Annabeth

I had woken up the next morning after apologizing to Percy feeling different, lighter, I guess you could say. I hadn't opened up to anyone the way I had opened up to Percy in a long time and it felt kind of amazing. It was also pretty terrifying. I was giving Percy the chance to hurt me, but somehow I knew he wouldn't, that he couldn't hurt me. After all, he was doing everything he could to protect me. But so were the Titans.

I should be grateful that the Titans were always on the look out for me, always ready to help me, but I wasn't. They were withholding vital information. Information I deserved to know. I had tried to get the truth out of Luke about a hundred times and he wouldn't budge. I would have to come up with a more calculated plan, one that hopefully didn't involve more begging.

Percy drove me to school that morning, and the next morning, and the next, and so forth for the next couple of weeks. Percy and I were starting to get into a routine. He would pick me up from school each morning and I would complain about the music until he would finally let me change the station. We'd get to school and Nico would be waiting for us in the parking lot. It was kind of adorable how much Nico looked up to Percy.

Usually, Percy would go and hang out with his friends in the morning, and I would talk to Piper and Thalia. Percy always made sure to walk to third period with me, because that was the class I had with Luke. Percy hated Luke, and vice-versa. I don't know if Percy walked with me because he wanted to keep Luke away from me, or he wanted to prove something to Luke, like that he was always around.

It had been a couple of weeks since the attack and I was no longer constantly looking over my shoulder. The nightmares still came every night, each one more painful and frustrating than the next. I still hadn't told anyone about the attack, and there really was no point anymore. The bruising and swelling was gone, and the cut on my forehead had turned a pink, fleshy scar. Nico wanted to see the scar and when I showed it to him he called it "freakin' awesome." Yeah, it was freakin' awesome. Not. I would either have to have bangs for the rest of my life, or constantly be covering it up with make up. Even with make up you could still see a silver line of a scar across my forehead.

When Percy saw it, his reaction was a little different. He had looked like he was going to punch a wall or throw up. I didn't really understand his anger and when I asked him about it all he said was "that it should never have happened." Percy felt guilty for not finding me faster that night. I could see it in his eyes. When I would accidentally hit my rib or when my scarf would fall too low and you could see the impressions of fingertips bruised on my neck. Percy knew that if he gotten there just a bit earlier he could have stopped those guys, or at least seen what they looked like. I had never blamed Percy for it, though. I barely even thought about it actually, unless he would give me one of his sad, guilt ridden looks. All I was, was grateful to him. He had saved my life, regardless of when it had happened.

I had been walking out of third period when I heard my name called over the roar of students passing in the hall. I turned around and stopped, it was Luke who had caught up to me. He had an easy smile on his face, like always. He smiled as if he wasn't a part of a vicious New York gang, who just so happened to also be withholding life-threatening information.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" He asked.

"I don't know, are you ready to tell me who almost killed me?" I asked.

He pursed his lips and gave me his perfect blue-eyed, puppy dog face.

"Annabeth, you know I can't."

"Well, I guess that means that we have nothing to say to each other."

I turned on the heals of my feet and started to leave.

"Wait, let me make it up to you." Luke called from behind.

I turned around slowly and gave him an inquisitive look.

"How?" I asked.

"Let me take you out. On a date." Now he had a wide smile on his face, with each pearly white tooth staring back at me.

I was angry. How dare he ask me out on a date. He thought he was so special that taking me out was an appropriate way to repay me for lying to me. I was about to tell him to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, when I had a tiny epiphany. This was my chance. If I could get close to Luke, then maybe he would tell me the truth. I didn't know which was worse, groveling to Luke or dating him.

"Alright, I'll go on a date with you," I said, adorned with my sweetest smile.

"Great! How about tonight, there is a fair downtown, it will be fun."

"Sure, sounds lovely." I did my best, but I couldn't stop the sarcasm that flowed into my voice.

"I'll pick you up at eight, then." He smiled at me one last time, and before I could move away, he kissed me on the cheek.

It was a good thing that Luke had walked away, because there was no way I could have hidden the repulsion that flashed across my face. I stood there in the middle of the hallway for a second contemplating what I had just done. What was I doing? Selling myself out in the hopes of gaining new information.

