It' a long one!

About halfway through this chapter is when the writing starts to get good, you'll see.

If you want the best experience reading this story listen to the song

-stuck in the middle (with you) by steelers wheel

It will come into play later. (Another Chapter-but soon)

Happy Reading!

Chapter 9

When Percy got in Bella's truck he was exhausted. They hadn't killed the ghost, and he hadn't even gotten a good look at him to see who it was. It had been really intense, he had felt emotions that he didn't think he would be able to feel again and it scared him. He remembered the words he had whispered when Leah said she had imprinted on him, I'm sorry.

He really was, she didn't deserve to imprint on him. She was an amazing person, yet she was forced to be with him by some unknown force. She was forced to be with someone who would never love her the same way she loved him. She would always be in Annabeth's shadow, the second Annabeth, and she didn't deserve that. She deserved someone special. Because she was special herself.

"Percy!" Bella's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "I've been saying your name for the past five minutes. Now, as I was saying, my boyfriend is coming over tonight and I was hoping you would like to meet him, instead of staying in that room of yours working on whatever it is you do up there."

Percy thought about it for a moment. "I guess I should meet him, I suppose I could give him a good scare about hurting you. Always love doing that." He found it fun to scare the living daylights out of mortals, it gave them a reason to never hurt his cousin.

Bella snorted. "Good luck, Edward isn't scared of anyone."

"We'll see." Percy responded simply, his mind wasn't really focused on their conversation, he was replaying the events of last night in his mind. Outwardly blushing when he thought of Leah's body pressed against his, and the warm feeling that crept through him when they held hands. His mind was always on her, no matter how hard he tried to think of something else, she was always in the light.

Line Break

Turns out, Bella was wrong, Edward was definitely giving off some scared vibes to Percy. When they had made it home they had found the silver Volvo outside of the house. Bella had said that she needed to grab something in her room and that left Percy alone with her boyfriend.

Edward had started looking at him strangely, it was as if he was trying to get a read on him, but just couldn't for some reason. The other strange thing was that he had covered his nose with his hand.

Percy thought it would be fun to use his wolf glare on him (courtesy of Lupa) and scare him back a little. It worked, as soon as he made eye contact and started his death glare, Edward visibly tensed, he looked ready to run or pounce, Percy wasn't sure which one it was. Oh yah, Edward was definitely giving off the scared vibes, but Percy was only just beginning. He kept his gaze locked onto Edwards Kronos gold eyes and started to walk to him slowly. It was like a horror movie, and he loved it. Edward started to take sliding steps backwards, his pale skin almost blending in with the white wall behind him. Suddenly, Percy couldn't hold it in anymore, he burst out laughing and held his hand out to shake Edwards hand.

"Nice to meet you man, my names Percy. Gods you should have seen your face." Edward reached his own hand out, obviously much more at ease than he was before.

"Nice to meet you too Percy, Bella's told me a lot about you. And I must say, your serious attitude in the beginning surprised me." Edwards smooth voice articulated the words perfectly.

As soon as there hands touched a shock went through Percy's body. His hands were deathly cold, no that's not right, they're Nico cold. His hand felt like the opposite of Leahs warm embrace, the one that he had gotten used to holding over the night. He barely knew her and yet, he already missed her. Unknown to Edward, Percy reached his fingers to his wrist searching for a pulse. Percy froze, there... was no heartbeat. This. man. was. dead... but he's right here! How can he be dead. Percy released his grip on Edwards hand, he was on his toes now, nimble and ready for anything that Edward could throw at him.

Edward was looking at him, a curious gleam in his eyes, it was like he knew that he found out, yet was trying to see just how much. Percy tried to get some easy conversation going.

"Hey Edward." Percy asked. "Do you like movies?" Percy was going to try to lead him on in normal conversation, see if he could get a reaction out of him, maybe find out what type of monster he was.

"Yah, sure, me and Bella watch them all the time."

"I love movies, my favorite movie type is horror, do you like horror movies?" Percy inquired. He watched all of Edward tiny movements, the little fidgets with his body, but they looked forced, many similar to the ones he did, being ADHD and all.

Edward answered calmly, "No, I haven't ever really had a taste for them. Why?"

"You know, they aren't really even scary anymore, the evil monsters in them aren't even that realistic." Percy kept his tone light, but serious. Edwards movements were stiff, unnatural, he was consciously doing them.

"Oh really?" Edward asked.

"Yah, the makeup artist don't do as good of a job as they used to. Not like they used to in the black and white movies, like Dracula. That's my favorite." Edward narrowed his eyes at him. Something had changed in his demeanor, all the little fidgets he was doing before stopped and he became inhumanly still. Percy reached into his pocket and gripped his pen. Edwards eyes followed his every movement carefully, calculating every move he made.

