Hi. It's me. I have some explaining to do. Obviously. BUT I'll address that at the bottom. Oh, and a heads up: there is a rape scene. Or rather, one almost happens but I got uncomfortable writing it. So yeah. If that's something that messes you up or triggers you or whatever, skip it. I apologize in advance.

As per Doctor Asclepius' orders, Percy was to stay home from school for a few days to fully recover. His casts came off and he was able to walk without crutches, though he had a slight limp. The first day home , Percy was bored out of his mind. The second was a bit better since Grover hung out with him. Finally, on the third day, Percy had enough. As soon as he knew school was out, he texted Annabeth.

Come over plz

Her response was immediate.

Okay. Gimme a few.

True to her word, Annabeth arrived a few minutes later. Percy let her in.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Bored," Percy replied. He hobbled further into his apartment and flopped onto the couch. He patted the cushions next to him. Annabeth sat down and stroked his hair. Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and stared at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Let's go swimming," Percy said. Annabeth shook her head.

"You're still injured. You can't swim yet," she said. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Puh-lease. I'll be fine." Limping up the steps and into his room, Percy changed into a swimsuit. He grabbed a towel, went downstairs. Annabeth sighed when she saw him.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she asked. Percy nodded.

"Yup. Let's go,"

They had to stop at Annabeth's apartment before arriving at the pool. As soon as Percy's shoes and shirt were off, he lept into the water. After treading successfully for a moment, he swam back to the wall where Annabeth was sitting.

"C'mon, Wise Girl. The pool awaits." Percy said. Annabeth shook her head.

"I'm not getting in, Seaweed Brain." Percy reached up and took her hand.

"I wasn't asking." He yanked her in.

"Perc-!" The two went under. Percy opened his eyes and looked around. Annabeth was a few feet away from him, eyes screwed shut. Her blond hair floated around like an explosion of yellow. Percy swam over and held her by the waist. He kicked up and they broke the surface. Annabeth gasped for breath and opened her eyes.

"You stinker!" she said and swatted Percy's chest. It earned nothing but a lopsided grin.

"Big breath, 'Beth!" Percy said. Annabeth took a breath and closed her eyes. She felt Percy's touc and she opened them. Percy floated a few inches away, eyes wide. His hands rested on her hips, holding her close. Annabeth floated closer and put her hand on the back of his neck. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips to Percy's.

Percy would later look back on this and call it "the best underwater kiss ever".

A few weeks later, when Percy returned to school, he and Annabeth began dating, much to the delight of their friends. When Poseidon found out, he was rather happy. Athena regarded Percy a bit nicer, but still maintained a frosty respect. In Percy's book, that was fine. Everything was going just great. His grades improved, he had an awesome girlfriend, an amazing circle of friends, and a real father. Life was just fine for Percy Jackson. Little did he know, a monkey wrench would be thrown his way.

Percy was hosting a party. He invited pretty much the whole junior class, which inevitably meant there would be way more people than he expected. Nothing bad happened, though he did have to throw away some drinks because the Stoll twins spiked a few. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which was good. Percy was sitting with Annabeth, Sasha, and Leo when Drew walked up and started flirting with Leo.

"Drew, kindly go away. I'm not interested in Barbie dolls." Leo said. Drew scowled and turned her attention to Percy.

"Percy, darling, why don't you go get a water for me?" she cooed. "I'm soooo thirsty." Percy ignored her.

"Go get it yourself, Drew," Sasha said. Drew ignored her and pressed on.

"Of course, you could come with me, maybe even back to my place…" she trailed off. Annabeth abruptly stood up and stomped off. Percy glared at Drew.

"Piss off." He went to look for Annabeth in the crowd, but couldn't find her. He searched more and was about to knock on the bathroom door when he heard a scream from upstairs. A scream that sounded a lot like Annabeth. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around, confused. Percy's gut sent him up the steps, his friends close behind.

"Annabeth!" he yelled. The guest room door was shut. Percy rattled the handle. It was locked. He looked for something to unlock it, but found nothing. In desperation, he threw his shoulder against the door. Jason pulled him back before Frank managed to break through. The big guy smashed through the door, revealing what was behind it.

Annabeth was cornered by Ethan Nakamura, who's jeans were unbuttoned. Percy jumped at Ethan, intending to get him off Annabeth.

"Get off her, you sick bastard!" Percy yelled. Jason, Leo, Frank, and Nico came to his aid, pulling Ethan off Annabeth. Frank and Nico held him in a headlock while the other three tended to Annabeth.

"Hey, Annabeth, can you hear me?" Jason asked. Annabeth stared blankly ahead, eyes wide. Leo pulled out his lighter and flicked the flame on and off. Annabeth still didn't respond. She finally noticed Percy.

