Only Thirty Days
Summary: Thirty days is all I need to change my best friend into my girlfriend, but whoever said that it would be easy? To start this off right, this is 'Day 0,' leaving me with thirty more days to make Annabeth mine. Just remember, things are never that easy.

Thank Yous: Tajee165, XOsweetPURPLEcandyOX, nerdygansta, FireAngel7, Mookeypoop, WisdomGoddessAthenae, imbetterthanyou238, ButterflyFlyToMe, Guest, XxPerliaxFabinaxX, cantwaittillfall, CimFan, I am Persues Son of Zeus, sean, Guest, ZoeRose24, AAZ (ew, it's you the writer of Jackson's Chase. I kid, my friend ;p), m, yanksrock615, Troober, B, LoveNeverFails24, seaweedbrainwisegirl717, Randy, NerdBird8.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO…

A/N: Well, I've been dying to update this, but I forced myself to finish some other things before I did so. So, here I am.

Hope you guys enjoy.

xx

(Flashbacks Are From Chapter 3)

Chapter 10

Day 10.

Small drops of water still found their way off my hair onto my back. The trickling, cold water seemed to be slowly bringing me back to a reality that I all but wanted to escape. To be honest, it was rather annoying even though I seemed to dry off pretty quickly from the small amounts of water. Pulling the towel from under my bag, I was in no rush to get dried off or dressed besides the fact that I was tired of dripping water. Other than that, I had no reason to hurry because I was the last person left in the locker room after deciding to swim some extra laps after practice. Again, it was a way to get my mind off of my normal life I was desperately trying to avoid. In fact, everything seemed to be giving me a hard time as I continued to pull at the thick towel that was stuck under my bag.

Giving it a hard yank, the towel came free but also sent my bag toppling onto the slick floor. Along with the thud of the bag went the familiar clank of other contents spreading across the floor. This was exactly what I needed: another mess. Muttering more than a few choice words under my breath, I halfheartedly rolled the towel over my head before letting it lay on my shoulders. Well, there's no reason to pick that stuff up now was the only thought that crossed my head as I dried myself before getting dressed. I was just avoiding cleaning up the mess until later. It seemed like avoidance was all I had been doing lately. I was avoiding thinking of Annabeth by swimming extra laps, and I had been avoiding telling Annabeth about my feelings for her over the past—no, not ten—1461 days or in other words, four years. Apparently, I was a master at the art of avoidance.

Realizing that there was nothing left for me to do in an act of avoidance, I kneeled down to the mess of my bag's contents, chucking in some deodorant, a couple of batteries, a pair of goggles, and some piece of paper that had been water-logged to the point of incoherence months before. The point of tossing that paper back in there—for it to fall out again when my towel didn't budge. Absentmindedly reaching for the last thing, my hands grasped a cool, thin something that didn't register as any normal object in my swim bag. My first thoughts when I saw it were something close to really? Whoever's up there couldn't just let me avoid her? Shaking my head, I stopped before I could toss it along into the bag with the meaningless piece of paper. Because no matter how often I attempted to avoid her, there was no question that she was not meaningless. This was not meaningless.

Not certain as to what I should do with it, I slumped the swim bag over my shoulder to make my way out of the locker room. I might as well multitask: think it over and walk at the same time. To make it simple, this thing was another token of my friendship with Annabeth, another reminder of what I was losing through avoidance. Glancing down at the gleaming chain and uneven shark tooth, it brought back nothing except the happy, painful memories of Annabeth and me. Our first kiss. Her teasing me. Her helping me with homework. Scaring her on Halloween with a spider. Her laugh. Her eyes. Our friendship. Her giving me the inscribed shark tooth of Christmas. There wasn't supposed to be a dagger slowly running through every vital organ I had when I thought of Annabeth, when I thought of us. It was never supposed to reach to that point.

I should make it clear right now. Things never go as planned.

"Hey?" Luke walked up to me, his eyes lingering on the chain and shark tooth in my hand.

"Uh, hi Luke?" Now, why exactly he was there in the first place was a good question. Granted he showed up last time, Annabeth didn't show up this time at my swim practice. Sure, his half-brothers were on the team however why would he stay all that extra time?

