AN: Welcome to Chapter 4! I completely forgot to write the reviews in for the last chapter, my bad, let's do them now!

Dope! Now to the next point!

Second, WE GOT 500 VIEWS IN 3 CHAPTERS GUYS! THAT'S MIND BOGGLING! When I started this story in my head, I thought it would be a fun little thing to write, nothing major, nothing anyone would really care to read. Thank you, guys, so much! It means a lot when I read reviews and see what y'all say, and when I see how many views it gets, and the followers goes up, it makes me feel like I did something right. So, again, thank you all.

Alright guys, without further ado, let's go!

Percy

It had been a few days and I walked into school Friday morning tired and hungry. I hadn't had breakfast because I woke up late, around 20 minutes before school started. I had thrown on a black sweater and a black V-neck, slipping on a pair of black jeans and my black and white Nikes.

"Hey Perce," I heard behind me. I turned and saw Luke. He was giving me a smile. He looked like my opposite today. He was wearing a white sweater with a white V-neck, a pair of black jeans and white converse. His blonde hair rivaled my black.

"Is it opposite day?" I asked with a small grin. He laughed, and we started talking about swim, just walking around the school for a few minutes. We actually had a lot in common. Luke started to turn into what felt like my best friend, and thank god, I need some good friends to rely on. Don't get me wrong, Leo and Jason were always going to be some of my best friends but having Luke as a friend was dope. Leo was hyper, Jason was calm and collected, and Luke felt like he could be chaotic if he wanted to.

"So, what's up with you and Rachel?" he had asked. I was a little thrown off as we were just talking about swimming before he brought her up.

"I mean," I started, putting my hands behind my head, "She's cool. Annabeth says she likes me, but I don't think so. Even if she did, I only see her as a friend."

"Uh huh," he said with a curious smile, "and what about Annabeth?"

This question stumped me. What had I thought about Annabeth? When we were in the car the other day, I swear I felt a connection, but I couldn't be sure. I thought about how her grey eyes were still calculating, as if she was still trying to figure me out. I thought about her blonde curls, and how they fell gently down her face, framing it perfectly. I thought about her tan skin, and how she had gotten it through sports, and playing outside, not sun bathing. I thought about how she was always buried nose deep into a book.

"I – I," I started, not being able to finish. I looked at Luke, dropping my arms, moving them around as if that would help me get the words back into my brain. Luke laughed and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Dude, you're so into her," he said with a giant grin.

"W – What!" I start, practically yelling, "No I don't! I just think she's a great friend who has really awesome eyes, and has an amazing personality, and I…" I paused, thinking about it for a second. Then it hit me like a truck. Every emotion I had around her, everything about her, I had remembered it all.

"I… I like her," I said, looking at a blank nothingness at this point, just trying to understand what was going on, "but I don't think she likes me back.

"You should go for it dude," Luke said, pulling out a bag of chips from his backpack.

"Hah, yea, okay," I start sarcastically, "She wouldn't go for me. I don't read, she loves books, I swim, she runs, I get B's if I'm lucky, she gets A's like they are nothing. We're opposites dude."

"Hmm," he said, obviously fake thinking, "I'm not sure man, I think she's into you."

"Yeah, okay." We continued to talk about random things, but I couldn't get Annabeth out of my head. She was playing on loop. I kept hearing her laugh, seeing her smile, smelling her scent of lemon.

The bell rang after a few minutes, and me and Luke parted ways. On my way to class, I saw Annabeth, and she gave me a warm smile. I returned it, probably looking stupid, because all I could do was stare.

"Want to go over the English homework tonight Seaweed Brain?" she asked with bright eyes. I knew I couldn't say no, not that I wanted to. I had to speak before I stared for too long.

"Sure thing, Wise Girl," I said without stuttering. Mm, Mental high five!

"Awesome, meet you after classes!" she said, giving me one last smile, then walking briskly to her class. I smiled to myself, then sighed a deep sigh. Yea, I'm not going to be able to focus today, I thought, but that was okay.

