BlueCookie33: I've put them in year 12, so age 16-17.

Guest (1): Thank you for your very effusive review! You're very kind. I'm glad I can give you some enjoyment and I'm privileged to be one of your favourites.

Guest (2): Here you are! Thank you!

Guest (3): Sorry it took so long. I'm mid exams!

Guest (4): Don't worry, I won't abandon it! I know how annoying that can be. I have just been busy with exams. Just out of interest, you say my story is different. How is it different? Just interested to know.

ems101: Thank you! It's lovely to hear that this is your favourite story, a real encouragement. The reason it took so long was because I had exams, and I have more exams coming up, that I have to prepare for. Sometimes I feel writing is a good way to de-stress, but that's no good if I have to dedicate my free time to revision instead - sorry, but writing comes second! The reason it was shorter - not by much though, so maybe it just seemed that way to you - is that I'm trying to get these out to you as soon as possible because I'm aware that people like you are waiting and I don't want to make you wait any longer. I've been in similar positions to you, where I check my favourite fics more than daily (still am), so I try to keep updating times down, while keeping the length up. Tricky!

Disclaimer: Nothing recognisable is mine. Everything original (the plot) is, so hands off!

Read, enjoy, review!

Physics was unsurprisingly awkward. As she had been dreading it, Annabeth had dragged her feet all the way there and had consequently been the last person to enter the lab. Looking around, there were no free seats, other than her usual one next to Percy, and so she resigned herself to her fate. Dumping her bag on the floor and digging out her pens and books, she ignored the green eyed stare from beside her. The silent treatment worked for a while - he turned and actually listened to the teacher - but as soon as Mr Halliwell explained their experiment and told them to get on with it in their pairs, Annabeth knew she was going to have to talk.

Trying to avoid working with highly dangerous chemicals with a guy she really didn't like, she put her hand up, hoping to ask for a new lab partner. "Don't bother," a gruff voice came from beside her. "I already asked to move seats. He said that we chose to sit like this and we knew this was for the rest of the term. We're stuck like this for the next month, I'm sorry to say." Annabeth refused to look at him, but lowered her arm anyway, knowing what he said was true. She sat staring at her hands for a while, before she shook her hair out and took a large breath.

Pursing her lips, she admitted, "Fine. So we're partners. That's all we'll be. We'll only talk about the experiment we're doing, otherwise we keep ourselves to ourselves. No flicking, or poking, or clicking. Just working. And you will work properly and do what I say. No sabotaging. I'm not dropping a grade this year just because I got stuck with you."

Percy huffed out a breath. "Whoa Chase, calm down. It's only a grade."

She clenched her jaw before gritting out, "Are you in agreement?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him hold up his hands in sarcastic surrender, and she rolled her eyes in reply. "Not that I would have 'sabotaged' you anyway. I would like a good grade too."

"Fine." She nodded her head and turned to get the equipment they needed. "Let's get on with it then." She split the list of items they needed and sent him off in search of half of them, while she began collecting together glass cylinders and pipettes. He returned surprisingly (pleasingly) quickly, and the two worked in harmonious silence for a few minutes, the only words uttered either instructions or measurements.

Midway through another trial, Percy spoke up softly, "Hey, I know you said no personal stuff, but-"

"I meant it," she growled back at him.

"Just one thing? It's important."

She quietly muttered give me strength under her breath, but didn't say anything in reply to him, which he took as permission to continue.

"Is your arm okay?"

Annabeth stopped midway through pouring the acid and blinked. Putting the glass bottle down and screwing the lid back on (safety first!), she pushed herself up from where she had been crouched on the floor and looked him dead in the eyes. After a few moments, he shifted, rubbing his bicep with his hand, but he never broke eye contact.

She wasn't really sure what she was looking for - the truth, deceit, shame, amusement - but she didn't find anything. Someone had once said that the eyes are windows to the soul, and that quote had been echoed by many throughout the years, but she had thought she had known those eyes and she had been wrong.

