((A/N To those asking if the story is over... No. It's not! I'm still going to keep writing, because it's a better pass-time than stuffing my face with any leftover food from the refrigerator. So... Happy Spring Break! And I get bored with the story line, I'll be sure to warn ya'll before shutting it down.))

Everything is perfect. For about two weeks.

The school year starts and, if I was raised normally, I would be attending my senior year of high school. My parents wanted to enroll me at a nearby prep academy, but I convinced them to let me take online courses instead. Percy's doing the same, and every day we meet up at the local library to take advantage of their wifi. So, that started off great.

There's also the issue of me 'not having any friends'. My father thinks it's going to mess me up psychologically or something. Kim doesn't care.

Our overall plan runs smoothly for exactly fourteen days. And then, this happens:

"What do you miss most about New York?" My father asks from across the dining room table, spooning more soup from his bowl.

"Everything," I tell him.

"Well, what do you like about California?" he tries again.

"The architecture." I shrug.

Kim glances up at me, "You really have a one track mind."

"That's actually not true. I'm ADHD. I have a billion-track mind," I challenge her. I don't know why I egg her on, but with this lady, I have no filter.

Kim begins to say something back, but my dad cuts her off. "Have you contacted your friends lately?"

"I've been using Iris messaging." When I say this, Kim crinkles her nose.

"You're using magic in my house?" she raises her eyebrows.

"It's not magic. And this is our house."

Once more, my father swoops in, "How are your friends? You still keep contact with the bunch that visited me once?"

"Of course," I mutter, "Except for Zoe. She died."

Kim spews her mouthful of soup into the air. I bite back my opportunity to laugh.

"It's fine, really. She loved stars." I say, a small smile on my face.

"The others are alive, though, right? Thalia? Grover? Percy?" my dad inquires hopefully.

"Oh, yeah." I nod, swallowing. The subject of Percy never came up before.

"He seemed to like you."

"Who?" I say, trying to act surprised.

"Percy, of course!"

"Oh, yeah."

"He's quite charming." Kim butts in, analyzing my face. Can she see through me?"

"Is he?" I dip my head lower towards my soup bowl.

"Annabeth, honey, you're turning bright red."

"Am I?" Smooth as butter.

"You like him, don't you?" At this point, I'm ready to flip Kim across the table.

"Yes, I actually do." No point in lying.

"Annabeth's got a boyfriend!" Bobby and Matthew chant, finally joining into the conversation.

"Yes, I actually do."

I wasn't expecting the silence that follows. All eyes are on me, and I've never liked attention.

"You're dating him?" my father asks, peering at me from over his glasses. Despite his scrawniness, I've never felt more intimidated by him.

"Eight months," I answer awkwardly.

"Eight months!" he exclaims, "You haven't told me about this!"

"Yeah, well, you never asked. In fact, you never even contacted me until last month. And then, surprise! I get to move back in with this lovely family, in this lovely city, as far away from all of my friends and family as possible!"

"We are your family." Kim glares at me.

I scoff, "Families don't treat each other like this." And with that, I turn and stomp out of the kitchen. I'm about to ascend the stairs, but Kim grabs my wrist and pulls me down, fire in her eyes. I yank my arm from her grasp, glaring right back at her.

"We were a perfect family before you showed up." She hisses under her breath, so that my father and brothers can't hear her.

"I was here before you, remember?" Keeping my voice low as well, hoping not to scare Bobby and Matthew.

"Frederick chose me. You were an inconvenient surprise." She says. Before I know what I'm doing, I lash out and slap her across the face.

She blinks in surprise and brushes her fingers against her cheek, unbelieving. I stand there in shock as well, which is exactly why my reflexes are muddled as Kim retaliates with a fist across my jaw. I sit backward hard on my butt, dazed as to what just happened. For a skinny woman, she has one hell of a punch.

She raises her eyebrows to me, and then retreats to the kitchen.

I stomp up the stairs, humiliated that a stay-at-home-mom could floor me with one hit. I've defeated millions of monsters. Why is she so much different?

Percy isn't in my room; he stays away during the day, as a precaution, but that's alright because right now, I really just want to be alone.

I don't cry, but I do curl up on my bed and stare at the ceiling fan, counting how many times a single blade makes a full rotation. I get to ninety-six before I doze off.

There's a significant lack of dreams during my nap, but that's probably because I'm only half-asleep. My mind wanders throughout the phases of consciousness.

When I open my eyes again, it's only about an hour later, 8:45 to be exact. My room is dark now, no longer lit by the sunlight through my window. Percy should be arriving soon.

I go to the bathroom, rinse off, and change into pajamas. I grimace when I see myself in the mirror, part my jawline turning light purple. It's not bad, barely visible, but I know Percy will notice. And then he'll ask questions that I don't want to answer.

In my suitcase, I have a small bag of make-up that I keep for emergencies or special occasions. I go to retrieve it, but right as my hands close around the bottle I hear the window slide open.

Gritting my teeth, I face towards the bathroom so that Percy can only see one side of my face. I try to lunge for the bathroom, but he grabs my arms and pulls me into a hug, which I try not to melt into.

"I missed you," He says, per routine.

"I missed you, too." I tell him back, trying to unravel myself to get to the bathroom.

"Is everything okay?" he asks as I wriggle away from him.

"Yeah, I just really have to pee." I swallow, taking a step towards the bathroom.

"What's in your hand?" He asks quietly. I freeze.

"Uh…"

"Annabeth," I feel his hand on my shoulder, and I squeeze my eyes shut as I turn to look at him.

"Yes?"

"What's going on?"

I open my eyes to see him staring at me in a way that makes my heart somersault. His eyes search mine, and then wander across my face, finally resting on my bruise. He reaches up and barely touches it with his fingertips.

"I was wrestling with Bobby and Matthew," I shrug, already knowing he can see that I'm lying.

"Who hit you? Did you kill them?" his eyes widen.

"I didn't murder anyone, Seaweed Brain." I sigh, turning away from him and plopping onto my bed.

"Well then, I will. Who hit you?" He asks again. I can almost see rage bubbling inside of him.

"Chill out! I've been stabbed, bitten, and broken before. I can handle a bruise."

"It's different," he runs his hands over his face, "When I was eleven, I got a bruise identical to yours. I ate the last piece of leftover meatloaf, and Gabe punched me right in the mouth."

Now I feel what he must feel: white hot rage. Just the thought of eleven-year old Percy rolling with the punches of his stepfather makes me nauseous. "Percy…"

"And you were going to try and hide it from me?" he reaches forward and pries the make-up from my fist, tossing it onto the floor.

"I knew you wouldn't believe I could handle it. But I can. Before you showed up in my life, I handled myself just fine." I feel small in the audience of his fire.

"If this happens again…" he mutters under his breath. Which is good. We were starting to raise our voices, which could alert Kim and Frederick to his presence.

"If it happens again, I'll kill her myself." I assure him.

"Her?" his eyes snap back up to my face, "It was Kim?"

"I slapped her first." I mumble.

"Slaps and punches are different. Trust me." His eyes flare up again.

"Will you just trust me?" I say, standing up and walking over to him.

"You know I do." He whispers, "But can we at least rock-paper-scissors on who gets to kill her?"