Chapter 1

A Small Push Can Do Wonders

Percy grinned at his best friend over his nearly empty coffee mug. Leo had come to Percy's rescue in the belief that they would get drunk together and as he had put it through the phone "Drown our sorrows in a bottle of wine."

At his words Percy had chuckled and pointed out that they were underage and that it was early morning.

"Way to kill the mood," Leo had muttered, but he had come anyway.

Now they were seated in a crowded Starbucks - the world famous coffee shop with

"All kind of sweet biscuits to devour," Leo said and mimicked the flirtatious voice of the girl behind the desk. Percy smiled and was happy that the decision to call Leo had been the right thing to do. Okay, maybe he hadn't got the chance to get drunk, but Leo could be understanding, and he had a sixth sense telling him when something wasn't right.

"So Percy man, why am I here?" Leo asked and blocked Percy's outstretched arm with a grin. Percy pouted when he couldn't reach his cup over the table.

"C'mon man, I need the energy. Don't be such an ass," he whined.

Leo raised his eyebrow and looked meaningly at the four empty cups.

"Yeah Percy, 'cus with half of Starbucks coffee in your system you won't get hype after lunch. And don't come crying on my shoulder when you're having your coffee hangover tomorrow."

"That's not-"

"And in a few years," Leo continued, completely ignoring Percy's attempt to speak up for himself, "I won't be there for you. Just imagine the miserable situation you will be in, no money, no place to live and worst of all..." He waved his hands like a conductor. "You'll be without me, the MacShizzle! No Team Leo equals no fun!"

"Done with your speech?" Percy said sarcastically. "And losing my member ship of the 'Team Leo club'" he did quoting marks with his fingers. "I think I'll manage."

"Aww man, you're hurting my feelings," Leo said in mock hurt and placed his hand to his chest where his heart was. Then he lowered his arm and put on a serious face. "But you're avoiding my question. Why did you drag me to Starbucks before lunch on a Saturday? I guess it's not to enjoy my fabulous company."

Percy fiddled with the sleeves of his blue jacket. His otherwise sea-green eyes were clouded and his mouth was set in a thin line.

"Hey," Leo suddenly said in a suspicious voice. "This isn't about that girl, right? It better not be about her, she doesn't deserve you Perce, we've been through this several times already."

Percy's sudden attention to the line forming in front of the pay desk and his silence confirmed what Leo had just said.

"C'mon man," Leo said irritably. "You know what she did. She doesn't deserve a good guy like you. I admit that you're not as devilishly handsome as me, but you're still one good-looking dude. You could get much better than that cheating little-"

"But I love her," Percy said miserably and cut off Leo's ramble. "I love her, she's the love of my life" at this Leo rolled his eyes but his friend didn't notice.

"Dude," he said impatiently. "Do you know how many chicks who has said that to me?"

Percy looked at Leo. "Like two?" he guessed.

"No need for the sarcasm mister," Leo said. "But since I'm a good guy, no hard feelings. My point is, maybe she said that she loved you, and maybe you believed it. But now she's crushed your heart so my advice is; move on." He made a waving gesture with his hand.

The two friends sat in silent for a while and listened to the chatter of the other couples in the room.

"I don't know if I can," Percy finally said in a low voice. "I don't know how you managed, no offense," he added hurriedly. "I know that you're happy with Calypso."

Leo intertwined his fingers and looked deep in thought. His hair fell down in his eyes, making it hard to read his expression.

"Between you and me," Leo said. "I've always been a player, you know. I never took a relationship seriously. Calypso made me come down and face the real world."

That Percy knew. Leo had never lasted long with any of the girls he'd been dating. It'd always come to an end, and quickly too.

But when Calypso had entered she had brought a fire into Leo's life, she was all he thought about for several weeks before he got the courage to finally ask her out. Actually, Calypso had approached Percy first, but been rejected and backed off when she found out that Percy was in love with a beautiful blonde girl. Some weeks after the incident Percy had found out that Leo and Calypso were dating.

Percy started to tap his fingers against the plastic surface of the table, replaying the last few weeks events in his head.

"There's a party coming up soon at Drew's house. You coming?"

Percy shook his head in a distracted manner and didn't notice the disappointment flicker over his girlfriend's face.

"Nah, I've got better things to do than hang out at Drew's."

The blonde tried to hide the sarcasm in her next sentence, but didn't succeed. "So I guess you want me to stay home too, hanging out with you instead?"

"Would you do that?" Percy asked incredulously and looked up from what he was currently doing. "That would be great."

The blonde stood up, and now the anger was clear in her voice. "You're so stupid sometimes Percy!" she shouted before she stomped off and slammed the door behind her.

"What did I do now?" Percy mumbled to himself.*

Stupid, I was so stupid, Percy thought and mentally beat himself up. It's all so clear now.

*Percy had eventually let himself be persuaded into going to the party.