Instead she thought about his words, that he had said it was important, that despite everything he was checking she was okay. After everything she had felt over the last twenty four hours, that was just confusing. Was this another game he was playing? She was still angry, sure, but that didn't mean that every feeling she had for him had gone away instantly. You like people for who they are, not what they do. Not that anyone would ever know she felt that way.

"Annabeth, your arm, is it okay?"

His voice, still quiet, cut through her reverie. She blinked, after staring at him for too long, and nodded, although it was no longer the curt nod it had been earlier. "It's okay. Just a bruise." Her voice certainly wasn't warm and she wasn't smiling, but she was no longer treating him icily. His civility had earnt hers, if only for a moment.

He nodded, "Good." Looking away, more quietly, "Good." Shaking his head, he looked back at his book. "We were on the second trial at 3ml." She nodded, all business-like again and they proceeded to complete their experiment at the same time as all the other pairs, despite their slightly delayed start. As much as she might dislike it, they did work well together.

With their results submitted to the teacher and their homework explained, the ringing of the bell signalled their freedom from class. Percy gracelessly turned to face her, inhaling as if to say something before stopping himself. As he sat still for another few moments, she shooed him with her hands and a raised eyebrow. Without a word, he turned and left, occasionally hesitating and looking back at her. Once he was long gone, she gathered her belongings and followed him out of the door. Finding the corridor clear, she slumped against a nearby locker and heaved a sigh.

That had been difficult. She was aware she had been rather terse and dictatorial in there, but sometimes you just have to deal with things in the way that works for you. She still hurt, and probably would for a while, and she needed to protect herself so she could function properly in proximity to him. If that meant being a little cold and getting used to people saying "calm down", then so be it.

"Annabeth?"

She jumped, banging her head on the locker she was leaning against. Rubbing her skull, she replied, "Yes Katie?"

"Are you okay? You've been acting kind of funny today."

"I'll be fine," Annabeth assured her, pretending that all she was referring to was the bump on her head.

"If you're sure... Are you coming with me now? I'm just meeting up with the others for lunch."

"Who's 'the others'?"

Katie's brow furrowed. "Our usual group - Silena, Beckendorf, Thalia, Grover, Rachel, Connor, Travis-"

Hmm. That meant the boys and the girls. She might have got off lucky that morning, not having to interact with Percy and no-one questioning it, but that wouldn't last long. What could she do? She didn't want to tell the world about what had happened, how she had mistaken something meaningless for a relationship. She couldn't even talk to her closest friends about it - she had never told them in the first place and the only one who knew had no sympathy, only I-told-you-so's. She hadn't felt so alone in a long time.

"-and I can't believe he would do that! He's just become so annoying - I can't seem to move anywhere without him popping up somehow. You have to save me from him, Annabeth, you're so smart and I just don't know what to do." Huh. Katie was still talking after all that time. She didn't really know specifics about what she was talking about, but she could take a guess.

"Just ignore him, all he wants is attention. He'll get the message eventually," she suggested. Katie mumbled an of course, nodding her head slowly. "And no, sorry, I'm not joining you guys for lunch today. Have fun though!" she called over her shoulder as she walked in the opposite direction, hoping to avoid any questions. Katie sent her a puzzled look, but accepted it, walking towards their friends.

...

Making new friends was hard. It wasn't that she had an issue with her current ones, Annabeth just wanted a few days to lick her wounds before she began to hang around with certain people again. If it had been summer, she would have simply gone out onto the fields, found a spot in the sunshine and read her book while eating. However, it was not summer and nowhere near warm enough to brave eating outside. Instead, she had to find a place indoors to stay.

Hence her search for new friends. There was hardly a corner of her college that didn't have someone sitting in it, groups of girls and boys established in their own places and refusing to move. It wasn't until you tried to break out of this system that it became clear how inflexible it was. A couple of times she had sat down with people she had spoken to before in class and they were nice to her, but it was clear that they were confused about her presence.