Luke shrugged, still looking towards the shark tooth, "What? Can't stay after to talk to a," he paused, "friend?"

"You can do whatever you want," I stated, realizing afterwards how cold it sounded. It was pretty simple; I just didn't care to talk at that moment.

"Cool," Luke nodded, training his eyes on the shark tooth pressing against my palm, "what is that?"

Her hair wasn't as straight as it had been yesterday so a few curls tucked out from under the hat, reflecting off the red, green, blue, as well as purple from the Christmas tree. She looked, quite simply, beautiful. Breaking my gaze from her face, I saw a small box in her hand as the other was gesturing me to come near. It was probably my Christmas present. The wrestling between Bobby and Mathew had stopped while Mr. and Mrs. Chase just grinned at the exchange between the two of us; I have a feeling they knew what was in that box.

Awkwardly, I walked over, taking the present from Annabeth's hand. Sure, I had gotten her a present, but I wasn't expecting anything from her. Not caring to be careful, I ripped the green wrapping paper from the box, pulling off the top to see a shark's tooth. It was on a silver chain that reminded me of the color of Annabeth's eyes. On closer inspection, I saw that the tooth actually had writing inscribed in it:

'Seaweed Brain and Wise Girl.

Jackson and Chase.

xx.'

Smirking, I pulled Annabeth into a half hug, while she laughed into my neck, "You look like you've just been brought to the beach for the first time. I don't think I'll ever forget that look."

"Yeah," I grinned but pulled away from Annabeth quickly, remembering that her parents were still in the room, "thanks."

"Nothing," I muttered, slipping the chain around my neck as the tooth felt across my chest near my heart. It only brought more awareness to the fact that my friendship with Annabeth had meant more to me than the world at times – as corny as that sounds.

Luke nodded, looking away from the shark tooth back to me, "Are you busy for the rest of the day?" He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for me to answer him.

I realized that Luke was making an effort to get us on good standing however it didn't mean he had to overdo it with the attempting to do stuff together. Still with me avoiding Annabeth, that did leave me more time than normal to do stuff with other people, "I guess not." Shrugging, I figured that hanging out with Luke would only help me with my mission to avoid Annabeth.

"Good," Luke stated, regarding me with the utmost suspicion. I had a feeling there was more to this than just hanging out or anything like that. "Did you drive here?"

"Yeah," I said, running a hand through my, still damp, hair absentmindedly, "do you need a lift or something?" That would explain why he had waited for however long I stayed after doing extra laps. It'd definitely make more sense than him just wanting to hang out with me or something like that. Still, I don't get why people just assume I'll give them rides.

He shook his head, "No, I'm good. Just follow me to where we're going." Luke turned on his heel to walk towards the exit of the almost empty pool. Follow him? Why couldn't he tell me where we were going, exactly? To say the least, I had a good feeling about my first thought that this was more than just a normal hanging out at a basketball game or something.

"Where are we going?" I wondered aloud, finally starting to walk after Luke who was a good several feet ahead of me. We weren't riding in the same car, so I had no reason to rush anyways.

Luke paused, stopping a step before continuing to walk out the exit. Instead of looking at me, he kept his head forward as he muttered, "Brooklyn."

…

Now if you asked me, Brooklyn, New York didn't add anything extra to some sort of hangout. Plus, the amount of gas that I just spent getting myself there was probably not going to be worth anything that Luke and I were doing. Yeah, I should also mention that I still had no idea what we were doing in Brooklyn on a Monday during Winter Break. Plus, it was the day after New Year's, and I figured there would still be people walking along the street nursing a hangover. So, doing almost anything else, even not avoiding Annabeth, sounded a lot better than whatever Luke had planned for us in Brooklyn.

After almost losing him multiple times and wishing that I at least knew where we were going, we parked along the street where slush still scattered the sidewalks. Standing in front of the parking meter, I hoped we wouldn't be staying long as I only had enough to feed it for two hours at the most. And if we were staying for more than two hours, well either Luke was going to feed my meter, or he was going to pay for my fine that I would get if I got caught with an unfed meter. To keep his wallet full, he had better have some extra change to feed my meter, or we better not stay too long.

