Okay, so I went a little overboard with this one. It'll have another one or two chapters to it, but I kinda like it. Anyway, enjoy.

Rating: T

Timezone: After the Giant War (they're about seventeen or eighteen)

Settings: Annabeth's house and Aunt Grace's farm

Disclaimer: Nooooot miiiiiiiiiine…!


RIIIING! RIIIING! RIIIING!

"Hello. Chase residence, this is Annabeth," I said into the receiver.

"Hey, it's me," a deep, masculine voice said into the phone. I recognized him as my boyfriend, Percy Jackson.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked and hopped onto the kitchen counter. Helen immediately clicked her tongue at me and pointed to the floor. I sighed and hopped back down.

"Not much," Percy said. I walked down the hallway to my room and shut the door. I flopped down on my bed, resting my head on my hand. "I was just wondering if you're free sometime this weekend. We could go see a movie or something."

"Can't," I said, "I have to go to this stupid Chase family reunion."

"Ouch," Percy winced, "that sucks."

I scoffed. "I know, right? Last one I went to, I was six and all I remember is falling butt first into a drink cooler."

Percy laughed. "Well, I hate family reunions, but I've only ever been to one and that was with Paul's family. It involved a lot of teenage girls gaping at me and old people pinching my cheeks and awkward conversations."

"Ah, I see," I said. "Well, maybe you could make it less of a chore by coming with me."

Percy was silent for a moment. Then two.

"Percy?" I asked. "Hello?"

"Sorry, I'm still here. Zoned out there, for a second," Percy said. "Yeah, I'll go, if my mom lets me. Just let me ask."

"Okay," I said. "I have to ask Helen, anyway." I set the phone on the bed and walked into the kitchen.

Helen was standing beside the counter, slicing some tomato for dinner. Her hair was falling out of its bun and her light purple and blue housedress was half-covered by a white apron.

"Um, Helen?" I asked. Even though we still didn't have the best relationship, we were becoming closer. I had decided that I actually didn't mind Helen as a person, but she would never be my mom. Maybe she could be like an aunt or a good adult-friend, but not my mom.

"Yes, Annabeth?" she asked and looked up from her work.

"Um," I hesitated, "I was wondering if Percy could come with us to the reunion this weekend. I mean, he's practically family, anyway and you know how dad's relatives are to me and stuff…"

Helen shrugged. "Sure. I can trust you two to stay in the spare tent by yourselves, right? No funny business. The reunion is at your Auntie Grace's farm, so we'll be sleeping in the big tent."

I nodded. "Don't worry, we've had to sleep in the same tent before. We've had to share a bed, but I guess those were both in the middle of a war… Well, either way, you can trust us."

"No funny business?" she asked and narrowed her eyes at me.

"No funny business," I confirmed. She nodded and tossed the tomato slices into a pot on the stove.

I ran back to my room and lifted the phone to my ear. "Percy?" I asked.

"Yep?" came his deep voice from the other side of the line.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So, can you go?"

"Oh! Right! Yeah, I can come."

"Good. So, we'll pick you up at around eight in the morning. The reunion is on my Aunt Grace's farm, just outside the city. It's actually pretty close to Camp," I said and rolled onto my back.

"Okay, see you then," Percy said.

"Okay, bye," I said and was about to press the 'off' button.

"WAIT!" Percy said loudly in my ear.

I sighed. "What?"

"I love you," he said.

A small smile graced my lips. "I love you too."

"Okay, now you can hang up," he said.

"Seaweed Brain," I muttered and hung up the phone, tossing it onto the covers.

le line break

"Percy! Hurry up!" I yelled and banged on his door.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," he muttered and opened his door. He was dressed in torn jeans and a faded light blue t-shirt. In one hand he had a duffle bag, probably filled with clothes and other overnight supplies, and in the other a sleeping bag in a stuff sack and a pillow. He quickly dropped the duffle and wrapped one arm around my waist. He pulled me close and kissed me quickly on the lips. "Hello," he said.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," I replied. "Let's get going, or Helen will have a fit."

He shrugged and we walked outside. The late June sun was beating down on us, and the hot summer wind tossed leaves and litter around in the parking lot. Percy loaded his bags in the back of the burgundy van and opened the door for me. Bobby and Matthew were sitting in the middle seats, so Percy and I were stuck in the back.

