"No."

At first Percy looks disbelieving about my answer, but upon seeing the truthfulness written in my face, his look changes. Now he's cocky with indignation.

My goal wasn't to hurt him…or to make his temper flare. It's just that he's my boss. It's bad enough to date your coworkers, but you're boss? I'd lose my job after a week! And that's the main source of the problem. I can't lose this job. I can't risk ending the income that's going towards Matthew. I need this job more than anything, and nothing can jeopardize my chances of keeping it. Matthew is my number one priority at the moment, not Percy or my feelings towards him.

"I'm sorry, did I just hear you say no?" He asks incredulously.

I don't want Percy to blow up over this. "No one's turned you down before, huh?" I ask gently.

"Nope, this is definitely a first." He snorts half-heartedly, looking pointedly towards the ground. He has his thinking face on, and I'm scared as to where that will lead this conversation.

"Percy, don't think it's because of you. You're sweet, and cute, though extremely cocky at times. It's just I have to keep this job. And frankly, being with you will grant a way opposite effect than that."

"Annabeth, I'm not going to fire you just because you go on a date with me." He says earnestly.

"That's not what I'm worried about." I assure him. He lifts his eyebrows, inquiring me to continue. "What if you get fired for sexual harassment? What if the whole office found out that you and I went on a date? What if the date is a dud and we have to see each other everyday? What if someone takes a picture of us and then I get swarmed by paparazzi?"

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think…" Without warning, he's sprung at me, twisting his body so that he's laying exactly on top of me. His hand reaches out and grabs my wrists, pinning them beside my head. He leans down, getting especially close to my face, "…that you need to stop saying what if." And without warning, he presses a firm and demanding kiss against my lips. It's really hard to try and not feel anything when he's such a good kisser. And I can't deny the spark that is there. He's right, I do have feelings for him, major feelings judging by the intensity with which I'm reoccurring to him in this kiss. I feel his smirk grow bigger the longer our lips stay connected.

He breaks away suddenly, both of us panting for breath. "Now look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't feel anything during that kiss."

I could lie and say I felt absolutely nothing. But that would be one hell of a fabrication. It is practically impossible to look at those sea-green eyes full of such hopefulness and utter an absolute lie.

"I…I can't." I surrender my pride.

"That's what I thought." He smirks again. "Now do you want to agree to the date?"

I purse my lips, and I feel my eyebrows burrow together in concentration. His cajoling, yet very much welcomed kiss, did not help my overused brain.

Screw it. "Fine!" I shout out, adding in a sigh and an eye roll for dramatic reluctance.

Percy's overjoyed expression makes it all worth the while. He lunges forward at me, and for a second I think he's going to kiss me again. My heart starts to beat a relentless twitter. Unfortunately, Percy turns the gesture into a hug. Damn. My heartbeat stays irregular though, as that's what Percy's touch entails for me.

I feel him move his mouth right in front of my ear. As he whispers, it sends exhilarating shivers down my spine. "Don't worry, I won't disappoint." He breaks away from the hug, grinning from ear to ear. And pretentious Percy is back… But, his grin is contagious.

And for once in a long time, I let myself be vulnerable in front of someone. To let my guard down like this feels scary and invigorating at the same. I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet.

As for this whole 'relationship' thing, I have some nervousness towards. I feel that this could either go really well or extremely bad. And that scares the shit out of me.

I voice my opinion to Percy. "This has bad written all over it." I tell him, the smile slipping off my face. I raise an eyebrow challengingly to him.

"What can I say, I'm a dare-devil…" He winks at me provocatively, "and I have a thing for blondes." I gasp at his innuendo, and I groan at his the expression of smugness on his face at what he just said.

"As nice as this has been, unfortunately, I have business to attend to for the company." Percy starts to stand up and gather the jacket that had been hanging unceremoniously over the back of the couch.

"Really? At eleven-thirty at night?" I inquire.

He nods his head, sighing theatrically. "The life of a businessman."

"Anything I can help with?" I ask, professional voice back in effect. Despite the façade, I don't feel like leaving him just yet.

"I wish." He leans down again, this time going straight for my cheek. I think the gesture is so cute, that my damn cheeks have to grow pink.

Of course Percy takes notice and grants me with a smug look.

"It amazes me that I can make professional, goody-two shoes Annabeth Chase, blush." Adding emphasis to his taunt with a lingering touch to my cheek.

Okay, I have grown annoyed with him now, despite what his touch does to me. Time to leave. I stand up swiftly, leaving my very comfortable seat on the couch forgotten. I put my hand on Percy's back, ignoring my thumping heartbeat at the brawniness of it.

"Goodbye Percy." I push him towards the door, using a lot of my strength considering how strong he is. He pretends to fall into the hallway, and I have to bite back a laugh at the fakeness of it.

"Don't hurt yourself!" I yell, right as I shut the door. The tiniest of smiles lingers on my lips for the rest of the night. And no matter what I try, I can not get it off my face.

I wake up in the morning to a happy mood. And then I remember what happened the night before, and it brings a smile to my lips.

I get ready for my impedingly eventful day. Tonight, I will be sleeping over at the hospital. Matt is getting ready for a new treatment and he's extremely nervous because of what happened last time. I don't blame him for getting jitters about the whole thing. If anything, he's being a lot more courageous then I thought he would be. Anyways, Maggie can't sleep over because she's working late. Some kind of fill-in at a school board meeting that always runs late. I told her that it was fine and that I'd be happy to keep Matt company.

But, that also means I'm going to have an extremely busy day including classes, then work, then the hospital, and finishing it all off by sleeping in an uncomftorable chair for the night. Oh well, I'd do it for Matthew in a heartbeat.