"You didn't get lost," Luke smirked, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked over towards me. Luckily, there were two spots on the same block, so we weren't parked that far apart. Otherwise, I probably would have lost track of where he parked and where the hell I was supposed to go (which I still didn't know).

"Yeah…" I muttered, glancing towards the meter to see how much time I had left; I had already lost three minutes, "Hey, if we're staying here for over two hours then you're paying my meter or you're paying my ticket." I threw in a smirk at the end to lighten up what I said, but I was serious about him paying if we stayed longer than two hours. It was never my plan to come all the way down here anyways.

He shrugged, looking up and down the block, "Yeah, sure, I guess I can do that." His eyes still lingered on every single person that passed, making me wonder if we were supposed to meet someone here, "Plus, they're really not too crazy about checking the meter all the time. As long as we're lucky, they already checked for a while. People let the meter run empty all the time." Luke walked a bit up the sidewalk before coming back towards where I was standing watching.

"Looking for someone?" I asked, starting to glance at the passer-by who I was pretty certain I had never seen before in my life. New York was pretty big, and I didn't frequent Brooklyn too often at all.

His eyebrows rose, "What makes you think that?" For the first time in a while, his eyes stopped searching the sidewalk and street, coming to lie upon me. They were challenging me to attempt to argue further, but I could also catch the part that said not to ask.

Deciding to play it off, I glanced away towards the meter again, "No reason. It just seemed like you were looking for someone. That's all." I don't know what it was, but it always seemed like one of us was on the defense at all times. Maybe it was just natural. After all, we had held some sort of dislike towards each other for the longest time.

"Yeah…" Luke trailed off, pulling his phone from his pocket to check it. His face showed disappointment before he pocketed it a few seconds later, "Come on, let's go. It's cold." He glanced once more around the block and started walking again.

I followed, staying back a step or two, still not sure where we were going and why we were here. If it were to freeze my butt off in the cold, I think I could do that right back outside of the school, "You still haven't told me what we're doing here." I blew out a breath, watching the white air mingle with the clearness around it.

"I know. You keep telling me," Luke deflected, shaking his head slightly as he continued to glance around at the people who were passing us. I was fairly certain that he was looking for someone no matter what he said. In fact, the longer he went without telling me, the sketchier this seemed.

I ran my hand along my neck, "Because you still haven't told me, and now we're freezing our butts off for no apparent reason." Dodging around a person walking the other way, I quickened my steps to keep up with Luke. It wasn't too hard since he didn't seem to be in a rush at all.

He shrugged, glancing towards each building that we passed, "Did you ever think I don't exactly know what we're here for?"

"So… You're telling me that we're here in Brooklyn… becoming human popsicles… because you have no idea what we're here for?" I tried not to sound annoyed and frustrated, but I don't think I did a very good job of covering it. Really, who would be able to hide it when their fingers were freezing off?

Luke chuckled, continuing to glance towards the buildings that we passed, "No, I'm pretty sure I know why we're here. Look, Percy, do you have to know everything we're going to do? You're just like Annabeth." I stopped, causing the person behind me to run into the back of me and mutter a few curses that weren't even worth repeating. Picking up pace again, I stayed a couple of steps behind Luke. "Are you guys okay?"

"What?" I questioned, paying attention to everything but Luke as we passed more buildings, some of brick others of who knows what. Maybe cement? I really never knew much about what was used to build buildings, but I was certain Annabeth would have known. There it is again or maybe I should say there she was again.

He glanced towards me with narrowed eyes, "You and Annabeth. Both of you guys have been acting weird about each other for a couple of days." Breaking his gaze away from me, it went directly back to the buildings that we were passing as we neared a crosswalk and another block.

Stopping at the crosswalk (we didn't have the go-ahead), Luke turned towards me, not even attempting to hide the suspicion that was covering his expression. I was pretty sure if one of us should have been suspicious it should have been me. "What do you mean?" I feigned innocent, knowing full-well exactly what Luke was talking about. You have to remember, I was still trying to avoid that stuff between Annabeth and me.

