A/N: Oh my god! I didn't want Annabeth to come off as mean in this story. I just thought if you knew that she had a hard past you would understand. But, I guess I'll work on it.

Chapter 18

Percy

Present day

The engagement party was a trip.

Annabeth and I finally spent time together in a public setting and then I caught her in a room with that guy Luke. I just don't know how to feel. They weren't making out but they did look very comfortable with each other. I couldn't bear to see her get so cozy with someone else. So, I left. I drove around for quite some time. Before I drove back to my apartment and tossed and turned all night long in my apartment.

I heard my doorbell going off. That's strange, I wasn't expecting anyone.

God! Who was here so early in the morning, when I was looking forward to drowning myself in alcohol?

I got up from my bed and opened the door.

"Hey" Annabeth said as she nervously fidgeted with her bag, "may I come in?" she asked.

I slowly moved aside and let her in. What is she doing here?

Suddenly, it hits me. I was still wearing the same shirt from the engagement dinner which was two nights ago with a couple of buttons open and just my boxers. She nervously looks around my place.

Oh god, the blueprints are everywhere!

"Um, I'll change and come, you can make yourself comfortable" I said as I walked to my bedroom.

I quickly unbuttoned my shirt and put on a t-shirt and jeans instead. I rushed outside and awkwardly smiled at her as I picked up all the papers on the ground, on the sofa, on the coffee table, why did I have so many projects?

"I'm sorry about the mess, this is all just work stuff. Do you want something to drink?" I asked as I tried to gather as much as I could.

"Umm…water will do" she said as she picked up and handed me a paper that I had dropped.

I rushed back to my room and dumped all the paper there before I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"I hope you don't mind that I came to your apartment," she said.

My eyes drifted towards her hand.

Damn it! She was holding my tie from last night. I had probably flung it on the couch when I had stormed in that night.

"You didn't like the tie? I can return it" she asked.

"Um, no that's fine, Piper picks out the best stuff" I said and smiled.

"Yeah, she picked out Nico's suit that he wore two days ago"

"Also, this tie, right?" I asked, but she didn't respond.

Had she gotten me this tie? And I in turn had angrily thrown it on the floor.

"Percy, I wanted to talk to you," she said in a very serious tone.

"I know, I'm sorry. I know we aren't together. We aren't even friends. I shouldn't have acted the way I did" I said as I took a seat beside her.

"I… I had something else in mind. But yeah, that's okay"

"Oh, then what did you have in mind?" I asked.

Honestly, this felt nice. She was dressed in a grey shirt that complemented her eyes well, she paired it with some denim shorts which hugged her curves. It almost felt like we were hanging out with each other. Although there was some tension in the air. It still felt nice having her in my apartment.

"It's about Luke," she whispered.

That broke the illusion. It broke the fact that everything felt normal between us. Just that one name had so much power over everything in my life. Suddenly I felt like I was having trouble breathing.

"Umm… If this is about you guys dating. I totally understand you don't-" before I could finish my sentence Annabeth spoke.

"No, we aren't dating" she said and I felt much better. I looked at her and asked her to continue "he told me about what happened that night, he told me everything"

I gulped. What if that guy told her lies and she's here to finish the job? What if she's here to exact revenge after all the pain she thinks I caused her? That bastard.

But before I could say anything, I saw the tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Percy I should have trusted you" I heard her saying before she leaned into me and sobbed.

I wrapped my arms around her and gently stroked her hair.

"You were right, you were telling the truth and I didn't believe you" she said as she hiccupped.

I held onto her and let her weep. Annabeth had never cried when we were together. Sure, she got a little teary when I proposed but she didn't weep like she was weeping on me right now, this was new territory for us.

So, I let her cry onto me for as long as she needed as I held her.

Five years ago

I was taking Annabeth on a date today. It was her idea that we should try to spend time together outside of my apartment where we usually hung out.

"Percy, this is a bar" she said as we stopped in front of the entrance.

"Yeah, they have an amazing selection of games, I thought we could try and beat some records today"

"Percy, I'm not twenty-one yet," she said.

Yes, she was turning twenty-one next month, but I had already planned that out.

"Stop worrying, I have that already under control. Can we go in?" I asked and reached out for her hand before we went in.

I had spoken to a buddy of mine who owns the place and he told me that he didn't mind. Either that or he didn't want to pick a fight with someone in the Mafia, either way, I didn't mind. The place wasn't too busy but it had a fair share of people around here. I ordered two cokes for us and took a seat beside her on the bar stool before our drinks arrived.

"So, what do you want to do first?" I asked.

Just then a big burly guy started cheering. He was standing near the darts.

"I'm unbeatable! Does anyone have the balls to take down my score?" he shouted.

I turned to Annabeth.

Oh no! she had her game face on.

"Annabeth don't!" I said.

"Come on Percy! It will be fun, It's just darts!" She said as she took a sip of her drink.

It wasn't just darts, not for Annabeth at least. She was very competitive and I liked that about her. Sometimes I got to take advantage of the fact but most times I felt like I had to drag her out of difficult situations.

Now don't get me wrong, Annabeth could definitely fend for herself. But I didn't want her to get into unnecessary fights.

"You won't let this one go, will you?" I asked.

She shook her head and grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the darts. Had she even played darts before? Well she had never entered a bar before. I guess I would just have to wait and see what this spiraled into.

"I challenge you" I heard her shout as we reached the guy.

"You? Why are your boyfriend's hands broken?" he asked. I felt myself involuntarily take a step forward but Annabeth put her hand on my chest.

"No, he doesn't play darts with princesses" she said and the crowd went wild.

"That's my girlfriend!" I shouted and pointed at her.