"Hello, Mr. Chase. Mrs. Chase," Percy said as he buckled himself in.

"Hello, Percy. How're you?" my dad asked.

"Not too bad. And you?" he asked.

"Doing well, thank you. So, you know you'll be sleeping in the tent just beside us, so we can hear everything that happens, okay?"

I blushed. "Dad…" I whined.

Percy flashed a lopsided grin. "Don't worry, Mr. Chase. I won't do anything to your daughter. 'Sides, if I did, she'd maim me in some way," Percy said and I elbowed him in the gut. My dad laughed and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," I hissed and he laughed.

Bobby turned around and scanned my boyfriend up and down. "Is it true you defeated Kronos, the evil Titan guy?" he asked.

Percy stiffened and winced. "Um, yeah, I did, but I had help. Could you please be careful with the names, too?"

"Why? Are you afraid that a hydra or the Minotaur will come and attack us?" Matthew asked.

"Matthew, Bobby," I scolded. "Shut it. I seriously don't want to have to bring my knife out at all this weekend and you two are not going to mess that up."

"Okay…" Bobby said slowly. "So, have you ever been to California? We lived there, you know. But then we moved to New York, because it was safer, but I don't know how."

Percy winced, again. "Yeah, I've been to California a couple of times."

"Why?" Matthew asked.

"Um…" Percy hesitated. "Well, once because I had to find Annabeth and another because I had to help some very important people."

"Oh," Bobby said. "Do you know how to fight monsters like Annabeth does? Do you use a knife, too?"

"I do know how to fight monsters, but I don't use a knife," Percy answered.

"What kind of weapon do you use, then?" Matthew asked eagerly.

"A sword," Percy answered simply.

"Wow, cool! Maybe you could teach us sometime!" Bobby said excitedly.

"Okay, enough questions for now," I said, before this got out of hand. "Sorry about them," I muttered to Percy. "They seem to find monster fighting actually pretty cool now and they won't stop asking me about what happened this summer. So, just ignore them if they ask you about…that place."

Percy nodded. "Okay. And it's fine, Wise Girl. They're kids, let them be kids for a while."

"I know, I know," I said. "I guess I'm just…nervous, that's all."

"It will be fine," he said and kissed my forehead. "'Sides, what could go wrong?"

"A lot of stuff, Seaweed Brain. A lot."

He thought about it for a second. "Okay, that's true."

"Way to make me feel better," I muttered.

He sighed in exasperation. "Just, quit being stubborn about it, and don't worry about it. Go with the flow for once."

"I go with the flow! I always go with the flow! I am very 'go with the flow'!" I exclaimed. Percy raised an eyebrow at me. "Okay, fine, maybe not all the time, but still!"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Exactly. Just relax."

"Fine," I grumbled. I pulled my iPod out of my small backpack at my feet and offered Percy a headphone. He took it gladly and I turned it on my Calm playlist. For the rest of the ride, I hummed along quietly to Coldplay and a bunch of other songs by other bands.

I rested my head against Percy's shoulder and he pulled me as close as the seatbelt would allow and fell asleep to Chris Martin's soothing voice.

lInE bReAk

"Annabeth…"

I grumbled in my sleep. "Go 'way. Five more minutes."

"Annabeth, we're at the farm. Time to get up."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Gods, Wise Girl. Just get up already."

My eyes fluttered open and Percy's tanned and scarred face came into focus. "Where are we?" I asked.

"We just arrived at the reunion," Percy said.

"Oh," I said stupidly. "Showtime."

"You know it," he said with a grin and helped me out of the van.

Helen and my dad were unloading the trunk. I grabbed my duffle bag and slung it over my shoulder. Percy grabbed his and did the same.

I looked over at the farm. A large cream coloured house with a red roof was standing in the middle of a well-cared-for garden. In the distance, I could see a large green lawn with trailer and tents popping up every few feet. Even farther away, the start of fields and crops littered the land.

"My, my, my!" a female voice said. "If it isn't my little brother!"

Aunt Grace appeared on the front steps of the house and she ran over to us and gave my dad a big hug. "It's been too long, Freddie!"

Aunt Grace was a tall and built woman. Today, she was wearing a pink tank top and jean cut-off shorts. She had honey blonde hair, like me, but hers was straight and cut short and her eyes were the same brown as my dad's. Her hair was pulled out of her face with a blue bandana and she wore a pair of gardening gloves on her hands. She wore no makeup and her feet were bare. Just like I remembered.