"I wouldn't know, I hate monster movies."

"Really" Percy said in disbelief as he leaned forward staring intensely into Edwards eyes. "I could see you playing a monsters role perfectly. No makeup needed."

Edward growled, a sound that wouldn't come from a normal person, "What's that supposed to mean."

"Just messing with you man." Percy laughed it off. He played off their little conversation as a joke. He didn't want a fight yet, he needed more information on him before he was going to attack. He wanted to find out if Edward was in league with the man that attacked him last night.

Bella came walking down the stairs, they creaked on a few of her steps. She slowly moved into the dining room looking slightly scared. "Some of my clothes are missing. And I think they were stolen."

Edward and Percy walked upstairs to Bella's room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed out of sort to him, but Edward was wrinkling his nose in disgust as if he had smelled something that he didn't like. The room was clean, it looked exactly like it did the night that he had barged in to Bella's room when he heard a noise. When he had thought a monster was attacking Bella.

He glanced at Edward, maybe he wasn't so far off from the truth.

"Someone was here." Edward suddenly was on high alert. "You can't stay here Bella, it's not safe. Someone was looking for you, we're just lucky that you weren't here."

"Who was it, looking for her. Do you know?" Percy asked. He wanted to help keep his cousin safe, and if that meant working with the monster for a little bit, then he would.

"No I don't, I wish I did though. We'll have to get the... boys from the reservation down to check it out. In the meantime though, we need to get you somewhere safe Bella." Edward looked scared, scared for who? Was he scared that he would be caught as a monster?

"It's ok Edward, Percy knows about the pack, Leah imprinted on him yesterday. He might be able to help." Bella looked at Edward as if trying to say something else, but couldn't because he was there.

"No one is getting through to Bella, I will protect her on my life." Percy tone dropped from its usual lighthearted mood to serious in an instant. No one would hurt Bella on his watch.

"You can't protect her from this Percy, I'm sorry, I know you want to help, but this one is out of your league." To Edward's credit he really did look sorry, but it was Percy who was out of his league.

"I've been through much worse than you."

"Why don't we let Bella decide who to stay with" Edward turned to look at Bella, "Bell's?" She looked between the two boys before finally settling on Edward.

"I'll go with Edward. Sorry Percy, this one really is out of your league, and if I leave, maybe whoever was tracking me will leave you alone." Bella was looking at Percy hopefully now.

"Fine." Percy growled. "But I won't be the one to tell Charlie." That was his last hope, who would've thought that his last redemption would end up being Charlie. Charlie would never let her go with Edward and Bella knew it.

Bella whitened with dread. "Oh god, Charlie will never let me leave."

Percy turned to look at Edward one last time before leaving the room. "Oh, and Edward?" Percy whispered. "If I hear one peep about you hurting Bella, I won't hesitate to kill you. Because you can't get in trouble for killing someone who's already stone cold." He left with a warning to Edward, he wanted to leave with a threat, a promise that if he ever hurt his cousin he would pay. He walked out of the room pushing the door open and hearing it slam on the wall as he passed.

Line Break

Turns out Charlie did let Bella leave with Edward, but, not the way they thought. Esme (whom Percy found out was Edwards Mom) did have two plane tickets to Phoenix that she was going to use for Edward and Bella to visit Renee (Bella's mom). They would leave tomorrow night.

In the meantime, wolves from the Quilette's tribe would be stopping by Bella's room to take a sniff at whatever had stolen Bella's clothes. Percy still didn't know what type of monster Edward was, he had been avoiding him as much as possible recently, turns out he had given him much more of a scare than he thought he did the other day. Every time that Edward came close to him he ended up holding his breath and quickly walking away. It was like he smelled something bad on Percy, maybe he hates my old spice deodorant.

The doorbell rang from downstairs, shaking him out of his thoughts. Percy put the paper he was holding down, he had been working on his list of Annabeth's killers, he was just starting to connect the dots to who he thought it was, but he wasn't sure yet. It wasn't the same without Annabeth there to help with the brains of these operations.

Percy walked down the stairs, the soft carpet felt good on his feet. It was another cloudy day in Forks, he liked the rain, but in Forks, it was excessive. He put his hand on the cool metal of the doorknob turning it open letting the fresh air outside rush into the house. When he saw who was on the doorstep his heart skipped a beat, butterflies rushed through his chest. He locked eyes with Leah's soft brown ones as she rushed forward into his arms giving him a firm hug. They hugged for a bit longer than normal friends would before finally pulling away.

