Annabeth grinned, tossing another piece of kettle corn into her mouth. The sun was shining down on her face and the sky was an endless blue that stretched out to the horizon and into oblivion. It was like a storybook; cotton candy clouds drifting across a sky of blue raspberry.

The height of summer had finally arrived, and Piper's meticulous planning skills had dragged Annabeth away from the comfort of her couch and out into the world. The moment the first poster for the carnival showed up on the lamppost across the street from Piper's house, the plans had started brewing, and finally, on a sunny Thursday morning, she'd recruited the entirety of what Piper liked to the call 'the gang'. It made Annabeth feel like they'd been plucked out of the pages of an Archie Comic, but Piper's utter enthusiasm made her smile. Piper's gang was made up eight people: herself, Annabeth, Jason, Percy, Leo, Thalia, Hazel and Frank. So finally, on a day that not even Thalia could complain about, they all piled into Piper's shiny new car—a birthday present—and sped off to the carnival. Leo sat in the trunk.

"Annabeth!" called Piper, her teeth blue with cotton candy. "Come on, we've barely been on any rides yet. I really wanted to try out the Super Spiral one, like, my cousin went on that ride at a carnival one time and she said that it was literally the best ride in the world, like apparently you can't move your head at all because if you do—"

"Pipes!" Annabeth held up a hand and crossed her legs on the bench. "Babbling."

Piper beamed. "Sorry."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "We've been going on rides nonstop since we got here, Pipes. We are taking a rest now. Look, Leo still can't even walk after that spinning teacup ride you made us go on."

Leo, who had been walking by, turned around at the sound of his name, winked at Annabeth, and then tripped over his own foot, falling over backwards and crashing into a garbage can. "I'm good!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes again.

Piper huffed. "Okay, fine. No more rides for Leo. How about Thalia? She likes rides."

Thalia leaned forward, ice cream dripping down her cone and onto her hand. "I'm sitting right here, Piper. I can hear everything you're saying. And if you make me go on one more of those ridiculous rides I will without a doubt throw up all over you."

"Face it, Piper." Annabeth shoved another handful of kettle corn into her mouth, trying to stifle her grin. "No one wants to go on any rides with you right now. Just like, go bother Jason or something, he'll listen to anything you say."

"Some friends you are," muttered Piper, stalking off.

Annabeth and Thalia watched her go in silence. She ran up behind Percy and Jason and put her hands on Jason's shoulders, bouncing up and down. Thalia huffed, and Annabeth could almost hear her rolling her eyes.

A moment later Percy dawdled over to him, his hands in the pockets of his faded jeans and the strings of his stained blue swim hoodie swinging like pendulums.

"Percy." Annabeth greeted him with a serious nod, tossing another piece of popcorn into her mouth.

"Annabeth," he responded with mock seriousness, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"What brings you over here, Jackson?" Thalia asked, licking her ice cream.

"Oh, well." Percy pointed over his shoulder. "Piper came over and stole Jason, and I didn't want to third wheel, so I came over to join you nerds."

"Nerds?" scoffed Annabeth. "Well, excuse me, you're the one who sings along to Disney tracks in the car."

"You're the one who stays up until two in the morning to finish a book that could easily be finished the next day," said Percy, mimicking her tone.

"Now, now, children," Thalia broke in, popping the end of her ice cream cone into her mouth and licking her fingertips. "Don't bicker. How about we go and do something fun, like get cotton candy? I could go for some cotton candy."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You literally just finished an ice cream cone. A big ice cream cone, Thals."

"Which is why I need something new to eat, Annabeth. You never learn, do you? Come on, Percy, I'll buy you a cotton candy. Not sure about this nerd over here though. She doesn't appreciate food enough."

Annabeth gave a squawk of protest and followed the other two, lagging a step behind and crossing her arms. The three of them ambled casually across the usually empty lot that had been filled with cheap rides and food trucks. The smell of deep fried food and sweets drifted on the summer breeze, and the joyful squeals of small children soared above. Annabeth stayed a step behind Thalia and Percy, smiling at their playful banter. They got along better than Annabeth would have thought, laughing and teasing each other as they walked. Maybe they were more similar than she'd thought.

Thalia bought three cotton candies at the booth that spun the silky strings of sugar, a plain white one for Annabeth (she caved and bought one for 'the nerd' anyways), a neon yellow one for herself, and a ridiculously blue one for Percy. Annabeth rolled her eyes affectionately.

