When all was said and done, and we had made it back to camp, it was almost like normal. With some changes.
Camp went an extra two weeks, Grover took over the Satyr Seekers, Nico was building the Hades Cabin with help from other campers. And Annabeth was constantly going between Camp and Olympus, reworking designs, getting all her half siblings in on it too, and rebuilding The Palace of the Gods.
When she was in camp, it was like old times. She snarked, I was stupid, and Grover, or whoever happened to be around, would mediate.
Except…except.
Things were different. In the battle for Olympus, seeing my blonde friend in danger so many times, being offered immortality and knowing that I'd leave her behind…
I had realized that I loved her. I mean as much as a teenager can, I definitely really liked her and I wasn't at all opposed to dating or even kissing her.
Except, she loved Luke. Always had. Even when he was Kronos. How exactly could I compare to the guy who had saved her life? Never mind that I had also done so, several times in fact.
But when she was a child and on her own, it was Luke and Thalia who had saved her. Given her a home, a family. She grew up with him as her sworn protector. He had taught her to defend herself, how to identify monsters, how to defeat the monsters.
Why would she want plain ol' Seaweed Brain when there was the Hero? Especially since it was technically Luke who defeated Kronos and saved Olympus, not me.
So things were strained a little. On my end anyway. I had a friend that I trusted more than anything, who I could always depend on in a fight, who was smart and clever… That I loved. And she loved someone else. A dead someone else.
Which made things even worse because there's nothing quite so romantic and tragic as loving a redeemed hero who dies in the end.
Thankfully, everyone was so busy with rebuilding Olympus and Camp construction, that what may have been normally noticed went unnoticed. The pain that struck my chest when I thought about Annabeth ( and by extension Luke), the grief that pulled on my heart every time I saw her, spoke with her, worked with her, was unbearable.
And never have I been so happy that Camp was over and I had to return to the mortal world.
Maybe a year in school would help clear my mind. I could forget my feelings for her. Move on. Maybe next summer, things would be back to normal.
Maybe.
.x.
A/N
Not quite as heartbreaking/angsty as I wanted it, but it suits well enough for the next companion piece.