~ Hey Angels ~

Really sorry for being moody in the last chapter. :( I was starting to panic that people wouldn't like the story bc it's slow paced but now I've just realised that I need to go at my own pace and be cool with it.

There is a kiss coming but I promise that while you're all waiting, I'll fill the chapters with lots of Percabeth anyway to make you happy. I really don't want to ruin this story guys. The development of their relationship is important to me and them as individuals. They're not ready to be in a relationship yet. They have too many personal problems and barriers to get over first:

~ Annabeth's social anxiety, lack of self-confidence in herself and family problems.

~ Percy's denial of his feelings, fear of losing her friendship if they become more than friends and lack of faith in himself.

Thank you, everyone, for being so understanding and for sticking with this rollercoaster of a story even if you're getting seriously impatient.

Oh, sorry, one last thing, if anyone is wondering why I spell Rafael like this instead of like this (Raphael) it's because the Portuguese spell it like that and he's from Portugal.

Enjoyy! x

Chapter 26

Shopping Shenanigans

Saturday 19th September

"Annie, I need you to pick up a few things for me in town today." Helen called from the living room as I was eating my early morning breakfast in the kitchen; just a bowl of fruit, yoghurt and granola with a nutrabullet smoothie. I hadn't been disruptive at all today, I'd just been minding my own business, eating in silence and reading my book. But no, she had to find some way of punishing me anyway by taking away my own Saturday from me.

I was hoping since I'd finished all my homework during the week, that I wouldn't have much of a busy weekend. Guess I was just being naïve.

"Am I picking up the dress you ordered from Abercrombie?" I asked, raising my voice enough so she could hear me.

"Yes, and some other things. I'll write you a list, so you can head out when you've finished your breakfast."

Well, at least she was feeling kind enough to let me finish my breakfast today. Sometimes she'd shove me out the door, having taken a bite of a cereal bar and that's it.

"Oh, and Annabeth!"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Wear something presentable, will you? You're representing me remember." She said in a tone as if I had bad style. I did to be fair. The only reason I've been wearing nice clothes over the past few weeks is that Helen doesn't want any daughter of hers making her family look like a disgrace. That's why she'll happily shower my wardrobe with nice clothes but nothing that I actually need or want. I suppose I've gotten used to it over the month or so.

"Yes Ma'am!" I called back, finishing up my breakfast before cleaning the dishes and hurrying upstairs to change out of my pyjamas.

After digging through my closet and my draws for a few minutes, I pulled out what I thought was a suitable outfit. Nothing too fancy, but stylish enough to look as though I really was Helen Chase' daughter and I could go into all the fancy stores she'd buy from and ask for her order at the desk without having noses turned up at the sight of me.

I wore a big woolly, high neck white jumper and a black leather skirt with a silver zip running all the way up the front. I tucked the front of the jumper into the skirt a little and slipped on the same pair of black heeled boots I'd worn on the Metropolitan trip. I did my hair up into a low, messy bun with loads of wisps drooping down the side of my face and then, regretfully, slipped on a little bit of make-up. I usually did when I was running errands for Helen in high-end stores, or fancy business places. It was just a little mascara, brown eyeshadow blends, concealer, highlight, contour and lip gloss. Nothing expertly done but passable.

Then I grabbed a small, fancy black shoulder bag with a thin strap and pulled it over my shoulder. It hung low, at my right hip and I tucked my phone, purse, black canon camera and other necessities inside. With a quick glance in the mirror, I left it at that and swiftly made my way downstairs where Helen was waiting for me. She gave me the list of errands to do and her credit card. She'd for sure check the transactions that went through this month to ensure I didn't disobey her orders, I wouldn't dare anyway so she needn't bother.

Song Tribute: [Leave a Trace – CHVRCHES]

After giving Zoey a little tickle behind the ear, I left and set off for the city centre. As I walked and listened to music in my earphones, I looked over the list she'd given me. It wasn't too long, but it was long enough to take up my whole morning. There were things on there like picking up a number of dresses from different luxury stores like Akris, Chanel and Giorgio Armani. Gods, I was going to stick out like a saw thumb in fancy stores like that. I just wasn't built for that world. Percy, however, could put on a suit and walk into Giorgio Armani like he belonged there. He could look and act very mature when he wanted to. Gods! Stop thinking about Percy!

