Okay I know this is a long time coming, but I've had horrible writers block. Want the answers for the last trivia questions? Right answer(s) are Hillary Duff's So Yesterday and Mozart's Piano Concert Num. 5 (both of which sounded awful, according to Percy). Enjoy.

…

Percy's POV

…

"How'd the interview go yesterday, sweetie?" my mom asked me as I did the dishes the next morning. Believe me, I wanted to tell her about the incredible Annabeth, dream girl, soul mate, many other sappy things that would get me picked on by the guys. But I couldn't. How could I tell my mom I was in love again? Especially when she knew of my vow to never love another girl. So I kept my lips shut and shrugged, meaning it could go either way. "Well, I'm sure you'll have a new coworker soon." She ruffled my hair on the way out. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to talk to somebody. I did the practical thing; I called my best friend Grover.

"Hey man," I said once Grover picked up. "Look, I have a problem. It's this girl…" Grover squealed. "Dude, my heart races, my palms sweat, and I feel totally inadequate next to her. I think I'm in love." Silence filtered through the phone, making me wonder if we got cut off. Finally, small shuffling sounds could be heard.

"Are you sure Percy?" he asked quietly. "The last time you said that was Thalia, and look how that that turned out. You swore up and down you'd never love again, save yourself some heartache." I closed my eyes, imagining her sweet, smiling face. The only heartache I was experiencing was that of not being able to be with her right now.

"Grover, I know what I said," I whispered. "And it was rash and foolish and I wish I'd never made that stupid vow. The only heartache I'm experiencing is not seeing her right now." I wish my shift started earlier than noon. I wanted, no needed, to see her now. I debated going early, juggling the idea for awhile before deciding to wait another hour to leave. It was currently nine in the morning, and I was restless, charged with an energy I've never felt before.

"Well, good luck with that," Grover finally said, reminding me I was in fact still on the phone. "If you truly believe you're in love…have fun. But don't expect her to return the feelings. You just met." I squeezed my eyes shut and took a few deep breaths.

"I know Grover, I know," I replied quietly. "She has to, right? I mean, I felt the spark…" I trailed off. Could I, with my frayed emotions, have just imagined a moment between us? "Fuck Grover," I breathed, raking my fingers through my hair. "I probably imagined the whole fucking thing" I snapped my phone shut, not wanting him to respond to that. Hot tears stung my eyes and clouded my vision. I stumbled to my room and collapsed onto my bed. Now, I don't cry, never really have, not even when Thalia broke my heart on that hill. But this… This was too much to bear. Just the possibility of my new secret love not loving me back reduced me to tears. I couldn't tell you why, it just did. I allowed myself the luxury of lying on my bed, tears leaving sticky tracks down my cheeks.

…

Around eleven, I emerged, eyes swollen and bloodshot and throat on fire from the screaming that started around ten. I'm pretty sure my building thought I was nutso, but that hardly mattered. Right now, I was just going through the motions of getting ready for work, on autopilot. I decided to go (against my better judgment) if anything just so I could clear my head. I slipped on my pressed white shirt and straight black pants. I tied my pink apron around my waist and after much debate, plopped my pink hat on my head. Pink isn't my color, but I think I pulled it off pretty well. I locked the apartment and let myself out the front door. The ice-cream shop wasn't that far from my apartment complex so at least I could walk there. It was peaceful, as peaceful as the city that never sleeps could be. The smell of exhaust and sweat helped clear my head the way sticky tears couldn't (did I ever tell you tears were messy?).

"Hey boss," I said when I walked in, clocking in like normal. Paul Blofis smiled and waved at me. He was in the back room currently doing inventory, a job I was sure I'd pick up soon. Which meant at least an hour in the freezer staring at carton upon carton of ice-cream and freezing my ass off in the process. I loved my job.

"Percy," he called, my cue to go back. When I did so, I wasn't expecting his next statement. "I reviewed the interview. I must say I'm quite impressed with young Annabeth. Seems dependable. I called her place earlier. Should be here around one to help out." Oh joy.

"Kay boss," I said, making my retreat. Now I was going to be forced to work with my secret love who may or may not love me back. Not high on my list of Things I Wanted to Do After a Heartbreaking Realization. But oh well. I was the one who basically promised her she'd have the job. Might as well suck it up for the day. I only worked to four. But knowing my luck, she'd get off at the same time. The little bell above the door let out its pleasant little ding and slowly the temperature in the room rose to near boiling. I sucked in lungful upon lungful of air as Annabeth looked around, white blouse and black skirt new looking and pressed and pink apron crisp and fresh. Even her hat looked cute on her. Truthfully, I've never seen a female in the ice-cream shop get up. It was usually Paul and I around here (and I prayed to the gods I never saw him in a skirt).

"Hi Percy," she said to me, smile making the corners of her eyes crinkle. I plastered on my best fake smile and gave her a curt nod. Paul chose that moment to emerge from the freezer, lips slightly blue. He took Annabeth's hand and gave her a warmer smile than what mine looked like.

