AN: Okayy, I think I got this out pretty quick! As in, I haven't updated this quickly in quite a while; I do enjoy updating quickly, but I generally don't have the time to do it. So, thank you so much to my reviewers: Mysterious Percabeth Fan, AntiThalico, GirlOnFire33, flyonfan14, ChildOfWisdom, XOsweetPURPLEcandyOX, xPercyx, dark, dark, Hydro Dexter, ButterflyFlyToMe, Bikerhead6969, seaweedbrainwisegirl202, it's just me, Happyzen, anon, Miette in Rain, thegayperson. You all mean so much to me, and so does every person that takes the time to read the stories that I put forth.

Anonymous review replies will be at the end.

So, things really start to pick up, somewhat, in this chapter. I suppose saying things really get set in motion is more like it. Also, these lyrics have more of a meaning to the chapter/story.

Hope you enjoy.

"I'm more than some pretty face beside a train

And it's not easy to be me." – Superman by Five for Fighting

.

Chapter 3

Best Friends and Plans... More or Less

...

Percy's POV

Starting to wake up, I feel a light weight on my chest, but I'm not sure why it's there. We don't have a dog, we don't have a cat, and I'm pretty sure I didn't just pack a few good pounds of muscle on my chest. Barely cracking open an eye, I catch the sight of a blond. Annabeth. Her hair's sprawled out over my chest, and her arms are wrapped around my waist. Looking down at my hands, I'm happy to see that they haven't gone any lower than her lower back. Good thing, too, because I don't know what Annabeth would have done if they had gone any lower. Whether or not I would have enjoyed it though, well that's another story. Just 'cause she's my best friend doesn't mean she isn't still a girl.

Yawning, I try not to move too much so that I don't wake up Annabeth. She looks peaceful. Her cheek's pressed into my chest, and I notice she hasn't even drooled. It must take skill to not drool in your sleep. Slowly lifting my hand off her waist, I push a few strands of hair behind her ear. I freeze when she shifts a little but relax again when she doesn't wake. For a while, I just watch her body rise and fall in sync with my chest, trying to push out the thought of what she said to me right before she fell asleep; for some reason, I can't seem to push it out of my mind.

It bothered me because you started to remind me of Luke when you were around him.

I still don't know what I did, because by the time I was able to form coherent thoughts, she had already fallen asleep like she is now. The thought of being Luke, reminding her of Luke, is something that I never thought I would be in her mind. I know for a fact that Luke had broken Annabeth to the core somehow, even though she won't tell me why. But me, be like Luke? That would mean that I had the possibility to break her too; Annabeth's my best friend. I can't break her. I wouldn't break. I won't break her. Though I never considered it, what if all that I've done over the school year has broken her? All the girls I've dated? Hanging out with Mark? Shaking my head, I let the thoughts dissipate. If I had hurt Annabeth in that way, surely she would have told me, right? I like to think that she would have, but I'm not so sure about that anymore.

"How long have you been awake?" Annabeth brings me back out of my thoughts. I don't realize until now that I've probably been zoning out, staring at Annabeth the entire time.

"I don't know," I frown for a second, looking down to meet her grey eyes. "How long have you been awake?" How long has she seen me staring at her…?

"Oh you know," she pauses, a small grin playing on her face, "long enough to know that you like playing with my hair."

Glancing down at my right hand, I notice that it's at the bottom of one of the many curls that lies across her back. Smirking slightly, I remove my hand, "I wouldn't say I like it, but it's not a bad thing to pass the time with."

She rolls her eyes before sitting up off the edge of my couch. I shrug off the slight feeling of, well, sadness that her warmth is gone, however I move my feet back so she has more room to sit. "Thanks," she tosses me a small smile, "I suppose."

"You're welcome," I grin before mocking her, "I suppose." She briefly rolls her eyes again before looking at me with an amused expression. I know what I'm about to say will remove that expression, but I can't help asking, "About yesterday…" Her eyes take on a quizzical look before I continue, "About what you said about me reminding you of Luke. I figure we should talk about that..."

