NO POV

A month had passed since the defeat of Gaea and her army at the hands of Percy Jackson and the other seven of the prophecy. Slowly, the demigods at Camp Half Blood started to get used to the idea of peace. No more prophecies, no more titans to defeat, no more giants to fight, no more Olympus to defend and no more losing loved ones to war.

Annabeth had been busy with Clayton Simmons, a nice son of Hephaestus that loved architecture. She worked hard with him to lead the transformation of Camp Half Blood into New Athens. Percy had run into him a few times, it was obvious he took after his mother as he was quite handsome. He was blonde with a perfect tan somewhat tall and well built, just an inch shorter than Percy but significantly more muscular. He radiated a aura of calmness yet one would need to be incredibly foolish to believe that with a body like that he was not a fierce warrior.

Percy walked towards the Athena cabin to walk Annabeth towards the dining pavilion as every Tuesday when he could not help but overhear Clayton behind the Athena cabin talking to Malcolm in a hushed manner.

"-working with Annabeth anymore Malcolm" said Clayton. Percy was confused about this. Every time he was them working together they got along great, and now he was here complaining about his wise girl with Malcolm. Annabeth's friend and closest brother? Percy was about to jump in and defend his girlfriend when he felt his gut holding him back and decided to listen for a few more seconds.

"I don't know if I can keep working with her without revealing how I feel about her." Percy could not help but to feel betrayed. He had been nothing but nice and even extended his friendship to him the first day he met him and now here he was confessing his love for his girlfriend. It took all his willpower to stop himself from jumping out and confronting Clayton.

"Every time she talks it's like music to my ears, and with each second we spend together my love for her just grows more and more. I can't help but to feel guilty because I know how much Percy loves her but when I look into her eyes I can see she feels the same way." There was a long pause but he continued as Percy held his breath. "Percy does not deserve this... I... I don't know what to do…" Clayton's voice faltered at the end and Percy could not help but to admire the sincerity of his words. A mental battle stormed in Percy's head as he tried to process everything he just heard and what to think of it.

Clayton is a good guy, he clearly loves Annabeth and according to him she feels the same way about him. I love her too and Annabeth loves me back. Right? Percy silently backed away and walked towards the forest to clear his mind and think about what he was going to do. He ran to the middle of forest and climbed a tall tree to get away from the sounds of the campers. Annabeth had been more distant with him lately, he assumed it was because of her work but maybe it was because of him. All this time Clayton had been stealing Annabeth and he had failed to notice until it was spelled out right in front of him. Rage started to build up inside of him, he wanted to hurt Clayton for stealing what was his until he realized Annabeth was still his. He couldn't be sure she also loved Clayton, for all he knew it was just the delusions of a madman, either way he had to keep them apart from now on.

Suddenly, he heard steps about 5 meters away and decided to remain silent so nobody would know he was there alone with his thoughts. It was two people, immediately the worst thoughts ran through his head and he pictured the pair as Annabeth with Clayton.

"Are we far enough yet Annabeth?" a strong feminine voice spoke. It was Clarisse, a wave of relief flowed through his body but shortly thereafter confusion filed its place. What is she doing here though?And who was she with? That question was rapidly answered when he heard Annabeth speak.

"I think so Clarisse…" Clarisse with Annabeth? What are they doing here in the middle of the forest? Percy thought as he remained perfectly still.

"Fine what do you want to talk about? It better be about the new arena and barracks because if it's about Prissy... I can't really help you with that." said Clarisse in a clearly annoyed tone. Well, I knew she didn't like me but does she have to call me Prissy even when I'm not around?

"Please Clarisse," Annabeth begged. "You are one of my oldest friends and one of the people I trust the most with things like this, even if you are a daughter of Ares." said Annabeth in a pleading tone.

Clarisse answered with an exasperated yet friendly. "Fine" Percy could not help but to be confused as to why Annabeth wanted to talk to Clarisse about him in the middle of the forest.

Then a thought crept into his mind, "she feels the same way" no... surely Annabeth still loves me. Was she falling for Clayton? She couldn't, right?

"You know that Percy and I have been together for a while now and he is really sweat, always looking out for me. Heck, he jumped into Tartarus for me after I was foolish enough to get pulled there by Arachne, he has been the best boyfriend in the world, always attentive and he is immensely-"

"Annabeth! I love you but get to point. I didn't follow you here so you can rub your perfect boyfriend on my face after Chris broke up with me," said Clarisse in a clearly irritated and almost angry tone. Clarisse thought I was a perfect boyfriend? Percy quickly shrugged those thoughts away as he was more worried about why Annabeth was talking to Clarisse about him.

Annabeth looked taken aback and ashamed as she forgot that Clarisse had her heart broken three days ago but recovered and said "I don't know if I still love him…" as soon as those words left her mouth Percy heard his heart cracked and struggled to not jump out and face Annabeth.

"The spark is gone… as much as I care for him, in these times of peace I spend less time with him and more and with someone else... I think I'm in love with Clayton." Annabeth said sadly and Percy's mind went completely blank. Like an injured puppy getting kicked in the face.

Percy heard no more after that, he was shocked, frozen in place for hours with only one thought running through his mind "I think I'm in love with Clayton," until the sound of the camp curfew bell knocked him back into reality. In a zombie like manner Percy walked towards Cabin #3 and fell on his bed.

Slowly, his thoughts returned back to him and a lone tear fell from his eyes as he fought the urge to destroy everything around him. The sudden realization that he had lost her made itself clear to him, he had to scream and with a pillow he muffled a scream filled with all his sorrow. That night he fell asleep wishing he had never heard what he did, and that although it might have been for the best, ignorance is bliss.