An eyebrow rose, "Both of you have been avoiding anything and everything that has to do with each other., and it's like you guys aren't even friends anymore."

"Wouldn't you like that," I muttered, knowing full-well that everything that Luke said was right. Well, besides the not being friends part. I was exactly sure where Annabeth and I stood when it came to our friendship.

His other eyebrow rose, "Percy, what good does it do for me if Annabeth is miserable all the time because you guys are fighting or something? And on top of that, she has the problem with her family falling apart."

I shrugged, shaking my head to try to rid myself of frustration, "You could just be there for her because she's down and date her again." Look, just because I said that didn't mean I actually believed it. Sure, I knew well enough that Luke still liked Annabeth – he told me that – but it didn't make things easier for me at all with my days winding down. I was a third of the way through with the thirty days and ten steps back from where I was at day zero.

As the hand lit white to signal that it was safe to cross, I started to go only for Luke to stick his arm out and stop me, "You need to get over that." His blue eyes shone serious, all flecks of joking gone, "I don't know what you have against me besides that I dated Annabeth, but right now, I'm just being there for her, all things aside. I'm not doing this just to date her again. It's because I care about her, and I know how much it sucks to go through this type of stuff. So, maybe you should get over yourself and be there for her. Because no matter how much I used to hate it, you're her best friend, and you come before everyone and everything else for her. So, maybe you should start doing the same." He dropped his arm, not even waiting for my reply or even for me to catch up.

Shaking my head, I stayed a couple steps behind Luke as we plowed through the slush covered streets of Brooklyn. Oh yeah, did I mention I still have no idea what Luke's talking about? You're her best friend, and you come before everyone and everything else for her. Last I checked I was the one being ditched for Annabeth's boyfriends, not the other way around. "You've got it wrong," I stepped up to stand only a step behind Luke as he did nothing to slow down.

"What do you mean?" He asked, probably not certain about what I meant since I asked a couple minutes after he mentioned the Annabeth thing.

"Annabeth put you first," I muttered, not exactly wanting to get into a conversation about Annabeth at the moment. I definitely didn't want to talk about my feelings when it came to Annabeth and her boyfriends. I especially didn't want to discuss it with Luke, her most recent ex who still liked her.

"Not exactly," Luke shrugged, glancing over his shoulder for a second as we turned down the block. Sighing, he continued, "Percy, Annabeth would always save a seat next to her at the table for you to sit at, she would go the long way in the halls to walk with you, and she would put off agreeing to hang out with me till the last second in case you wanted to do something with her. She made the effort Percy. You just didn't do your end."

"I never noticed…" I trailed off, realizing now just often I had seen Annabeth in the halls, but how would I know she was doing those things for me? How was I supposed to figure that out? How would I know that empty seat next to her was meant for me when I was across the cafeteria at another table? "She never told me," and it was then that I felt the shark tooth press against my skin, the weight seeming to have increased.

He chuckled, "Yeah, apparently not. It got pretty annoying after a while." But before I could ask what he meant, Luke turned and walked up the front steps of a building, "We're here."

"Where's here?" I asked, following him up the concrete stairs into what looked a lot like a set of apartment buildings. No, not the ones that stacked each family one on top of the other, but the apartment building that seemed to go on forever with white paint that looked like it was done yesterday.

"Apartment building," Luke stated, holding the door open for me as our sneakers sounded against the polished floor. Passing the doorman who sent us suspicious looks, we moved towards the elevators, coming to a stop after he pushed the up button. Glancing around, I saw a few benches open, but only one person sitting there against it. Since the person's back was turned to me, I guessed that it was girl because of the hair length, but I couldn't be sure.

Turning over my shoulder, I still saw the doorman watching us warily as we waited for the elevator to open. I guess he wasn't used to seeing teenagers in a "ritzy" hotel room that weren't dressed in school uniforms. Waving at the disgruntled doorman, I turned towards Luke, "Are you moving or something?"

Pulling out his phone, Luke didn't glance up, "No, not exactly."

"So, why are we here?" I questioned, as a ding sounded the arrival of the elevator, and we made our way into the doors. After Luke pressed the button for the seventeenth floor, classical music filled the small room as we slowly lurched upwards. Once we made it to the fourth floor and Luke still hadn't answered, I asked again, "What are we doing here?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Luke mumbled, watching the number change from four to five. Shaking his head, he answered, "You'll see soon enough."