That made me sad now, thinking of him. We hadn't spoken since the argument in the middle of the corridor and it was killing me. Every second, thinking I'd ruined everything with him, hurt like a thousand gun-shot wounds over. And the thought that there was nothing I could really do to reach out to him, haunted me.

I shoved the list into my bag and called for a taxi, wanting to get to the city centre faster. Maybe a little shopping will help to distract me. Not that I particularly liked shopping, but usually when I get into town and actually start browsing around a little I do find it quite enjoyable. Walking around those fancy stores gives me an idea of the life I had with my mother but of course will never have again in the future. It's a somewhat happy, melancholy experience.

The city was lively with lights, cars and people when I arrived. The streets were swarmed with a mixture of tourists and New Yorkers going about their day. If Helen hadn't been such an important customer, I would have had to stand in queues for hours on end but luckily, I was allowed to skip every single one.

I'd like to say I dived in and out of every store before finishing the day off at the library but I distracted myself with all the glitz and glamour and became somewhat transfixed by it all. By the time I reached the interior of the Manhattan Chanel store, I could barely even think about leaving. I'm pretty sure I spent over and hour in there, walking around and looking at all the dresses, fancy shoes and purses. It wasn't like I wanted to buy anything, it was more like I was trying to identify something of my mother in the luxuries—something that I would recognise and somehow relate to. It was silly really, and I told myself that repeatedly, yet I still found myself delving further and further into the store. I took the elevator through each floor and browsed pretty much every single rack, shelf and table.

I had only been admiring a few of the dresses in the gowns department when a young lady came over and ended up talking to me for over half an hour about finding the right style and dress for the individual as she made me try on numerous dresses. Each one made me feel like a princess but also like a complete stranger because the person staring back at me in the mirrors with those pretty gowns was not me at all. I felt bad for wasting her time in the end because I couldn't really buy anything for myself but I assured her that next time I needed dress advice I'd come to this store and ask around for her, which she seemed very pleased about.

With that, I descended the tall building in the fancy glass elevator, having changed back into my original clothes. I even took a few pictures of the place on my camera because it stunned me so completely. It was like I didn't want to leave it behind. It was kinda weird actually. I've never been one to shop…ever.

After quickly applying one of the Chanel Chance tester perfumes to my neck and wrist, because I couldn't help it, it smelt so good, and saying my polite goodbyes to the lady standing by the doorway, I stepped out of the store and into the sunlight. It was hard not to feel like I was walking away from my own mother again though, there was so much of her back in that store. It even smelt like her.

~xXx~

Percy POV

"What is with you, man? You're acting strange." Grover asked as I hopped onto a small brick wall surrounding a tree in the middle of the square. I idly strolled across it side by side with the others who were focusing on me now, all six of them. They were all worrying about me after what happened with Annabeth, and to be honest, I was just trying to forget about that.

I mean, if I hadn't been so stubborn I'd probably be angry at myself for messing things up again but for now, I was stubborn enough to still be mad at her. Mad at her for defending Luke in front of me. Mad at her for liking him. Mad at her for having a crush on him. And maybe a tinsy-winsy bit mad that that was making me incredibly jealous. And for a while, I had the nerve to say this was all her fault. I'd regret that later and hopefully come to my senses, she was just as innocent as always in this, I was the stubborn, insensitive asshole here, I just couldn't see it yet.

"He's just hung up on Annabeth, that's all." Jason smirked.

"Am not!" I snapped, jumping off the edge of the wall and landing on my feet easily before starting to walk next to them again, through the square.

We'd spent most of the morning in town, hanging at Papa Johns and being dragged into the shops by Silena. Beck, of course, was happy to do whatever she wanted, Jason and Piper were just happy to be spending time together, holding hands and kissing when they could which made me kinda jealous that I didn't have anything like that going on in my life right now. And it wasn't like I could just hook up with a random girl anymore to fill my urges because I now had super strong feelings for one girl and no other was ever going to be good enough again. So, that left Thalia, Grover and I as single pringles, chilling together in our little trio and making fun of the other couples when they weren't in earshot. It was all for laughs though. To be honest, I was being a bit of a hypocrite doing it but it was taking my mind off…other things.

"If you say so." Jason replied with the same smirk on his face which annoyed me further.

"Man, fuck you, Grace." I said casually.

"It's all over your face, Kelp Head." Thalia cut in. "There's no use lying about it."

