A/N: Heads up! There are only a couple of more chapters left in this story and I still haven't decided if I want a happy ending or just… kill em all.

Chapter 16

Percy

Present day

It has been one long week. I have been under so much stress with the beach house. It was one of the biggest projects I had done and I was very nervous. There was no other reason I felt so suffocated. That was it. I was just stressed about my project and nothing else. No one else has been on my mind either. It's just the work that has got me so frazzled.

I thought if I told this to myself, I'd get her out of my head. But unfortunately, it was of no use. The weekend had done a number on me. Seeing her after all these years hurt. She was no longer mine. She was just Piper's friend or as Nico told me the other day, Piper's maid of honor.

Oh yes! The wedding was definitely happening. Great, another thing to look forward to. Well, at least the beach house isn't on my mind. I just finalized the deal and was heading to Nico's apartment to pick him up.

Today was the engagement party and Piper had invited the both of us. I'm pretty sure that Annabeth must have tried to convince her otherwise. But oh well. At least I get to see her one more time.

Maybe this time my nightmares might find a better story to haunt me. Ever since the beach house I have been having a weird nightmare. They have integrated themselves into new memories.

Previously, I would see her pointing her gun at me and shooting me, just like the time she actually did all those years ago. But now, I see her shooting me at the beach. I see her shooting me all over the beach house. I guess it's great that my dreams are finding new inspiration. Who doesn't like to be haunted by their past, especially for something that wasn't their fault?

I reached Nico's apartment and rang the bell.

He opened the door in his usual goth attire.

"Nico! Why aren't you dressed yet? Piper is going to be pissed!" I said as I walked into his apartment and closed the door behind me.

"It will literally take me five minutes, '' he said, not moving from the couch. I kicked his leg to get him moving "Before I forget, Piper sent over a tie for you" he said as he closed his bedroom door.

"Just for me?"

"No, I got one too, duh!"

Damn, for a moment I thought Annabeth had sent over the tie but oh well, she hates me and there is literally nothing I can do to change her mind.

On our last day at the beach, just after Jason and Piper announced that they were engaged, I dragged Annabeth into the kitchen and told her the truth. I told her everything that happened that night, how I had been played and how our love had paid the price. But she didn't believe me. Life was really great and most times it wasn't. The love of my life hates me even after knowing the truth, the whole truth.

Anyway, I picked up the box that was placed on the coffee table.

Wow! The tie was incredible. It was the exact color of my eyes. I didn't know Piper could have found such a perfect tie for me. But she did study fashion, so if she had set her mind on something, she made sure that she got it.

She usually helped out Nico with outfits, she said that I was fine and rarely needed help dressing up. But I appreciate this.

I took off my boring old black tie before tying the new one in its place. Damn, not only did the tie match my eyes well but it matched my suit too.

Just then Nico exited from his room with his tie in his hand.

"Here" I said as I took the tie from his hand and tied it around his neck.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Meh!" I said but I was sure my smile told him otherwise.

Five years ago

I nervously fidgeted with the box in my hand. I was getting nervous by the second.

What if she said no?

What if she laughed in my face?

What if she left me, because she doesn't find me worthy?

Oh god! I need to clear my head. But I couldn't help but let these thoughts in. Yes, we had barely been dating for a year, well eleven months actually. My initial plan was to propose to her on our one-year anniversary. But I need to do it now. I feel like I literally cannot breathe without asking her to marry me.

I have the perfect plan. I will take her for a walk on the beach and just when the sun is about to set, I'll go down on my knee and ask her to be my wife.

It's been a longtime since we have taken a walk on the beach. It was our thing. We'd walk hand in hand, sometimes we'd talk but mostly we'd walk in silence just enjoying being around each other.

"Hey Percy? You have been staring off for quite some time. Everything okay?" I heard her ask as she waved her hand in front of my face.

"Umm, yeah. Do you want to go out for a walk?" I asked.

"Are you serious?"

Oh my god, I didn't even ask her to marry me and she has already rejected me. That has got to be a bad sign isn't it?

"What? Why?" I asked as I felt myself panicking.

"It's pouring out!"

Damn it! How often did it rain in Florida? Moreover, why did it have to rain now? When I was about to propose to her?

Present Day

I felt suffocated. I have managed to talk to so many of Jason's aunts as each one of them kissed me on my lips. What was with this family? Was this normal? I turned around to see Jason being kissed by another one of his aunts as Piper laughed beside him. He was angrily rubbing his lips as he looked at me. I just raised my glass at him.

Suddenly I felt someone tapping my shoulder.

"I'm sorry but I'm all out of kisses, but I'm pretty sure Jason-" I stopped mid-sentence as I turned around to find Annabeth.

