Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HOO
Valentine's Day that year was hard.
The hardest one that Annabeth could ever remember, which considering her past Valentines day's was saying something.
The first Valentines Day that Annabeth could remember was the one where she was 7 years old. Thalia, Luke and her were still on the run then. She remembered that day because it had been the first day where Luke and Thalia had left her by herself since they had found her.
Annabeth didn't know what Luke and Thalia had been up to. All she knew was that day she had stayed at their safe house; reading one of the books they had there, and waiting for them to come back. She had been 7 so there was no reason for her to have a clue to what they had been doing that Valentines Day. Now she had suspicions but she had never asked Thalia or Luke about them. Ever.
They had only been gone for an afternoon but Annabeth remembered that Thalia had been happy. She had looked happier then Annabeth had ever seen her that day, and for a long, long time Annabeth knew that day had been the best in Thalia's life.
Luke had also looked happy but it hadn't been as obvious in him as it had been with Thalia. He hadn't been glowing like Thalia had (daughter of Zeus perk) but he had looked content. The happiest he had been since Annabeth had met up with the two older demigods.
oooOOOooo
The next Valentines Day had previously been the hardest of Annabeth's life. She had been at camp then, and the loss of Thalia was still fresh and painful, even after a couple of months.
That day had been hard because Annabeth still felt like she hadn't belonged to camp. She was smart enough to figure out that people still talked about the Thalia incident behind her and Luke's backs. So she hadn't had any friends to talk to that day. She was only 8, but already her mind was bored with coloring, arts and crafts and there was only so many activities she could do by herself outside. She had even gotten sick of reading the book she had brought to the beach.
Chiron had canceled all activities of the day for the big Valentines Dance that the Aphrodite kids had convinced Chiron to hold. It had been held later on that evening in the Greek trireme (which incidently had been set on fire later and was used as the picture for that years bead) and Annabeth hadn't been planning on going.
So Annabeth stood up and brushed the sand from her jeans. Maybe she could find Luke and talk to him.
She quickly put the book back in her cabin on her bunk, trying to ignore the way her siblings looked at her like she was strange for not sitting there and planning where all of the dance decorations would go and so forth. She walked out, but for a moment she wished that she could just turn around, sit down with them and plan. For a moment that's what she wanted to do.
But it wouldn't be that easy.
Annabeth had tried to trust people, but it always ended up not working out. Even her own father had betrayed her for a new family, with a new wife, and new kids. A more perfect family. And Annabeth didn't fit in with that picture. Everyone that she had trusted had back stabbed and hurt her. Even Thalia, who had promised that they would always be a family and that she would always be there for Annabeth. That she would always make sure they were all safe and together.
Well where was she now?
Annabeth shook her head, blinking away the sudden tears in her eyes. No. She couldn't afford to think like that about her friend. Thalia had died saving Grover, Luke and Annabeth herself. She was the best friend that Annabeth had ever had and now Ananbeth was trying to blame Thalia for what was happening right now?
No. This was Annabeth's problem. One that probably would've occured anyways, even if Thalia was here.
That's why Annabeth couldn't turn back to her cabinmates and talk to them. She would have fun with them, and then she would trust them, and then they would somehow end up causing her pain.
And Annabeth didn't want anymore pain in her life.
Too bad she was going to have to deal with a lot worse than bad cabin mates.
Eventually Annabeth found Luke. He was sitting outside at the back of his cabin, hiding in the shadow of the trees. He was alone and staring at something in his hands, head bent so that his face was hidden. Annabeth cautiously walked up to him.
"Umm hey Luke." she said softly.
He jumped up and reached for the sword at his belt, while at the same time he shoved whatever he had in his pocket and wiped his eyes. His face was hopeful for a second but when he realized that it was Annabeth he frowned.
"Why aren't you helping out your cabin mates?" he said and he sounded almost... angry.
Annabeth stepped back. "They don't like me."
Luke frowned harder at her. "What do you mean they don't like you? Of course they like you. Everyone likes you."
Annabeth smiled and walked up to him and hugged him, already forgetting that he had been mad a second ago. "Thanks Luke." she said happily.
Annabeth couldn't see him, but Luke looked down at her, smiled, and slowly his muscles relaxed and he sighed. The hand that had reached for his sword now went up to ruffle the young girls hair. "No problem kiddo."
She pulled away but grabbed his hand and sat down cross legged on the grass. Right beside where he had been sitting before. She tugged him down and he sat down beside her, leaving a little space in between them and drawing his hand away from hers. Annabeth frowned at the space between them and moved closer, resting her head on his arm since she was too short to reach his shoulder.
"Why were you sitting out her all alone Luke?" she asked him.
His eyes hardened for a second but then they turned happy. He turned his head to look at her and smiled, although it looked a little stiff. "Why do you sit alone sometimes Annabeth?"
Always one for answering things Annabeth didn't notice how Luke didn't answer the question. "Because I like to think." she replied happily.
Luke smiled at her, a big, warm smile that made Annabeth smile right back at him. "That's right."
Annabeth paused. "But Luke... you don't like to think."
He put on a hurt expression and one of his hands rose to cover his heart like he's been wounded. "Ouch Annabeth, that hurts. Not everyone can be as smart as children of Athena are you know, but we do like to think... sometimes." he shook his head mockingly. "How could you even suggest that I don't absolutely looovvee to think?" he said drawing out the word love.
She giggled and poked the side of his chest, not noticing the way her stomach felt like it had butterflies in it as she did so. "Luke we all know you're not the smartest person out there."
He shook his head. "When will you stop with the insults. You know if it was anyone else but you or Thalia-" he stopped and a regretful look crossed his face as Annabeth sucked in a breath of air and wrapped her arms around her bent knees and hid her face.
"Annabeth." Luke said. "Annabeth?" he asked, and when he got no response he sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, c'mon kiddo I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean to bring her up like that."
Ever since that night on Half-Blood Hill when Thalia had been turned into a tree Luke and Annabeth had avoided saying or speaking about Thalia. They had been trying to move on, or at least that's what they told themselves.
Because really? How can you move on when you're stuck in the past?
Annabeth still thought about Thalia, and how things used to be with Thalia, Luke and herself. And Luke, well... he was sure he would never get over Thalia. He still took out the pictures they had taken that Valentines Day in the photo booth every day and looked at them. Every day he shed at least one tear over the friend he had lost. There was only one picture that Luke had never looked at until this Valentine's Day. It was what he had been looking at as Annabeth had walked towards her friend.
