Hi! Again! We're onto chapter eighteen! Which, you know, is good. I guess. Anyway, right now I don't really have that much to say, soooo…I dunno. *Insert the happy Author's Note she can't bring herself to give* Okay. There's your happy Author's Note, all inserted and such. You can imagine what I might have said in a happier mood, at least I think you can. *Insert smile* And there's your smile.

So now…review responses:

WinterOwlet: I think you meant Oof, but I don't really know. It doesn't matter too much. And thanks! Yes. Lukabeth is bad, and now the Lukabeth is gone! Thanks again!

Reader12859: Yes. Writing them awkward is actually easier than I thought it would be, which I suppose is a good thing. But yeah…Annabeth broke up with Percy. And he left for reasons that will be explained in this chapter. Everyone is worried about Annabeth for a few reasons. One: anorexia, two: she was the only one they were able to really be in contact with, some more reasons…but anyway here was that opinion thing, I added it in. This chapter has like…7 plot points…we'll see how it goes. Piper is going to be…very happy.

ThatGirlWithaCat: Sweet beginnings? Um, I'm not really sure what you mean, but I'll just disregard it all because I probably won't get a straight answer…
Yes. This is Chapter Seventeen, and it's only going to go to Chapter Twenty Five, so yes, that is eight chapters to get to Percabeth, and deal with Annabeth's anorexia, which, you know, happens through all the chapters even if it's not explicitly shown. And no, we can't forget about the anorexia.
Yes. I brought up the Comic Sans. I still don't know what's wrong with it, it's a fun, casual font. And yes. You do need to show me your piece about it because I like Comic Sans. I know you were reading it. You always are. And yes. You still were at the time.
I know. You don't like fluff. It even says so on your profile somewhere, which is kinda weird but you do you. It's okay in the right thing.
I always thought Annabeth wasn't quite as close to Hazel as she was to Piper- Hazel was closer to Frank and Percy and you know, Nico and perhaps Leo. I would think Annabeth was closer to Piper than she was to Hazel as they knew each other for months longer and things like that. But IDK. That's just my take on it.
Thanks.

If everyone who sees this would go onto my profile page and vote in the poll at the top, I'd be really really grateful.

Percy's POV. We'll start off with a flashback scene, because I want to write pain. I'm not a sadist or anything, just so you know. I just, ah…want to write pain…cause that's not weird. At all. Anyways: Expect an angry chapter, for reasons I don't really want to talk about…

So:

Percy knocked on the door of the all-too-familiar apartment door, his heart in his throat. Maybe even literally…after the events of what felt like years ago, but had been maybe less than a day, he had been feeling like his heart was in his throat and trying to exit his body, perhaps fly back to California.

"Percy!" his mother's face greeted him, and even the warm surprise on her face and the joy couldn't lift him up as usual. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying with Annabeth for Winter Break?" at the sound of his girlfriend's- no, no, his ex-girlfriend's name, Percy stiffened slightly, giving his mother only a sad smile.

"Plans changed." He didn't elaborate, and his mother, seeing something wrong, bit her lip in perplexity and stepped aside to let him in. "Annabeth and I broke up." He added after a moment, barely aware of his mother stiffening from where she reached to remove his bag and drawing it away gently after a moment and moving into the background as Percy sat on the couch. "We- we had a fight…and she said some things, I said some things, and then she told me to get out, and I- I did…" Percy paused for a moment. "Did I do the right thing?" He felt his mother tense just for a moment, unsure of how to answer. Percy didn't blame her. If she'd told him this same thing, he wouldn't be sure how to respond either.

"I don't know. I think that Annabeth needed space in that particular moment, and you gave her her space, in a big way." She was silent. Percy hadn't been expecting her to say that he'd done the right thing, and she hadn't said that he'd done something wrong…he just hadn't done it exactly right, was what it was. "Are you okay, baby?" her voice was gentle, she hadn't called him her baby for years- but he could understand why. He'd broken up with Annabeth. And flown all the way to New York. It had been a really dramatic mood that Percy couldn't really understand at the moment, but he had done it all the same.

"No." his voice wavered- he hadn't particularly wanted to say 'no', he was supposed to be one of the most powerful demigods alive, he was a son of Poseidon- but he couldn't lie to his mother. He never could have.

Especially not about Annabeth. She'd loved her like a daughter, after all. Percy only felt his mother give him a small squeeze.

"I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault." He said futilely, and it was true, that it wasn't Sally Jackson's fault, Percy had been the one to run away from the breaking relationship. This was all his fault, right? Personal loyalty. It had failed him this time.

"Well, it isn't yours." He stared at her with something that bordered disbelief, how could she say it wasn't his fault when he'd ruined it when he ran away? Of course it was his fault. He'd failed Annabeth.

