AN: Thank you to flyonfan14, Pug1998, luckyducky516,ButterflyFlyToMe, booklover484, epicsilverbullet (love your avatar by the way), Anon, Awesomel, Nerdybirdy, Namittheking for taking the time to read and especially review. It truly means a lot to me. (Anon, your reply will be at the end).

Sorry for the long wait, guys.

Chapter 4
Loving

I wake up pressed against the warm side of the pillow, wishing that my blinds were able to more efficiently block out the sun. The long, bright rays have again awakened me early than I would have liked. Squinting my eyes, I lazily flop my hand over to my phone that's resting on the nightstand, bringing the illuminated screen to view the time: 8 AM; it's rather early. It feels as though I've barely even laid my head on the pillow before I was awoken by the pouring in of sunlight. Pressing up onto my elbows, I attempt to will the time to roll backwards so I can obtain just a few more minutes of shut eye. Rolling my neck, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, the memories from the past week tumbling into my head: Percy. They're all of Percy and the times he snuck out to see me, the many secret kisses we stole under the moonlight, the many times I had to sadly kiss him goodbye. It has become almost a ritual where Percy sneaks out a certain time at night, and I make sure to be there when he comes. And then for however many hours, we spend them together, talking, hugging, kissing: embracing the minimal time that we have together during our secret nights.

The cold spreads up from my feet as they meet the smooth, wooden floor that's in my room. I'm still not used to the room in the Cupid's Amor's house since my actual room is padded with plush carpet. As I make my way to do my normal morning routine, I can't help but let my mind drift to other areas. My mind wanders back to that one, specific night before: when he whispered to me the words that I had always wished to hear, that I have waited to be spoken to me.

"Do you believe in divorce?" I ask him randomly as we sit together with our toes dipped in the cool water of the pool. His strong arm, draped around my waist, keeps me warm as a light breeze could easily have chilled my bones.

His eyes show confusion from the quick change in topic, but he regards it nonetheless with an uneasy expression, "My parents got divorced, so yes I do believe in it." Together his eyebrows scrunch as he makes the signature face of thought that I've come to love seeing, "However, I would only want a divorce with my wife if one of us decided to no longer work on it."

I search his sea green eyes for a deeper meaning that I can't seem to find, "What do you mean by that?" It makes me feel slightly slow by not knowing what he originally meant, but my curiosity causes me to ask him what the hidden meaning is.

He shrugs, flicking water up with the movement of his foot, "What I mean is: I think that all relationships are about working it out. They all have problems, but you have to work them out. Sure, it might not come easy, but as long as we both decide to keep trying to work things out, then there's no point in breaking up. It's when one of us stops trying that I would then consider a divorce or a breakup." I smile into his shoulder as my Seaweed Brain shows that, while at times he can be slow, he is overall smart.

"So, then why didn't it work out with your previous relationships?" I ask curiously, unsure as to why anyone would even want to give Percy up. I've already broken many of the rules for the show, Cupid's Amor, merely to spend as much time as I possibly can with him, much less be with him.

His face renders uncertainty, "I suppose they all just decided to stop trying to make it work. I'm not saying it's their fault, but that's what happened in the end." I press a reassuring kiss to his arm, wanting him to continue, wanting him to know that I'll still be here no matter what, "The first girl, Calypso, lived pretty far away. At the time, she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. It surprised me that she even considered dating me, that she loved me, yet the problem came when she wanted me to give up everything for her. I promised her that I could and would still love her even across the country while at college, yet she protested that we could ever feel the same that way. She wanted me to give up my school, my friends, my family and never look back. I couldn't…" He trails off, moving his feet back and forth in the blue liquid cutting through the reflection of the stars and the moon. "Needless to say, it didn't work out. She said that if I went back to New York that day, then I would be giving her up." His breath escapes in a deep sigh as I squeeze his arm lightly, "I promised her that wouldn't be the case: that we could still work things out. I went back to New York because my break was over, and in a few days, a box came with every, single thing I had ever given Calypso. It was her way of ending things, and she didn't change her mind when I promised her that we could still work things out again over the phone."

"It was her loss," I say, causing a smile to spread across his face.

He shrugs, "I guess you could say that, but I feel like it was my fault for leaving that day." His shoulders slump, the guilt that he has been feeling for years pouring out of him.

I shake my head, "No, you still wanted to try to make things work, Percy. You can't blame yourself for her deciding that she wouldn't try to make the long distance work."

His head nods in agreement as he continues, "The other girl was Rachel. She had gotten what she considered her dream job, and I was happy for her. It meant that she would be traveling an awful lot, but I understood that it wasn't her choice. She said that she couldn't be tied down when traveling the world for her job. She told me that she always knew we could never work out but that I would lead her to finding her dream job. Apparently she needed me in order to stay and reside in New York, the place of foundation for the job that she yearned to have. There was nothing I could do, she said." He meets his saddened green eyes with my grey, giving a weak, understanding smile, "I know that I could never expect her to give up her job for me; I never wanted that to happen. I merely wanted for her to try to call at least once a week, to text when she could. It happens, and that's when the break up occurs."