It was a picture of Thalia and Luke kissing in a photo booth. Luke had finally plucked up the courage to tell Thalia how he felt about her and mid way through his stuttering confession she had laughed, thrown her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
It was the only time that Luke had ever forgotten about everything wrong in his life. He stopped worrying about him mom, what Annabeth, Thalia and him were going to do next, wondering about his dad and so on. He had been happy. And so had Thalia. It was perfect.
"Annabeth say something." Luke pleaded, and his face looked so concerned, so guilty, that Annabeth looked up. She had tears streaming down her face but when she spoke her voice was soft and clear.
"Do you miss her?"
Luke sat back, wondering how exactly to answer this question. "Of course I do." he finally said, not allowing any deep emotion into his voice.
Annabeth looked at him scrutinizingly. "Do you ever still think about her?"
Luke closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "She never leaves my thoughts."
Now Annabeth's expression turned guilty.
"What is it?" Luke asked her quietly, opening his eyes at the silence that was now between them.
"I don't always think about her. I mean I think about her every day but... sometimes, when I'm busy, she does leave my thoughts." Annabeth looked up at him, looking a little scared. "Is that bad? Am I a bad friend?"
Luke shook his head. "That's not being a bad friend Annabeth, that's starting to move on." Luke looked at her still uncertain expression. "It's a good thing." he assured her.
"Oh." she looked back at him relieved. "Good."
Luke smiled at her and she smiled back but then she looked at him sadly. "Does that mean that you aren't moving on?"
He froze. Why is it that kids under the age of 10 always ask the worst questions? She was staring at him expectantly and not wanting to show her how he really felt he shrugged at her. "I don't know. All I know is that I think I'll be staying this way for a long time."
They sat in silence after that, just leaning on each other for support. They were thinking of the same person, but they were thinking very different things.
oooOOOooo
The Valentine Day after that was spent mostly the same way for Annabeth. She grew closer to her cabin mates, eventually becoming the counselor for the Athena cabin, but she made sure never to open up to anyone. Luke was the only person she trusted, apart from Chiron. The old centaur had acted like a father to Annabeth and he had thousands of years on his side to prove that he wouldn't backstab anyone.
Apart from that Annabeth stuck to herself. She talked to Grover, Luke and Chiron but not many others.
At age 10 Annabeth tended for Luke after he came home from his quest with a scratch along the side of his face, pus coming from a wound in the side on his torso and bleeding from a cut on his leg.
After that Luke acted different. He didn't talk about Thalia, and whenever Annabeth tried to bring it up he got mad and told her to move on. He wasn't as happy anymore, and for a time he ate less, trained more, and started looking sickly.
He got better but then he became even more closed off. The more Annabeth tried to talk to him the more he would pull away.
But that was only when they were alone. When they were in public Luke was a charmer. He was funny, nice, caring. He was the guy you wanted to be able to say that you were friends with. He was charming everyone, laughing and razzing with the guys more, flirting and impressing girls. He was nicer to Annabeth in public too, but sometimes he called her a kid, and that bugged her. Once, the next Valentine's Day, when he was surrounded by older campers that were his age he even told Annabeth to 'leave him alone and go play with her other kid friends.'
That hurt her a lot, and Luke must've noticed because later he came to her cabin and apologised. He acted like how he had before his quest and he even asked her if she wanted to hang out with him before the campfire, just the two of them. He charmed her and she could feel her heart beating faster than usual.
She forgave him and she went and hung out with him but it wasn't like it had been before. He was different, colder. He made mean jokes about other people and he acted almost.. crueler.
The only time Annabeth saw a glimpse of the old Luke was when she asked if he still thought about Thalia.
Pain flashed in his eyes but then they hardened. "Sometimes." he said. "I try to forget about her though because she's a weakness."
"What?" Annabeth asked him.
Luke turned to her. "Someone told me that caring makes you weaker. Loving makes you broken. I cared about Thalia, so she's a weakness. I'm moving on and forgetting about her, that way she won't hold me back any longer." Luke's voice was hard but his eyes had that pain in them. Lots and lots of pain.
"Oh ok." Even though Annabeth was uncomfortable she went along with it like nothing was wrong. She was older now and she could tell Luke wasn't happy with this topic. So she stopped talking about it. "I don't think about her that much either."
That was the first time that she had ever lied to Luke. But it wasn't the last.
He ruffled her hair but a look of regret flashed over his face. "You've moved on now Annabeth. Anyone can see that."
Then they stopped talking about Thalia. They never mentioned her, Luke never brought it up and after that time Annabeth stopped bringing it up as well.
oooOOOooo
The next Valentine's Day, when she was 11 years old, Annabeth went and hung out with Grover. They talked about his upcoming keeper assingment but Grover wouldn't tell her the school he was going to. She brought up Thalia to him and watched him carefully to what his reaction would be.
"Do you ever think about Thalia Grover?"
He paused and his face looked like he was close to tears. "Of course I do, all the time. Why?"
Annabeth shook her head thinking hard.
"Do you think about her a lot too?" Grover asked her quietly.
Annabeth sighed and leaned back against Thalia's tree, which she was sitting in front of, closing her eyes as she did so. "Every day." she paused and then whispered to Grover. "I miss her. I miss her a lot." Her voice shook and she tried to swallow past the lump in her throat.
Grover studied his friend, for once not feeling guilt about Thalia's death. He just felt sorrow for the friend that both he and Annabeth had lost. He put an arm around her shoulders. "I know, I miss her a lot too."
Annabeth blinked tears back but they just kept coming. "What do you miss about her the most?" She didn't know why she kept asking these questions, they were making her so sad and she felt so lonely. She just needed to talk to someone about Thalia.
Grover bleated sadly. "What's not to miss?"
Annabeth smiled a bit. "Well she could be a bit bossy sometimes."
Grover smiled a little. "Ya, but sometimes that was a good thing."
"She could make rash decisions without thinking them through." Annabeth offered, making it sound almost like a question.
"And we both know how much you hate not thinking things through." Grover returned.
They both laughed, and soon that laugter turned to crying and then full out sobbing, which eventually turned into sniffling. Annabeth took a deep breath. " Wanna know what I'm most scared of Grover?"
