Chapter 25

"I remember the freckles on your back
And the way that I used to make you laugh"

– Want You Back, 5 Seconds Of Summer

In hindsight, the whole 're-falling-in-love with Annabeth' shebang sounded like a good idea.

It was smart, and it was sensible, and his mom would be proud of him for it, and obviously in the long run it would be the best thing for them, because it would be like crashing down to Earth after being in space for months and then immediately trying to do a marathon. It just wouldn't work. They needed time and space for each other to slowly meld themselves into each other's lives again, to work out all the kinks and changes, and see still if they fit.

It's just – sometimes it's so hard.

They both slip up, all the time. Only the other day Annabeth and Piper had come around to their house and it was late, maybe like eleven pm. They'd all had a couple sips of wine, not enough to get them properly hammered (Percy's twenty-first may be in a couple months but he still regards the law, okay) (which he's aware he broke the second he sipped the wine in the first way but whatever, if he's not drunk then technically there's no proof), but there's a pleasant buzz, and Thalia is only slightly tipsy. They had played strip poker for a couple of hours because they're mature adults, and then, once all of them were down to their underwear and sober enough to realise any more rounds would result in complete nudity but drunk enough to not be bothered to get dressed again, they had all sloppily migrated to the sofa and started to watch whatever dumb black and white telenovela was on that night.

And then Annabeth was right next to him, in just her underwear, and Percy was only in boxers, and he subconsciously put his arm around her and then she leaned against him and laced her fingers with her so their intertwined hands lay on her thigh and at frst it was almost like old times until Piper had hiccupped and giggled something about how the sexual tension was through the roof and honestly to the hell with whatever abstinence bullcrap they were pretending to play and they had both sprung away like they had been electrocuted.

(So maybe they were all a little more then mildly buzzed. Whatever, okay, his birthday's in two months, technically no laws have been broken.)

It's not the only time. Sometimes Percy will absently reach for Annabeth's hand, or she'll cuddle up close to him, and one time she stayed the night and she was sitting on the counter the next morning as he made breakfast and then the doorbell had rung so he had pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before he went to answer it, only to realise halfway out the kitchen that crap he couldn't do that anymore.

"Uh," he said.

"It's cool," Annabeth said, slightly dazed.

"I– didn't mean to."

"It's okay."

The doorbell rang again and Percy legged it out of there as fast as he can.

All of it is just highly inconvenient. Especially because Percy had realised that even after six months Annabeth was still the same nerd as always and whenever she'd make a stupid joke that only she'd find funny and laugh at it because no one else would he kind of wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go ever again because she was just too cute.

They're in such close proximity it sometimes almost pains Percy to, like, not reach out and snuggle her.

"You're being dramatic," Thalia says when Percy laments to her about it one day. "And, may I say, you were the genius who decided this in the first place, so I have no sympathy."

"I had to!" Percy wails. "It's the sensible thing to do!"

"You know what was also the sensible thing to do?" Will asks. "Not rail my client. And what happened? I railed my client."

Nico beams at him.

"You two don't get to talk," Percy grouches. "You get to love each other and be all cute. The love of my life literally, like. Touches me every single day. Do you know how hard it is to suppress the urge to even hug her?"

"You can still hug her, crikey, Percy," Thalia says. "You're moving slowly, not a taking chastity vow."

"I know." Percy stares unhappily at the ceiling. "Someone, come pat me, I'm upset."

Will, like the good, noble man he is, obediently comes over to the sofa and takes Percy's head in his lap. He starts running his fingers through Percy's hair. "There, there."

Across the room, Nico snickers. If Percy wasn't so insistent on dramatically displaying his woe he might have glared at him.

To be honest, though, not everything is as tragic as Percy is making it out to be. He's the happiest he's been in months. Annabeth is back, and so is Piper, and now he has someone to text cute (PLATONIC) things to and another person to screenshot said cute (PLATONIC) texts to and gloat over how they like him better.

