Chapter 1:

Percy's POV

Thank gods for summer. Good times with family, friends and Annabeth. Annabeth is the world to me, and I can't imagine life without her. We've tried to spend as much time as possible together during the school year, but it's so difficult. She's in the higher AP courses at school, while I'm stuck in the regular classes. Sometimes Annabeth would come over and help me study for a test, or try to help me get work done, but we'd wind up just fooling around, and kissing. Gods were her kisses amazing. I just wanted my lips on hers for as long as humanly possible, but we had our own lives to attend to. I could see the lust and sadness in her eyes every time we pulled apart. Whenever we said our goodbyes, time would just linger on, like we were frozen in each other's arms. One time we had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch together while watching a movie. My mom was out of town, but Annabeth's parents nearly called the police to report her missing. I had woken up at about 2 a.m. and saw Annabeth dreaming on my chest. I shook her awake, and drove her back to her house, as quickly as possible. Once we got to the door we heard yelling from her parents. She looked at me with worried eyes and said,

"Are you sure I can't stay the night at your place?"

"I want you to babe, but you have to face your parents eventually. I'm sorry." I said as I almost broke into tears. I hate disappointing people. I especially hated disappointing Annabeth. At the end of the day she would forgive me, but I hated making her so upset. So I reluctantly let her go into the house after a five minute embrace and an exchange of sobs and kisses. She walked in, wobbling at the knees out of nervousness. I offered to walk her in at hand, but she said her father might kill me if he saw me after hearing I was the reason for their worries. I didn't argue and stayed outside the door listening to the screams and cries escalate. Her parents weren't violent people but I had the aching feeling that she might meet a new side of them tonight. Once I got back home I lay restless in my bed for a few hours at 5 in the morning the Sandman took his toll on me and I started to drift. Before I lost consciousness I sent Annabeth a text saying, "Call me when you can. Love you Annabeth. 3"

But that was almost a year ago so I think her parents got over that event. This summer was going to be amazing. I got my full license, my own bad-ass car, and all the time in the world. Thankfully Annabeth only lived twenty minutes away, in an area with little to no traffic, so I could pick her up or visit at a moment's notice. One of the first days we had together was arguably the scariest.

Annabeth had called me earlier to see if I wanted to hang out. Of course I did want to, but I wasn't sure when. She told me 5 o'clock which was a bit late in the afternoon to do some things, but our options were still pretty varied. I was so anxious to spend time with my girlfriend that I had gotten ready an hour in advance. Mom was on a weeklong vacation with Paul in Maine. They wanted me to come, but I wanted to stay by Annabeth.

I was sitting on my sofa watching T.V. when I heard a blood curdling scream close to my house. I grabbed my phone, and handy pocket knife, Riptide, along with me in case something bad happened. As I made my way to my kitchen to get the phone, a loud knock came to the door. I was nervous so I had Riptide out and ready for anything. I peeked through the space between the door and the wall, only to jump back over to the door knob. I saw the slightest glimpse of blonde curls, and couldn't be any more terrified. If something happened to Annabeth I would never forgive myself. She stumbled into my arms sobbing the minute a turned the knob, and then I got a better picture of her. Her hair was a frizzy mess, straying in every direction, and her shirt was slightly tattered. The bra straps were hanging off of her shoulders and her panties were hiked up high onto her hips. I closed the door with my foot, and carried her to my bed, laying her down gently. I pulled over a chair and took her hands to comfort her.

"Ca-can I have a- a- tissue?" she mustered out the words in between sobs, and I complied with her needs and handed her a box. After blowing her nose, she told me what happened.

"This guy outside: he- he grabbed my arm and brought me in the building. I tried to fight him but he was strong. He tried tearing my clothes off, and threatened to kill me. I screamed and then he covered my mouth. I managed to flip him over and punch him out cold. That's when I realized I was in your building, and ran up to your apartment." She told the story while holding back tears, but once she finished the water poured down her cheeks. She sat up and put out her arms for me. I sat on the bed next to her and she crawled into my lap, swung arms around my neck, and put her head in my shoulder. I just sat there angry, and scared, but happy that Annabeth was safe in my arms. Then a knock came to the door.

I applied the chain lock to the door and opened it. A man, who was a few inches shorter than me, and much wider than I was, stood behind the door, with an angry expression on his face. It appeared that he was trying to seem worried by the way he furrowed his eyebrows, but his voice sounded annoyed and furious.

"Hi. My name's Gabe Ugliano. Have you seen my daughter? She's about this tall, and has long, curly, blonde hair. I saw her not too long ago, and now she's disappeared."

Once the man finished speaking I noticed that he had a black eye forming from a punch. I knew that this was the guy who tried to hurt Annabeth. I was filled with anger and fury, but I contained myself and came up with a devious plan.

"Actually I think I saw her past here a while ago. I'll help you find her if you need it."

"Oh god, you don't have to-"he started.

"Oh no. I insist." I blurted out as I stepped out of the apartment and texted Annabeth to use both locks on the door. I would make sure that this guy never touches my Annabeth again.

I followed the now nervous, and annoyed man up the stairs fumbling for Riptide in my pocket. There's no way I would kill him, but I would scare him well enough that he would think twice before coming back here. Eventually we reached the top of the stairs. The only way to go was to open the door to the roof, of to turn around and go back down the stairs. Gabe opened the door to the roof and walked onto it, and quickly looking around. He seemed anxious now, and almost worried that I would figure out his plan.

"Okay. Nothing up here, so we may as well just stop the search for now. She can survive without me for a night."

"Not so fast." I said quickly with my finger in front of his double chin. "I don't think we have to same ideas here. I know what you really want, and you can't have it." I replied slyly and he squinted his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," I pulled out riptide and held it against his throat while holding him against the door, "if you touch my girlfriend again, I'll make sure you never touch anything again." I threatened while glaring at his beefy hands. They looked like rounds of silly putty with small hotdogs coming out of them.

"Who do you think you are, telling me off like that?" He raised his voice and his fist to sucker punch me. I avoided it and kicked him in the stomach. After he fell to the ground he stood up with a mad glare in his eyes.

"I never forget a face meathead. You'll be lucky if you see your girlfriend ever again." He retorted. With that I brought him to the edge of the roof and dangled him over by the collar of his shirt.

"Rethink that for a minute now." I stated boldly while holding him there for five minutes. Soon his grin disappeared and I knew I had convinced him otherwise.

"Alright, punk, I'll leave you alone. Just don't ever touch me again." he started to sound angry again, but still with a touch of anxiety. I turned around and plopped him onto the tar roof and pointed to a fire escape on the side of the building opposite my apartment windows. He dragged himself over to it and began to climb down. I watched to make sure he made it down and wouldn't come back. Once he got to the ground he ran away without looking back.

I got back to the apartment and found Annabeth laying in my bed facing the wall breathing steadily. She turned her head and said with a hint of relief, "Percy?"

"It's me babe. We don't have to worry about that guy ever again. Now I have a question for you. Why did you walk all the way over here? I was supposed to pick you up at 5."

"I wanted to surprise my boyfriend." And with that exchange she slept peacefully. I knew that without a doubt she would be sleeping free of any Gabe Ugliano's or spiders, of which she was deathly afraid. I kissed her on the forehead and went to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat.