Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter! By the way, I posted a one-shot the other day, called "a little more than forever," I'd appreciate it if you could check it out and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. Rick Riordan is not me.

Jesus Christ, Annabeth thought, rubbing her eyes as she looked at herself in the mirror. Why didn't anyone tell me I look like complete shit?

When Annabeth had gotten home, she fell onto her bed, her cheeks hot and her eyes watery. She didn't know what to think about the day, just that she was glad that it was over. Percy, Mr. D, everything that had happened, it didn't feel great.

And what was worse, was that Rachel and her were becoming friends, genuine friends. Honesty was one of the most important things in friendship, so at some point, she'd have to tell Rachel everything. But that point wasn't now. She couldn't let it be now.

Especially right after admitting to herself the stupid feelings she had for Percy. It would have been so much easier if she could just get over him, like a normal person. In fact, it would have made all of this so much better. There would be no hard feelings. Maybe they could even be friends.

But since when could exes become friends? When did that work? It wouldn't work for Annabeth and Percy, she knew that.

Damnit, why did this have to be so hard? She put her head on the sink, wanting to just disappear. That would certainly give her some perspective. Maybe even closure.

She laughed, what the hell was closure? How had she thought she could ever get closure in a situation like this. It seemed impossible, and improbable. She took her head out of the sink, and walked out of the bathroom, to see Piper splayed out on their couch, looking up to the ceiling.

"What's up with you?" She said, trying to keep a strong frontier for her. Piper was the one that was hurting now. She'd been concerned with her own personal problems for far too long.

Piper turned to her, and then went back to her position. "I think I actually like him." She said quietly. "I mean, I don't just want to hook up with him. I just- it's stupid. He's my boss. My literal boss. I've always been adamant about not wanting that."

Annabeth went over to Piper, "Scooch," She said, and sat next to her. "Piper, I know how you feel. Jason saying that was a mistake, it wasn't okay. But…" She winced, thinking about how hypocritical it was of her to say this. "If you like him, if you want him, go for it. The only person stopping you, is well, you."

Piper groaned, "Why is all this romance shit so hard?" She sighed, "In California, most guys liked the no strings attached thing. I liked the no strings attached thing. This town is changing me. Plus, even if we did do that whole relationship thing, we're leaving town in a couple of months. What's the point of it?"

Right, they were leaving in just two months. Annabeth constantly had to remind herself of that. The fact that after those months were over, she'd be back in California, in her apartment, living the life she'd always dreamed of. This town had always been too small for her. Might as well just embrace the idea she'd be leaving. Wishful thinking always led to disappointment, and Annabeth Chase would not be disappointed.

Subconsciously, she clicked to her social media, and to Percy's page. She mindlessly scrolled through his photos- pictures of him next to girls she recognized from school, an unnatural amount of shirtless photos from highschool when he was on the swim team. She was torturing herself, she knew that.

They'd both deleted most of the post of them together after the break up, but as Annabeth scolled, she came across some that made her heart beat a little bit faster.

She got to one, of her kissing Percy on the cheek, in front of a big plate of fries. She remembered that day. It was captioned: "The only person in the world I'd share my snacks with."

And because she wanted to get a glimpse of what the relationship had once been, she scrolled through the comments. "Relationship goals," one of them said, with a heart eyed emoji next to it. Yeah, that's what they once were. That obviously in love couple that would kiss in the hallways, and walk hand in hand to class. It was strange to see how much they had changed since then.

Each of the comments said basically the same thing, how they were perfect, how they looked cute, it was absurd how much love was given to them. But then again, they were the golden couple. Perfect, picturesque, and popular, that's what Annabeth and Percy were.

A power couple, their friends called them, all the time. At lunch, they'd always find a way to slink out and kiss under the bleachers, or the janitors closet, wherever was convenient. Those were good memories. Annabeth didn't think that there were any flaws in their relationship until the end of it.

The end of it, Annabeth sometimes wondered if it was her fault. But she always reminded herself, it wasn't her fault she wanted to pursue her dreams. It was Percy's fault that he didn't want to at least try. That was all Annabeth had asked for. For them to hold on, for as long as they could, until the knot broke, and they seperated.

Now Annabeth knew why she couldn't move on. Because their relationship had been so damn perfect. Sure, they had arguments, but they were always resolved. They agreed on the important stuff, and those petty fights that would last at most, one day would never be held on to.

She scrolled back up to the top of his profile and to his most recent picture. It wasn't anything special, just a little landscape. It didn't look like he'd posted since she'd gotten here. The page was quiet. She tried to get out of the photo, but accidentally double tapped.

Shit. She'd liked the photo. She wasn't even following Percy, so he'd know she was stalking him immediately. She frantically unliked it, but it was too late. He'd probably already seen. What a pisser.

She turned to see Piper, who had fallen to sleep on the couch. She did have a lot to drink, Annabeth decided, and left her there. Everything would settle in soon for her.

She looked back at her phone, and as a follow notification popped up. She checked it, and pushed her phone against the coffee table, which stood in front of the couch.

"Percy Jackson started following you." It read. She slapped herself in the face, the stupidity of this all made her want to burst. This really wasn't good.

She shut her phone off, and put it down to charge. Dealing with this shit in the morning was the only thing she could do. It was late, and she was tired, and maybe when she woke up the next morning, this would all be a dream.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this chapter. It was kind of filler, just to get the next stage of the plot moving. But I hope you guys enjoyed it!

I hope everyone is safe and healthy! I think that's it for now, but yeah! Have an excellent morning/afternoon/evening/night.

TheLil'Lion

Replies:

HoO Storys, I'm not sure, but I think that there will be about ten to fifteen more chapters. The KBHK sequel will come right after that, or maybe even as I write, I'm not sure.

Caelus226, Thank you so much! I'm very glad that you are enjoying it, and like I said above, I think there will be up to fifteen more chapters.