Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

Chapter 10

Annabeth heard a knock on the door just as she grabbed her bag from the couch. She rolled her eyes at the continuous knocking. She already knew who was doing it. She opened the door to find Percy, looking surprised.

"Oh stop knocking. I'm here," she said teasingly.

"Why didn't you answer?" Percy asked, opening the car door for her.

"Pssh, I was ready anyway." Percy got in and started driving. He looked at Annabeth in the corner of his eye, and he saw that she was leaning her head against her hand. Then he saw her smirk.

"I can feel you looking at me, Seaweed Brain," she said. Percy grinned. Then he turned serious.

"I just want to ask you something," he said.

"What is it?" Percy took a deep breath. He had wanted to ask Annabeth about yesterday, the way she acted so strangely, and left. She had looked so shocked and pale. Percy hadn't been able to control himself from worrying, especially when she ran away without explanation. Suddenly, a smile spread on his face when he remembered yesterday's jogging with Annabeth. He didn't know why, but being with her just made him… happy.

"Percy? What is it?" Annabeth asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, right…" he ran a hand through his hair. Then he looked at her. "What happened to you yesterday? When you left?" He set his eyes on the road again, and he didn't see Annabeth cringe, but he heard her sigh.

"Oh, that," she said quietly. "It was… it was just nothing."Annabeth felt her eyes burn a little, and tears were trying to pour out. She didn't want to tell Percy. Sure, she could trust him, but… she didn't want to tell a guy about her girl problem. Percy seemed to notice that she was lying, but he didn't push her. Instead, he just nodded. They had arrived in the school now, and Percy stopped at the entrance.

"I'll just go park the car, okay? You go ahead."

"Okay. See you later, Percy."

"See you later, Wise Girl." As Annabeth got out, she noticed students were looking at her again. Percy's car swerved out to the parking lot, and Annabeth started walking to the entrance. She rolled her eyes at the people. It's not like this is the first time they saw me with Percy, she thought. She decided to take the side doors, as there are not much people there to gape at you. She turned left and started walking. Her thoughts were about yesterday. Percy saw her. He saw the look of shock in her face. But what was worse was, she saw him. He was here. Annabeth couldn't believe it. What was he doing here? One of the reasons she moved here in New York was to avoid him, and forget about him. And now he was here. She was so caught up in her thoughts; she didn't notice that she had bumped into someone. The person was so sturdy, she fell back and staggered, but she caught herself.

"Oh gods, why does this always happen?" she muttered. The person who she bumped into turned around, and she froze when she saw his face. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, the scar… they were all too familiar to her. Annabeth felt her throat go dry. She was standing in front of Luke Castellan. However, Luke seemed happy to see Annabeth.

"Annabeth?" he said. He looked her from top to toe. "I… I –what are you doing here?" Annabeth crossed her arms and glared at him. She knew that she shouldn't act like she wasn't angry with him. If she acted like she was happy to see him, she would look weak. No, Annabeth wasn't happy to see Luke. She felt like her heart was ripped to shreds over and over again.

"I study here," she said dryly, with no emotion in her face.

"I just transferred here," Luke said. As if I would care, Annabeth thought. "It's so good to see you." He stepped forward to hug her, but she stepped back.

"I'm afraid I can't say the same, Luke," she said coldly. Luke's face fell.

"Annabeth, what did I ever do to you? Why did you just leave me?" he asked, his voice so genuine it would've fooled Annabeth. But it didn't.

"Oh yeah?" she spat. Tears were smarting in her eyes, but she ignored them. "Don't you remember what you did before, Luke? You cheated on me. You made a promise before, Luke! You said you would never hurt me. And I trusted you! Guess I was wrong." Annabeth was crying now. Luke was about to open his mouth to say something when another voice was heard.

"Annabeth!" She turned around to see Percy running to her. His face fell when he saw her crying. He ran to her and held her face in his hands.

"Hey, why are you crying?" he asked gently, wiping her tears with his thumb. Luke was momentarily forgotten, but then he spoke up. The pleading look on his face was gone, and it was replaced by a sneer.

"Who is she, Annie?" he asked. "Your boyfriend?" Percy turned to look at Luke, and he glared at him.

"Yes, I am her boyfriend," he said. "What did you do to her?" Percy suddenly had the urge to punch this guy in the face.

"You already replaced me, Annabeth?" Luke said angrily. "Why?"

"Why don't you ask yourself, Luke?" Annabeth replied coldly. "It was you who cheated on me in the first place."

"Man, just leave," Percy said warningly to Luke. Luke glared at him, and then he turned to Annabeth.