Grover stopped looking for a leaf to blow his nose on. "What?" he asked.
"I'm scared that I'm going to forget about her completely. Already when I try to remember her in my mind details are missing. I know they're missing but I can't remember what they are. Since Luke and Thalia took the copies of the photo booth pictures we took together I have none of her. It's like if I go even one day without thinking about her then I'll forget what she's like as well. How brave she is and how she'll do almost anything for her friends. I wouldn't be able to stand it if that happened." Annnabeth was shaking and the only thing that was comforting her was Grover's arm around her shoulder. "I feel like such a bad friend."
"Maybe I'm not as smart as you Annabeth-" he started but she cut him off.
"You're smart!" She cried.
He looked at her in a fake stern expression. "Stop interrupting. I'm not as smart as you, but anyone can tell that you're a good friend. Everyone forgets a few things about a person when they die, but the fact that you can even tell you're forgetting means you're a good friend. You were like a little sister to Thalia, and she was like a big sister to you. You'll never forget what she meant to you, and that's what's most important."
Annabeth shook her head but she was smiling softly. "Geez Goat Boy when did you get all deep like that?" she said teasingly.
"Hey!" he cried. "You know I hate that nickname... plus I've always been deep. It comes with being a satyr."
"I think Barry would disagree with you. In fact I think everyone who knows Barry would disagree with you. That is one satyr that is anything but deep." Annabeth said.
Grover frowned. "Barry's a nice guy, you just have to hang out with him when he hasn't been around Mr.D for a while. He gets a little crazy otherwise."
Annabeth laughed incredulously. "A little crazy? He helped the Stolls - which is crazy enough by itself- set the camp store on fire and ran out with a pair of Camp Half-Blood boxers on his head screaming 'Hades has come for us all'! That's a little crazy for you?"
Grover blushed. "That was one time!"
"Well what about that time when he-" Annabeth started.
"Fine, fine." Grover said laughing. "You win. Gee can you ever lose an arguement with anyone else? I bet even Athena would lose to you."
Annabeth smiled at him. "Thanks Grover, but I doubt that. She's much smarter than I am."
Grover shook his head. "Still I bet she would lose. I wonder if there's anyone out there that can beat you in an arguement. If so that's who I should be looking for instead of my next keeper assignment."
Annabeth laughed but changed the subject. "Sooo Grover. Is there anyone special... or should I say a dryad, that you've got your eyes on this Valentines Day?"
He blushed firetruck red. "Annabeth really?" he complained.
She laughed again. "So there is a girl!" she said excitedly.
"N-no of course not."
"Grover you cannot lie. C'mon who is she?" Annabeth sat up excitedly.
"No one." he said.
She sighed. "Fine. But I'll give you some advice; whoever she is ask her to the dance tonight. She'll be impressed and who could say no to you."
Grover sighed and smiled. "Thanks Annabeth, but I probably won't even be going."
She frowned. "Why not? Everyone says that dances are lots of fun."
Grover raised an eyebrow. "Hey, I'm not taking any of that from you. Aren't you the only girl besides Clarisse who doesn't go to those things?"
She blushed. "That's not fair. We were talking about you, not me."
Grover's amused expression stayed. "Well how about we talk about you now."
Annabeth breathed deeply. "I don't know many of the people here. There's no one special to go for. Besides I don't like to dress up anyways."
Grover looked at her knowingly. "Annabeth you've been here for 5 years and you're trying to tell me you don't know the people here?"
She looked at him stubbornly. "It's not my fault. We're just different. We have nothing in common."
"What about your cabinmates?"
"Ummm... I guess I haven't tried to get to know them."
"Annabeth! Your own cabinmates? But you're the head counselor!" Grover exclaimed.
"Only cause I've been here forever..." she grumbled.
"Oh don't start that again! You know that Chiron stopped the quests after Luke. Plus he said you had to wait for the special camper to come. I'm sure that whoever it is will come soon." Seeing that Annabeth was about to say something Grover continued talking. "Back to the point. What about Silena? She has something in common with everybody."
"Not Clarisse." Annabeth countered.
Grover looked at her like she must be joking. "No one has anything in common with Clarisse. Apart from you and Luke."
Annabeth looked at him surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Oh c'mon Annabeth, you three are all known for being the best fighters. You're the best knife fighter there is, Clarisse is... Clarisse and Luke is the best swordsman in 300 years! Standing up to him is like standing up to a Titan when he has a sword." Grover said exasperatley.
Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled at the envy and respect in Grover's voice when he talked about Luke. "He's not that good. Clarisse and I can almost beat him."
Grover snorted. "Yah, when you two fight together against him maybe. Annabeth he's amazing. Anyone can see that."
"Whatever." she said.
Just as Grover opened his mouth the conch horn signaling dinner rang. Time had gone by quickly. "Let's go, after dinner you'll have to get ready for the dance." Annabeth said.
"So will you." Grover said. "I think you'll take longer anyways." They stood up and brushed the dirt off themselves.
"I told you I'm not going." Annabeth said to him.
Grover's eyes twinkled like they knew something she didn't. "Sure Annabeth, whatever you say."
Dinner was loud, everyone was excited to get ready for the dance, for the actual dance, and what came after the dance. Even the normally cool and collected Ares girls were whispering among themselves apart from Clarisse. The Athena cabin was giggling and joking about who liked who and who would dance with who and trying to match up people who had things in common.
Annabeth sat quietly and ate as fast as she could. She didn't know why Chiron and Mr.D had let the Valentine's Dance continue after the first year, after the burning Greek Trireme but the Aphrodite somehow convinced them it was a good idea.
Annabeth suspected charmspeak was involved.
As soon as she had finished her food Annabeth was all prepared to grab a book and head to the beach until her cabin was all dressed and made up for the dance. Then she would go back and read there in peace. That was what she was going to do.
But as she was leaving the dining pavilion Luke ran and caught up with her.
"Hey Annabeth, are you excited for the dance tonight?" he asked her.
"Oh, hey Luke. And actually I hadn't planned on going."
Luke looked at her surprised. "What? C'mon Annabeth, you're kidding right?"
She shook her head. "Nope."
He shook his head. "What am I gonna do if my favourite girl at camp isn't there? I was even gonna save you a dance or two." He pouted at her.
She shook her head adamantly, trying to ignore her heated cheeks and pounding heart. "I won't even get asked to dance." she said.