The day rolled by, surprisingly fast, and we went into lunch time. The group had found a table next to a tree in the quad, so we all met up and sat together. Thalia looked bored, Nico was eating a burger, Jason and Piper were sitting together and chatting, Luke had been watching a video of people failing, Leo had brought a full Lego set, but had it halfway done 5 minutes into lunch, Frank was sitting down, talking about archery class, and Rachel was sitting down drawing. When Annabeth and I walked up, everyone smiled at us. Rachel looked like she was in a bit of pain, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"What's up guys?" I asked with a smile. Annabeth and I were sweating from sword fighting, but we had giant smiles on. We had a competition going on who could beat each other more, and nothing was off the table besides death and maiming. This often left us with pulling ridiculous pranks on each other mid class to throw the other off guard.

"Nothin much, just finishing this build," Leo said, a sense of pride in his voice.

"Just hanging out," Jason said, leaning on the table. Piper nodded at this and leaned in towards him. Jason blushed, but remained calm. It was clear to everyone that Piper had liked him, and he liked her, they were just too shy to do anything about it.

"Yea, come sit down," Thalia said, patting a spot next to her.

"I have a spot open for you if you want, Percy," Rachel tried, moving her bag. She scooted over a little more, making the spot wide open. I opened my mouth to answer but the noise that came out wasn't my voice.

"I'll sit next to you Rachel," Annabeth answered, sitting down before Rachel could protest. Annabeth gave Rachel a sweet grin, but Rachel Gave her a sickly grin. It was honestly kind of creepy. I was a little thrown off because I wanted to sit next Annabeth but it's alright.

"That's… good with me," Rachel said, seemingly forcing it out. I shrugged and sat next to Thalia. I lightly shoved her to scoot her over, then was met with a punch to the shoulder.

"Ow!" I say, holding my shoulder. Thalia just smiled at me while I glared. A few moments later we both laugh, leaving the rest of the table slightly confused. Nico just shook his head, a small smile tracing his lips.

"Hey," Annabeth started, obviously thinking about something, "Don't you guys think Jason and Thalia look remarkably similar?" Everyone started looking them up and down, inspecting them like pieces of art made by the same artist, trying to find the similarities. Now that she had mentioned it, the two did share a common resemblance. They had the same eyes, same skin tone, same face structure. The only difference was the hair. Jason was a bright blonde, and Thalia had a dark black. Other than that, however, they were almost identical.

"Yea, that's kinda crazy," I said in utter shock. Everyone murmured words of agreement. Thalia simply shrugged and went back to her food, only saying one thing.

"Well, unless he's also the son of Zeus Olympiad, I'm not sure how that would work," she contributed. We continued to talk about all the different similarities before moving on.

"So, what are you guys doing tonight?" I asked, trying to start up another conversation. Everyone took a second to think about it.

"Well," Piper started, being the first person to talk, "Me and Jason are going to go see a new movie after school, then grab a bite to eat. What about you Leo?"

"I'm not sure," he started, still thinking, "probably making drafts for one of my many projects."

"Frank?"

"Probably working out a little bit, but not much else. I'll probably be doing homework though, so don't count on me for being able to make it to any plans."

"Rachel?"

"My dad has a get together tonight so I'm going to be there all night."

"Nico?"

"Whatever you're doing dude, I have no life really." Everyone chuckled. Nico might have been quiet, but when he gave his sassy remarks, he was definitely the most outspoken.

"What about you Luke?"

"I'm free actually," he said setting his phone down, "Wanna hang out?" He looked slightly bored, looking for something fun to do.

"Sure," I said, giving him a smile, "Maybe we can play some video games at my place, I have a pretty good set up."

"I'm down. What do you want me to bring?" I just shrugged. I had quite a lot, food included, so we didn't need much to be brought. In the end, I told him to just bring a few snacks.

"Uh…" I start, but my words get jumbled in my throat, stupid Luke getting me thinking about feelings and crap, "What about you Annabeth?"

"I'm actually free today," she said with a certain look in her eyes, as if this was calculated, "mind if I tag along?" When she asked, Rachel had frowned, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"Yea!" I say a little too excited, "I mean, yea, that's cool." Inside, I was dying of joy. She was coming to my house! I smiled wide, showing off some of my enthusiasm. Today was going to be good. For me at least.

"Hey, Annabeth?" Rachel started sweetly, giving Annabeth a grin laced with what seemed like pure sugar, enough to make anything sour, "Can I talk to you about a project I need help with?" Annabeth hesitated, but in the end, nodded.

