AN : ok so this has been on my computer for a while now so I decided to FINALLY do something about it and put it on fanfiction.

It is loosely based on the song "You Belong With Me' by Taylor Swift.

I LOVE Rachel Dare, but as I needed a *insert rude and unnecicery word here* for my story, I decided to use Rachel. However, I do love her very muchly so please don't hate me for making her this mean.

On with the story then!

"Come on just listen to me… I know but-…. just listen to me! You know I would never say something like that seriously…"

Percy sounds exasperated as he tries to restrain the tone of anger in his already shaking voice, the phone in his hand in danger of shattering in his vice-like grip. He had been on the phone for over twenty minutes, repeating the same sentences over and over, getting more and more irritated, pacing up and down in the now deserted school corridor. Even from a good five metres away, hidden behind my locker door, I can hear the high pitched squawking on the other end of the phone, which could only mean that he was talking to his long standing girlfriend, Rachel Dare.

To say she was upset was an understatement.

Percy had been with her for five minutes just before the bell rang, four of which he had spent with her tongue thrust down his throat in a very unpleasant manner, right next to my locker where Rachel knew I was standing, smirking at me around Percy's mouth. When they finally broke apart and I was able to access her locker without being drooled on, Percy had looked Rachel up and down, admiring her new skirt. I had almost chocked with revulsion when I had seen Rachel sashay down the corridor in a (probably) real snake-skin skirt which honestly more resembled a belt.

Oh god when did I turn into my Grandmother?

Percy, being Percy, had assumed (as he always did) that Rachel was to nice to purchase illegal animal skins and had congratulated her on finding such a realistic material. I sniggered as I realised there was an undertone of revision in his voice, but he is a very convincing liar and she obviously thought he was being sincere and preened under what she thought to be his admiring tone. Looking at her face, however, Percy had tried unsuccessfully to hide a small smile as he saw the huge red spot perched like an ugly fly on the end of her 'look-what-my-daddy-bought-me' nose, so obvious it may as well have been sticking its tongue out at him. After trying to convince his over dramatic girlfriend he was smiling because he was simply happy, he had made the mistake of making a light hearted joke about her, teasing her about her 'little red friend' that had sprouted volcano-like on the end of her nose. His comment was nothing offensive at all, and personally, I thought it was actually a very nice comment, since the pimple closely resembled Mount Vesuvius the day before it erupted, just without the smoke, and I sniggered again.

Rachel however had not taken this remark well.

Storming down the corridor with her gang of wannabes trailing pathetically behind her, red faced and snarling, and yelling obscenities at him until her voice was muffled by the slamming of the door, she drove away in her yellow sports car in a very obvious huff. Percy had just stood there, utterly complexed and un-moving until I had taken hold of his arm and pulled him to the side, away from the jeering crowds and the swarm of students trying to squeeze out of the doors. It was then that he had pulled out his cell phone and called up Rachel, reaching a very angry girl on the other end of the line. This led to the unhappy scene I was now witnessing.

I watch as his face contorts with anger and his hand shake even more as her screeches reach a new level of loudness and he sinks to the floor, head cradled in his hand. He is so obviously upset and there was nothing I can do to help. I kneel down beside him and try unsuccessfully to prise his hands from his face as Rachel's indignant screams echo through the corridor. Sighing as he remains unresponsive under my insistent pulling, I give up and straighten up, listening to his desperate pleas for her forgiveness.

He doesn't deserve this I think, now shaking with anger. And she doesn't deserve him.

Suddenly I can't take it anymore. Without another word I turn away from Percy, grab my bag from the floor, sprint down the corridor and burst out of the doors. The car park is almost empty now, just a few students slowly wandering in the direction of their cars. Since Percy drove me to school this morning I have no choice but to walk home.