It happened so fast that Annabeth almost missed it. She was staring up at a particularly fluffy cloud and enjoying the feeling of the airy sugar melting on her tongue when Percy bumped shoulders with an older man, causing him to stumble and knocking a large tub of popcorn out of the man's hands. Halfway through Percy's hastily muttered apology, the tall, bulky man's hands hit Percy's chest and he stumbled backwards, falling to the ground.

Annabeth froze.

The man looked familiar. Too familiar. He had the same cruel glint in his eyes and the same angry sneer, the same thinning sandy hair – it was Smelly Gabe all over again, alive, in the flesh. This man was taller and not quite so heavy-set as Gabe, but he looked so similar that Annabeth felt her hand crushing the paper cone holding up her cotton candy.

She stumbled backwards, images of the last day she ever saw Gabe flashing through her mind.

But this wasn't Gabe, Annabeth realized. That man was long gone, and he'd left with a bang and a flash of light and thick, warm pool of blood that still hadn't left Annabeth's nightmares. This wasn't the man that had broken her best friend to pieces or ripped apart their friendship. This was just some other monster—some jerk at the fair. Annabeth's hand relaxed slightly.

"…are you retarded, boy?" the man was yelling, and Annabeth's eyes widened. "You think you can get away with this? You think it's funny to wreck my popcorn? You plannin' to pay for that, kid? Because if you ain't, well then I think you deserve a—"

It had taken Annabeth several seconds to process that the man yelling couldn't possibly be the monster of their childhood, but it seemed to be taking Percy just a little bit longer. He was still kneeling on the ground where he had fallen, and one look of his round eyes told Annabeth that he was lost in some world or terror. She was about to step forwards, words of anger on her lips, when Thalia stepped in front of her.

"Hey!' she said loudly, and the man stopped in utter surprise at the look on her face. Thalia wasn't particularly tall or particularly strong-looking, but her slender shoulders were shaking, her hands were clenched into tight fists and her eyes screamed bloody murder. "Listen here, asshole. That was clearly an accident, and you are clearly an idiot. You seriously think that its right to call someone a freaking retard for knocking your popcorn out of your hands? Get. A. Grip."

Annabeth wasn't sure whether to laugh at the expression on the man's face or drag Thalia away before she got herself into trouble. But Thalia didn't seem to be done.

"Do me a favor, and look around," she continued in a low voice, her pale cheeks flushed. "Do you see where you are? This is an amusement park for kids. They put this place up so that kids could come here and have a good time, not so old bullies like you could come out of your mom's basements to buy some cheap snacks. You, sir, are a despicable person, and if I were you I would leave before I call security."

The man, with his unshaven face and scowl, looked at her in utter shock for a few seconds, blinking stupidly. After a second of staring at Thalia's flushed face and violently blue eyes raging with fire, he turned on his heel and stumbled away, leaving his popcorn abandoned beside Percy, who was still on the ground.

Annabeth realized her mouth was open, and she closed it quickly. Thalia's chest heaved as she stared after the man, her eyes following him until he disappeared around a corner and out of the lot. The second he was gone, Thalia's expression softened and she knelt down next to Percy.

"Hey, hey," she said softly, and Annabeth was astounded at the gentleness of her voice. "It's okay, you're okay Perce, I yelled at the guy until he left."

Percy was still trembling slightly, and his eyes were somewhere Annabeth couldn't follow. She reached for his hand, but Thalia batted her away, taking Percy gently by the arm.

She helped Percy to his feet. "I've got this," she mouthed, proceeding to drag Percy behind a ride to a bench that Annabeth could only just see. She craned her neck to try and watch them talk, watching as Percy's smile slowly returned and Thalia's legs swung rhythmically below her. She couldn't help but smile.

They'd both come so far.

She had busied herself trying to clean up Percy and Thalia's cotton candy, which was starting to melt in a forgotten pile on the ground, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whipped around, her heart doing a backflip. Piper was standing behind her, a bag of mini doughnuts in her hand and cinnamon sugar coating her lips. "Hey, I found you, do you want to…?" Piper trailed off, her gaze following Annabeth's to where Percy and Thalia were sitting on the bench, still talking. They both looked a little too serious, and Thalia was staring at the ground. Her pendulum legs had stopped.

Piper glanced over at Annabeth in concern and pulled her in close. "What's going on? Is everyone okay?"

