Annabeth

When Percy kissed me, the walls holding in my feelings collapsed.

He pulled away, still looking worried, and that was when the tears began rolling down my face.

I pressed my face into his shirt, sobbing as he held me close, rubbing my back. "Shh, it's alright. Let it all out," he whispered soothingly, "Let everything out." I tried to stop crying, but Percy knew what I was doing and held me even tighter. "Don't keep it in Annabeth, it's not healthy. It'll eat you away. Please."

So I listened and kept sobbing, for who knows how long. But when I finally pulled back, I took in large, heaving breaths before seeing Percy's now tear stained shirt.

"I'm sorry," I hiccuped, wiping away excess tears.

Confused, he looked down at his shirt before looking up with a shrug. "Don't worry," he said, "It's fine. Anything is as long as it makes you feel better."

His kindness knew no bounds, and that was when I realized that he really was my best friend, had been for a while, and I trusted him with my life. Somewhere between parties, play fighting, school, and emotional situations, I had unknowingly opened up. He had grown up too. Without thinking, he would help someone whenever he could in any way possible.

Percy had somehow become my anchor, keeping me from drifting off into depression and isolation. He was my hope. And I would never be able to thank him enough.

I ran my fingers through my hair, suddenly aware of how much of a mess I probably looked like. A surge of self consciousness hit me, and I tried to fix my hair to the best of my ability. Seeing this, Percy grabbed a comb and took hold of my arm that was combing my hair. Gently, he lowered it and turned me so my back was to him. Gently, he ran the comb through my hair, fixing the tangles.

As he combed my hair, I managed to calm myself enough to say in a steady voice, "Thanks. For everything. It means a lot to me."

For a moment, Percy stopped, the comb freezing at the ends of my hair, before he went back to his task. I could practically feel his smile as he replied, "I'd do anything for you."

And my heart stopped beating. My face grew warm and I let out a small smile as well, keeping my eyes fixed on my blanket. Warmth filled my entire body, and I felt at peace.

A few minutes later, Percy put the comb down and we sat in silence. The emotional release I had exhausted me, and I sleepily leaned back into his chest, hardly noticing his surprised, but quiet, gasp. A small sigh of content escaped my lips as I closed my eyes. I felt Percy shift and wrap his arms around me before moving and laying me down on my bed. I opened my eyes and looked at him, taking in his messy black hair, sea green eyes, and flushed face.

He was the last thing I was when I fell asleep, and the first when I opened my eyes again.

Tuesday, I went back to school, quieter than usual, but feeling a little lighter than the week before. I was practically glued to Percy's side, as he was to mine. Something about him made me feel lighter, and made me forget all my troubles for a moment.

Everyone else was carefuller around me, but Thalia soon saw that it wasn't the best idea making me seem fragile and started acting as she normally did. The others followed her lead, something I was thankful for.

I hardly saw my dad anymore. He occasionally went by to see how I was doing, but I couldn't let myself forgive him and always acted cold around him.

The days continued as they always did, time passed, and I felt myself slowly going back to the person I was before. Though part of me was gone with my mom, I was still the same person I always was to my friends. But I knew I was still holding on, refusing to truly live. And I knew Percy saw it too, since he had also gone through something similar to me.

One day, he confronted me about it.

"Annabeth, I know you're refusing to let yourself live," he said, "Refuse to let go. But you have to. Time stops for no one and the world will keep turning. Don't hold yourself back. It's been months and you still don't smile the same way you used too."

"But how can I?" I cried, "I can't just let go. I don't want to forget her."

"And you won't. Just because you've let go doesn't mean you'll forget her. You'll still love her. But don't let those memories keep you from living. Please Annabeth."

"I don't know how."

"I can help. Will you let me help you?" Percy asked, grabbing my hands.

After staring into his eyes, wondering how I could ever let go, and if I really was keeping myself from living, I made my decision. "Please help me." My mom wouldn't have wanted me to stop living. When Percy suddenly abandoned me, I had cried, but she told me to keep strong and keep living. And I did. I owed it to her.

So that evening, Percy had me write down everything I wanted to tell my mom and fold it. We went to the cemetery where my mom now laid, a place I had avoided until now. Gathering up my courage, I walked to her gravestone and looked at it.

Percy walked up behind me. I turned, ready to question him when I saw what he held. In his hands were two deflated white balloons and a folded piece of paper similar to mine.

"I suppose it's time for both of us to let go," was all he said.

I understood what I had to do. I grabbed one balloon and blew it up slightly, just enough so I could put my letter in, and kept blowing it up until it looked ready to pop. Percy did the same and we tied them together. He stared at the balloon he held, and I grabbed his free hand. He squeezed it and looked at me, uncertainty in his eyes. I bit me lip then nodded, and together, we let go, watching them float into the sky.

As they went higher and higher, I felt something in me go with them. I felt lighter, better than I had in months. I had finally let go and I was ready to live.

I looked at Percy and he looked away from the balloons to meet my eyes. Quietly, I asked, "You never really let go after all this time?"