Slowly I trudge through the mountains of leaves that littered the car park, kicking them high into the air and watching them flutter down to the ground, twisting and turning, spiralling down until they scatter onto the concrete, red, yellow, orange, and brown, bold splashes of colour contrasting against the dull grey of my surroundings. The air is crisp and cold, my breath coming in clouds that swirl in the gentle breeze that lifts my curls and whispered against my skin. Already my nose is numb with cold so I bury my face in my scarf, inhaling the familiar scent and digging my hands deep into my coat pockets, berating myself for forgetting my gloves.

As I continue along the familiar pavement I realise that it seems very dark for this time of year, unusually so. Of course the days are getting shorter, but not this short. I turn my face up towards the sky and curse as I see the ominous black storm clouds gathering above my head, circling like vultures. Reaching into my bag I swear after realising that I have no umbrella, no plastic bag, nothing. Normally I love the rain, the way the drops of water feel against my skin, but today I am just not in the mood.

It is NOT my day…

Grumbling to myself I look up again just in time to feel a large raindrop splash against my nose, the icy water trickling down my face. Then another follows it, and another….

Suddenly, water cascades from the sky, thundering down onto me, soaking me instantly. Rivers of icy rain water pour down my neck and along the pavement, sinking into my shoes and filling my socks so that they squelch unpleasantly with every step. Water continues to pour from the sky as I speed up, soaking everything in its path. Squinting through the onslaught of rain I realise that it isnt going to stop anytime soon.

Then I decide to run.

—

I arrive home, soaked to the skin and shivering so much I can hardly hold my front door key in my numb hand. A quick glance in the direction of the drive tells me my father isn't at home, not that I expected him to be. He never is.

Pushing that from my mind, I make my way up to my front door and, with a degree of difficulty, manage to unlock it, the key slipping from my numb fingers three times in the process. Finally I hear the satisfying click of the lock and stumble across the threshold, slamming the door behind me to shut out the howling storm without bothering to lock it.

I am still soaked to the skin, my body now completely numb and my clothes sticking to me like an icy second skin, making my whole body shudder wit the shivers that wrack my body and my teeth chatter violently. Dumping my sodden bag on the radiator I stagger upstairs towards the bathroom. Once inside, I peel off my wet clothes and leave them in a heap by the door. I then turn the shower full blast and step under the cascading water, swearing when the hot water washes over my frozen skin, tingles of burning heat travelling down my spine, making me shake worse than ever.

Stupid Rachel, stupid Percy, stupid spot.

Slowly my skin becomes accustomed to the warmth and turns a strange shade of mottled pink, instead of frozen white. After a long time of just standing underneath the steaming water and just letting all my stress wash down the drain, I sigh and turn off the water, immediately missing the comforting sound of the rushing water and the warmth. Ignoring the pile of clothes by the door I wrap myself in a towel and trudge along the landing towards my bedroom and shutting the door.

—

I love my room.

Its right at the top of the house so it has a sloping roof and a big bay window which looks out across the street. When we first moved here, before my mum died, I ran straight up and claimed it by throwing my suitcase right in the middle of the room, sitting on it and stamping my foot. My father laughed and called me his little drama queen, picking me up and throwing me into the air. He always used to laugh.

My mum helped me decorate it. I refused the tins of boring pastel shades she offered and instead ran straight past her to the bright colours and promptly picked up sky blues and deep purples and greens. She laughed and payed for them happily and we spent three blissful days painting and furnishing my room. During those three days neither of us were ever devoid of flecks of paint and the house was filled with overlapping multicoloured footsteps that traced patterns over all of the carpets, some of which are still there because it was just impossible to get out. My dad tried countless times but to no avail. It seemed the house wanted to keep my mum's memory, be it as slightly faded blue footprints on the now threadbare carpet. My dad keeps threatening to replace the carpet, saying it looks shabby and unclean but I wont let him.

After my mother died I refused to change the colour of my room, even when the paint stared to crack and peel away from the wall, revealing the pastel pink shades of the wallpaper underneath. Instead I just covered the cracks with pictures; of me and my mum, of friends, pets, places, Percy…

Now my room is my only safe place, the only thing that hasn't changed since that dreadful December, the one thing I can depend on (apart from Percy that is).

