Whoa. Honestly, it's been forever since I updated, which is weird since I update this story like twice a week.

Anyway, better late than never.

And seriously writing this chapter was so painful since I ran into a door (don't laugh at me) and I sprained my finger... I'm a total klutz

And hey! I just got back from vacation too! I went to Florida :)

I can't believe that I only have a month left from summer :( It just goes by so fast!

So let's talk about this story. A lot of people are like 'I hate you and this story. You destroyed Percabeth and Percy is so OOC.' All I'm gonna say is your partially right that Percabeth looks to be totally ruined and Percy IS very ooc BUT just you wait and you'll realize just how wrong you are!

O.M.G. 500 REVIEWS!

Chapter 26

When Percy was ten years old, he was swimming at the public pool with his cousin Nico. They were playing sharks and Minos, where one person would try to catch the other. Percy was the shark, and given that he was clearly a better swimmer than Nico, it should have been a rather quick round. Percy spotted Nico hiding behind someone near the stairs descending out of the pool and Percy took off, racing toward his cousin. Percy grinned at Nico, who tried to swim away, but Percy had reached the stairs 2before Nico could go anywhere.

Percy had lunged toward his cousin, but Percy must have misjudged where exactly he was launching towards because instead of tagging Nico and leaping away form his cousin like he was supposed to, he hit the metal railing of the stairs.

And he hit it hard.

Percy collapsed, the wind knocked out of him. He lost his footing and fell underwater. He knew that he wasn't underneath the water for very long since Percy could hear Nico shouting at him, but Percy felt like he wasn't breathing for hours. His heart was racing, pounding and throbbing against his chest. His lungs were burning, his legs weak. Percy felt as if he broke every single one of his ribs and that he had filled his lungs with nothing but water.

Percy was feeling that exact seem sensation when he saw Mark and Annabeth walking through the Goode High School doors hand in hand.

He was by his locker, stuffing his books into his already heavy bag. When he heard all the students in that hallway go silent, Percy raised his eyebrows and looked up. He let out a gasp when he saw Annabeth and Mark. They were holding hands and strutting through the hallway as if this was the best feeling that they've ever experienced.

"Dude," Grover said, stepping beside Percy as the two stared at the odd sight.

"What the...," Nico added, appearing next to the two of them.

Percy's heart shattered, rebuilt itself and then shattered again at least four or five times. Percy knew that he shouldn't feel like this. He moved on and so should she, but come on, she was his Wise Girl. Mark and Annabeth?! What are they going to be called?! Biker Boy and Wise Girl?

Percy shuddered at the thought.

"What the hell is Annabeth doing with Mark?" Came another voice.

Percy, Nico and Grover looked back to see Connor and Travis standing behind at them, their mouths wide open. They stood next to Nico, glancing at Percy. "Is she suicidal or something?" Travis muttered.

"This definitely isn't an Annabeth move," Grover pointed out.

"Do you think she did it because of Percy," Connor added under his breath.

Grover leaned in toward Connor, "Probably."

Percy seemed to tune the four of them out. He hated hearing them say that. It was like they were admitting that Percy pushed Annabeth to do this and that she's only doing this because she feels as if she has to get back at Percy. Then, it all clicked together and suddenly that didn't sound wrong at all.

Was Annabeth going out with Mark because she wanted to hurt Percy the way that he hurt her? To be honest, it felt reassuring to think that. It was nice to think that Annabeth didn't really move on and start to like Mark. It sounded selfish really, but Percy didn't want her to move on because he hasn't moved on. He doesn't want to forget about what they had and he doesn't want to lose her, even though he knew that she was better off without him.

"Nice going Perce," someone said, their words echoing in his ears.

Percy turned around, slowly and reluctantly to see Thalia, Katie and Luke. Katie and Luke both seemed to be in shock, their voices clearly not working at the moment. Thalia, on the other hand, had plenty to say and it was all going to be for Percy.

"You see that? She's probably with him because of you! Annabeth is dating the worst guy in the school since you decided to date the worst girl in the school."

Percy didn't really feel like arguing with Thalia so he just shrugged and kept staring.

"Couldn't you she have just picked Connor? Or Nico?" Katie mumbled. "Not Mark."

"Probably because we would have both said no," Connor pointed out.

"Seriously, none of us would want to be on Percy's S-List," Nico added.

Connor and Travis both agreed and parted their separate ways to their classes, Katie following behind him, latching her hands in Travis's. Grover and Nico said their goodbyes and left, leaving Percy, Thalia and Luke. They glanced at each other uneasily.

"What are we going to do?" Thalia asked.

"I guess I could talk to her," Percy offered.

