disclaimer: the percy jackson series is not mine and I take no credit, whatsoever

"Hey," Annabeth Chase greeted quietly at the banks of Camp Half-Blood's lake, the afternoon sun slowly burning out, the energetic atmosphere finally calming down into a relaxed buzzing.

Her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, was staring thoughtfully at the shimmering lake water, a frown set upon his face and a crease forming between his eyebrows. "You okay?" she queried.

He stayed silent, raking his fingers through his hair, looked up at her, and suddenly asked, "Have you ever felt used before?"

Annabeth was taken aback. Where had that come from? As she stared at the teenager in front of her, she saw no trace of the carefree, goofball of a boyfriend she usually had the pleasure of laying her eyes on. She frowned at the question that brought up many deep issues. "I have," she said slowly and shot him a look, "Have you?"

"Yeah," he said curtly, "But, not just felt used. Been used."

She sat down beside him, leaning into his rigid figure, which softened at the contact. "What brings on this rather deep thought?"

He shrugged and shot her a small smile. "I can be deep when I want to." She chuckled.

His mood turned somber. "I was just- thinking I guess, reflecting. These past few weeks have been-"

"Crazy?"

"Horrifying, is the better word."

She nodded in agreement. "So many people have died... Silena, Beckendorf, Michael, too many to tell you now. I- I just have all this pent-up grief and anger. I don't... I don't know how to handle it. All I can think of is how much I hate them. How much I hate everything," he confessed, head in hands. Annabeth's heart wrenched at seeing him beat himself up; her Percy was still the soft-hearted boy he always had been; it was good to know some things never changed.

"I- I can't feel like this anymore; it's tearing me up. And- and it's dangerous. This is what drove the other demigods to Kronos. I don't- I don't want to stand against the gods, but I don't like standing with them much better. I want to stand for- something good. For something that matters. Not some stuck-up assholes of immortals."

"And what does it matter what I do anyways? Our actions will go useless; there will always be another foe to conquer, always another evil lurking, always another monster ready to tear your throat out."

"We are always seen as pawns. And that's all we are, Annabeth. Pawns used to win a game, that's not even worth playing. And no matter how often we are their saviours, no matter how devoted we are, they will never return the favour."

Annabeth took in a deep breath, watching the sky evolve into an interchanging kaleidoscope, "That's true."

He turned to look at her. "Is that all you're going to say?"

She laughed and his heart warmed; she was so beautiful.

"What else is there to say? I could tell you the long list of reasons of why it sucks to be us, but what is easier is to just tell you: in all of this lunacy, we have us; we have our love and our memories and even if one of us, or we both die tomorrow, we will still have had the privilige of having this and that's all we could have really hoped for."

He smiled at her words and said, "I love you so much Annabeth Chase, I can't put it into words."

"I'd be surprised if you could," she teased and stuck out her tongue.

"But I love you too, Percy Jackson. More than you'll ever know."