(Piper: Annabeth does not like you better i refuse to accept that

Percy: oh im sorry has Annabeth ever called you the love of her life

Percy: i think not

Piper: THAT WAS FROM WHEN YOU WERE DATING

Piper: YOURE NOT EVEN DATING ANYMORE

Percy: i'd beg to differ actually

Percy: we will always be married whether or not we're dating

Percy: deep down

Piper: youre so gross

Piper: no wonder Annabeth hates you)

And? Mr D is gone.

It was a long messy legal battle, but they eventually won, as they do with most things in life ("that is– not true" "shut up Nico"). Mr D had been furious, to put it simply, when he had caught wind of the rumours, and seen the leaked video footage. He isn't a stupid man, and had pretty quickly caught onto the fact that it was Thalia and Nico who had done it, seeing as no one except the four of them had known of entire ordeal, and obviously he wouldn't willingly sabotage his entire career.

"You rascals," he snarls. "You're fired."

"Actually, you're fired," Nico says.

Mr D pauses. "What?"

"A terrible shame," Thalia says insincerely. "Honestly, we're truly sorry to see you go. It'll cause us much pain to see the last of you. Having said that, here are your court dates." She hands over a piece of paper. "You need to be there so you can plead guilty."

Mr D actually has the nerve to laugh. "To what? I haven't broken the law."

"Quite the opposite," she says. "American citizens have a right to privacy, which you invaded when you saw me type in my phone password and used it to go through my phone and send yourself the picture, and also did you know that deception counts as a criminal offence? Wild, right?"

"You can't prove anything."

"On the contrary, my good sir," she says. "In section 16 of the Theft Act, established in 1968, it says that obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception is actually a crime. We're all quite stupid so we had to look up what that meant, but long story short it means if you deceive someone – or, in this case, millions upon millions of someones – in order to make financial profit then you have broken the law. Which you did. Because you convinced the entire world that Percy cheated on Annabeth so album sales could go up and you could make money, and if you deny that it can be a) held against you in court and also b) quite easily disputed, since, of course, we have security camera footage of you telling Percy exactly that." She smiles at him pleasantly. "We've sued you roughly half a million dollars, seeing that's what you've made off us, give or take maybe a few hundred thousand. Have fun in bankruptcy with no employers willing to hire you!"

The look on his face is priceless. Percy almost wishes he has a camera.

They go to court later that month. It's a highly publicised ordeal, which Percy isn't sure he really likes, until they win and Mr D's mortified face on live TV for everyone to see is suddenly breaking news, and then he realises he does actually quite like it.

It's almost jarring, for Percy to be the Supervillian of Los Angeles one week and then for it to be Mr D the next. Percy reads some articles about him, and at first he almost thinks about feeling sympathetic, because he knows it is to be on the receiving end of it, until he remembers he almost sabotaged one of the best things that's ever happened to him, and then he feels cordial.

"You know," Thalia says one day. "Call me crazy, but I almost feel bad for the old geezer."

Nico looks up. "You mean Mr D?"

"I will definitely call you crazy if you mean Mr D," Percy says.

Thalia shrugs. "Dunno. It's just– he had a family, innit? A wife? What's it gonna be like for her?"

"Oh, don't worry about her," Annabeth says. "Didn't you hear? They recently divorced."

"Oh," Thalia says. "Well, that's good. Now I can return to my skulking uncompassionate ways and not feel bad about it."

Annabeth snorts and Percy just rolls his eyes. Their eyes meet and Percy is deathly afraid for a moment that it's going to get uncomfortable, since they are indirectly discussing their relationship, until she pulls a stupid face and he pulls one back, and even when Thalia catches them and mutters something like, "I will actually make you kiss if you don't sort yourselves out" the mood still doesn't drop, because Percy opens his arms and goes, "c'mon, Bethie, gimme a kiss" and Annabeth picks up an empty pot noodle cup and chucks at him, and that's when they all realise the cup wasn't empty, and Percy gets covered in bits of chicken and noodle and Nico laughs so hard he almost pees himself and altogether it's just a very comforting environment and Percy has never been happier.

Percy's phone is ringing, and he would answer it if he wasn't currently tangled in a mess of guitar wires.

"Percy, your phone is ringing," Nico quips.

Percy glares at him. "Really, I hadn't noticed."