She had tried settling in the library but she couldn't eat in there, so it wasn't ideal. She had even tried sitting with Nico one lunch, which was slightly awkward as, although he occasionally hung out with their group, they had never really talked one on one. He seemed rather uncomfortable, constantly tugging on his hair and never making eye contact. They had had some semblance of a conversation, but she didn't think she'd be trying it again.

One thing that had worked was chess club. She knew it was 'nerdy', but she actually really enjoyed it, and she wasn't expected to make any sort of inane conversation, although when they did talk, she seemed to get on really well with the others there. She had only been once but she would quite happily go again.

Four school days into her lunchtime experiments, and it was Wednesday. At the end of the school day, the girls aggressively took her arms and dragged her out of the gates and down the road to get a coffee and some cake. Over frothy, sugary creations, Silena, Thalia, Katie and Rachel made their displeasure clear at her abandonment.

"This is an intervention," Rachel intoned, causing Silena to roll her eyes at her dramatic tendencies. "We have become aware that there have been some treasonous activities and we have brought our concerns before you to be addressed and explained should any excuse suffice." Silence fell between the gaggle of girls. Rachel tossed her flaming her over her shoulder.

Thalia shook her head. "Basically, we've noticed you're not hanging out with us, you're hanging out with other people instead of us and we want to know why." Her gaze was challenging. The other girls nodded, agreeing.

Annabeth dropped her head, watching her hands crumble her biscuit between her fingers. "Annabeth," Thalia said in a warning tone.

She huffed and began speaking, although she still kept her head down. "I'm not going to go into all the details, but essentially Percy and I had a ... misunderstanding. I thought one thing, he thought another, I got hurt and he got... angry? Confused? I don't know. I don't understand him. I thought I did but I - I don't. So, I didn't want to hang out with him, just while I got my head sorted out. I would've come back, I just needed a few days." She didn't look up, afraid they would be angry with her for not saying anything.

"Oh, Annabeth!" Silena said sadly and Katie, who was sat closest to her, shuffled over and put an arm around her shoulders. Looking up, she could see similarly sorrowful expressions on all of their faces. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm sorry. I just - I hadn't told you about anything with him in the first place, so it would be weird to explain it all to you now. And then I was scared you would all say that you knew this would happen and that I should have known, because it's true! I should have known better! All those rumours had to have some basis. And I didn't want you to feel like you had to split away from the boys. Silena, you were so happy that you and Beckendorf could hang out together, with all of your friends, and Grover was happy with more guys around, all of you were! I didn't want to be the one to ruin that." Annabeth shook her head, ashamed.

Rachel piped up. "Yes, we enjoy having the boys around. But not at the expense of you leaving! We love our Annabeth, don't we girls?" There were some very enthusiastic head nods. "See? Sisters before misters. You're one of us and we're not letting you go that easily."

Annabeth smiled gratefully, if a little tearily. She turned to Thalia, who had been silent thus far. "And what about you bestie? Are you prepared to forgive me for going ahead, even though you told me not to?"

Her dark haired friend was silent for a beat, and then observed, "There's nothing to forgive. I'm not angry. I mean, I wish you hadn't done it, not because I want you to obey me all the time, but because I want you to be happy, and doing this made you sad. I don't like seeing you sad. I've still got your back," she professed, flashing her a smile.

The rest of their circle of friends looked quietly back and forth between the two girls, before Silena cried, "Aww! You guys are so sweet! Oh, I love our friends. Come on, up! Hug time!" And there, in the middle of a coffee shop, the five girls stood, huddled and cuddled.

Settling back down in their seats, Silena added, "So you said you weren't going to go into details. Are you sure? It can sometimes help to talk it out."

"I'm sure, thanks. I don't think it will help me. I just want to move on, leave the past where it is, in the past."

"Okay! That's fair enough," Silena accepted breezily.