I sigh and throw myself onto my bed, my still wet hair soaking the sheets instantly.

No matter what I do, he always finds a way back into my thoughts. He is always there, his sea green eyes, his amazing smile, his kind heart…

Damn him and his perfectness.

I have always loved him, even back when we were kids. His mum was one of the first to come and welcome us into our house, bringing with her a plate of blue cookies and a small, black haired boy with green eyes who took one look at me and challenged me to a duel. Naturally I won, crowing with victory as i pinned him to the ground, my 'knife' (a small twig) pressed against his throat as the adults laughed behind us. The boy underneath me pouted, then grinned sheepishly up at me, his eyes shining and his hair tousled. I decided then and there that I was going to marry him one day.

We have been best friend ever went to primary school together, spending recess in a small corner of the playground, talking of myths and legends, minotaurs and great heros, monsters and centaurs. We created great lands, heros more powerful than any before, the sons and daughters of the gods themselves. The other children called us freaks, weirdos, but we didn't care. We had each other, what else did we need?

He was there to comfort me when my mum died, holding me as I wept as they carried her body out of the house, holding my hand as they lowered the coffin into the ground and was there beside me as I watched them shovel grimy dirt into the dark hole, covering the red rose petals I had scattered on the black wood of her coffin, burying her forever.

He was there when we started high school, stood up for me when the girls made fun of my shabby clothes and worn out sneakers. We were always a little short of money in those days and I couldn't afford any designer clothes like the others wore. Even though my dad earns quite a bit more now, I have never changed my style. I prefer to be invisible.

I was there when he discovered girls and hugged him tight when he proclaimed his love to a young girl called Thalia who smirked and called him ugly in front of our whole class. However, Thalia forgave him and completely by accident she is now my best girl friend.

All through this I loved him, but I could never bring myself to tell him. It has been ten years since I met him and I still love him, that little boy with the green eyes, the man I now see with his amazing smile and happy outlook on life, always there when I need him.

Then Rachel came. She is your typical popular girl, with her christmas-present-nose and her shorter-than-short skirts and her gang of pathetic, gossiping wannabes. She was the one who started the campaign against me in seventh grade, making snide comments about my shabby clothes and lack of a mother. She christened me with the name "jaws" after having braces for 2 long years. Even after all this time, she still mouths that name at me from across the corridor, sometimes pairing the words with insults like ugly, fat, stupid… You get the picture. But she decided that she liked Percy and soon enough he had been trapped by her perfectly outlined eyes and her carefully coloured lips and her perfectly formed, curvy figure.

He's a guy, you cant really blame him.

He swears she's changed. But I know she's still that rich, spiteful, mean girl who has made my life a misery for the last four years. But at first I though he was happy with her so I didn't complain, I just tried to be happy for him. But after all the misery she has put him through I cant pretend anymore. It kills me that she upsets him so much, but what can I do? He's way too nice and forgiving to ever break up with her, and she knows it.

I know it too.

Growling I push myself off my bed and reach for my chest of drawers. I grab some baggy sweatpants and my old, orange, camp t-shirt. I smile as I put it on.

Every year Percy and I go to the camp. When we were younger, we used to pretend our parents sent us there to train to be heroes and used to call ourselves the son of Poseidon (you know the greek god of the sea) and I was, of course, the daughter of the goddess of wisdom, Athena. Now of course we know that was just a game, but it seemed real at the time. We still go every year, but now we're councillors and help the younger children who are going for the first time. I love going to that camp with Percy, just because its just him and me, like it always has been. No Rachel, no bullies, no parents. Just us.

Mentally shaking myself, I grab my brush from where it's lying on my bedside table and attempt to tame to blonde curls that are now starting to dry. After wrestling with my hair for a good five minutes I give up and tie the whole thing in a bun on top of my head. However, two curls fall down either side of my face and refuse to stay in the band and so in the end, exasperated, I just leave them there and absentmindedly make my way over to the mirror that hangs on the opposite wall.

