Chapter number twenty! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Pretty sure Uncle Rick doesn't write mortal AU's about his characters breaking up (and getting back together), but that's just my thought.

Annabeth was surprised when she saw the girl, who had been kissing Percy at the bar, sitting in the cab she was in. But then she'd talked to her, and despite feeling just a tiny bit jealous (okay, maybe more than that) about the entire thing, the girl- her name was Rachel, was really nice.

And in the end, she thought she'd made a new friend. She'd even gotten Rachel's number.

The problem was, she couldn't tell Rachel about her relation to Percy. Because as cool as Rachel was, she wasn't sure how cool she'd be if she told her that she was the ex of her boyfriend.

So that was the situation, and it wasn't great. In fact, it was blatantly horrible. When she talked to Rachel in that cab, she felt like she was lying to her every second of it.

But Annabeth knew that Percy had done well when he got with Rachel. She was nice, and although Annabeth had this sick, inner jealousy of her now (she couldn't deny it anymore), even she liked the girl.

And yeah, she had officially admitted she was jealous, to herself. As bad as it sounds, Annabeth had always thought she was Percy's number one girl. His favorite. She knew she shouldn't continue this way of thinking, it was hard. When she lived in California, she'd always thought about it- if Percy ever moved on and started dating someone else. This would lead her to these little social media stalkings, and eventually, she'd give up.

And although she had tried to convince herself not to think that way- the path that sent her down to the shaky idea that she wasn't over Percy. She had started going down that path the minute she saw him again, even if she hadn't noticed it.

Annabeth hated herself for it. So much. She hated that she was jealous of Percy having a nice girl- for him moving on. Because as she soon realized, she hadn't. And even though she wanted to get to know the girl- Rachel, she was envious- oh, so envious of her.

And envy wasn't a good look on anyone.

Later that night, her phone pinged with a text, from Rachel- they had added each other to their contacts. It asked her if she wanted to have coffee together, and Annabeth readily accepted. Maybe this would get her the closure she was dying to find.

Annabeth asked if she could bring Piper, and Rachel said yes, along with a smiley emoji. She said that she was free all week, and they arranged to hang out the next day. Annabeth tried to smile, but it was hard. Really hard.

She winced, a picture of Percy coming into her mind as soon as she closed her eyes. She opened them quickly, trying to block it from her memory, block him from her memory.

And soon enough, she fell asleep, in her bed, and snored the night away, bringing herself to the world of dreams.

"Percy," She saw herself saying, as she reached out to the man in front of her, "I love you. I always have." It was so cliche, she thought to herself, but no matter to that. She was the onlooker. The one that watched. This wasn't reality, and so she could enjoy the cliche while it lasted.

The man- Percy, looked at the dream version of Annabeth, his eyes twinkling ever so slightly, with something that she couldn't quite identify. "And so have I," Percy said, but it didn't sound like Percy- not the real Percy.

The real Percy had something else in his voice, something that was distinctly him, something that dream Percy didn't have. Annabeth tried to shake herself out of the dream- to change television channels.

So she did, but the next dream was much worse, Percy was there, still there, but his once clean and immaculate body was covered with blood, it was gruesome, and it made her want to cry.

And then, he was falling to the ground, crying out to her, but Annabeth couldn't do anything. She just watched as he fell. As he died.

That's when she woke up, huffing and puffing, in and out. She looked at the little alarm clock next to her, which read six o'clock. Annabeth knew she wouldn't be able to go to sleep, so she tried to occupy herself in other ways. She read on her kindle, then switched to her phone, and watched Youtube until that got boring.

Then she started to write in a notebook. She always kept a notebook by her bed, just in case there was something she wanted to remember. It wasn't a journal, per say, but more of a record of her thoughts. It had journal entry sure, but overall, it had a bunch of random quotes, jokes, sketches and ideas scrawled in blue ink through it.

Her pen- she always used the same pen for it. It was gray and white, with a nice stabilizer on it, so it fit into her hand perfectly. The ink was blue, and never splattered or stained.

She didn't know why she was focusing on such miniscule things, but it did help her mind go elsewhere. It kept her mind off of the imminent trouble. The fact that she still cared about Percy, and that her dream practically told her she still loved him.

But that couldn't be true.

She had done everything she could for the last couple of years to keep him out of her mind. Hell, there were months on end she hadn't thought about him. Okay, maybe those months were weeks, and maybe those weeks were days, but at least her mind hadn't been plagued by the idea with him.

What sucked about it all, was that she hadn't even had a nice, calm conversation with him since she got back. She'd screamed at him, and treated him rudely, ignored him, done so many things that would send red-flags.

And despite that, even just one reaction had turned her entire body alert- no matter how full of malice it was.

The problem with it all, was that he probably hated her for it. It was toxic, she realized, the behavior she had exhibited. Absolutely toxic, and maybe that was something she'd have to change.

She couldn't wait for Percy Jackson though. She had only a couple months to stay here, and he was dating someone else. So getting back with him romantically? That was a pipe dream.

But maybe, becoming his friend again, would be more realistic. And then, she could see what would happen from there. Because as much as she liked- well, loved- Percy, she knew that she shouldn't- couldn't interfere with his relationship.

She had to move on from him, quickly. As fast as she could. Because this wasn't a good situation for anyone to be in.

Good job Annabeth, finally admitting to yourself you love Percy, you deserve a pat on the back. You know, with this chapter, I was just writing it to write it, so I could get out of this little writer's block I was having, so I'm sorry that it's not my best.

But either way, I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'd love for you to tell me what you think in a review- they always brighten my day! Stay safe and healthy!

TheLil'Lion