"They'll talk and talk and talk

How crazy is it?

Someone could waste their whole life, helplessly,

Just patiently waiting for a love like you and me

You still have all of my." ~All my Heart, Sleeping with Sirens

Chapter 1

"Annabeth Chase? Would you like to share a bit with the group about your life?" The therapist that was leading group therapy today asked me. I shook my head, not wanting to meet the eyes of the other people in the group.

I know they all hate me. Everybody does, I mean, what's there to like about me? My beauty was taken from me as soon as they put me in this nut house. My hair that had been once full of golden bouncing curls had been replaced with white frizzy hair that had lost their bounce. Now my hair was stringy and dull. My eyes had long ago lost any trace of happiness, now they only showed hate, anger, and depression. My vibrant colored t-shirts and my dark jeans had been replaced with a papery white uniform that we were required to wear. My cheeks were hallow and my face was gaunt and pale.

My entire life had been swept away from my grasp from the moment I stepped through the doors of the mental hospital. It wasn't that bad, I mean, we had five star meals, a pool, a nice courtyard that group therapy took place in. It seemed more like a resort than it did an asylum. But, I had absolutely no contact to the outside world. My friends had stopped visiting me a year ago. They probably had given up all hope of me ever getting better, I mean, even I had. All I wanted was to see him again.

"C'mon Annie," the therapist nudged. I gritted my teeth at the nickname. Only my brother Malcom was allowed to call me that. "You never share. Just this once and then you can go back to your room. It might make you feel better."

I sighed and images flashed before my mind. Lights… rain… his eyes… his voice… his touch… my amazement at the life building up inside of my stomach…

I squeezed my eyes shut. "You allow me one phone call and I will speak." Those were the first words I had spoken in four years. The therapist nodded eagerly and I sighed once again. "This is the story of how I ended up in this hell hole."

My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour as I ran through Central Park. I had been running for about two hours like I did every morning so sweat was pouring off of my body. The sweat was slicking the back of my neck and it was making my arms and legs feel clammy and cold as I pushed against the wind. My face on the contrary, was burning from the ninety- degree heat over coming me from the suns hot rays. My thighs felt like lead and my calves like jelly from all the intense running I was doing. It was extremely hard to stay in shape when living in New York, especially when food was everywhere you turned.

Thankfully, my daily jog was slowly coming to an end as I came up around the bend by the main plaza in the center of the park. I huffed and willed my legs to go farther faster so that I could end my torturous journey sooner rather than later. As my finish line came into view, my heart fluttered with happiness, it seemed as if I was going to make it!

Then I let out a surprise yelp as the muscles in my calf twitched and contracted. Hot tears filled my eyes as I made my way over to the nearest bench. My calf felt as if my muscles were slowly being pulled apart and messily stitched back together.

"Mother-" I yelled out and bit my bottom lip to contain the curse word from escaping my lips. I leaned down and begun to massage my calf. I made a note to myself: take the jogging/sprinting down a bit.

After a few minutes of swearing under my breath and stretching my calf, I was able to walk. However, now my muscles had tightened up due to my long run and I was sore and barely able to move.

It seemed like it was going to be a normal day for me, I exercise a bit, read outside my favorite coffee shop, go to work, go home and sleep. Little did I know, this day would change my entire life.

I hobbled back through Central Park, ignoring the intensifying pain that clung to my legs like ticks. Once I opened the door to my apartment, I let out a huge sigh of relief as the air conditioning blasted cold air on my face. As I trudged up the stairs, the air conditioning hit my face like a refreshing ton of bricks. Once I finished climbing up the stairs, I let out another sigh of relief as the fresh cold air dried up my clammy skin.

I stepped into my apartment –4C –and threw my keys onto the tray that sat by my door before walking into the living room. My cat sat on the window sill –outside the window–, staring at me with wide green eyes.

It's a strange story really, of how my cat became my cat. One humid day last summer, it had been extremely hot outside. Even though it was hot, it was also very windy and so I opened my window to let some fresh air in. I had gone to take a shower and when I came back, there was a black cat lying on the tiles of my kitchen. I tried to get rid of him at first because I'm not really a cat person, but it wouldn't leave. So I gave it some water and food, thinking that maybe then it would leave. And it did at first but then it came back the next day and refused to leave until I fed and watered it. So we formed a love/hate relationship and he's been coming and going ever since.

I sighed and opened the window letting him inside. He hissed at me and I rolled my eyes. "Just go eat," I scolded. He then purred against my leg before scampering off to the kitchen.

Just as I was about to close the window, I saw my landlord arguing with some man. Worried, I quickly shut the window and ran down the steps.

Once I arrived outside, I saw Mr. Gallo –the landlord– still arguing with the man.

"Mr. Gallo," I interrupted as the Italian started waving his hands around. I stepped in between him and the dark haired man, surprising both of them. "What's going on?"

"Oh Annabeth!" He exclaimed, pronouncing my name with five syllables instead of three. His face was bright red with anger as he peered behind me and scowled at the dark haired man. "This –ah boy! He is a liar!"