Annabeth sighed, shaking her head. "Not… not really. Are we ever really okay, though?"

Piper squeezed her arm. "More often than you think, Annabeth. But—what happened? Is anyone hurt?"

"No." Annabeth was relived she was able to say that. "Not now. We're alright. Percy just… well, there—there was popcorn and the man looked like… and he… all the blood," she trailed off faintly, swallowing.

Piper squeezed harder, dropping her head onto Annabeth's shoulder. "It's okay, babe, you don't have to talk about it. All that matter is that you're all okay."

Annabeth nodded, and buried her face into Piper's hair. The comforting scent of Piper's citrus shampoo filled her nose and she heaved a little sigh of contentment. Whatever happened, whatever went wrong with life, Annabeth knew that she had chosen her friends well. And behind the naïve, silly sixteen-year-old front that Piper had up most of the time, she knew how to be there when it mattered most, and for that Annabeth was forever grateful.

A few minutes later, Percy and Thalia walked back over to them. Percy was grinning again, and Annabeth could see the smile of ill-concealed satisfaction that was playing at Thalia's lips. Annabeth couldn't resist pulling her into a hug. With a squeak of excitement, Piper wrapped her arms around both of them, dragging Percy into the hug with her. They were all still standing there like that a minute later when Leo and Jason came around from one of the rides, Hazel and Frank holding hands and smiling a few paces behind them.

"Did I miss something?" asked Jason, blinking at them all in confusion through his gold rimmed glasses.

"Group hug!" yelled Leo, pouncing on them. They all broke apart, laughing, and Annabeth couldn't remember the last time that she had been so thankful for her friends.

As the others started up a new conversation, laughing and talking as they walked across the fairgrounds, Annabeth nudged Percy with her shoulder, asking the question she didn't really want to say out loud.

Are you okay?

Percy gave her a little half smile and nodded.

He wasn't lying, Annabeth was sure of it. She smiled at the back of Thalia's head, feeling a warm surge of pride at her friends.

They were going to be okay.

"Let it go, Jason," Piper whined, stomping her foot childishly. "You've been at this forever."

"No." Jason was squinting at the bottles, lined up in a pyramid, with his forehead scrunched up in concentration and his tongue poking out. "I'm not giving up until I win you something, even if it takes all my money." He threw the ball as hard he could at the bottles, and it missed by a solid foot, bouncing to the ground.

Piper's eyes followed it as it bounced across the cement. "I mean, that's very gallant of you, Jase, but you can't use all your money… we need it for rides. You just have to face the fact you have terrible aim." She smirked. "What do you expect? You're not even wearing your glasses!"

"They make me look dumb," muttered Jason, throwing another ball. Piper turned to Annabeth, who giggled. At the booth, the salesperson sighed, leaned her elbows on the counter and popped a bubble of pink gum.

After the group had finished a few more ice cream cones, cotton candies and tubs of popcorn, they had decided to spend their money on something more worth their while. It had been Frank's idea to try out some of the game booths that were overflowing with oversized stuffed animals, and of course the others were only too happy to join in. Hazel was now sitting happily on a bench nearby with a stuffed panda that was nearly as big as her beside her, and several smaller stuffed animals on her lap. Frank was on her other side, licking an ice cream cone and looking bashful.

Jason was having a little less luck. Eighteen tries in, he'd still only managed to hit one bottle off the stack on try number seven, and Piper looked just about ready to smack him over the head. Annabeth was having trouble not laughing at Jason's features all scrunched up in concentration and Piper tapping a Converse-clad shoe on the ground with a look of utter exasperation on her face.

"Just give it up, Jason," she protested on the nineteenth miss, throwing her hands up in the air. Annabeth stifled another fit of giggles.

"No." Jason squinted harder. "Just one more…"

"Oh, my God," Piper muttered, marching towards her boyfriend. She slapped two more dollars on the counter, snatched the ball from Jason's hands, and threw it as hard as she could at the bottles. It hit the one in the center, pushing it right out of the tower. The others collapsed around it. "There," she said, her mouth twitching with laughter and satisfaction. "Now can we relax."

"You gonna pick out an animal?" the salesperson at the booth called after them, her elbows still resting on the counter and tufts of her uneven black bangs falling in her eyes. She stared at them popping another bubble.