"My job's really important to me," I mutter to Percy, hoping that I wouldn't do the same as Rachel did to him, leave him for my job. Sure, I've done something of the like that by picking my job over Luke, yet I could never imagine Percy forcing me to make that choice.

He raises his eyebrows, "I understand. I get that sometimes you'll be stuck there doing work or out on the job miles away. It'll suck, but I don't expect a lot besides just trying. I can deal with going in at your lunch breaks even if it's only ten minutes or a couple of texts throughout the day. I get it if you come home late and skip dinner because of work." He chuckles, shaking his head, "I just want to know that you'll try to make things work, and we'll try to see each other when we can. Even if we just eat a banana together for breakfast before you leave for the day. It's better than nothing."

I bite my lip, attempting not to smile at the thought of Percy and me together for the long haul, "Really, if it's just two minutes to eat a banana and leave?"

He grins, nodding his head and bringing his lips closer to mine. They brush against mine as he says, "Yes, even just long enough to eat a banana together, as long as we're both trying to make things work." And as the last word is breathed across my lips, he brushes his lips against mine just as lightly as the spoken words. In that second, I know that no matter what the two of us could make things work.

"I can't do it," I say to Chris after that memory plays out in my head over and over throughout the morning. He has come to ask me which guy I'll be taking out on a date and what it's going to be.

His face contorts into confusion as he eyes my wearily, "What do you mean, Annabeth? You can't choose?"

I shake my head quickly, considering how best to say it, "I've already chosen; that's the problem." To distract myself, I run my hand over the smooth marble countertop wishing that I were talking to Percy right now instead of Chris.

The show's host nods his head, "Well, I guess this could possibly work out in our favor." He scratches his chin with his hand, "You're going to have to tell the guys, you know." I nod my head, sighing frustrated at the thought of having to deliver the blow to the two other guys. I wonder if Chris has known for the past week that I've gotten down to this point, that I have already made my choice. "It's Percy, isn't it?"

I open my mouth to speak, but for a second nothing comes out. Trying again, I muster, "Yeah, it is."

"You realize he could still pick the money over you?" His voice is concerned, knowing that I've started to deeply care for Percy throughout our short time spent together.

"I realize," I speak mutedly, hoping that I've been right about Percy all along.

Chris nods, regarding me worriedly, "Annabeth, I'm not going to try to change your mind, but I want you to know that Percy might choose the money over you. And if he does that, you won't get a chance at Xander or Will again or even Percy. I know that you don't want to even possibly consider that he'd do that to you, but you know the best chance for him to get the money is to get close to you. I'm not attempting to talk you out of your choice, but I am letting you know that this could hurt you in the end." His eyes show his sincere concern for me without any hidden meaning.

I push my lips from side to side, "I know, but I think it would only be worse for everyone if I waited another two weeks before I made my choice. It wouldn't change anything for me." More than anything, it would only make it harder for me to tell the guys that I choose Percy, for them to go back and watch the show for all that it has been. They would merely see that I had known since the second week yet prolonged it and strung them along. I don't want that, and I won't have that happen.

"Okay," Chris says, standing up, "I'll tell the guys that there's no date for the day. Look, I don't think it's best that Percy sees you tonight. I'm aware of the secret meetings and such. You need to think this over without seeing him and being influenced by that. This needs to be about you and only you. So, we'll talk to Percy aside and let him know that he can't continue to sneak out anymore. I realize that you may not want this, but this is what you need. Tomorrow, if you still want to make the choice, we'll go into the studio and shoot it. Alright?" I nod slightly, hoping that Percy won't take the called off meeting as being something that it isn't. Sadly, I know that Chris is right; I need to make this choice without Percy on my mind, but the thing that Chris doesn't know is that this affects both Percy and I. Because during that night with our feet plunged into the pool, we both decided that we would do what it took to make things work, and I have to do this to make things work.

AN: Yep, yup, sorry for the long wait, and I'm sorry that the chapter isn't all too long; it's just what happened, I suppose when writing it back in the summer. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it, and soon we shall find out: is Percy in it for the money or love. All I have to say is picking the money would make for a great storyline…but so would picking love. Guess I really didn't give anything away and restated the options, eh?

Anon – Thank you! Hm, yep this story is prewritten. However, I still have to reread each chapter over for editing purposes. That means sitting down and taking up to 15min, for a short chapter, to do that, then replying to the reviews, and thereafter I have to type out the author's notes, upload it, format it, and then publish it. All and all, that can take an hour or more, and being as busy as I have been as of late, I don't always have that hour to commit to doing it. So, that's why it took, now, over two months. Also, at the end of the summer, I was ridiculously busy, partially due to procrastinating, and the beginning of the year entailed adjusting to the amount of work I had this year. I hope that answers your question well enough, and I didn't take it to be rude, honestly. I hope you don't take this reply as being rude for I truly do not mean it to be. Anywho, hope you liked this chapter and thanks for taking the time to read and review- means a lot to me.

Until next time,

~ Jam. xx