Leah blushed, looking down at the floor sheepishly, "Sorry, I missed you."

"Yeah, me too." Percy said as he unconsciously grabbed her familiar hand, but he didn't let go. He had missed her warm touch while they had been apart. They walked up the stairs and into Bella's room. She was sitting on her bed reading Romeo and Juliet when they walked in. She didn't even look up as Leah went around the room sniffing for the scent of the intruder.

"Alright, I got it." Leah walked back to Percy who was leaning on the doorway at the entrance to the room. They started walking to his room down the hall.

"Do you know what happened to that ghost guy that we were fighting?" Leah asked.

"No." Percy said angrily. "He got away when you saved me. And I still don't know who it is."

"You couldn't tell by looking at him?" Leah said confused

"Leah, did you happen to see the ghost that was trying to kill us?" Percy said excitedly. If Leah saw the ghost, they could find out who the murderer was.

"Yah, of course I did, didn't you see him too?"

"Erm, no, I was a little pre-occupied keeping myself alive, I didn't get a good look at him." Percy said embarrassed. "But you saw him! You can tell me what he looked like and we can find out who it was." They made it to Percy's room, walking inside Leah saw the massive list of names that Percy had written on a piece of paper, some names were circled and some were crossed out, it looked like ordered chaos.

"Wow, Percy, you have a lot of enemies." Leah was shocked to see a list that large.

Percy grumbled "Tell me something I don't know. Ok, what did the ghost look like." Percy couldn't help but think about how Leah looked, with her athletic figure, standing next to him while she thought about the past.

"Well his most easily recognizable feature was how skinny he was, he looked like he hadn't eaten in since Jesus walked the earth."

Percy gasped. That description only fit one person. "That's it! I know who it is. Thank you so much Leah, I could kiss you right now!" Percy realized too late what he had said. He hadn't meant to say that last part out loud.

Leah blushed, "I wouldn't mind that."

Percy turned as red as Rudolph's nose on Christmas night. Cheeks blushing deep crimson. "Erm, I mean metaphorically of course." He tried to save himself from the embarrassment.

Leah leaned closer, her warm brown eyes held his gaze with a fierce passion. Her lips looked so soft, he could feel her breath on his face. She smelled like the forrest. There noses were practically touching. Closer now.

Closer.

"Am I interrupting something?" Bella's voice called from the doorway. "I'll come back later if your pre-occupied at the moment." Percy and Leah quickly pulled away from each other.

"No, no, nothing happened." Percy stumbled. His face felt like it was on fire, Leah's was just as red.

"Right... What's that?" Bella pointed to the paper laying on the ground.

"What's what."

"That list of names."

"Oh, that... that's nothing." Percy started to push the list with his feet to the corner of the room. Bella reached forward and snagged the paper off of the floor, looking at it under the dim light coming in from the window.

"Tell me now. What is this list."

Percy sighed slumping in defeat. "It's a list of all the possible people who could have killed Annabeth. Annabeth didn't die by natural causes, she was murdered. I've been trying to find her killer for the past year and Leah just helped my find out who it is."

"Why didn't you tell me!" Bella scolded. "I could have helped."

"No, you couldn't have, this one is a little crazy."

"So, who is it."

"Tantalus" Percy growled. It's not like she would know who it was, or maybe she would, maybe her boyfriend let slip a name.

"Charlie's a cop, if you know who it is then we can catch him." Bella said hopefully. It didn't sound like she recognized the name. Percy slumped his shoulders, as much as he loved his cousin, and as much as he wanted her to be happy, he needed to find the murderer, and he had hoped for something to point out that Edward was working with Tantalus, even if it would hurt Bella in the process. Still, he didn't cross Edward off his list, maybe he hadn't slipped.

"Bella." Leah hesitated as if she was unsure if she should say anything or not. "Your... dad can't help, this ones more of on the... supernatural side."

"Oh" Was all Bella said as the understanding dawned in her eyes. "I can help there too. Well, Edward can." Bella got hopeful again. "Well have your criminal in no time."

"No Bella." Percy said firmly. Edward can? Maybe he's some type of harmless monster, if Bella knew about it, he couldn't be evil- unless it was a trick. "I'm not going to let you get dragged into the mess of a world I'm in, it seems you already have your hands full with your devil of a boyfriend." He wasn't going to let Edward help, he might try to sabotage something, Percy was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but would remain wary.

