Chapter 21

With his eyes glazed over, Percy stared at the blank paper in front of him. He was supposed to be writing up a test for his Greek history class, but Greek history was the last thing he wanted to think about. Instead of writing, he tapped his red pen against the edge of his desk, but he barely registered the noise.

It had been a week. A week since he had spoken to her. A week since he had touched her. A week days since he had felt her lips against his own.

"You know," Rich said, walking into his classroom. "You look like hell."

"That's because I am in hell," Percy replied, dropping his pen on the desk.

"Dude, why don't you just talk to her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Percy insisted, even though he was lying. He knew exactly what Rich was talking about.

"How long have I known you?"

"Too long," Percy muttered. He wasn't in the mood for one of Rich's 'you need to get laid' speeches. He stood up and walked over to the window.

If Rich heard him, he ignored him. "In five years, I haven't seen you date once. Not once."

"Look, Rich, I'm really not…"

"Until," Rich interrupted, "she came along."

"What's your point?"

Rich made his way over to Percy and stood beside him. He put his hand on Percy's shoulder.

"My point is, get over whatever is keeping you apart, buy her some flowers and chocolate, beg for her forgiveness, and spend the rest of the night making sweet love."

Rich smiled, but Percy didn't reciprocate. He shrugged away from Rich and walked back to his desk.

"Maybe she's not the one who needs to do the forgiving. Maybe I'm not ready to forgive her."

"Trust me, when it comes to women, you should always be begging for forgiveness. Even if you have nothing to ask forgiveness for. It'll just make things easier. Matter of fact, I suggest asking for forgiveness on a regular basis. It leads to really good sex."

"Is sex all you think about?"

"Ninety-five percent of the time. Look, Percy, I've never seen you happier than when you are with her. I hate to seem cliché, but she makes you smile. I've never seen any woman make you smile. Not even the hot ones."

Percy took a deep breath. "Look, what happened between Annabeth and I is…complicated."

"So you've said, but in my experience…"

Percy turned and practically glared at him. "Your experience? And what experience would that be? You date women for what? One night? Two if they're lucky. What part of sleeping around makes you a relationship expert?"

He walked back over to his desk and sat down, burying his head in his hands. He hadn't meant to snap, but the pain was too much. He wanted to be with Annabeth, he long to be with Annabeth, but longing wasn't enough. He still wasn't sure if he could forgive her for what she had done.

"I guess my marriage doesn't count," Rich stated, heading for the door.

Percy looked up. "What?"

"My marriage. The four years I was married to the love of my life until she was taken from me by cancer."

"I'm sorry." Percy was speechless. "I didn't know. You've never…"

"Mentioned her?" Rich sat down at one of the student's desks. "That's because I don't like to talk about her. I like to keep her hear." He put the palm of his hand over his heart.

"I know the feeling."

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and Annabeth when you were kids and I don't know what happened a week ago, but I do know that when something's complicated, it usually means that it's not just one person's fault. Maybe you're not the only one who needs to forgive."

"I hate it when you're right."

"I know. Let me ask you something."

"What?"

"When I think about my wife, I think about our wedding day and our honeymoon and the mornings we would just spend looking into each other's eyes. I don't think about the last few months when she was dying. I push the bad stuff as far away from my mind as possible until it almost doesn't exist anymore. When you think about Annabeth, what do you think about?"

Percy closed his eyes and thought about her. He tried to push out everything that had happened and just think about her.

"I think about sitting by the lake when we were kids and just talking. I think about how beautiful she is when she sleeps and how amazing it feels to wake up next to her."

"Any bad stuff?"

It wasn't until Rich spoke that Percy thought about the lies Annabeth had told. Rich was right, Percy didn't think about the bad stuff. He only thought about the moments that made him smile.

"No," Percy answered.

"Then what are you still doing here?"

Percy opened his eyes. "I have no idea."

"My work here is done," Rich stated, clapping his hands together.

Percy didn't waste another second. He stood up and grabbed his coat.

"Thanks," Percy said.

"For what?"

"For stopping me from making the biggest mistake of my life."

Without another word, Percy ran out of the room, leaving Rich behind, smiling.

*****

Percy stood in front of Annabeth's apartment building. He stared at the front door. He knew it was time to forgive and ask for forgiveness. Percy approached the intercom and pressed Annabeth's number.

"Yes?" A voice rang out through the intercom.

It was somewhat garbled.

"Annabeth," he said barely above a whisper. "We need to talk."

"This isn't...," the voice became incomprehensible. Percy could only hear snippets of what she was saying. "…here…sorry."

He pressed the intercom again. "Annabeth?"

A middle-aged man came walking out of the apartment. Percy grabbed the door before it could close. He had no idea what Annabeth was trying to tell him through the intercom. Maybe she didn't want to see him or maybe she was still angry with him. No matter what, Percy was determined. He had to talk to her.

Percy took the elevator to the fourth floor. He walked over to her apartment door and took a deep breath before knocking. The door opened almost immediately.