Luke stopped them both and studied her. Finally he said "Are you serious?"
She nodded, avoiding his gaze.
He grabbed her chin and gently forced her to look at him. "Look Annabeth maybe you're not meaning to sound stupid, or maybe this is something all girls go through. I wouldn't know-" seeing her angry expression he rushed on smiling at her. "But I do know that you are amazingly beautiful, smart and nice." Something passed over his eyes and suddenly he looked very sad. "I wish Thalia was here. She would be better at this than I ever could be." He shook his head and let his hand drop from Annabeth's chin. "I know she would tell you the exact same thing though."
"But-"
"Shh." Luke said to her. "Go get ready. I promise you, tonight will be amazing and you'll be dancing with a boy every single song."
She blushed and smiled at him. "You're such a softie."
He smiled at her. A good, warm Luke smile. It was the first one Annabeth had seen on his face in a while. "I know. I also know that you love it. No go get ready! Go do your makeup and hair and whatever else it is you freaky girls do to get ready."
She punched him on the shoulder but then ran back to her cabin. As she was looking through her wardrobe she saw nothing pretty enough to wear to a dance. There was shirts, tank tops, shorts and jeans. No dresses, no skirts, no fancy shoes. Nothing.
She had vowed never to do this unless it was an emergency. Well... this definitley counted as an emergency.
The Aphrodite kids had skipped dinner in order to have more time to get ready and as Annabeth made her way to their cabin she could smell the perfume from outside. Taking in her last breath of non flower smelling air she knocked on the door. Silena opened it, wrapped in a towel and with half of her hair curled.
"Oh!" her voice was surprised. "Hey Annabeth, what brings you here?" she sounded nice but the surprise was still in her eyes.
"Umm hey Silena. I need your help." Annabeth spoke hesitantly.
"Oh." Silena smiled brightly. "Sure what is it?"
This was it, the last chance to turn back. "Can you help me get ready for the dance?" She blurted out.
Too late now.
Silena squeeled and jumped so much her towel almost fell. "I thought you'd never ask! Come on in." She reached out, grabbed Annabeth firmly by the shoulder and pulled her into the pink cabin. "Everybody stop what you're doing! We have a case 1 that needs worked on STAT!"
oooOOOooo
At 8:30 the dance started. It was being held in the dining pavilion which all of the tables, benches and food had been taken from and replaced. People poured in, Hephaestus kids stood picking out songs to play on the music system they had made anew this year. There was pink everywhere, balloons on the floor. There was tables and chairs around the edges, leaving enough room for a large dance floor in the middle and a buffet table took up a whole wall.
It was beautiful. Even the most ungirliest person out there had to admit that. The Aphrodite and Hephaestus kids had done a great job.
Annabeth was one of the last people to arrive. She stepped in and for a second even the girls stopped to stare before trying to get the boys' attention back to them.
Annabeth had straightened her hair. She was wearing makeup and jewlery. She was wearing platform shoes. She was wearing a dress.
She was one of the prettiest girls there.
The whole Aphrodite cabin had made over Annabeth. They picked out her dress, makeup, jewlery and had made sure she had showered and shaved every hair on her body. Annabeth had went with it, although uncomfortable she acted like she was a rich lady from one of the many books she had read, with a staff that was paid to make her look beautiful and like a goddess.
She wasn't dissapointed.
The only time she had disagreed with something was when the boys went to do her makeup. They had started to pull out at least a hundred bottles of powders, lotions, and just plain goo. Annabeth had disagreed saying that as little makeup as possible was to be used on her and Silena, who had spent 10 minutes (at least) studying Annabeth's face, had eventually agreed.
As Annabeth walked in to the pavilion people whispered all around her. "Who's that?", "Is that a new kid?" and from her cabin mates, Luke and some other people Annabeth had occasionaly talked to there was repeated murmurs of "Is that really Annabeth?"
Unsure of where to go Annabeth awkwardly stood there until Silena came to her rescue. "You look amazing! Don't just stand there, go dance with some girl friends or maybe... a boy?" She wiggled her eyes suggestively before an Apollo kid whisked her away to dance.
Still uncertain Annabeth made her way over to the table that was laden with food, drinks and cookies and candy. (Not too much because these ADHD kids were already hyper enough.)
She slowly poured herself some punch before someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around and it was one of the newer kids from the Athena cabin, Malcolm.
"Hey Malcolm!" she said happily.
"Hi Annabeth." he replied. "You look nice."
"Thanks, so do you." she replied politely, but she was telling the truth. He was wearing a white dress shirt and nice clean black jeans with some fancy high brand shoes.
"So do you wanna give your little brother a dance?" he asked her.
She stood there for a second before laughing. "Of course I do. C'mon let's go." She set her cup down, grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.
"Sorry if I step on your feet." Malcolm whispered to her before they started moving in a slow circle.
She giggled and got lost in looking at everyone laughing and the decorations.
After that Annabeth was asked to dance every time there was a slow song, and when there wasn't one of those Silena would pull her along so that she was dancing with a big group of girls from different cabins. The one boy who hadn't asked her to dance was Luke, but Annabeth started to notice something.
Every time Luke talked to a boy they would always look over at her and that boy would always come to ask her to dance at the next slow song. But Annabeth realized that the only boy she really wanted to dance with was the one going around and dancing with all of the other girls.
Finally it was the last song and as Annabeth was making her way over to sit down to take her shoes off Luke grabbed her hand.
"Nuh uh! I promised you a dance and I will always keep my promises to you. You can rest when you're asleep tonight." He said.
Without waiting for her to say anything Luke pulled a laughing Annabeth onto the floor and gently put his hands on her waist. She put her arms around his neck and frowned playfully up at him. "Have you been bribing boys to come dance with me?"
Luke smiled. "I don't think bribing would be the right word. It was more like making it known you were single so they could dance with you."
"Really?" Annabeth said surprised.
Luke nodded. "Yup. If they had known that then believe me all of them would have been dancing with you without any help from me. Even the taken ones." He winked at her. "I had to fight a lot of them off to get this special last dance with you."
Annabeth smiled up at him. Even with his scar he looked good. She had always thought so. "I wouldn't have given it to anyone else."
Something clouded Luke's eyes but then the happiness was back. "Well that's good. Oh and can I just tell you that you look amazingly beautiful tonight."