"Sure," she said, standing up, grabbing her things, "Let's talk and go grab something from the vending machine. And with that, they walked away.

It was completely silent, and no one wanted to say anything. No one was sure what had just happened, except for Luke and Thalia. Everyone looked blank faced, doing menial tasks, like eating, or writing.

"So, what are you up to, Thals?" I ask, trying to move forward.

Annabeth

"What do you think you're doing?" Rachel said, looking furious at me. We had just gotten to the vending machines when she decided that it was time to harass me. I had calmly started to put money into the vending machine while I was talking to her, not giving her my eye contact.

"What do you mean?" I ask innocently, plugging in the number of the snack I wanted. A bag dropped, and I grabbed it, moving on to the drink vending machine.

"You know what I mean," she started, walking closer to me, putting a hand on the vending machine, "You're trying to get in between me and Percy!'

"Who, me?" I say, feigning ignorance, "Why, I would never... But even if I would, there isn't a 'you and Percy' to get between." Rachel scoffed at me. She was silent, and angry, and looked murderous. Then, she wasn't.

"Maybe not yet," she said, a sick smirk plastered onto her face, "but at least I don't have anything to hide." This peaked my interest, as I wasn't even aware as to what she was talking about.

"I'm not sure what you're playing at, Rachel, but I've been nothing but honest with Percy."

"Maybe about everything that has been happening currently," she started, smirk only getting wider, "but what about 3 summers ago?"

This time, my eyes widened, not because of sarcasm, but out of fear. There's no way she should have known. We had tried to keep that out of the public eye as hard as we could, the entire situation had disappeared.

"You wouldn't," I say, voice trembling. Any sense of confidence I had was gone. I couldn't believe what was happening.

"You're right," she said, turning around, looking over her shoulder, green eyes looking like pools of venom, "I won't if you leave Percy for me."

"Rachel, please don't do this," I pleaded. I couldn't lose my friend, not like this.

"The choice is yours, Annie," she said with a smug grin, walking away. I leaned against the wall, taking some quick breaths. I closed my eyes tight, fighting against the tears trying to flow like water rushing out of a broken dam. I take a deep breath, calming myself, then open my eyes. For the first time in my life, I wasn't in control, I didn't have a plan, and I had no idea how to fix it. I sighed, then went back to the table.

Percy

Rachel had gotten back a little later, a sweet smile like always. I smiled back, then went back to talking. We had all gotten on the tangent of how there were no good parties in high school.

"I'm not sure man," Leo said, "I think we could throw an awesome party."

"At whose house?" I ask curiously, honestly unsure. I didn't want to throw it at mine, but if worst came to worst, why not?

"Hmmm," Leo said, stroking his fake beard, "I'll let you know about that one while I draft up the plans."

Everyone laughed and Leo's silly antics, then started talking about other tangents. Jason and Thalia were talking about Annabeth's comment of the two looking similar either. Unbeknownst to anyone but me, Annabeth had walked back to the table with a clearly fake smile. Her normally sharp and bright grey eyes were dull, and murky. I'm not sure why I noticed such a small detail, but it bothered me.

"Hey," I say in a low voice, only loud enough for her to hear, "you okay?" Annabeth jumped ever so slightly, looking at me, and giving me the same fake smile, trying to will some sort of energy into her eyes, but they were like windows into her soul, showing every broken piece, every fragment, showing her weakness.

"I'm fine," she said with a small grin, trying to act fine, "You still on for tonight?"

"Yea," I said cautiously, "If you're still up for it. Thalia and Nico will be there too."

She gave me the same smile, and a painful laugh. "Sure, Seaweed Brain," she started with the same broken smile, "I'll be there." The bell rang and we all stood up, grabbing our things. We all started to move towards our classes, chatting about. Part of me couldn't help but worry about Annabeth though, and what had happened when her and Rachel went to talk. I shrugged it off as we walked into class, and we were met with a flurry of sheet music we needed to practice. As much as I loved singing, even this was getting to be annoying.

School finishes, and swimming practice flies – er – swims by. We all meet in front of the school, Annabeth and Thalia looking bored, Nico looking tired. Will walks up to Nico and they start talking again. Annabeth's eyes are still dull and dim, but they are slightly better than earlier.