Luke scoffed, "Please. Do you wanna end up with soda in your hair and food on your face?"

"I guess not."

"I'll talk to her," Luke said, "Percy, you just leave her alone."

"Luke, I care about her!"

"If you really did care about her you wouldn't have done what you did. Just leave her alone. You've done enough." With that being said, Luke and Thalia dawned their backpacks on their shoulders and quickly started walking in the opposite direction of Percy to their first period class.

Percy sighed and began to sulk as he headed to his first class. He wanted to go talk to Annabeth, despite what Luke had said. He wanted Annabeth to know how sorry he was and that she didn't need to throw herself at Mark and make the biggest mistake of her life just because he made the biggest mistake his life by cheating on her.

But was going up to her really such a good idea? Wouldn't she just end up hating him even more than she already did?

Percy should just start with trying to get her to trust him again, which was practically impossible. Anybody in their right mind would never trust Percy after what he did, so how would his Wise Girl forgive him? A simple sorry wasn't going to cut it, and with Mark at her side, things were just going to get a lot harder.

Annabeth leaned against the cement railing outside. It was pretty nice outside, the sun was beaming and the wind was blowing. It wasn't too hot and to be honest, it was the perfect weather to help Annabeth clear her head. It made her relax. And after everything that's happened to her with Percy and Mark and Rachel, it was nice to get some alone time and relax in the sun.

She pulled her blonde hair out of her ponytail and ran her fingers through her scalp. She set down her book that she was reading and set it into her backpack, taking deep breaths. Annabeth closed her eyes and tried not to think for a moment. It was nice to clear her mind and just think about how relaxing the wind felt.

"Annabeth?" Someone very familiar said. Annabeth groaned, hearing the footsteps grow louder and louder. She opened her eyes and saw Luke smiling at her, sitting beside her. "Enjoying the weather on your free period?"

"Just trying to relax."

"Rough week?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Just a lot going on."

"We haven't really gotten a chance to talk after what happened," Luke said. Annabeth immediately flashed back to their first and hopefully last fight where she had mistakenly brought up Luke's insane mother and his struggles with his family. "It's seems like we're growing apart."

Annabeth sighed, "I guess a lot has happened lately. You know, we have tests coming up, you have to start thinking about your future...we both have to."

Luke smirked, "You make it sound like we're graduating. You make it sound like we're never going to see each other again. We're only juniors. We have one more year."

Annabeth shrugged. "Sometimes I feel like we're in different worlds. You know, high school was never this...chaotic, even with Rachel and Mark when they were together. I'm guessing Percy has a lot to do with it."

"Speaking of Percy, you know he was really surprised when he saw you and Mark. In fact, we all were a little bit in shock. I mean, come on Annie. You and Mark? Where did you come up with that genius plan?"

Annabeth was a little taken aback by Luke's choice of words and his tone. Sure. It was irrational to rebound onto a guy like Mark, but Annabeth had reasons and Luke was just refusing to understand them.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Luke smirked. "Annabeth, come on everybody knows that you don't really like Mark and that you just want to get back at Percy for hurting you."

Annabeth was stunned, shocked and angry. "W-what?"

"Annabeth, Mark is a joke! Obviously you don't like him. I-I mean come on! You've hated Mark since he moved here and clearly it isn't going to take one bad break up to change that feeling!"

Annabeth stood, suddenly angry. "You're joking, Luke! You are such a hypocrite!"

Luke stood up. "What are you talking about?!"

"Oh come on. I saw you and Percy in the hallway and you guys were talking like nothing ever happened! I thought you were supposed to be on my side all the time no matter what you do! You promised me that you would stand behind me and right now you standing fifty miles away from me!"

"Annabeth, I am standing behind you. I'm trying to protect you from Mark. We all know that he's just trying to get back at Rachel."

"Says who?!"

"Says everyone in the entire school, including myself and all of your other friends. Mark is up to no good and I don't want to see you get hurt! Look, you should just move on from Percy because he clearly moved on from you! Forget about trying to get him back by going out with Mark. Just stop acting like an idiot because when you get hurt, and you will, you're going to have no else to blame but yourself! You are just too stupid to realize who's good for you and who's not!

Luke was immediately stunned into silence at what he said. He knew that the one that angered Annabeth most was calling stupid and bringing up her broken heart was just a double whammy. He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes locked on Annabeth. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of that."

Annabeth, tears in her eyes, began to pack up and put her books away. "I should get to class."

"Annabeth!" Luke called after her, but it was no use. She had disappeared into the high school before Luke even had the time to pick up his books.

Luke went back into Goode High School, mumbling words of irritation under his breath. He spotted Thalia, Katie and the Stolls waiting for him by the front of the school.