"She's got a point, Percy." Piper added.

"Look, if I'd wanted to spend the day thinking and talking about Annabeth, then I wouldn't have come. So, can you all just drop it before I shove one of you in a nearby trash can." I groaned, shoving my hands in my pockets in a huff.

"You've already done that to me once, it's not happening again." Grover said, moving away from me, slightly cautious. "So, next topic."

"Wise decision." I smirked and the others laughed at that.

We continued to walk through the city centre, talking casually about life and funny things we'd seen on Instagram, amongst other things. We stopped by one of the benches so Thalia and I could light a cigarette. Jason, Piper and Thalia sat on it while Grover, Beck and Silena sat on a stone wall surrounding another tree beside the bench. But we were all close enough to have a group conversation.

I took out my lighter from my back-jean pocket and Thalia pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her bag. She placed one in her mouth and tilted her head up for me to light it. Then I took one for myself, placing it between my lips before I lit the end and took a deep breath, letting the smoke fill my lungs. It relaxed me and I started to forget about my worries for just a moment.

For a while, we talked about school and the swim heat I had coming up next week, while the others sat and I stood in front of them, propping my foot up on the bench and exchanging from right to left a couple of times just to busy myself with something other than thinking about Annabeth. I guess you could blame it on my ADHD a little too.

I was about halfway through my cigarette when Piper was mid-way through explaining what happened on the last episode of Breaking Bad before she stopped abruptly. I had been listening to her and scuffing my feet on the ground before I looked up to see why she'd cut off so suddenly. Then I realised we were all looking at her a little confused. She was staring at something behind me with an odd frown on her face. I followed her gaze, turning around, only to find that walking out of the huge Chanel store was none other than my Wise Girl, the person I'd been trying to forget about all frickin' day.

She was carrying armfuls of fancy shopping bags with expensive brand names like Giorgio Armani and it made me wonder what the hell she was doing. This was the last place I'd expect to find her. I suppose that's one of the reasons I didn't mind coming out today; never did it spring to mind that I'd actually run into her.

I think my mouth dropped to the floor and my whole body shuddered for a split second because she looked…well she looked stunning. She wore this thick, white jumper, tucked into a black leather skirt that I'd never thought I'd see her wear and those black heeled boots that gave her a sophisticated height and appearance. She'd been wearing them the day we'd snuck off the school trip and I remembered how hot she'd looked but she looked even better today. In fact, she looked so good I thought I might have a heart attack or by the least faint a little. I'd have to get the guys to carry me back on a stretcher at this rate.

Though I shouldn't have, I studied her face and saw that she looked troubled, as though something was upsetting her. And even after everything that had happened and how mad I'd been with her, I still wanted to run over there and make her feel better in any way possible.

She struggled for a moment, to position the bags comfortably on her arm and I had to plant my feet firm into the ground to stop myself from rushing over there and taking some of the weight off her. Then she looked up and my heart sunk as our eyes met. The world stilled. We both seemed unsure of what to do at that moment. She didn't smile at me, she didn't even move. I missed that smile so badly. A wave of guilt washed over me at that moment but I concealed it as best I could with stubborn anger as I looked away, back at the others who then turned to look at me.

"Percy, we can go if you want." Thalia said quietly with concern and moral support in her tone which made me smile inwardly. I just shrugged a little keeping my head down but Silena had already bounded over to her, no doubt planning on dragging her over here to mine and Annabeth's dismay. Could this day get any worse?

~xXx~

Annabeth POV

I adjusted the position of the shopping bags on both forearms for a moment before I looked up and saw them. They were just a few metres away, gathered around a wooden bench, looking all cool and groupy like nothing could break them. My eyes danced over the others before fixing on Percy without permission. He was looking at me too, whilst holding a cigarette by his side. We both held each other's gaze for a few awkward moments and I didn't know what to do. I just froze. It didn't help that he looked super cute today in dark jeans, converse and a navy colour block sweater that had a light grey at the top.

I almost made a run for it before Percy was turning away in what I thought was anger, which broke my heart again, I didn't think it was possible to have your heart broken more than once by the same person but it was. Then Silena was bounding over to me and I had no choice but to greet her like nothing was wrong in the world.

"Annabeth!" She squealed giving me a hug which I couldn't really return because my arms were full but I smiled nonetheless.