She blushed again. "Well then can I just tell you that you look very handsome tonight."
Luke smiled down at her. "You're such a girl."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well you're such a boy."
He laughed at her and she laughed with him. They danced in silence after that and when the music ended they took a step back from one another.
"Thanks for coming Annabeth." Luke said to her.
"Oh yes, I'm sure it was the highlight of your night. You probably would've cried into your pillow tonight otherwise." she said jokingly.
He nodded earnestly. "Of course. Now at least I know that I got a dance from the prettiest, and my favourite, girl at camp tonight. My life is fulfilled."
She punched his shoulder. "Shutup."
He laughed. "Come on, we better leave before people ask us to help with cleaning duty." She laughed and they joined the crowd in walking back to the cabins.
When she laid in bed later that evening she realized two things. That Valentine's Day was the day when she realized that 1) she now trusted Grover Underwood and 2) she had a crush on her bestfriend.
She smiled as sleep came over her. Life could be worse.
oooOOOooo
The Valentines Day when she was 12 was a lot different.
Luke was gone. A traitor. She had trusted him. And he had betrayed her.
And the one person (other than Chiron) that she knew she loved was gone. The one person she had trusted above everyone else had let her down, he had done the worst thing possible. He had tried to kill Percy, Grover and herself on multiple occasions.
That wasn't the Luke she loved.
Now she was alone in her room, uncable to Iris-message anybody. Grover was off seeking Pan, Percy was at his school and Luke... Luke was planning ways to kill all of the people he had once called family.
How could he betray her like this? How could he betray Thalia like this?
Because Annabeth knew Luke would care a whole lot more about betraying Thalia than betraying her. He had proved that on multiple occasions.
Why had Annabeth been to dumb to realize it until now?
His betrayal hurt her to her core. Her world was shattered, and it was going to take someone very special to repair it.
She didn't know how, or when she started liking Luke. Maybe when she was 10, maybe earlier than that. She didn't know. All she knew was that his betrayal hurt above everyone else's, even her dad. At least her dad was trying to make things better.
It wasn't even because Luke was trying to bring down the gods that Annabeth was mad.
It was because just when she had thought they might be getting somewhere other than the brother sister stage they had been in for the whole time they'd known each other, Luke went and hurt her. He tried to kill her best friends and herself without giving it a second thought. He had tried to kill Percy with flying shoes, but they had ended up almost killing them all.
It was just wrong.
The thing Annabeth hated most though was the fact that she still liked him. She still liked him a lot. And the reason for that was because she knew that the old Luke was still in there somewhere. Maybe he would listen to her. Annabeth knew that Luke would listen to her. At least a little bit. She knew that if he listened to anyone, it would be her.
How could she ever like anyone else if she was still in love with Luke?
But she did like someone else. As much as she had tried to deny it, even to herself, she knew that she liked Percy. She liked him a lot for someone she had only met last summer. She liked the way his eyebrows would scrunch together when he was confused or frustrated, how he kept looking at her like he trusted her with his life and- and how she knew she could tell him anything and he wouldn't tell another soul. She also liked how she couldn't seem to get him out of her head. She realized... she kind of liked having him there.
She hadn't felt that way with Luke. With Percy Annabeth could be herself, however annoying it was. With Luke she had felt like she had to hide things from him. That she couldn't tell him how she felt because he would laugh at her, or judge her. Ever since his quest she had felt like that with him.
She knew she could trust Percy. She just wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet.
oooOOOooo
When she was 13 Annabeth knew for certain that she liked Percy. He was forever in her brain, she loved everything about him but at the same time she hated things about him, and he was the only one who could make her feel better.
Apart from when she was sad about Luke. Percy hated talking about Luke.
She also knew that she trusted him. Above all others.
The first thing that made Annabeth realize she trusted him was when she had trusted him to keep her on the ship when she was trying to hear the Sirens song. He had failed at that but he did something that would Annabeth forever grateful to him, and she let him see something that she knew she would never show anyone else.
When they had been in that bubble under the sea, right when Percy had saved her from the Sirens Annabeth knew that she trusted him. He had put his life in danger just to save hers. He had protected her, and Annabeth didn't think that anyone else would have done that. So she told him "Thank you." She had put all of her feelings into the thank you, and they had been obvious. If Percy had heard her than he would have known exactly how she had felt.
But he hadn't heard her. And maybe it was better that way.
oooOOOooo
At 14 Annabeth was starting to get confused. Even more confused, if you could believe it.
Percy had saved her life. He had gone on a quest to get her back. That was the main reason he had gone. She knew it. He had come to save her. He had come for her. Only her.
As they had danced on Mount Olympus Annabeth had been seriously considering kissing him. And now she wished that she had.
Because then they went on the quest in the Labyrinth, and that girl, that mortal, Rachel Elizabeth Dare had come along. She had come and ruined everything. When Annabeth had finally kissed him, it had been the best thing ever, but then he went and got himself blown up.
It had been agony for Annabeth to have to stand in front of the campers and Mr.D and Chiron and say something about her dead best friend. Complete and total agony. Annabeth had cried everyday that he was gone and she knew that everyone else saw her red eyes. But she didn't care.
Percy was gone. That was all that had mattered.
But then, that terrible, stupid and absolutely amazing son of Poseidon showed up. Right when she had been starting to say her part. He had just walked up, and she had no idea how long he had been standing there, and at the time she had been too amazed and happy to ask. She couldn't remember being happier in her life. Ever. Not even when she was on the run with Luke and Thalia or at the Valentines Dance that one year. Percy had come back. He was alive. And Annabeth was ecstatic.
But after that things had gone downhill. Percy ignored their kiss, so then Annabeth did too even though there was so much she wanted to say to him about it. Plus Annabeth suspected that Percy had been at Calypso's island. Calypso, a titan who was said to be more beautiful than Aphrodte herself! A titan who was lonely... one who was said to fall in love with any guy who would land on her island.
But at least he had come back! Percy had chosen Annabeth and his friends and family over a titan. Annabeth thought that said something.
But then he told Chiron that on their quest they needed a mortal.
A mortal. Percy wanted to bring a mortal, a girl mortal, on Annabeth's quest.
And apprently he had met the certain mortal before. Twice in fact. It was Rachel, that girl that Percy had run out of the school with. Annabeth had seen her, and then she had seen Rachel give Percy her number (which despite what Percy thought Annabeth had noticed) and she told him to call her! Her! The mortal who seemed to keep popping up. She had saved his life on both accounts too.