The crowd once again cheered. I looked at Annabeth and saw that even she was laughing.

"So here are the rules, each of us gets three darts. Highest score wins" he explains. I watch Annabeth closely as she hears what the man has to say, "Ladies first" he says and hands her the darts.

She returned the darts back to him "No, princesses first!" she said as she steps back to give him space to throw the darts.

The crowd laughs again as the guy takes the darts in his hand and throws them one by one the board.

I have to say this guy is good. One of his darts even makes it on to the center. Wow! That is really impressive. I just hope Annabeth knows what she is doing.

The crowd cheers for him. I couldn't help but clap too.

Annabeth turns to look at me and I stop.

"What? They were really good throws! But don't worry you got this!" I said and I leaned in to kiss her, but she puts her hands on my chest.

"Let me beat him first, then you can kiss me" she said as she took the darts from the burly guy.

She turned towards the crowd to get them excited.

"Good luck, just so you know that's the highest score of the bar" he said.

I could see that he was trying to rile her up and make her nervous. But Annabeth wasn't some ordinary girl. From the limited information I have of what she does. She's a damn good strategizer for her gang. She isn't going to falter because of some taunts.

I start clapping and cheering her on as the crowd joins in. She turns to me one last time before she takes her position at the line.

Annabeth throws her first dart and the crowd goes quiet. For me it all happens in slow motion. Being the Mafia I was used to these moments when it was do or die and like everything just depended on that one moment.

The dart flies smoothly and lands right in the circle in the center. The crowd claps and cheers her on.

"Big deal, maybe it was just beginners' luck" the burly guy said from his seat.

"Oh yeah maybe it was" she said and threw her second dart.

The dart looks a little too high to go to the center. But the dart flies in a parabolic path and lands right on top of the first one hitting the boundary of the center circle.

"That's not the center! See! I told you beginner's luck!" the burly guy yells before he takes a swing of his beer and laughs.

One of the waiters comes towards us and examines the dart board.

"Nope, the dart is in the center," he said wiping the smile off the burly guy.

"Oh, come on!" the guy yells.

"It's okay princess, I still have one more dart to throw," Annabeth replies as the crowd quiets down.

Can she do it? Can she actually throw three darts and have all of them land in the center?

Now everyone in the bar was paying attention to her. She was attempting to do the impossible. Would her dart actually hit the bullseye again?

Suddenly Annabeth turned around and faced me before she gently shook her head. that was weird, what was she trying to tell me.

Annabeth faced the dart board and threw her last dart. It too took off well, but she missed the bullseye. It landed below it, on the eight. The crows went silent. No one spoke. No one but the big burly guy.

"Ha! I'm still the champion!" he yelled.

But no one spoke.

"Ma'am you broke the record! You broke Malcolm's record by one point" the waiter said as he checked the dart board one last time before erasing, what I'm assuming is the burly guy's name from the chalkboard, "what's your name?"

"It's Annabeth" she said as she watched the waiter write her name.

The crowd went nuts as Annabeth walked towards the burly guy and shook his hand before she walked towards me and kissed me passionately on my lips.

She held onto my hand and led me back to the barstool.

"Wow Annabeth, that was impressive! And that too by one point!" I said as I kissed her again.

"Yeah, that was the difficult part" she said as she took a sip of her drink.

"Wait, you purposefully didn't go for the center on the last one?" I asked her as she nodded.

"A normal person couldn't just throw three darts at the center. I didn't want people questioning my cover so I aimed for the eight" she explained.

Wow, she really did have an amazing aim.

Present day

I felt Annabeth calm down as she gently sniffled against me. I knew my shirt was wet, but I didn't mind. I was holding her again and this time she knew everything. I didn't cause her all that pain.

Her hair smelled like coconut, or was it her skin. Either way, I loved it.

Annabeth suddenly looked up at me.

"I didn't mean to break down on you" she said as she rubbed the tears that were still on her face.

"It's okay" I said as I took her face in my hands and rested my forehead against her while my thumbs stroked her cheeks.

I had never been so close to her, not for the past five years. Funnily enough this all I have been craving for all these years. To touch her, to feel her so close to me.

I felt her hand on my cheek as her thumb traced the corner of my lips. I lightly pecked her thumb and saw a smile forming on her lips before she leaned up and pressed hers onto mine.

She pulled my head toward her as she deepened the kiss.

I was in heaven.

I was kissing the love of my life again. She was here right next to me, in my arms kissing me back. I never thought that I's get to kiss her again. That we were most likely done and I'd have to live my life knowing that Annabeth thought that I killed her father, that she hated me. But right now, everything felt alright. Her lips were softer than I remembered, softer than I imagined. Her hands that were around my head pulled me closer, towards her while her fingers played with the hair on the nape of my head. I felt her lowering herself to the couch, so I moved one of my hands to the couch to steady our descend, even though I wanted to feel more of her I didn't want to stumble and fall on her. I felt her legs cradling my waist and eventually wrapping around me.

Just then, the doorbell rang. I felt Annabeth pulling away but I drew her closer. Whoever it was could wait a couple of more seconds. But the doorbell rang again.

Thud thud thud

"Orlando police department open up!"

That was strange, why were the police here? I pulled away from Annabeth as she looked up with me. She had a worried expression on her face. But I gestured to her to be seated while I dealt with this.

I opened the door and found two detectives at my door.

"What is this about?" I asked.

"Have you had any contact with Miss Piper Mc clean?" one of the detectives asked.

Annabeth walked towards the door and stood beside me.

"What is it? What happened to Piper?" she asked.

"She has been reported missing"

A/N: Yes, I am that evil and just couldn't give you guys the satisfaction of a happy ending just yet ?