I had changed over the course of the last few weeks, and I wasn't sure I liked it. This entire mess was only going to get worse, I had to wonder what it would do to me. What I would be willing to do to get what I wanted? It also made me wonder If I was a bad person. If wasn't sure of my limits or even if I had any, how would I know if I'd gone too far. And isn't that the pure definition of a bad person, someone who had no limits, someone who would do anything to get what they wanted. I didn't think that was me though, at least not yet anyway.

"What the hell was that?" Percy growled at me. He seemed to pop out of no where, interrupting my thoughts. He looked angry, really angry. I had been around Percy enough the past few weeks to know when he was mad. His emerald eyes would darken and there was this tiny purple vein on the side of his temple that bulged. And trust me Percy got angry. A lot.

"What?" I had been so lost in thought I didn't fully comprehend his pure ire.

"Why did Luke Castellan just kiss you, and why would you let him?"

Percy was tall and he loomed over me like a menacing, dark angel of wrath. Most people would shrink away from him, and I probably would have too, if I didn't know him. I had seen Percy get like this a few times, once when he was at the shop and he got some particularly upsetting news from his father and another time, with me. When we were in that classroom only two weeks ago, which now felt like a lifetime ago. Maybe it was. It seemed I had two lives now, one from before my attack, and one from after.

Those lives were completely different from one another and they seemed to never want to cross each other again, to meet a middle ground. I hated it. Not only did that attack take away my peace of mind, but it took away my life. My sense of normalcy was gone and I was left to deal with two warring gangs. Before all I wanted to do was go to Columbia, maybe impress my dad and make my mom proud, now it felt like a struggle to get out of bed, to walk down the street, to breathe without some secret weighing down on me.

I looked straight into Percy's eyes, which was a dangerous thing to do. They were so easy to get lost in, to forget everything and make it so that there was nothing else in the world, only him and I.

"He asked me on a date, and I accepted." I said simply.

Percy clicked his tongue and let a smile creep on to his face that was more of a snarl.

"That's just great Annabeth, while I'm planning a war, you're going out and party it up with enemy!"

"First of all I'm not even a part if this 'war'. Second, I am not doing this for fun. I am doing it to get information out of Luke." I informed.

"Annabeth, you aren't going to get anything out of him. I've tried, you've tried. Batting your eyelashes at him isn't all of a sudden, going to make him talk. You know the only reason he's doing this is to get back at me. He's trying to make me angry."

"So you're saying that the only way that he would want to go on a date with me is to get back at you. Gee, thanks Percy."

It hurt a little, to think that the only reason Luke would ask me out is for this stupid war. It hurt even worse that Percy thought that could be the only reason.

"Annabeth, you know that's not what I meant." Percy said.

"Then what did you mean?"

He looked stuck, like he was trying to contemplate his next words. It was like someone had punched me, right in the center of my chest. It seemed as if he was trying to find the right words, words that would hurt me the least. I didn't exactly want to stick around to hear them.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I turned around and walked into the lunch room and away from him.

I had just sat down with Thalia and Piper, when Percy plopped down right in front of me.

"Annabeth, I'm sorry. Of course it's possible that Luke could like you, I mean who wouldn't? I just want you to be careful, he's dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt."

His eyes were back to their normal light green, and his face had softened. My heart jumped a little into my throat. Percy was always protective, but not like this. Not the sweet kind of protective. It made me see Percy in a whole new light. Which I really should not have done. A joking, sarcastic Percy was one thing, but a thoughtful, affectionate Percy was risky.

In my peripheral vision I could see Thalia and Piper exchange looks. They had asked me how Percy and I had gotten to be such fast friends when we had never gotten along before. I told them that I had tutored him for a while and eventually we became friends. I don't know if they really bought it, but they never questioned me about it. They would just trade-off looks with each other that just said 'what the heck is going on?'.

"It's okay, Percy, but I don't need you to protect me. I'm a big girl, I'll be fine." I told him.

"Alright, as much as I love the drama and the sexual tension both of you are oozing, I'd like to the know the context of this little debacle." Thalia interjected.

Piper elbowed Thalia in the ribs and my face turned red. Percy however, seemed completely unfazed by her comment.

"Ouch Piper! There is no need to hit me for saying exactly what we were both thinking. Well?"

Thalia looked to us expectantly with a thin black eyebrow raised.

"Luke Castellan asked Annabeth on a date." Percy said in a clipped tone.

Piper and Thalia's heads snapped back to look at me.

"Seriously? Annabeth, you've had a crush on that guy for years!" Piper said, animatedly.