Before Helen, we used to come here almost every weekend and she would give me homemade chocolate chip cookies and we'd go through old family pictures together in the attic or weed the garden while listening to the old record player from the garage.

"Helen, dearest! You're looking good as ever!" Grace exclaimed and gave my stepmom a hug. "And the twins! You're both becoming so grown up!" She switched from Helen to the boys. She then turned to me. "Annabeth… My, my, my… You certainly have grown up into a beautiful young woman. C'mere, dear!"

She pulled me against her. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a squeeze. She smelled like freshly mown grass and the lilac flowers in her garden, just like always.

"It's good to see you again," I muttered into her ear.

She pulled away and smiled at me. She noticed Percy, who had been standing there looking awkward as ever, for the first time. "And who might this gentleman be?" she asked.

"Oh! Aunt Grace, this is Percy, my boyfriend," I said and couldn't help the blush that crept up on my cheeks.

"Well, well, well, Annabeth. You certainly have grown up. You're treating her right?" she asked Percy.

"Er, if I didn't, I'm kinda scared as to what may happen to me. And I'm not talking about Annabeth's family, though I am scared of that, but of what Annabeth would do," Percy said and Grace threw her head back in laughter.

"I'll say, Percy, you're alright," Aunt grace said and shook his hand.

"Thank you," he said and gave her a lopsided smile.

"Well, you can go find a spot in the field behind me. There should be lots of room back there, unless Maggie brought her huge trailer again this year. You know how she is," Grace said and gestured behind her.

I grabbed the duffle that had the small two-person tent in it. Per y and I found a semi-secluded area by the barbed wire fence and the trees. I lay out the ten and started staking it down with the mallet. I asked Percy to start putting the poles together but he just gave me this look of utter confusion.

"Don't tell me you've never set up a tent before," I said.

Percy shrugged. "We never went camping when I was a kid and I never got to go to summer camp before Camp Half-Blood, 'cause we didn't have the money. I just never learned how, I guess."

"Okay, I am so teaching you now," I said. "So, these are the poles." I pointed to the silver rods, folded together neatly in the duffle. "You see the little elastics in between the pieces? Well, those are so you can fold them away and put them together. I need you to attach them and make them their full length."

"Okay," Percy said slowly. "I can do that."

"There should be only three. It's a small tent," I said.

We then began assembling the tent poles. "Okay," I said, "now that we've got them all done, hand me the longest one. That one goes in the middle seam."

Percy handed me the silver pole. Carefully, I assembled the tent, bit by bit, with Percy's help. Within ten minutes, we were done setting up the tent, the inside included. Our duffle bags were stowed neatly on one side and out thermo-rests and sleeping bags were huddled beside each other on the other.

"Okay, now that that's done," I said. I wrapped my arms around Percy's neck and he placed his on my hips. "I haven't had a proper hello yet." I pressed my lips lightly to his and my fingers knotted in his hair.

"AH! MY EYES!"

We both jumped apart in surprise. Matthew and Bobby were running around like headless chickens with their eyes covered.

"Hey!" I yelled. "What the Hades do you two want?"

"Oh," Bobby said and stopped running around like a crazy person, "well, mom and dad were wondering if you needed any help with the tent."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Who wants to bet that dad just saw us, you know, kissing and wanted to ruin the moment? "No, Bobby. You can tell dad that we're fine."

"Another thing," Matthew added. "You're supposed to come to the patio and say hello to everybody!"

I groaned. "Wonderful."

"I can't wait to see Jeremy! Then we can have water gun fights and ride the quad!" The twins ran off into the distance.

Percy grabbed my hand in his. "Showtime," he murmured in my ear. My lips quirked upwards for a moment and Percy shot me a reassuring smile.

"You have no idea, Seaweed Brain," I replied.

The sun was hot and I wished that I hadn't worn jeans. Beads of sweat rolled down my back and face. I could see grasshoppers and mosquitoes buzzing around in the summer heat.

On the patio, a fat woman in a red tank top and black shorts was sitting in a lawn chair, fanning her face with a magazine. She had oversized sunglasses and thinning brown hair.

Beside her, I assumed was her daughter. She had the same brown hair and brown eyes. She was skinny, but not unhealthy skinny. She wore a lot of eyeliner and looked a little like a raccoon. She looked like she was about fourteen and was trying to look older.