"Percypercypercy," she muttered. Percy knelt and wrapped his arms around her. He held her before letting go to face Ethan.

"You sick son of a bitch." he said. Ethan sneered.

"She deserves better, Jackson," Percy balled a fist, trying hard to keep calm. "She doesn't deserve to be with a boy whose mom left him all alone." Percy lost it. He swung and his fist smashed into Ethan's jaw.

"Shut the fuck up!" Percy yelled. Ethan spat out a globule of blood before staring at Percy with fear and hate. Percy started to swing again, but Jason grappled with him.

"Calm down, Water Boy. This isn't helping," he whispered. Percy calmed down enough to glare at Ethan with anger burning bright.

"Get him out of here," he said. "Party's over." The sounds of a rather large crowd shuffling away filtered through the air as Percy sat in front of Annabeth. Percy's friends gathered behind him.

"Should we stay or…" Frank started to say, but Percy shook his head.

"You guys leave. Except Grover. And Thalia. Both of you stay. Everyone else, I'm sorry." said Percy. The group left, but not before Piper gave him a hug.

"It'll be okay, Fishsticks," she said. Percy merely nodded before turning back to Annabeth. She said nothing but reached out for him. The two met halfway, Percy enfolding her in a hug, Annabeth sobbing on his shoulder. Percy rubbed her back and tried to calm her down. Thalia knelt to help

"Hey, Annabeth, it's me, Thalia," she said, gently. "You're safe, you're okay. It's me, Percy, and Grover." Annabeth managed to look up. Her eyes were filled with fear which slowly changed to slight calm. She drew a shaky breath.

"H-hi, guys," She clung to Percy. "Keep holding me." She whispered in his ear. Percy nodded. Grover shuffled over.

"What happened?" he asked. Annabeth took a deep breath.

"Not now. I can't tell you now." she said.

"D'you wanna sleep?" Thalia asked. Annabeth nodded. Percy helped her stand and walked her over to the bed.

"You two go. I'll help her," Thalia said. Percy and Grover nodded and left, picking up the door and setting it back in place. Percy slumped against the wall and buried his face in his hands.

"Why did this happen?" he groaned.

"It wasn't your fault," Grover said. "It was Drew and Ethan's. Drew was being bitch and Annabeth wasn't having it. She was already having a crappy day to begin with. This was probably icing on the moldy cake." Percy frowned.

"What happened today?" he asked.

"Well, she woke up late," Percy knew that would be horrible for her. "Her classes went okay, but then Drew caught up with her after school and started saying stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Started with stuff about how she was ugly, and a nerd, and all that. You know Annabeth, she took it like a champ. She even threw some stuff back at Drew. But that riled up Miss Barbie enough to say stuff about you two. Annabeth went off on her. You shoulda seen it. The gist of it was her calling Drew a hypocrite because she was the one with a boyfriend, not Drew." Percy raised an eyebrow in admiration.

"What happened then?"

"Drew ran away crying. It was awesome." The two fell silent as Thalia walked out of the guest room.

"I managed to get her asleep. I'm gonna take off." She gripped Percy's arm. "Stay near her. She's gonna need you pretty soon." Then she was gone. Grover bumped Percy's leg.

"I would stay, man, but I gotta go. Schoolwork and all that. I'm sorry, dude. I wish I could help more." With that, Grover left. Percy slowly slumped against the wall and the full weight of the last thirty minutes came crashing down. Percy drew a shaky breath and his cheeks felt wet. He realized it was tears and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Percy?" Annabeth's voice asked. Percy opened his eyes. Annabeth was standing over him, a blanket around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Percy said, wiping his eyes. "You need to sleep." he reprimanded gently. Annabeth chewed her lip.

"Can you, uh, sleep with me?" she asked. Percy blinked.

"Uh, I don't-"

"Percy, I was just raped. I need you right now. You're my boyfriend."

"Um, we never actually established that-" Percy was cut off as Annabeth kissed him. Hard. She pulled back, gaze locked with his, and took his hand.

"Please?" she whispered. Percy nodded. They walked into the guest room, stepping over the busted door. Annabeth pulled back the blankets and they snuggled against each other.

"Hold me, Percy."

"I will. I'll never let you go,"

Like I said above, I got uncomfortable writing this.

Oh well.

ANYWAY, I know I said that I wouldn't be back until the 29th. I though that's how long out vacation would be, but it obviously wasn't. I feel kinda bad for lying to you guys, though, so I'm sorry. *apologetic blue cookies are handed out* I don't have much for you, other than the reminder that there's only a few more chapters left. PEACE! -RFA