I did my best to avoid eye contact with Percy because I knew he was giving me a look, and I didn't want to have to try and figure out what it meant. Percy and I had a good relationship going for the past few weeks and I didn't want that to change. Him and I were a team now. A good team and I didn't want it to get messed up by these new feelings churning inside of me.

"Yeah, it's great." I said without much enthusiasm.

"And, how do you feel about this date, baby cousin?" Thalia asked.

He looked at Thalia and gave her a winning smile. "Oh, I think it's just dandy."


"No way! Absolutely not! You are not going to chaperone my date!" I screeched.

Percy had been driving me home from school when he had started to interrogate me on my date, once again.

"I think you misunderstood, I wasn't asking you for permission. I was just telling you what I was planning on doing. You know, out of common courtesy."

I huffed in frustration. "You know sometimes you are such a sarcastic asshole. Isn't he a sarcastic asshole, Nico?"

Nico sat in the back of the car. He never wore a seatbelt. He would always sit on the edge of his seat and lean in, so that his head would be right in between Percy and I's.

"Definitely, all the time."

Percy just rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but isn't Nancy Drew here, just a little in over her head, Nico?" Percy asked.

"For sure." Nico agreed.

"Nico, you can't just agree with everything we say, you have to pick a side." I rationalized.

"What if you're both right, and you're both too stubborn to admit it."

Percy and I shared glances. Nico was probably right, but that wasn't exactly what we wanted to hear.

"Well, who asked you anyway," I said, slightly irritated.

"Yeah, this is none of your business, Nico." Percy reiterated.

"You two have to be kidding me." Nico deadpanned.


Percy

"Honey, what are you doing?" My mother asked. I could see her through the mirror in front of me. She came up from behind me, her head peeked over my shoulder.

"Just fixing my hair."

She smiled a little. "Since when do you fix your hair?"

My thick eyebrows turned down together with my lips, creating a confused frown on my face. It was true, I had never really given much thought to how I looked. I mean, why should I? They had worked pretty well for me for the past seventeen years.

"I don't know, maybe I just need a change."

"Hmm," she murmured. "You've done a lot of that lately. Changing, I mean."

I didn't know what she was talking about, I looked the same as I always did. Sure, I tried to fix my hair, but to no avail. It seemed pretty damn stubborn to remain shaggy and disarrayed.

"Mom, it's just hair."

She laughed lightly. It was nice to see my mother so joyous. She had been dating this guy, Paul Blofis for the past few months, and she always had a smile on her face. I hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time. After everything that happened all those years ago, with my step-father, Gabe Ugliano, it would take a lot for my mom to truly ever smile again. Those were dark days, days I never wanted to go back to, days I never wanted to think about again.

"Not just your hair, your attitude, also. You just seem happier lately."

"Mom, trust me, I'm anything but 'happy' at the moment."

The past few months have been stressful. I had to deal with a looming war between the Titans and the Half-Bloods. My father had practically gone radio silent on me and I had no idea what he was planning. The only news I had gotten from him was a note given to me by a messenger saying to delay the war as long as possible and that he was working on something. It had been hard to stop the fights that were constantly beginning between the two gangs. I had told my boys to lay low. Unfortunately, the Titans were doing the exact opposite. They took every chance they got to instigate a fight. Their leader, Luke Castellan was no exception, either.

This last stunt, asking Annabeth out on a date, it was a shot at me. Luke was done playing games. He wanted to get to me. Luke wanted this war to start now and he knew that the fastest way for that to happen, was through me, the Half-Blood's leader.

It bothered me that he thought that such a simple act would get me to start a war. What bothered me even more, was that he was right. The thought of him using Annabeth or even being near her made me want to throw out all the promises I had made and deck him in the face. But I knew that the second I hit him, the war would begin. We both knew it. Luke was going to do everything in his power to get under my skin and make it so that I threw the first punch.

Which probably meant that I shouldn't have been going out to supervise Annabeth and Luke on their 'date'. Annabeth had said it wasn't a real date and I knew that it wasn't real for Luke, so why did I have this knot in the back of my throat when I thought about it? It was true, I had become protective of Annabeth over the past few weeks, and somehow along the way we had become great friends. Yeah, that was all it was, Luke was dangerous, and I was protective of Annabeth.

In the mirror I saw my mother frown.