Her eyes flicker away from me for a brief second before they fall to her hands in her lap. I match my sight where hers is and see her fingers tugging at her shorts; it means she's uncomfortable. She only ever does that when she's nervous or uncomfortable, and I hate being the reason that she is. "What about that?"

She evades my question much to my slight annoyance. "Don't play that game, Wise Girl."

I hear a sigh escape from her lips before she adds on, "What do you want to know about it?"

That one I'm not even sure about myself. I fight the urge to state everything and try to figure out what exactly I want to know. Well, that is besides everything. When I see the blond girl, my best friend, sitting in front of my somewhat sadden, I realize exactly what I want to know. "Look," grey flickers in my direction for a quick second, and I know she's listening, "I'm not going to force you to tell me everything about Luke, and I'm not going to force you to even answer this question. I just want to know, why didn't you tell me before?"

After the relief seems to wash through her body, she shrugs not bringing her eyes back to me, "It didn't seem like it mattered." Her head turns in the complete opposite direction of me as if not wanting me to even catch a small glimpse of whatever emotions are passing over her face.

"Well, it did." I pause, taking in the sight of Annabeth trying to close herself off to me. "It does," correcting myself, I wonder if she'll even say anything in regards to this topic. By the silence that swiftly passes, I figure that she doesn't have anything left to say to me. "It's alright, I understand-"

"No," she cuts me off, shaking her head, "you truly don't, Percy. You weren't there when basically no one else seemed to care for me anymore. You always had all of you other girlfriends to tend to. Of course you didn't have time for your best friend who was being called a prostitute. I don't even blame you for not talking to me during the school year."

"Annabeth," I begin, but she simply waves me off.

"Don't apologize or anything. What's done is done." She takes a shaky breath, as if trying to get her emotions back under control. Feeling that there's not much left to do to comfort her, I sit up next to her and let my arm fall around her waist to let her know I'm here now. "Percy, I didn't really expect you to be there, I suppose. I just wanted you to be there. You know, I just wanted to have my best friend around. That's where Nico came in." She pauses, glancing at me for a second. "He didn't replace you or anything, but he was just there for me when I needed someone to talk to. I suppose I just wanted to know that not all guys were like Luke, especially when you seemed more and more like him each day."

I can't help but let out a hot breath, "I promise you that I'm not him, Annabeth."

She surprises me when she laughs before laying her head on my shoulder, "Oh, I know that Seaweed Brain. I know that, now." Now? She hadn't known before? I always assumed that she knew I was there for her, but that she needed space. Or well, I liked to think that I just gave her the space to come to me, but now I'm not so sure my motives were that clear. "I suppose I knew that before, too."

"I just figured you wanted space," I state quietly, feeling as though I'm trying to convince myself of that fact.

"Mhm," she breaths out, not at all convince at what I was saying.

Deciding to not comment on that, I change the subject, somewhat, "I never did like Luke." But, it ran deeper than that. Originally, I never liked Luke because he seemed to be nothing but no good when it came to Annabeth. That turned out to be true, in the end. Though, a part of me didn't and still doesn't like Luke because he took an interest in Annabeth. Sure, I'd like to throw it off as her being my best friend, but there was something more than that to it. Luke was her first boyfriend, and something about him holding that title will never sit right with me.

"I can see why now," she lets out a hoarse chuckle before adding on. "I can't say he's my favorite person in the world. But really, what's done is done now, and I can't change that." I tighten my grip around her waist when a hint of the sorrow plays through in her voice.

Thinking for a second, I sum up everything that I'm feeling, all the confusion in an "I suppose so."

She shrugs with me in agreement before setting our conversation on a new path. The talk that we just had will simply have to be enough for me, for now. It's obvious that there's more for us to talk about, though. "So, when are you driving me home?" she asks, going on the new path for a conversation.

Oh yeah, crap, I completely forgot that I'm to bring her back 'bright and early.' Generally, for the sake of Annabeth's parents liking me, I always stay true to my word when it comes to getting her back, but today, I just don't feel like doing everything exactly as I had said I would. "How 'bout after we grab something to eat at Good Burger?" It used to be a tradition that Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, and I would hit the place up every Saturday, but that stopped after I joined the football team and such. "Like old times?" I throw in when I see her worried expression.

"I don't know," she stands up, grabbing her phone off the coffee table, so I let my arm fall to the couch, "about that. You see, Christine is expecting me back and all, and you know, my dad…" She trails off, flipping through something on her phone. I hadn't realized before, but there's more than simply dislike in Annabeth's reaction to her step mom. It reminds me somewhat of the tone she uses when she talks about Luke but only somewhat. There are still great differences between the way she talks about the two of them.

"I could talk to Christine," I suggest, waiting for her reaction. She pauses for a second before paying more attention back to her cellphone. "Or not?"

"I prefer the latter," she glances toward me for a short time with narrowed eyes. "Look, I'll just call Christine later. Give me a few minutes, and I'll be ready to go, alright?" I send her a nod, and she halfway runs up the stairs to, what I assume is, the bathroom. Frowning slightly, I set back the pillows on the couch making a note to talk to Annabeth again about Christine. For some reason, I feel like I won't be able to remember that note. It's the weirdest feeling because Annabeth is one thing that I had always been able to remember. Or, at least that what it had seemed like to me. But after talking to Annabeth about Luke, it doesn't seem like that to her.

...

Annabeth's POV

I frown slightly into my milkshake because Percy thinks it's hilarious to talk about how Tyson is practically "in love with Annabeth." Percy continues, smirking at me while he tosses a fry into his mouth. Thalia grins slightly while Nico just shakes his head. Looking between the two of them, Nico and Percy, I can tell that something's wrong. Throughout the entire breakfast, of sorts, Nico hasn't acknowledged Percy, and Percy is pretty cold towards Nico.

"Hilarious, Seaweed Brain," I roll my eyes toward him, slapping his shoulder slightly. He tosses a fry at me which I expertly catch in my mouth, much to his chagrin.

"Skills," he smirks towards me, throwing a fry up in the air towards his mouth, "Wise Girl has skills."

"Which you don't have, Kelp Head," Thalia adds in when Percy's fry lands not in his own mouth but on his forehead. I can't help but grin at his complete miss.

Before Percy can grab the fry off his forehead, I take it myself and throw it at his mouth which he then catches. Grinning, he pushes his chair back seeming distracted, "Yeah, I guess I don't." His eyes are located over my head focusing on something. Looking over my shoulder slightly, I should probably correct myself. Someone. He was looking at someone. "Hey, Drew," he nods his head in the direction of her. "Guys, I'll talk to you later," he states, walking off towards Drew.

I bite my button lip, paying more attention to my milkshake than anyone or anything else in the room. It would be wrong of me to say that I'm jealous; I'm not jealous. It's just that Percy is my best friend, and well, it's just sort of him and me. Well, in a way it is, besides the fact that he's had many a girlfriend for a while now. But I mean, summer isn't a week old, and he's already reverting back into the Percy that I couldn't stand during school.

"So," Nico voices, breaking my fascination with my milkshake, "Annabeth, what are you doing later today?" I can tell Thalia's smirking because she covers her mouth by biting into a burger.

"I don't know," I say distractedly, trying not to think of how, at the moment, Percy is probably flirting with Drew. Being the Percy that reminds me of… just not being Percy. "Probably something with Percy or with my brothers, why?"

Shrugging, Nico backs away from the table, "I'll go get ketchup or something." He sounds dejected which for some reason, I can't place why. Normally, I always hang out with Percy for the day or my family so that shouldn't be much of a surprise to Nico. It's not like we ever really go out and do stuff. Strike that, we never actually go and do stuff, just Nico and me.

