It was breakfast time, and all of the campers were down enjoying the waffles and pancakes. Except one particular Athena child. Annabeth sat sniffling on her bed, crying about the news she just heard. Her dad was dead. He'd been killed in a home invasion robbery. Chiron was summoned, and he, with the help of a few campers, tried to coax Annabeth out. Only one camper, however, succeeded.

Percy knocked on the cabin door quietly.

"Annabeth? C'mon, Annabeth let me in please."

He heard a small sob, and Percy opened the door. He saw Annabeth sitting on her bed, tears still falling down her face. She turned away from the door so that Percy couldn't see her tears, but who was she kidding? She wanted nothing more than to curl up next to Percy and sob. And sob. And sob.

Percy walked in, closing the door behind him. He went and wrapped his arms around Annabeth, who gratefully took the embrace and sobbed into Percy's shirt. He silently rocked her back and forth, knowing nothing he said would soothe her. After a couple of minutes, Annabeth wasn't calming down, and Percy knew campers would come in soon and that Annabeth would hate the attention.

"C'mon, Annabeth." Percy said, getting up and pulling Annabeth's hand.

"W-where are we going, Percy?" she asked.

"My cabin." He said simply. She looked like she wanted to protest, but she was too worn out. Percy led her out the back door, knowing they could sneak through the woods and right up to his cabin unseen. He used his empathy link with Grover to ask him to ask Chiron to excuse Annabeth from all activities that day.

Percy opened up the back door and sat Annabeth down on his bunk. She backed up into the corner of it, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

Percy's PoV

I didn't know what to do. There she was, my girlfriend, sobbing and hunkered down in the corner of my bunk, and I had absolutely no idea how to comfort her. But I knew I had to do something. So I went up and genteelly pulled her out of the corner, to lay next to me. She laid her head against my chest, trying to regulate her breathing. I stroked up and down her arm, her back, pulled strands of blond hair away from her pretty face. She shuddered every now and then, putting her breathing uneven again.

"Per-Percy… Where am I going to go? After camp?" Annabeth asked finally. This threw me for a second, and before I could answer, she went on.

"I mean, camp ends next week, and… and…" Annabeth went into another fit of sobs, reburying her face in my orange Camp Half Blood T-shirt. I didn't really get why she was so worried until I thought about a little bit. She'd go back to San Francisco. Back to bad memories. And back to her step mother.

"You-you could arrange to stay, can't you?" I asked. Annabeth shook her head on my shirt.

"Not without a parents consent. And, legally, my stepmom is a parent." She said. That could go two ways: her stepmom could not want to deal with her and let her stay at camp, or she could torture her and force her to come home, keeping us apart and, more importantly, making Annabeth miserable. I knew I shouldn't dwell on it, so I just focused on soothing Annabeth.

One Week Later

Percy's PoV

Annabeth's stepmom was forcing her home for the year. And Annabeth was seen crying pretty much every day. We spent any time we could together, skipping activities and even meals. We would wander the woods, holding hands and walking in silence, for no words could compensate the terror and fear and just plain hurt rising in Annabeth. And then, the day we'd both been dreading for days, rolled around. The last day of camp.

"I'll miss you, Percy." Annabeth said for the billionth time, but I didn't care. I'd miss her too. A lot.

"I know. And I'll miss you." We stood hugging each other near Thalia's tree, which was no longer her's. The few remaining campers milled around and pointed at us, but I could care less. We were waiting around for Annabeth's stepmom, who's decided to come get Annabeth herself.

Annabeth started to cry again, and I hugged her even tighter. I heard Chiron say that Annabeth's stepmom was here. Annabeth's head craned outward to look at me, tears welled up in her eyes. I took my hand and gently brushed her honey curls from her face. I leaned down, slowly, slowly, and pressed my lips to hers. She responded, deepening the kiss.

"Annabeth, c'mon!" Annabeth's stepmom's shrill voice called. We came up for air, and Annabeth's breathing hitched. The final goodbye. Annabeth's eyes filled with fresh tears. I leaned in, so close our foreheads were touching.

"I love you." I said, my eyes boring into hers. She gave a weak smile.

"I know, Seaweed Brain." She threw her arms around my neck, and I pulled her in for one last hug.

"Bye." I breathed. How a word as little as that held so much meaning.

"Bye." She mumbled, tears spilling over her beautiful eye lashes. She turned slowly, reluctantly, and walked down the hill to a black Mercedes waiting at the bottom. She turned when she reached it, and gave me a smile. She was trying to be brave. She shouldn't have to. But then, she got in and sped off.

I shoved my hands into my pockets. Time to go pack. The cleaning harpies will be by soon, and I shouldn't die because I wasn't out in time.