Piper looked over at Jason and her smile widened. "You know what, yeah." She flounced back to the booth and peered over the counter, and Annabeth could see the ridiculous grin on her face. "I'll take that one," she said finally, pointing at a large stuffed teddy bear at the back of the booth. The girl at the counter stood up, unhooked it from the wall, and handed it to Piper without cracking a smile.

Piper turned to Jason with a huge triumphant grin. "Here you go, babe. I won you a bear." She shoved it into Jason's arms, and without another word, ran off towards Hazel and Frank, cackling madly.

"So…" hummed Annabeth, unable to keep from laughing. The look on Jason's face was absolutely priceless.

He shrugged, blushing. "It's kind of cute, I guess." His eyes drifted towards where Piper had skipped off.

Annabeth put her hands on her head in mock frustration and let out a short laugh. "You're a nerd. And you have terrible aim."

"Yeah, but my girlfriend is awesome," Jason said teasingly as Piper trotted back towards them. She threw herself dramatically at Jason, and they kissed, the bear squashed between them.

Annabeth felt kind of sorry for the bear.

"Come on, guys, what did we talk about with the whole PDA stuff?" she asked pointedly. When they continued to ignore her, she rolled her eyes and muttered, "Get a room," as she began walking away towards Percy, who was staring at himself in one of the mirrors outside the funhouse. He smiled at Annabeth's distorted reflection as she came up behind him.

"Tell me, Annabeth." He struck a ridiculous pose in the mirror, and looked back at her over his shoulder. "Does this mirror make me look fat?"

Annabeth snorted. "It's funhouse mirror, you dork. It's supposed to make you look fat."

Percy put a hand on his heart, pretending to look affronted. "Are you saying I'm fat?"

"That's literally the opposite of what I—"

"Annabeth thinks I'm fat," Percy sniffled, wiping an imaginary tear. "I knew this day could come but I didn't think that it would be so soon."

"Oh, shut up. I actually think you're very attractive…" Annabeth trailed off into awkward silence. "For a moron, of course," she added hastily.

Percy smirked. "Nice save, Chase. Wouldn't want me to know about your massive crush on me, would you. I mean, I know I'm beautiful, but having you tell me that would just be hard on your ego."

Annabeth felt her cheeks go pink, but she shifted her weight and crossed her arms, covering it up with raised eyebrows and a smirk. "As if, you idiot. I have a boyfriend you know. No need to drool all over me."

Percy's expression stiffened slightly, but he quickly covered it with a laugh. "And I've got a pretty awesome girlfriend, so don't you be all flirty with me, Miss Chase."

"Oh yeah?" Annabeth put her hands on her hips, taking a step towards him.

"Yeah." He crossed his arms and stepped forwards.

They were really close. Too close. Annabeth could see the specks of blue in his eyes and the stubble on his neck. She shook her head.

"Speaking of, why weren't we allowed to bring those nerds, again?"

Percy sighed, scratching the back of his neck—which was a fiery red, whether from the white hot sun or something else Annabeth couldn't tell—and taking a step back. "Oh, I don't know. Piper and her… planning." He made a vague gesture, and Annabeth stifled a laugh. "She told me that they weren't part of the gang."

"What's that even supposed to mean?"

Percy shrugged. "Means that Piper thinks that our lovely humans are not really part of the group. I mean, it's not like I blame her. I don't see your Luke talking to any of us—ever."

Annabeth scoffed in disbelief. "And this is coming from you? You know, I don't think that your Rachel has ever said more than two words to me."

"Well, yeah, but that's not really her fault, is it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! I'm just saying…"

"Wait," Annabeth said, putting her hands in the air. "We can't do this again. We agreed to be done with fighting about stupid things. This qualifies as stupid."

Percy sighed, shifting and looking down. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. It's just… I don't even know. I'm just tired, I guess."

Annabeth nodded, and they both stared at the ground for a minute in an awkward silence. They had been friends again for almost two years now, but sometimes the tension still danced in the air between them, rigid and tight. She kicked a pebble with the front of her sneaker, watching it roll across the gravel. Percy spoke again, and she looked up.

"Here, how about we forget all this and I win you one of those lovely stuffed animals that Jason just wasted about forty dollars on?"

Annabeth smiled, her hands in her pockets. Percy was stubborn and obnoxious, but when he tried, he could say just the right thing. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

So they walked slowly back towards the games, talking and laughing.