"And you're supposed to be smart," Thalia smirks towards me, before putting down the burger which is now missing two bite sized chunks.

"What do you mean?" I ask, probably sounding as confused as I'm feeling. Being smart is definitely one of the things I pride myself on, surely Thalia knows that. I don't, for a second, like the fact that she's suggesting I may not be smart at the moment.

"Nico and even Percy," she shakes her head, looking in the direction of where Nico is getting ketchup, "the two of them." Thalia probably thinks it's obvious because she brings her attention back to her fries. When I don't say anything in response, she glances at me with raised eyebrows almost as if amused, "Look, Nico doesn't understand why you hang around with Percy anymore. He thinks you deserve better than him." Shrugging, she nods her head towards Nico, "Nico likes you, and no, I'm saying as more than a friend or what not. He just generally likes you. Don't ask me to what degree because I don't know. I assume, though, it's just as a friend."

I know for a fact that Nico doesn't like me as more than a friend; we would never even work as anything more than a friend anyways. He's just a friend to me. Sure, we're close but nowhere near how close Percy and I are. I suppose, though, that I never gave Nico the chance to be as close as Percy and I were. For starters, Nico's a year younger than me, and he's always just been there because Percy's been there. So, the fact that Nico likes me, as a friend, doesn't surprise me, but the other part does, "Nico doesn't think Percy's good enough for me?"

Thalia shrugs, looking off toward the corner of the fast food restaurant, "I don't blame him." Her eyes roam over that corner for a few seconds before looking back at me. I fight the urge to glance over in that corner, wanting to know what Thalia has to say. "Percy isn't the same kid he was before, Annabeth." She pauses, her eyes softening towards me, "You really can't argue it any other way."

"No one is," I grimace, shaking off the depressing memories that overcome me. "It's a part of growing up, Thalia." I can tell from the expression on her face that Thalia doesn't believe me; I don't believe myself either, so I can't fault her. Not every change is simply a part of growing up.

Her eyes break away from me to look back into the corner, "Is that a part of growing up?" She nods her head there, now breaking her gaze to shake her head towards me. Shifting in my chair, I swallow hard at the sight. Percy. Not my Seaweed Brain Percy, but the Percy that I've had to endure seeing for months on end during the school year. At the moment, he's standing up against the wall with his back towards it, facing me. Although he's facing me, his eyes aren't looking towards me. I catch sight of his profile as he whispers something into Drew's ear, the half of his mouth that I can see breaking into a smirk. Not one of the smirks that I'm accustomed to but a more devious one. I know what's coming next as he lifts his hand towards Drew's cheek, bringing the two of them closer. "Because I don't: I don't think it is one bit."

Not wanting to see more, I thankfully take the advantage of Thalia's talking to bring my attention back to her and away from Percy, "I don't either." I don't want nor do I need to say anything further. I'm quite certain the hurt is already evident on my face if the tone of my voice doesn't do it justice alone.

"You're the only reason that Percy isn't like that all the time." I shrug in response to her, feeling as if Percy doesn't seem to have a problem with reverting back to the old flirting Percy in front of me. For a second, I doubt what Thalia says because of Percy's actions now. Though, there is a slight comfort in knowing that Percy wasn't doing this in my vantage point nor does he know that I just saw. "Alright," Thalia draws out the words for a few seconds. She then lets silence wash over the two of us for a short time, "Well Percy likes you to some degree. Probably because you've always been there for him," my eyebrows raise again at the former of her two statements.

"We're best friends. I'd like to think that he likes me to some degree," I state nonchalantly. It had never crossed my mind that Percy liked me in any way as more than a friend because I really only like him as a best friend, nothing more than that. Or well, it had been years since I had liked him as more than a best friend. And, it had been almost as long since I even thought about the possibility of liking him as more than a friend again.

"Yeah, sure, as a best friend…" Thalia scoffs, watching Nico take his seat back at the table.

