Hey guys! I hope that you'll enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: Only one out of the 7.594 billion people in the world are Uncle Rick, and so I'd have to be pretty lucky to be him.

Percy woke up in a start, a cold realization gripping his back. He had dreamed about the night, in his car, when that voice, silky and smooth had given him advice. Said that they understood what he was going through, and that they were to.

The thing is, it all made sense. That made sense why she'd liked his photo last night. And of course, he'd impulsively started following her again. He didn't remember when he'd unfollowed her. Probably a drunken night of crying. But she'd liked his photo. That meant something.

And that was the exact moment Percy realized- unlike before, when he had a suspicion, that Annabeth really was that person. And that meant that she wasn't over him too. He couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing, but what it did mean, was that there was a chance. The universes were giving them a chance to redeem themselves, and Percy didn't know if he could take it.

Last year, even last month he'd take it in a heartbeat. In fact, now, he was questioning himself, telling himself, should I take this?

Maybe he could, but not now. And as he thought about it, not ever. He'd promised himself two weeks now. To see if this Rachel thing would work out. Even calling it a "Rachel" thing meant that it definitely wasn't going to.

But either way, he ended up feeling shitty. In fact, by waiting longer, he felt even more shitty. So maybe it was better to let her down lightly at the end of the week, and then talk to Annabeth. Tell her what he felt- how he wasn't over her.

He didn't know if it would work- if Annabeth would ever consider getting back with him. Frankly, it was a shot in the dark, but he had to try. At least mend a little bit of his heart- make sure that it wasn't totally broken.

And he'd fixed it, a little bit on the way. His friends had helped, but there was still a gaping whole in the middle of it. The threat that it was too broken to be fixed- that he was too broken to be fixed.

As funny as it was to think, Percy had plans. He never thought he would be stuck here, in this town for the rest of his life. He thought he'd get a scholarship, maybe even save enough money to go to college, get the girl and keeper. None of those had happened, and he'd resorted to community college, the dull idea of sameness, and losing the girl.

Annabeth and him had always skittered around the idea of college. It was conveniently avoided- maybe that was the one thing that had gone wrong with their relationship. They'd thought about their futures individually, but not together. If they'd really held on, they maybe would be able to stretch long distances. Sure, for so many people it hadn't worked, but for them, in retrospect, it would.

He rubbed his forehead, and finally got out a bed. Better to start the day now then continuing to contemplate the inevitable experiences of the day. It seemed everyday something slightly heart wrenching happened.

Annabeth Chase always seemed to involve herself in his day. And when he saw her, he had thoughts he shouldn't have. No good man with a girlfriend should look at another girl, admire her beautiful hair, her athletic yet curvy build, and that signature smile- confident, yet kind. She was such a tease, while also being amazingly sweet.

But of course, Percy was not a good guy. In principle he was- he did good things, he offered to help old ladies cross the street, he was patient with the kids he taught, he was always good-natured about taking over shifts, like the one he had to do Saturday.

The problem was, the huge goddamn problem was, the fact that Percy had a screwed up head. It wasn't because of his ADHD, or his dyslexia, it was because of his heartbreak.

The hardest part of this was that he couldn't talk to anybody about it. He couldn't tell Leo, because being the blabbermouth he was, he'd find a way to accidentally reveal it to the entire world. He couldn't talk to Jason, because of his thing with Piper, so really the only person he could go to, was the one person who hated him.

Thalia.

He sighed, and grabbed his phone, ignoring the three texts Rachel had sent him both from last night, and this morning. They all asked if he was okay, but as rude as it was, Percy didn't feel like answering it. He couldn't deal with this stuff right now.

He booted up Thalia's contact, and nervously scratched the back of his neck as he tapped the call button with his other hand. It rang, three times, now four, and she wasn't answering. Why would she anyway?

But then, miraculously, she picked up. "Percy Jackson." She said, clicking her tongue. "You certainly keep managing to squirrel your way into Annabeth's life. I just got off the phone with her. She seemed a bit disheartened."

"Yeah. I just-" He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "I keep screwing up. With this Rachel thing, I don't know how to end. And I want Annabeth. I really do. But I'd feel like a shitty person, I already feel like a shitty person, for breaking it off with Rachel. I promised myself I'd try."

Thalia was silent for a moment, and then snorted. "Percy, you don't have to prove anything to yourself. As much as I hate to admit it, you're a good guy. You made Annnabeth happen." She paused. "That is, until you didn't. Now, Rachel seems like a nice girl, at least from what Annabeth told me. I'm sure there would be no hard feelings."

"I know," Percy said, shaking his head once more, "I know, I mean, I was thinking of breaking it off by next friday."

If he could see Thalia, she'd probably be frowning. "Why string her along for longer?"

"It's not stringing her along, it's more like." Percy bit his lip. There really was no way to phrase this that would make it sound remotely decent. "I don't know, letting her down lightly." He could tell she was judging her. "Look, I just want one last chance with her, Annabeth. Fix all broken wounds, maybe try the long distance thing, but only if she wants it."

Thalia sighed. "Look, I'm sure you both want it. It's pretty freaking obvious. Shit, anybody could see it. And I think she does. But Annabeth's always been stubborn. And she has a huge guilty conscience- plus, Rachel's her friend now. I don't think she'd want to lose that friendship."

Percy tried to convince her his approach was best. "Which is why I'm going to let her down lightly." He said, "I tried. I tried really fucking hard to get over her. For a while, I hooked up with girls, I tried dating Rachel once, and now I'm in that same situation again. But I can't. I can't, I really want Annabeth Chase. She's so important to me, and I know I'm an asshole for saying this, but I'll never love anyone as much as I love her."

"Jesus Christ." Thalia breathed. "That's a lot to take in." She stopped for a moment. "You already have my blessing, water boy, okay? I gave you that the other day. All I'm saying is." She breathed audibly into the phone. "Be careful, okay? Be careful."

"Right." Percy said.

Thalia hesitated. "And if you need someone to talk to, you know, you can talk to me I guess. I mean, I may get mixed into this type of shit to. So yeah."

"Sure." He said, and then swallowed. "Thanks Thalia. I really appreciate it." He finished, and then hung up.

Holy shit, even though it was Friday, he could tell this next coming week would be a nightmare.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts below. Reviews, favorites, and follows always make me so happy, and I always get really happy when a notification pops up.

But damn, our boy Percy is really in for a ride, isn't he? I hope you'll continue reading and join him on it!

TheLil'Lion