I'm back! Actually, I've been back for about two-three weeks, but I haven't found the passion to start writing again until recently. I really like this chapter. (Also, upcoming vulgarity warning because I have no clue the range of people reading).

Percy

I looked around for Annabeth again, staring at the line of people near the bathroom. She'd been gone for a while, and, apparently, I'd been moping like a sad puppy since she left (Leo's words, not mine).

"Why do you look like someone just ate your last cookie?" Annabeth asked, suddenly materializing beside Leo and snatching a handful of chips from the bowl in his lap.

"Hey, you good?" I asked. She nodded.

"I was just talking with someone," she told me, sitting back down beside me and filling my chest with warmth. I couldn't fight off the inevitable goofy smile.

"Well, well, well," a new voice said.

"The truth finally comes out," said a second. I looked up at the Connor and Travis wearily. The entire rest of the team stood behind them, grinning—well, all except for Luke, I noted.

"It definitely must have been worth the chase," Connor joked.

"Annabeth, we're going to have to borrow him for a minute," Travis said.

"I swear, if you do what I think you're going to do…" I glowered.

Before I knew it, I was being hoisted up into the air and carried out into the back yard, which, of course, had a lavish pool. Jason usually kept it covered during parties, but from the mischievous look he had on his face when I was carried past him told me he'd been roped into their scheme.

"You guys are so lucky I forgot my phone at home," I yelled over the cheers of rallying partygoers that came to watch me be get soaked. I shut my eyes and prayed the water would be heated.

It wasn't.

I broke through the surface, gasping because the cold had knocked my breath right out of me.

"HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS GOOD AND HOLY THAT WATER IS FREAKING COLD!" I screamed. No sooner had I emerged did someone else splash in right beside me. A blonde head surfaced beside me, clinging onto my arm. I spotted Thalia and the rest of the girls archery team laughing hysterically. Seemingly, they had caught onto my buddies little scheme and made sure that Annabeth followed suit.

I laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist. She frowned at me.

"This is all your fault," she growled without any real anger. I thought about how cool it would be to kiss her underwater.

We swam to to the nearest wall, eager to get out of the frigid water. Holding onto the edge of the diving board, Annabeth easily and gracefully hoisted herself out of the water, while I scrambled over the edge with much less finesse and rolled onto the stone tiles surrounding the pool.

"Why did they do that?" she asked breathlessly.

"It's this dumb tradition when someone on the team gets a girlfriend we throw them in the pool in their clothes," I said without thinking, stretching my arms out above m head. I shot up suddenly. Did I just say girlfriend? I asked myself.

"N-not that you're, um… I mean, this is just our second date, so—" Annabeth cut me off, planting a quick kiss on my cheek.

"Third date, remember Seaweed Brain?" she said, pressing the words right against my ear. My face burned. I leaned towards her, being pulled in like a magnet as she straightened up. I moved to sit beside her on the diving board, one leg hanging over the pool so both our backs were turned to the house.

"I'm just glad Thalia made me give her my phone before they threw me in," she said.

"Yeah, I always leave mine in Jason's room at these things for safe-keeping," I said, relieved. I squinted at her face, noticing black smudges underneath her eyes.

"You've got some black stuff…" I said, pointing under my eye. She wiped at the goop and inspected her hands.

"I told Piper I didn't want make-up, but 'noooo, it'll look soooo good, trust me'" she said in a fake nasally voice and continued rubbing the makeup away. After a moment, she turned to me. "Did I get it all?" she asked. There was still a smudge right by the top of her cheekbone.

"Almost," I smiled, bringing my thumb up to her face and rubbing it off for her. Her face reddened slightly and she leaned her cheek against my hand. I brought her face closer to mine and kissed her. The sounds of the party grew distant. She let out a small content sigh and pulled me closer by the hem of my shirt.

"Well, this sure is a leap from being Mr. Secretive, Percy," a cool voice said, shattering the moment. Annabeth and I both turned to look at the source, moving away from each other.

"Luke," I sighed, irritated, remembering our conversation where he 'warned me' about Annabeth. "What do you want?" I asked.

But he wasn't paying attention to me anymore. His gaze was fixed on Annabeth. There was something cold and sinister in his eyes.

"What?" she snapped.

"You think you're so great, don't you? Being friends with the cool kids, dating the captain of the swim team, going to parties. None of them know, do they? Just Thalia and Grover. Have you told Percy yet? No, otherwise he wouldn't be stupid enough to come near you."

"Shut up," Annabeth said, her voice shaking. "Just shut up! And leave me alone!"

"Psycho," Luke sneered.

"She said leave her alone," I growled, standing up and shoving Luke back. He looked at me, then back at Annabeth.

"You think you've got everyone fooled, don't you," he spat at her. He gave me one last angry look, then took a step back. "Bitch."

Something in me snapped. I threw a punch right at Luke's face, but he evaded it easily and returned the favour, his fist connecting with my jaw in the blink of an eye. I stumbled back, my ears ringing for a moment. No sooner than I had regained my bearings, Annabeth was in front of me, and Luke was on the ground, wheezing and winded.

I stared at Annabeth, wide eyed. She stared down at Luke with a blank expression, her shoulders drawn back and her fists clenched by her side. Strength radiated off of her. I noticed the crowd that had gathered around us. They were silent. Noise from inside the house spilled into the backyard.

"Annabeth," I said quietly. Without a word, she walked back into the house. I followed her, pushing past the crowds of party goers. I lost sight of her for a moment, but then saw her retrieving her from Thalia, still with a stoic expression, then rush out the door despite Thalia's protests. I followed her, but Thalia caught my arm.

"What happened?" she asked. She frowned, noticing the growing mark that Luke had undoubtedly left on my face.

"Later," I told her, then rushed after Annabeth. She was outside, hugging her arms. The rejuvenated rush of cold air hit my soaking body and sent a shiver down my spine.

"Annabeth," I said, jogging up beside her and putting a hand on her arm. She didn't look at me. She was drilling a hole into the ground with her eyes. "Please. Tell me what's with you and Luke?" I pleaded. "And don't say nothing, because it's obviously something. I don't care if you two dated or whatever, if that's—"

"You think I'm that petty?" she lashed out at me. My eyes widened in surprise.

"No!" I told her earnestly. "But you won't tell me what's going on, so I don't know what to think."

"It's in the past, Percy," she deadpanned. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does, because Luke thinks that he has something over you and that you're some crazy person, but you're not, I know you. You're… God, Annabeth you're the probably one of the best people I know. And I can tell this is hurting you. Just tell me, please. You can trust me." My voice nearly broke with desperation. I wanted to help her so badly. I wanted to wrap her up and hide her away so no one could hurt her. I wanted to kiss her and hold her and scream at her for staying silent.

Her phone rang and she turned away from me to answer it.

"Hello? Hey, Mom… what? He is? Okay… okay, I'll be right there," she said, her tone filling with a mix of emotions. When she turned back to me, her eyes were wide.

"Malcolm. He's awake," she said. My shoulder's, which I had unintentionally drawn up towards my ears, dropped.

"I'll drive you," I said immediately, fishing in my pocket for my keys and thanking my decision not to drink that night.

Well, there's that chapter! More to come soon!