Disclaimer: Do not own these characters. Riordan does. Oh well. Enjoy!

I can't form coherent thoughts when I begin to wake. My head is pounding too hard for their to be anything but pain. I am insanely cold and I have goose bumps all over my body. The only time I feel like this is when I've been drinking too much the night before or when I've been crying a lot. I determine that I feel like this from crying too much. I don't remember drinking anything more than one glass of wine.

I turn to look at the clock on the night stand table. It reads three o'clock in the morning. What the hell? Why do I feel wide awake? I remember being exhausted the night before. So much so that Percy had to carry me to bed. That much I recall.

I can't bring myself to shut my eyes again. I trudge out of Percy's bed and make my way into the living room. I tiptoe past Percy on the couch, looking cute all sprawled out with the TV glow lighting up the features on his face. I walk into the kitchen intent on getting a cool glass of water to tame my burning throat. I open up random cupboard after random cupboard, still not finding any glasses.

I hear footsteps behind me, I don't panic because I know they're Percy's. His body presses up against the back of mine as he reaches up to open the cupboard that I had yet to get to. Heat radiates off of him, comforting my cold skin. It's then that I realize he's shirtless. He must have taken it off sometime after he took me to bed. He grabs a glass and moves over towards the sink to fill it up. With his body no longer pressed up against mine, I'm freezing cold again.

He hands me the glass and leans against the side of the counter. "So, what are you doing up at three in the morning?"

I gulp down the water and shrug my shoulders. "I couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts screaming in my head."

Percy nods his head in understanding. And based on what he's done for me in the past twenty-four hours, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did understand.

"I didn't expect you of all people to be a light sleeper." I say, leaning against the opposite counter.

"Trust me, I'm not. The movie ended about ten minutes ago and I only just started to doze off a little bit when you walked in."

I stare pointedly at a fruit basket that's behind his chest. "Oh, well thanks for the water. I think I'll try and sleep now."

I find myself in Percy's bed again, but I can't escape the shivers that rack my body and the thoughts that torment my brain. I realize what this is. I'm so exhausted that my body physically won't let me sleep. I watched a PBS documentary on it once.

"Percy!" I call his name before I can stop myself.

Before I know I can process what I've done, Percy appears in the doorway. "Yeah? Do you need another glass of water?"

"No. No, I was wondering if you would sleep in here…with me." Wow, that sounded desperate. And needy. God I wish I hadn't said anything at all.

"Really?" He asks. And when I expect him to become flustered, he doesn't. If anything, he gets an excited gleam in his eyes.

"This doesn't mean I'm having sex with you." I say, as I watch him walk into the room, shutting the door silently behind himself. I do not plan on having sex with Percy anytime soon. What we did the other week after Katie and Travis' engagement party was way too soon. We should have waited. That excited sparkle in his eyes needs to be shut down before he tries anything stupid. More so because I don't think I could resist him if he tried anything. It scares me that my resistance of him is so weak.

I quickly explain myself to make up for any confusion. "I'm just cold and lonely, and I need a distraction."

I hear him chuckle under his breath and when I stare into his eyes once more they are filled with amusement. He walks across the room and climbs into bed opposite of me. Percy's presence instantly puts me at ease. Yet at the same time I feel all of my nerves stand to attention. I turn my back to him in an attempt to put some distance between us. He may be comfortable with this but I still want to try and take some things slow.

I feel his stare on my back. "Thanks, Percy. You're a great friend." I guess we're friends…right? If the past few events of the night are anything to go by then yes, I'd say he is very much so my friend. A kind, caring, and handsome friend nonetheless. We haven't officialy defined anything yet. And even if we were defining our relationship, would I want to be anything more with him? That's the real question.

"I wish I could solve all of your problems for you." Percy's voice is so quiet when he speaks. I can barely make out if those were the words he had said. I'm pretty sure they were. I have to calm my breathing again, as the statement is so sweet and caught me off guard. I smile despite the situation at hand. Sometimes the things he says are just so un-Percy. Then again, maybe this is him. Maybe this is the side he doesn't show off on a regular basis. The side that only the people he cares about are aloud to look upon. My heart begins to beat rapidly at the prospect of being someone he cares about.

Fresh tears begin to form in my eyes again. I'm not sure why I'm crying, probably just over-emotion, if there is such a thing. Who the hell knows at this point. The sobs start next. I have my back to him still, so if I don't make a sound he shouldn't be able to tell. I try to hide them as best I can, stuffing my face into the pillow to cover it from his inquisitive stare.

But I just can't control them, and as my shoulders start to shake I feel Percy gently put his hand on my hip pulling slightly. I feel him pushing me around to face him, and I'm so weak that I do so willingly.

Now I'm face to face with him. There's sympathy written everywhere in his features. From his scrunched up eybrows to the slight pout on his lips. He pulls me to him without warning, but I make no move to stop him.

I bury my face in his chest, surprised to still find it warm. He rests his hand on my head, stroking my hair soothingly. I loose myself in him, content to stay where I am for as long as it takes me to regain my crumbling composure. I wrap my arm around his neck, pulling him impossibly closer.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. The last thing I remember is him whispering gentle nothings in my ear before my eyes shut and I drift off into a very rare dreamless sleep.

