A/N: I like my little narration thing in the middle… I pictured it as like the voice of the narrator in those movies… Like the Princess Bride or something… yeah, I'm tired. Read and Review, please!

Annabeth couldn't believe she had let herself fall in love with him. She couldn't believe that he didn't love her back. She couldn't believe a lot of things. She was still wavering on whether or not he had actually stolen that damned file. And she didn't know a lot of things. But she knew that Percy wasn't in love with her.

That was the problem. Percy wasn't the kind of guy to fall in love. And she was only letting her heart get broken by staying with him. Because what happened when a few weeks or months or even years from now when he looked at her and said he didn't feel anything for her anymore? That was why she had ended it. It wasn't the file, it wasn't their parents, but it was that she was sick of getting rejected, of getting her heart broken.

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Maybe this was how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be alone, on a beach, staring out at the water and pretending not to notice how girls stared at him. He was supposed to not be chained down to one girl.

Right. This was the life.

And he would believe this lie for as long as he could get away with it.

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Nothing was right.

That was how it always was, wasn't it?

After the heroine and hero break up, nothing is right and they battle with their emotions until finally, one or the other makes a deep proclamation of never ending love and they fall into each other's arms and live happily ever after.

But because neither of the parties in this torn love affair was willing to admit that they were better off with the other, it seemed that this part of their romance was just too far away to contemplate.

So they went on like this for days; this turned into weeks, which turned into a month. It wasn't until they each got a little friendly guidance that they realized what they had been missing through their stubbornness…

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Rachel Elizabeth Dare sighed as she sipped her beer. Nico put a casual arm around his girlfriend and muttered, "When do you think they'll get here?"

Rachel shrugged. "Eventually. You called Annabeth?"

"Yeah. Jeez, she's been holed up in her apartment for a month. She won't stop talking about him but she refuses to call him. It's annoying."

"And Percy can't stop talking about her either. He barely leaves his place unless he's meeting Grover and me or going into work. It's miserable. At least we had the satisfaction of knowing Luke's gone though."

Nico arched an eyebrow. "Oh? What happened?"

"He came into the office the day after they broke up and knocked Luke out and fired him; Grover told me everything because Juniper saw the whole thing."

"Damn. And she keeps saying he's not in love with her."

Rachel rolled her eyes, taking another sip. "Oh, please. The boy is head over heels for her."

Nico shook his head, taking in this thought and glanced at the door as it opened. He kissed his girlfriend on the top of her head before winking and ducking behind a booth.

Percy sauntered over to his friend, not even noticing the dark haired man that had exited the scene seconds earlier. He ordered a scotch and they sat together, chatting nonchalantly.

He looked terrible; like he needed sleep or at least some makeup to hide the bags under his eyes. Rachel felt a tinge of sympathy for the boy but then decided that it was a wasted feeling because he was being a dumbass and she was going to make a point to tell him so, despite how sad he looked.

"So what am I doing here anyway, Rach?" he muttered, finishing his scotch with a gulp.

"Oh, just hanging out. You know… Haven't seen you in a while. And I guess—"

"Whoa, hey, Rachel!"

Percy turned around to face the deep voice that had made the interruption and saw Nico di Angelo standing next to… Oh.

Percy didn't even glance back at the two who were now embracing and talking animatedly. His eyes were caught on hers.

"Hi," Annabeth managed to say.

"Hi."

"Um, how've you been?"

Just as he was about to open his mouth, Rachel stepped in front of him and said very loudly and quickly, "He's been miserable. Absolutely miserable. Can't sleep, can't eat, can't do anything without thinking about you and he wants—"

"Rach!" Nico said loudly, cutting her off. "I thought you agreed to let Percy handle this one."

"He wasn't gonna say it," Rachel said, pouting slightly. "I was just trying to help."

Nico kissed the tip of her nose and pulled her close, making Percy and Annabeth step to the side so that they could continue the conversation that they hadn't even really been having.

There was a momentary silence as they watched each other. Finally, Annabeth said, "Is that true?"

"Um, well, I guess, I mean, there was kind of a rough, well this whole thing, and…" He sighed. "Yeah. I don't have to been a complete teenager about it." Appearing to be almost angry, he ran a hand through his hair and glared at his shoes. "I miss you and I hate that you ended it and it sucks and I just can't find the right words to say what I want to say."

Annabeth was silent until he looked up. "Just say it."

He tried, opening and closing his mouth for a few moments, taking on the appearance of a fish out of water. Finally, he closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and whispered, "I don't want this to be a stupid romance novel."

He opened his eyes.

"I don't want to be scared of losing you every time I turn to a new chapter. I want you, Annabeth. I want you back. What Rachel said… She was right. I can't do anything real unless you're with me."

She didn't say anything in response. Instead, she just watched him.

"And there was that night, when you told me that you loved me and I believe that you actually meant it, Annabeth! I think…" He couldn't stop now. He couldn't choke. He was on a roll. He had to finish… "I think that you were just scared that I didn't feel the same way and had to tell me that lie so that you could make a clean break but there was nothing clean about it. And you were wrong."

Annabeth blinked. Waited. And waited. And waited. Blinked.

"I'm gonna try to refrain from being really sappy because I always hate it when they do that in those movies, but… But I have to say that… Oh, dammit, Annabeth! Why does everything have to be so hard with you?" Finally, he took her face in his hands, feeling his confidence grow when she didn't push him back, and whispered, "I'm in love with you."

A/N: Heh. Heh. Cliffy. (Ducks to avoid arrows.)

WOW haven't updated in a while! So busy! Sorry, guys, but I hope this maybe kind of makes up for it! I'm aware that Nico and Rachel were kind of OOC, but that's how I needed them, so that's how they were! The next chapter will basically be all the wrapping up and everything. Pretty much basic epic fluff from here on out… And now, you can skip the rest unless you want to hear me rant….

Love,

E. M. Zeray

Dear Anonymous Reviewer who wrote, "I hated the end so screw you". I'd like you to know that I have absolutely no respect for you because you were too much of a coward to tell me with your login that you hated my story when it wasn't even over yet. You ASSumed which made you an ass. I'm very sorry that you found things wrong in my story but no story is perfect and I won't change the way I write to appease one person who obviously has something up their butt. So please, as a favor to all authors, next time you read a story you hate, don't be too cowardly to tell them because maybe they'll respond and ask you why or what was wrong with it or what can they do to make it better. You gave up every chance you had at me maybe being willing to listen to your criticism when you didn't sign your review. And, just so you know, this attitude will get you nowhere in life and I seriously hope you grow up a little bit before you decide to review again. And if you find offense in this response, you'll know how I felt when I read those seven words in my inbox.