"You will be mine again," he told her. "Mark my words, Annabeth." Then he left. Percy turned to Annabeth. Tears were still trickling in her cheeks. He wiped them with his hand.

"What happened?" he asked softly. Annabeth shook her head.

"I need to go to the bathroom," she whispered. Percy nodded and putting his arm over her shoulder, they both went inside. The bell for the first classes had already rung, but Percy didn't care. He waited for Annabeth as she went inside the bathroom, and he sat on the floor.

Annabeth shut the door behind her. She couldn't believe it. Luke was here. She slid down the floor and curled in a ball, just like she did years ago. She felt like her heart was loaded with lead, and it felt heavy. She closed her wet eyes, and the flashback started in her mind, like an old video.

Annabeth smiled happily as the last class ended. She went to her locker and found a rose inside, and her smile widened even more. A tag was written inside, and it said, "Luke." It was their first anniversary now, and they were going on a date after school. Taking the rose, she shut her locker close and went to the football practice to find Luke.

Along the way, she couldn't help but notice that people were looking at her with sympathetic looks. She didn't know why, but she didn't care. She was happy today, and nothing was going to ruin that.

She arrived at the football practice and found out that they just had a break. She went to a bunch of cheerleaders who she was friends with. Once again, they were looking at her the same way the people did a while ago.

"Hey guys," she said cheerfully, ignoring their sympathetic looks, "did you see Luke?" The girls looked hesitant at first.

"He's… he's –Annabeth, don't go to him," the brunette said. "Just wait for him to come."

"Why?" Annabeth said, confused

"Just don't."

"No tell me!" she said, getting angry. "Just tell me where he is!" All the cheerleaders looked at each other. The brunette sighed and pointed to a corner.

"He's there." Annabeth nodded and went to the said place, and when she did, she froze. Her eyes widened, and tears began forming. There in the corner, she saw Luke with a girl, and they were making out. She gasped and dropped the rose.

"Luke?" she said, dumbfounded. Luke looked up from kissing the girl and his eyes widened when he saw Annabeth. He immediately let go of the cheerleader.

"Annabeth, I can explain," he began, but Annabeth cut him off.

"There's no need for an explanation," she said coldly. "We're done here." And she turned and left.

The memory was too much for Annabeth. She broke down again, the tears pouring continuously. When the feeling in her chest started to feel okay again, she stood up and went to check herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red from crying. She opened the faucet and splashed cold water in her face when the door opened. She turned around to see Percy standing in the doorway. His face showed concern, and he didn't hesitate to hug Annabeth.

"Ssh, it's okay," he whispered soothingly, stroking her hair. "What happened?" Percy closed the door and they both sat down on the floor. Annabeth still hadn't stopped crying, and Percy patiently waited for her to do so. When she finally did, Percy hugged her tighter.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked. Annabeth wiped her tears with her hand. Then she looked at Percy.

"Do you remember back then at the lake? When Thalia asked me who my first kiss was, and what my answer was?" Percy nodded.

"Well… that guy back there, it was him," she said slowly.

"What did he do?" Percy asked. All of a sudden, the urge to punch the guy was becoming stronger. Annabeth told Percy the story, and all the way she did, Percy just kept her in his arms. When she was done, he wiped her tears.

"I'm sorry," he said gently. "I never knew." Annabeth sniffed.

"It's okay," she said.

"Annabeth, not trying to be rude or something, I'm just curious… why do you seem so affected with him cheating on you? I mean, yeah, it was mean for him to do that to you, and it tempts me to kill him, but-"

"Percy, I understand," Annabeth said gently. She got up and Percy steadied her. She looked him directly in the eyes, and gray eyes met green ones, just like the sky met the ocean.

"He broke my heart, Percy," she said quietly. "What made it harder for me is because I trusted him. I believed in his promises that we would be together forever, that he wouldn't hurt me. He was always there for me when I needed him, and I guess that's why I fell in love with him." Percy suddenly felt like something in his chest hurt, but he ignored it.

"We became each other's lives. But it turned out it was only one-sided," Annabeth sighed. "I loved him, Percy, and that's what made it harder. Until now, even though he hurt me, I still feel like I do." Again, Percy felt an ache. He took Annabeth's face with his both hands.

"Don't worry, Annabeth," he said. "I won't let him hurt you." Annabeth smiled, thought there were tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Percy."

And that is that. I hope you liked this chapter. So, Annabeth and Luke's break-up had been revealed, and… Percy's getting really protective of Annabeth, and he's starting to feel something, don't you think? Anyways, hope you liked it, and please, please, please, don't forget to review! They just make me happy. Review and have a nice day!

-Bluecookies19