"I'm not just going to come to Brooklyn for no apparent reason and not ask questions," I muttered sourly, glancing at the lit up button 17.

Watching the floor numbers get closer and closer to seventeen, I wondered why exactly Luke would want me to come to an apartment building. Sure, I still had the suspicion that something sketchy was about to go down, however I liked to think that Annabeth wouldn't have dated someone who was into those sorts of things. Nevertheless, I was definitely happier when I could finally set my foot onto the seventeenth floor and got out of the elevator. Whenever I was in elevators, I always had some small inkling that it was going to either go plummeting into the Earth or continue up past all floors of the building and into the sky. Maybe that part came from watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so often when I was little.

"Here we are," Luke said under his breath, knocking on apartment number 327A. After a few seconds, Luke pulled out a piece of paper with the number 327A on it and knocked again.

"Coming," I heard a muffled, familiar voice that I just couldn't place before the door swung open to Mr. Chase. Wait, Mr. Chase? "Oh, hey Luke. I didn't know Percy was coming." He leaned back against the wall to allow us to come into the apartment.

Walking in, I glanced around the surprisingly furnished apartment that was actually pretty spacious for what it was worth. Coming into the living room, there were the normal things: a couch, TV, coffee table, but nothing that made it seem homey. I guess Luke was thinking the same thing, "You own this place?" We both glanced up towards Mr. Chase who was leaning against the wall appearing exhausted.

"No," he shook his head, pulling off his glasses to wipe them on his shirt, "a friend actually does. It was his first apartment, but he lives in a house now. He said I could stay here for as long as I wanted or even buy the place from him."

"Buy it?" I asked, walking over towards the fish tank that was devoid of all life and fish. It was pretty large, stretching the length of the wall and completely in line with it. Once I was in front of it, I saw that is was actually a part of the wall.

"Pretty cool, right?" I glanced up towards Mr. Chase who was watching me examine the fish tank. I nodded, waiting for him to answer my question, "Yeah, I guess the place isn't too bad. My friend said I could get the place and everything that was in it for less than what he paid for it. He wants it to at least stay with someone he knows since he wants to sell it. It holds a lot of memories and whatnot."

I turned away from the fish tank, watching Mr. Chase, "Are you getting it for Annabeth?" I wondered aloud, uncertain as to why Mr. Chase was thinking of buying this apartment. Luke, on the other hand, exchanged knowing glances with Mr. Chase. Then it dawned on me, "Man he works fast." I muttered under my breath before saying loud enough for everyone to hear, "You're moving out?" He cleared his throat, looking towards the floor and shifting uneasily. "What about Mathew, Bobby, and Annabeth?" I asked, annoyed that it seemed like Mr. Chase was just giving up on his family when times got tough.

"This is why I only wanted Luke here," he muttered, before addressing me. "They can stay here if they want and visit whenever they want." His answer was nonchalant as if he didn't understand the essence of the matter. I glanced towards Luke, and he too appeared to not understand the significance that Mr. Chase moving to this apartment would have.

I quickly shook my head, "What are Mathew and Bobby going to do? Ride the train or subway to get here? They can't walk."

Mr. Chase scratched his, "I never really thought of that, but I'm sure A—"

"Annabeth isn't going to bring them," I said coolly, interrupting Mr. Chase before he could even suggest that. It was pretty obvious to me exactly where he was going.

He seemed surprised, running a hand through his greying hair, "I think she would."

"You don't even know your own daughter," I muttered, shaking my head as Mr. Chase looked towards Luke for help. The help he was looking for? Yeah, I don't know what he wanted.

"Percy," he said in an even voice that I had often heard him use when correcting people, "I know my own daughter…" However, he shifted his position, never staying still the entire time. His eyes looked everywhere but at me, and he busied his hands with cleaning his glasses once again. I was pretty sure they were clean after the last time.

"Her favorite color," I demanded, stepping closer towards Mr. Chase.