Well that was just fine. Percy could get all the mortal girls he wanted, but that didn't mean Annabeth had to be nice to them.
So OK, maybe Rachel saved their lives more than once, and maybe Annabeth was mad and grumpy all of the time she was there for no reason at all but that wasn't her fault! Rachel was just acting so ... needy. She needed Percy to protect her. She needed Percy to be with her at all times to help her understand. She needed Percy to help her cope with her issues.
Well Annabeth needed Percy too. Things weren't exactly great at home, Luke was still a traitor and now was hosting Kronos in his body, and the guy that Annabeth thought she was in love with was spending time with a stupid mortal.
But was she complaining? No.
Well maybe a little. But there was no one for her to complain to. Grover wouldn't be able to lie to Percy and would probably tell him everything which was a big no. Percy was with Rachel or at his school, and there was no one else Annabeth trusted enough.
Except Silena. But Silena was always with Beckendorf now and Annabeth didn't want to tell him.
It was funny, ever since Percy had come and he and Annabeth had become best friends it seemed like the other campers weren't so bad. The Stolls were annoying sure, but they were like brothers to everyone. Well everone except Katie who seemed to think of Travis as something more than just a brother... Anyways Annabeth found she could actually have conversations with the Stolls now. Then there was Clarisse. Ever since she and Chris had gotten together Clarisse was almost... nice. She was the only one Annabeth could spar with who presented a challenge and she was pretty sure Clarisse felt the same way about her. Then there was Katie, Juniper, Silena, Lou Ellen, Beckendorf, and almost everyone else.
No one said it, but they all knew that Percy had made Annabeth more open and trusting. He made her more friendly, more ... approachable. That was the word. Even Annabeth recognized it, but she refused to acknowledge it.
And Annabeth also knew that Percy was spending more and more time with Rachel and less and less time at camp. He had friends here too! People who cared about him! People who wanted him to be there.
How do you think they felt about him spending time with a mortal girl?
Annabeth sighed and shook her head. She knew that they didn't care. They thought it was good that one of their fellow demigods could partially fit into the normal world and make mortal friends. Annabeth seemed to be the only one who cared. Who thought it was a bad thing.
Well actually that wasn't true. The Aphrodite cabin also didn't seem to like Rachel. When Annabeth had asked Silena why she had said that Rachel was "Damaging a very important mission of ours. Our mother told us to make sure it happened herself and even though she has her reasons we don't understand why she put in this challenge for us. I mean it was already hard enough, but don't worry! We'll make it happen. The Aphrodite cabin loves a challenge and you guys are our biggest one yet! You'll be the pride and joy of the whole camp!" Then Silena's eyes had gone wide and she had slapped her hands over her mouth like she had just spilt some huge secret.
Annabeth had frowned at her. "What do you mean you guys? I thought we were talking about Rachel."
Silena had sighed and let her hands fall. "Oh we are dear," she had said sympathetically and patted one of Annabeth's shoulders. "Rachel plays a very big part in ... whatever this is right now." Then Silena had excused herself and had left a very confused Annabeth to wonder what the Hades she had meant.
Now here she was. In her room again on Valentines Day, without anyone to iris-message or talk to. Sometimes she wished that she still lived year round at Camp. At least then she could ask someone for advice or just be able to talk to people.
She walked to her desk and sat down, trying to think of a building to plan out. She was just looking around her room for inspiration when her eyes landed on a picture.
It was one of the 4 pictures she owned.
One of them was of Thalia, Luke and Annabeth on the run, another was of everyone at Camp Half-Blood the second year she was there- even Mr.D had been in it, the third was of Annabeth being hugged from behind by her dad.
The one that had caught her eye however was of Grover, Annabeth and Percy. They were all laughing and were standing in front of the canoe lake. Percy and Annabeth had just won the canoe races and they had taken this picture with Grover to remember the moment. Annabeth had already memorized every detail. Looking at the picture made her sad, Percy and her had been so happy together then. she missed that.
The tears came with no warning. They were just suddenly there. She wiped them away, but more came and came and came. And then she started crying harder because tears were water and water reminded her of Percy and Percy was the biggest reason why she was tearing up in the first place.
So that's how, on her 14th Valentines Day, Annabeth Chase ended up falling onto her bed, curling up in a ball and crying queitly into a pillow.
It was not her best Valentine's Day.
oooOOOooo
Her 15th Valentine's Day was the worst of her life.
Yes it was the first Valentine's Day since she and Percy had started dating, but it was also the first day that Percy broke a promise to her.
He was gone. Missing. Somewhere at the Roman Camp. Away from Annabeth.
Just when they had been happy, when they had told each other their feelings.
Right when Annabeth was about to admit that she loved him, he dissapeared.
Then Jason, Piper and Leo came and there was hope for a while. People worked with renewed effort. They worked all day on the Argo, some of them occasionally working part of the night as well.
Annabeth was sure that if it was anyone else missing, even her, they wouldn't work this hard. The thought brought tears to her eyes but she hid them before anyone could see and resumed directing people where to place things.
That Valentines Day Annabeth was woken up by Piper. She had fallen asleep in Bunker 9 again and Piper was the one who had found her.
Ever since Piper and Jason had officially started dating she had this glow around her. Like she was always happy and she could do anything she put her mind to.
Annabeth used to be like that. She used to have that glow around her. But when he vanished, it had vanished. Along with half of her will, half of her heart.
Half of herself.
Anyways Piper looked great as usual but now instead of hiding her beauty she let it show. Everyone noticed it. It was all because of Jason. All because she was, despite everything, happier than she ever had been before. It was all because of love.
Annabeth shook her head and focused on the girl in front of her. "Oh, hey Piper."
Piper sighed in relief. "Thank the gods we found you Annabeth, everyone was worried sick!"
Annabeth frowned up at her. "Worried sick? Why, you guys know that I fall asleep here sometimes."
Piper shook her head. "Well since today's Valentine's Day we were worried. We thought you might've..." she trailed off waiting for Annabeth to react.
But Annabeth was too tired to understand that Piper was trying to tell her something. In fact she was so tired she hadn't made sense of anything Piper had just said. Not even that today was Valentine's Day.