"Got ketchup," he lifts the many packets in his hand before dumping them on the table for anyone that wants them. "I see Percy's made a new friend," his eyes flicker towards me for a second before settling on the corner that Percy's standing in. Or well, I assume he's still standing.

"What are you getting at Thalia?" I can sense there's a plan behind all of her madness, and for some reason, I'm involved in it. Nico shoots me a confused glace, but I ignore it, seeing Thalia as being a more pressing matter at the moment.

Thalia raises her eyebrow between Nico and I, "Look, no girls can ever seem to resist Percy," which I find slightly understandable,though that thought makes me shake my head. Although he's my best friend, I can see why girls would fall for Percy. I'm sure no matter what persona he's taking on, there's something about being around Percy that is nothing that can compare to anyone else. It seems to be that Thalia takes me to be disgusted with the fact that girls fall all over Percy since I shook my head, so she proceeds. "Well, seeing how Percy actually cares for you and he's like a cousin to me, I figure that you would be perfect."

"Perfect for what?" Nico makes his presence known again as he shifts his eyes between Thalia and me. "What, exactly, am I missing…?" He trails off, deciding to leave his gaze towards me. He probably did so, thinking that Thalia would be less likely to tell him, but I too know as much as he does. I simply shrug, turning my attention back to Thalia.

Thalia smirks, partially enjoying that the revealing of the climax has now fallen to her, "There's nothing wrong with showing a person the error in their ways, right?"

"No?" Nico answers somewhat unsure so it comes off as questioning. "There's nothing wrong with that?" I certainly don't blame him as Thalia seems to be talking about more than she's letting on.

"Why don't we teach him a lesson," she pauses, shifting her eyes back towards the corner where Percy is, "of sorts."

"Lesson? What kind of lesson?" I ask, somewhat confused, but to be honest, I'm a tad bit captivated by what Thalia appears to want to set in motion. That is until I realize, "You said we. What exactly do I have to do with this?"

"Yeah, that he can't just date and dump any girl he pleases. Now this is where you come in:" Thalia leans back in hear chair, preparing to draw out her idea to me.

I already have a bad feeling about this before Nico butts in, "This already doesn't sounds good." He's probably right considering Thalia has set up the plan so that she draws me toward the end game, keeping herself out of it which means having minimum contact from all the fallout.

"All you have to do is date Percy for two weeks to a month or so, and then dump him." She shrugs, letting her hands rest behind her head, "It's really that simple."

Looks like my feelings were right, "No. Not happening." Nico states before I can.

"What's it to yah, Death Boy?" She smirks, raising her eyebrows towards Nico, "Are you on the side of your cousin, now?"

"No," he mutters, narrowing his eyes towards Thalia, "I just don't like the idea of Annabeth dating Percy." I can feel my eyebrows scrunch together at the thought that Nico would have a problem with me dating Percy. "They're best friends and all," he adds on quietly towards the end.

Thalia gives a halfhearted shrug, "It's a good thing you wouldn't be the one dating Percy: Annabeth would be." It seems that Nico doesn't have a good comeback for that so he turns his attention towards me.

"Sadly, what she says is true." He states, seeming to be dejected with having to give in to what Thalia wants.

If what Thalia really said was true, and Percy did have genuine feelings for me past being best friends then I couldn't do that to him. It didn't matter how much of a player he is at times, it still wouldn't be fair. I mean, he's actually a really nice guy outside of school and the reputation he has to live up to, but he's truly not that Percy. I couldn't just repay him, my many years of friendship with him, by ripping his feelings to shreds: whether or not those feelings were simply friendship or more.

"C'mon Annabeth," Thalia jokingly pleads with me as I weigh my options. Though, her idea of pleading was more like demanding.

If you ask me, there really isn't much to weigh anyways…"No."

"Great, problem solved, let's move on." Nico grins towards me, grabbing a packet of ketchup to put onto his fries. It seems to me that he's all too happy to hear my answer be no, but I assume it's because he doesn't want to consider how Thalia's plan could hurt not only Percy and me but him too, by extension.