"Hey." I replied before she let me go.

"Come sit with us." She said.

"Um, I don't think—" I started but she was already dragging me over and there was nothing I could do about it. I bit my lip nervously as we came to a halt in front of the others and I noticed Percy moving to distance himself from me. He took a big puff from his cigarette and looked off down the street in the opposite direction as though he couldn't even stand the sight of me.

The others greeted me warmly, though Thalia was less welcoming. I didn't take it personally, she was just being loyal to Percy and it was understandable really. I put on a brave face for them, hiding the fact that Percy's demeanour towards me wasn't crushing me slowly into tiny little pieces.

"Since when did you start being a shopaholic?" Piper asked with a curious frown.

"I'm just running errands for Helen." I murmured with a half-smile, noticing Percy scoff and shake his head at that, still not turning to look at me, as he took another puff. "But I like Chanel…reminds me of my mother." I added softly, nervous to be standing so close to Percy.

"She always loved their perfume." Silena smiled.

"She did." I gave her a weak smile back and then there was an awkward silence. I sighed, looking at the floor for a minute and anywhere except at Percy. But after a while, I did look up at him, with shivering nerves. We just couldn't leave things like this.

"Are you really going to pretend like I'm not here or something?" I half whispered, half whimpered.

"I know you're here," Percy said, still not looking at me, "I just don't particularly care." He finished, taking a casual puff of his cigarette. I admit that hurt.

"Percy!" Silena gasped.

"Oh, bite me Sil." Percy snapped with a snide expression before, putting out his cigarette on the edge of the bin and turning to walk away.

"Look, I know you're mad—" I started after him.

"Actually Beth." He cut me off suddenly, spinning back around so that he was looking at me for the first time, really looking at me. I gasped. His eyes were so blue and dreamy. "I'm furious." My lips sealed shut, I didn't know what to say to that and I just felt the eyes of the others on my back, making me even more afraid.

Percy sighed, raking a hand through his hair and spinning frustratedly in a circle. "And for the record!" He said a little too loudly, looking back at me. "If you weren't so busy being little miss perfect, you'd see that Luke isn't what everyone makes him out to be. You're too nice for your own good."

"There's nothing wrong with being nice to people." I said defensively.

"You're so innocent, it's infuriating!" He huffed before looking over at the others. "Can we go already? I can't stand the sight of her anymore."

"Stop it!" I yelled, my voice cracking a little and making a very high pitched note. "Stop treating me like some toy you can play with and then throw away when you get bored!"

"Oh, here we go." Percy rolled his eyes.

"You're not being fair." I whimpered.

"You see!" Percy said, gesturing to me and looking at the others. "You see what I have to deal with. She plays the victim every time so I end up being the one who feels bad." He sighed. "Perfect Annabeth Chase and mentally fucked up Jackson. We're a match made in heaven aren't we, Silena?" He mocked, sneering at a nervous Silena.

"I hate that word." I wanted to cry in that moment. "I'm not perfect." He just scoffed at that, shaking his head. "Please, just stop this." I begged. "Stop this already. I'm so tired of arguing."

"Yeah?" He scoffed. "Well me too Annabeth! Maybe we should just make it easy on ourselves and call it quits."

"I don't want to call it quits!" I cried back, my voice unsteady and there were tears in my eyes now as I stepped forward and he stepped back.

"Then what do you want?" He snapped. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't know!" I shouted, breathing heavily now. I sighed. "I don't know." I whispered and his expression softened for a moment.

Percy sighed. "Are we done here?"

"No." I sobbed and the others made their own remarks.

"Percy give her a chance." Silena said.

"Percy maybe—" Thalia started

"Not you too Thalia." Percy cut her off in disbelief. "Annabeth has feelings for Luke Castellan and you have the nerve to defend her. Have you forgotten what he did to you?"

"That wasn't his fault." Annabeth retorted.

"You shut your mouth and stay out of this." He growled. "You know nothing about what he did to my cousin and if I could, I'd kill him myself. Right in front of you." Percy snarled, his eyes dark with malevolence and it terrified me.

"Percy…" I gasped, taking a step back and my own fear of him seemed to make him snap out of it a little as though he couldn't believe he'd just said that to me.

