Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Fifteen

Annabeth

"Of course, you're going to get your heart broken. And it isn't going to happen once, but a lot. That's just part of growing up, and it makes you stronger. Then you can handle it better next time. You may not get through it yourself, but your friends will help you through it. And you'll be a stronger person because of it. Then one day someone will come along, and it'll all pay off and no one will ever break your heart again."

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I sit up fast, panting like a dog. My curls are pasted to my neck and face by sweat. I lift a shaking hand to wipe my face and feel fresh tears staining my cheeks. My heart races in my chest and I clutch the sheets of my bed.

The images I saw in the nightmare still flash through my mind. I shut my eyes tight and I see Luke again, but this time here, in Manhattan. I see myself with Percy, walking through the halls of school hand-in-hand, laughing and flirting like we have the past few weeks. I see me tearing my hand away from Percy's and running into Luke's arm. I see us kissing and hugging like there's no tomorrow.

I put my head between my knees and breathe. You're fine, Annabeth, I reassure myself. It was only a dream.

This is the first nightmare I've had since Percy and I started dating. The first time I've given a thought to Luke and my past. The first time I've wanted to tell Percy about him.

I climb out of bed and pad into the bathroom connected to my room. I look at my appearance in the mirror. I'm still dressed in the clothes I wore last night, when I went to the movies with Percy. My shirt is twisted around me and my jeans are hiked up almost to my knees. My makeup from yesterday is smeared around my eyes and my hair, of course, is sticky with sweat. My cheeks are wet.

Quickly, I get ready, showering and blow drying my hair in record time. I throw on a pair of capris and an old blue sweatshirt. I'm about to put my hair up in a ponytail, but think twice about it and leave it down. Everyday that I've worn my hair up in a ponytail, Percy's just taken it out. I throw on my gray sneakers and start gathering my textbooks off my desk and place them in my bag. My hands have stopped shaking and my heart is beating at a normal speed now, but I still feel achy, like I'm sick.

Now, my fear has gone from getting hurt all over again, to hurting someone else. I could take that much from my nightmare. But how could I hurt Percy? I've sworn never to talk to Luke again. I've sworn never to see him again. And there's no one here I find half as fascinating as Percy. There's no way I could hurt him.

Right?

My phone buzzes. I jump and grab it off of my nightstand. It's a text from Thalia.

Im outside ur aprtmnt, it reads. I grab my bag as the phone goes off again, showing another text from Thalia: ur knight n shining armor awaits(:

I smile. Percy is probably in the car too, waiting for me. His car has been having problems, so sometimes, he carpools with us. I quickly type up a reply and run out of my bedroom.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"You look awful," Thalia greets me as I climb into the passenger seat of her car. "What time did you go to bed? Three?"

I shoot her a glare. "Shut up, Thalia."

She shrugs. "Just stating the obvious."

I ignore her and turn to look at the people in the backseat: Piper, Jason, and Percy, who's looking like a very awkward third wheel. "Hi," I say, smiling.

He grins back his goofy grin he reserves just for me. "Hi."

I can't help but notice how good he looks. He's in worn jeans, just like he is everyday, and a plain dark green tee. His hair is as unruly as ever and his green eyes are shining. I blink, trying to get myself to stop admiring him. From his cocky smile, I can tell he noticed.

"So how long do you think your practice is going to last today?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

Percy shrugs. "I don't know. I'm willing to skip though."

"You wouldn't do that," I tell him. He loves swimming too much to ditch practice, especially when he has so little practices left before he graduates.

"For you, I would," he says nonchalantly, leaning back in his seat. A blush creeps onto my cheeks even as I roll my eyes.

"You're so cheesy," I tease.

"Okay, can I be the first to say, ew?" Thalia complains. "First, it was Jason and Piper, and now it's you two. Honestly, why do I take you guys to school? It's like third wheel awkwardness, times two."

"You take me to school because I don't have a car," Jason reminds his sister helpfully.

"And neither do I," Percy adds.

Thalia scowls at the road.

"Lighten up, Thals," I laugh. "If you scowl too much, it'll stay permanently."

She directs her scowl to me, and I shrink back a little bit. Not that much scares me. I'm pretty scary myself. But I'm pretty sure Thalia can make anyone cower in fear, brave or not. "You, Annie," she says, and her voice is, surprisingly, not that hard, "need to put on some makeup. Seriously, you look like a zombie."