I awake once again and for once in the past few weeks I feel well-rested. Odd. But very much appreciated. My head is still resting against Percy's chest, our bodies even closer than when we were awake the night before.

I untangle myself from him and sit up in the bed as quietly as I can. Knowing myself, I will not be able to go back to sleep. Especially considering how well-rested I feel.

I hear the phone ring from somewhere in the apartment, and it takes me until the last ring to locate where it is. My hand wavers over it, maybe I shouldn't answer it. I mean it could be a high-end business associate. I don't want to mess anything up, so I take the safe pathway and just let it go to voicemail.

Percy still hasn't stepped out of his room which leads me to believe that the phone call didn't wake him. I sigh in relief. I want him to get as much sleep as possible. After the stress of last night, he probably needs as much sleep as I do.

I hear the voicemail start to go off. "Hey, you've reached Percy. Leave a message." Generic and simple, but I guess a CEO needs to have that kind of voicemail.

The person who does leave the message on the other hand, surprises me. It's a very feminine voice, seductive even, and my blood chills when I hear the message she is leaving.

"Hi, Percy. It's Rachel. Since you seem to be missing all of my calls on your cell, I decided to call your home phone. I had a really, really great time the other night. We definitely need to do that again sometime. So anytime you want me to come over, I'm there." She ends the message with an annoying, nasally giggle, and then I hear the telltale click of the line disconnecting.

I don't know why I see red, but I do. Before I know it I'm in his kitchen. I open the fridge with more force than is necessary and upon seeing that there is nothing in it that I like, my annoyance increases tenfold. I shut the fridge door with enough force that the condiments inside make loud, clinking noises as they fall and crash together.

I open cabinet after cabinet, slamming each one roughly closed when I don't find what I'm looking for. I just want a glass of water, and I can't remember the cabinet that Percy opened last night to get one.

Percy. That asshole. If he wants to be with that Rachel girl he should just tell me. It's not like we were exclusive or anything. That makes my thoughts wander. The fact of the matter is we weren't exclusive. This is exactly why I have no reason to be mad at him.

I start to pace back and forth in the spacious kitchen, stomping loudly with each step I take in hopes that it'll annoy the shit out of Percy.

I hear him grumble from inside of his room. Before I can even think of how I'm going to explain myself, he's appearing in the doorway in all of his shirtless glory.

"What the hell is with all the noise out here?"

I put on a mask of fake calm. I say nothing but point to his phone set on the countertop. He sends me a bewildered look, but steps towards the phone anyways.

"Someone left you a message." I tell him, with my usual normalcy. I can't give anything away just yet.

Percy steps over to the phone set, pushes play and starts to listen to the message that Rachel left. His face grows gradually paler by the second. He looks up to me once it is over, and his expression is of a deer caught in headlights.

"Who's Rachel?" I say, trying to break the tension.

"She's no one. Just some girl I went out with a couple of times." I can sense that he's trying to brush it off. I want to be able to brush it off too. But I can't and I don't know why. I don't believe him when he says 'just some girl' and I guess he can read that from my face.

"We weren't anything back when me and Rachel happened. I have no clue why she feels the need to call me now. What we had is over with, and I told her that. But she keeps finding new ways to annoy the shit out of me."

I don't know how to take all of this. I mean sure we have something. But do I really have the right to get mad at Percy for this? No. No I don't. Whatever happened between them happened in the past. I just need to let it go. It's not like I have some kind of magic control over Percy's love life, as much as I wish I did. He can do what he wants and be with the people he wants to be with. And besides, what he wants at the moment is me…at least I'm pretty sure he wants me. I hope he does.

"So, Rachel was in the past?" I ask, needing clarification.

"One hundred times, yes. How many times have I told you that I care about you?" He asks, walking over to me and placing both of his hands on my hips.

"A lot. Have I ever told you that I care about you, too?" I smile at him and his head dips down in slight embaressmant. "Because I do, so much. And I can't thank you enough for being so kind to me through all of this."

I don't know what else to do besides kiss him. So I do. I bring my head up just slightly to brush my lips over his. I put all of my emotion into it. All the hurt and love I have felt over the past days. He deepens the kiss almost instantaneously, bringing his hands to rest on either side of my head. I break away from him, breathing heavily. I want to kiss him forever, but I don't. Because I know that will lead to other things and I don't want to do those things until I'm in a better place.

"I love it when you get jealous." He whispers in my ear.

Moment ruined. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain. I wasn't jealous, I was just curious."

He rolls his eyes. "Like you always are."

A/N: Yay Percabeth galore. Next chapter Annabeth gets to meet Percy's mom so stay tuned. And also ugh, I know, I know. I'm getting tired of apologizing for the long update waits so I'm not going to. I want to thank each and every one of my beloved readers for your patience. I'd appreciate if you kept that up. I really hope you liked this chapter. And please review! Just a simple 'great job' or 'ew' would suffice because honestly I need to hear your opinions on what you like and don't like. Thank you so much for all the faves & follows. But you guys fave and follow and then don't review ): A fave and a follow won't tell me what you think of my story. Well…no I guess that means that you like it but I'd still prefer for you to tell me that. Ew this author's note has been way too long. Sorry…review/fave/follow! in that order. Thanks again for reading. xo