I was never really bothered by my appearance. Other girls spend hours obsessing over the tinniest flaw but I would rather spend energy on more important things. But now i look at my reflection very critically.

I look like I always do, slightly tanned skin, curly blonde hair, grey eyes. My camp t-shirt is full of holes and covered with various stains. I finger the large rip at the bottom of the shirt, smiling as I remember how it came to be…

Percy and I are running along the sandy beach, laughing and shouting as we race to the tree at the end. Percy is fast, but i'm faster. I put on a surge of speed and sprint flat out over the finishing line, yelling in triumph. Percy laughs as I do my famous victory dance, trhusting my hips and punching the air. We both collapse under the tree, the bark rough against our backs, the smell of sap coming from the tree and the strong scent of salt washing over us from the gentle sea breeze that lifts our hair and tickles our faces. I turn my head and look at Percy and find him already looking at me, a small smile one his face.

I ask him whats wrong and he just shrugs, saying that he thinks my eyes are pretty. I blush and call him a seaweed brain and he laughs, throwing back his head, making his eyes flash and his hair fall across his face. I reach out and brush the hair from his eyes and he grins again. We sit there for a long time, soaking in the sun and just enjoying each others company. After a while I look up at the leaves above us and smile as the sun makes them glow a luminous green, making the shadows below us dappled and shifting. I notice a plastic bag caught in the branches and frown. I have always hated littering and seeing the bag just makes me upset. I get to my feet and brush the sandy dirt off my bum and smile down at Percy when he asks what i'm doing. I tell him and he leaps to his feet and offers me a boost to get into the lower branches. I want to refuse; just because i'm a girl, doesn't mean I cant climb a tree, but as I look up I sigh as I realise I cant actually reach the lowest branch. I reluctantly agree and he links his fingers together for me to stand on.

I place my foot on his hands and pull myself up into the tree, scratching my palms in the process. I keep climbing, carefully placing my hand s and feet until I have reached the bag. I unwind it from where it has wrapped itself around the branches and grin with triumph when I pull it off, Percy cheering below me. I then start to make my way down the tree, still smiling as a step down onto a branch below me.

There is a loud crack and suddenly i'm hanging precariously from a single thin branch that is in danger of snapping at any minute. Percy yells and I can hear him trying to talk to me put i'm panicking because the branch is snapping and I know its a long way done. I thrash around, trying to find a sturdy branch but only succeeding in making the one I'm clinging to crack louder. I know then that its no use, that I am going to fall. I close my eyes and i feel the branch snap

Then i'm falling, weightless, free, tumbling down towards the ground. I brace myself…

I land with a dull thud.

I am confused. I have definitely landed, i'm sure i'm not falling anymore. But it doesn't hurt, its not the ground. Im comfortable and lying on something soft which is moving! I open my eyes and find that I am in Percy's arms. He caught me as I fell but was unable to hold me upright and we both crashed to the floor. He is sitting up, shouting my name, trying to get me to say something. I can see that he is very worried. With difficulty I smile at him, but a stray tear that formed whilst I was hanging from that branch trickles down my cheek and I feel more threaten to follow it, from shock or relief I don't know. Percy wipes it away and hugs me hard and I feel safe.

Later, when we return to camp, I notice a large tear in my shirt and Percy laughs and tells me never to mend it because it holds a memory. I promise and he smiles his eyes lighting up like the sun…

I smiled at the memory, still gazing into the mirror. I look carefully at my eyes. They are grey, as in an actually slate grey, which is very unusual. Percy always says that they look like storm clouds deep and beautiful yet dangerous. I love it when he says things like that, but I know he's just being nice. Being Percy.

I pull myself away from the mirror and curse. No matter how hard I try, I can never get him out of my mind. In desperation I reach across my desk and put my i-pod on shuffle and turn the volume up loud. I smile as my favourite My Chemical Romance song blasts out of the speakers.

Perfect.