"What?" He looked up at me while squinting his eyes since his glasses still lay in his hands. More than likely, he probably couldn't see me clearly.

I shook my head, annoyed, "What is it?"

"Oh," he mumbled, sliding his glasses back on his face and leaving his hands at his sides, "red?"

"It's grey," I stated matter-of-factually, not believing that he didn't even know Annabeth's favorite color: his own daughter's. For as long as I had known her, it had never changed, and I was pretty sure Mr. Chase had known Annabeth longer; I wasn't the one that was there when she was born.

Still, I gave him another chance, "Favorite animal?"

"A dog?" Wrong again.

"Owl. Her dream job?" This one's easy.

"Doctor?" He questioned.

I shook my head, "Architect. What she wants to build?"

"A building?"

"Wrong," I shouted, not believing that he didn't even know what Annabeth wanted to not only build but achieve in life. "She wants to build something permanent. Do you even know why?" He shook his head, his face seeming to have sunken and fallen more heavily, "Because of reasons like this. Because her family doesn't even know her, and she feels like everyone she cares about," I paused, before saying the last two words more quietly with realization, "leaves her," and maybe I was doing the same thing. Right now, this very second, Annabeth needed me more than ever, and I was letting her go through this on her own. I was just proving exactly what I had been trying to change her mind about for so long, that I would be there for her permanently: that I could be a foundation for something permanent. I glanced towards Luke, no longer wanting to talk to Mr. Chase about him leaving Annabeth when I was doing just the same.

Luke nodded, "Mr. Chase, I think what Percy's saying is that Annabeth isn't going to like you moving out." His voice sounded aged as if he had been through this time and time again. And for some reason, I had a feeling that Luke wasn't talking about Annabeth but himself, about his own experiences with his father.

"She'll understand," Mr. Chase said sadly, wiping the back of his hand under his nose.

I shook my head, "She'll think you're abandoning her just like her mom did. Only, this time it will be worse because she'll also blame you for abandoning Bobby and Mathew." If there was one thing I was certain of when it came to Annabeth, I knew exactly how she felt about people leaving her. Sure, I may have never considered it with myself, but I knew just how it worked with her mom.

Luke agreed, "I know what it's like, and she'll hate you for it." I looked towards him, noticing his stone-faced expression, "She'll never forgive you for moving away and not seeing her and her brothers." He probably never forgave his father.

"I would still see them," Mr. Chase attempted to assure us, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not actually abandoning them like how Athena just left us."

"How do you know she'll feel that way?" Luke questioned, asking the same thing that I was thinking. "I've been there before, and I know exactly what it's like. You may not think she'll hate you, but it doesn't mean she won't hold it against you for the rest of her life."

"I know my," Mr. Chase began but stopped once I shot him a look. "I can't do anything else about it. You don't understand what's happening." His voice began to tremble as his chest started to heave.

I shrugged. It seemed fairly simple to me, "You could tell us."

"No," he shook his head, as he breathed deeper to keep his voice under control, "I just can't."

"You need help," Luke took steps forward, putting his arm on Mr. Chase's shoulder. "I've seen what happens when someone doesn't get help. It hurts not only them but their family too. You don't want to do that to Annabeth and especially not Bobby and Mathew."

His head shook vigorously, "I don't need any help. I'm fine, okay." Mr. Chase walked around us, going into the open walled kitchen towards the fridge. We watched him go, pulling out a brown tinted bottle and throwing off the cap. Titling his head back, he guzzled a third of the beer bottle before clanking it against the table. "I only asked Luke," he shot me an angered glance, "here to see what he thought of the apartment. That was it. My problem right now is that I can't stay at home. Nothing else."

"Mr. Chase," Luke began, glancing towards me for help. I shook my head, walking towards the door. I couldn't do this anymore. I wasn't going to watch another relationship that Annabeth had go down the drain.

"Percy," Mr. Chase called after me as I neared the door, stopping to take another swig of his beer, "it didn't seem to matter to Annabeth that I didn't know random details about her when she saw the place today." He lips peeled back into a grin before they surrounded the top of his beer bottle once again. Luke looked disgusted and mortified as we watched on at Mr. Chase's drinking.