"Oh, alright then." she sat up straight, stretching her arms above her head and yawned. "Well we should go down for breakfast, people will be wondering where we are."
Piper looked at her, surprised she hadn't said anything. Maybe she was ignoring it. "OK let's go. You should probably change first though."
Annabeth nodded wearily. "Good idea."
Slowly the two girls made their way to the Athena cabin. Annabeth was still tired but Piper was surprised that she didn't notice the pink decorations that the Aphrodite cabin had made everyone go very overboard on. Piper hadn't seen the harm in it so she let them have their fun but when asked if they could spray paint the Big House and Thalia's tree pink she put her foot down.
As it was every cabin had lace trimming around their roofs, even the Demeter one which was made of grass. There were Cupids hanging from trees, paper hearts stuck to windows, candy wrappers were almost flowing over the trash bins and valentines were stuck under doorways, in people shoes... Piper had even heard from Leo that Nyssa had found one in her underwear.
It was amazing. And Annabeth seemed blind to it all.
So they got to the Athena cabin and on Annabeth's bed there was a large pile of cards. Piper knew that none of the Valentines would say the traditional 'will you be my Valentine' questions. None of them would hold long thought out notes proclaiming they liked her in that certain way. Not one of the Valentines would ask her any of those questions.
Because only one guy was allowed to ask Annabeth those things. She would only accept those questions for one guy. Only one person held the key to Annabeth's heart. Only he knew what the right thing to say to her on this day would be.
But he was gone. And no one else had a clue what you said to a girl on Valentine's Day when the one person she cared about most was missing.
That's why Piper wasn't going to tell her it was Valentine's Day. And she knew that she wasn't strong enough to be there when Annabeth finally figured it out.
"Hey Annabeth, I'm gonna just head to the mess hall ok?" she asked the older girl as she was opening the door of the Athena cabin.
Annabeth turned to look at her. "OK." she said, still not really caring.
Piper turned and walked to the mess hall and when she got there she hurried up to Chiron and told him hurriedly that Annabeth was changing in her cabin getting ready for breakfast and not to worry. He nodded and his shoulders relaxed as he sent her to the Aphrodite table.
The majority of the campers were there, save a few who liked to skip breakfast and wake up at the last moment possible. As Piper made her way to the Aphrodite table people waved and said hello and she greeted them in response.
Once she had sat down with her waffle (which was shaped like a heart) she looked around the hall. There was Leo, pigging out on pancakes and bacon, and Jason who was chewing his toast slowly as if thinking about something. The Stolls were whispering as usual, but this time with a serious look on their faces. Connor kept glancing at Katie (who was watching them from the corner of her eye) and Travis kept hitting him whenever he did.
Piper would have to remember to warn Katie next time they saw each other.
Everyone else was acting like usual. Eating, laughing, joking, and most of the guys were goofing off. Leo being the biggest goof of all. Also here were the Hunter's of Artemis, who were here with their report of monsters working for Gaia for Chiron. Thalia was sitting at the Zeus table with Jason, telling him something but he was still chewing his toast and looking like he was thinking about something very different.
Leo (who looked like he was hyper, once again) came over and sat down beside her.
"Hey beauty queen! Happy Valentine's Day!" he said.
"Leo," she hissed at him. "What are you doing? Go back to your own table! Chiron's already looking at us."
Leo scoffed. "Relax Piper, don't worry. I heard Annabeth came and sat at Percy Jackson's table all the time and Chiron didn't get mad."
Piper raised her eyebrow. "That's probably cause those two were like Camp Half-Blood royalty. Now go back."
Leo looked at her for a second before sighing. "You're such a spoilsport." He turned and looked at Veronica, a brown haired beauty of the Aphrodite cabin. "Hey," he said to her. "Are you from Texas? Cause you are burning hot."
Veronica turned to look at him. "Excuse me?"
Leo frowned. "Not working for you? Alright how bout this. Baby you're so hot even I'm on fire." Then he raised his hand and all of the Aphrodite kids watched as it burst into flames.
Veronica raised an eyebrow and looked at Piper, wondering if this was her friend and wether she was allowed to hurt him. Piper sighed and grabbed Leo's arm. "C'mon Leo, go back to your table. And maybe lay off the sugar OK?"
Leo was just about to respond when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned and was met with a very annoyed centaur.
"Ah Leo! Funny I should find you here. I don't recall you being claimed as an Aphrodite child." Chiron said sternly, but there was a twinkle in his eyes.
"Chiron! My main man! Or would it be horse?" Leo asked, and Piper swore he was being serious. Well, as serious as Leo could be anyways.
Chiron now raised his eyebrows, and thank the gods he still looked amused. "Man will do fine, now move along back to your table Leo."
Leo stood up and sighed. He looked at Chiron with puppy dog eyes for a moment before sighing again. Just as he stepped forward there was a crash of plates shattering as they hit the floor.
Everyone looked to the source of the noise and they saw Annabeth Chase standing there, her hands looked like they had been holding a plate full of food but were now holding empty air. She was staring at Connor with a look of horror. She didn't even notice that everyone, including Chiron, was looking at her.
"Annabeth? What's wrong?" Thalia said as she stood up concerned.
"What did you say?" Annabeth whispered to Connor, ignoring Thalia completely.
"Umm..." Connor looked around at everyone nervously, like he was on trial. "Happy Valentine's Day?" It came out sounding more like a question than an answer.
Annabeth stumbled back like she had been punched. Valentines Day. Of course, how could she have forgotten? People had been talking about it non stop since the Aphrodite kids had talked to Chiron about the (now yearly) dance. Today was supposed to be a day of love. Of couples and friends.
Of Percy and her.
She shook her head and without looking at anyone she turned and ran out of the mess hall. She ignored the people yelling her name, the people asking Connor what he did.
She just ran.
And where did her feet take her? To canoe lake. Of course they took her to the canoe lake. Just when she needed another reminder of Percy.
Annabeth slowed and found herself at the dock. She sighed and sat down, looking at the cold water that had so recently had ice on it. Annabeth sat there, unmoving for a long time.
For once she allowed herself to think of Percy. To think of him and nothing else. Not of Gaia, or the giants, or the Romans or any other problems. Just of Percy and her. How they had been together, what she missed about him, and how much she missed him.
She remembered when they had last iris-messaged. It was right before they had come to camp for winter break and he had promised her, promised, that he would make sure he would come to the Valentine's dance that year and so would she. He promised he would be there for her birthday that year, that they would do something special, which was later in May.
