Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights to Rick.

Warning: Foul language used.

If music be the food of love, play on.

- William Shakespeare

From Afar

Part I: The Show

He didn't know how he got dragged to this place.

It may have to do with the fact that Rachel dumped him and Thalia had gotten tired of his whiny ass inhabiting her couch for the past two and a half weeks. Another contributing factor may be that Thalia threatened to shave off his hair and permanently mark his bald head with some incredibly unflattering pictures if he didn't get out of the apartment. Did he mention that all of this would have been done in his sleep?

Sensitivity was not a characteristic his cousin obtained.

So there he was. Sitting on a squeaky barstool, sipping his third beer of the night, alone. Just him and the memories of Rachel and their four year relationship. Well, and Thalia, but he was still pissed at her and didn't want her company at the moment.

"Percy," she sighed, "I didn't bring you out tonight so that you could drink your troubles away."

"You didn't bring me, Thalia. You threatened," he reminded her.

"Well I had to do something! You were driving me insane! All of that wallowing you've been doing these past few weeks is not going to help you, Perce."

"The wound is still fresh, Thals," he argued frustratedly. "No matter what she chose I'm still in love with Rachel and that's not going to end any time soon. You have no idea what I'm going through right now."

He cursed when Thalia directed her harshest glare at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to backtrack his words. "I shouldn't have said that. I forgot about-"

"Don't say his name. Or else I'll beat your drunk ass into next Tuesday."

He sighed. "I really am sorry, Thalia. I wasn't thinking. I was just angry."

"Yeah, I know. Which is why I'll forgive you for nearly mentioning He Who Must Not Be Named. You're lucky I'm feeling compassionate tonight."

The guy who Thalia dubbed to be in the same level of evil as Voldermort himself was Luke Castellan. They had been dating for three years and living together for two when she discovered that not only was he a cheating bastard, but a robbing scum as well. Let's just say that Luke had a very difficult walk to prison after Thalia was through with him.

"Look, I know what you're going through, Percy. It may not be the same circumstances, but I know how it feels like to be betrayed by the person you love. It's fucking shitty as hell since they're moving on in their lives while you're stuck in what feels like an everlasting cycle of bitterness and agony."

She looked him in the eye, her electric blue ones filled with determination. "So do you know what you have to do? You have to get up off your sorry ass and show them that you're much better without them and that it's their loss for messing up. And in order to do that, you need to get out of your bubble of sadness and live."

It was moments like those where he was glad that Thalia was around. He deserved a good kick in the ass every now and then. If anyone could knock some sense into his thick skull, it was her.

"You're right, Thalia. And thanks, I needed that."

"Always glad to be of assistance," she grinned. "Now, let's get closer to the stage, Jason's about to come on soon."

Jason Grace, his other cousin and Thalia's brother, was in a band with four other people. They played in this club owned by a man who went by Dionysus every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

The band knew how to play nearly every song known to mankind. So, Dionysus thought it would be better to make the band play requested songs from the crowd rather than their own. The only way he'd let them play an original would be if there were no requests in the 'Song Box', but the band was rarely that lucky. The club was filled nearly every night, no matter the time.

Percy's never seen Jason's band play live. But Thalia has repeatedly assured him that they were very good. Amazing, even.

As soon as the both of them were close enough, Thalia began to tell him the name of each member of the band.

Nico di Angelo was the drummer, and also his cousin. Percy knew how talented he was already from his university days when they were roommates.

Piper McLean was the keyboard player as well as a guitarist and singer, depending on the song. She was pretty and Thalia not so subtly hinted about Jason's massive crush on her. He didn't need her to say anything though. He could already tell from the lingering looks Jason would send her way.

He'd so make fun of him for that later.

The lead singer was named Anthony Lyre, also known as Apollo (weird name, but Percy couldn't really judge). He apparently received the nickname from his god-worthy voice and face. He also played guitar, but according to Thalia he would mostly sing. Percy couldn't help but notice the way Thalia would look at this guy. He seemed like a pretty boy with his perfectly swept blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Not really Thalia's type, but he figured that anyone was better than Luke.

And finally there was Jason who played bass. He was talking animatedly to his band mates while getting his bass in tune. Percy's never seen him so excited for anything in his life.

"Hey, Thalia? I thought you said that there were five band members."

"There are," she assured. "Annabeth's running a little late."

"What does she play?"

"She's the lead guitarist. Honestly Perce, I've never seen anyone play as good as her. I'm surprised she doesn't have a recording contract, or a record deal, or something already from how amazing she shreds the guitar."

Not even a second before Thalia finished her sentence, a girl rushed on stage, looking completely stressed and flustered.

Jason didn't even look up from his tuning. "You're late, Annabeth."

