a/n: So…I was bored before my 1pm class and I didn't feel like studying for my finals, so I decided to write a little something for my Annabeth series.

This is set during the summer right after the Battle of the Labyrinth, when Percy describes his and Annabeth's relationship as "skirting around each other", and that he "was glad to be with her but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when he wasn't with her too." So I decided to write how Annabeth would be feeling at this time.

And who better to ask for advice than –

"Thalia, you know I can't."

"Annabeth," said Thalia, her bright blue eyes boring into mine, "Annabeth, how do you know he's not going to hurt you like Luke did."

I turned away from her and crossed my arms. "Thalia, it's not like that."
"It's not like what?" asked Thalia, trying to keep herself calm. She could see that she had offended me.

"I…" I couldn't explain it. "No."
Now Thalia was genuinely befuddled. "No…What?" she asked, stepping in front of me. "Annabeth, it's exactly the same situation!"

I shook my head and refused to keep eye contact with her. "No," I mumbled, "No, it's not."

I appreciated that Thalia made this journey to Camp Half Blood to talk to me, but the subject was one I'd rather not discuss.

"I'm not going to become a Hunter, Thalia," I said with a sigh.

"Why not?" asked Thalia, "No death! The only way you can be killed is in battle – a great honor! You're immortal! You don't have to deal with…boys." Thalia's eyes darkened at the last word, fury seething behind her eyes.

"Just because Luke hurt you," I said, finally making eye contact with her, "Doesn't… Doesn't mean Percy will hurt me."
"But that's just it!" said Thalia, "Luke KNOWS he's hurting people. But he thinks he's, I don't know, doing it for a noble cause. Percy doesn't even realize what's going on here, and you're just getting confused and hurt over this. Come on, stop thinking about a guy, you're a daughter of Athena, for heaven's sake! You're freaking Einstein. Think logically! What would be the most sensible?"

I thought about that for a moment. I hadn't told anyone that Percy and I had kissed that day when he disappeared. I thought he had died, and I didn't want anyone to feel worse for me than they already did. I had a feeling that they suspected something more than what I was willing to reveal, but I was definitely not ready to tell anyone.

I had just admitted it all to myself after that stupid and illogical kiss. I wasn't ready to admit it to other people, let alone Percy.

Thalia, however, had a knack for weaseling information out of people when they wanted to hide it the most.

"I loved Luke," said Thalia, "LOVED, Lady Artemis," she called, responding to some unknown call that I hadn't heard, "Loved, with a D, as in past tense, as in can't stand him anymore, want him to drown in a river now," Thalia sat there, waiting for something, and visibly relaxed when whatever she was hoping for happened, "Anyway. But I loved him – I don't know if it was just because we were together for so long, the three of us, running from the world. Running from everything. I was twelve, he was fourteen, I can't be sure if it was anything real. But I felt something for him. I was never sure if you could catch it – but then when I see your face any time someone mentions his name…Annabeth, you need to give up."

"What?" I asked, startled. "I…I thought we were talking about P-Percy! Not Luke!"
"Don't try to pull the Fleece over my eyes," joked Thalia, "You have the same sort of affection for Percy as I did for Luke. But it's not worth it anymore."

"I don't…I don't think it's…Percy is different than Luke."

"HAH!" exclaimed Thalia with a wild look in her eye. "There! You admitted it?"

Confusion washed over me, a feeling I was rarely used to, and a feeling that irritated me. "What? What are you even talking about? Are we talking about Percy or Luke? And…Wait, what?"

"I, about me, was talking about Luke," said Thalia, "I, about you, was talking about Percy. I think I garbled my words somewhere in there."

I carefully said, "Okay…? I still don't have any idea what you're trying to say."

"There's something with you and Percy that is different than just a regular friendship. Different than what you felt for Luke."

I stared at her, not sure where she was going with this, and guardedly said, "That's because Luke is infested with the essence of Kronos. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I have a feeling that Percy's pretty much just…Percy."

"There!" exclaimed Thalia, "Right there! You have that look when you say his name?"