"Annabeth," Thalia cut in with a reasonable tone, "there are just so many things you don't know—"

"Well then why doesn't someone start telling me!" I snapped. "I'm sick of being in the dark all the time. I don't get it. I show the slightest bit of kindness to a total stranger and the next minute, my best friend is screaming at me." I said frowning at Percy.

"Don't forget the fact you made out with this 'total stranger'." Percy said in a snide tone.

"That has nothing to do with this."

"Admit it, you like him."

"For God's sake Percy, I don't have feelings for Luke—not in the slightest!"

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"All you ever do is lie to me!"

"That is not true!"

"Prove it then!"

"Fine!" I yelled. "You wanna hear the truth?"

"Yes. Finally, thank you."

"You're the one I care about, not Luke. You're the one that makes me want to get up in the morning. And every time you yell at me or glare at me, it makes me want to cry." I blurted, breathing heavily and everyone looked at me in shock. "Every time you show even the slightest bit of hatred towards me it physically hurts. I can't stand you hating me and that's the truth!" There were more tears in my eyes now and I thought I might collapse with my own weakness at that moment.

"I mean, for God's sake Percy, he kissed me, I didn't want him to."

Percy just blinked at me for a second, as though he couldn't believe the words that had just left my mouth. His lips parted in shock and his heavy breaths caught at them. He frowned a little confusedly, and his eyes danced across the floor for a moment as if he was trying to wrap his head around this.

I could feel a lump in my throat now, it made it hard to speak. "Percy…" I whispered, using only his name to plead with him as the tears slipped from my cheeks.

At that moment, Percy lunged at me and I caught my breath as he swiftly took my face in his hands and cupped my cheeks. There was nothing I could do with the shopping bags in my arms, all I could do was look up at him in breathless shock. "I don't hate you Annabeth." He breathed, looking deeply into my eyes and I saw that his were shaking a little now. He swept away my tears with swift, delicate touches from his finger-tips. Gods, we were so close, I could barely breathe. "For fuck sake, I'm—" He cut himself off abruptly, tearing his hands away from me as he stumbled backwards, leaving me in a daze. I didn't even know what he was going to say and I never found out.

He raked his hands through his hair. "Shit!" He mumbled to himself, keeling over a little before shooting up again. He stormed back over and I just froze as he snatched another cigarette off Thalia, lit it with quivering hands that made him cuss again and again. When he'd finally lit it, he shoved it between his lips and walked away as fast as he possibly could. He shoved one hand in his jean pockets and held the cigarette in his other. He didn't look back, not even once. And I just stood there, in stunned silence.

"What just happened?" Grover mumbled but I was too busy staring after Percy in shock, to reply. I think we all were.

~xXx~

Annabeth POV

Sunday 20th September

"Hi, dad." I smiled, holding the phone up to my ear as I stroked Zoey on my lap. She had decided to be kind to me today, maybe because Helen was at a business conference and she was bored. I was sitting crossed legged on the living room couch as she snuggled into me.

"Hiya honey. How are you?" His soft husky voice came from the other end. I tried to picture his face as he spoke but I still found it hard to imagine what he looked like having not seen him for months and months. It was almost like a distant memory but the sound of his voice helped me to remember more.

"Fine, I guess." I shrugged before realising he couldn't see me.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing...it's stupid."

He chuckled softly. "Your mother used to do that."

"What?" I frowned in confusion.

"For her, 'it's stupid' always meant it's important to me. So what's wrong?"

A jet of warmth flowed through me as the corners of my lips pulled up into a smile and I laughed a little. "Well...I'm just finding school a little stressful and I...I had an argument with a friend." I murmured, thinking about Percy. We hadn't spoken since yesterday and I imagined that the only reason he spoke to me was because I was crying. So he didn't particularly want to be friends but he still cared about my wellbeing.

"Can it be fixed?"

"I don't think so dad...it was pretty bad."

"Were they really important to you?" His voice was soft and sympathetic, nothing like the dad I'd remember when I'd first moved here.

"He was...very." I sighed.

"He?" His voice a little serious and my eyes widened in shock with a gulp.

"Um...he's just a friend dad, really."

"What did that boy do to you, Annabeth?"

"Nothing! Really, we were just arguing." I blurted a little panicked now.

"Do I need to come over there and give him a piece of my mind?"