"How long ago?" I asked, setting my hand on the door knob. Considering that Mr. Chase could have been drunk all along, I knew Annabeth definitely wasn't fine with it. Maybe she could have fooled Mr. Chase, but I know exactly how this would have affected her.

He shrugged, tapping the long neck of the drip-away-from-empty bottle. His words began to slur as a he spoke, "A coffle minutes before you guys came. She leff in a rush." The last drip then traveled down his throat before he turned back to open the fridge once again. I left before I could see him grab his next bottle. There was no doubt in my mind that was what he was reaching for anyways.

The trip into the elevator and into the main lobby became a blur for me. I no longer noticed the shining titles but hated just how clean a place Mr. Chase was staying in; at that second, I felt a soggy cardboard box would have suited him perfectly. My trance was only broken when I neared the front desk for the doorman had muttered, "Stupid teenagers ruining the place."

I stopped short, glancing towards the man with light stubble covering his frowning face, "What do you mean," his name tag read Albert, "Albert?" I don't know why exactly I had decided to engage in conversation with the doorman: maybe because I was annoyed with people acting entitled after Mr. Chase.

His eyes lit up with surprise before they dulled again as they glanced towards the door, "Another teenager, eh?"

"What I ever do to you?" I asked curtly. Sure, I walked into the place, not wearing a private school uniform, but what difference did it make? I wasn't messing up the whole look of the place or anything. I didn't even stay in the lobby for five minutes.

Opening his mouth, he stopped, his features softening, "I'm sorry, kid. There have just been a lot of delinquents messing around with the place. I just figured you were one of them."

I shrugged it off, signaling that it was no big deal to me, "Did they just show up or something, Albert?" Watching Albert, I noticed his eyes glance towards the front door before focusing on me.

I was about to turn around and look myself when he continued, "You can call me Al, and no, not exactly. There has just been a girl sitting out there for a few minutes since you arrived. I had to ask her to leave because she was sitting on one of the benches doing nothing. I was worried that she was just up to no good, but I'm not too sure anymore. She's been sitting on the steps for a while now. Really starting to worry me," his eyes softened with worry as he looked, I assumed, at the girl sitting on the steps.

Turning away from Al, I opened my mouth to talk, pausing when my eyes registered the blonde hair on the body of the girl who was sitting out there. She was the person I saw on the bench earlier. "Hey, Al. I'm gonna go talk to her," I walked off from Al, nearing the door.

Al called after me, "It was nice talking to you, kid. You seem like a good one." If only I had felt like one of the good ones because in that minute, I felt like the worse friend there ever was.

Pushing the door open, I ignored the swift wind that whipped across my face. It didn't matter because in the second I set my eyes on the figure, the shark tooth against my naked skin seemed to feel warm. Maybe it was my imagination, but the weight on the silver chain felt lighter than before. I didn't need to see the face to know exactly who it was. I sat down next to the slim figure, imagining exactly what Al must have been muttering inside. He probably no longer thought I was one of the good ones, but it no longer mattered to me. The figure remained silent, not even acknowledging my presence. "You know, it's pretty cold out here," I said, after a couple of minutes of silence had engulfed the two of us.

"I didn't really notice," she mumbled, tapping her foot absentmindedly against the stone doorstep.

I forced myself to stop getting distracting by the beats her foot was creating, "Al thinks that you're a delinquent. Probably thinks the same of me my right now." I chuckled lightly watching the numerous people pass along the street without looking towards us. You could be invisible in New York. That was one of the best and worst things about it.

"What are you doing here, Percy?" her voice sounded exhausted as she turned her grey eyes onto me. The grey was mixed with water that was threatening to spill out any second. She quickly looked away, wiping the little amount of water pooled in her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Luke brought me," I stated, watching as she turned her face away from me completely.

She nodded, "I guess my dad wanted you guys to see the apartment." Her words got carried away in the wind, but I was still able to catch them.

I scratched the back of my head, "Yeah but apparently your dad only wanted Luke to come. It came out when I told him that he didn't know his own daughter." Her eyes quickly turned to me inquisitively, the only thing seeming to lighten up the grey, "I told him that you would feel like he was abandoning you." Dropping her eyes away from me, she ran her sneaker over the top of the other, rubbing them together.