Six attempts and half an hour later, Annabeth and Percy followed the rest of their friends towards the Ferris Wheel, Annabeth holding a stuffed turtle the size of her hand and a teddy bear that was so small that it barely reached the end of her pinkie. Percy hadn't been able to stop laughing at the little toy, and Annabeth had named it Tiny Bear just to make him laugh harder.

Piper had finally convinced the gang to leave the fair games alone and try out some new rides. The eight of them were standing in line for the Ferris Wheel, tickets in hand in laughter in the air. ("Something slow," Thalia said sternly, as Piper bounced and pointed to a ride that spun in three different directions.)

"Do you want to—" Annabeth started, turning to Percy.

"Hey, you, you're sitting with me," Thalia interrupted, grabbing Percy by the shoulders and steering him away. For a moment, Annabeth wasn't quite sure who Thalia was talking to, but her smug expression told her it was Percy that she was stealing. She gave Thalia an irritated look and a what-are-you-doing gesture with her hands. Thalia smirked, wiggled her eyebrows and gave Annabeth the finger.

Annabeth sighed, rolling her eyes, and turned away from the line. She wasn't going to sit on the ride alone, and there was a finite number of people on their trip.

"Hey, you." Someone grabbed her arm, and Annabeth turned quickly, a gasp stuck in her throat. But it was only Leo, with his signature impish grin and his dark curls bobbing. "You're not getting away that easily. You forget how many people we have here today? I thought you were good at math."

Annabeth had to smile despite herself. "Only during the school year."

"Fair enough," Leo smirked, tilting his head. "Come on, let's get in line before the others get on without us."

They squeezed into the line behind Thalia and Percy, ignoring the indignant protests of the people standing behind them. After about ten minutes of standing in the sweaty, crowded line, they got on to their own little chair that smelled of rust and squeaked as it swung back and forth along with the wheel. A bored ride manager pushed the metal bar down over their head so they couldn't fall, and the little cart jerked as the ride began to move.

Annabeth and Leo sat in a comfortable silence as the ride slowly ascended, starting and stopping as people got on and off. Annabeth watched the people below, slowly getting smaller and smaller and looking rather like ants as they scurried around. Finally, the ride started to pick up speed, and they were bumping along the wheel, with the scraping noises of metal in their ears, and the smells of the world in their noses.

"Do you want to play a game?" Leo asked suddenly, not looking at her, but instead examining his feet on the tiny metal platform below them.

"Oh, um. Sure?" Annabeth tried to give him a reassuring smile.

He gave a half smirk in return. "I'm going to call it… confession wheel. When we get to the top, one of us has to tell the other a secret."

"Okay… why?" Annabeth crossed her ankles and scratched the side of her nose, still peering at Leo in confusion.

He shrugged. "Because it's fun. Here, okay, look at the girls behind us. But be discreet about it, okay?"

She turned her head, trying to look carefully at the girls without them noticing. They both looked about the same age as Annabeth and Leo, one of them with dark hair so long that she was sitting on it, and the other with a long caramel braid, flushed cheeks and huge almond shaped eyes. She looked back at Leo.

"What about them?" she asked, still itching with curiosity.

Leo sighed, fidgeted, and said, "Wait a minute." After another few slow minutes of turning, their cart reached the top of the wheel, and Leo turned to her with a very strange expression on his face. "So. The girl with the—the light brown hair. That's Calypso. I—well, I…she's…"

Annabeth laughed, and Leo glared at her. She covered her mouth, eyes still twinkling with merriment.

"I like her," he confessed quietly, his hands twisting and fidgeting with something Annabeth couldn't see. She couldn't help but smile. Leo was constantly joking and saying things to try and make people laugh, but sometimes she got the feeling it was as much his defense mechanism as Thalia's cold indifference. But he'd gotten rid of the mask for now, and he looked sweet and kind of—vulnerable.

"So ask her out," said Annabeth, still smiling. Leo looked alarmed.

His eyes widened drastically, and his hands paused. The machinery creaked, and they started their descent. "Ask her out? Are you nuts? I can't just… no, I can't do that."

Annabeth was more than a little surprised. Simply put, Leo was a flirt. Not a week went by that he didn't ask someone out, jokingly or seriously. Most of the time he was rejected, but he didn't seem to mind at all; in fact, he seemed to revel in it. He glanced over his shoulder nervously, and Annabeth raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Leo. You ask girls out constantly."