I bite the side of my mouth to keep myself from getting angry at her. What she said wasn't true. I am actually wearing some makeup.

"I already have on mascara," I inform her when she hands me a tube of the stuff. "I don't need anymore."

"Well, if I couldn't tell you were wearing any, you weren't wearing enough. Put some on." She doesn't take back the tube.

Groaning dramatically to show her how annoyed I am, I grab the mascara and pull down the mirror so I can see what I'm doing. Slowly and carefully, I stroke on the black goop and try not to poke my eyes out whilst doing so.

Once I'm done, I put down the tube and look at Thalia. "Better?" I demand, fluttering my eyelashes, showing her again how annoyed I am. Yeah, I probably do look like a zombie, but I don't really care.

Thalia looks me over and nods in satisfaction. "Much. Look at how your eyes pop now."

I roll my eyes and look in the mirror at Thalia's command. She's right; my eyes do look good. But I'm not about to admit that to her. "They look fine," I mutter.

"So, Wise Girl," Percy asks, "are you staying for my practice today?"

"You could hang out with me," Piper suggests. She's positioned between Percy and Jason, and it's kind of funny seeing her small form compared to the boys' large ones. "I'm staying for Jason's soccer practice."

I smile. "Okay," I accept. "Sounds like fun."

"I can't believe you'd rather go to Jason's soccer practice to hang out with Piper, than watch your boyfriend at his swim practice," Percy complains.

Piper laughs. "Who said we were going to Jason's practice?"

Jason straightens up and looks down at his girlfriend. "Wait a second," he says, scrunching his eyebrows. "You'd rather go to Percy's practice than mine?"

"Well, Sparky," Percy says with a cocky smile on his face, "looks like I have won this round."

Jason stares at him while Piper and I share a grin. We're thinking the same thing: why go to either of their practices? "Soccer players are hotter than swimmers," Jason snaps at Percy.

Percy snorts. "Please. The guys on the swim team are a million times hotter. We've got six-packs."

"Our guys have skin-tight jerseys."

"We're shirtless."

Piper and I burst out laughing while Jason and Percy argue about who's hotter. Even Thalia cracks a smile. I turn back around in my seat and lean back with a smile still on my face. Somehow, my nightmare doesn't bother me anymore. How could I possibly hurt someone who makes me so happy?

Thalia pulls into the school parking lot just in time. Jason and Percy are almost at the point of getting physical. Jason's pushed up his shirt sleeves to show his biceps and I'm pretty sure Percy's contemplating taking off his shirt to show Jason his six-pack. But when Thalia stops the car and takes the key out of the ignition, chivalry gets the best of him. He scrambles out of the car and around to open the door for me.

"Milady," he says in a British accent, helping me out of the car. I shoulder my bag as he presses his lips quickly against mine. I sigh against his lips and kiss him back. Thankfully, Thalia's already heading towards the building, so she's not here to interrupt our kiss. Though, she might as well have interrupted, since Percy pulls away only after a couple of seconds.

"Come on," he murmurs, his face still centimeters away from mine. "We're going to be late."

I groan and push him off of me. He catches my hand and slips his fingers through mine. "By the way," he whispers in my ear, sending shivers down my spine, "ignore Thalia. You don't look like a zombie. You look beautiful. And," he pulls away, allowing me to exhale a breath I didn't know I was holding, "blue's my favorite color." He tugs on my sweatshirt and when I laugh, he flicks my ear. His finger lingers on the little tattoo below my ear. I shiver. Sometimes, when he's bored, he'll run his thumb back and forth over it and laugh while I shiver like I'm demon-possessed. He laughs now.

"Shut up," I say, punching him in the gut. He just laughs some more and drags me to the school.

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Fourth hour comes by slowly. Before I went to first hour, Percy promised to take me to Starbucks, just the two of us. I look forward to it all morning. Just the two of us sounds amazing.

When the bell rings, signaling the end of third hour, I grab my chemistry notes and bolt out the door, towards my locker. Percy's there at his locker already by the time I get there, but he's not alone. Drew and one of her friends – Brooklyn, as I recall – are on either side of him. I don't know where her other friend Jasmine is.

