Hey guys! Wssp? Soooooo…this is the last chapter before the epilogue. REVIEW!

PERCYS POV:

After we had realized we were still making out, and kinda were in a situation, we broke apart, panting. I looked down at her. She was so beautiful. She looked like she had never aged.

Oh, yeah. She hadn't.

I knew I would do anything for this girl. I loved her.

Just then, something clicked in Annabeth's eyes, and she swung her arm back and punched me square in the jaw, shoving me back.

"OW! What the Hades was that for?"

"You left me here for a YEAR, PERCY! I thought you'd never come, I thought I'd be stuck here forever, and that you didn't love—" She broke down in tears, sobs racking her body. I had never seen Annabeth like this. I leaned down to where she had sunk down in the sand.

"I tried. I promise I tried." I said.

"Oh, so it took you a year to get from New York to Mt. St. Helens," Annabeth said, her voice clogged with her tears. I kept rubbing her back and squeezing her tight. I wanted her to know I was here. Finally.

"Well, the trip from Manhattan might not of lasted that long, but the coma that hydra I ran into put me in." Her eyes widened.

"Percy…you were in a coma?"

"Yeah. And…well, when I woke up, I'd found out it had been a year and I started coming for you right away."

"But…were you looking for me…when the monster attacked you?" She asked. I nodded.

"I'm so sorry—" She started.

"NO, Annabeth. It wasn't you fault. It was mine. I wanted to look for you."

We sat there, her in my arms with me stroking her soft hair, occasionally whispering comforting words into her ear. Eventually, we sat back on the bench, and looked at the ground.

"Annabeth…?" I asked.

"Yes Percy?" She asked. I flinched. Her voice, the way she carried herself…had changed. She no longer radiated the confidence and strength she had before. And I knew that was what this island had done to her.

"I…I want you to go. I mean, I'll stay." I said. I knew she would protest, but this was one subject I would not budge on. I was the reason she had stayed for a year, intentional or not. Annabeth let out a sigh like she was disappointed I would even try, but for a second, I saw the familiar stubborn glint in her eye.

"Peruses," Ooooo…full name worthy mad. "You know very well that I will not leave you here to be stuck on this island. I've already been here a year, I might as well go all out. I want you to go." She said. I was confused.

"What do you mean? I can't leave, can I? I mean, I was the one who came. Didn't you say that whoever was stuck here could leave if someone who loves them stays in their place? So isn't it you who has to leave?" She sighed again, as if disappointed she had to explain it to me.

"No. It doesn't matter who got there first, so long as someone that loves them stays." She explained with a faint blush on her cheeks. I felt a smug grin creep onto my face.

"You love me?" I asked. I had been waiting a year for her to say that back. She rolled her eyes.

"Well of course Seaweed Brain. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I mean…I'm just…and I left you…"

"Percy, you didn't leave me. you were in a coma. Oh, gosh, I bet your mom's furious." She stood up from the bench. I pulled her back down.

"Relax, I haven't even seen my mom yet."

"WHAT?"

I was still in a wheelchair when I boarded the plane to Washington. I came straight from the hospital. I am so sorry. You were here a whole year—"

"Percy, you did that for me?" She looked up at me. That extra year I had on her did have some advantages. Her eyes were filled with happiness and longing. I smiled back.

"Oh course. I love you. I'd already made you wait a year, I wasn't gonna make you wait longer."

She beamed and ran a hand through my hair. I shuddered as I felt her soft fingers run over my scalp. She gave a soft, sincere smile. She wrapped her arms under mine and buried her face into my shirt. I put my arms around her waist and just held her. I smelled her hair. Mmmm….lemons…

She pulled back with a smile on her face. She laughed and wiped away one of the few remaining tears.

"So. What are we going to do?" She looked up at me.

"Well. I am going to stay here, and you are going to call upon a god, or whatever celestial being is controlling our lives, and make them take you back." I said softly, with a sad smile. She glared back.

"Percy, I believe we've been through this. I'll stay. You have a life back home. A family who loves you."

"Annabeth! You know I can't do that!"

"So you're saying you'd stay on this island for eternity, for me?"

"Exactly."

"Why?"

"Because I love you." I said firmly, meaning it with every cell in my body. "And you're saying that you would stay here for me? Just so I could be happy?"

"Yes. Because I love you too."

"Annabeth, don't you get it? Without you, I won't be happy."

"Wait…" She said, a smile of understanding crossing her features. "I think I understand now. Aphrodite! You can send us back now. I understand!" she called out. I gave her a confused look. She smiled brightly, for the first time with all the Annabeth radiance I remember. And then, Aphrodite pops up in a cloud of pink smoke, coughing.

"Sorry! Sorry! I was working on a new dramatic entrance, and this shade on pink totally compliments my skin tone, so—"

"Aphrodite! Okay, we get it. But I did like the smoke. It was far less disastrous than the fireworks last time." Annabeth said wryly. I was confused. When did Annabeth get so close to Aphrodite?

"Yes. Quite." Murmured Aphrodite. "So, what was it you called me for, dear?"

"I figured it out." Annabeth said. "You said, that a person can leave the island, so long as some one who truly loves them was willing to stay in their place."

"Exactly." Aphrodite smiled proudly. "I knew you'd get it eventually, Dear."

"Um…Excuse me?" I waved my hands around. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about." I said, thoroughly confused. Annabeth and Aphrodite rolled your eyes. Annabeth turned back to her.

"If I know you, you've been watching ever since Percy got here, right?"

"Guilty." Aphrodite said sheepishly./

"Well, you heard us tell each other we were willing to stay for each other, right? So we can both leave? No strings attached?"

I was stunned. Annabeth was a genius. We both had someone who loved us and was willing to stay…and that was each other…

"Exactly." Aphrodite said with a grin. "Oh, I love happy endings! Now, Annabeth, I'll still pop up every now and then to see how you are, even though you won't be stranded on an island and desperate for human interaction, okay? I would miss out weekly fashion debates." Annabeth smiled.

"Of course, Aunt A." I was stunned. I never know those two were so close.

"Now, sorry for my rambling. Off you go!" Aphrodite chirped, and I grabbed Annabeth's hand as I saw a load of theatrical pink smoke come from Aphrodite's hands. We were both coughing up a storm, but when the smoke cleared, I immediately knew where we were.

The beach at Camp-Half-Blood.

Look out for the epilogue!