I raised an eyebrow, still not looking at the dark haired man. "He claims to be associated with –ah Miss. Beauregard!"

"Silena?"

He nodded, crossing his arms and sneering at the man behind me. "But I do not believe that –ah Miss. Beauregard would –ah associate with the likes of him –ah!"

"Hey!" The man exclaimed.

I had to stifles my laughter. With Mr. Gallo being Italian, he was very overprotective of his friends. I shook my head. "No need to worry Mr. Gallo, I'll take him up to her."

Mr. Gallo still had suspicion in his eyes so I quickly grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him into the building.

Once we were inside, I finally looked at the man. My heart beat fluttered and fell into my stomach. The man before me had dark hair that fell into his eyes. His skin was a light tan color. He was tall, at least six feet. He was wearing a dark shirt that hugged his torso and khaki shorts. And his eyes…

They would be eternally engraved in my mind forever. They were beautiful. They were a sea green and full of emotion. I felt myself being slowly dragged towards him as I stared into his eyes. I could feel myself being enticed closer to him as if he had some gravitational pull that only affected me.

We stared at each other for what seemed like forever. And I probably could've stared at him forever if it had not been for his deep voice pulling me out of the lustful haze he had trapped me in. "Have we… met before?" It reminded me of one of those cliché movies where the two people in 'love' fall in love at first sight.

I slowly shook my head. "No…" I would have remembered those eyes.

"Oh…" He ran a hand through his hair, breaking our eye contact. He cleared his throat, making me realize how close I was to him. I took a step back, my face turning a vibrant red. "I'm Percy Jackson."

He grinned at me, holding out his hand. I mentally slapped myself, realizing that I was still in my sweaty jogging outfit. "Annabeth Chase."

I began to lead him up the stairs, remembering Mr. Gallo said that he knew Silena. "So…." I awkwardly began. "You know Silena?"

"Yeah, she's my cousin." He replied with his silky voice.

For unknown reasons this had lifted my day. I found myself afraid that he would say girlfriend. Mentally slapping myself, I averted my attention back to what he was saying.

"…Every summer I come down and we spend it together."

Silena had just moved in this past winter so I wouldn't have known this. In fact, I barely knew her at all.

"Sounds fun," I replied. "So, where do you live?"

"Well," he chuckled. "Here in the summer, but all the other days of the year? I travel wherever. I sightsee. I'm kind of like a hitchhiker."

A laughed a bit. We landed on the third floor where Silena's apartment was located. "Well, here you go."

"Thanks."

An awkward silence filled the air. Not enjoying the awkwardness I spoke. "Well… I'm one more up. I hope to see you again this summer."

He blinked and smiled at me. "Same here."

I gave him one last look, his green eyes burning into mine. Then, I turned and hurried up the steps back to my apartment. I quickly entered and closed the door with a heavy sigh. I leaned against the door, closing my eyes and listening to my pounding heart.

I heard a soft meow from beside me and found my cat on the table besides the door. I sighed. "Well Kitty, I'll probably see him throughout the whole summer…" I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I was so hopeless.

I got into the shower and afterwards changed into some shorts and a t-shirt. I threw my hair up into a sloppy bun and exited my bathroom. Just as I entered my living room, there was a soft knock on my door. Brows furrowed, I opened the door.

Pleasantly surprised, I blinked as Percy stood before me, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Percy?" I asked.

"Look, I know we just met… literally… but would you like to go out with me sometime? Like on a date?"

I blinked. My heart skipped several beats. His words finally made some contact in my head. A huge smile appeared on my face as I realized that Percy had just asked me out on a date.

"Yeah…" I awkwardly said. "I would."

He seemed a bit shocked at my answer. He gaped at me for a second as if he couldn't believe I actually said yes and then grinned at me. "Great! Umm, tomorrow? At eight?"

"Sure."

"Alright." He turned to leave but tripped over his shoelace, nearly falling flat on his face. I laughed as his face turned a bright red. "Gah… Stupid shoes…" he mumbled as he gave me a small wave and walked down the stairs.

I stared after him for a second, smiling to myself. Maybe it wasn't as bad as a day as I had thought it was.

From then on, my life was great. Percy and I went on our date and everything seemed to be perfect. For the entire month of May that I knew him, we dated. We appeared to be perfect for each other. He was the one, my other half, my soul mate, whatever you want to call it, he was it. I could feel it every time I was with him. My skin would tingle, my heart would stop. I'm pretty sure I blushed more in that one month than I ever did in my life. My stomach would drop and I would get this sensation all over my body that told me this was it. This was the real deal.

By the end of that month, I was completely in love with him. I remember when I was little and I had promised my mother that I would never fall in love because boys were 'yucky'. But I had broken that promise and gone and fallen into the illusion that people call love.

He spent some nights with me, each one more amazing than the next. I'd be lying if I said we had kept it PG-13. Maybe once or twice that actually happened, but usually when things got going… well… it was hard to stop.

