After a few immensely frustrating minutes, Percy stopped fighting with his godsdamned hair. No matter how hard he tried, the mop on his head was not looking any better.

The boy sighed in anguish and released the wooden brush from his wet fingers, hearing the object clank to the bathroom floor.

Annabeth would be here any minute, and though Percy hadn't been nearly as nervous when he asked her to come over yesterday, his nerves felt like they were being attacked with a cheese-grader now.

Part of him realized just how unreasonable his feelings were- Annabeth came over all the time- but the other part just got more and more anxious every time his girlfriend would accept an invitation.

The boy mulled over his thoughts as he left the bathroom and entered the kitchen. His mother was rinsing dishes from dinner, while Paul was drying.

"Hey, Perce- Isn't that girlfriend of yours coming over tonight?" Paul turned to face him.

"Oh, sure. Annabeth should be here soon." Percy leaned against the counter-top, glancing causally as the clock.

7:21pm

She should be here by now.

She should have been here an hour ago.

Annabeth was never late.

"Uh, Mom, I think I'll meet Annabeth outside."

Percy didn't wait for a reply but rushed out to the living room in the direction of the door. Being a demi-god, having paranoia will more often than not save a life.

"Bring a coat!"

The boy obeyed, roughly grabbing his Northface from a the brass hook on the wall, and absentmindedly feeling the ballpoint pen in his pocket for comfort. He prayed desperately yet silently that Annabeth was okay.

Percy rushed frantically out the door, down the hall of his apartment building, took the emergency steps three at a time, ran through the lobby, and successfully scared the shit out of his girlfriend in under a minute.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelped in surprise (the boy had nearly knocked her down).

"Uh, gods, Annabeth- I'm sorry," He held her arms tightly to keep the girl steady and upright.

"Perce- I-I'm hurt,"

"Hmm?"

The girl leaned on Percy, and he took her weight generously.

"Percy, m-my stomac-ch,"

"Oh, Holy Hephaestus..." Percy glared at her mid-section, the fabric of her shirt in ribbons and seeping with red. The boy held her up in his arms, supporting her body against his shoulders.

"Anna-..." He whispered softly as Annabeth cried out in pain. "Listen- I'll get you upstairs. Lean on me, okay? Act natural."

With that, Percy guided the girl back though the lobby with only a few weird looks from other pedestrians. They took the elevator (which was empty, thank the gods) while Percy discovered how difficult it was to hold someone up without touching any part of their upper torso or abdomen.

"Didn't h-have a-any am-m-mbrosia," Her voice was frail and incredibly soft. Percy had to lean into to listen to her.

"No- it's alright, I got some in my room-"

Ding

They arrived at Percy's floor and proceded to stumble to his apartment door. The son of Poseidan banged on the outside wall of his home, having forgot his key.

"Mom!-" The door opened, and Sally smiled before realizing what she was seeing and let out a shrill of terror. Percy guessed she wasn't as equipt to seeing injuries as he was.

"Mom, it's okay. Let us in." She stepped aside, her mouth hanging open. A corner of Percy's mind wondered if she was seeing the same thing he was (Mist usually covers the reality of the his world and replaces it with something a mortal mind can more easily comprehend). But, Annabeth was hurt and Percy's B.A.M.F mode had begun to kick in.

He swiftly carried her to the couch and laid her down carefully. She was bearly out of his arms before the boy sprang back like a coil and sprinted up the steps to his room.

Now, where was that damn ambrosia?

Swinging the door open, he lunged forward to check under his bed, then his droors, the dirty pile of laundry on the floor, the closet, the suitcase in his closet- ha! There it is!

Wow, the last time he'd had to use it was last summer.

He bounded down the steps and into the living room once more. Percy's mother seemed to have pulled herself together and was now holding a wet washcloth to Annabeth's forehead.

"Ab-bout time. Was that-what? F-five minutes?" The girl's voice was hoarse, and she was still shivering, but Percy was ecstatically glad she had the strength to ridicule him. He knelt beside her, holding the block of food close to her mouth.

"Shut up and eat your ambrosia," He whispered, a playful smile plastered to his face.

But, Of course the girl was much too independent to be fed by such an idiot, so she sat up as much as she could and took the food in her own hand. As she ate it slowly, concern and burning curiosity began to shine in the green eyes above her.

"How- how the hell did this happen?" Percy scrunched his eyebrows- a very Percy thing to do.

The girl was no longer looking at him, though. Her gaze fluttered on something behind her and she- wait, was she blushing?

"Perce...I'll tell you later, okay?" Percy turned to find his mom peeking from behind the kitchen wall, probably watching to see if they would kiss or something. Oh gods.

Then something occurred to the boy that hadn't before. If Annabeth was this severely injured...

"Fine by me,"and he leaned in to whisper,

"It looks like we'll have all night,"