Disclaimer: I only own the plot, not any of the characters :(

Annabeth's heart raced, sending tremors throughout her body. This is it, she thought. This must be how it ends. Strangely, she felt peaceful. She was sad that she'd never see her family, or anyone she loved ever again, but in her mind, she was no longer terrified of dying the way she had been her whole life.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed hers and her body hit the side of the car painfully. Luckily, the impact didn't loosen her hold. She looked up, her gray eyes meeting a pair of bright green eyes, the eyes of the person who had just saved her life.

It was supposed to be a fun day at a carnival. Annabeth had met with her best friend, Piper, Piper's boyfriend, Jason, and Jason's friend, a guy named Percy. Annabeth was single (had been ever since Luke broke her heart), and Annabeth knew at once that Piper was trying to set her up. But, as everyone soon found out, Annabeth and Percy were like fire and ice; complete opposites. And not necessarily in a good way. They argued (mostly good-naturedly) about everything- what rides to go on, whether cotton candy was better than caramel apples (Annabeth thought cotton candy, Percy argued for caramel apples), even what TV shows were the best. Annabeth started calling him Seaweed Brain, because of his love of everything to do with the beach (and the fact that he didn't seem all that bright) and Percy, unable to come up with a better nickname, called her Wise Girl (although honestly, both of them could tell that Annabeth didn't really mind that name).

Meanwhile, Piper and Jason were walking languidly behind them, doing all the couple-y things and smiling and giggling at each other. Pretty much the only thing Annabeth and Percy agreed on was that they were cute but insufferable. Piper and Jason didn't seem to mind though, lost in their own world.

The last ride they were going to go on was a huge rollercoaster. They'd been at the carnival for the whole day, and the sun was starting to set. Piper and Jason went on a nice, romantic Ferris Wheel ride, staring into each others' eyes as the sun cast the last rays of sunshine and turned the sky a brilliant rainbow of colors.

But Percy and Annabeth decided to take the more awesome route and go on a rollercoaster. It was the biggest one in the park, and it went upside down and all the way around and had a huge drop at the end. They were stuck in a car together, both of them screaming their heads off and trying to take out the hearing of the other. Until the final drop.

Annabeth's "seatbelt" had been kind of loose, but she'd brushed it off, deciding it was fine and probably just because the last person had been bigger than her. Turns out, it was loose because it was broken.

She barely had time to scream at the end of the drop when suddenly, the wind whipped her up and out of her seat. She was flung backward, hitting her arm against the back of the seat (ouch, that crunch) and then lifted out and over the car wall.

That was when she would've died….but then Percy's hand caught her. The car was stopped, probably by the person operating the ride, which was a relief, because otherwise, her hand would've fallen from Percy's grasp and she would've fallen to her death. But it stopped, and for a second, she hung there, suspended in the open air, gasping for breath and trying to recover.

Then she heard a wheeze. She looked up and saw Percy's face, twisted up in concentration. She realized then that his arms weren't enough to fight the gravity without her help, despite his muscles (not that she'd noticed them, of course). Although he was strong, even he couldn't keep her from falling forever. The thought made her breath catch and her brain to start panicking again. That moment of peace had disappeared, and all she wanted was to live.

"Climb up," Percy half shouted to her. "I can't hold onto you forever."

Already, their hands had started to slip apart. Holding her breath and trying not to look down, Annabeth grabbed Percy's other hand and the edge of the cart. By Percy's pulling and her pushing, they both managed to get her back onto the car. Once inside, she collapsed on the floor onto Percy, both of them panting heavily. Outside of their car, she heard loud clapping and cheers from the other relieved passengers.

She felt tears come into her eyes. She'd been this close to dying, and she thanked whatever gods there were that Percy had been there when she needed it. Normally, she was a pretty tough girl, but the realization overwhelmed her.

"Thank you so much," she whispered into his chest. "I don't know-what might've-just, thank you."

"Hey, no problem," Percy said, trying to sound nonchalant, but Annabeth could feel his heart beating wildly, and his voice was shaking just a bit. "I save damsels in distress all the time."

She hit him on the shoulder, although without actually trying to hurt him. "I'm not a damsel in distress," she mumbled.

Suddenly, she felt exhausted. She wanted to stay here, on top of Percy, not moving at all. But she rolled over Percy, sitting up slowly and groaning. Percy got up too, and for a moment, they just looked at each other.

Then they noticed the clapping and cheering around them. The other people on the ride were enthusiastically showing their relief that nothing bad had happened. There were several people who had their phones out, filming the whole thing.

Annabeth and Percy laughed together. "Ready?" asked Percy, holding his hand out for Annabeth and standing up. Annabeth stared at the outstretched hand. The hand that saved my life, she thought, smiling.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Annabeth replied, taking his hand. "But after this, I don't think I'm ever going on any roller coasters again."

"Just stay with me and you'll be fine," Percy said with a grin. Annabeth groaned and shook her head.

"Back to being a Seaweed Brain, I see," she noted dryly.

Percy shrugged. He, like Annabeth, couldn't stop smiling. "As long as you're okay," he said.

The ride started again, although much more slowly. The rest of the roller coaster was smooth and steady. The cars stopped at the end and Annabeth and Percy got out, amidst cheers from everyone. Wobbling just a bit, Percy and Annabeth leaned on each other while cameras were snapped and people came up to congratulate them on their safe return. The manager of the park came up, filling Annabeth's ears with apologies and assurances that this would never happen again. As compensation (and probably because he was afraid of getting sued), he promised free tickets if either of them ever came back.

Then Piper came running up, Jason right behind her. Her eyes were blazing and she looked furious. "Don't you ever do that again!" she shouted to Annabeth. "You freaked me out. Here we were, waiting for you to come down, and we saw you dangling from the edge, seconds away from falling and-and- dying!" Piper hugged Annabeth so fiercely that she nearly picked Annabeth up, no small feat, considering Piper was several inches shorter.

"Easy," Annabeth squeaked out. "It's okay, I'm fine now. Trust me, it's not like I wanted to or had a choice about nearly falling to death."

Piper squeezed her even tighter. "I know, I know," she said, calming down a bit. "It's just, I don't know what I'd ever do without you."

Annabeth smiled, tears glistening in her eyes again. She couldn't imagine a life without her best friend either. She hugged Piper back just as tightly. "I know," she murmured.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jason and Percy clapping each other on the back. Jason was usually easygoing and laid back, but even he seemed a little emotional.

Just then, she noticed the pain in her ribs and arm. Up until then, adrenaline had probably kept her from noticing it, but it hit her full force then. She winced, Piper still hugging her.

"Uh, Piper," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "I think I might have broken my ribs."

At that, the pain overwhelmed her and she blacked out.