"Percy, I know some things have been hard lately, but there are obviously still things in your life that make you smile, because I've seen your smile quite a bit lately."

I stared back at her through the mirror. I knew she was trying to tell me something. I just wasn't willing to listen to it. So I decided to change the subject.

"I'm going out tonight and I don't know how late I'll be, so don't wait up for me." I said, as I turned around to face her.

"You know I don't like you out at all hours of the night." My mother reminded me.

My mother hated that I took over the gang business for my father. She made that clear every time I left the house. I couldn't blame her for her reluctance to even let me leave, most of the things I did when I left was illegal and life-threatening.

"You know I don't have a choice half of the time. But, anyway tonight I'm just going to out to the fair with Annabeth. It'll be completely safe."

She sighed. "You know you could get out, I could talk to your father, he'd listen to me."

"I don't want you to talk to Poseidon, ever. He's dangerous, mom. I can handle myself. I made choices in my life, and maybe they weren't the best, but I am the one who has to deal with their repercussions. Its nothing for you to worry about." I said while placing a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Nothing for me to worry about?" She said with a raised voice. "I have to worry that when you walk outside that door every day, that it will be the last time I ever see you. I know that you despise working for Poseidon. I don't just worry about your safety, I worry about your happiness. You are going to spend the rest of your life miserable if you don't get out of the this gang business now. You are better than this Percy. You are destined to do great things and your father is getting in the way of that." My mother ranted.

I knew she wanted what was best for me, but she didn't understand. I didn't have a choice, I had to work for my father. My father and I had made a deal years ago and if I broke that deal, there would be worse consequences than just working for my father.

Instead of arguing with my mother I chose to ignore her. "I need to leave mom, I'll see you later." I said quickly. I was out the door soon after I had given her a light peck on the cheek.


Night had fallen by the time I had made it to the fairgrounds. It might as well have been daylight, the neon and florescent lights made everything lively and bright. I made my way to the entrance where I saw Silena Beauregard and her boyfriend Charles Beckendorf, or as I called him Beck.

Silena saw me first and ran over to give me a quick squeeze.

"Percy, how are you? I feel like I haven't seen you in months!" She gushed.

Silena was beautiful with inky black hair that flowed all the way to her slim waist. She was completely off-limits though. Beck claimed her freshman year and he's never looked back.

"I'm good Silena, I've just been busy. How have you been?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm great! Charlie finally has some time off so he took me here, to the fair!" Silena was always so upbeat and happy, it was almost hard to keep up with.

"Yeah, well if my boss would lay off a little, than maybe I could take you out more." Beck said, coming up from behind Silena.

He slapped me on the shoulder in a friendly gesture, but it ended up hurting. Beck was a big guy, all muscle. He was built like a rock.

"Wow, your boss sounds like a real dick." I said, jokingly.

I was technically Beck's boss. I ran the auto shop where he worked, and Beck was a part of the Half-Bloods. He was one of the guys I trusted most, so I usually ended up giving him alot of the responsibilities.

"Eh, he's not all bad." He said with a smirk.

"So, how's everything going with the, you know, Titans?" Silena whispered.

"Not great," I admitted.

"Oh, that's too bad, because I just saw Luke Castellan walk into the fair with Annabeth Chase." She said.

My jaw made a clicking noise and I realized I had it clenched too tightly.

"Your Annabeth?" Beckendorf asked, confusedly.

"Yeah, Annabeth thinks she can get some information out of him." I said, not bothering to hide the disapproval in my voice.

"Man, he's dangerous. I'm surprised you even let her go." He said, shaking his head.

"Why do you think I'm here?" I said.

"Wow Percy, I had no idea you were so sweet! It's so cute how you're out here checking up on Annabeth." Silena said in a knowing voice.

I rolled my eyes but I had a slight smile on my face.

"Look guys, I've got to run. Have fun on your date." I said.

Beck waved goodbye, while Silena just stood there with a huge smile.


It didn't take me long to find Annabeth and Luke. They were right next to the Tilt-O-Whirl. Annabeth was laughing at something Luke had said and her hand rested casually on his arm. Annabeth was convincing, I'd give her that, but a little too convincing if you asked me.

"Percy!" I turned around to see who had called my name. Drew.