He had entered the main doors with his girlfriend, dressed in a loose dark green shirt and plain blue jeans. His girlfriend shot him an angry look when she saw his outfit. She was dressed in a tight gray dress with small braids hanging down her sleeves and fake diamonds sparkling in her ears.

Pretty soon Percy realized that the party was one of those parties where the people being there dressed after the code "as little clothes as possible" and basically the people there only tried to get inside your pants - taken or not didn't matter.

Parties like this one had been something Percy had always tried to avoid, knowing that they didn't bring anything but trouble.

But nevertheless, here he was. And when he looked at his beautiful girlfriend dance his worries faded into the back of his mind. He was here for her, because he loved her and he wanted to make her happy.

The music thundered and the fast beat made Percy's chest vibrate like a bass guitar. The heat was overwhelming and he felt he needed a break.

"I'll be out there!" he said to his girlfriend and pointed towards the pool area. He had to scream to be heard over the loud music and the voices of the teens that were dancing in the room.

His girlfriend nodded and gave him a small smile.

"Get me a glass of water on the way back, will you?" she shouted at him when he struggled towards the door. Percy raised his hand to show her that he'd heard and continued forward.

Outside the music could still be heard but it wasn't as intense as it had been inside the room. The flowing water in the pool made Percy calm down from the frenzy that's been hovering over the crowd inside.

On his way back he passed the dancing teens, and instead of going directly back onto the dance floor, he entered the kitchen to get a glass of water for his girlfriend. He opened one of the counters, trying to find a glass.

Suddenly he heard a giggle and a hushed sound. "

"Shh, yes. Mm, that's feels so good."

Percy froze and turned around. In the doorway a blonde stood with her arms around a tall guy.

Discreetly, Percy tried to exit the other way, but froze once again when he heard a mentioning of his name.

"Percy? No, don't worry about him. He doesn't need to know." The girl giggled again and pressed her body against the guy.

The glass slipped from Percy's hand.

The couple whirled around and saw Percy stand there.

"Annabeth?" Percy whispered in disbelief.

"Annabeth," Percy whispered again. "It was all my fault Leo. Don't you see. If I'd never been such an ass towards her-"

"Shut up!" Leo said in a furious voice. He leaned forward on his elbows and looked Percy straight in the eyes. "Listen Percy, this wasn't your fault, and I won't tell you again. It was not your fault. Annabeth cheated on you, and God knows how long she's been doing it. If you refuse to see it, I can't help you, and if that's so, there's no need for you calling me over. I won't be the poor buddy you can pour out all of your sorrows to. Deal with it Perce!"

Maybe the words were harsh, but deep down Percy knew that what his friend told him was true. He couldn't dwell on Annabeth forever. Eventually, he had to move on.

"I know what you need Percy," Leo said leaning back in his seat.

"What?" Percy asked, not entirely sure if Leo should decide what he needed to heal his broken heart. He didn't like the glint in Leo's eyes either, that meant that something bad was going to happen.

"What you need is a summer fling," Leo said, his eyes determined. "You need to go out, have some fun and stop thinking about her. That's the only way for you to move on, bud. Trust me on that."

Percy wasn't so sure. "I- I don't know."

"Of course you don't. Have you ever had a fling before? No! Trust me, I know this area, this is my specialty. I know this is what you need. And maybe some more coffee," he added with a frown when he saw that Percy had stolen his cup of dark liquid while being busy planning Percy's future love life.

Percy sighed and stood up, just to get away from Leo if only for a moment. Yes, he was a great friend, but sometimes he could get a little to over enthusiastic.

When he was halfway through the room Leo shouted: "That's the spirit!" which made many people look up to see what was going on. "Go get 'em tiger!"

Percy didn't know what his friend meant until he reached the line. In front of him a pretty girl with ginger hair and green eyes stood and waited for her order.

She pointed at Leo, who now bounced in his seat.

"Do you know him?" she asked amused. Percy looked at his friend who was waving to him with a huge grin on his face.

"Never seen him before," he answered. The girl smiled again.

"Rachel," she said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Percy," Percy replied. "So," he said hesitantly, not sure if he should continue the small talk. "are you coming here often?"

"Not much," Rachel said and tried to peek over the desk to see if her order was done soon. "I'm more into eco friendly stuff, you know. But if you're in a hurry you're in a hurry." She shrugged meaningly.

Percy didn't really understand, but he didn't want to act stupidly so he only nodded his head like he agreed.

"Ahem," a voice interrupted their conversation.

"Oh, that should be mine," Rachel said and reached for the brown paper mug that radiated heat. She started to walk away and said when she passed Percy: "See you around?"

Percy nodded, maybe a little too enthusiastic. "Yeah, sure."

When Rachel exited a tap on Percy's shoulder woke him from his thoughts.

"Are you gonna order or what?" the cashier asked.

"Um, yeah," Percy said distractedly. The guy behind the desk was maybe the same age as him - around nineteen - and he had dark hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"Excuse me, what?" Percy asked when he realized the guy had asked him a question. "What did you say?"

The guy rolled his eyes and repeated his question. "What do you want?"