He fidgeted, and half glanced over his shoulder again. He leaned in towards Annabeth and spoke in a very quiet voice, and Annabeth resisted the urge to remind him that the girls behind them most certainly could not hear them unless they were yelling.

"Yeah, well, but this is different," he said, his eyebrows scrunching in concern. "I never really cared if those girls said yes or not. This time I… I guess, well…"

I do. The end of Leo's sentence lingered in the air and Annabeth understood. So he didn't just think Calypso was pretty, or hot. He actually, genuinely liked her. Annabeth grinned widely, and Leo shushed her, before remembering that a smile was not something you could shush.

"Dude, you have to ask her out," she said, still grinning and gently shoving Leo's shoulder.

He sighed, and looked at his hands. "But what if she says no?" he whispered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Listen, Leo. If you ask her out, there are two options. Either she says yes, and you're happy. Or, she says no, you're sad for a bit, and then you move on. Either way, you've got to get on with your life."

He leaned on the shiny silver bar that was holding them in, sighing dramatically. "Advice is so much easier to give than to follow."

"If you do it I'll buy you another ice cream," Annabeth said, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Sold," he said immediately, and Annabeth had to laugh again. As their seats reached the bottom of the wheel and started to move up again, Leo tapped on the rail and stared off into the distance. Annabeth stared up at the clouds trying to find shapes in the fluffy whiteness.

As they were coming close to the top of the wheel again, Leo's tapping suddenly stopped, and he looked over at her with a knowing smirk on his face. "What about you, Annabeth? Got anything you'd like to confess to me? Like say, hmmm…. are you in love with Percy Jackson?"

The bluntness of the question almost knocked the wind out of Annabeth, and for a second she couldn't breathe. Then she coughed, and stuttered, "What?"

"Are you in love with Percy Jackson?" Leo asked again, twitching his eyebrows, his mouth set in a smug line.

"I… you… what on… no!" Annabeth spluttered, trying with all her might to figure out how the conversation had ended up here.

"You took too long to say no," Leo sang, and now it was Annabeth who was worried that the people ahead of them would hear.

"I have a boyfriend, Leo."

"Very cheeky," was his answer, and Annabeth rolled her eyes again, wrapping her arms self-consciously around her chest. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, and she didn't like it.

It wasn't like the question hadn't ever been implied, Annabeth reflected as the wheel continued to turn. It happened more often than she found comfortable, actually. She had been so close to Percy since she was young, and sure, she had loved him as a friend when they were younger. Maybe she had even liked him for a bit, but that didn't mean that they were in lovenow.

Leo's bluntness had shocked her, just because it was so ridiculous. She and Percy Jackson. Together. She watched the back of his head bob in the cart in front of her as he talked to Thalia, the breeze ruffling his dark locks. Annabeth heaved a sigh.

Why the heck did everyone think they were in love? For years, they hadn't even been able to speak to each other, let alone be friends. And now that they finally were again… Annabeth knew that even small things like all these stupid assumptions could mess it all up. Their friendship was still too fragile, too new. Too soon.

Leo was still smirking. "Tell you what, Annabeth. I will bet you twenty bucks that you and Percy will be together, and I mean together, by… the beginning of senior year."

She scoffed, looking away from the back of Percy's head. "Oh, you're on, Valdez."

He grinned wider, and Annabeth squirmed under the scrutiny of his dark eyes. "My bank account is smiling already," he said.

"Why would you put twenty dollars in the bank?"

He waved his hand nonchalantly. "Shut up, anything goes in the bank when you're poor."

Annabeth gave him a little half smile, and continued staring at the back of Percy's head. Obviously, she was not in love with him. She had a boyfriend, for goodness sake, one who she'd been dating for almost a full year. A boyfriend who she really, really liked. A lot.

A boyfriend who she loved.

Right?

It wasn't like she'd ever said it out loud, but that didn't make it untrue… did it?

Annabeth gave her head a little shake, trying to rid it of the thoughts. Leo was making her overthink everything in her life that was simple. She was happy with her life, and she didn't want to go about changing it. Sometimes, routine was all she could depend on.

Leo sighed loudly, breaking the silence. He stopped tapping the bar in front of them and turned to look at Annabeth. "I don't know, Annabeth. We're starting junior year in a week already. Where did all the time go?" He gazed dramatically off into the distance, and Annabeth wondered vaguely if she should start singing Auld Lang Syne or something.