"Hey, Aquaman," Nico says, but I ignore his nickname, "Do you mind if Will tags along too?"

"The more the merrier," I say with a warm smile.

"You guys ready?" I ask, still drying my hair with my towel. The girls (and Nico) nod, and we head to the cars. Luke hops into mine, and Annabeth into Thalia's. Nico drives off by himself in a white ford focus. Even though we all hated using our dad's money, Nico was probably the most frugal with it. He always bought his own stuff. We started heading up the road when Luke starts talking to me.

"So," he says, playing a game on his phone, "What do you think is up with Annabeth?" He paused his game and looked at me, icy blue eyes calculating, studying me for an unknown reason.

"To be honest," I said, furrowing my eyebrows, still keeping my eyes on the road, "I'm not sure. It's like whatever her and Rachel talked about really got under her skin." I thought back to the redhead and how she looked so content when she got back, like she had gotten exactly what she wanted.

"Yea," he said, looking forward, eyes still calculating, obviously trying to piece things together, "I picked up on that too."

"What do you think it could be?" I asked, taking a quick peek at him. It was easy to see that the two of them were friends, so I had hoped he knew what it could be.

"Well," he said, looking sorrowful, "I've only seen her look this way 3 years ago, but there is no way Rachel would know about it."

"What is it?" I ask curiously. Luke stayed quiet for a bit, before sighing and looking at me. We were at a red light and I took a glance back at him.

"Honestly Perce," he said, a sense of emotion in his eyes that I could barely read. It looked like sadness, but I couldn't be sure, "it's not my story to tell. Don't blatantly ask Annie what happened either. The most I can tell you is that it was traumatic for her. We thought we were going to lose her for a bit."

"What do you mean lose her?" I asked while starting to drive again. Luke kept his glacial eyes trained on me.

"Have you ever seen the light fade from someone's eyes?" Luke asked seriously, but not giving me enough time to respond, "Have you ever seen someone you know and care about slowly slip away into a void that you had no clue existed? Seen someone so strong turn into rubble, wanting to throw themselves off the roof of a building?"

I was left speechless. To think that Annabeth, such a strong and powerful person, was dealing with depression like this. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, not sure of what to say, or if I wanted to say what was on my mind. Luke had faced forward again, eyes still sorrowful. It had gone quiet for a few minutes at this point.

"…Nico…" I say quietly. I see Luke turn to me, confusion written along his face, "… I saw Nico break down… It was 2 years ago. We were hanging out when our uncle called us. H-he… He told us that our cousin Bianca had died. Of course, me and Thalia were destroyed, but Nico was different. See, Bianca was Nico's older sister. (A/N: I know this isn't correct, but I need it for this story, fight me :P) Nico was destroyed, but he wouldn't show it… I'm just glad he's here today."

It had gone quiet again. The silence was burning my ears yet was still comfortable. Luke and I had gone through very similar things, knew what it was like to almost lose someone we cared about, and how we could only worry about that person.

"Listen, Perce," Luke said, a certain gleam in his eye, "Annie is like my little sister, and I care deeply for her. Don't let this deter you from being with her. Don't let her problems and past scare you. She doesn't need you to fix anything about her past, or fix anything that happened, she just needs someone there, someone to understand. Got it?"

I looked at Luke with soft eyes, understanding where he was coming from. Nico didn't want to be fixed, he just wanted to be understood after his sister died. "Yea," I said with a soft voice, "I understand." The last 5 minutes of the drive had been quiet, the only noise being my car, and the now present pitter patter of rain on my windshield. When we arrived at me and my cousin's place, Luke's eyes bulged.

"Woah," he said in awe, "You guys live here?"

"Yep," I said, slightly bored. It's not that I didn't like it, but it's just Thalia, Nico and I living here. We didn't need a huge mansion.