"It's okay, I'm not here for" I saw her swallow a lump "Umm… Kisses"

She looked beautiful. She had her hair in soft curls as she fell on her back. She had light makeup on but it just made her eyes look more pretty. She was wearing a red dress and her lipstick complemented her dress well. There was one word for how Annabeth looked, she looked hot.

"So, maid of honor huh?" I asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm Jason's sister and you are Piper's brother, it's best if we try to keep things civil between us" she said and took a swig of her champagne.

"Civil?"

"Smile for pictures, but stay as far away as possible. Talk but not flirt" I almost laughed at that, I didn't flirt with her on purpose, it just came out of me "Percy! I'm serious!" she said.

"Okay, I'll try," I said.

This felt nice, we were technically fighting but it was playful. Suddenly Annabeth looked away from me at this man who waved at her. Had Annabeth moved on? The man was pretty tall but he looked older than us. He was well built and looked very handsome.

"I… I have to go" she said as she walked towards him.

There it was, the pain was back. I felt my bullet wound hurt. It had been five years, why was it still so sensitive? I just need to relax.

Piper suddenly approached me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"That's Luke," she said.

"I didn't ask-"

"Yeah yeah, pretend all you want. You like her, of course seeing her with another man makes you jealous"

I was not jealous, was I?

"So? Who is he?" I asked as I watched him leading her outside.

Annabeth looked at me briefly. Was this man trouble? All she had to do was nod and I'd go running towards her and fight that man off. But Annabeth simply shook her head and smiled at me.

So, I looked at Piper and waited for her to tell me about him.

"Luke was her father's close friend. She liked him a lot, I mean look at him he's so handsome. Back when we were kids, he was her best friend. But they drifted apart as Luke started working for her father. He was every woman's dream. I mean if I wasn't engaged, I would have totally made out with him right now"

"Piper…" I said trying to get her to finish her story.

"Oh yeah sorry. Actually Annabeth and Luke made out a couple of times" Piper said as I almost spit out my drink. "Yeah but she never dated him, not that I know of"

Well that was a relief, wasn't it?

"All right! Thank you very much" I said, I didn't want to hear anything more about the two of them.

"Just get to her in time. Okay?" she said as she nudged my arm to get my attention.

"Hmm"

So much for keeping things 'civil'

Suddenly Annabeth walked to Jason as Piper led me towards him as well.

"Jason, why do you look so stressed?" she asked.

"There is a knot in my back that won't go away" he answered, pointing to his back.

"What! The new massage place didn't help?" I heard Piper ask him as he shook his head.

"Here, let me help you," Annabeth said as she went to his back.

Oh no! This isn't going to end well. I still remember the time Annabeth massaged me. I had never known that much pain until I got shot and her ghost started haunting me.

"OW!" Jason screamed, "What are you doing Annabeth?" he asked as he removed her hands from his back.

"I'm giving you a massage"

"A massage is supposed to relieve pain, not cause it!" He yelled back.

"What? I used to give Piper massages all the time, before she got allergic" she said and pointed out, but Piper looked anywhere but at her.

"She's not allergic to anything!" Jason yelled out.

"What? Look Percy loves my massages" she said as she walked towards me and firmly pressed her hands on my back. "See! He likes it"

I couldn't help but make faces as my body cried out in pain.

"No, he's in pain!" Piper said as she looked at me.

"No, he isn't," Annabeth replied.

"Yes, he is" I said as I no longer felt Annabeth's hands on me.

"What? You lied to me?" she said as I turned around to face her "I can't believe you do that. What else have you been lying about?" she asked.

I'm sure no one understood what she meant by that but I did, she was asking about what I told her at the kitchen that day. She was asking if I had lied to her about her dad.

Before I could answer she took off running.

"Give her some time Percy, she'll be back '' Jason said as he straightened out his shoulder and handed me another glass of champagne.

It had been a couple of minutes but Annabeth hadn't returned. I kept on looking at her general direction, I even glanced around the room but she was nowhere to be seen. So, I excused myself from the group and started looking for her. I wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying anyway.

I walked towards the room I saw her going into and I opened the door. There they were, sitting way too close to each other as he kissed her on her cheek.

Was I too late? Was she dating this guy now? I don't need this. I… I need to get out of here.

"Percy!" I heard her call out to me. But I didn't stop. I made my way downstairs to my car and got in.

"Damn it!" I said as I hit the steering wheel.

I know Annabeth and I weren't dating but it really hurt to see her so close to someone else, so comfortable with someone she fooled around with. I was supposed to be that guy she opened up to, the guy she told all her secrets to, the guy sitting with her in some random room of the plaza. But I wasn't.

I put the key in and drove off, I needed to get that image out of my head and I hoped driving would do that for me.

A/N: Let me know in the reviews how you are liking this series so far and I will crank out chapters faster. Heads up, the next chapter will take a few more days.