"Well what about from now on? Are you happy to come back, or are we all going to relocate?" Katie asked.

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I think I'll come back to join you. I've had a few days away, and I know from Physics that I can deal with being in the same room as him."

"Oh! Physics! Don't you sit next to each other? That must have been awkward."

"Unbearably so, to begin with, but we've figured out a system to make it work." Her friends smiled sympathetically. "No, I'll be fine. I really did mean it when I said I didn't want to take you away from the guys. I probably won't talk much though - I'll just be on my phone. Just please don't make me sit next to Percy!" They all chuckled.

"Oh!" Katie exclaimed. "Is that why you sat in a different place the other morning and made me sit next to Travis?" Annabeth nodded sheepishly. "Ugh! I guess I have to forgive you for that then, but you better be grateful for how I suffered for you!"

Annabeth offered the remains of her biscuit as reparations, which Katie graciously accepted, and the girls chattered on, the 'intervention' a thing of the past.

...

As promised, the following day Annabeth returned for lunch. In a surprise show of support, the girls had all arranged to meet outside her classroom when the bell went for lunch, meaning she didn't have to walk in on her own. The girls were all a little chilly towards Percy initially, but she had specifically asked them not to be as she didn't want to mess up the group dynamics, so things returned to normal pretty quickly. It wasn't as though Percy had interacted with the rest of the girls all that much in the first place. He had usually kept quiet, only speaking up to say something to her, or add an occasional comment into the conversation.

Annabeth similarly stayed mute, which wasn't particularly noteworthy as she wasn't all that vocal normally. Instead, she had the occasional conversation with someone nearby or sat texting OwenSawyer, as she was now:

OwenSawyer: So, if you were going to take up a new hobby, what would it be?

AnnabethChase: Bird watching. It's cheap and I get to lie around doing nothing all day.

OwenSawyer: Haha. Be serious, I'm trying to learn about your soul here.

AnnabethChase: My soul? Deep, man.

OwenSawyer: I try, I try.

AnnabethChase: I don't know. I love taking photographs, so I'd really like to some more of that, but if I had to choose something completely new I'd go for running I think.

OwenSawyer: Why?

AnnabethChase: I'm kind of sick of being the stereotypical nerdy girl, who's complete out of shape. I'm not fat, but I'd like to be able to run up my road without wheezing. And it would be healthy and cheap. What about you?

OwenSawyer: I already run. Occasionally.

AnnabethChase: No, dimwit, I meant what new hobby would you take up if you could?

OwenSawyer: Maybe volunteering at the local old people's home?

AnnabethChase: Uh huh. Really.

OwenSawyer: Really.

AnnabethChase: See, I don't believe you - everything you've said so far makes me think you're more likely to go paintballing than help out the elderly - not that it's a bad aim. Just not you. Are you trying to suck up to me?

OwenSawyer: Okay, fine, you caught me. Guilty as charged.

OwenSawyer: What would impress you, out of interest?

AnnabethChase: Be kind, but still be yourself. Go paintballing, but take your brother. Or maybe ask that guy in your class who seems to have no friends to go with you.

OwenSawyer: But he probably has no friends for a reason. He's almost certainly crazy!

AnnabethChase: But he could be awesome and you could make a new friend. The main thing is, it could make his day.

OwenSawyer: He might just not want to come.

AnnabethChase: If he doesn't want to join you, then that's you off the hook and you can feel good about yourself for asking him. If you don't like him after that, then don't ask again - it's only a few hours of your life.

OwenSawyer: Maybe.

AnnabethChase: You did ask!

OwenSawyer: Regretting that now. I feel like I've been mean.

AnnabethChase: Sorry!

OwenSawyer: Don't be. You make me want to be a better person :*

AnnabethChase: :*

Their conversation had a lull, so Annabeth dug through her bag and produced a sandwich that she started munching on while listening in on the conversation going on around her. Her phone buzzed again.