My taste in music is strange. I love quiet, slow, love songs as much as anyone else and secretly I'm a Taylor Swift fan, but I just love My Chemical Romance. Percy thinks my strange music taste is hilarious and accepts it and even sings along when I play them on the way to school in his car. Whenever Rachel insists on getting a lift to school with Percy I always purposefully choose the most depressing, wailing numbers just to irritate her and I just turn it louder when she complains and insists on playing some chart rubbish.

"Well I know a thing about contrition, because I got enough to spare, and I'll be granting your permission, 'cause you haven't got a prayer…"

Laughing, I bring the brush thats still in my hand up to my mouth and scream the lyrics at the top of my voice into my 'microphone' leaping onto my bed and jumping in time to the beat. I grin widely as all thoughts of Percy and Rachel are blasted from my mind by the angry tones of Gerard Way. I sing (well shout) the whole song and smile when "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" comes on, laughing at how well it fits.

I am half way through the second chorus and dancing like a loony with my back to the door when I hear a very familiar laugh fro behind me. I freeze, then spin around in horror when I see Percy leaning against my door frame looking highly amused, grinning from ear to ear. I drop my brush and quickly switch off my speakers, my face a blazing red and face Percy again.

There is a long silence until, simultaneously, we both burst out laughing.

Still giggling I watch as he grins at me before standing up straight and walking over to my bed and throwing himself onto it. Even though he is only slightly damp, having walked just five metres from his car to my front door, I just cant help myself.

"Perseus Jackson" I scold, grinning him as he looks irritated at my use of his full name (which he hates) "You are soaking wet, look what a mess you've made of my clean bedclothes! I'll smack you for that!"

He smiles at me, then an evil smirk creeps onto his face and he snickers before saying "Is that supposed to be a punishment? Sounds more like a reward…"

He winks at me roguishly and grins at my horror-struck expression for a second before a (very well aimed) pillow smacks him full in the face, replacing his smug expression to one of shock, then thoughtful. Before I have time to react, I receive a face full of pillow which I return with a loud battle cry. A pillow fight of epic proportions ensues, each of us armed with a deadly projectile and smacking each other round the head with them. Laughing properly for what seems like the first time in ages, I climb onto the bed, returning the blows with just as much force, laughing as his pillow explodes and both of us get a face full of downy feathers.

The fight ends as it always does, with me delivering the final blow and forcing him to submit.

I straddle his hips and hold my weapon underneath his chin like a knife, grinning evilly at him until he surrenders, laughing. I haven't heard him laugh for such a long time, and twice in one day seems so unexpected, for a second I loose concentration, listening to his beautiful laugh that I have missed so much. Before I fully comprehend what is happening, he has flipped me over and I am trapped underneath him, screaming as he tickles me mercilessly on my exposed stomach, unable to escape his relentless torture.

"No fair!" I gasp, desperately trying to wriggle away "You dirty, rotten, cheating…"

A hand clamps over my mouth and a voice whispers in my ear "Language Annabeth, what would your Grandma say?"

I repress the urge to giggle and lick his hand. He yelps and yanks his hand away and I take the opportunity to wrestle him onto his back, my hands holding his arms above his head and my lags clamping down on his waist. Somehow in the middle of the fight, my hair has come loose and it now hangs like curtains either side of us, a shield from the rest of the world.

We are both breathing hard at this point, white feathers adorning both our faces and sprinkled like snow on our heads, fluttering down into my eyes. I giggle again as he attempts to free himself from my grasp and more feathers vacate his hair and fall onto his face.

I lean down and blow gently on his face to remove the offending objects and then make to retreat again but I make the mistake of looking into his eyes.

Once I look, I cant look away.

He is staring at me with such intensity, his gaze seems to hold me exactly where I am where I am.

For goodness sake Annabeth, he looks at you and you're caught like a bloody rabbit in headlights! Get a grip woman!

Shut up. I tell my brain.

We are nose to nose now, and so close that I can feel his breath on my face, count his eyelashes, see every different shade of green in his eyes.