Drew Tanaka was a girl I had dated freshman year. I had ended it not even a month later. Drew was clingy and self-absorbed. Sure, she was beautiful in your average beauty queen kind of way. Her hair was always perfect, make up always done, and she wore just enough clothes to be considered sexy, not slutty. Her problem was that she was clingy. We had hooked up a few times over the past few years. I should have known Drew was the type of girl who couldn't handle the 'casual sex' thing.

"Drew," I said with a sigh.

Her dark hair was down and it curled around her shoulders. She wore dark denim cut-offs and a short top that showed off her toned stomach. She looked good, as always.

"What are you doing here? This doesn't really seem like your kind of scene." She said, questioningly. She said it with a sweet voice and she let her pointer finger slide down my chest.

Involuntarily, I looked over to Annabeth. She wasn't laughing anymore, she actually looked slightly annoyed. I would be lying if I said I wasn't just a little bit happy about that.

I turned back to Drew. "What? I'm not allowed to go on a carasoul ride, while eating ten different fried candies like everyone else?"

Drew looked behind her to where Annabeth and Luke were standing. She looked back at me and tilted her head slightly.

"Since when do you get jealous?" She asked rather harshly.

My eyebrows shut up. "What are you talking about?"

She nodded her head over to Luke and Annabeth. "You're jealous that Annabeth's here with Luke."

"I am not jealous. I'm only here to hang out and have fun." I said with a smile and my arms outstretched.

"Yeah, well the only fun I've ever seen you have is when you're drunk at some party. Everyone knows you're hooking up with Annabeth, God knows why though."

"Annabeth and I are just friends." I said.

I didn't like the idea that people were spreading rumors about me and Annabeth. I was used to people talking behind my back, but Annabeth wasn't.

"I've never seen you be 'just friends' with a girl before," Drew said.

I rolled my eyes at her. I could really only take so much of Drew Tanaka.

I looked over to Annabeth again. She looked angry, like she was yelling at Luke. I would have been completely fine with the idea of Annabeth reaming Luke a new one, until I saw him grab her arm. Annabeth tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. Annabeth cried out, I couldn't hear it, but I could see it in the way her face distorted and her lips moved.

"Drew, I have to go." I said, with barely contained rage.

I moved swiftly over to Annabeth and Luke.

"Get your hands off of me!" Annabeth shouted.

"I recommend you do exactly what she says." I said in an alarmingly low voice.

I didn't miss the look of relief that flashed in Annabeth's eyes.

"What are you going to do if I don't, Jackson?" Luke asked with a sick, half-smile.

Luke was testing me. He was goading me on. He wanted a fight, but I was determined to not lay a hand on him, no matter how much I wanted to.

"Percy, don't even think about it." Annabeth said. She had a warning look in her grey eyes that I couldn't ignore. She knew exactly what a fight with Luke Castellan would mean. War.

Luke raised a blond eyebrow at me, wrinkling the scar across the side of his face. He never let go of Annabeth's arm. It seemed as if we were locked in some fierce game of "Don't Blink". Annabeth let out an exasperated sigh. She tried to yank her arm back once more. Luke must've been too distracted by me to notice because she managed to break free of his iron grip.

I stepped in front of Annabeth as soon as she was free, creating a barrier between Luke and her.

"Look at you. You are such a stand up guy now, instead throwing aside your little whores like usual, you're playing their body-guard. How nice." Luke said.

Annabeth wrapped her small hand around my arm from behind me. "Let's just go." She said softly. Her voice was soothing and it allowed me to breathe for a second. I couldn't get into a fight with Luke. I kept repeating that in my head until finally, I believed it again. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and began to walk in the other direction.

"Oh come on, walking away? Really? Are you worried that your daddy won't be able to bail you out of jail, like last time? In my opinion he should have let you rot, like all murderers should." Luke called from behind us.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Annabeth had a horrified and confused look on her face. I didn't have the to time to worry about the looks she was giving me. I was too busy running back. I threw a punch so hard that I could feel Luke's nose break from underneath my knuckles. That was when all hell broke loose and the war began.


A/N: I struggled with writing this chapter, a lot. It needed to be written though, because the war had to begin at some point! For those of you that are worried about Annabeth having feelings for Luke, I think I made it pretty clear that she does not in this chapter. Also, a lot of people were asking for more Percabeth, and i know it's not much, but i did my best to add it into this chapter. Trust me though, there will be more Percabeth to come! Lastly, i'd love to know what you all think Luke meant by his "murderer" comment. Thank you so much for reading! Please review or follow or favorite or even all three!