OwenSawyer: How's the situation with the friend you had an issue with?

She sighed. It was annoying that the issue between her and Percy had invaded all parts of her life now, but it was good to talk to an uninvolved participant, and he was trying to be sensitive.

AnnabethChase: It's okay. I mean, it's not great because it still hurts, but I'll get over it. It's a lot better now I've told the girls though.

OwenSawyer: Yeah?

AnnabethChase: Yeah, it's nice to actually talk about it and get some support.

OwenSawyer: Hey! That's what I've been doing!

AnnabethChase: I know, and thank you, you've been amazing, but it's different because they're here in person, you know?

OwenSawyer: I guess.

AnnabethChase: Anyway, I told them about it, so they've been really supportive and I'm back to sitting with them, which is nice.

OwenSawyer: So have you been avoiding your friend, or are you all passive aggressive?

AnnabethChase: Mostly ignoring him, although we're lab partners in Physics so we have to talk then, but we've agreed to focus only on the work, it's not a social time or a time to bug each other. The final test will be tonight as we always walked home together on Thursdays, so I'm a little nervous, but I think it will be okay. I'll just grab the boys and go straight to Gran's. From what I've seen, he doesn't really want to have a confrontation either, so he'll probably dawdle so he doesn't have to see us.

OwenSawyer: He?

Shit! Annabeth re-read her previous message and realised she had failed in trying to keep her messages non-gender specific. He often got defensive and angry when she talked about other guys, so this was going to be interesting. Oh well, she couldn't deny it.

AnnabethChase: Yup, he.

OwenSawyer: You never said your friend was male. I thought you only had female friends.

AnnabethChase: I don't live in a convent Owen. Other men do exist.

OwenSawyer: And this one hurt you! What did I tell you? You were only supposed to consort with me, your brothers and your father and then you'd never get hurt.

AnnabethChase: I could still be hurt by women, Owen, you can't wrap me in cotton wool.

OwenSawyer: I can damn well try! And was this 'friend' even a friend, or was it a little less platonic? Did you cheat on me?

AnnabethChase: I am not a cheater.

It was true. She had definitely been in more of a relationship with Percy than OwenSawyer at the time, and even that hadn't been much of a relationship seeing as it was only a few misconstrued neck kisses. She couldn't cheat on Owen if they hadn't had a relationship, and they had barely even been flirting at that point. Even now, she'd hesitate to call it a relationship, unconfirmed as it was, although they clearly flirted and sent kisses often.

OwenSawyer: And why should I believe you? You didn't tell me he was a guy! And why would you hide that fact unless it meant something?

AnnabethChase: I didn't think it was relevant!

OwenSawyer: Like hell you didn't!

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, and everyone sluggishly moved to gather their belongings. She decided to let him know that she was about to go to her lesson and wouldn't be speaking with him, just like she had promised, in spite of their argument.

AnnabethChase: Look, the bell's gone and I've got maths. I have to go. We'll talk later.

OwenSawyer: Hey, no! You're just making that up, aren't you, bitch? You're just trying to get away from talking to me because you're guilty! I know the truth.

Locking her phone against his stream of vitriol, she shook her head, and joined the masses going to class.

...

Her plan for avoiding Percy worked perfectly and, as predicted, he didn't even try to confront her. Thank fully, the boys hadn't got too stroppy about having to go straight to Gran's; both were tired and the weather was miserable. When Heather closed the front door behind Annabeth, she heaved a great sigh of relief and turned to face her Gran.

"Hello darling, welcome back," Heather smiled warmly, watching as the boys raced up the stairs to start playing on their video consoles. "Go on through to the kitchen, I'll be there in a minute." Annabeth wandered further in towards the heart of the house as she heard vaguely her Gran call, "Boys, dinner's in an hour so don't eat any of those sweets that I know you have stashed away somewhere!" Settling at the breakfast bar, her grandmother soon joined her. "Sorry about that dear, how are you?"