He had broken one of those promises and now Annabeth was almost 100% sure that he would break the second as well.
She sighed again. She knew that being a demigod was hard. She also knew it was harder for children of the Big 3 than it was for others. But Percy's life seemed to be the hardest of them all.
It sucked, not being able to see him on the one day that they were supposed to celebrate together.
She screamed in frustration.
This was Hera's fault. She had taken Percy and replaced him with Jason. She had probably made Percy forget everyone and everything as well. Forget his mother, Chiron, camp, his friends... her.
That was when the stupid tears came. She had kept them away for a while now, she hadn't cried since Luke's death, but now she was crying again. She hadn't even cried when she had discovered Percy was gone.
But the thought that Percy might not remember her, might not know her... the thought that he might, even now, be falling in love with another girl, was unbearable. He had been her rock. Her one constant. The person she could trust never to let her down.
That was all gone now.
She had told him that she wanted to build something permanent, and she had meant it. She hadn't known that later on she would wish to make something permanent with him. But she did. She wanted that sort of thing with him bad.
And for 2 months it had seemed like she got it. She had been happier than ever, everything had been going right. There was no threat, (apart from the new prophecy, but that had been far from her mind) her family and friends were safe, she was the architect of Olympus and she had an amazing boyfriend.
She had everything.
That's why it had hurt so much when it had all been taken away from her.
She stared at the water. Life had never been fair to Annabeth. Whenever she had gotten something great, and everything seemed fine, something happened that caused her to question everything. She could survive with a lot of things. Her father, her mother, her best friends like Thalia. Even Camp Half-Blood.
But she couldn't survive without Percy.
Even now the only thing that kept her going was the chance he might be at the Roman Camp. Waiting for them all, having convinced the Romans they meant no harm. Waiting for her.
Annabeth knew that the love she and Percy had shared didn't just go away overnight; but it had now been 2, almost 3, months and it had only taken Jason 3 months to realize his feelings for Piper. Granted Annabeth thought Percy was a little slower with girls than Jason was, but Percy was attractive. There had to be at least 1 girl who made a move.
Now, however, Annabeth wasn't by his side to tell the girl he had a girlfriend while she very conveniently held her knife.
If Percy didn't remember her it wasn't like he could do it himself.
She sighed. Percy was the only thing that could help her right now. Even Annabeth knew she seemed to be acting a little crazy without him, but she didn't care.
This was so much worse than when he had dissapeared after the explosion of the Labyrinth. So much worse than when she had thought he was dead. Because now Annabeth knew he was out there, she just wasn't allowed to see him. To find him. To remind him.
It all sucked so much.
So, as Annabeth Chase lay on her back and stared at the clear blue sky she prayed. She prayed to every god she knew (which was a lot) that Percy would still remember her, that he would try to find her.
That he would still love her.
Because Annabeth just wasn't sure how much longer she could survive without it.
oooOOOooo
Back at the mess hall Thalia watched Annabeth's fast retreating figure and made to go after her. She saw that she wasn't the only one, almost half of the demigods there had stood up and taken a step towards the running girl when Chiron's voice rang through the mess hall.
"Everybody sit down and continue eating. There's no reason for half of you to go running off searching for her." he said sternly, but there was well hidden worry in his eyes.
Slowly, one by one, people sat down. After a minute only Thalia, Grover, Piper and surprisingly Clarisse was left standing.
"No reason? Chiron Annabeth's out there alone. You say there's no reason to go after her?" Thalia demanded.
Chiron turned to face her. "Annabeth has been alone before Thalia, she can handle herself."
Thalia shook her head. "Not today. Can't you see she's hurting? Don't you see how much pain she's in?!"
Chiron stepped towards her. "It's not just Annabeth in pain Thalia, of that I can assure you." Thalia saw the pain in Chiron's eyes. The worry, and love. She would know the expression anywhere.
Ever since she had heard of Percy's dissapearance the exact same emotions had been in the eyes that stared back at her when she looked in a mirror.
"I know that Chiron, I miss him too remember? But Annabeth-" Thalia protested.
"Is strong enough to handle this." Chiron cut her off.
"We know she's strong Chiron, but even you have to admit that when it comes to Percy she can be as weak as an Aphrodite kid made helmet." Clarisse interfered.
Chiron now looked at her. "We've had campers go through this before. Most of you saw it with Silena after Beckendorf's passing." Most of the campers winced at Chiron's words but nodded nonetheless.
Clarisse walked towards the centaur angrily. "And look where they both ended up! Chiron someone needs to help Annabeth."
Chiron looked at each of his students and sighed with his tail swishing back and forth. "The only person who can help Annabeth is currently at Jason's old home. How do you propose we help her when he's gone?"
"You can't even say his name!" Thalia cried. Seeing Chirons look of surprise she hurried on. "Look Chiron, just let me go. Please? I just want to see if she's OK." she said.
"No Thalia." Chiron's voice had finally taken on an edge of annoyance. "Leave Annabeth be."
"But Chiron-" Grover bleated.
"No satyr. Any other situation yes, but not this one. I am asking you all to stay away from Annabeth today. Unless she seeks you out, do not disturb her." He looked pointedly at Thalia. "I expect you to follow that rule Thalia."
Thalia bowed her head. "Yes Chiron."
Chiron nodded at her. Then he looked around at the others. "And the rest of you?" he asked.
They nodded, or bowed their heads in defeat. "Yes Chiron." was the general murmur of everyone in the room.
Chiron looked at them all. "I know you want to help your friend but there's nothing we can do." People around him muttured but he ignored them. He looked up at the ceiling. "By the gods Percy, you better be all right." he muttured before slowly he trotted over to his table and continued to eat and tried to ignore the troubling thoughts that were swirling around in his brain.
No, this Valentines Day was not working out well for anybody.
oooOOOooo
Happy late Easter everyone! Sorry this isn't an easter story but I've been working on this for a while and just finished it now! I know it's not Valentine's Day but it's a story and I hope you all liked it. What did you guys get for Easter this year? I got some Reese's eggs, a box of one of my favourite candies (Tofiffees) and a chocolate bunny from my boyfriend today :)
Hope you all liked the story and had a good Easter! Reviewers are loved!
Love you all!
Percyjacksonfan3