I giggled a little at that. "No dad, it's okay. It's silly really, we were just arguing about someone and then it just all got out of hand." I hesitated for a moment, feeling a lump in my throat. "He never wants to speak to me again." Against my will, tears began to fill the corners of my eyes. "It's like everyone I get close to just leaves." I said in a brittle voice. "Daddy...is there something wrong with me?"

"No sweetheart, of course not." He replied in a honeyed voice.

"I just...I really thought he was different...but now...now he can't even look at me." I sobbed, tears slipping down my cheeks.

"Hey hey it's okay Annabeth...you know...when you're young everything feels like the end of the world...but it's not...it's just the beginning. You know you might have to meet a few more jerks but one day you're gonna meet a boy who treats you the way you deserve to be treated." His voice was soft, gentle and, surprisingly, very fatherly. At that moment my heart swelled in my chest and I wanted nothing more than to just feel his protective arms around me, to shield me from this world. I wanted to see my dad.

"You really think so?" I murmured, sniffing a little.

"I know so." He replied in a soft husky voice.

"I'm sorry to bug you with all this..." I murmured timidly.

"It's alright sweetheart you don't have to apologise, you were upset. I'm glad you told me."

"Are you really though? Because you've never been interested in my life before." I whispered and before I knew it, everything I'd been cooping up inside me just seemed to filter out of my mouth and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"Annabeth, I know what you're thinking but—" he started but I cut him off.

"—No dad...you've never known and that's because I've never been able to tell you."

"T-tell me what?" His voice was still soft but a little confused.

"That I'm angry with you dad...this entire thing about you and Helen and my mother."

"It-it's my fault. I never should've treated you the way I did because I was angry with your mother and I'm sorry."

"You just left us. You left me. You left mom. You didn't even say goodbye." I tried to keep my voice steady but I was failing awfully at it. "It's like you traded me and mom in for something you thought was better and I wanna know why." I sobbed. "What did I do wrong?"

The tears were starting to fall again.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered his voice a little throaty. "I'm...I'm so sorry."

"I wish that were enough dad." I sobbed before hanging up the phone and sitting there as the silent tears flowed down my cheeks.

~xXx~

That night, I was drying my hair with a hairdryer after just having had a shower, when the Skype tune started going off on my laptop. I turned the hair dryer off and walked across the room, holding the white towel which was the only thing wrapped around me.

It was Thalia. I sighed. I didn't really want to talk to her. I didn't really want to talk to anyone. That phone call with my dad was bad enough I wasn't ready for a conversation about Percy which was likely to come up. I sat in the swing chair and leant over to press exit but I accidentally pressed the wrong button and the screen came up. I yelped, clutching my towel around me when I saw that it wasn't Thalia in the screen...it was Jason.

"Whoa..." Jason frowned, looking a little uncomfortable.

"I did not mean to press answer." I said, eyes wide and still holding my towel up. I desperately pulled my hair in front of me to hide as much as I could.

"Well, you can't go back now." He shrugged. "So spill. What the hell is going on between you and Percy because he won't tell me anything?" He frowned stubbornly.

I sighed. "Nothing..."

"Nothing?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "You call this nothing? Percy didn't eat anything yesterday and couldn't even concentrate in football on friday."

I gulped. Had our argument really affected him that much?

"He didn't?" I murmured.

"No, went out like a light." He frowned and that worried me. "And now everything's fucked up. He won't talk to any of us, Silena and Piper are upset that you're ignoring them, the whole groups on edge and you're hanging out with Luke. Seriously Annabeth...what are you doing with that guy?"

"I just feel sorry for him. I think he's a good guy deep down."

His eyes went cold and I knew I'd struck a nerve. Well of course I had, Luke practically ruined Thalia according to the others but maybe they were wrong. "You can't be serious Annabeth. He nearly killed Thalia." He growled. He could be a little scary like Percy when he wanted.

"He had problems at home and he said Thalia was already doing drugs at the time." I murmured timidly.

"Thalia hadn't even touched a joint before they met." He frowned harshly and I gasped. His eyes were serious and, looking at him now, I knew he wasn't lying. "He forced her to inject herself with heroin. He dosed his mother's coffee with heroin and sedatives every night all so he could go out to buy dope without her on his case all the time. Now's she in a mental institute."

"H-heroin?" I stammered in shock. "His mother—but he told me that she—"

"Yeah, well he lied. I thought Percy already told you this." He cut me off.

