Ugh, I'm so sorry for the delay guys. I've been planning out the next chapters of this book and the new story that will be out after this is over!

Anyway, I hope you like this one:

Later that day, as Percy was leaving the school with Annabeth this time, as they were meeting up straight after, he noticed the strange looks he was getting by people, specifically Drew. It made him wonder how other people saw them, but most of all, made Percy come to the idea that he didn't really care what people thought.

But maybe Annabeth did. From the way she was scanning the crowd of high schoolers, the way she covered her chest with her notebook, her body language told him that yeah, she cared.

He attempted to reach out his hand, but his crutches prohibited him from doing so. He resumed swinging his broken leg with one crutch, and cradling his arm with the other.

They soon got off of school grounds, Percy swinging with his crutches, and Annabeth walking slowly along with him so she didn't leave him behind.

"So," He said, hoping to fill the silence hanging over the two of them. "How's the story going?" They hadn't talked about it in a while, mostly straying away from the subject.

"Pretty good." Annabeth said quietly. "I'm sort of having writer's block right now though, despite having mapped out the entire story. I've only been able to write one thousand words in the last two days which is below average for me."

Writer's block, Percy had heard his mother talk about that before, especially when she was stressed about her deadlines. As someone who only wrote out of obligation, Percy couldn't confess to never having experienced it, but he had heard of it.

"That sucks," he told her, "Is there a way I can help? Be your inspiration?"

Annabeth laughed. "My muse," she said. "No, that's sweet Percy, but I'm good."

"Well," he told her, "I'd like to think I'd be a pretty good muse."

"With looks like those of course," Annabeth said, and laughed.

Percy shook his head and laughed. She was teasing him. "Don't feed my ego."

"Like you have an ego." She said, it was nice that they were bantering- they'd gone back in forth, teasing each other during lunch. This their first date together- her first date period, and he wanted to make it special.

Sure, bubble tea wasn't something huge or extravagant, but he was hoping to convince her after that to spend the rest of the afternoon with her, maybe catch a movie or something like that. Cliche first date stuff seemed the safest, but it could also make Annabeth feel comfortable.

What was funny to him, about this entire situation, was that they'd been dating for a month, and had not been on a date, or even kissed.

That was fine, he was sure since this was Annabeth's first relationship, so she probably wanted to take it slow. Sure, there were times that Percy wanted to lean forward and just give her a quick peck on the lips, but he always withdrew.

That didn't matter. They were moving toward, and both of them seemed to get a little bit more confident in the relationship.

Soon, they arrived at the bubble tea shop, talking and walking (or swinging, in Percy's case) as they went along. Stopping in front of it, Annabeth turned to Percy, and opened the door for him, and Percy went in first, closely followed by Annabeth.

He smiled down at her, and they went to order their drinks. Percy looked at the menu and in an instant, decided. "Blueberry flavored tea with boba."

"That took you long enough," Annabeth laughed at him. "I don't know." She scanned the menu for a couple seconds longer. "Lemon, please."

The cashier nodded, and they paid. After the drinks were delivered, Percy led Annabeth to a table closer to the back.

"So," Annabeth started. "What's your thing with blueberries. Or, I guess, blue in general. I mean, your backpack is blue, so is your binder, basically everything."

Percy laughed, half out of obligation, half out of bitterness. This story was a good one, but it would bring back memories of bad ones. Specifically, Gabe. "Um," He started, "I was in what? Third grade when my mom married Gabe. He was…" Percy hesitated. "Not a great guy. I mean, he was nice and all before the marriage, but when he moved on he was just-" Percy searched for the right word but couldn't find it. "Awful, he finished.

"Oh." Percy could see the sympathy in her eyes.

"Kind of abusive," Percy elborated, "When I look back on it. But anyway, I really liked the color blue, and my mom being the awesome person she is, baked blue cookies one day."

"Gabe hated it. Absolutely despised it." Percy would always look on that time bitterly- when darkness drowned out all the light. "But my mom kept making them, it was our own form of rebellion. Since then, it's been blue, water bottles, food, backpacks."

"Wow," Annabeth's eyes were widened. "I mean, that's horrible, I'm sorry you have to deal with that."

Percy shook his head. "Had to." He corrected. "They divorced years ago, I finally 'snitched' that's what he called it- no him, and they caught him and found proof of abuse. So it's all good now."

"I don't want to prode, but it doesn't seem like it's 'all good,'" Annabeth said seriously.

"Not completely, but it's better."

She nodded. "That's good."

Exhaling, Percy took a sip of his drink, and shifted his crutches over so they wouldn't fall on the floor. "Anyway," He kind of wanted to move on from this conversation, but he knew that this is one they should have. "What's your 'childhood trauma story?'"

"Well, you saw Helen." Annabeth said. "My mom left when I was young."

Percy leaned forward. "What?" He said to her,

Annabeth laughed. "It's fine, I don't really miss her. I don't have many memories of her, but then there's Helen, and that's a whole other thing I have to deal with."

"Oh." Percy said. "I mean, that sucks that you haven't seen your mom."

"I guess so. But I don't really care if I do or don't" -that seemed like a lie from just looking at the expression on Annabeth's face- "and if I did, that would be fine, I guess, but she wouldn't really be like my mom. I mean, Helen's definitely not my mom, but she's closer than my actual mother is."

The two of them continued to talk about things, stuff- ranging from more serious stuff, to fluff. In the end, as they were leaving, Percy convinced Annabeth to spend the rest of the afternoon with him.

That way the happy feeling in his chest that appeared whenever he was with Annabeth wouldn't leave.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

And now, some replies:

SupersizeMcshizl, honestly, I can't believe I've gotten this far either. I'm so flattered by your compliments, and don't worry, your reviews could never get annoying. They are just motivation to me. (: Also, I didn't mention this last chapter, but after the epilogue is posted, I will have a longer authors note explaining which story I will be writing next. Also, the first chapter of the story will be posted upon the arrival of the epilogue. (:

HoO Stories, yeah, the last chapter was a bit confusing, but when I wrote it, it was mostly just Percy's overthinking that caused that. Some things will have to be resolved between the two, which you'll find out soon!

T minus three chapters left!