"I don't really care," she attempted to make her voice even and devoid of feeling, but it cracked at the end, giving her away.

I shook my head, watching her blonde hair blow in the wind, "Everyone cares when everything around them seems to be falling apart." She turned herself back towards me, opening her mouth to speak but only a sob finally escaped.

Everyone can only be strong for so long.

Wrapping my hand around her waist, I pulled her into my side, resting my head against hers. Her body shook as her tears began to wet my shirt, yet she rested rigidly against me. I held her tighter until she relaxed against me letting her tears spill out. It hurt in the pit of my stomach, like someone had punched me and knocked the wind out of me except no one had. All it took was seeing Annabeth breaking down in front of me for that to happen. Putting a hand over her trembling one, I noticed the owl ring that sat, placed on her middle finger.

I squint at the ring in the dim light. Just in case I got the size wrong, I got a blue chain that way she could wear it around her neck, if she even wanted to wear it. It's pretty simple. Just a silver, what do you call it, band? Then diamonds making the shape of an owl were sandwiched between a P and an A. Closing my eyes and blowing out a breath, I could see the words on the band written 'something permanent.'

After the divorce between her parents, Annabeth had strived to create something permanent. It took years, but I knew that I could be that something permanent…

And noticing how the shark tooth now lay directly against my heart, next to her head, I couldn't help but let a small smile form. Maybe I was crazy, but I knew that somehow, things would turn out alright.

…

So right now, I'd love to tell you that the story continues on with everything fixed between Annabeth and me, and we live happily ever after. Tomorrow, I ask her out, and she says yes. Luke stops liking Annabeth, and he accepts that they can never be together again. Thalia stops hating me, and Nico no longer has to hear my problems about Annabeth. Her father's drinking problem is over, and he moves back into their house. Annabeth's mother comes back, and for once, everything just seems to be close to perfect. After ten days, everything goes back to being just how it's supposed to be, and we all get that little taste of perfection.

Only, it doesn't happen like that because this isn't your normal love story. Because this isn't your picture perfect, scripted life. Is this a love story? Yes, I can tell you that right off the back. But everything from this point onward, for the next twenty days:

Will be anything and everything but perfect.

…

January 2nd ~ Day 10

…

AN: AHHHHH, I updated… and it was long. And, you probably hate the ending right? Well, say hello to my angst then! :D Lololol. I know, this is no laughing matter, but hey, what's life without a little humor? Oh, you don't see any humor in this? … Well, this is awkward.

Okay, well if you have any questions, suggestions, comments, or anything likewise, feel free to tell me… REMEMBER, violence gets you nowhere… I mean, if you get rid of me, how will the story get all the way to 30 days?

So, I'll just be dodging some very sharp pitchforks then in the meantime.

Until next time,

J *AHHHHH, a pitchfork* am.

xx

P.S. you can follow me on my blog/tumblr to pester me about updating and know what I'm up to story wise. (allstarry707. tumblr. com)

Anonymous Review Replies.

So that I don't sound like a broken record: thank you to each and every one of you for taking the time to read and review. It really means a lot to me.

ButterflyFlyToMe – I'm glad you like him. Hah, I thought the Lucky Charms was a tad bit funny. Maybe that was just me…

Guest (Awesome and update) – Lol, thank you and lookey here.

Sean – Sorry, I'm not really doing Annabeth's POV in this story. It's going to be strictly Percy. Plus, that would just give way too much away ;) Exactly why you want her POV, right?

Guest (yay you updated) – thinking the same thing right now? ;p

M – Lolol, thanks from constructive-ish criticism. What was boring? Otherwise, I can't exactly grow that from that…

B – Eyo, B. Ah, was this wait too long? Well, they at least need to become friends at some point, right? Or at least, that's what I think… You won't have to wait too long. Aw, thanks!

Randy – You have absolutely no idea how much that means to mean. It's probably because I absolutely love to write angst, so this is like one of the top compliments I could possibly get. This is also the first angst that has played out in a story versus a one shot. Don't worry, though. There's still more angst to come. :)