"Annabeth, I…"

But it wasn't Annabeth who opened the door. It was Thalia. In shock, Percy simply stared at her. Of course he knew that Thalia was Annabeth's roommate. That was what had started their entire blowout in the first place. But seeing her standing there, staring right back at him, was overwhelming. He hadn't expected to see her. That hadn't been part of the plan. The plan was to tell Annabeth what he was feeling and beg for her forgiveness, not come face to face with Thalia.

"Percy, hi," Thalia said as calmly as possible. It was weird for her too to see him. Annabeth had spoken about him so much that Thalia felt like she knew him all over again as a man rather than a boy, but seeing him felt different. She had a strange rush of emotion running through her and she realized that it was because she missed him.

"Hi," he muttered back. "Is Annabeth here?"

She shook her head no. "That's what I was trying to tell you on the intercom."

Percy was disappointed. There was another wrench in his plan and it was a big one.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just stop by some other time."

Hanging his head, he began to walk back down the hallway.

"Wait!" Thalia called. Percy turned. "She should be back soon. You can wait here if you want."

Percy looked down at the floor. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Look, I know this is awkward and a little…surreal, but you obviously came here for a reason and, if my senses are correct, which they usually are, Annabeth would kill me if I let you leave."

"Has she said anything about me?" Percy asked hopefully.

"You mean, has she done much else besides mope around this place for the last week? No." Thalia opened the door wider. "Please, come in."

Percy trudged into the apartment. It felt different being there with Thalia rather than Annabeth. And, of course, things were different. All of the pictures of Annabeth and Thalia were back up around the apartment and things weren't quite so neat. There were dirty dishes in the sink and a bag of groceries out on the table. Not to mention there were what appeared to be dozens of film negatives out on the coffee table in the living room.

"Can I get you anything?" Thalia asked. "Coffee? Tea? A strong drink?"

"No, no, and we'll see what Annabeth says before I accept the last one."

Thalia smiled. "Take a seat."

She sat down on the living room couch. Percy sat on a plush, leather chair across from her. Thalia picked up one of the strips of negatives and began examining them with a magnifying glass.

"You into photography?" Percy asked.

"I'm a photographer actually," Thalia answered. She handed the strip and the magnifying glass over to Percy. "Take a look."

Percy looked at the negatives.

"Is that a bear?" He asked.

"A Kodiak bear to be more specific," Thalia replied.

"It looks really close."

"That's what a zoom lens is for."

"Where were you?"

"Alaska."

"You went to Alaska to take pictures of bears?"

"And other things. Glaciers, mountains, eagles, you name it, I took pictures of it."

"I never thought you were the outdoorsy type."

She smiled. "I worked for a travel magazine. Thankfully after I take pictures of those outdoorsy things, I get to stay in five star hotels."

"Sounds like a good job."

"It is. What about you? How's teaching?"

"It's good. Not as glamorous as traveling all around the world, but I like it."

"I never pictured you as a teacher."

"Oh yeah? What did you picture me as?"

"I don't know, someone who spends his life slaying monsters and protecting the innocent."

"You make me sound like a superhero."

"Well, you sort of were."

"Not when it counted."

A thick silence fell over them. It had felt good getting back into a routine of pleasant conversation, but that was all gone.

"Percy, I'm sorry about what happened. I know that you're probably angry with me and think that what Annabeth and I did was wrong, but…"

"Forget it, Thalia."

"I can't forget about it and it's not fair to take it all out Annabeth. I went along with the plan, too so you can't blame her."

"I don't," Percy said quietly.

"I mean, we were just doing what we thought was best and…" she paused. "Wait, what did you say?"

"I said I don't blame her."

"But, Annabeth told me…"

"That I blamed her? I did. I blamed her because I thought she was wrong and I thought she was selfish. And I couldn't understand how she could do what she did."

"And now?"

"Now maybe I'll never be able to fully understand what she did or why she did it, but I don't have to. And maybe I am still a little angry, but that's okay because anger means I'm feeling something. For ten years I feel like I've just been living life and not really knowing what I'm living for. But since the moment she came back, I feel alive again. I'm not willing to give that up."

"Well, I'm glad you finally figured that out," she snapped. "Why did you wait so long to talk to her? Why a week?"

"Are you…angry with me?"

"Look, Annabeth is my best friend. I just don't want to see her hurt."

Percy sighed. "I took a week because I needed time to think. Should I have gone back to her apartment the moment I walked out on her? Yes. Should I have been on my knees begging for her forgiveness? Yes. But I needed time."

Thalia nodded and smiled. "I don't think you'll need to beg for her forgiveness."

"I promise you I'll never hurt her again. And if I do, feel free to kick my ass."

This time they both smiled. As Thalia opened her mouth to speak, the door opened.

"You wouldn't believe the traffic on First Street." Annabeth began as she came walking through the door. "It took me…"

She stopped immediately as her eyes fell on Percy.

Author's Note: Okay, so I wasn't going to bring Rich back, but it seemed like a lot of my reviewers really liked his character so I thought I'd bring him back for one last appearance. As always, thank you for my incredible reviews. Only two more chapters to go!