"He told me bits and pieces..." I sighed. "I was just too stupid to believe him. It's just...Luke was so convincing. I genuinely thought his mother had made him that way and I...I felt sorry for him." I murmured weakly, feeling utterly stupid right now.

He sighed heavily, leaning back in Thalia's swing chair. "There was a time where we all thought that." He shrugged. "It's okay Annabeth. Some people are just naturally manipulative. It's hard to tell from those who are telling the truth and those who are spilling bullshit."

I nodded. "I think I owe Percy an apology." I frowned, shamefully. I had practically defended Luke in front of him. Someone who had almost killed Thalia. The thing at Atlantis probably never would've happened if it wasn't for Luke.

"I think he feels the same way about you." He shrugged and I sighed in relief. Maybe, like me, he didn't want to fight. Maybe he wanted to be friends again.

"Gods, I am such an idiot." I frowned, clawing my damp hair back. How could I have done that to Percy? He was just trying to protect me and I had practically told him to stop being so mean to someone who had ruined his life. Who am I to tell him that? Especially since he'd said that thing about Gabe to his face. Luke was cruel. Why didn't I realise this earlier?

"Hey, it's okay." He smiled reassuringly. "We all make mistakes and Luke's very persuasive when it comes down to pretty girls." He shrugged and I blushed I think. "You should get some sleep."

"Okay." I whispered with a small nod. "Thanks for Skyping me, Jason. I really appreciate it." I smiled.

"Anytime." He smiled and we said our goodbyes before the screen went black and I was alone again.

~xXx~

Oooo DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!

Lol, you all haaaaaaaaate me for keeping them apart. They'll get there happy ending eventually but for now, I'm just gonna torture them a little further ;)

Also, I wanted to mention something I should have mentioned right at the very beginning. I realise I probably shouldn't have put in the dates to my story because American (and other countries') school terms (or semesters) are different to the ones here in the UK. But I've already done it like that so I'm just gonna roll with it. If they happen to be at school when you would be on holiday/vacation (whatever you guys say) I'm sorry, you'll just have to run with it. ;)

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Review Responses

Sayori1412 chapter 25 . 2h ago

Why would I kill you when I completely ship Annabeth and Rafael too?! Obviously, Percabeth is the ultimate ship but I can't help but like the sexual tension between evil boy and golden girl. I know, baby Rafael :( Soon, there's gonna be some drama and trouble next school week tho ;)

Lots of Love AWGxx

Lord Of Sky chapter 25 . 4h ago

yaaaay, thanks for being on the same wave length

WritingAurora chapter 22 . 5h ago

No, I haven't gotten any flames yet, thankfully. Thanks girly! ;)

tiwari2041 chapter 25 . 6h ago

Haha, it's spelled Rafael - Spanish way. I know what you mean, he's a toughy to get your head around. Thank you so much!

Aw, I feel you. Australia though! Sick! I've always wanted to go. Oh gosh, I'd better complete it then, hadn't I? I updated on monday for you :)

Supremespeed220 chapter 25 . 18h ago

Oooo that is one interesting theory! As much as I like it, it's impossible for it to be true because Percy met Rafael after the fallout with Annabeth when he was 15. He hasn't seen Annabeth since he was 10. Thank you so so sooo much. That means the world to me!

Guest chapter 23 . Sep 28

OMG This story is actually one of the best ive read on here (im serious). I dunno how far the story is gonna go but i think a percabeth prom would be one of the best things ever!

Aw, thank you! There is a ball/ dance with the whole year and I do mention Prom but the ball is more indepth.

bonkersgreeneyesandfarts chapter 25 . 23h ago

I feel ya. Rafael's very black and white at the moment with no in-between. No, I wouldn't. He is kind of manipulating her but he also feels a connection to her. Annabeth is one of those people you can't help but open up to because she's so kind and genuine - like the whole thing with Luke. Omg yes, love that movie! I guess, just thank you for being an awesome human being! xoxo

kavinbhatia chapter 25 . Sep 30

Aaaaww yaaaay! Oh and thank you! I really went overboard with the word count on this story but oh well. I'm glad you love him now bc I do too.

Chill, I would LOVE to meet you in person too! I find it so weird that we're talking but we're literally like continents apart. It's craaaazy!

Anyway, thanks kav kav for everything. Your reviews always make my day! :)

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Lots of Love,

AWGxx