"Hey!" Bella growled. "He's not a monster, he's more human than you'll ever be." The words hit Percy like a stab to the heart, he had never been a human, no, he was half-god. He had never asked to be a demigod, what would be different if he wasn't a demigod. He had often thought about how his life might have differed if he was a normal human, how things would be different. A little voice spoke in the back of his mind, Annabeth would still be alive. But then Percy might not have even met Annabeth in the first place, maybe it would have been better that way. At least he was half human too, he had never asked for the god part of him, he wasn't given a choice. He never wanted to be this way yet he was.

"At least I have a beating heart." He growled. "Care to explain that, huh, your boyfriend has no pulse. The only reason I haven't ripped him to shreds is because it would hurt you. But as soon as he makes one mistake, nothing will stop me." Percy lashed out in anger, Bella's words had opened an old wound and he let loose the harsh words.

"All I want to do is make you feel better Percy, but I can't help if you won't let me." Bella walked out of the room and headed down the stairs. He heard the front door slam closed and her truck starting like the sound of a broken lawn mower as his cousin drove off into the cloudy day.

Edward is a problem, if he has Bella tricked this bad- who knows how deep he could be working with Tantalus.

"That was harsh." Leah's voice coming from next to him calmed his nerves, anger from before dissipating in a single moment. "She only wants to help, and, as much as I hate Edward and his family, I know they can help with this."

Percy looked to the ground in shame. "I shouldn't have called her boyfriend a monster. He hasn't done anything and it seems like he wants to protect her. I just want my cousin to be safe."

But he was mostly saying it to convince himself,

it didn't work.

"Come on." Leah pulled Percy's arm toward the door. "Let's go to the beach, take your mind off some things. It'll be fun."

Percy was dragged downstairs out the front door and into the cool air outside. The grass poked into his bare feet and the wind blew softly against his face. It was a peaceful day outside, grey sky's soothing his mind while calming his body, his tense muscles relaxed.

"Do you think you can turn into a wolf and I can ride you to the beach again?" Percy asked hesitantly. The moon grey wolf that Leah could turn into was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

"Yeah, sure, you can ride me. Erm, I mean... Let's just go." Leah was blushing as the cherry blossom red spread across her cheeks.

Soon they were on their way. The forest whipped around Percy's head as they sped through the forrest. The wind whistling in his ears. Percy was holding onto Leah's soft fur, arms wrapped around her wolf frame. As they moved forward the clouds above changed from a large blanket covering everything into a net, the sun peaking through the many holes above. The farther they went the larger the holes were until it was mostly blue sky's, sun beginning to warm the ground below them. Percy looked ahead at the forrest. He watched as the trees ahead would come towards them, almost in slow motion, before getting close and flying by to the end of his peripheral vision.

Percy was confused, when he had almost kissed Leah it had felt so right, yet why did he still feel bad. It felt like he had done something wrong, like he had been caught by his Mom with his hand in the cookie jar. Only this was a little different, he hadn't done anything wrong, maybe, and he had been caught by his cousin being close to a girl, a girl who was not Annabeth. That's what it was wasn't it. He felt like he had been caught cheating, but why did he feel like that. Annabeth was gone... and he needed to get over her. But it's so hard, Why couldn't he stop loving Annabeth!

Leah skidded to a stop in the sand of the La Push beach. She was panting, tongue sticking out as she wagged her tail. Percy slid off of her back, feet hitting the warm sand below.

"Thanks Leah..." Percy wasn't sure what to do, with Edward, with Leah, with anything. He felt lost without Annabeth's voice to guide him.

His memories of Leah filled his mind, though there weren't many, they held the spotlight. They had been so close, so amazingly near to touching lips.

They were getting too close, Percy was starting to need her, like he had with Annabeth. Life just wasn't the same when she was gone, that was a bad thing, right?

The water glistened with sparkles from the afternoon light. It looked much different now than how it looked at night. Percy closed his eyes and let the crashing waves soothe him. He let out a sigh of relief. No matter what happened, the sea would remain, and with it, his home.

"Percy." Leah's smooth voice spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Shall we go for it?"

Percy turned his head, body quickly following as he took in the sight of Leah's body. His breath hitched, she was stunningly beautiful. She was wearing a cherry red swim suit that complemented her features perfectly.

"Yeah, let's go." Percy smiled a lopsided smile. He knew they were talking about going into the water but it felt like something else too. "By the way, where'd you get the swimsuit?"

"I... prepared ahead..." She blushed and looked at the ground.

"So this whole thing was planned?"

"Yes, it was." Leah admitted shyly.

"It was a good idea, I'm glad we're here." Percy's smile never left his face.

Ideas, the thing Annabeth had been so good at.

A second Annabeth, always in her shadow.

No, a new person, not a second Annabeth, but a second chance. This time, he would get it right.