"I'm fine thanks, and you? It smells like you've been busy," Annabeth replied, catching traces of chocolate wafting through the air.

Heather laughed, "Of course! I meant to offer you some - would you like a brownie?"

Her granddaughter nodded eagerly, then paused. "But... you just said to the boys not to have anything before tea."

"Ah but that was the boys - I trust you to know your limits. Go on, just a little bit," her Gran teased. Annabeth didn't take much persuading and was quickly provided with a (small) piece of chocolate brownie and a glass of milk.

Through her mouthful, she mumbled, "We haven't really spoken in a fortnight. Sorry for flaking out on you last week."

"That's okay," she reassured, "although I assume you don't want to talk about it with your dear old Gran?"

"How wise you are! But not old. Never old."

Heather's crow's feet wrinkled as she beamed. "You do know how to flatter a lady. So what's new with my favourite granddaughter?"

Their conversation lasted them through until dinner, after which Heather ushered her upstairs to get her homework done and "let her Gran catch her breath". After doing said homework (and a little bit extra; she was Annabeth Chase after all, and she had a reputation to maintain), she took a deep breath and turned back to the conversation with OwenSawyer, refusing to read any of the almost certainly angry messages he had sent her after their fight.

AnnabethChase: Are you prepared to talk like an adult about this?

She didn't have to wait long for a reply.

OwenSawyer: Yes.

OwenSawyer: I'm sorry.

AnnabethChase: For what?

OwenSawyer: For being rude and overreacting.

AnnabethChase: It's okay, I forgive you. I'm also sorry - I didn't cheat on you or anything, but I did make you feel insecure, so I apologise for that.

OwenSawyer: You don't have anything to apologise for, but thank you anyway.

AnnabethChase: We do need to talk though, about how you dealt with being angry.

OwenSawyer: How so?

AnnabethChase: You called me a bitch, Owen, and I don't know what else because I didn't read the rest of your messages, but that's not okay. This is the second time you've called me that when you're angry. I forgave it once and I forgave it again this time, but I won't put up with it being your go to response.

OwenSawyer: So, what, next time I do it, you stop talking to me?

AnnabethChase: No, it's not a three strikes and you're out system, we're not children, but I do want respect from you, so you need to change that. Next time punch a pillow or talk it out, but I don't want to be treated like that just because you're angry. Okay?

OwenSawyer: Of course. I'm sorry it's happened so much. I'm not normally like this, I guess it's just because I feel so much for you, you know?

She blushed, cheeks flaming red as she smiled at his sweet words.

OwenSawyer: On a lighter note, you said earlier that it was different with your friends because they were actually there to support you in person. What would happen if I was?

She sputtered in disbelief.

AnnabethChase: What? You're here right now?

OwenSawyer: No, dummy, I'm not that creepy. I'm asking theoretically.

AnnabethChase: I don't know, I'd have to think about it. It's a big step.

OwenSawyer: I know. But I want to see you. Hold you. Hug you.

OwenSawyer: Maybe other stuff. Wink. Wink.

AnnabethChase: You had to go and make it creepy.

OwenSawyer: It's a gift. No but really, if you decided you would, you'd make this particular guy very happy xx

AnnabethChase: I'll think about it xx

OwenSawyer: Thank you xxx

AnnabethChase: I'm going to go, get some reading in before I go to bed. Sleep well xxx

OwenSawyer: Good idea, leave before this becomes a kissing war. Get a good night's rest, sweetheart xxxx

She decided to leave it there, snuggling under her quilt with a good book, a new question burning in her mind.

Should I meet him?

Tada! Sorry for such a long wait, exams were a killer. Just started summer holidays, so lots of time, but it's quickly being eaten up by different things. I am trying to write daily, because then I'm more likely to write and otherwise I'll never finish this. I won't be doing much writing when I go to uni, I think, so I'm trying to get a lot done this summer. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and if you have any questions, please do ask! Hope you have a nice day xx