"It was a subtle hint at you to go and answer it so it would stop ringing."

"Well, I would," he says. "But I'm currently in a bit of a predicament."

"And I myself am thoroughly enjoying it," Thalia says. "Because you both know how much I love seeing you in mildly irritating situations that cause grievances to your daily lives, but even I'm getting sick of your phone so, if you would, please extract yourself from those wires and answer the damn thing."

Percy pouts. "Taylor Swift is good."

"I'm not saying she's not, it's just that Shake It Off has been playing for the past twenty seconds and I'm already sick of it."

"Twenty seconds," Percy says in disbelief. "You're ridiculous."

"And you're going to be decapitated if you don't shut up your phone within the next three."

Rolling his eyes, Percy removes himself from the wires and picks up his phone.

"Percy," Annabeth says dramatically as soon as he presses answer. "Thank the Lord, I am so bored I feel like my eyes are falling out my skull."

He laughs. "Just do some work."

"I have!" she insists, and he laughs again. "I've filmed a video and I tried to edit it but I got antsy so then I baked some cupcakes and cleaned the bathroom cabinet and I took Ron and Bradley on a walk, you know how Bradley loves his walks, and I rearranged my bookshelf and contemplated dying my hair and now I've run out of things to do."

"Just– just contemplated?"

"I decided against it. It was a long and strenuous inner debate, though, I'll have you know. I've got one wall lined with sticky notes about all the pros and cons of it."

"Wow, you really are bored."

"You're so right. Let's go on a date."

She obviously means it in every platonic way you can use the word 'date' but Percy's heart does this pathetic little jump when she says it. "You're paying, I'm broke at the moment."

"You literally won half a million dollars in a court case," she says.

"That's not the point."

"Whatever. I'll do it. As long as it's something to do. I'd probably kill a dragon if you asked me, I'm that bored."

Thalia wiggles her eyebrows at him. He flips her off and heads out the room.

"Where do you want to meet?"

"Madison's?"

Percy rolls his eyes affectionately. "Every time, Annabeth."

"Think of it as a donation. We're helping them stay open."

"They have plenty of customers."

"Who are also generous donors. If we don't go, who will?"

Percy sighs. "Your logic is unfairly flawless."

"I know, it's one of my best qualities."

"See you in ten."

She squawks in joy. "See you."

Eight months ago, it would have been I love you. But they're getting there.

Annabeth is already waiting there when Percy arrives.

She beams at him as he walks in. She looks almost devastatingly pretty, in a purple dress and a denim jacket Percy is almost certain once belonged to him. That one she took back as soon as they got back together. It was always one of her favourites, not as a comfort item (because she had plenty favourites from that selection) but as a genuine clothing piece. She looks almost unfairly better in it then Percy does, which he strongly resents because he's had several fans and web articles compliment him on that jacket, but there's a reason he let it go so easily, he supposes.

It's making this whole let's-be-friends thing a lot harder. Although he's not quite sure what would make it easier, either, since he's seen Annabeth dressed up to the nines and also in a lumpy shirt with greasy hair and smudged mascara and she's equally gorgeous in both so honestly this whole thing is like a giant catch-22.

"Hey," she says as he approaches. "I ordered you coffee, I hope that's okay. I know you like it with, like, a billion sugars."

"Thanks," he says gratefully as he sits down. "And it's not a billion, it's only four."

"That's still a lot of sugars."

"Whatever." He eyes up the piece of cake she's delicately picking apart. "I bet that's got more than four sugars in it."

"You're so stupid," she says.

"Annabelle?" calls the lady at the counter.

"That's you," Annabeth says. "I thought about not giving them my real name and then I realised it was pointless since they never get it right anyway."

Percy laughs a little and stands up to retrieve his coffee.

"You don't look like an Annabelle," the lady at the counter says.

"I get that a lot," he says.

He picks up his coffee and heads back to the table. Annabeth laughs when she sees him approaching.

"God, I can almost smell the diabetes," she says.

"You suck," he says. "And I'm the one with a nice drink, so who's really winning here?"

She rolls her eyes. "Whatever."