"This is sick dude!" Luke said ecstatic. The outside of it was made of brown wood and had black roofing. There were large windows facing out to the front patio, giving the entire house a nice golden glow. Inside the mansion it was homey. On the first floor there were guest rooms, a giant living room, a game room, the kitchen, and a few other random rooms, but nothing too exciting. The crazy part is although we knew it was a mansion, it didn't look it. It looked like a regular home. On the second floor there were the master bedrooms. Thalia, Nico and I each had our own rooms, each having different colors. Mine was blue with a white trim, Nico's was grey with white trim, and Thalia's was Black with white trim. Thalia is the only one who decided to add extra to her paint job and put lightning bolts across the walls. We each had our own computers and laptops, our own beds, and our own bookshelves. We had essentially everything a kid could want.

We were all settled on the couch watching a movie and relaxing. I was sitting next to Annabeth, Thalia was next to Luke, and Nico was next to Will. Everyone was talking lightly and hanging out. The movie finished and we all sat talking for a little bit. Eventually, like kids do, we started to get restless.

"Let's play a game!" Thalia suggested, a smile plastered on her face.

"What game?" Nico asked, sitting up from his leaned back position. Will was still leaning back, hands behind his head.

"Let's play truth-or-dare!" Thalia said, grin turning sneaky and cunning.

"Yea!" Will said, sitting up straight from his spot.

"I don't know guys," Annabeth said, eyes returning somewhat normal for a little bit, "What if it gets out of hand?"

"C'mon Annie!" Luke pleaded, "Live a little!"

"… Fine…" she said begrudgingly. We all gathered in a circle and took our turns. Will insisted on going first.

"Nico! Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Nico said easily. Nico was kinda scary that way, he could just turn everything off and be fearless.

"Hmmm…" Will thought for a second, the smiled, "I dare you to make me some eggs."

"Easy," Nico said getting up, but was interrupted.

"Ah-ah!" Will said, making him stop, "I want them sunny-side-up!"

"Sure," Nico said, walking out. Everyone was confused as to why Will had him cook instead of something like drinking a glass of toilet water. Will just smirked and gave us a well thought out answer.

"Nico told me he hates cooking," he said, leaning back, using his arms to prop himself up, "Now, he suffers, while I benefit."

"You're a psychopath," Thalia said, with a smug grin, "I like it!"

"So, while he is gone who wants to take their turn?" Will asked.

"I'll go for death breath," Thalia said, scanning the group, "Annabeth! T or D?"

Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to think of what to say. "Truth…" she said, somehow outweighing that or dare. Thalia's eyes sparked, obviously excited about something. Annabeth caught on and gave a quick sigh.

"Alright," Thalia said, "What do you think of good old Seaweed brain here?" Annabeth blushed like crazy, eyes widening at the same time. Obviously, something was uncomfortable for her. Nico walked back in with the eggs and placed them in front of Will. Will just beamed at him and smiled, but I didn't pay it much mind. I was too focused on Annabeth. I really wanted to know what she was going to say.

"I-I mean," she started, stuttering, "He's cool, funny, athletic, and an all-around great friend. I feel like I could trust him with anything." Upon hearing this, I kinda deflated, not hearing exactly what I wanted, but I was still happy with what I got. I saw Thalia looking at me, eyes telling me what she thought about the things Annabeth had said. I shrugged and motioned for the game to keep playing.

"Alright," Annabeth said, blush almost faded, taking on a determined look, "Thalia, truth or dare?" Thalia gave a smirk, and met Annabeth's eyes with a determination of her own.

"Dare," she says confidently. Annabeth's eyes flared a grey fire, excitement burning.

"Toilet water. Cup. Now," she said simply, smirk on her face. Will kept eye contact, then shrugged, walking into the kitchen, and rummaging through shelves to find a glass. He came back around 5 minutes later with a glass. He went into the bathroom and came back with a nice refreshing glass of toilet water. He looked directly at Annabeth, maintaining direct eye contact, and chugged the entire glass. Annabeth's eyes widened, then furrowed. She crossed her arms then looked back towards the group. Everyone laughed, including me. Everyone else was slightly scared of Will though. Either the dude was insane, or he had guts of steal.

"Alright," started Nico, a sly grin on his face, "Since my dear cousin took my original turn…"

"You're welcome," Thalia cut in.

"… I'll go now," he ended. He looked around, trying to pick his victim like a kid in a toy store. He gave everyone a look, then his eyes set on me. We made eye contact, and I saw his small grin turn into a smirk.