Percy led them into the cold ocean, the waves lapped at their feet. Soon they were waste deep in the water. The white wash from the powerful waves pushing them back two feet for every five they stepped forward. But of course, Percy wasn't using his powers.

"Race you there!" Leah yelled over the crashing swell of water. She let go of Percy's hand and ran forward attempting to jump over the wall of white water rushing towards her. Percy watched as she sprang, trying to push through the churning body of whitewash. His laughter filled the air as he watched Leah get taken by the force of the wave before finally getting dispelled a few feet behind him.

Leah rose slowly up from under the surface of the bubbly water. Her expression was murderous as she stared into waves in front of her. "Is that all you got! Come at me ocean! I can take it!" Water dripped down her face coming down in front of her eye making her blink it out.

Percy couldn't help himself, he started a large wave, muscles tense as he used his powers. The water started as a small hill, getting taller and taller as it threatened to collapse. Percy snuck a glance at Leah who was staring at the wave in horror. The wave reached its breaking point and crashed forward in a perfect curve, right on top of Leah's head. Mist sprayed out from the pummel of water, flying high into the bright blue sky.

Percy watched as Leah heavily pulled herself up, glancing wearily at the world around her. She looked at Percy who was staring at her, suppressing his laughter, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Leah's expression hardened she narrowed down onto Percy. "You. You did this didn't you."

Percy decided to play it dumb. "What are you talking ab-"

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you did it." Leah scolded.

Percy gulped, turned, and sprinted into the sea, diving under the waves as they came. Water flowed around his body, currents pulling him out to sea. He looked back to see Leah swimming towards him ferociously, she was catching up quickly.

He willed the currents to pull him faster and farther out into the sea. Without realizing it, Percy had accidentally pulled Leah in the current as well, and she was very close.

Percy put his own head under water and moved his arms to start swimming away. He was about to take his first stroke when a familiar warm hand grabbed the back of his foot, pulling him to a stop.

"Gotcha." Leah's voice whispered softly into his ear. "You are going to pay for that."

Percy shivered involuntarily and thought of the beach at Camp Half-Blood. Percy sighed, if only he could be there right now and escape. Anywhere to escape the wrath of an angry Leah.

Percy felt a strange tug in his gut, strange and new, yet familiar all at the same time. And the more that he thought about the beach at Camp Half-Blood, the more real it felt. He could picture the lush green forrest that sat on the edge of the water, the small stretch of sand that stood as the only barrier between the two. He could picture the cabins in the distance, one for each of the gods children. The tug in his gut grew stronger. He could smell the s'mores being made at the campfire, sun just starting to set behind the trees. The bright orange red rays of the sun pierced through the woods, last of the light to leave before the stars took its place. The tug in his gut seemed to pull his whole body, he felt his stomach drop. Percy could hear the laughter echoing from the people in the camp as they told each other story's of the past.

He could hear his name, being yelled at from, wait, no, that was coming from right next to him.

"Percy!" Leah yelled in his ear, making him flinch "Where are we!?"

Percy looked around in surprise and confusion, they were near the shores of Camp Half-Blood! The very place Percy had been thinking of. He grabbed Leah's hand and pulled her to the shore. "How did we get here." Percy asked.

"I don't know, one moment we were at La Push and I was about to strangle you. Then the next moment I felt my stomach drop and we were here."

"B-but how?" Percy crawled forward to the edge of the water as fatigue fell over his body like a spell. He put his arm around Leahs shoulder, but he wasn't sure if he was helping Leah, or if Leah was helping him. As soon as the last of his body left the cool ocean he slumped in defeat. His eyelids drooped in exhaustion, trying to close fully. Percy fell to the sand as it stuck to him wherever his wet body touched it. He turned a tired eye toward Leah who looked a little less drained, but worn out nonetheless. A shadow silhouette of a man blocked what little of the sun was left.

The shadow stopped abruptly. "Percy?!"

Dang, I really made fun of Nico there, i guess i'm just cold hearted.

Not sure about my jokes in this chapter but hopefully I made you smile, I'm a very sarcastic person by nature.

All of the details of the teleportation will be explained next chapter. This was a fun chapter to write, getting lots of good character building for Percy and Leahs relationship.

I hope to have this story completed by the end of Thanksgiving Break.

Percy will not be OP in this story, the battles will be hard fought, (I'm not afraid of killing people) if a battle is to easy it isn't realistic. Or rather, it doesn't feel real.

Please keep Reviewing! Follow and Fav :) (it boosts my already inflated ego, lol)

I'm not afraid of flames so go ahead and take out your anger on me, I'll just cry myself to sleep. (remember-sarcastic?)

Anyway, R&R

-CreativeMode