This chapter took forever to write. This is like THE chapter. It is not the last one though. There are still a few more to come. Thank you guys for your support and enthusiasm towards my story! 3

TheAvidReader: Yeah.. I totally screwed that sentence up! Thank you for pointing that out to me! I felt so stupid though! haha. I guess I should proof read closer. I went in and fixed it, though, just for you, loveyy. And good for you! (getting elected homecoming queen and all. that would never happen to me and in some ways i'm glad for that).

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or its characters. ENJOY!

Chapter 10

Annabeth POV

~Present Day~

I stood there as he looked at me. I probably looked like shit. I was crying and in hysterics. In one hand, I held my knife. In the other, I had a fist full of pills in the other. He stood there, probably contemplating how to approach me. He was bewildered, surprised, and disappointed all at the same time. My arms were uncovered, so he could see my scars perfectly. To him, I probably looked shocked, since I never planned to let him see me like this.

His eyes motioned towards the bed. I complied with his wish and went to sit on my bed. I knew that he was now going to ask me why and what happened in San Fran. I didn't know what else he was going to ask and I kinda didn't want to. He came over carefully, as if I was going to hurt him or myself (again), and sat on my bed with me.

"How could you do this to yourself?" was his first question.

"Like this," I said and then placed the knife on my wrists and made yet another cut. This one bled pretty badly since it had gone into other cuts that had already scarred.

"Annabeth, stop!" he shouted at me.

He tried to take the knife away from me. I wouldn't let him though. I tried my best to not let him get it, but in the end he ended up taking it from me. He hit my arm that I had just made the cut on; I dropped the knife, grabbed my arm and screamed in pain. He tossed the knife where I couldn't reach it.

He held me while I sat there crying.

"I don't want to see you doing this to yourself ever again," he said to me.

"You wouldn't have seen it if you had just knocked on the door…"

"Not necessarily, Anna. I heard you crying and I saw you cross the hall holding your bleeding arm in your hand. I heard you wash your arm. And I also heard you get a glass of water, probably for the fist full of pills you had in your hand."

"Damn it. I knew I should have locked the door! It's just… I thought you were asleep and that you wouldn't hear me. Guess I was wrong… Again."

"Nooo. I'm glad that you forgot to lock the door."

"Why? You're the one who said that you didn't want to see me like this. If I had locked the door, you wouldn't have."

"Because, now I can get you to stop cutting yourself and taking pills."

"Percy, it's not gonna happen just like that. I have been so depressed for years. I've been cutting myself, taking pills, anorexic, and bulimic since I was about thirteen or fourteen. I've just become so dependent on these things for relief."

"Why? What happened, Annabeth? You have to tell me now. You can't keep pushing it and you can't keep pushing me away. Now, tell me what the hell happened."

"Just… Realization I suppose…" I half whispered.

"What, Anna Beth? What realization. I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"MAYBE I DON'T WANT HELP, PERCY," I shouted at him. I didn't even care that he had called me Anna Beth as two words. I cared about that he thought I needed saving. "I can save myself. I don't need anybody's help. I lost that when I lost you…"

"What the fuck are you talking about, Wise Girl? Can I still call you that, because cutting, pill taking, anorexia, and bulimia are not wise things to do?"

"I'm talking about San Francisco. I moved there and I had nothing. I had no friends, practically no family, and I didn't have you. No matter what I did, I could never make any friends. I didn't fit in with everybody else. I was such an outsider. All my parents did was work. They almost never even noticed me when I was there, so I'm sure they don't recognize my absence. When all of this just kind of hit me, I got so depressed. I couldn't handle it anymore. The constant feeling of knowing that I was always going to be alone and that it would always be that way. So, I finally told myself enough was enough. I picked up a knife and started making incisions on my arms and wrists. That's also the same day that I started taking pills. Anything to make me feel numb on the outside since I was already so numb on the inside. Soon after, I started starving myself. I would and do go up to four or five days without eating. When I would eat, I would make myself throw it back up. I took diet pills and everything. One night, the night before I got in New York, my parents finally noticed my presence for once and out of all the things they could have asked me, they decided to ask me why I hadn't any friends. After that, I bought a plane ticket here and now here I am. Then, when you introduced me to all of your new friends, I realized that you had such a better life than when I was here. I was an outsider with them too. Grover gave me a look that I really hated. It was like he knew what I had been doing to myself. I was nothing like any of the others. I don't fit in with your other friends, Perce. I know that. But, I mean, since I got here, I haven't been as depressed as normal but depression doesn't just go away. It stays forever. Lucky for you, you have been making it impossible for me to skip meals because you would flip out when I would try. And I think that's about it," I finished.

He sat there in silence, trying to process everything I had just told him. I could hardly believe it myself.

"Annabeth," he started, "I had no idea you felt that way and that all those things had happened. I'm so sorry."

"That doesn't change anything. I can't unlive the pain. And I didn't come here for sympathy either, Percy."

"I know. It's just, I don't really know what else to say. Why didn't you get help from someone? Anyone?"

"Nobody even knew I existed. Not even my teachers did. I couldn't get help. And to be quite honest, I didn't. I didn't wanna talk about it with anyone. This is the first time I have."

I was already in tears and he was still holding me. More like holding me back so I couldn't get my knife or pills back.

"When we get to school tomorrow, there's someone I want you to meet."

Fuck. I forgot school started tomorrow. It had totally escaped my mind. We were starting our Junior year tomorrow. Percy made sure we had all the same classes together, too. It was kind of sweet. I just hoped he didn't hate me for what he saw tonight. What the hell, I thought.

"Perce?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you hate me now?"

He looked astounded that I would make such an accusation.

"Hades no. I could never hate you, Annabeth"

We ended up falling asleep there, comfortably. School starts tomorrow…, was my last thought before drifting off to sleep.