Annabeth's POV

Crap! That was my only thought when he said: 'for now.' He can't know, Annabeth. I'll just end up hurting him and…I might end up losing the only person willing to be my friend, a selfish part of me thought. Despite the fact that I didn't want him to be my friend because I'll clearly do not deserve a friend, I secretly really longed for one. I've always dreamed of having a family, not bonded by blood, but by friendship and kindness. I've always wanted a person whom I could call brother or sister and someone who could listen to me without interrupting. That was…is my biggest dream. I wish somebody would understand me.

'Annabeth, you did it again.' Percy said, sighing. There was no hiding. Better tell him the truth, Annabeth. 'Yeah.' I answered, my voice usually hollow, now thick with emotion. Percy wrapped his arms around me. I froze.

'Annabeth, what's wrong?' I heard Percy whisper, into my ear. That shook my out of my daze and I tried to pull myself out of Percy's embrace. This only made him hug me harder. 'Annabeth, just accept it for once. Please.' Percy said. I looked around the hallway, probably once filled with people, now empty. I looked at Percy. He nodded. Clearly, he wasn't going to let go until I hugged him back. I gave in and cautiously slipped my thin arms around his strong, bulky frame. It was like a dam broke, and a tone of emotions just came rushing out of me. I suddenly found myself unable to control myself as I wept into Percy's shirt. I clutched to him like he was a lifeline and wept, letting go of my agony for the first time with another person present since mom died. Get a grip of yourself Annabeth. Do not show weakness, my inner voice shouted. But I had lost control of my physical body. I continued to weep.

Around thirty minutes later, I found myself in a nearby bathroom, alone, trying to dry my puffy eyes. I didn't miss any classes, as it was lunchtime. Percy had stayed right by my side through my entire breakdown, whispering comforting things in my left ear whenever another round of sobs overcame my ability to speak. After having a heart-to-heart talk with Percy, I guess you could call him my friend now, maybe even best friend after that breakdown. Thinking about it, my heart skipped a beat. I finally had a friend! Someone who would willingly put up with me and listen and try to understand me! I had wanted to shout it out loud, before finally gaining control of myself. For the first time, there was hope. Hope that somebody would actually care for me. I had finally told him to go have lunch with his other friends. He finally left ten minutes later, seeing as I was too stubborn to take no for an answer. Hopefully, he would be able to find his way to the cafeteria after I had given him directions to follow. I tried not to think about the incident, as I knew it would just bring around another set of sobs. I composed myself, looked myself in the mirror one last time, straightened my clothing and made myself look presentable. The puffy eyes could not be helped. With that, I opened the door, walked out of the bathroom and walked to the cafeteria.

-Line-breaker-

Percy POV

I had somehow found my way to the cafeteria by myself, without Annabeths help. I sat with a few friends I had made. Brody, the person I had talked to in PE had immediately dragged me over to his table the moment he had saw me standing awkwardly by the entrance of the cafeteria. Within seconds, Brody and his friends had bombarded me with questions about myself. Which school did you go to before coming here? Why did you change schools in the middle of the term? (I did not answer that one) After the questions, I talked with the guys (whos names were Brody, Jack, Harwood and James) and realised I actually fitted in pretty well. We were talking about swimming after the guys found out that I liked swimming as well and were discussing about me joining the swim team when she walked in.

Annabeth had just walked in the cafeteria and I could not stop staring. Despite having red puffy eyes from the earlier breakdown, she was, is still the prettiest girl I had ever laid eyes on. My breath caught as she walked down the cafeteria to the 'outsiders table' as the guys liked to call it. She was the only person there. Harwood noticed my gaping mouth and the fact that I was staring at a certain grey-eyed girl. He chuckled and nudged the other guys, squealing: 'Percy's got a crush!' like a little 5 year old. I slapped his head and walked over to Annabeth, wanting to check on her.

Annabeth saw me coming over and smiled, inviting me to sit next to her by gesturing to me and pointing at the sit. She is now officially my best friend. Somehow, I had managed to break her barriers and convinced her to let me in less than a school day, which was somewhat a miracle. I think it had something to do with the fact that we somehow understood each other despite being so different. She had a rough childhood, like me after all.

'So…' I said, not really knowing what to say after a breakdown. What do you say to a girl who just had a breakdown a few minutes ago? She surprised me by a hug. She bear-hugged me, which caught me off guard. I was blushing because she was so close to me and I could feel butterflies turning my stomach into a mosh pit. 'Thank you.' She said, sincerely, eyes shining with delight. 'Your welcome, your majesty.' I said while doing a mock bow. She laughed. It was the most majestic sound I have even heard. It was like a mixture of birds chirping and dew droplets. The air suddenly seemed to smell of nature. 'I'm sorry you had to witness that.' She said, between bites of the cheese sandwich which I didn't realise she had taken out of her bag. I was startled. Honestly, why couldn't she simply accept help? 'I was glad to help.' I said, sincerely. She looked at me nervously. 'I don't deserve help.' She murmured. She froze, looked at me cautiously and carefully said: 'You didn't hear any of that.' I grinned, having the satisfaction of at least knowing that she still is willing to open up to me. However, I immediately sobered after processing exactly what did she say. I don't deserve help. 'Why?' I asked watching her carefully, knowing that that one word could cause a breakdown. She thankfully didn't breakdown, but she did become more guarded. 'That's a story for another time' she said, watching me. I sighed, knowing that I couldn't have made all that much process in half a day. 'Come on, lessons are about to start' she said, out of the blue, successfully changing the subject. I went back to the guys to get my backpack and hurried back to her side. In the short time which I have gone, she somehow managed to finish packing her bag. 'What my next lesson?' I asked casually. She said: 'Geography.' Together, we walked out of the cafeteria.

A/N:

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