They talk for hours. Percy almost forgets how good of a friend Annabeth could be. Like, of course he's disgustingly in love with her and he wants to marry her as soon as humanly possible, but she's just so easy to talk to that time dissolves when he's with her. They have to keep ordering coffees and cakes, just so they won't get kicked out for hogging up customer space.

Percy loves it. If Annabeth decides that she's not in love with him, he'll be heartbroken, but as long as he can keep her around, as at least a friend, then he'll be okay.

He doesn't realise how long they've bene talking until he looks up and sees that the sky has darkened significantly. He checks the time on his phone. 19:34. Whoa, they talked for a long time.

"Hey," he says. "You wanna get out of here?"

She beams at him. "I thought you'd never ask."

But when they step outside they immediately get blinded by the flash of a dozen cameras.

"Oh my God," Annabeth says.

Percy wants to scream. "Do they have anything else to do?"

It's the paparazzi, who have somehow managed to find them yet again.

Without even thinking, Percy grabs Annabeth's hand and starts pulling her through the crowds. She may be more popular then he is in terms of media but YouTubers don't get mobbed like this, not by paparazzi, so this is his world, not hers, and he's going to be damned if he lets any of them lay a single finger on his girl.

"Head down," he shouts. "Don't let go of me."

Her grip tightens on his hand.

The paps are still screaming at them. There are cameras rippling with bright lights, like a garish, ghastly kind of Mexican wave gone horribly wrong, and Percy hates it all because normally there's a car to escape into, but this was just meant to be an innocent outing, that they both took the bus to, and they're not going to be able to get back home. Percy's not stupid – the media probably know where he lives. But following him to his doorstep is a very different thing to appearing unprovoked there, which is why he's normally allowed to duck in and out in peace. He can't leave them back home. They won't stay there all night, because eventually, like, Jennifer Lawrence or Lady Gaga will drive by in a big SUV and they'll go screaming after them instead, but they're nothing if not persistent.

Percy feels hopeless, and the longer he tugs Annabeth along, the more desperate he begins to feel. What does he do?

"Percy! Annabeth!" one of them shouts. "Are you two on a date?"

"Are you getting back together?"

"Annabeth, what do you have to say about this whole situation?"

"Percy, are you glad the court case went well?"

"Did you really think Percy cheated, Annabeth?"

And then suddenly Annabeth's hand slips from his.

Percy whips around immediately. Thank God, she hasn't been kidnapped and isn't kicking or screaming, but one of the paps has caught hold of her sleeve and is pressing a microphone into her face, demanding all these tings about the breakup and the D Scandal (as Thalia affectionately dubs it) ("get it, 'cause, like, 'd' means dick, and he was a–" "we get it, Thalia"). Annabeth looks petrified.

"Look, please," she's saying. "If you could just let go of me–"

"How did you feel when the news broke?" the reporter bellows.

Percy feels himself begin to simmer with rage.

"I'll answer your questions, just let go of me," Annabeth tries.

The reporter still keeps yelling at her. That's when Percy steps in.

"Hey!" he shouts. "Let go of her!"

Annabeth's head whips around, and the reporter looks up. Every camera is out. Percy no longer cares.

"Can you confirm that you two are dating?" the reporter asks. He still hasn't let go of Annabeth.

Percy pushes through the cluster of photographers in between them and yanks Annabeth out of his grasp. He shucks his hoodie off and passes it to her. It's big enough that she can almost disappear into it, and also it's the only thing he wears. It's going to smell like him probably until the end of the world, and even though they're not dating and everything is six months out of whack he knows that his scent is going to be the only thing that's going to be able to calm down. He thinks she's shaking.

He turns back to the reporter. "Listen, man, you can't just grabbing people like that, especially not a girl, okay? It's wrong."

The reporter's microphone lowers. He looks a little bashful, like a student getting reprimanded.

"Can you see that she's scared?" he asks. "Are you that awful that you'll willingly scare the crap out of a poor defenseless girl, just to make a headline? God, get a grip, all of you."

He's done here. He turns to Annabeth, and then puts his arm over his shoulders, pressing her into his side. She can't be hurt there. Together, they start to move. "All right, push off, all of you!" he shouts.