There was one night that was so special to me. It was probably one of the best nights of my life. I will never forget it.

We were in my apartment. We were lying on my bed and he was playing with a stray curl that had fallen out of the messy bun I had pulled my mop of hair into hours earlier. It was about three in the morning and we just couldn't fall asleep. So we had just laid there, enjoying each other's company and talking about random things.

Suddenly, Percy sat up. I sat up beside him and stared at him. I pulled the covers close to me and said in a concerned voice, "Percy? What's wrong?"

He bit his lip and looked at him with his beautiful bright green eyes. I felt my body tremble as he pinned me with his stare. It was soft yet full of so much emotion; it seemed impossible to pull away.

With a flash of skin, he was on top of me, kissing me roughly and gripping my arms in a grip so tight that it almost hurt. Confused, yet pleasantly distracted, I had no choice but to wrap my arms around his neck. I pulled him closer, gripping his black hair and running my nails down his back.

Just as soon as it started, he pulled away, staring at me. Breathless, I mumbled, "I'm confused."

Percy chuckled and kissed my neck, biting my collarbone lightly. He stopped and sighed against my skin, sending shivers down my spine. He pulled back again and studied my face as if he was trying to decode my mind. I wrapped my arms around his torso, pulling him close to me before whispering into his ear again, "What's wrong?"

He was silent for a long time. So long that I was on the verge of falling asleep when he finally spoke. "I have something to give you."

I blinked and watched as he reached down from the side of the bed and rummaged through his bag for something. When he looked back up at me he held a small black box in his hands.

My breath hitched and my heart rate sped up. "Percy," I started, my voice shaking with fear. "No. It's too soon-"

Percy smiled. "Don't worry," he interrupted, placing the box on my lap. "It's not an engagement ring. Well, not yet at least."

Brow furrowed, I opened the box to find an expensive looking ring sitting on the velvet inside of the box. It was an engagement ring…

"I'm still confused…" I mumbled to myself.

"It's a promise ring," he clarified. That's when I understood exactly what he was trying to tell me.

"I…" he struggled, his brow furrowing as he took my hand. "I love you. It might seem crazy because we've known each other for a month… but you're the one I want to spend my life with. I can't even bare to think about living my life without you. They say love is forever but your forever is all that I need." I smiled and leaned forward to kiss him hard, pouring all of my emotions into that kiss. He pulled back and smiled. "So, Annabeth Chase, I'm giving you this ring for when we're ready. I'm promising to stay faithful to you. It won't be a hard promise to keep." He smiled wryly and I took the ring out of the box, examining its silver band and its single diamond placed in the middle of a silver square.

"The thing is… I still have to travel. I feel like… I feel like I have something to do. I don't know what it is exactly but I know there's something. I need to travel so I can continue this search for my destiny."

I looked up at him and saw the steady look of concentration on his face. His brows were tightly knitted together in a scowl. However, they suddenly smoothed out and he stared up at me. "So when we're ready, I want to marry you. Will you marry me?"

I laughed and shook my head. "Of course." I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him and pressed my lips against his. His strong arms wrapped tight around my waist, holding me close. I moved my lips in sync with his, running my hands down his head and to the hair at the nape of his neck. I felt his hand run down my shoulder and to my side.

We pulled apart; resting our foreheads against each other's like in one of those cliché movies. His sweet hot breath washed over my face, overcoming my senses.

"And you don't even have to wear it as a ring," he smirked. "You can… put it on a chain or something."

I smiled. I pulled back and rummaged through the bedside drawer until I found a silver chain. I looped the ring through it and then clasped it around my neck. I flipped my hair over it and adjusted it. It fell a little below my sternum. I fingered it, smiling softly.

"It's beautiful."

Percy smiled. "Like you."

I scoffed and pushed him playfully. Then I looked up into his eyes. They were so beautiful, so hypnotizing. How was it that I lived without them? How could I live without them in the winter months when he was gone traveling? It was going to be hell without him.

I lurched forward, straddling his waist and running my hands through his hair. I hovered over him, staring into his eyes. "Thank you."

I didn't give him a chance to reply. He grabbed my hips roughly as I leaned down and kissed him deeply, pouring all of my love, all my gratitude and sorrow from my soul to his. This winter was going to be hard; right now, I needed the comfort.

He leaned back and pulled me down on top of him, pressing me to his bare muscled chest. He ran his hands down my back and moved his kisses down my neck. I sighed happily and kissed him again. I pulled back and mumbled. "I love you."

That was the last night I saw him.

(A/N: Okay so this was originally Akatsuki Child's story but they couldn't continue it and I really loved the plot so now… I'm writing it! I know I have two other fics as well but I needed something else to write when I have writers block for them so now I have this one. I'm writing the next chapter for my other PJO fic right after I publish this one. I've been having internet problems and depression and anxiety and the doctor told me to take it easy for a while and not stress myself out. Writing's been stressing me out a bit so I've been watching a bunch of new shows but I'm back now and I will update for my other fics ASAP! I love all of you!)