"Look?" I asked, turning away from Thalia again and walking towards the river, "What look? There wasn't a look. That's ridiculous."
Thalia scoffed. "Now, now, Annabeth. You may be a genius, but you're a horrible liar. You looked like you were completely in love with Percy when you said his name – just his name! And don't think I didn't notice that you looked at the water right afterwards."

"Coincidence!" I claimed. The statement seemed forced to my ears, like I was lying, and there was also the fact that my voice squeaked on the last syllable. I was not winning this battle. Which is not a good feeling for a daughter of Athena.

"Is not."

"Is too."
"Is not."
"Thalia, you're acting twelve!" I said, stomping my foot and glaring at her.

"And stomping your foot is better?"

"I don't even understand what you're trying to do here!" I asked, resisting the impulse to stomp my foot again, "What do you even want me to do? Admit I like Percy and give him up? Or just…I don't know what you want me to do here! Tell Percy I like him? Give up on boys and join the Hunters? What?"

"I don't know what you want to do or what I want you to do," said Thalia, "I just want you to admit it. And then decide to join the Hunters."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine, whatever. Can you promise not to tell anyone? Seriously."
Thalia smiled. "Tell anyone what, Annabeth? Whatever are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm trying to say."
Thalia shook her head, laughing lightly. "Annabeth, you've barely admitted it to yourself. Now you need to admit it to me so I can shake you out of it and have you join the Hunters."

"NO!" I shouted, panic rising, "No, I can't admit it…I…I don't want other people to know."

"I think they have a hint, Annabeth."

"Nope. They can't."

"They do."
"I think I'm in love with Percy." I stared in horror in front of me, as if the words were floating in front of me, mocking my weakness. I didn't mean to say that.

Ugh, it was just like when I kissed Percy! I didn't mean to say it! That stupid feeling in my gut took over and…Stupid! I was being illogical and stupid!

It seems that is a pattern when I'm thinking of Percy.

"Well, yeah, I know, but at least you said it yourself. Okay, so now it's time for someone to smack you out of it."
"No!" I said, backing away from her, walking towards the river. "I don't want to be smacked out of it," I sighed, finally admitting it to myself, letting that feeling well up in my chest and wash over me, "It's…I don't want to be a Hunter, Thalia."

"He's only going to hurt you."

"No he won't!" I said, turning to her. "Would you hurt me?"

"Annabeth, it's different. I know you have the whole Percy-and-Thalia-are-the-same-person theory, but when it comes to romantic feelings, it's different. I can't speak for him. But I can speak as a person who's been in this situation before," she sat down on a log and patted the space next to her. "Luke did nothing but hurt me. I was in that tree, or I was that tree, something, I guess, waiting for him to help me somehow. But he never did. He sort of saved me, sure, but that was unintentional. He saved me to destroy everything and everyone else…He… Annabeth, I can't stand to see you hurt again."

"I'm hurting when I'm not with Percy, Thalia. Percy's not trying to ruin the world."

Thalia nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. But as a Hunter, you'd never have to worry about that."

I shrugged. "They don't let you into the Hunters if you admit that you have feelings for someone."

"Well, if you change your mind or no longer have those feelings, you're in. Like my situation. Artemis saw that I needed something to get me off of thinking about Luke, and being a Hunter was perfect."

"This isn't going to change, Thalia."

"Why not?"

I stared out into the sea, an inanimate reminder of all my adventures with my Sea Weed brain. Thalia understood it, but I don't think she remembers how it feels. Besides, I was nearly three years older than she was.

It's been three years since I met Percy. And the feelings had only grown stronger.

"Because I…I love him, Thalia."

"No you don't."

"Wait," I said, glaring at her, "How come you knew it before, but now that I'm saying it the second time you're saying I don't love him?"

"Because this time I'm trying to convince you that you shouldn't," Thalia put her head in her hands, "Seriously, Annabeth, what's so good about him?"