I watch them out of the corner of my eye while I put my things away. I can't hear them from here, due to the chatter of students around me, but I don't need to hear them to know that Percy's uncomfortable. It's clear in his stiff posture and nervous movement. I don't do anything for a while – don't move towards them, don't noticeably watch them – but then Drew put a hand on Percy's chest and takes a step towards him.

Something hot flares up inside of me, like I swallowed acid or something. I decide it's time to intervene. My feet move towards them without me having to direct them, only stopping when I'm right next to Percy.

"Excuse me," I say sharply, pushing Drew aside and wrapping an arm around Percy's waist. He moves like clockwork, placing his arm tightly around my shoulders. "What are you doing?"

Brooklyn moves back to Drew's side and they both cross their arms simultaneously, which would be funny if my thoughts weren't clouded by some sort of fiery, angry haze. "We were just discussing prom with Percy," Drew says sweetly. "You know, who he's taking and who's still available." She emphasizes the word "available" as if reminding him that she hasn't been asked yet and is open to his invitation. Just that little action makes me want to explode on her.

"Well, you can go now, because he's not going to ask you to prom and he never was," I snap. Drew seems taken aback and so does Brooklyn.

"Bye," Percy adds, clearly dismissing them. Drew glares at me and stalks off, followed by Brooklyn.

I sigh in relief. The anger I had felt moments before disappears. I pull away from Percy. "Wow," I say. "Drew is really desperate to go to a dance with you."

Percy snorts. "And you seem really desperate for her not to go with me," he adds, poking me in the stomach.

I roll my eyes. "Please. I didn't really care. She just needed to be reminded of her place."

"Yeah. Okay."

I glare at him. "What?"

He shrugs. "Nothing. You were totally jealous just now, and you're denying it."

I cross my arms and raise my eyebrows. "Oh please. Me, jealous?"

He laughs and re wraps and arm around me. "It's okay," he says, then leans down and whispers in my ear, "I think it's cute. And I think I owe you a trip to Starbucks."

I smile and lean back into him, resting my head on his shoulder. "Okay."

We begin our trek to the parking lot, holding hands and swinging them between us as we walk. The halls have cleared out, everyone already in their fourth hour classes, so Percy takes the opportunity to kiss me in the middle of the hallway. I sigh as he pulls away.

"Dang it," he says immediately and I furrow my eyebrows at him. "I forgot that I don't have a car. We're gonna have to use Thalia's."

"If she lets us," I point out and he makes a face. "She's in the library with Grover, I think. Something about a report due tomorrow that they haven't started yet."

Percy chuckles. "To the library we go, then!" He starts sprinting down the hallway, holding my hand tightly and pulling me along behind him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"You're quiet," Percy whispers on the drive home from school. We're carpooling with Thalia again, since his practice ended early today. Percy and I claimed the back seat immediately, so Piper was pushed up front and Jason was the poor soul who was stuck in the back with us. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I whisper back, careful to make sure that the other three don't hear what we're saying. They're too caught up in their conversation about the stress of choosing a college to attend in the fall to hear us, though.

Percy slips his fingers through mine. "Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Then why aren't you saying anything?"

"Maybe I don't have anything to say."

"Annabeth..." Percy drags out my name until I turn my gaze away from the window at him. His hair is still damp from practice and his clothes were hastily put on since Thalia was yelling into the locker room how much time he had left until she left without him. His green eyes were looking down at me worriedly.

The truth is, I'm not mad at him, but I'm not talking for a reason. Luke had called me again during seventh hour, and this time, I was tempted to pick up. I had wanted to pick up and tell him that I have a boyfriend now who's a million times better than he ever was and that I've moved on from him and I hope he has a nice life because I never want to hear from him again.

I don't tell Percy that. Instead, I smile and lean into him. "I'm serious, Percy. It's nothing."

Because it is nothing.

Percy wraps an arm around me and for a little while, we take the place of Jason and Piper and cuddle in the back seat. Percy smells of chlorine and I breathe it in, reveling in the fact that he's mine and I am his. He buries his face in my hair, and his arm tightens around me. I know he wants more than just this cuddling, that he wants to kiss me senseless and hold me and whisper sweet-nothings in my ear, and I want him too also, but he can't because we're in a car with three other people. Three others who are complaining rather obnoxiously about how gross we are.