"I mean, we're at a cool point in life, you know?" he continued. "Like, we're old enough to do awesome stuff and start having cool experiences, but we're still young. And hot. Or at least, some of us are. Kidding!" he added hastily at Annabeth's raised eyebrow.

"Apart from the fact that that was the dorkiest speech ever, you should take your own advice on that and go ask that girl behind us out. You know, like you agreed to do for food."

Leo shook his head and tapped his foot to some unheard rhythm. "You drive a hard bargain, Chase."

"Always happy to do business," Annabeth replied smugly.

The ride finally came to a stop, slowing down every few seconds so people could hop out of the carts. Annabeth and Leo were the last off in their group, and instead of joining the crowd, Annabeth pushed Leo towards the pretty girl who had been sitting behind them, whispering "good luck," in his ear.

At the last possible second before she noticed them, Leo hissed, "You can't stand there while I ask," and shoved her away. Annabeth huffed, blew a strand of hair out of her face, and pretended to walk away, before hiding behind a garbage can a few feet away. She crouched behind the big metal trashcan and peered out at her friend, ignoring the weird looks she was getting from the strangers around her.

Leo wasn't doing anything yet; he was looking at his hands. Annabeth saw his shoulders move up and down in a deep breath, and he was turning to the girl. They were talking, and she was smiling, her cheeks pink. He said something funny, Annabeth could tell by the way the corners of her mouth had twitched up in amusement before the laughter bubbled out. He was shifting his weight, one hand in his pocket, and he looked like an adorable, bashful puppy.

Annabeth held her breath, watching him ask the girl something. Calypso reached into her little beige purse that had strips of leather that fell in a waterfall off the bottom and pulled out a pen. She grabbed his hand, scribbled something down, and her hand lingered on his for just a second too long before she walked away, smiling at Leo over her shoulder.

The second she was out of earshot, Leo jumped into the air and whooped.

Annabeth leapt up from behind the trashcan and bounced back over to Leo, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "Leo! Did she give you her phone number?"

"Of course she did." Leo was practically vibrating. "I'm awesome!"

Together, they headed back towards the rest of the gang, who had migrated towards another ride after they'd gotten off the Ferris Wheel. It seemed Piper had finally managed to convince Jason and Thalia to go on one of the rides that spun incredibly fast, and Annabeth arrived just in time to watch as a forlorn looking Jason and a furious Thalia stalked away from the group, an extremely apologetic Piper on their heels.

"What's going on?" she asked, slipping into the group beside Percy. Leo gave her a knowing stare and she flipped him off as subtly as she could.

"Just watch," Percy said, looking as though he was trying to hold back laughter.

"I swear, I didn't mean to throw up on you guys, it just—" Piper was saying.

"I told you not to go on the ride, Piper!" Thalia exploded. "You don't have a strong stomach. We've been over this before. Damn it, Piper, this was a new scarf!"

Piper waved her hands helplessly. "I'm sorry Thalia! Don't be mad! You can't stay mad at me, you love me! Jason! Jason, babe, I'm so sorry, I'll wash your sweater, I swear! I'll even buy you a new one if you want, please, I'm super sorry."

Jason caught Annabeth's eye as he walked past, rolling his eyes. Annabeth stifled a laugh.

"They had to close down the ride to clean it up," Percy added helpfully, pointing towards the ride. Annabeth couldn't stop laughing, her eyes darting over the irritated looking janitors who had started swarming the ride.

And so the day ended. A day filled with monsters from the past, snacks and sugar, rides and friends. A boy who was convinced Annabeth was in love, not with her boyfriend but with her childhood best friend. The very same boy who got the date of his dreams.

And of course, just enough vomit to top the whole thing off.

Just a normal day at the fair, of course.

A/N: Gahhhhhh it happened again didn't it I'm very bad at this 'consistent updating' thing. I mean, to be fair November was an absolute mess (why am I doing so much music? oh yeah I love it right oops.) December looks like its also going to be crazy busy but I am PUMPED about the next few chapters of this story so. Stay tuned for some super exciting stuff. *dances*

The usual shoutout to my one of my favourite girlfriends and best editors EVER Rachel, for editing this super quickly and also for being awesome and having random discussions with me. You're the best!

So, I hope you enjoyed this combo of humour and angst and fluff (and some vomit) and if you did (and are still around after my long pauses between updates oops hehe) drop me a review! I guarantee I will smile. (Unless you're mean.)

Love all of you nerds!

-GGW