Hey! A not-soon-but-not-late update! [Hehehe. Rhyming! Gots to love it. ;)]

This song was inspired by TAYLOR SWIFT. If you don't like her, you're probably a guy. Or a girl in great, great denial.

:P

Enjoy, loves!

Chapter Ten: Crazy People & Friend People

Annabeth's POV:

My mother should've know better than to come to me. Especially so soon after the Incident By the Bonfire. Especially while she's using me.

Especially since I'm ashamed of having a mother like her. Goddess or not, she was knee-deep in sins and no one could save her from that.

When Percy had come running down the beach, he'd given me an odd look.

"Where'd you get the clothes?"

"Aphrodite."

"Who?"

I sighed and began walking. He walked with me. "Goddess of love," I said. "She visited us yesterday."

"Oh. That's her name?"

"Yeah."

He didn't say anything after that. Neither Percy nor I are much of conversationalists. And, with the added bonus of hating one another, we really didn't have anything to talk about. To each other, anyway.

But, without words to complicate things, Percy's presence was oddly comforting. It was like we had something in common that neither of us realized. I didn't know how but we had conversations…they just didn't have words. Usually it was with a motion or a slight change in facial expression.

I didn't know. I didn't know anything. Especially about Percy Jackson.

But, strangely enough, I'm okay with that.

We reached the slight slope where we'd slept and ta-da. Mother appears, dressed in chic black pants and a blue cardigan. Her brown hair and body still exuding that…something but it was no longer enchanting. In fact, it was kind of sad. Someone with an aura like that, still weak enough to be subjected to things like greed and revenge.

Athena flinched. She was feeling my thoughts. Good. Because that's the only form of communication she'd be getting from me.

"Ehem. Um. Annabeth." She didn't sound so goddess-ish today.

Athena cracked a tiny grimace. She heard me. I didn't smile back. I just stared into her eyes, identical to my own, and wondered when she'd get to the point.

For half a second, I could have sworn her face fell and I almost felt bad, but then the emotionless mask was back up.

Nice to know where my expressionless-ness comes from. And social awkwardness.

"I didn't really…have a reason."

After she said that, I assumed she was just her in some lame attempt to save some of her pride. I promptly turned my back on her and began gathering my things. Athena probably couldn't take all the shame because when I turned back she was gone.

I sighed but kept packing. I noticed Percy was doing the same.

"Hey, Annabeth," he finally said, after we rolled up our sleeping bag, brushing the sand and weed and such off of them.

I glanced at him to show him I was listening.

"What did our parents do?"

The fact that I wasn't caught off guard by his question kind of depressed me and humored me. What a day and age it was. Where children were ashamed of their parents, not the other way around.

I answered honestly, staring at the sparkling sea under the rising sun. "I wish I knew how to explain it."

Percy saw the opening for answers and dived. I couldn't blame him. He was even less informed than I was. "Well, there's got to be one single main point. Can't you just say that?"

I shook my head. How do you say 'my mother and your father killed another woman's son' nicely? Percy seemed close to his father. They'd survive this little…I'm-a-god-sorry-I-didn't-tell-you bump in their relationship. I couldn't ruin that. So, I lied.

"They trashed Aphrodite's magic." That seemed believable. And very god-like.

Percy looked confused. I continued, feeling that uncomfortable lightness of guilt in my stomach, alike to the feeling you get when riding a roller coaster up to its highest peak: your body's readying itself for disaster: "They stole it. She used the last ounces of it to curse us."

"Oh." That's all he said, expressionless.

I sighed again, the guilt seeping into my heavily, like liquid pouring into an ocean, getting heavier and heavier until I could barely handle the weight.

I looked towards the distant New York Skyline and calculated the miles left to go.

About 8 more, which meant only two more days. But with all this drama around to put the weight-of-the-world on my shoulders, even that was too much.

Percy's POV:

Lately, looking at Annabeth was like looking at a kicked puppy.

She was just so…sad. It was the type of sad that made you want to throw everything out of your life and chase this one person around the globe, if that was made them happy.

And this was me, Percy Jackson, guy who never even liked her, saying this.

But, something about the small lines beside the corners of her lips that made her so much sadder. Or maybe it was that every time she thought I wasn't looking, I'd sneak a glance and see her guard of expressionless-ness down and would see just how much something had…hurt her.

So, when her mother had come and gone again, and we were still on the road to Manhattan, I asked her.

"What did our parents do?"

She didn't answer. But I could feel the sad, dark humor that she felt when I said it. The loose ends in this situation had broken her. Suddenly, my appetite for knowing said questions wasn't so great.

"I wish I knew how to explain it." She turned her eyes to ocean and her stormy gray eyes were so jaded, so dark. Her profile was highlighted by the sunlight, parts of her hair glimmering. Annabeth had the potential to be the most beautiful person in the world, I suddenly saw. Her skin was the most fantastic color of bronze and her eyes clashed with it magnificently; like the grace-of-an-eagle type of magnificent. But she didn't try.

And something about that just…struck me. It was this refreshing wave of…difference.

Annabeth wasn't like any girl I'd ever met.

I realize just how unlike them she was today.

She lied about why our parents were sending us. I didn't care, but, well. She lied. But something about her told me I was better off not knowing.

So, I let it go. And then we packed up and were, now, on the road again.

The path we were on was a deserted road, the tar almost gray from age but the grassland surrounding us was so green it was beautiful. Little flowers poked in the cracks in the road as well as in the grasses around us. Thickets of trees were nearby, tall with dark trunks and dense green leaves, framing our path. And with the intense glimmering growing sunlight, there would come moments where I could look at it from the corner of my eye or, even, straight on and it would look like something out of a fairytale.