Nodding sadly, he said, "I always had this hope that I'd see my dad again. But it's been so long and I knew I had to let go. So I wrote my letter. Though I had held on to it for a while now."

"C'mon," I said, "Let's go."

When we were in his car again, I decided to ask a question I had been thinking about for a long time.

"Why did you kiss me that night?" I asked, breaking the silence in the car.

Percy's face flushed before answering, "Well, I wanted to comfort you, make you stop saying those horrible things about yourself, and show that you were good enough, and kissing seemed like the best way to do all of that at once." Taking a breath, he said, "It make sense at the time okay?"

He paused for a moment before asking, "Did it work?"

I nodded and he looked smug. "See, I can be smart!"

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Sure you can," sarcasm lacing every word.

"I take great offense to that!" Percy said, pouting.

"Good, you were meant to," I laughed.

We both laughed and joked with each other, feeling the best we had in ages.

Percy

The minute I saw their sly looks and smug faces, I knew something was up.

"So..." drawled Jason, leaning against one of the cold walls of the hallway, "We heard something very interesting."

Warily, I looked at them before slowly asking, "And what would that be?"

Smirking, Jason said, "We heard a bit about you and Annabeth."

"What about me and Annabeth?"

"That you two, erm..."

"Kissed," interrupted Leo. "We heard that you two kissed."

Surprised, I blinked before asking, "What?"

"Kissed," Leo stressed the word, "As in, two people, usually who have a mutual attraction to each other, pressing lips, often times opening their mouths to-"

"I know what kissing is! But what do you mean 'heard'? Who told you?"

"Aha!" cried Jason. "So you did kiss!"

Blushing, I could only say, "So?"

Hearing a sigh to my left, I turned my head to see Frank standing besides Grover and Nico, an amused smile on his face. "Thalia told us. Apparently Annabeth told her, and she told Jason who told the rest of us who are now telling you." Again, I could only blink.

"How was it?" prompted Leo.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I shrugged and said, "Well, I was doing it to comfort her. She was saying all these horrible things about herself and she looked hurt so I just kissed her. To comfort her and make her stop. That's it really. So I didn't really notice much."

"Much?"

"Her lips were soft. That's it."

The bell rang then, and school started. We all rushed to our respective classes, saying short goodbyes and promises to talk more later. But what they had said stuck in my mind. I would like to properly kiss Annabeth, not out of comfort but as a way to express feelings better than words, simply because we can, to feel bliss. I wanted that. But did she? There was no way I could know. I couldn't just ask her and ruin our now fixed friendship. I cared about it, about her too much. I didn't want to lose her.

Besides, I was sure that Annabeth didn't want to be bothered with anything romance related. Her mother's death had a large effect on her. Though she had let go, she was still recovering, just a little faster than before. There were times when she was quiet, gazing into nothing.

I didn't snap her out of it, because I knew she could do it herself. Annabeth was strong. That was a fact that we all knew. And she'd be okay. In the end, everything will be okay. I always held onto that belief strongly, partly because it was one of the things that I remember my dad saying before he disappeared.

But it was true.

My friendship with Annabeth was okay now, Smelly Gabe was gone, my mom was happy, and my grades were relatively okay. My friends good people, strong, and loyal, and at the moment, everything really did feel okay.

I shook my head and pushed all those thoughts to the back of my mind and looked at the board, where the teacher was writing notes. I could think more later. I had a class to pay attention to in the meantime, no matter how difficult focusing on it is.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was tired and ready to collapse on the spot. Unfortunately, it seemed that I wasn't allowed to as Jason and Leo grabbed an arm before hauling me down to the cafeteria, where Grover, Frank, and Nico waited for me.

It seemed that Thalia and Annabeth weren't there yet, as they were no where in sight. I sat down, wondering why they all looked so prepared for something. Did I miss a notice?

"Hey Perce," Grover greeted, drawing me out of my thoughts.

I didn't have time to say anything due to Thalia suddenly slamming down her lunch on the table. I was slowly beginning to worry about her mental health. I had no chance to comment on this as Thalia said, "Annabeth's getting her lunch right now, so we all can have a little talk."

Turning to me, she asked, "Kisses? Comfort kisses? Doesn't seem like something you would do."

"Well... Comfort," was my only argument.

"But friends don't just give each other comfort kisses. A kiss on the cheek? Yeah. But a full on kiss? Not unless you have some stronger feelings."

"That is very true," agreed Jason.

"Percy here does indeed harbor stronger feelings for our dear friend Annabeth," chimed in Grover, a cheeky smile plastered on his face.

Again, I was stopped from saying something with the arrival of Annabeth.

Raising an eyebrow, she took in the scene in front of her. Grover smiling and leaning back. Jason leaning towards me, Thalia standing and leaning over the table to be closer to my face, Nico staring at us, Frank rolling his eyes, and me looking slightly scared. Grey eyes scanned it, resting over everyone for a moment before moving on, thoughts rolling around in her mind, no doubt making her think of a thousand questions as to what exactly was going on.

"Do I need to come back later?" was all she asked.