Percy's not normally one for shouting. That's Thalia's job, mainly. But one of those bastards dared lay a finger on Annabeth and he no longer gives a damn about restraints, or how they're not dating, he is going to protect this girl to the grave and to hell if anyone sees a problem with that.

The reporters part like a red sea. Percy can feel Annabeth's fingers digging into his side, and he tightens his hold on her shoulders. She's pulled the hood of his jumper up over her head, and he almost hunches himself over her. They've already gotten their pictures but once upon a time Percy was Annabeth's safety and dammit if he's not going to try again. They head down the street together, moving towards the bus stop. Thank God, no one tries to follow them.

"This isn't our bus," Annabeth says quietly.

"I don't care, we just need to get away. I'll call Thalia to pick us up."

Annabeth nods silently in response.

They climb on, and Percy pays the driver, and then together they sit on a seat. Percy catches a girl in a yellow shirt staring at them, or, more specifically, at Annabeth, but when Percy catches her eye he gives her a tiny shake of the head, and then she nods. At least their fans are respectable in that sense. Sometimes Percy almost hates where he is, not because of what he's done, because he loves that, but because of the complete and utter lack of respect for his privacy.

Annabeth leans against him, quiet and pliant in the aftershock. The hood has slipped down a little, showing how pale and subdued she is, with her curls frizzy and slipping out of her ponytail. She's folded up in a little ball, and she's leaning completely against him, her head on his chest, the side of her body against his, and he's got his arm around her, and if it had been any other time, Percy would have delicately extracted himself, because this was not what they did anymore, but she needs it, and maybe this is the catalyst to what more they could pursue.

It's been at least two months. Percy thinks they're pretty well acquainted by now.

He uses his free hand to text Thalia.

Percy: hey we're on louise avenue can u pick us up

Thalia: i'll be there soon

They get off the bus, Annabeth still stuck to Percy's side. Percy trips a little getting off the bus because his legs are not proportionate to his body quite in the slightest, and Annabeth snickers at him and calls him nerd but it's slightly half-hearted, and when they wait by a lamppost for Thalia to arrive she keeps absently stroking the strip of skin the reporter grabbed her. Percy isn't sure if she realises she's doing it, but it makes his heart clench and if he had any doubts before he knows that he hates the paparazzi now.

Thalia appears a few minutes later, in Argus's big black car.

She sticks her head out the window. "Hey," she says, her face furrowed in concern. "Are you two okay?"

Percy nods. "We're okay. Just – a run in with the paps."

"Ah, right." Thalia rolls her eyes knowingly. "I'm sure it was as cheerful and pleasant as always. Come on, then, hop in."

They both clamber into the car, and Thalia meets Percy's eyes in the rearview mirror, a silent is she okay? Percy just avoids her stare and pulls Annabeth into his side again. She hums noncommittally and rests her head against his chest, staring out the window.

"How did you even get the car?" Percy asks. "Isn't this Argus's?"

"How very observant of you, Percy, my love," Thalia says. "Argus isn't here at the moment, so I borrowed it."

"You're probably not allowed to do that."

"Luckily for me, I'm not very good at 'not allowed', so here we are." She revs the engine and the car sets off. "Have you both got your seatbelts on?"

"You haven't got your seatbelt on," Annabeth points out quietly.

"You're both so observant today," Thalia says, slightly shrewishly.

Percy and Annabeth look at each other and crack a grin.

"So, where is it?" Thalia says. "Seeing as I'm now your chauffer. I demand to be paid for my services, may I say."

Percy ignores her and looks down at Annabeth. "Do you want us to drop you off at yours or do you wanna come in with us?"

"I'll go to yours."

"You owe me a lot of money, Jackson," Thalia says.

"You both literally just got five hundred thousand dollars," Annabeth says.

"That's not the point," Thalia and Percy say together.

She just huffs and rests her head on Percy's chest. Thalia pulls a knowing face in the rearview mirror and smirks. Percy decides to ignore her and revels in the feeling of Annabeth so close to him. He's not sure when they're going to next be able to do this.

