Hey guys! Again, I'm sorry for the inconsistent updates this week, it's been kind of crazy.

Two days had passed since his sudden confession to Annabeth, and Percy was still reliving it. He was perpetually in a state of happiness the first twenty four hours, and then the next time he and Annabeth talked, that state of happiness turned into something much more.

Percy was determined that their date (Right? Percy was still trying to figure out if she saw it that way to) would be an absolute success. He would meet her in front of Drew's house, and escort her in. Then, they would get drinks, and talk and dance for the rest of the night. And, if Annabeth was okay with it, maybe they'd kiss.

It really depended on what Annabeth wanted, of course. He wanted to make this as comfortable as possible for her. He could tell from Wednesday that she didn't feel entirely comfortable about the situation ahead, but was still going on with it for some reason (Percy wasn't sure of that either).

He finished drying off his hair, and looked into the mirror across from him. Some of the other swimmers were collecting their bags, and because Percy had gotten into the locker rooms last, he was just finishing getting ready.

Staring into the bathroom mirror for a couple of moments, he grabbed a brush, and quickly flattened up his unruly hair. It was no use though, as Percy had what his mother called "Harry Potter Hair," meaning that it would never lay flat.

He went to his locker, put his stuff back in, and took out his bag. He closed it, and flipped the lockers combination lock shut a couple of times for good measure. He looked around the room, and saw that he was the last person inside. Shrugging, he heaved his bag over his shoulder and exited the room.

It was cold outside- brisk- and as Percy knew from past experience, wet and cold do not mix together. He shivered as the cold air hit his skin, and made his way home.

Once he arrived, he promptly set all of his stuff down, and went straight to his bedroom. Once in, he took out his phone, and swiped through notifications, heading straight to Annabeth's contact. He stared at it for a couple seconds, looking at the various conversations they had in the past.

Percy set his phone down, and got up from his bed to get something to eat. He walked into the kitchen, and took out a bag of chips, popping it open, and returning to his room.

He then looked at Annabeth's contact once more, and hesitantly, pressed the call button.

He listened as it rang two times, hoping she would pick up.

"Hello?" Annabeth's voice rang out from the phone, with a tone of confusion. "Percy?"

Percy smiled. "Hi. I just wanted to call."

"Oh." Annabeth replied. "Why?"

"Do I need a reason?" Percy laughed, feeling unsure of himself.

"No, No," She sounded flustered. "I just- it's kind of out of the blue, you know?"

Percy paused. He'd caught her off guard. "I'm sorry," He said. "I just wanted to hear your voice. I wanted to talk to you." He added on.

"Oh." She said again. "Uh, how are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm excited to see you tomorrow." Ugh, Percy thought, Was he coming off as uncharacteristically earnest? "I just- yeah…" He trailed off, struggling to clean that up.

Annabeth hesitated. "I- I am to. I think I'll have a-" she stuttered. "A nice time."

"Are you sure?" He replied, concerned. "If you don't want to go, you don't have to go. I know you said before it was fine, but I don't want to pressure you or anything."

"It's fine." She paused. "You'll be there, so it's fine." Percy felt himself blush, his cheeks heating, and probably, reddening.

Percy paused, thinking of how to respond. "Thanks." He said, and mentally slapped himself on the forehead. What the hell was that? "I mean- I guess I don't know what I'm trying to say."

Annabeth laughed from the other side of the line. "It's fine. That's me on a daily basis. Expert conversationalist like you are allowed to mess up a couple of times."

"I'm not an 'expert conversationalist,' I just ended up so-" Percy winced at the world he was about to say. To be honest, he really hated it. It sounded so stuck-up and full of yourself to ever say it. Even so, in this context, it made sense. "Popular because I'm attractive," to say that out loud was horrible and narassatic, but it was true. "And because I do sports." He finished.

He knew at this instant, Annabeth was currently rolling her eyes at him. He deserved that. He sounded absolutely pathetic. "Someones full of themselves." She said, "But yeah, I understand. You are attractive, and that's a key point the popularity scale. It's so goddamn superficial."

"Yeah." Percy said, and nodded his head, even though Annabeth couldn't see him. "It's unfair, because awesome people like you," he said pointedly, "Are left in the dust of dumb people like me,"

Annabeth voice softened. "Percy, you're not dumb. Why would you say that."

He laughed, "My grades say otherwise. And if you look at the dumb stuff I've done in the past, you'd be saying otherwise."

"Small events like that don't mean that you as a person are dumb, or whatever. Maybe you made mistakes, but that doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Everyone makes mistakes."

Percy sighed. Maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong. Even so, when he thought about his past years of high school, he got a little sick to his stomach. "Thank's Annabeth," He said finally, after a long pause. "I really appreciate it."

"Of course." Annabeth sighed, just as Percy had. "Just, remember, you're not dumb. You're a good person. It's been nice having you as a friend these last couple of weeks. Sure, we got off on the wrong foot, but it's been really nice. The mistakes in your past, they're in your past. You can't do anything about them. You've got to focus on your future."

"Thanks Annabeth." he repeated. "Thanks for talking to me."

"No problem." Annabeth replied. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She hung up the phone.

Friend, Percy thought. Somehow, someway, that word seemed incomplete, like there still was a puzzle piece he had to click in place, to make that whole.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. At first, I was having a hard time writing it, but once I got back into my groove, I was fine.

Anyway, for a while, I had three alternate endings to this story, and I wasn't sure which one to pick. This chapter was really good, because it gave me a chance to sort out what I wanted, and I'm pretty satisfied with the one I choose.

I'm really excited to post the next couple of chapters! I think that they will be real game changers. (:

Again, thanks so much for all the support! I really appreciate it!

Question: What do you think of the relationship dynamics so far?