Annabeth had never run so fast in her life. Her legs were pumping, heart rate speeding, breathing quickening, tears streaming. Today of all days. I thought I was finally free. She didn't know where she was going, just let her legs do the work. Her brain was stuck in the past, reliving horrible moments from so long ago. Before she knew it, she was at Percy's front door. Shit. (A/N: this chapter is gonna have cursing sorry younglings) Shit. SHIT. This is SO not the place she wanted to go. Percy would probably come back here first, because he knew she hated being in her apartment alone. Sure enough, she saw his round the corner. Panicking, she tried to bolt, but he was too fast. He caught her arm, and gripped her tight. Natural instincts kicked in, and she flinched, trying to cover her face with her free arm. Expecting the pain that never came. This was when Percy realized something was VERY wrong. He quickly dropped her arm, and tried not to flinch at the jagged sigh of relief she let out.

"Let's go inside, get some tea, and talk." Percy suggested, knowing tea always calmed Annabeth down. She nodded and walked inside, trying to make herself as small as possible.

A couple minutes later, after Percy had made Annabeth some tea, and wrapped her under a blanket, he asked. "What happened between you and Luke?"

"I can't."

"You can't what?"

"Explain it."

"Why not?"

"Too hard."

"Can you give me an answer that's more than two words?"

"Not now." It was around here that Percy started to feel frightened. The Annabeth he knew was a very verbose person, constantly full of life, and laughter.

"Okay… Can you explain Luke in two words?"

"Nasty motherfucker." Annabeth NEVER cursed. He was wondering if he needed to call the authorities on this guy.

"Why did he react the way he did today?"

"Twisted motherfucker." Annabeth's mind was too scrambled to even fully process what Percy was saying, so answering all these questions was difficult. Percy on the other hand, was finally starting to put the puzzle pieces together.

"Was he… an abusive motherfucker?" Annabeth's silence said it all.

"Did he ever hurt you?" That one question broke the dam. Annabeth started bawling. She fucking hated him so much. But she hated the fact that she'd have to tell Percy everything even more.

About half an hour and a few hundred sobs later, Annabeth was finally catching her breath. Her tea had gone cold long ago, but she sipped it anyway, thankful for its comforting taste. "I don't want to pressure you, but can you now explain what happened?" Percy asked softly.

Annabeth nodded. "As I'm sure you've gathered, Luke is my ex-boyfriend. And the one person I NEVER wanted to see again. We were together for around eight months… The first months, were great." She paused, thinking of the good times they had once shared. They almost erased everything else. "He showered me with love, affection, attention, and presents. Always little things. A bouquet of roses, a stuffed animal, a box of chocolates, etc. I was so happy at first. Thinking we could last forever. It was a good summer- hell, even a great summer. Then the seasons changed. The cold came, the dark days started. He turned bitter, and controlling. Not letting me go ANYWHERE without him, yelling if I did." She stopped looking at Percy then, and instead focused on the tea bag. "One night, I was feeling bold, so I wrote him a note saying I was going to a party with Thalia. We weren't doing much, and I only had one beer, but that was enough for him. He came to the party, dragged me out of the house… And…" Percy grabbed her hand trying to comfort her, but she pulled away, lost in her own mind. "And he hit me. I thought it was just gonna be a one time thing. I didn't talk to him for two days, though he constantly left me sweet messages apologizing, and letting me know that he still loved me. I was a fool. I believed him. Everytime he would do it, this would be the follow up result. At first it was random and infrequent… Until it wasn't. Soon it seemed once a week, I would be wearing a turtleneck, or a scarf, to try and hide the bruises. The long-forgotten foundation in the back of my cabinet soon became my best friend. Then one day it stopped. He stormed into my room, broke several of the presents he got for me, and left. No warning. Just a text saying I'm leaving. Don't look for me...

TO BE CONTINUED

(A/N: OKAY SORRY I ENDED IT THERE BUT IM TRYING TO GET THIS OUT AS FAST AS I CAN! also i passed out last night so i couldn't update sorry to anyone who was waiting!)