Thalia went to his side, her eyes wide with concern. "What happened?"

"We saw Annabeth running in here and she didn't look happy," Travis pointed out. "Did your 'I'm trying to protect you speech' not go the way it was supposed to?"

Luke shot Travis a glare. "No," he spat.

"Well, what did you say?" Katie asked. "Were you the sweet, sensitive guy or the intense I-don't-wanna-see-you-get-hurt kind of guy? Did you come off too harsh?"

Luke sulked. "Not exactly. I was more of the you're-acting-like-a-serious-idiot-Annabeth kind of guy."

Thalia's eyes widened. "Oh you didn't. You know saying that Annabeth is acting stupid for being with Mark would only make her want to stay with Mark even more!"

"Yeah, I know but things just escalated. She was basically saying that I betrayed her and that I was taking Percy's side. Then it just got out of hand and words just poured out of my mouth before I could even understand what the hell I was saying. If I could take back everything that I did and said then I would. But I can't."

"Well what now?" Katie asked. "She won't talk to any of us after that."

Luke sighed, "I know, but I think we have one more option that might work." Luke took his phone and dialed the one person that he never thought he would call again.

After a couple seconds of ringing, he picked up. "Hey Percy," Luke started, "We need to talk."

Percy glanced at Nico and Grover, who flanked his sides as if they were his bodyguards. Percy felt a little uncomfortable meeting with Luke, Thalia and the others. He knew that they still hated his guts but they hated Mark's guts even more. It still hurt Percy to think about Mark and Annabeth together. He knew what Mark was capable of and he felt to blame for Annabeth and Mark being together. Percy felt like Annabeth simply threw herself at Mark because she felt as if she needed to get back at Percy.

And if something happened to his Wise Girl, it would be his fault.

"Percy," Nico muttered. Percy looked up quite briskly to see Thalia, Luke, Katie, Travis and Connor walking in straight line toward them.

Percy felt as if he was one of those action movies where two enemy clans join together to fight a bigger threat and the leaders were sauntering towards each other, their sidekicks flanking them trying to intimidate one another.

They all stopped, staring at Percy.

"So you wanted to talk to us?" Percy said, smiling a little sheepishly. He still felt uncomfortable around the five of them.

Luke shrugged, "We're here about Annabeth. I tried talking to her and she wasn't too happy when she left."

"So why are we here?" Percy asked.

Luke sighed, "You know why."

"Mark," Thalia mumbled.

Percy shifted his stance uncomfortably, "I guess for once we have a mutual agreement on our perception of someone."

"Look, Mark is no good for Annabeth and we all know that," Luke said, pointing out the obvious. "Mark is just using her to back at Rachel. We've known Mark since we were kids. He only does things to get something out of it."

"But Annabeth's not stupid. Why would she go out with Mark?" Grover asked.

All eyes at that exact moment seemed to stare directly at Percy. He groaned. "Okay, I get it. It's my fault that Annabeth is with that jerk but I'm pretty sure that if I tell her that she needs to break up with him that that'll do more damage than good."

"So why don't you break up with Rachel first?" Luke offered.

Percy rolled his eyes. "We're not here to talk about Rachel. We're here to talk about Annabeth and Mark."

"Percy, this all has to do with what you did. Anything that happens to her is going to be your fault," Katie snapped.

Percy cringed. He sighed, "I know. Look, I care about Annabeth...a lot and I feel terrible about what I did. I'm supposed to Mr. Loyal, you know that person that always has everyone's back. I don't know why I did that to Annabeth, and I really wish that I hadn't done it. Everything would be easier if I hadn't done that but I can't change the past. I can't undo stupid mistakes that I made. I wish I could, but it's impossible, so right now instead of focusing on the mistakes that I made, we should focus on trying to stop the mistakes that are going to made in the future."

"And how do we do that?" Connor asked. "Annabeth can be pretty scary."

"Well, I already tried to talk to Annie," Luke pointed out. "She'd just get angry and defensive."

"And she hates us," Connor and Travis said together.

"Thalia? Katie?" Percy said, turning to the two of them.

They both shrugged. "Annabeth would listen to you more," Katie pointed out.

"You know that," Thalia added.

Percy wrinkled his nose, cringing. "Yeah, I do. But, honestly, the odds of us having a civil conversation that lasts more than two seconds is virtually impossible. Besides, with Rachel watching my every move, and me being on Mark's hit list, I don't think I have a great shot."

"Percy," Luke pleaded, "Do this for Annabeth."

Percy sighed. He looked up into Luke's eyes and Percy could tell how much Luke cared about her. Percy began to think. He understood that the difficulties of this challenge, but everything about Annabeth was a challenge. She was unpredictable, the opposite of Rachel. She was hard to read, and made Percy work to keep her happy. He loved facing her challenges and conquering them.