"It'll bring back the old Percy, full time," at this I narrow my eyes, my eyebrows rising, as Thalia suggests it. Thalia seems to sense that I'm thinking 'how' so she continues, "You see, Percy being Percy will come to notice how his actions hurt people and will revert back to being the old Percy." The idea seems like a far fetch one to me, but Thalia goes on anyways, "So, you date him for about a month, and then you get what you want: the old Percy."

"This is ridiculous," Nico shakes his head, running a hand through his hair. I can't help but agree with him.

"Plus, people will forget about the whole Prostichase thing." Thalia raises her eyebrows, a small glint in her eye. "It's what you've wanted for a while now." It's true, I do want for the whole ridiculous thing to be buried. But, could I actually get that at the expense of someone else feelings? At the expense of my best friend's feelings? "Remember Annabeth, you would be doing this to teach Percy a lesson." The cost of this lesson is still arguable, though, "And, you would get the old Percy back."

"Wait," I realize that this is Thalia's plan yet I seem to be her puppet in it all, "why do I have to do this? Why can't you?"

At the latter, Thalia makes gagging noises as if I had just suggested she go kiss her brother Jason, "Percy is like my cousin. Heck, he's like a brother. That would just be gross. Eh, puke worthy, even. Plus, you're his best friend, and Percy won't suspect a thing. So what do you say? Date him, dump him, instant normal Percy, and being known as the girl that dumped the great" she used a fake, annoyingly high voice when saying great, "Percy Jackson, instead of just being Prostichase."

Although I can barely make out Nico's many protests, I can't help but let the idea resonate with me. I would be teaching Percy a lesson right? And since he always did the whole date and dump thing, his feelings couldn't be hurt too much, now could they? But even if they were, that would easily be justified by all the other girls' feelings that were crushed by him, wouldn't it? Though, this is Percy, my best friend we're talking about. It would mean that I would have to hurt Percy in a way that could possibly damage our friendship for life. That, I surely wouldn't even want to risk. Though, would I be able to put up with years of Percy simply using women for his benefit?

Letting out a breath, I turn my attention towards Percy in the corner with Drew. He seems to be enjoying himself as he has his head buried into her neck at the moment. For a second, I feel pure and utter disgust at the fact that he's my best friend. That… That, that boy, is my best friend. I purse my lips before answering, not breaking my gaze away from both Percy and Drew.

...

AN: Do, do, do, do, do. I don't normally do cliffhangers like that… But, I had reached a good length, and I just couldn't help it this go around. Personally, I thought this was a good cliffhanger… I don't know about you guys…I hope I don't meet any virtual pitchforks for it.

But, yes, I know that our beloved Percy Jackson wouldn't do such a thing as kiss Drew, but it's all for the story, right? We do see hints of our beloved Percy, though, when he's around Annabeth. Ah, well, what did you guys think?

Feel free to ask me any questions in a review or pm that you might have. I'll be glad to answer as long as it's not giving too much away; it also helps when I know the answer. But either way, I'll do my best to answer.

Review?

Oh, I also included some parts from the original version of the story in this chapter

Hope you enjoyed! Don't worry, though, with Percy's reputation, he won't be together with Drew for long. ;)

~ Jam. {edited 5/5/12}

Replies to anonymous reviews:

Dark (1) – Thank you! I hope this update was soon enough!

Dark – Aw, thank you. I suppose I don't think that 1st person POV always has grammatical problems but simply the author just isn't that great with grammar. I could be wrong, though. Care to explain for me your thinking?

It's just me – it's nice to see you back! Aw, thank you. You're much too kind. Hahah, I didn't think it was too formal at all, and I actually enjoy formal at many a time. Anywho, thank you!

Anon – there's more to a book than simply the cover. Maybe, Annabeth has a good reason for it? I guess it all depends on what you think a good reason. I would simply love to know what you see is fit for a good reason.