Thalia pulls into the front of their apartment block. She parks haphazardly on the side of the road, probably breaking several laws, but she looks pleased with herself, and Percy doesn't have the heart to tell her that she's parked on a double yellow. They all climb out of the car and into the block, taking the elevator up.

Thalia is very lovely and looks at her phone the entire way up, so she doesn't have to look at Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth isn't clinging onto Percy anymore, which is kind of a shame because Percy liked her doing that, but she's still wearing his hoodie, and when the doors slide open she reaches for his hand and laces her fingers with his. She's not doing it in a grabby way, more just a way of comfort. She's tired, Percy sees it in her face. The two of them used to be mobbed like that all the time when they were dating, but six months is a long time, and you get used to things pretty quickly. She doesn't get mobbed on her own. It's Percy that does it. They've also never been physical, not grabbing onto them. This whole thing is just draining.

It gets even weirder when they walk in and see Nico and Will on the sofa, rather heavily kissing. With lots of inappropriate pawing. In inappropriate places.

"For God's sake," Thalia says, and they both separate with a gasp, staring wildly at her. "It's like everyone has just got a love disease."

"You said she wasn't going to be back for an hour," Will says, breathing heavily.

"She said she was going out," Nico says. "I didn't know that meant only twenty minutes."

"Hey," Percy says.

"Oh," Nico says, obviously displeased. "Percy's here, too."

"And a good thing, too," Thalia says, dropping her keys. "I fear if it was just me my presence by itself wouldn't have been enough to stop you both and in ten minutes you'd both be completely naked. At least we have another barrier."

Will manages a laugh. Nico just pouts.

Percy takes Annabeth's hand. "We'll be in my bedroom," he says.

"If you start getting freaky, too, I'll kick you out the band," Thalia says.

Percy just rolls his eyes, and leads Annabeth inside, shutting the door behind him. He knows that talking might not come easy, so he just drops himself on his bed with his arms open. "Wanna join?" he says.

Annabeth goes almost immediately. She curls up next to him, the knob of her ponytail holder through her ponytail digging into Percy's shoulder as she stares up at the ceiling. He doesn't have the heart to tell her, so he doesn't. They lay in contemplative silence for a while, and for a moment it's almost like the old days. Percy absently strokes circles on Annabeth's shoulder and Annabeth hums into his chest, and outside his door he can hear the low buzz of noises and the faint rattle of the kettle, and he feels like he might almost fall asleep. It might be best for him, actually. Today's been quite exhausting.

However, just before he nods off completely, Annabeth mumbles, "Sorry about today, by the way."

He frowns. "For what?"

She shrugs. "Just– being all mopey and stuff. It wasn't that big of a deal."

Percy frowns again, and then props himself up on one elbow, staring down at her. "It was a big deal, though. He shouldn't have grabbed you."

"It wasn't like he was inappropriately touching me. He just took my wrist."

"Yeah, aggressively, and when you asked him repeatedly to let go he didn't. You have every right to feel violated."

Annabeth just sighs, and smiles, weakly. "You rescued me. My knight in shining armour."

Percy plops back down on his back, quite chuffed. "Yes, well. All in a day's work."

She shoves at him, and he laughs.

"I mean it," she says. "Thank you. You– you literally did save me, kind of. I might have just stood there and cried until he let go."

"That would have been extremely effective. He probably would've gotten fired."

"All these missed opportunities," Annabeth muses.

"You should consider it next time."

"I will."

There's a thoughtful silence.

"What are we doing, Percy?" she asks, and Percy's eyebrows furrow, because this is serious talk, he thinks. "I– are we meant to be lying like this, holding each other like this? I mean– friends don't do this, do they?"

"No," Percy says. "They don't."

Annabeth doesn't speak for a while, before she rolls onto her stomach, resting her chin on Percy's chest. "I'm thinking of adopting another cat," she says.

Percy raises an eyebrow. "Another one?"

But she doesn't respond. She keeps going. "My favourite animal is an owl. Piper and I painted the hallway yellow when we were drunk. We changed the mat because Socks peed on it. I bought a new nail polish called 'regal purple' and it's my new favourite. I went vegan for a week because Piper dared me and now I'm not sure I like cheese anymore. I uploaded sixteen YouTube videos and met forty-three fans on the street."