"So glad to have you in our close knit family Annabeth," he said, shooting me a look. One that said, don't be rude to her. You are the one who requested her, dumbass. So I bit my lower lip and gave her a genuine smile (or as genuine as I could manage with my fragile lil heart).

"It's good to work again," she replied cheerfully. "So, what are my basic duties here? You seem to have the back covered, while Percy tackles ice-cream." Gods, my name sounded so perfect coming from her mouth, like it was meant to. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like, to kiss that mouth, to taste it. To feel her in a way she only allowed close people to…slow the fuck down, brain.

"Well," Paul replied, pulling my firmly back to the current situation. "We use real bows, spoons, forks, and plates here. What we need you to do is go around and gather up those things and maybe wash them at the end of the day. Percy may also need help if it's an especially busy day, like during the weekends." Which it was. Saturday. It was Saturday.

"Sounds simple enough," she concluded. Leave it to her to have it all figured out.

…

Annabeth's POV

…

Percy barely looked at me all through my shift. I thought for sure he liked me, so why was he giving me the cold shoulder suddenly? It didn't add up. Around three I had to wipe my eyes in the bathroom because the sudden onslaught of tears made navigating the tables dangerous. Around four, he began to undress his apron and hat and tossed his gloves into the trash. I was off around the same time, so when he turned to leave I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, making him pause and stare at my hand for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Wait Percy," I said, voice barely a whisper. "Want to walk home with me tonight? You could eat dinner at my place." He looked like he was debating the idea, then he shook his head and gave me a look of indifference and cold fire.

"Sorry, can't," he said, which I knew was a lie. It wasn't that he couldn't, he just didn't want to. "Mom told me to come home after work," he continued. Another lie. "See you around." He tugged his sleeve from my grasp and left, making the cheery sound of the bell not so cheery. Glumly, I folded my apron and draped it over my arm and took off my hat. I hailed a cab (I had no heart to walk anymore) and in no time found myself in front of my house, studying the toy cars and bikes in front it. The Chases were pigs, this said. Sighing, I let myself in.

"How was work?" mom asked me, sounding too sure of herself. I shrugged as I dug around in the fridge and finally produced a bottle of water. Twisting off the cap, I sat at the bar and stared at it for the longest time.

"Kinda slow," I said, which wasn't a lie. For weekends being the busiest time, it was pretty damn slow. Only ten people filtered in through my three hour shift. Paul said it was normally busier than that, and I shouldn't expect slow days like this often. "I'm gonna go up to my room now," I said, abandoning my water and making my way up to my room. I flopped onto my bed and stared at the ceiling, allowing myself to think.

...

"Hey Annie," Malcolm said, grinning. He always called me Annie, so I was used to responding to it. You know, for having dated him for five months, we had yet to share our first kiss. I'm not sure if we were secretly not ready or what, but I was getting fed up with it. So I decided to grow a set of balls and flat out ask him what was up.

"Malcolm," I said slowly, and my expression must have given something away, because the smile melted right off his face and he looked at me with a serious and concerned expression. "Why have we dated for five months, but haven't so much as kissed?" There. I said it.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Annie," he said, taking my hand. He did crazy shit like that when he wanted to explain something. "Look Annie, you know I love you, but I don't love you that way. I think we need to see other people. I'm sorry for leading you on like this. But, I think it was peer pressure, you know what I mean? Like, they say, oh, you should go out with her. You'd be so cute together! That kind of bullshit. No hard feelings, right, Annie?" He looked at me anxiously.

"Yeah, yeah Malcolm," I said, smiling. "I also get it's going to be hard when I move away soon. Long distance and all." He nodded and smiled at me.

"You rock Annie," he said as he jogged away. I let out the breath I'd been holding since this conversation began.

Was it bad I was relieved when he said that? Does that make me a bad person?

…

Looking back on it now, I've come to the decision that it doesn't make me a bad person when I was relieved Malcolm broke up with me. I wasn't even all that sad. I wanted a different experience. Percy was crazy and exciting, while Malcolm was comfortable and predicable. And if I had to choose between the two…well let's say Malcolm would lose, big time.

Let's face it. I was falling in love with Percy, boy a barely knew, and I was okay with that.

…

Here's to the longest chapter I have ever written! Once I started typing, the ideas began to flow and I finished in no time. I'm quite happy with this one, if I do say so myself. You get a glimpse into Annabeth's past life and you get some Percy angst, win-win, right? Also, I didn't want Paul to be his dad in this one, so he owns the ice-cream shop, obviously.

This isn't really a question, I'm just curious. What is your favorite/least favorite moment in the series? PJO and HOO count, so it could be from either. My favorite is the kiss Percy and Annabeth share in the lake after the first titan war. "It was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time."

As always, leave a review! I'm out.