The blonde girl grinned. "No I'm not. There's still five minutes till showtime."

Jason rolled his eyes, not even bothering to start an argument with her. "Whatever. Just hurry up."

Percy's eyes nearly jumped out of his head. "That's Annabeth?"

Thalia gave him a strange look. "Yeah, why?"

"Uh, n-nothing," he stammered. "It's nothing."

It was most certainly not nothing.

The girl was beyond gorgeous. Her long blonde curls were pulled back into a high ponytail. The tips of them were dyed a deep purple that went perfect with her black leather jacket, combat boots, and purple shirt. Not to mention her bright grey eyes shined in the glare of the stage lights.

But her lips... Jesus Christ, she had dark red lipstick covering her perfect mouth.

Percy almost dropped dead on the spot.

"You okay over there?" Thalia asked.

He couldn't even respond. His throat was so dry he was sure that not even drinking the entire Nile would be able to fix it.

Thalia smirked. "So, I guess this means you're over Rachel."

"Who's Rachel?" Percy responded back in a daze.

Thalia laughed.

He was barely paying attention to his cousin. There was a goddess in front of him, and there was no way on earth he was going to miss the show.

"Hello New York!" Apollo greeted enthusiastically.

The crowd cheered and quite a few of the female spectators shrieked loudly, "I LOVE YOU APOLLO!"

"I love you too girls I don't know," Apollo grinned. His smile was blinding. Then he winked towards a girl in the front row who fainted to the floor.

Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, he must be really popular."

Thalia rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Idiot fangirls."

"Are you guys ready to rock?!" Apollo asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

The crowd roared once more as Nico hit his drumsticks together and they began the first song.

Percy couldn't keep his eyes off of Annabeth. Thalia was right when she said that Annabeth should be playing professionally. Her fingers would fly over the neck of the guitar, playing each note perfectly and without missing a single beat. Not only that, but she would also move to the music as if she were one with it. Her ponytail swayed back and forth and her smile would never waver. She looked like she was having the time of her life.

God, what he would give to have that smile pointed at him.

It was as if the big guy himself had heard his prayer, because not even a second after, Annabeth's eyes caught his.

Percy choked on his saliva as she moved closer to his side of the audience, never breaking eye contact with him. Her wide grin turned into a mischievous smirk as she stared him down. He could feel his heart wanting to come out of his chest as his body rose in temperature. The room suddenly felt like one thousand degrees.

Then the entire world ended.

She winked at him and Percy nearly fainted like a fanboy.

She must have liked his reaction because she laughed as she walked away from his section, finishing the song with a bang.

Sweet baby Jesus, she was perfection. He didn't care what it took, he would meet this girl, date her, marry her, and have a bunch of little musically talented kids with her.

Was he being too optimistic? Screw it. Life's too short to not think about things like that.

"Don't even think about it."

Percy turned to Thalia who had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about?"

"Percy," she deadpanned, "I know that look. And I'm warning you now, don't go after Annabeth."

"Who said I had a thing for Annabeth?" he replied defensively. "I haven't even met her yet."

"Maybe it was the way you were practically drooling on the floor when she looked at you that gave you away."

He blushed. "Okay, maybe I do. What's so bad about that? I thought you'd be happy that I'm finally getting over Rachel."

"I am, Perce. Really. It's just that Annabeth doesn't do relationships, while you're more of the get married and have a white picket fence with five children kind of guy."

His heart plummeted. "So she's never been in a relationship before?"

"Oh, she has. But not for a very long time. She would get bored quickly and leave the guy. So that's why she's decided on only doing casual from now on."

"I can do casual."

Thalia gave him a sympathetic look, putting her hand on his shoulder. "No, Perce. You can't. And that's okay, because honestly you're not really her type."

"Why am I not her type? What does she like?"

Thalia sighed. "She tends to lean more towards the bad boy or musician type. Preferably both."

"I can be that."

"Percy, you don't even play an instrument," she said frustratedly, clearly getting annoyed by his stubbornness. "And the worst thing you've ever done was eat some of the candy at Bulk Barn without paying... But then you went back and payed anyways since you felt bad, so I don't think that really counts."

He ignored her statement. "Just introduce me to her, Thalia. I promise I won't let what happened with Rachel happen to me again."

Thalia threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fine! I'll introduce you, but you should know one last thing before I do."

"What's that?"

She looked at him dead in the eye. "When it comes to Annabeth, music always comes first before everything. Always."

Author's Note:

Hey guys, so I started this a while back and I decided that instead of making it a oneshot, I'm just going to post small parts to the story every now and then.

Part II will be out once I get back home from taking my test. Which I should be studying for right now...

Well, I hope you liked Part I! Please review!