*Chapter 25: Coffee for Two*

(Percy)

After mine and Annabeth's talk at the park I felt like a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders. It also felt like a barrier that had been between us due to five years separation had vanished. When we'd walked to the park Annabeth had kept her distance. Now, as we left the party to take her to her hotel, her shoulder kept brushing mine. Several times my hand twitched, wanting to take hers and lace our fingers together. It was maddening. It was like we were eighteen again, but starting over, a chance to restart the relationship that ended so painfully.

If only, I thought bitterly. But it didn't happen like that. I would be leaving, and so would Annabeth. This was probably the last time I would ever see her again. If that was the case, I'd make the most out of the time I had.

"You're scowling," Annabeth noticed.

"Am I?" I kept my eyes forward, though. I didn't want my face to show how I felt. Up ahead in the distance I could see the hotel. I didn't want the night to end. I wanted to stay up and talk with Annabeth all night, but I knew she was probably tired from the flight and the long day.

I didn't know whether to spend as much time with her as I could or shut her out and keep my distance. I should probably do the latter; the more time I spent with her the more I was setting myself up for misery when it was time to say goodbye ... again. I don't know if I could handle that. Yet I must enjoy misery, because I then decided that I would spend as much time with her as I could, no matter how much it hurt.

Annabeth must have been thinking the same thing, because when we got to the hotel she turned to me and said, "Would you like to have coffee tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it," I told her. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

...

(Percy)

I was supposed to have coffee with Annabeth sometime late afternoon, but before then I spent time with Thalia and Nico. The three of of hit the mall and got cheeseburgers while we talked about our lives since high school. Ever since we were twelve we'd grown up together, sticking together through thick and thin. Now we were living our lives separately. It was ... different. I didn't know what to make of it.

When Nico told me about a love interest he had, I was shocked. I didn't think he had gotten over Melissa. When I asked him about it, he merely shrugged and said, "She moved on, so I did too."

I wanted to ask but didn't push it. I knew Nico would draw into himself and shut us out completely. He had a habit of doing that, and I didn't want that.

So instead I turned to Thalia. Apparently she was in California for a while with her group.

"It was amazing there," she told us. She took a bite of her burger. "We got to go over the Golden Gate Bridge. I thought I would have a heart attack."

Because of her fear of heights. Right. But Nico didn't know that, and Thalia's warning look told me to keep it that way. I didn't want to be stuck on the bottom of Thalia's combat boots, so I stayed silent.

I looked at my watch; I had thirty minutes before I had to meet Annabeth. Standing, I offered the rest of my fries to Thalia. "Here. I've got to, um, go."

"Go?" Thalia asked. "Go where?" She took my fries and poured ketchup over them, drowning them. Gross. Sometimes I swore Thalia had a ketchup addiction. She put the stuff on almost everything she ate.

"To make kissy-face with Annabeth, probably," Nico snorted.

"Shut up," I told him. My face was hot. "We're just talking. Catching up."

"Sure," Thalia said, lacing her fingers behind her head and leaning back in her chair. She had a huge smirk on her face. "Go ahead. Go 'catch up.' We'll be here when you're done ... talking."

I could already tell they were never going to let me hear the end of this. I would be facing jokes to no end. I sighed. "I'll see you guys later."

"Maybe," Thalia replied. "If we're lucky, we'll get a mini you in nine months!"

Nico shook his head. "No, a mini Annabeth. One Percy is enough, thanks."

"True," Thalia agreed. "With black hair and gray eyes."

"And Annabeth's intelligence," Nico added.

"Like Percy has any to give."

"Okay, would you two stop!" Thalia and Nico were howling with laughter. I resisted the urge to strangle them and left them at the table giving me teasing waves and thumbs up signs.

"Gotta love family," I sighed. I love them ... but they still drove me crazy sometimes.

...

(Annabeth)

I hurried past the crowd of people, wishing I hadn't stayed up so late last night. Unable to sleep, I'd worked more on my latest project. My mind ended up drifting between it and how Percy's eyes had looked in the firelight last night. Before I knew it, I woke up. I hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep. One look at the clock told me it was close to noon, when I was supposed to meet Percy at the coffee shop. I hurriedly brushed my teeth and hair, getting dressed in such a rush I caught myself putting my shoes on the wrong feet.