Aunt Grace was stationed at the barbecue, cooking hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. Beside her, a short and skinny man with thinning grey and blonde hair and hazel eyes was helping her. I recognized him as Uncle Mason, Aunt Grace's second husband.

"Annabeth Chase?" the large woman asked. She peered over her glasses and looked from me to Percy, and back again. "Is that you?"

"Um, yeah," I said hesitantly.

"You might not remember me," she said. "I'm your Auntie Heather!"

Oh gods. Heather was the one who pretty much had the whole family shun me when Helen came into the picture.

"Right," I said and faked a smile. "I remember now."

Her daughter peered over at us, smacking gum. "And who," she said in a high voice, "might this be?" She gestured to Percy who was standing beside me, once again, looking awkward.

"Oh, this is Percy. Percy Jackson," I said.

"Hello there, Percy," she said. "I'm Danaka, Annabeth's cousin."

Danaka… She was only three years old or so the last time I saw her. Wow, did she ever grow up fast.

"Um, hi," Percy said and ran a hand through his sweaty black hair.

Danaka smiled evilly. "Pleasure to meet you, Percy. So, why're you here? I mean, obviously you are not related."

"I came with Annabeth, 'cause she's my girlfriend and she wanted me to come," Percy shrugged.

Danaka wrinkled her nose. "Right," she said distastefully, "she's your girlfriend." She turned to me and muttered, "How the hell did you get a guy like him."

I shrugged. "Magic," I said condescendingly.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, why don't I show you where everyone else is. I think they're all inside, 'cause of this stupid heat." She motioned for us to follow her inside.

The house inside was decorated in a typical farmhouse way. It had worn hard wood floors and dirty white walls. Old family portraits lined the walls and the furniture looked like it was from the fifties. She led us to some step wooden stairs down to the basement.

The basement floor was covered in old seventies carpet. The smell of mildew and alcohol lingered in the air. I could hear the sound of a football game down the hallway.

We entered a T.V. room. Older and middle aged men were sitting in recliners and on the couch. Younger kids were wrestling on the floor behind them and the girls had either joined the boys' competition or were playing with old Barbies and rag dolls by the old dollhouse.

Danaka cleared her throat loudly. "Look who's here," she said in a loud, clear voice.

Everyone turned to look at us. A man in his mid-thirties raised his eyebrows at me.

"Annabeth?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Um, yeah," I replied shyly.

A younger guy with thick dark brown hair and hazel eyes smiled at me. "Well, you grew up," he said. His voice was deep and smooth. "You may not remember me… I'm Evan, your cousin. Last time we saw each other, you ended up wrestling me to the ground and breaking my nose. I think I just made a dumb blonde joke and, well, it ended badly."

I burst out laughing. "Yeah, I remember now," I giggled. Percy cleared his throat loudly. "Oh, right, this is my boyfriend, Percy. Percy, this is my cousin, Evan. Evan this is Percy."

The two shook hands. "Nice to meet you," Percy said.

"Yeah," Evan said. "You to. So, how long have you two been together?"

"Um, going on three years now, but we've known each other for seven," I said and Percy slipped an arm around my waist and kissed my hair. I rolled my eyes and shoved him with my elbow. "Shove off, Seaweed Brain."

He brought a hand to his heart comically. "I am wounded, Wise Girl," he gasped.

I rolled my eyes again. Another man, in his fifties or sixties with a large gut and no neck came up to us. "Hey there, Annie. You might not remember me, but I'm Uncle Charlie. I'm Danaka's dad," he said with a smile.

"Sorry, can't say I do remember, but it's a pleasure," I said and shook his large, sweaty hand.

"So, you're the boyfriend?" he asked and scanned Percy up and down.

"Yessir," Percy said.

"Treatin' her right?" he asked.

"I treat her like I would want any guy to treat my mom," Percy said. I knotted my fingers in his and pecked him on the cheek quickly. "Geez, why does everyone ask me that? It's like everyone just expects me to hurt you in some way!" Percy exclaimed. "Don't they know that I would never hurt you?" he whispered.

"I know," I said. "I know you won't."


Yeah. So this will be continued… I don't know why it was so long, but it just was…

Word vomit, so yeah.

Live, Love, Laugh and REVIEW!

-Lou