"Um, as I recall, you and Piper do the same thing, Jason," Percy snaps at his cousin.

Jason wrinkles his nose. "Yeah, but it's different watching it."

Thalia snorts pointedly, letting us know that she has to watch it all the time.

"At least we're not kissing," Percy murmurs and I laugh.

"We could be," I say and he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. He begins to lean down, only stopping when Thalia slams on the brakes rather forcefully.

"And this is your stop, Percy and Annabeth," she says loudly. "You may leave now."

We laugh as we climb out of the car. Piper gets out to move to the back with Jason, and I can't help smiling about it. They're the picture perfect couple that everyone imagines being when they fall in love. No fighting, all flirting.

Thalia drives off quickly, leaving Percy and me on the sidewalk in front of his apartment building. We decided to come here after school and get started on our presentation over Aphrodite for our English class.

"My parents aren't going to be home tonight," Percy had told me during our free period. "So you can come over and we can hang and stuff without being interrogated by my mom."

I had told him I'd come only if we worked on our project. I figured we wouldn't be working a whole lot on our project, but it'd be nice to just be with Percy, whether we worked on the project or not. It always was nice to be around him.

I yank my hand out of Percy's. "Race you," I challenge, darting into the building.

"Hey!" I hear him call from behind me, but I'm already inside the building. He chases after me and we bound towards the elevator, shrieking with laughter. I can feel the stares of the people around us, who are probably thinking how immature or cute we are. We race into the elevator that will take us up to Percy's floor, me winning by a landslide.

"I win," I tease as the doors close behind us.

"Uh huh," Percy mutters. He moves towards me and pins me up against the wall, his hands on either side of my head. His face is leaning closer and closer until we're mere centimeters apart. For a second, I think he might kiss me.

But then the elevator dings and the doors slide open and all I see is Percy's mischievous grin before he pushes off of the wall and darts out into the hallway. I laugh and race after him.

I still manage to beat him, if only by a few seconds. I smirk at his heavy breathing. "Not a runner?" I ask when he makes it to the door.

"Shut up," he gasps and unlocks the door.

I've been to Percy's apartment a few times since we met. We'd hang out, do homework, watch movies. But being here as his girlfriend feels different. It feels more...personal.

We drop off our bags in Percy's room and then head into the kitchen for some food. I hop up onto the counter while Percy pulls open the fridge and starts rifling through its contents.

"What are you in the mood for?" he asks.

"Hmm," I say. "I don't care. Whatever you want."

That probably wasn't the smartest thing to say. Percy starts pulling out half of the fridge, throwing lunch meat and dip and cheese and mustard and mayonnaise and any other item acceptable to put on a sandwich on the counter next to me. He reaches out and grabs a basket from on top of the refrigerator. When he brings I down, I see that it's filled with bread.

"In the mood for a sandwich, I see," I say sarcastically. He sticks his tongue out at me.

I move to hop down off of the counter, but he moves quickly and puts his hands on my hips, keeping me in place. "No," he instructs. "Stay there. I'll make your sandwich."

I roll my eyes. "You're such an idiot."

"Funny how you tell me that almost everyday," he notices, pulling out two slices of white bread.

"Yeah. Funny."

He snorts. He's working at the island in the middle of the kitchen with his back to me and I try not to notice how his back muscles move as he works at slicing cheese and putting together a sandwich. Instead, I say, "I was thinking."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about my future. I think I'm going to have two kids. One boy and one girl."

Percy glances back at me, his green eyes shining. "Really," he states.

I nod. "Yeah. The boy would be older by at least five years so that he can be the protective big brother to the little girl. And their names will be Logan and Isabel."

Percy chuckles. "I don't think it works like that, Annabeth," he says. "I don't think you get to decide which kid comes first. And what gender they are."

"We'll live in a little apartment here in New York, of course," I continue, ignoring him. "Logan will be the sports star at his school. He'll definitely be a heartthrob, but he won't be a player. I won't allow that. And Isabel will be smart. She'll be at the top of every AP class and she'll love to read. She'll be beautiful too, and popular. But she won't be a snob. They'll be the nicest, sweetest, best people in the whole world."

"And who will their dad be?" Percy asks.

"I haven't figured that part out yet," I tease, though I'm hoping with everything in me that it will be him.

