OG R3, sorry, the "on his mom" thing was a typo, I meant to say "on his mind," but didn't catch it until the chapter was published. Thanks so much for pointing that out. (:

Also, . . , sorry if I didn't make it clear enough, Percy has a broken arm and leg (which I may have to change). Also, thanks so much, that really brightened my day! (:

Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!

A month later, Percy had been back in school for several weeks. He scaled the hallways with his crutches, nodding at classmates that passed by. Several students had offered to carry his books, but he untrusted Jason to do it, since he was the only person he had more than three classes with.

But that also meant having to run into Piper, Jason's girlfriend, who now, even after Annabeth set her straight, despised him. Everytime Jason would stop and say "hi" to her, he was greeted with a venomous stare that made him extremely uncomfortable.

On the other hand, Hazel, the other girl who Annabeth had sought out for help was nicer to him. Even though she seemed a bit cold, she wasn't blatantly hating him like Piper was.

It was an uncomfortable situation to be in. In fact, school was an uncomfortable situation to be in. It was a mix of people worried about him because of the team, searching for attention because of the injury, and trying to "get" with him while he was vulnerable.

And of course, also the fact that Percy hadn't set things straight with Drew yet. Despite being in school for a couple of weeks, and having multiple chances to tell her, Percy was worried about the reaction, and each time, vouched out.

Plus, nobody knew about his relationship with Annabeth yet. They weren't being open about it, and Percy couldn't tell if she wanted that or not. They hung out at lunch, and they texted of course, sometimes, he walked her to class, but the school had gotten used to seeing that. Maybe they saw it as "Pity" or "Kindness," because obviously, they couldn't imagine the alternative.

That being that they were dating.

It felt weird to think, and it felt weird to say out loud. In fact, he'd never referred to Annabeth as his "girlfriend" yet, and Annabeth hadn't referred to him as a "boyfriend" either.

There was nothing weird about having a private relationship, but for Percy, it was weird. Whenever he had a romantic encounter (and Percy didn't like to say it, but a lot of those were with Drew at parties while intoxicated), the whole school heard about it within minutes.

He felt that Annabeth might be annoyed by this. She seemed anxious lately, and for the past week, they hadn't had many chances to talk. He'd texted her a couple of times, and she'd replied to it in short, clipped responses. What was he supposed to say to texts like, "Okay," "Oh," and "Yeah?"

He hadn't seen her at lunch for a while either. He first assumed she was holed up in the library, writing, working on her story, but then the other day, he saw her with Hazel and Piper, just talking.

And that was fine. She probably wanted to hang out with them. Foster relationships, they seemed to get along well, and she and Percy talked everyday. That was good enough for him. He wasn't going to stop her from making friends.

Maybe he should just talk to her about it instead of skittering around the topic. He'd send her a quick text, and they'd meet up later at a restaurant or something. A date, which Percy realized they hadn't had. He didn't even offer one up. In most of his relationships, he didn't really go on dates. He would just sort of… hangout with the girl.

Taking on his phone, he typed out a quick message to her, and before sending, scrolled through their conversations. Sighing, he closed his eyes, and sent it.

"Want to go out tomorrow?" It read, and Percy cringed at it's patheticness. What was he, a child?

He looked back down at his phone, seeing the three dots pop up on his screen. Annabeth was typing out a message. "Sure," It read, and Percy felt his shoulders relax. That was good.

"So, what's up?" He asked her, and sent it.

Annabeth took a while to type back, as if she had a long response. In the end, the only words sent were: "Nothing much."

She didn't try to continue the conversation- and she didn't have to, she was probably busy. He knew for a fact she had a lot on her plate. He wondered what she wasn't saying- the things she was thinking, but didn't want to say to him.

He sighed, typing and deleting words once more, trying to decide what he wanted to say next. "If you want to talk, you know I'm here," he finally decided, and waited several seconds, his finger hovering over the send button before he clicked it.

She didn't respond. It didn't look like she had read it either. Maybe she just hadn't seen it. That was fine. Maybe she read it from her notifications. That was also fine. He would talk to her tomorrow, and set everything straight.

The next day, Percy went to school feeling a bit more refreshed. His mother was driving him now, in fear that something would happen, and because Percy couldn't drive himself. As she pulled into the school parking lot, he found himself scanning the crowd for Annabeth.

He walked into school, still preening, looking over heads to see if she was anywhere around here. Continuing this for a couple more moments, he mentally slapped himself in the head. She was probably in the library like usual. He could meet her there.

As Percy made his way around the wave of students scaling the hallways, he pulled out his phone to see if she had read the text yet. It noted that she had, but late at night.

He hoped she hadn't stayed up late.

Arriving at the front of the library, he quickly said Annabeth huddled in front of a computer, and snuck over silently. She was staring intently at whatever was on the screen. Percy smirked as he got closer, inching toward her chair.

Silently setting his crutch down and bending on one knee, he gave her a one armed hug from behind, and whispered "boo" into her ear.

Annabeth jumped (which he found so cute), and turned around, quizzical glance ready. "Percy!" She said, as she saw it was him. "Why would you do that?" He noticed she was blushing. Mission accomplished.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Percy asked, not caring if anyone was watching them. To be honest, they weren't. Nobody went to the library, and those that did were staring at computers, furiously studying for a test or reading a book.

Annabeth blushed harder. She stuck her tongue out and closed the tab she was on. Percy picked up his crutch propping himself up in the chair next to her. "So," He said, "I was wondering where you wanted to go?"

She smiled, "For what?" She challenged, her eyes squinted slightly.

"Our date." He said,

What happened next- not the words, but the expressions made Percy a bit less confident than before. Her expression changed three different times- first, happy, then neutral, and then with some defiance, even a flash of anger to it. "I don't care," She told him, turning back to the computer. "Whatever you want."

Percy racked through his mind, searching for an idea. When he found one, seconds later, he nodded his head. "Bubble tea?"

"Bubble tea sounds good." Annabeth smiled a bit. "Yeah, that would be really nice Percy, I can't wait."

"Me neither," Percy told her, and smiled. Maybe he didn't have to be worried. She was just busy, and to be honest, everyone was.

Several minutes later, as he maneuvered himself out of the library, heading to his first class. He smiled and looked to see Annabeth was doing just that same. Yeah, he didn't have to be worried at all.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I just wanted to let you guys know that the next few chapters will be scattered, as they will be longer and harder to write. Some chapters may be posted Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I may have to skip the Monday post, I'm really sorry ):

I've changed my mind on this a lot, about when the story was going to end, because I've just loved to write it so much. Even so, I've made up my mind, and decided that it will end at chapter thirty. If you have any questions, leave them in the reviews and I'll answer them!

Again, thanks a lot. For everything. (: