AN: Hey! I don't know if you guys celebrate Easter, but if you do, happy early Easter! here's an update :)

Annabeth

I looked around at the high trees and beautifully colored flowers surrounding Reyna's large extensive house through the passenger's window of Percy's pick-up truck. The last time I found myself at Reyna's house, it'd been for our first National Honors Society Christmas party. During white elephant she helped me steal the gift I wanted back from one of the other members and from then on, our friendship begun. I found that Reyna was actually pretty chill after I got past how intimidating she seemed to me. With everything going on with Thalia at the moment, and Piper being holed up with all the responsibilities of being the new cheer captain, I really didn't think I could be with either of them for more than five minutes without catching the stress they currently have. And so, I found myself in front of Reyna's house, being forced to, for the first time in a while, just forget about everything else and relax.

"Cheer up, Blondie, aren't you here to have fun?" Percy spoke, knocking me out of my contemplation. I looked away from the scenery and forced a smile while I met his eyes. In them I saw all the concern and care in the world, and suddenly my pretense smile easily slid into a real one.

"Yeah, I know. I just have so much stuff to do and-"He held a hand up and stopped me.

"Nope. Nope. You're here to relax. I don't want you talking about anything stress worthy, alright? You're gonna go in there and have some fun."

"But there's so much homework that I need to finish." I cried exasperatedly. Technically it wasn't a lie, I really did have a lot of homework to finish. However, it was currently a Thursday, we didn't have school the next day, and the due dates weren't until the middle of next week.

"Nope." He popped the 'p' and gave me a grin so wide it could probably reach the other side of the planet.

"I have an essay in my AP English 4 class that I need to write."

"Nope."

"I-"

"Annabeth will you stop finding reasons to stress?"

"But there's just so-"Suddenly, Percy jumped out of his truck and ran over to my side without a word, popping open the passenger's side door.

"Come on, out of the car." He looked at me expectantly with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What?" My eyebrows shot up as I planted my feet down on the floor of his car.

"Annabeth."

"Perseus." I replied in the same tone of voice, challenging him as I crossed my arms.

"So help me god if you don't get out of this car I will carry you to that door myself." When I didn't move a muscle he let out a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking gravely disappointed in me.

"Alright, you asked for this." He said with a shrug, and the next thing I knew, he'd grabbed me up from my knees and tossed me over his shoulder like a potato sack. My stomach lurched and I stared at the moving pavement in complete and utter shock.

"Percy what the hell!" I'm almost positive the entire block heard my intense shriek, but the only respond I got from Percy was some deep laughter as we made our way closer and closer to the door. As soon as he set me down, I tried to turn back but there was no use.

"Did you think I was lying when I said I would do it?" He asked as he caught me in his arms before I could keep going. "Because I'm a man of my word, Blondie. I don't tell lies."

"You lied when you said you loved me. If that were true you wouldn't be dragging me here." I fired back, wanting nothing more than to go back home and dive deep into my bed, forgetting about the world.

"First of all," He started, tipping my chin up so I had to look into his eyes, "I didn't drag you anywhere, you wanted to come here, and she invited you. Second of all, I'm oh so sorry I'm not letting you drag yourself back to that disgusting pit you call your bed. My fault for wanting you to have fun. The fact that I'm not letting you roll back into your isolation is proof enough that I wasn't lying when I said that." The sarcasm rolled off his words, and I met his eyes wordlessly, trying to ignore the fact that he was right.

"Listen, you're gonna be fine, okay? Let yourself live a little, and worry about everything else later. The stress can wait. Besides, remember we're leaving to Montauk tomorrow. That means there's no absolute way, on this earth, that I'm going to allow you to stress, there's just no way." I let out a breath and rolled my eyes at him, nodding quietly.

"So you're gonna try not to stress?" He asked, as he lifted his baseball cap off his head and placed it on mine.

"Yes." I replied, feeling defeated.

"And you're gonna try to have a good time?" His hands slid down from the cap and ran through my hair, making their way near my face.

"Yes."

"And you're not mad at me for dragging you from the car?" He pulled me closer and my breath faltered.

"N-no." I stuttered, and silently cursed myself at my stupidity as I felt my cheeks grow red. A smile spread across his face and he finally cupped my face, so close I could feel his breath on me.

"Great." He replied, starting to close the remaining distance between us, but before he could finish the gap, someone cleared their throat loudly and we split apart.

I looked up and met the confused yet amused eyes of Reyna. If it was possible for me to turn anymore red, I achieved that at that very moment. She looked from me to Percy, and I watched, speechless, as a smirk slid its way on to her face.

"Hey Jackson, what brings you here?" Reyna asked nonchalantly, her voice thick with disguised pleasure.

"I was just dropping this one off, she needed a ride." He replied coolly, rubbing the back of his neck as he met her eyes.

"Mmm, right. Well, glad you got her here safely."

"Anytime, Arellano." He turned to me with a slight tint to his cheek, but held my gaze steady. "Remember what we talked about, no stressing, okay?" As soon as I nodded, I saw reassurance run through his face.

"Alright, great. Well, I'm headed out. Have fun you two." He said as he waved goodbye, and once I saw his car pull away, I turned back to Reyna's smiling figure and made my way into her house.

For a while, we just avoided talking about what she'd just witnessed. We sat in her spacious living room, watching re-runs of The Office in silence, aside from the occasional clearing of a throat or a yawn. It was when we'd pulled out a tub of ice cream, and I'd shoved a heavily loaded spoon in my mouth that the silence broke.

"You know, I never thought I'd see the day that Annabeth Chase actually stuttered." Reyna admitted as she dug her spoon into her bowl. As soon as the words left her mouth, I sputtered the ice cream I had in my mouth. I heard her small chuckle and it was all I could do not to drag myself out of her house.

"That wasn't what it looked like." I came up with hastily, knowing it was a weak defense. She quirked her eyebrow at me and bit back the smile I knew she was dying to let slip.

"Oh? So you're saying that wasn't Jackson trying to plant one on you?" I faltered and stared at my ice cream until it became a blurry green blob in my vision. There was no way out of this.

"Okay, so it was exactly what it looked like." I admitted, glancing at her quickly. She finally let loose the smile she'd been holding back and dug her spoon in her bowl again.

"You sure know how to pick 'em. How long's that been going on?"

"Well, for a while now actually. We've been trying to keep it under wraps though because of-"

"Your brother." I hesitated, and then slowly nodded.

"But not just that, it's also-"

"The feud, I know. That's so interesting though. You and Percy? I never would've seen you two together." I cracked a smile and tilted my head quietly, enjoying the fact that I could actually talk about my relationship with Percy with someone other than Percy himself.

"Really? Why not?" She shrugged and turned her body to face me while flipping her long braid over her shoulder.

"I don't know, I just thought you two would clash. Like, you guys are both kinda headstrong, and didn't you used to hate each other?"

"Yeah," I said with a small smile, fixing Percy's cap on my head. "But then we kind of stopped hating each other. I mean don't get me wrong, he's not perfect, and we do clash a lot, but he's actually really caring and sweet."

"Alright weirdo, stop getting all sappy with me." She leaned her head back against the couch, the forgotten TV show blaring in the background.

"What about you, huh? Any secret relationships I don't know about?"

"Nope." She said quickly, getting up and bringing her bowl to the sink in the kitchen. My attention automatically caught, I let my spoon fall into my bowl and followed her, leaning against the bar by the kitchen. She was definitely hiding something.

"Oh, come on. There has to be someone."

"Nope."

"There's no cute girl you're currently seeing?"

"Nope."

"Not even like a fling?"

"Did she tell you?" She suddenly blurted, putting her bowl down into the clean section of the sink and wiping her hands on her jeans. I resisted the urge to show any facial expression and let a smile slip on to my face. If I let it slip that I didn't know who 'she' was, I'd never figure it out.

"Of course." To my surprise, Reyna's face fell and she scoffed loudly, setting her hands on her hips.

"Wow, that's so interesting, I was sure Piper was so embarrassed of what happened she'd never tell anyone." She spat out, and my jaw dropped instantly. As soon as Reyna saw my reaction, her face blanched.

"Oh my god, you didn't know."

"Piper?! You were dating Piper?!" I fell back into the stool at the bar, my balance leaving me at the news.

"No, no, it wasn't like that, it was just a one time thing!" She assured me, grabbing my shoulders with an urgency I'd never seen in her before.

"Wait what do you mean because I'm not understanding." I was trying to keep myself together. Sure, Piper and I hadn't discussed relationships in a while, but I was shocked she wouldn't tell me something as important as this. Then again, her not telling me was about the same thing I was doing with Percy. Reyna let out a breath and sat down in the stool next to me.

"Piper and I hooked up once, last semester." My jaw dropped again, but before I could get a word out, she shushed me and continued.

"She came over to do this Spanish project, and we started having some deep conversations, and then things just kind of happened. But then the next day, she went on and on about how she wasn't into girls and it was so obvious she regretted the whole thing. And we haven't talked since." I let myself register Reyna's words, and gave myself some time to recover before I responded as Reyna plumped herself on the couch once more.

"Piper's someone who's very… unsure of herself. Sometimes she can be really insecure even if she doesn't show it." I said finally, rolling up next to her on the couch. She looked up at me, her face still down and shook her head.

"I'm serious. She's probably really confused about the whole thing, she's never had an experience with a girl before." I paused before asking the next question, fiddling with my thumbs. "Do you like her?" Her silence was enough of an answer for me, and I nodded understandably.

"Well, I'm just letting you know, that she broke things off with Jason last semester. They're not together anymore."

"And what is that supposed to mean to me? If she's embarrassed of me there's no point in waiting around for her." She sounded completely defeated, but she still managed to roll her eyes in exasperation.

"I don't think she's embarrassed of you. I think she's embarrassed of herself. Piper's probably just really conflicted right now and she doesn't know what she's feeling. Give her some time."

"It's been months now." Reyna pointed out, that same look never leaving her face.

"I promise she'll come around. Do you want me to talk to her?" Reyna hesitated and looked up at me. Then, with fire in her eyes, she shook her head.

"No, if she does come around, I want it to be out of her own will, not because someone told her she should."

"Okay. That's valid." I nodded and then shifted on the couch, thinking back on everything she'd just told me. "I still can't wrap my head around the fact you and Piper slept together."

"Oh, please." She started, her entire composure changing. She looked ready to attack. "We can't all be abstinent saints like you and Percy." The flame that had finally made its way off my face came back in a hot second. Reyna's eyes narrowed, making it clear that my slip up hadn't gone unnoticed and I internally screamed.

"Oh, there's no way. There's no way." She sat up quickly, a look of enjoyment crossing her face.

"You guys totally did it, didn't you?" My mouth opened and closed like a fish, looking for a way out, but after I heard Reyna's hysteric laughter, I knew I'd been caught.

"We went on this trip to Florida for my cheer competition and then-"

"THAT'S HILARIOUS." Reyna shrieked. "Boy, you're wilder than I thought. Every time I would hear about you, people would talk about you like the only thing you did in your life was study."

"Well it was like that." I admitted, the flame slowly leaving my cheeks. "But then Percy came along and-"

"Percy sounds pretty great, I've got to admit. You've loosened up significantly since you got together. You used to stress about everything. I always thought you should've stopped giving a crap about what everyone else thinks a long time ago. But now you're actually starting to do it." She paused, her amused eyes turning back to me now narrowed again.

"Wait. Have you slept with other people?" The question froze me in my spot and I clamped my jaw shut. Suddenly, the unwanted memories of that dreadful night with Luke came up, like bile in the back off my throat.

"No." I said faintly, ignoring the part of my brain that was screaming at me, blaming myself for what happened, calling me a liar. I could feel the tears starting to well up in my eyes, but I pushed them down. Reyna, obviously not noticing the complete change in my persona, continued.

"Oh my god, you have! Who was it?"

"No one." The harder I tried to deny what had happened, the harder it became to conceal it. I could feel the horrible truth threatening to pop out of me, but I forced it down.

"Yeah, okay Annabeth. I don't think that's how hooking up works. How long ago was it?" I swallowed the lump in my throat, my vision becoming blurry with the tears I couldn't push down anymore. Suddenly, Reyna met my eyes, and her face fell.

"How long ago?" She asked, softer now. Even though it was the same question, the meaning was completely different. She was starting to piece it together.

"When we made the playoffs." Silence. It wasn't that long ago, she and I both knew.

"And," She continued, slowly, almost cautiously. I felt like a cup of fine china sitting on the very edge of a table. Anytime soon I'd fall and completely shatter. "Was it consensual?" I knew I wasn't supposed to be saying anything. I knew that telling someone wouldn't fix my situation. What had happened had happened, I couldn't change that. Telling someone could end up making it worse for them. But still, I couldn't stop myself when I uttered a small, quiet no. As soon as the word escaped my lips, I covered with my mouth with both hands, trying to capture the word and shove it back in my mouth.

"Oh god," The tears had finally burst from my eyes and they weren't stopping anytime soon. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that I-"Reyna gripped my shoulders for the second time that day, but it was no use. I felt like I was spiraling away, back into the empty parking lot from that night. My breath was running short and Reyna became fuzzy in my vision as the tears persisted.

"Hey, hey, hey. Come on." She soothed, enveloping me in her arms and comforting me the way a mother would comfort a distressed child. Feeling safe, I let everything that I couldn't pour out on Reyna. There was shame, and guilt, and a present feeling of worthlessness. There was so much. I didn't even notice as Reyna got up and threw a blanket over my shoulders, seemingly covering me from harm. Everything was static. I vaguely heard the sound of water running, pots clanging, and the high pitched squeal of a tea kettle. Time passed before me, and before I knew it, Reyna set down a small cup of tea on the table in front of me. I glanced at it briefly and watched as steam rose from the cup and swept up in the air.

I grabbed the tea cup in shaky hands and let the warm liquid run down my throat, heating me up from the inside and reviving me once more. I sat there for a while and let my head clear while the scents of mint and lemon filled my senses, humming in the silence with gratitude at Reyna. She, like Percy, had learned my favorite drink.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly, after minutes of silence, and when my tea cup had become empty. Reyna glanced at the tea cup then stood up promptly, grabbing the tea kettle and sugar and placing it on the table next to my cup. I thanked her quietly and poured myself another cup of tea.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I shouldn't have said anything. I should've just kept quiet, now you're involved in my problems." I thought back to how I promised Percy tonight would be all fun and no stress. How ironic.

"No, Annabeth, please don't apologize." She hesitated, her eyes filled with deep concern. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." It was an honest answer. I really didn't know if I was okay anymore. Sometimes I felt like it was a distant memory I could overcome. Other times, I felt like it was the only thing occupying my mind and everything was slowly collapsing around me.

"Am I the only person you've told? You haven't told the police, or your parents?" I nodded quietly and sipped on the tea, trying to keep my composure. I was still registering the fact that I'd told someone.

"I…I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. He threatened me, said if I told someone things would just get worse." I was gulping down the tea now, trying to drown out the sobs in the back of my throat with it.

"What about the police?" I shook my head and stared at the now empty tea cup.

"I can't tell the police. They wouldn't do anything because of Helen, and even if they could, I…I don't think I could handle them knowing what happened. I would just feel so ashamed."

"Does Percy know?" I shook my head harder as fresh tears escaped from my eyes. It seemed like these days, the only thing I could do was cry.

"I feel so guilty, like I cheated on him or I let him down. Like if I had fought harder I could've avoided it. I don't want him to get hurt, I don't want to put him in danger, and I don't know if I can tell him. I don't know if I can handle it I don't know if I can do it I just can't." I said, covering my face with my hands. I felt Reyna's arms wrap around me once more and let out a small breath.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell him. You don't have to tell anyone. And you shouldn't feel guilty or obligated to tell him. This is about you. And it's personal. And if you don't feel comfortable telling him, that's okay."

And then I sat there and let myself go in Reyna's arms, and at that moment, I thanked god I had someone like her in my life.

I tilted my head up towards the sky and relished the salty breeze, wrapping my hands tighter against Percy's neck.

"You know, how come you never carry me around?" Percy asked looking back at me over his shoulder. I was currently riding on Percy's back as we strolled down the beach, my bare back warming from the sun.

"Come on, you know you love carrying me." He rolled his eyes at me from under his baseball cap, but I caught the small smile he was trying to hide and relaxed against him. I was just so happy.

I blamed it on Montauk. Everything about it was perfect. As soon as we'd left to Montauk I felt a sense of release. It was like I was escaping from all my problems. The ride over had been filled with plentiful sunshine, bare feet on the car dash, laughing to tears, and overbearing, out of tune singing over the loud roar of Bon Jovi.

"So, how was Reyna's?" Percy asked, bringing me out of my daydream. I must've tensed as Percy brought up my night at Reyna's because Percy turned his head back to look at me with concerned eyes.

"Was it not good? Did you stress? I told you not to stress, Blondie." He set me down and laced his fingers through mine. Here on the beach, everything was so serene. Even the people around were walking by peacefully, chatting with the people around, or swimming in the ocean. I smiled easily at as we continued walking down the beach.

"It was fine." It was a lie, obviously, but I wasn't going to tell Percy that because then he'd just worry, and why should I ruin a perfectly fine trip by doing that? Of course, I had stressed more when I got there than before, but at least I was with Reyna, and safe. He raised an eyebrow at me and I stared at him for a second. His eyebrows were arched in concern, his green eyes deep and full of care, spots of yellow and blues making themselves present under the sunlight.

"Were you actually fine, or are you just telling me you're fine?" I let out a small laugh and leaned against him.

"I was actually fine, just like you." I answered nonchalantly. He stopped our walk and looked at me as I dug my feet in the sand.

"Did you just call me hot?" I shrugged casually and he scoffed.

"Alright, well now I know you're not fine because you're complimenting me instead of insulting me." I rolled my eyes at him and smacked his arm as he wrapped his arms around me from behind and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"Well really, it was fine. She knows about us now." I confirmed, and Percy glanced down at me.

"Oh, really, I wouldn't have guessed." He commented sarcastically. "What'd she say?"

"She said she would've never thought we were dating because of how we used to hate each other. And..." He glanced over at me and I scrunched my eyes closed.

"What?"

"I might've accidentally let it slip that we… you know." He smirked at me and crossed his arms over his shoulders, stopping us in our tracks.

"Oh, so you told her about how you came on to me, right? And about what an amazing kisser I am, and all that other stuff?"

"Oh, shut up."

At that moment, everything was fine. We were calm, laughing, and things were normal. And then I saw him. It wasn't Luke, but the guy walking by looked extremely similar to him. He had the same blonde hair and blue eyes, and the way he was raking his eyes up and down my body made me feel uneasy. Percy obviously noticed because his grip on me tightened and I tried to keep my demeanor. I was frozen.

"So where did you tell Malcolm you'd be for the weekend?" He asked, looking down at me and meeting my worried eyes. Before he could bother to ask if I was okay for the millionth time, I answered quickly.

"Reyna's. Hey, I'm a little chilly." I mentioned quickly, and without even asking, he peeled his football shirt off and handed it to me. As soon as I slipped it over my swimsuit, my nerves calmed slightly. Feeling covered made me feel at least a little more protected. I met his eyes and saw them full of concern and let out a breath. It seemed like that look was never going to come off his face.

"I'm okay." I stopped him and ran my fingers through his overgrown hair. "Perce, seriously. I'm okay." But even when he nodded the look stayed on his face. I let out a breath and closed my fist. There was no way I was going to let this trip get ruined because of me. Impulsively, I grabbed Percy's arm, and next thing I knew, I was pushing him into the water, watching him fall into the shallow waves. I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my eyebrows at him, shrugging in a challenge. I watched quietly as he raised his eyes to meet mine slowly. And then they narrowed.

"Oh, you're so dead." He stated, standing up, and I smiled wide, breaking into a sprint down the beach.

I leaned against Percy on the couch of the shack and glanced outside the window, watching the setting sun change the colors of the sky. We were currently watching some unknown movie that I wasn't paying attention to when Percy glanced over at me.

"Hey, we need to talk." I sat up and looked at him. His face was serious and my throat tightened. He knew. He totally knew. He'd found out about Luke and was confronting me about it. I closed my fists and opened them repeatedly trying to calm myself.

"I think we need to tell Malcolm about us." My fists unclenched. "I mean, we've been dating for a couple months now, and with Reyna now knowing I think it's bound to slip out eventually." I nodded quietly, my breath normalizing again.

"Um," I started, trying to find my voice. "I agree with what you're saying, and I get where you're coming from, but I think we should wait a little longer. I mean he's totally consumed with Thalia's pregnancy right now, if we told him he'd just get-"I stopped abruptly, my attention sweeping back to the movie on the screen.

The blood in my veins ran cold and I stilled. The current scene in the movie was currently depicting a young woman being cornered in an alley by four men. I could already tell where the scene was headed, but when one of them jumped at her, I snapped.

"Annabeth, oh my god, are you okay?" Percy's tone was urgent as he witnessed me breaking into tears.

"Turn it off, oh god. Turn it off, just turn it off." I covered my face, my chest heaving as I felt Percy's arms wrap around my shoulders, listening to the sound of the TV shutting off. I was ruining the trip, the very thing I was set out not to do. I could feel myself slipping through the cracks and tried to let myself breathing. Percy grabbed my hands from my face and stared at me.

"Alright, okay, look at me, just look at me." His hands went up to cup my face, but that just made me cry harder. I had no control of anything anymore.

"Breath, Blondie, just breath. I'm here, okay? I'm here." I closed my eyes and nodded, letting Percy's voice soothe me until I stopped shaking. But I knew then. This wasn't something that was going to go away. This was going to stay with me forever, and the way I was coping with it was horrendous. Reyna had told me I didn't have to tell anyone if I didn't want to. But deep inside me I felt a need for Percy to understand. I needed to tell him. So with a shaky breath, I looked up at him, eyes watery, lip trembling, and grabbed his hand.

"Percy," I started, closing my eyes, and wishing that I wouldn't have a reason to have a conversation like this. "I have to tell you something."

AN: Drop me a review please! Till next time- ShyGal