apartment. I opened the apartment and as soon as I switched on the lights, about a dozen people jumped out from the bathrooms, bedrooms and behind the couch.

'Happy birthday, Annabeth!' they screamed. Luke came over and put an arm around my waist.

'Surprised?' he questioned, and I tried to ignore the fact that he knows I hate surprises, yet did this. They seriously get on my nerves.

I looked around the room, and saw some people I loved. I saw Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Katie Gardner, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, all smiling up at me. I smiled back, trying to remind myself that I'm not gonna meet him again, even by chance.

Okay, I should probably back up. See, when I was around twelve, I had a neighbor in New York. His name was Percy Jackson. We were best friends. I moved away to San Francisco when I was fourteen, and by the time I came back to New York three years later, he'd moved away as well.

I've never seen him since, and there's always been a corner of my heart hoping to see him. After all, he is a long lost friend.

The guys rolled in a cake on a tray. It said "Happy Birthday, Annabeth the Smart-Ass!"

I didn't make that big a deal of it. I cut it, and within minutes, we were crowded around the T.V, paper disposable plates in our hands filled with cake. We each had a glass of wine, waiting for Luke to put in the disc for our scary movie.

Soon enough, the lights were gone, and we were all huddled together, and within minutes we were screaming. I mean, there's a limit to how much you scare a person! Come on, James Wan!

Anyway, after the watching one of the scariest horror movies I've ever seen, everyone started to leave. As they left, they handed me their gifts. Most were books, and some others were merchandise, like a Yankees cap. Everyone knew I was a hard core fan of the Yankees.

'Bye, Annie. Bye, Luke,' they said as they left. Thalia, as usual, didn't settle for a simple good-bye and said, 'Bye, guys. And get to the naughty stuff tomorrow. It is pretty late,' and ran before I could catch her.

Luke shook his head. 'Why do you even try to fix Thalia's head? You know she's nuts,' he said, then seeing my face, added, 'In a good way!' and smiled.

I thought back to when Luke and Thalia first met. When I started dating Luke, Thalia was desperate to meet the new guy to give him the "Best Friend's Seal of Approval" (Yes, that's a real thing), and when they saw each other, they had looked pretty stunned. From what I could gather, they'd dated back in college.

Of course, that was history. They were good friends now.

After the last person left, I closed the door and immediately leaned my back on it, exhausted. Luke stood there for a while, bearing a look I had never seen on his face before. What was it? It was doubt, which confused me, because Luke was a pretty confident guy.

'What's wrong?' I asked, and he immediately switched to his usual smile. Once again, I began to wonder, what was Luke hiding?

'Nothing,' he said, which didn't exactly reassure me. He pulled me up from the couch and dragged me into the room.

'So,' he began, once we were inside, 'I have something to tell you.'

I frowned. People usually don't say that unless it is bad news and they're trying to prolong saying it to you. Nevertheless, I said, 'Sure, go ahead.'

He said it in one quick sentence. 'I have a business opportunity in L.A., and I'll be gone for almost a year.'

At first, I thought, "This is bad news?"

'Well, that's great! When are we leaving?' I said, genuinely excited.

He looked up and said the bad part. 'That's the thing. My company's been cheated out of some money in a case unfairly, and they're currently having financial troubles. This is a gold mine case, and I'm one of their best, so they're asking me to go. I was so excited I didn't think twice. I said yes. Later, when they gave me the tickets, there was only one. I asked them about you and they said that I have to go alone and that I'd already said yes, and if I backed out now, I'm fired.'

I thought that the bad news was that he got fired. Nope. He was going. For a whole year.

I was naturally depressed, but I tried not to show it. 'Well, you better get back packing. When's your flight?'

'Tomorrow morning,' he said, holding his head low. I shook my head, went over and said, 'Hey, I'm going to be fine. Now, you should worry about yourself. Get packing.'

He looked at me, a slight smile tugging at his lips. 'Yet you wonder how I fell in love with you?' he said, and I smiled back, trying to hide my sadness.

When I woke up, I saw that Luke was already dressed in a gray suit and a blue-black striped tie, and was talking to someone on the phone urgently in the living room. I yawned and padded into the kitchen, fixing myself a bowl of cereal.

'Good morning,' I said. He turned to look at me, smiled, and then went back to his call.

I waited until he was done before asking, 'When's your plane?'

He looked at his watch, and said, 'About two hours.'

That was the moment I decided to speak out. 'Can't you stay here?'

Luke gave me an apologetic look, and said a line I can't say I didn't expect. 'You know I have to, Annie.'

I nodded my head in understanding.

After I showered and put on some dark blue jeans and a, I helped Luke with his bag and put it in the car.

We drove to the airport, listening to our favorite songs, like "Closer" and "Beat It", but we didn't sing along. We sat in almost perfect silence.

When we reached the airport, I tagged along up until the terminal.

Luke turned around and faced me. 'So, this is it, I guess. See you in a year?' I said. He didn't say anything. He just pulled me close and hugged me.