"Right," he answers sarcastically. Then he turns around with a plate in his hand. A heaping sandwich is on that plate, loaded with so much stuff, I can't recognize anything. I wrinkle my nose.

"Gross. What is that?" I ask.

Percy looks genuinely shocked. "What? Are you crazy? This is the best sandwich anyone could ever make."

"What is it?" I repeat.

"Turkey, cheese, chicken salad, and mayonnaise," he answers, like it's not the grossest, most repulsive thing I've ever heard of.

"Seriously? No. No way am I eating that."

Percy steps closer to me and looks me in the eye. With me sitting on the counter and him standing, we're about the same height, which is strange to think about. I'm not used to being around someone so much taller than me.

"Annabeth," he says in a completely serious tone, "this could possibly be singlehandedly the best sandwich you've ever had and you refuse to try it. You could melt from the pure joy and bliss of the taste of this sandwich or you could sit there and tell me there's no way you're eating this." To prove his point, he takes a large bite out of the sandwich and groan with pleasure.

I roll my eyes and take a tiny bite out of the sandwich when Percy practically shoves it in my face. He's right, surprisingly. It is good. Really good. "Mm," I say and close my eyes, a small smile on my face. I can feel Percy's eyes on me. "That is really good. I'm surprised."

He smirks. "Told you." He leans against the counter next to me and we take turns taking bites of the sandwich until it's gone.

"So," Percy says, throwing the empty plate in the sink, "it sounds like you've thought your future through pretty thoroughly."

He's not teasing. There's a serious edge to his voice.

"Yes," I answer. "It's been my dream since I was a little girl. To build something permanent. A relationship that will last."

Percy rests his hands on my hips and presses his lips to mine. I sigh and kiss back, my hands sliding up to rest on his shoulders. His kiss is sweet and gentle and soft and leaves me wanting more and more and more. He pulls away only to whisper, "Well then, I suppose we have to start small."

He rests his forehead against mine as I ask, "How small?"

He grins. "How about prom?"

My teasing smile turns into a real one, one that reaches my eyes. He grins back as I answer, "Yes."

Then we kiss again, and this time it's more firmly, more passionate. Percy's arms slide completely around my waist, pulling me off of the counter and against him. My arms are thrown around his neck. We're chest-to-chest, my feet are off of the ground, and I feel like I'm flying or falling, whichever one. Nonexistent music plays in my ears like they always do in the movies when the couple kisses. Our surroundings fade away until we're in a world of our own, drowning in a seas of bliss and felicity. Percy's lips are soft and unforgiving. I can't breathe and I don't care because breathing is overrated anyway. All I want is Percy, Percy, Percy. I want to share my future with him. I want Logan and Isabel to be our kids instead of my kids. I want that apartment to be our apartment instead of mine. I want my future to be our future.

He pulls away and for a second we're both in a daze, laughing and smiling goofily at each other. He leans down again, but instead of kissing my lips, he kisses my forehead, my nose, my cheek, the skin below my ear, my jaw. Then he buries his face in my neck.

Suddenly, that future I've always wanted but deemed impossible doesn't seem so far away anymore.

I really liked that ending. I don't know about you guys, but I did. But anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! SOrry for being gone for so long. School. *rolls eyes* And writer's block *rolls eyes some more* And sorry about the lack of action and substance in this chapter. It was a filler chapter, as was the last one and the next chapter. But, nevertheless, review! Please! Reviews motivate me to write!

Really fast, I want to respond to a review. AnnabethDiAngelo, you really need to get an account on this site. Like, seriously. I'd like to PM you. But anyway, Don't feel bad! I didn't think your review was rude at all! I love it that you are so passionate about this story! When I read your reviews, I was in bed and it was, like, midnight and, I kid you not, I started jumping around in my bed and trying not to squeal with happiness. I was so excited. I hope that this exceeded your expectations (Did I use that word right? Exceeded?) And in answer to your request thingy, Thalia had a few lines in this one, but I'll make sure to add her in the next few chapters. And Nico isn't in this one (I don't think. Honestly, I'm losing track of all of these characters.) but I'm thinking of writing a sequel to this, so if I do, I'll probably add in Nico. So hopefully, that satisfies you! And I promise, I'll try to update regularly.

Sorry, no verse. I'm kinda in a hurry.