"…He makes it so I can't think straight. For once in my life, when I'm around him, I don't just think anymore. I let myself do what I want on impulse. He messes with my head, and, I don't know, I kind of like it."
"Perhaps that is his briny sea salt smell?"

I punched Thalia in the arm. "He doesn't smell like the gross part of the ocean. More like the breeze. And the sense of tranquility, and permanence. And…And…"

By the time I shook myself out of the stupid trance I was in, Thalia was staring at me, a look of minor horror and major amusement. "Okay, wow, I think I believe you now – this isn't going to change any time soon. I've never seen you like this over a person. Actually, I don't think I've seen you like this over anything before. I'm still worried he's going to hurt you, though. Or maybe it's not even him who will hurt you. What about your parents?"
I stared into the sea again, "I think Poseidon will be a little bit more lenient than my mother…I'm going to have to…I don't know. Maybe I can explain it. I'm worried, though, the night that…" I couldn't think of the right way to explain the night that Luke fell off the cliff, or that Zoe died, "The night you became one of Artemis' Hunters, my mother spoke to Percy. What if she told him something?"

"Well," said Thalia, "I have a feeling that Percy's never going to let something that another person tells him, even one of the most powerful goddesses, stop him from doing what he really wants." Involuntarily, I smiled at this. "Oh gods, look at your face, you're smiling at the fact that Percy would break the rules for you."

"I am not!" I said, but I could tell my argument was weak. Thalia smiled at me.

"What are you going to do if he kisses you for the first time and then changes his mind or…I don't know, decides that he doesn't want to risk it, because of your parents or the dangers or, I don't know, any kind of reason."

I squirmed in my seat. I definitely didn't want to discuss the kiss with anyone, but I was worried Thalia already guessed. Sure enough, Thalia said, "Oh my gods! You kissed, didn't you!"

For a moment, as Thalia sat next to me on the log, despite her silver shirt, jeans, and silver circlet, her bow slung across her back, and the knowledge that she was immortal, it almost felt like we were normal teenage girls talking about normal teenage problems. I'd always wondered what that would be like.

"N-no, no we didn't kiss, no. No."

"Too many no's, and you can't lie if your life depends on it."

My silence answered for me.

"Oh my gods! How was it? When was it? TELL ME EVERYTHING!"

I opened my mouth to tell her off, to explain that it was none of her business, but all of a sudden I heard someone call my name.

"Annabeth?" called Percy, my heart leaping as I heard his voice say my name, "Annabeth, where are you, Chiron needs all the heads of the cabins for a meeting."

I turned to Thalia, but she was already getting up to leave. "I'll leave you two love birds alone," she said as she gave me one last hug before she left. "I think you'll make the right choice, Annabeth. But I'll miss you."

"What do you mean?"

Thalia shrugged, "Artemis told me she could tell you'd never join the Hunters. And you never will. I guess this was my last try."

Tears sprung to my eyes. "I'm not…I'm not losing you, am I? I still get to see you, right?" I asked, familiar panic rising in my stomach. I always hated thinking of losing Thalia again – now it seemed a nightmare was coming true.

Luckily, Thalia shook her head, "I can come visit. But I'm not sure how often," Thalia turned to leave, and before she ran off into the woods she said, "But remember, Annabeth, you're head's not always right. And this time…Maybe you should stop thinking so much."

Percy appeared from the side of Cabin, sauntering over with a goofy smile on his face that made my stomach do an Irish tap dance accompanied by advanced gymnastics.

"Hey Annabeth, come on," he said, sitting where Thalia once was on the log. He looked out at the green and blue waters. "Why are you staring at the ocean?"

I shrugged. "It's beautiful. Well, handsome, really. And inexplicable and untamable and confusing and tranquil and…" I let my sentence trail off. I looked at him sideways, thinking how everything I just said described him perfectly and wondered if I was describing the sea or Percy, and thought to myself, "Because it's the closest thing to you."

a/n2: So apparently when I'm procrastinating studying for final exams, I write Percy Jackson fanfiction. I'm the weirdest college kid ever. Review and tell me what you think!