I walked on one side of the road. Annabeth walked on the other. I looked over at the other side, at her. Her head hung low and her eyes were solely on her shoes. She couldn't even see the things, the real things, that surrounded her. She was too haunted by the things that were invisible to everyone but her.

I didn't know where it came from or why, but I suddenly started talking.

"You know, my mom would always take me to this little beach house in the corner of Long Island."

Annabeth's head snapped up and she gave me a startled look. I shrugged and kind of grinned, talking some more.

"It was the most beautiful little place, she told me she met my dad there. Its crappy and doesn't have a decent AC system but I love it. The sand was this kinda grey and really kind of tough and, well, most people would hate it between their toes but I loved it. And there was no TV, so all you could do is read or go for walks…"

And it continued. I went from the cottage to what people think is nice and what I think is nice and how stereotypical most people are. And on and on about little stories of girls I went out with who I didn't even know why I went out with, who did the stupidest thing.

I just rambled and rambled until I didn't remember what I was even talking about. It was kind of a…nice feeling.

And Annabeth was a surprisingly nice listener. She wasn't overly into it, like she was really trying or really trying to fake it, but she was just…listening. I could tell from little things like smiling a little as she stared at the tips of her shoes or kicking a rock and frowning a little when I talked about angrier things or the little glances she gave me, giving me a small bit of eye contact.

And when our eyes did meet, I didn't know what was happening. I mean, shit. It was all time-stops and internally begging her not to look away and let me see some more of her really, really deep eyes. It was like they held every secret of this world and the next.

It was some serious stuff. And it scared me to death.

I mean, one time, one time, I start talking to her like I've never talk to anyone before and all this stuff comes out? Where did this come from anyway? I'm not a gooey, lovey-dovey kind of guy. I don't become whipped by girls I go out with (or do) more than twice. I'm just really….independent.

So, why was Annabeth Chase (out of all people, Annabeth Chase) doing this to me? Why was I becoming an internal place of gushing…happy?

It was really, really disturbing that someone could have such a major effect in such minor time.

But I didn't read too much into it. Why, where, how, when. Who cared? It didn't matter. None of this did. By a week's time, all of this will be done. Like ash. Blown far, far away.

It'll be gone.

"Hey, Annabeth," I asked, finally directing a question at her.

"Hmmm."

"Does it bother you that I'm talking so much?"

I wasn't sure that I wanted an answer to that, right after I asked it.

Smart move, Perce.

But Annabeth just shook her head. She actually smiled, too.

Smiled.

And I was gone. I mean, blown over. And rolling down the next hill.

Her real, honest-to-god smile was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

And I wanted to see it again.

And again. And again.

And then…then I knew. Annabeth Chase was something else. She wasn't pretty. Her hair was actually kind of gross looking. But she had this beautiful thing inside her that was just…mind-blowing.

I really didn't know how to deal with it, me or my feeling for it.

So, I just stared at her for a few more seconds, then looked away. Being true to the ass I am. Couldn't have I even smiled back? No. I couldn't. Because then I was approaching area that wasn't strictly inside my head.

Coward.

Fuck yeah, I'm a coward, I thought. I blinked harder, in attempt to erase the weird-Annabeth-smile feelings. It wouldn't work. I made my footsteps harder, stomping almost, as if it could stomp out those feelings. I even tried grinding my teeth, like I could grind away those stupid, useless feelings.

I think I was starting to like those feelings too much.

I came to an abrupt stop. I shut my eyes tight. I sat down on the side of the sidewalk.

And I looked like a crazy person.

Annabeth's footsteps faltered. They got louder and I knew she was coming towards me. They stopped and I knew she was in front of me.

I finally opened my eyes a smidgen and looked up at her. She was still standing and looking down at me, a hand over her eyes, eyebrows raised.

"On a roll today are we? Trying to win the Crazy Person Award?"

I sighed. I deserved the witty comments. I deserved them.

Annabeth sighed, too. She suddenly sat down beside me and there we were. On the side of a deserted road, sitting cross-legged.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain."

I raised my eyebrows. She gave me a loopy grin. "Poseidon. Sea. Seaweed. Lack of brain."

Ah. Nice.

"You're being strange," she continued, staring at the far off trees.

"Yeah."

"Is it 'cause I lied to you?"

I shook my head. She smiled a small smile, registering that I knew she lied. "Why then?"

I squinted into the distance. Why. What an annoyingly persistent question.

"Why're we on this trip?"

Her lips twitched but she didn't smile. Slowly, her face became less and less light/happy and I realized she might really tell me.

"Do you really want to know?"

I stared at her, straight in the eye, projecting how much I just wanted to truth for once, honestly.

She understood.

So, she got up, brushed off her knees and held out a hand. "Get up and keep walking. I'll explain."

And, so, I took her small but mighty hand and got off the ground. We started walking again, but this time closer to each other; more in the middle of the road.

And before we even started talking I realized something.

I think I just became friends with Annabeth Chase.

Yaaay! Their friends now! *does happy dance*

Are you guys starting to see Percy's transition from Bad-Boy to Nice-Real-Percy-Boy?

I told ya it wouldn't be OOC for too long. Just long enough to keep it interesting.

Anyway, comment and review and all that shiz! Tell me what you want, what you don't want, etc.

Thanks for reading. Really.

Sending you a BIG HUG for reading. :)

- S.