To be honest, Percy had no idea what he'd come to order, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Um, chocolate."

"Really?" the guy asked surprised.

"Yeah?"

"No nothing, I just figured you was the coffee type."

"Well you thought wrong, didn't you?" Percy didn't really know where he got his sudden irritation from. "Why would you think that anyway?"

"Well, maybe from the many cups of coffee you've ordered," the guy said and waved his hand in the direction of Percy and Leo's table.

"Oh," was all Percy managed, slightly embarrassed.

The guy started to make the chocolate and asked over his shoulder: "The girl you spoke to, is she your girlfriend?"

"What? No!"

"Oh, okay. And the guy at your table?"

Percy choked. "You think Leo is my boyfriend?!"

The cashier shrugged apologetically. "It looked like you kissed," he explained, which made Percy start coughing again. "When he leaned forward I mean."

Percy's cheeks were burning red. "We weren't kissing," he muttered. "Leo's my best friend and we talked. Just talked."

The guy removed the cup under the coffee machine. "Girls?" he asked.

"No," Percy answered quickly, still red from embarrassment.

"Girls," the guy confirmed. He held the filled cup to Percy and said: "That'll be four dollars."

Percy fumbled with the cash and took the cup full of rich dark liquid.

"Just so you know, you're really really red."

Percy blushed an even deeper shade by that mention, but the cashier wasn't done. "I bet you're red all over the place," he said with a small grin and waved his hand over his own body to support his words. Percy decided it was time to play along.

"Why don't you check," he said sweetly before he left. He noticed with satisfaction that the cashier became even redder than him.

He walked back to Leo quite quickly.

"What took you so long?" Leo asked excitedly when Percy finally got seated by the small table again. "Was the ginger girl hot? She looked hot."

"What? Yeah, I guess."

It wasn't Rachel Percy was thinking about. It was the guy behind the desk. He glanced to his left and saw the guy again, now taking an order from a stressed mother with two small children. He blushed when he remembered the conversation they'd had and hoped Leo didn't notice.

"Or was it that dude over there?" Leo said which brought Percy abruptly back to his current company. Leo pointedly looked at him, and then raised a victory fist. "My plan works! A summer fling! What did I tell you Perce? What did I tell you?"

Percy didn't answer and he averted his eyes when the cashier looked his way. Nearly the whole Starbuck's looked their way because Leo was doing whooping sounds and kept saying in a loud voice: " Who's da boss? Leo is da boss! Who's Mr Love Doctor? Right here babes!"

"Come Leo, let's leave," Percy mumbled and poked at Leo to make him move. "Let's go."

"Yeah yeah Mr. No-fun, I'm coming," Leo whined. He sounded like a three year old. The two friends started to move, and Percy ignored Leo when he nudged him with his elbow.

"The chocolate man is looking your way Romeo," he whispered, loud enough for everybody in the shop to hear. Percy walked faster.

When they passed the desk Percy nearly ran, and was dragging an unwilling Leo after himself.

Leo walked in slow-motion. Soon he'll be outrun by a snail, Percy thought sourly.

When they were nearly out through the doors Leo brushed his hand over the desk and took hold of the edges. "Do not fear my beloved!" he wailed. "I shall return!" He bowed to the shocked coffee drinking couples like he was receiving a round of applause.

"Leo!" Percy hissed, careful not to look at the laughing people. "Stop talk to the building! Come now!"

"His name is Percy!" Leo shouted before he was dragged out of the shop by his friend.

"What was that?" Percy asked furiously when they were walking down the street, a long way from Starbucks hearing range.

"That," Leo said in a superior voice, "was my good deed of the year. You'll thank me in the future."

Percy stopped dead. "What did you do?" he said, his voice rising. "You left something on that desk, didn't you?! What did you leave?!"

Leo frowned. "Man, don't be like that. You know I only want your best. Most of the time," he added when he noticed Percy's raised eyebrow.

"Leo," Percy warned.

"Okay man, Jesus. Everybody could tell you and chocolate man over there was totally checking each other out. I only gave it a little push, you know, jumping from base 1; What's your name? - to I don't know; Here's my number?"

Percy took a deep breath. "How do you even know that I'm into dudes?"

Leo flinched. "Calypso might've told me," he mumbled.

Percy bowed his neck and moved his lips as if he was asking the gods: Why me?

"You gave him my number?" he said calmly.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now Leo started to have second thoughts.

"Let's not do anything rash," he said and laughed weakly. Percy stared him down.

Leo looked down the street. It wasn't many people out. He did the smart thing.

He ran.

"He told me his name was Nico!" he yelled when he ran down the street and pulled up his pants that was slowly gliding down.

"You're so dead," Percy muttered before he took off after Leo.

But deep down, he felt a tingling sensation. It was hope he realized. He hoped that the guy - Nico apparently - would call. Though, it didn't change the fact that Leo soon would meet his fate.

It would be hard to explain the sudden disappearance of Leo to Calypso.