Thursdays are my early morning class days. And considering today is Thursday, I better hurry my ass up…

I brush my teeth, take a shower, and get dressed in record time. I scrounge around my room for a small bag to put all the stuff I'm going to need for tonight. I finally find one underneath my bed, behind one of my old picture albums. Stuffing whatever clean clothes I can find into my bag, I turn off my light and make my way out the bedroom door.

The first thing that greets my eyes is Thalia. She's seated at our kitchen island, a cup of coffee in front of herself, and another in front of an empty chair. I assume she's made a cup for me. Weird. I start walking to the table, knowing fully well that whatever this is was going to be eventful.

Upon hearing my footsteps she grabs her coffee and turns to me in a millisecond. Her spontaneity almost makes me pee my pants. I had no idea she could move this fast at seven o'clock in the morning.

I sit down in the chair and turn to her anxious face expectantly. I really don't have time for this…

"So, anything you'd like to tell me?" She asks, with ill-consumed calmness.

"Um, yeah. We're out of milk." I state seriously, because I'm not really sure where she's going with this.

"No, Annabeth! I mean is there anything that you want to tell me." Still confused here!

"Thalia, I have to go, maybe we can finish this conversation later." I start to make my way out of the chair, only to be pushed back down by Thalia's strong arm.

She sighs exasperatedly. "Okay, cutting the crap, I heard everything from my room last night."

Oh, shit. "Everything?" I whine.

"Yep! And you have some explaining to do."

I glance quickly at the clock on the oven. It reads a little past seven o'clock. My class starts at a quarter till eight, and I have to practically make it across all of New York.

"Yes, I do. A lot of explaining in fact. And I promise to tell you all about it tomorrow, or maybe the day after that." I smile at her and make a quick getaway for the door. The reassuring slam let's me know that I'm home free. At least for now…

I make it to the subway right as it pulls up to the curb. Yes, I didn't miss it. The ride to my first class of the day, History, was uneventful.

The class itself was very boring. The world's worst reward for dragging my ass out of bed at six in the morning.

My impending confrontation with Percy had me jittery the entire two hours of learning. What do we even say to each other now? How do I act around him? Nervous and endearing, like how I truly feel around him? Or do I ignore and deny him?

My thoughts block out the sound of my teacher telling us all to leave. Luckily, my friend Macy shakes my shoulder, interrupting my short contemplation. I mutter a hurried 'thanks' to her, and rush out of the back entrance to the classroom. I always try and avoid the major traffic jam at the main door.

And so I find myself on the subway again, trying to make it to work on time. I do, fortunately. Percy is just walking up to the building when I make it up the subway stairs. He looks around, as if sensing a presence, and when his eyes lock on mine, he grins. Naturally, like the fool I am, I beam back at him.

"How lovely it is to see you, Miss Chase."

"Mr. Jackson, you as well." I guess I'll go along with the weird formal thing he's started.

Percy opens the door for me, and for the first time I've noticed he's holding two cups of coffee in a tray. I wonder who the other coffee is going to. Probably the pretty reception lady…

I walk past him and into the efficient building. My pace becomes faster, as I don't want to see who gets that other coffee.

"Whoa, slow down there. I didn't even get to give you your coffee."

My heart swells with relief and then with glee at the considerate gesture. And I thought he was going to give it to whatever her name is.

"Thank you, that was sweet of you." I flash him another smile.

Percy looks pleased at my answer. "Wow, and here I thought you were going to bite my head off at the gesture."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're very…bipolar with your actions towards me."

"Am I? I hadn't noticed." I smirk at him, walking away and towards the elevator. It's entertaining to be the confusing one in this relationship for once. I turn my head to see if he's following, and he is, while shaking his head in annoyance, clearly getting my game. It isn't fun to be confused, is it Percy?

Being in an elevator with Percy Jackson is suffocating. Half of myself wants to slam him against the wall and kiss him, and the other half wants to push the 'open door' button and kick his ass out of here.

So I settle for neither, instead twiddling with the plastic wrapper that keeps the cup from burning me.

Percy takes a phone call halfway through the descent to the twentieth floor, saving me from my clumsiness.

The rest of the day is odd with it's normality. I'm thankful for it nonetheless, because all I want to do now is be with Matthew. Percy's been in meetings all day, and my boredom has once again reached it's peak.

At last, after forever, it's time for me to leave. I wave to Percy who is switching meeting rooms when I take my depart. He waves at me, while winking at the same time and then disappears from my sight. I roll my eyes at his playfulness, even in the middle of a workday.

"Does it hurt?" I ask Matthew, as he shows me the bruising from the multiple times that blood work has been done to him in the past couple of days.

"Only a little." He says reassuringly.

I sigh. "You're really brave, you know that?"

He chuckles. "Shut-up, your more brave than I am."

"Me? Please." I snort at his antics. But, somewhere deep down, I know what he's trying to get at. The couple of years where it was just Bobby, Matt, and I against the world. Those were the days when I was considered the parent. I kept us all afloat, and I guess that hadn't gone unnoticed.

"You, mister, need to get some rest. And so do I. It's been a long day." I fall asleep that night, in an uncomftorable plastic recliner, and a chemical smelling hospital, not wanting to be anywhere but here, next to my baby brother.

A/N: Hey guys! Just to answer a review here, the twins are 11 years old. Anyways, over 100 freaking reviews! Thank you so much for your continued support, it means the world to me. I haven't deleted a single notification out of my email inbox since the day I posted the first chapter. That's how much I love all of you. Please review for this chapter, tell me what you think!