"I think..." I whisper, hardly daring to move my lips as we are so close "I win"

He doesn't reply and just keeps staring into my eyes, apparently lost in thought. I'm trying to read his expression and because I know him so well the answer comes to me quickly. But once I realise what it is, I tell myself i'm seeing things. For a second it looked like…love?

I must have caught flu from walking home in the rain, my brain is seeing things. I am definitely hallucinating.

But he still hasn't pulled away.

Mesmerised, I can do nothing but watch as he moves a centimetre closer, slowly closing the gap between our lips. I feel my eyes widen in shock but also in anticipation, even though my brain is screaming that it must be a joke, because Percy would never like me like that, that we're best friends, that he is getting very close now…

My brain rambles on at me, going into overdrive as his gaze moves down to my lips and back up again. By now, my heart is thumping a hundred miles and hour and I can feel his heart beating just a fast through his thin tee shirt.

"Annabeth…" he breathes, in a voice so quiet its almost inaudible and I find myself leaning in to try and hear it. He's getting closer now, the gap between us is shrinking. I try to keep looking at him but I can feel myself going cross eyed so I close my eyes….

Ring ring!

We both jump and pull away sharply, completely taken aback, as if we were unaware that there was anyone else in the world at that moment but us. I get off Percy very quickly and put some distance between us by sitting on the edge of the bed as he sits up, looking dazed and unsure of what just happened.

I know the feeling…

"Hello? Oh, hi… Rachel."

My heart plummets.

"Yeah, i'm sorry too… No it was my fault, I was rude and-… alright then i'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye"

He hangs up and for a while neither of us speak.

My heart feels like someone has just ripped it out and kicked it away with a pair of steel toed boots. I stare at the ground, desperately truing to hold back the tears that threaten to come pouring from my eyes. I hear him stand up and take a couple of deep breaths.

"Well, I'd better be going" he says, his voice strained and unnaturally tense.

I nod, unable to look at him for fear the tidal wave of tears that are threatening to fall might make an appearance.

I hear him sigh as he walks over to my door. He is about to leave when he suddenly turns and I blink at him, unsure of what to do.

"I actually came here to apologise for abandoning you to walk home in the rain" He runs his hands through his hair, laughing in a strange, tense way that doesn't sound like him at all "I am really sorry you know, I am so grateful that you're such a good friend to me."

I nod again, trying not to show what his words were doing to me, ducking my head so my face was covered by my hair. I hear him sigh agin and he walks over to me and kneels down, parting my hair like a curtain. His emerald eyes burn into mine and I swallow thickly, concentrating all my efforts into not letting the tears fall.

"I am so sorry for what an abysmal friend I have been recently. I really am" He smiles at me before enveloping me into a hug, holding me tight against him as if he's scared I'll push him away. Of course I don't, clutching him to me tightly, breathing in his familiar Percy smell, burying my face in his neck.

After a long time we part, smiling at each other.

Then he moves towards the door and walks out without a second glance.

As I walk away from her, I let the false smile slip from my face. I almost kissed her. There I said it. I almost kissed my best friend. And for a second, I actually let myself think that she wanted me back.

Don't be stupid Percy, like she'll ever like you like that. You're best friends,thats all you ever going to be…

Somehow I have walked across the street and up to my front door without even noticing, so wrapped up in my thoughts I hadn't even noticed crossing the road. Forcing myself not to think about Annabeth, I let myself into the house, yelling my arrival. Of course no reply comes, its not like i'm expecting one. My mum works long shifts to pay the bills, and my dad left before I was even born. He doesn't even know I exist.

I go up to my room and sit on my bed, my head in my hands.

Its gonna be a long night...

What do you think? Should I continue this? It started out being a one-shot but it just kept GROWING so I think I will split it into 3 chapters...

Please please review to tell me what you think, I would love some constructive criticism to make my work better! Also, I apologise for any gramatical/spelling mistakes I may have made...