Right now, this was just a little harder than the others.

Percy sighed, "Fine."

"Thank you," Luke said, quietly. "And Percy, I'm sorry for breaking your nose."

Percy shrugged. "I'm sorry for damaging your relationship with Annabeth."

Luke shrugged back.

The two groups seemed to adjourn after that and they began to part separate ways, except Percy didn't follow Nico or Grover. He went off on his own, wandering aimlessly through the back lot of Goode High School, lost in thought, preoccupied with how exactly he was going to overcome this challenge. Every part of it was difficult: approaching Annabeth, trying to start a conversation that doesn't end in her yelling at him and finally, trying to get his point across.

Percy began to have a rather pessimistic overview of what the conversation would most likely reflect:

Hey Annabeth. It's Percy Jackson, your ex-boyfriend that technically cheated on you with your arch enemy. How's everything going? So I hear your dating Mark. Why are you dating that creep? You should break up with him. Wait, you think I should break up with Rachel? You think I'm being a hypocrite?!

Okay, you get the point. Percy knew that no matter how he decided to approach this situation, neither would end up with a very positive outcome. But he couldn't risk Annabeth getting hurt.

Then again, as Percy began to think about it, maybe this was how Annabeth felt about Percy and Rachel. Maybe Annabeth thought that Percy was going to get himself hurt by going out with Rachel. To be honest, after getting to her, Rachel wasn't all that bad. Maybe that's how Annabeth felt about Mark. Maybe, Percy shouldn't even bring Mark up. If he was going to try and protect Annabeth, why compromise their already fragile relationship? He should just try to get close to Annabeth to mae sure that nothing happens to her.

Percy, finally feeling as if he formulated a logical plan, shrugged his backpack onto his shoulders and raced toward the front doors. He spotted Annabeth leaning against the railing of the stairs, her nose in a book. He took a very shaky deep breath before taking several steps closer.

Annabeth heard his footsteps and looked up, automatically glowering at his presence. "What do you want?" She asked, slamming what seemed to be an 800 paged non fiction book shut. "Don't you have to go make out with Rachel or something?"

"Look, Annabeth, I know your angry at me and before you go and start yelling at me, I just wanted to say something. I miss you, a lot, and I'm not saying that we should both break up with Mark or Rachel because we're both happy with them, but at the same time we're both miserable without each other. Or at least, I'm miserable without you. What I did was unforgivable on every level. I mean, I don't even trust myself to be around any girl after I did. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I just wanted to say that if there is anyway that you can just start to forgive me for that awful mistake, then please, please do it. Because I miss you Wise Girl."

Annabeth seemed to hesitate. She sighed, tucking her book into her backpack. "You know, to be honest, I kind of miss you too." She spoke quietly, so quietly that it would be impossible for anybody to hear but Percy heard each word like an entire chorus had shouted it at top volume. It made his heart leap a couple of times and swim in circles. He was relieved and ecstatic.

"But that doesn't mean that I forgive you for what you did," Annabeth continued. "Like you said, it was unforgivable and unforgettable, but despite all that, I do kind of wish that things could go back to the way that they were."

Percy grinned, "It's nice to hear you say that."

She shrugged, "Come on, Seaweed Brain, don't you kind of miss our study dates?"

"Where you would do all the teaching and I would do all the 'I don't get it' expressions?"

Annabeth laughed. "That's the one! But you know, thing are never going to be the same between us."

Percy nodded, "I get it, but at least we don't have to pretend that we hate each other anymore. We can be in a happy relationship with someone else and at the same time we can still be great friends."

Annabeth grinned, "I guess it all works out." The two stared at each other for a very brief period of time before Annabeth her throat. "Um, the bells about to ring. We should get inside."

"Right, right."

Annabeth gave Percy one last smile before making her up the stairs and into the high school, leaving Percy stare at her. It wasn't exactly how Percy expected the conversation to go. He did bring up Mark, but not the way that Luke or the others were expecting him to. It felt better this way. He's going to protect Annabeth, but in his own way.

The way that brings the two closer together.

That brings his Wise Girl back to him.

Now how's THAT for an ending?!

Percabeth is slowly started to come back...or will they?!

DUN, DUN, DUN.

Okay, so there wasn't like a lot of crazy action and stuff, but hey Percy is starting to be the sweet, protective, loving person that we always love...and Annabeth...WHAT IS HER PROBLEM?! Why is she with Mark? Why is she totally ignoring Percy?

Seriously, you should write a little review so that you can find out how and if their going to resolve this! I really want to have this story done before school starts.