"Vlacas," I muttered, which was pretty much calling myself an idiot in Greek. I was studying it and knew bits and pieces, but not enough to actually have a conversation.

I grabbed my bag and left, not worrying about makeup or any jewelry. I knew Percy wouldn't care about that stuff. I could show up in my pajamas and he wouldn't care. Fast walking, I hurried across the street. I could see the coffee shop up ahead, and I sighed with relief. Thank goodness I made-

"Hey!" A man roughly bumped into my shoulder, so hard it made me spin around. The guy turned.

"So sorry," he said smoothly. "I was in a hurry." He couldn't be more than twenty-two or twenty-three, with brown wavy hair and high cheekbones. I could almost say he was handsome, but his eyes ruined the image. They were cold and calculating, and a chill went through me. I didn't like the way this guy was looking at me. It gave me the creeps. I was definitely getting a bad vibe from this guy.

I took a small step back. "No problem."

I waited for the guy to walk away, but he didn't. Instead he reached out and gently touched my lower cheek, tracing down to my jawline with his fingertips. "So lovely," he sighed.

I recovered my wits and jerked back. "Hey, keep your hands to yourself!" If this guy wanted a fight, then he was going to get one. Obviously he was some kind of sicko.

Then the guy did something that made my blood run cold. He took my hand, kissed the back of it like some old time gentleman, and said, "Until we meet again, Annabeth."

Then he was gone. He had disappeared into the crowd. I just stood there in shock. People rushing past bumped into me, but I barely even noticed. That guy ... that guy knew my name ...

Then I was running. I had to get to the coffee shop, to Percy ...

I yanked open the door, hurrying in. A blast of cool air hit me in the face. Looking around, I spotted Percy sitting in a corner with two coffees on the table in front of him.

"Hey, where have you-" he started, then he saw my face and frowned. "What's wrong?"

I swallowed, unable to say it. Instead I started rambling. "I think-it's a long stretch and I'm not entirely sure, but I had a feeling and by the way he looked at me-"

"Annabeth," he said gently. "Tell me."

Percy took my hand and squeezed it, hard. It was enough for me to finally say the words that filled me with terror. "I think I just bumped into Rachel's murderer."

...

(Annabeth)

I'd just barely gotten the words out before Percy had his phone in his hand and was dialing Thalia's number.

"Thalia? Yeah, it's me. Hey, are you at your hotel?" He paused, listening to Thalia's response. "Good. Is Nico with you?" He paused again. "Well listen to me. If a guy with-" He looked at me.

"Tall guy with brown wavy hair, dark eyes, high cheekbones and tan skin," I supplied.

Percy repeated my description. "If a guy like that comes to the hotel or you see anyone like that, call me, okay? Do not go near him."

"Why not call the police?" I asked.

"Because we don't know if it was really him or not," Percy answered. "We don't have enough proof." He hesitated, as if he was going to add something else but thought better of it and shook his head.

He wants to be the one to find him, I realized. He didn't want the police to find him before he did. This guy had killed his old girlfriend and two of his friends, and was targeting me and his cousins, so now Percy was on some sort of personal mission.

Percy put his phone back to his ear. "No, I was talking to Annabeth. Yeah, but promise me you won't leave the hotel without a good reason. Please, Thals, I'm serious. Don't even go out to dinner. Order room service. It's hard to explain, but I'll come over there, okay? See you soon." He hung up and turned back to me.

"Go back to your hotel, too. Do the same thing I told Thalia." Then he hugged me. I hugged him back tightly, wishing this was a nightmare and that I'd wake up. But no, this was reality. Someone was really trying to hurt us, Percy especially.

"Please don't do anything stupid," I murmured. "I can't lose you, Seaweed Brain." I think my using his old nickname shocked us both, but it came so naturally to me.

"You too, Wise Girl." He pulled away. "Come on, I'll walk you back." With an arm still around me, we left the coffee shop and headed back to the hotel. To anyone else we looked like any normal couple on a perfect day, but I knew better. We were keeping a lookout for the guy who haunted us both.