"What? I ran away! If I had stayed and tried to talk it all out, I might still have a girlfriend. I might still have Annabeth." She nodded, she knew this was, at least partially true, but Percy knew she didn't really understand the guilt.

Annabeth had always wanted to build something permanent. For a while, it had looked, a little bit at least, as if their relationship might be that something permanent that she'd told him she'd wanted to build so long ago. He'd wanted her to build that something permanent, and now he wouldn't see it built. He wouldn't be the man on Annabeth's arm at architecture work parties, she wouldn't say 'I have a boyfriend' to anyone that flirted with her, she wouldn't roll her beautiful eyes at him all the time and yell at him to put down the toilet seat.

"No, Percy." She was tired, he could tell. "Annabeth told you to leave. And however much she loves to debate and I don't think you could have fixed this." Percy freezes then- how long had this been going on? They hadn't seen his mom, together,since Thanksgiving when she and Paul insisted that they have them over, and there hadn't been anything bad then, right?

Had it really been so sour that his mom and Paul could see it so far back?

"She broke your heart, Percy. Let's focus on you." She was sad for him, he knew, but it didn't change the pain in her tone. Because Annabeth had had a really good relationship with Annabeth too, she'd been like her daughter, and here he was, announcing that he had let Annabeth get away.

He remembered the advice she'd given him for his first date with her. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

"Don't be, Percy."

Percy wiped his eyes a moment before hearing the little bell on the door ring with a new customer- he needed to stop focusing on the whole Annabeth thing, really. He regretted that a moment later when the new customer he'd heard the door open for had the same familiar golden blonde curls and the familiar slate gray, sparkling eyes. She gave him a small smile as she headed to the counter. His throat was just a little dry, somehow.

Annabeth's school semester had started just a week ago and Piper had explained to Percy that she had thrown herself into studying, and didn't have time for anyone, let alone Percy, not even Piper. It stung a bit, but he couldn't understand. That architecture degree was important to her, really important. He was surprised to see her in this coffee shop.

Percy himself was only in the coffee shop because he'd gotten a job here, after all he'd be here a while, in New Rome. He might as well have some semblance of a normal life while he was here- and this was the coffee shop he'd watched Annabeth in early in the break, when he'd arrived.

He wasn't watching her now, of course, definitely not. "Black coffee, please." He looked up, she was at the counter now, he noticed her right hand absentmindedly tapping on the counter, similar to Leo and his Morse code, though Percy didn't think she was writing anything. He wouldn't know though, as he'd never bothered to learn Morse code.

Percy raised his eyebrows the slightest bit. "Black?" Annabeth didn't used to drink black coffee. He'd already thought about this, he knew, but he could give it some more thought. He said nothing else, but Annabeth seemed to get the message, flushing slightly.

"Yeah, um, black." She paused for a moment before rushing on. "I've found a liking for it in the past year." She said nothing else, and Percy didn't press, instead turning to make the black coffee for her. It wasn't his business really, but he was interested all the same.

He handed her the coffee silently, she took it with a little nod and a thanks, a quiet one. They'd eased into a friendship, but it didn't mean interacting with each other wasn't odd at times, especially when IT was brought up. And the topic of black coffee was somehow quite close to IT.

Percy nodded and watched as she moved toward her table, sitting down, with a small bookbag and a piece of paper and started writing, or drawing, it looked like another architecture blueprint. She was looking better. A lot better. Her hair was shinier and her eyes brighter, and she didn't have the sallow look on her skin. They'd both come far. The thought made him smile, but he frowned as his phone vibrated- his mother calling. "Hi, Mom." Annabeth looked up for a slight second at this- she'd probably missed her, he reflected, and glanced at her for a second before stepping back slightly. "How're you, Paul, and Stella?"

"We're all doing well, Estelle misses you." He smiled at that, his baby sister, almost two decades younger than him, had a special place in his heart. "How are you? How's Annabeth?" he thought about that one for a moment, unsure.

"I'm doing okay, I think…she is too?" his mother's next words couldn't hide the disappointment, and Percy cringed for a moment.

"Well, that's good." He knew she'd been hoping for something more, but she said nothing of it and just continued lightly. "And…is it alright, seeing her? Percy, I know you say you're okay and all but I want the truth. She broke your heart." Percy glanced at Annabeth, a curl lying on her cheek, biting her thumbnail, a picture of innocence. Her eyes were soft and matched the dark storm clouds in the sky, and she looked so small. Like she'd shatter at the smallest thing.

"Yeah, actually. It's- it's been easier than I expected." He heard a slight sigh on his mother's end, one of relief, perhaps? "It's given closure." He thought for a moment and spoke again. "We're healing."