Disclaimer: I don't own these books, all rights go to Rick Riordan.
Thalia was worried sick about Luke. He hadn't answered any of her calls or texts, and he had been really mysterious Saturday night. To top it off, he didn't show up to school on Monday, and Thalia was alone.
She sat in her first period Algebra class, texting his phone. Class hadn't started yet, and she was starting to freak out. He usually came to class 10 minutes before it started, and he wasn't at his desk yet.
The bell rang, and she dropped her phone into her bag, sighing. She crossed her fingers, hoping that Luke would at least be late.
No such luck. Thalia rested her head in her hands, staring into space as her teacher droned on and on about the Algebra test next week.
The day crawled by, and she was miserable. She couldn't do much of anything because she was worried sick for her best friend. At lunch, she was going to sit alone until Annabeth, a girl she vaguely knew from when they were little, asked her to sit with them. Even then, she didn't talk much, though Annabeth and her friends were actually nice to her.
Finally, the day was over, and Thalia slumped to her locker. She looked down the hall, half-expecting to see Luke at his locker, grinning back at her.
She sighed and took out her jacket, slamming the door shut. Walking down the hallway, she barely noticed the gang of boys catching up to her.
Someone grabbed her arm, and she turned back to see Ethan Nakamura and his friends sneering at her.
"Where's your little boyfriend? Did he finally leave you?" he teased, earning a laugh from the rest of them.
Staring him down, Thalia watched as he paced in a circle around her. "Luke's not my boyfriend."
"You're a feisty one, but I like that." he growled, grabbing her waist and pulling her towards him quickly.
She tried to get out of his grasp, but he grabbed her wrists and held them above her head.
He snickered and slid his other hand over her shirt. "Why don't you join us? We could have some fun."
"Fuck off, Nakamura." she said, kicking his shin and turning around. She ran down the hallway, but they followed her.
"Stop, Ethan." a voice rang out, and Thalia turned to see Percy and Annabeth standing between her and the gang of boys.
With a shrug, they turned around. "See you around, Grace." Ethan called, disappearing around the corner of the hallway.
Annabeth rushed towards her. "Are you alright? What happened?" she asked in a tone of worry.
She shook her head. "He's just an asshole, is all."
Percy joined them, taking Annabeth's hand in his. "Do you want a ride home? My mom's here to pick us up." he asked.
"No thanks, I've gotta find Jason anyways." Thalia lied, faking a smile.
With a nod and "goodbyes" the couple walked out of the doors.
Slipping on her sweatshirt, she pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed Luke. Walking out of the doors, she was sent to voicemail.
"Ugh! Luke, please pick up! You're scaring me now!" she spoke into the phone. She hung up and dialed again, and got the same result.
As she walked down the street, she continued calling his phone.
A ringtone went off as she passed the elementary school playground. She stopped dead in her tracks, because the ringtone sounded familiar. Nearly positive it was Luke's, she threw her bag over the fence and climbed over.
"Luke?! Hello?" she called, running around. Eventually, she spotted him, asleep on the ground behind the slide.
She ran over to him, a feeling of relief spreading over her body. "Where have you been?!" she yelled, shaking his arm until he woke up.
He stared into space for a second, and his eyes focused themselves on Thalia.
"Oh hey, Thals." he said, sitting up. His dark red t-shirt clung to his skin, soaked through.
She smacked him, and he was shocked.
"Where the hell have you been?! You disappear for 2 days and all I get is an 'oh, hey'?!" she yelled as he rubbed his face.
"Geez, Thals!" he said, his cheek becoming red from her hand.
Tackling him in a hug, she tangled her fingers in his hair.
"You scared me half to death!" she exclaimed, tears filling her eyes.
The hug knocked Luke flat, and he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry." he murmured, stroking her hair. Thalia could feel that his ripped black jeans were soaked through to his skin as well.
She lay in his arms for a few moments until she got a tingly feeling in her stomach. Slightly embarrassed, she rolled off of him and sat up.
He sat up as well, taking her small hands in his larger ones. "I went back home." he muttered, playing with her fingers.
The same tingly feeling shot up from her hands, and she ducked her head to hide the blush on her cheeks.
"Connecticut?" she asked, and he nodded.
She rubbed her wrists, which were starting to bruise slightly. Luke's eyes widened and he took her wrists, eying them.
"What happened?" he asked, holding her forearms up and examining the bruises.
"Ethan sorta maybe kinda assaulted me in school a little." she understated, trying to calm the fire that was beginning to flicker in Luke's eyes.
He rubbed his thumbs over the bruises, trying to control his temper. "It's my fault. I should've been there..." he trailed off, looking away.
Thalia pulled a hand away from his grasp and touched his face. He looked back at her, and she ran her thumb over his scar. She was the only one he let touch it, so much as bring it up.
"It's not your fault. I'm fine." she whispered, managing to smile slightly.
Looking into her eyes, he shook his head. "He hurt you. That's not okay." he said, placing his hand over hers.
"I'm fine!" she exclaimed, watching as he took her wrists again. He poked them, and she winced.
"Sure, you're fine." he whispered, pressing his lips to the bruises.
Thalia blushed a deep shade of pink, and she felt something inside her click into place.
"Better?" he asked, grinning at her.
She nodded, smiling and hugging him.
However, she just couldn't push that feeling out of her head. It was like the last piece of a puzzle had been put into place, and she saw the picture clearly.
But admitting it, even to herself, was definitely out of the question.
Right?