"Percy-" he started before I interrupted him.

"Dare," I say strongly, sipping on my water. I've lived with Nico for years, there's absolutely no way he could catch me off guard. Absolutely no wa-

"Kiss Annabeth," he said bluntly.

"WHAT?!" Annabeth screamed as I did a spit take all over Thalia. We looked at each other, eyes wide, blushing furiously. Annabeth looked away, and I glared at Nico. He couldn't have known, could he?"

"I-I'm not forcing her to do that, Nico!" I said, not wanting to make things awkward between me and Annabeth. We were great friends, I didn't want to lose her this quick.

"Annabeth," Nico said, looking at her, "Can he kiss you for this dare?"

She didn't say anything, choosing to stay quiet. She was looking down at her hands, contemplating something. Her eyes still had gone dim again, light fading, or being suppressed rather. She gave a deep sigh, then looked at me with a gaze that told me how she was truly feeling. She was a broken mess, unsure of how she would make it out of the hole she was in. She gave me a small, accepting smile, then said something, just above a whisper.

"… Fine…"

Nico's eyes widened, Thalia looked excited, Luke looked slightly afraid, and Will looked as if his two favorite characters of a book series were finally getting together, but I didn't pay much attention to them. I was too focused on not messing this up. I took a huge gulp, then met Annabeth's eyes. We were both blushing like crazy, and we slowly started to lean in. I closed my eyes, leaning forward still. I could feel her soft breath on my lips. We were mere inches apart. I leaned in to seal the kiss, and just as I had felt her gentle lips on mine –

*KNOCK*

Someone had knocked on the door rather harshly, causing me and Annabeth to both jump back, not completing the kiss, although very close to it. Thalia groaned, Luke fist pumped, Will fell backwards groaning, and Nico started chuckling to himself. I was still blushing furiously and gave Annabeth a small smile. Annabeth looked back at me, still blushing furiously, and smiled back. I could tell that it was fake though. Her smile was forced, she was still hiding something. Nico, Thalia and I all got up to check who was at the door. When we opened it up, we were confused to see who was there.

Standing in the pouring rain, was a certain blonde with a scar through his lip. His blonde hair was disheveled all over his head, and his eyes looked as if he was crying. He was leaning against the wall outside, looking as if he was sick.

"Jason?" I ask aloud, unsure how or why he was at our place. He just gave me a somber grin and chuckled inwardly slightly.

"Hey, cousins," he said, looking at me and Nico before he met Thalia dead in the eyes, "Hiya, sis." He gave us a quick smile before he passed out, falling unconscious on our floor.

"Holy crap!" Nico yelled, trying to help Jason up. I had jumped to his other said and helped drag our new "cousin" to the couch to prop him up.

"What the hell?" Will exclaimed, jumping up, turning into doctor mode. Nico explained what had happened while I listened, pushing my long black hair back, holding both hands above my head. I turn and looked at Thalia, but she was holding a piece of paper, staring at it with wide eyes. She met my eye site, and before I could even ask, she started crying – Thalia never cries, so this had to be something crazy – and faced the paper towards us. Luke, Annabeth and I all gathered around to read it. Upon closer inspection, we realized it was a birth certificate – okay, Annabeth saw it, I completely breezed past it. We read through it till we got to the names that had signed off on it. His mother was Julia Grace, and his father was Zeus Olympiad…

"He's really our family," Thalia said, still crying, in utter shock. I looked up from the paper and back at Thalia. Her expression showed everything I needed to know about how she was doing. She looked as if everything she took as true was Torn in half. Little did we know, but this would be the last time our family was ever normal again…

A/N: And that's this chapter done. Sorry it took so long. I've been going through a lot of personal stuff, and frankly, I couldn't pick myself up to finish this chapter. But here we are! I hope you guys enjoy, and I have another announcement.

I'm starting another story. The new one will be nothing like this one. It's going to be raw, uncut, and more drastic. The uphills are mountains and the downhills are cliffs. If you don't want to read it, I won't make you, but I want to try my hand in truly sad writing.

But yea, I'll be updating a bit more consistently, or at least try, I blame college. Thanks for sticking around.

Question: Which blonde character doesn't have a scar?

Peace out girl scouts!

~Rocke