Percy frowns. "What–?"

"That's all that's changed," Annabeth says. "From six months ago. That's all that's happened. I'm still the same."

Suddenly, it dawns on him. "You want us..."

Annabeth nods. "When you protected me today, I – that was the moment I fell in love with you again. I think I might have been in love all along, but today, when you helped me – that's when I knew it. And I realised I don't want to be separated from you ever again."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"I mean–"

"Percy." Annabeth looks down at him, almost reprimandingly. "Forty to fifty percent of married couples get divorced."

He pauses. Talk about topic change. "Uh?"

"Ninety nine point six percent of artists are undiscovered. An even bigger percentage are of those who don't make it big. And you have a 2.6 percent chance of getting big on YouTube to the scale that I have."

"I – I don't follow."

"What this means, is that we're kind of freaks when it comes to statistics, okay? Look at you. You've sold millions and millions of albums. I'm– Percy, I'm approaching almost ten million subscribers. Sometimes I see my face on billboards. We're crazy." She smiles at him, softly. "If– if we can get where we are now, I think we're going to be okay. What's to say our luck won't land us in the fifty to sixty percent of those who don't split up?"

Percy smiles at her. "I love you, Annabeth Chase."

"I love you, too. Can I kiss you now?"

"Please."

They kiss, and it finally feels like coming home.

A/N hey guys!

first off – 5sos's new song is amazing. i loved it so much i even put it as the song quote. it is very good. i suggest you take a little listen for i love it with every inch of my soul.

and then secondly – HEY YALL WE REACHED 600

LADS! YOU GUYS! I JUST! WOW! you are actually CRAZY. i could have sworn it was at least like two chapters ago that I was losing my crap over 500 but 600! IN TWO CHAPTERS! you know how to spoil a girl, honestly. i love you all!

as per tradition:

Shadow3636 – hey thanks pal! x

Penny [guest] – thank you ever so much! your reviews are always so lovely so thanks!

JustARandomNerd – omg thank you so so much! you are actually the sweetest that means so so much to me *blows lots and lots of kisses*

TheWritingManiac – oh Rachel my ball of wonderfulness you are so sweet and lovely thank you dearly for like everything you're too loVELY

JustARandomFandomer – thank you!

burnt up feeling – ilyy x

fierro rocher – omg thanks!

Random Reader – thank you so so much that means a lot! and hehe yes i have read sworn off love it's a simply MARVELLOUS piece of work

allineedisabook [guest] – FRIEND! THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOURE ALWAYS SO SWEET AND WONDERFUL! I LOVE YOU LOTS!

Panda1912 – you're too nice thank you so much! xxxx

Wisdomsqueen – well now they are haha

King of the Souls – thank you so much!

WiseGirl1609 – THEY GOT BACK TOGETHER WOOO

Krystaltheelemental – aaaahhh thank you!

ThePangolin – thanks!

Qwertywerido – probably haha!

mylifedependsonSOLANGELO – well my lovely here you are!

Zyrothe – wow i really love it! it's an amazing song!

AnnabethGinevraJacksonPotter – wow thank you so much! that's such a lovely thing to tell someone so thank you xx

Cheerra12 – thanks pal!

Triggered Bleach – thank you ever so much you are so wonderful xx

Darknight179 - *hair flip* what can i say im not like other girls (im kidding thank you so much friend haha)

KittyCat809 – ahh thanks! hope this made your meeting a little better hehe

thank you to absolutely EVERYONE who ever reviews. you make my day every time i see a notification. you guys are the best and i LOVE you all xxx

(having said that do wish me luck i've got my mocks next week aka hell so hopefully i do quite well in them haha)

(also GLEE! I haven't spoken about it lots because i always forget but it's my newest obsession. if any of you watch glee and want to rant hit me UP [im only on season 3 be nice] but KLAINE! FINCHEL! ALL THESE SHIPS! WOW!)

i hope you enjoyed that my lovelies! i'll see you next Saturday! xx