'See you in a year,' he agreed. He turned and walked away. I don't know how long I stood there, watching Luke walk away, but it must've been a long time, because an elderly woman came up to me and asked, 'Everything all right, dear?'

I turned to look at her, smiled, and said, 'It's nothing. Thanks for asking. Uh, bye,' I said, and walked away. I could feel her eyes on me, filled with curiosity as to why I was so sad.

I managed to keep a straight and emotionless face all the way to the car. There, I cried. I continued to cry until the tears absolutely refused to come out.

I drove home and sat around, moping. It was Sunday, so university classes. I expected a couple of kids over soon, as I was tutoring some of the kids in my building for some extra money. Also, I liked teaching and learning.

Anyway, since they were coming over, I had to look presentable. I'm not into fashion; I just think I should look a little nice, not like I'd just had a binge crying session. Though I did.

I went to the washroom and spent a good amount of time washing my face. As I did, I thought about random things, like how Luke and the others never understood why I go to architecture school, because I'd once given in a lot of ideas to my mother, Athena, during the renovation of the multi-million-dollar company she worked in, Olympus. I, on the other hand, thought that there was much more to learn, and always tried to learn more.

When I came out of the washroom, it was 11:30. I pushed the couch to a side and set up five foldable tables. At around 12:00, some kids started coming into the apartment.

'Hey, Ms. Chase,' they said as they sat down. I smiled at them, then immediately looked at the troublemaker of the group, Dave, and held out my hand, saying, 'Homework. Now.'

After an hour of teaching multiple different subjects to five kids who simply refused to understand something as simple as algebra, I fell on my couch, exhausted. The room fell into a kind of peaceful quiet, when, suddenly, the sound of my phone screaming, "I'm a, I'm a, I'm a Starboy" interrupted.

I ran to pick up my phone, excusing myself. I looked at the contact and then saw "Luke". I ignored the call and set it back down. I wasn't in the mood to talk to him.

That night, I slept peacefully. I took up the whole bed, let myself drool, and acted like no one was watching (because no one was). I felt…happy.

Don't get me wrong, I missed Luke. A lot. But I wished that he'd told me that he was going earlier. I could've gone with him, or at least tried. Now, I had no chance of going to L.A., because I didn't save any money, plan ahead, nothing. I was pretty mad at Luke, but I can never really hate him, not completely. After all, he is my boyfriend.

~One Month Later~

As I sat eating my bacon in the morning, I sighed, trying to get my mind off Luke. He was gone. He was gone for a whole year. I needed something to do, a job to earn extra money to pay the rent. But, I'm already struggling with architecture school and tuitions. I needed a roommate.

Just then, Piper burst in to my house, fuming.

'Hey, Pipes, glad you learned to knock,' I said as she flopped onto the couch.

'Hey. So, you remember that case for a divorce, with some Gabe as our defendant? Oh, my god, that guy is nuts! As I questioned him, he finally agreed, then asked me why I cared if he hit his wife. He's hitting her, for God's sake! I wanted to punch him then and there, but Thalia and her Hunters of Artie-'

'Artemis,' I corrected her.

'-group did the dirty work outside the court after we won the case.'

'What was your client's name, again?'

'Sally Jackson. Oh my god, she has a son, about a year older than me, and he is so hot!'

I shook my head, saying, 'Seriously? How many guys are hot for you, exactly?'

She rolled her eyes at me, defending herself, 'Hey, what's wrong with me thinking a guy's hot?'

'You tried to make a move on Leo!'

'And it worked, didn't it?'

'It could've ruined your friendship,' I said, and she shut up for a while, but my victory was short-lived, 'cause she just continued, 'Anyway, the hottie apparently needs a place to stay, so I said I'll check with you.'

I thought it over, and I didn't see any problem with the idea. After a long think-over, I decided, 'Okay. Gimme his number,' I said, and she started rattling off numbers, which I dialed into my BlackBerry. I called the number, and a guy picked up.

'Hello?' a voice came.

'Uh, hi. You're a… friend of Piper McLean's, right?' Bad way to start a conversation.

'Uh, yeah, I know her. What are you calling about?'

'Oh, I'm the one Piper mentioned. You know, about the room.'

'Oh, right! Um, what's your name?'

'I'm Annabeth Chase,' I said, and I heard a fumbling sound like he'd almost dropped the phone.

When he put it to his lips again, his voice was but a whisper.

'Annabeth?'

'Uh, yeah?' I said, confused.

'Do you remember me?'

I frowned, wondering how he knew me.

'Uh, I'm not sure. What's your name?'

'My name's Percy Jackson.'

There. I'll update only after a while, because my other story is in desperate need of updates. Anyway, leave a review! Constructive criticism is appreciated. If you like the story and want more, follow and favourite. I'm only rambling right now to increase the word count.

Also, before I forget, beta-ed (does that word exist?) by the amazing Silverfyre16. Do check out her stories, she is just awesome.