AN: Okay, so just letting you know that this chapter doesn't start exactly where the last chapter stopped, it starts a little earlier than that. Okay that's all. Enjoy!

Percy

"I'm okay." She paused, raising her arm to run her fingers through my hair. I took the liberty to examine the arm that was currently in my face and tried to calm myself as I caught a glimpse of the faded scars on the inside of it. I already knew they were there, but every time I saw them again, it was like a stab to my heart. I couldn't even begin to imagine what could cause her to feel so horrible she'd go the lengths of harming herself.

"Perce, seriously, I'm okay." It seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than me and that was concerning. There was a slight frown on her face and her eyebrows were pinched together in deep concentration. I tried not to let my face fall at her obvious lie.

Finally, I let out a breath and nodded even though I didn't believe a word that was coming out of her mouth. She was lying, I knew she was lying. But I wasn't mad, I was worried. Ever since she'd had the melt down on her birthday, I hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else other than her and whatever was going on. Seeing her completely broken down that day was probably the worst thing I'd experienced since I met her.

It wasn't even just that she was upset, but also the fact that I couldn't do anything about it. So I just had to sit there and watch her cry and try to comfort her about something that I didn't even understand. I just felt useless, like I wasn't even helping at all. I was really hoping that this trip would help, even if it only helped slightly, but it seemed that whatever was going on wasn't something she could easily push to the side.

Suddenly, I felt her small hands push me hard, and I landed in the salty water. I snapped out of my contemplation and looked up at her for a good minute. Her eyebrows were raised, arms crossed over her chest, eyes set in a challenge. It was clear she was trying to distract me. I knew she wasn't okay. It was blatantly obvious. But, I also knew this was her way of trying to reassure me. She genuinely was trying to make sure we had a good time on this trip. So, I stood up slowly, deciding to pretend I actually believed she was okay.

"Oh, you're so dead." I assured her, and my heart couldn't help but lift as I saw a real, honest to god smile spread across her face. I ran after her as she broke into a sprint, smiling at the way my football shirt moved on her back as she pumped her arms. We looked like a pair of kids in a game of tag, her running away, me chasing her. An easy smile slid on to my face as I watched her jump over heaps of sand, weaving down the beach and occasionally turning back to stick her tongue out at me. Lose tendrils of her curly blonde hair were escaping from her bun, but she kept moving forward.

"You know I'm gonna catch you, Blondie." I yelled after her over my panting. She was a little ways ahead of me and I willed myself to run faster.

"Over my dead body, asshole." She yelled back, picking up speed, but the distance between us was closing and I could see her getting tired, her energy draining. Finally closing the gap between us, I rammed into her, pushing her into the warm sand below and setting my hands on either side of her head. She looked up at me, her eyes narrowed, and let out a huff. Instantly a laugh escaped from my mouth.

"I'm a football player you dork what did you think was gonna happen?"

"I despise you." She spat, glaring at me with intensity incomparable to anything else. I shook my head at her and leaned in close, setting my forehead on hers. Even when she was angry she looked stunning. I let myself examine the spark in her eyes as she turned her nose up to me, lips pursed.

"Oh come on, you can't actually be mad at me, you started this."

"Yes I am." She assured. I rolled my eyes at her, internally smiling. She was finally starting to act more like herself. Excitedly, I leaned into her, ignoring the frustrated look on her face and pressing a kiss down on her forehead. She went slack underneath me and I smiled as I felt her hands wrap around my neck. She was gonna be okay. We were gonna be okay. Suddenly, a huge clump of sand smacked the side of my head and I broke away from her promptly, peering down at her as her hysteric laughter filled my ears.

"Alright, let's go, time to end this." I stood up quickly, lifting her up to carry her into the water. She just kept laughing, smacking my chest with her closed fists and I ignored the continued kicks I was receiving on my side.

"No, Perce, don't do it." She pleaded, her eyes now watering from how hard she was laughing, but I continued delving deeper into the water.

"Nope."

"Percy, please." The smacks on my chest continued and I looked down at her in my arms, shaking my head quickly. If she thought she was getting away with this she had another thing coming.

"Percy, I love you." I stopped and met her eyes with a smirk.

"Well, at least you tried." I said shrugging, and with a final look, dropped her deep into the water. And when she came back up, her hair matted against her forehead, and anger in her eyes, I got a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time. It was the feeling I felt every time she came over to my house and Mom made us cookies and we stayed up all night battling it out on whatever video game we felt like playing that day. It was the feeling I got every time we drove over to Starbucks and just sat there in each other's company, conversing for hours on end. It was the feeling I got when she laughed. It was normalcy. It was content.

When I was small, Dad, Mom, and I would take trips to the beach near Long Island all the time. I remember running out to the sea with a bucket and filling it to the top, carrying back to a spot not too far from the shore that the sand was hot but not too close that the water overlapped. Then, I'd spend forever building the perfect sand castle with my parents. I'd carve intricate designs into the blocks of sand, using sticks as bridges and flag poles, and stray bottle caps as statues in front of my estate. Dad used to call me the prince of the castle, Mom and Dad the king and queen.

Whenever we'd finish, we'd lie in the sand by the castle and guard it, making sure the threatening waves didn't destroy it. Mom would always tease me, asking me when I'd find myself a princess for the castle. Back then, I'd scrunch my face up and turn away, hating the thought of ever bringing a girl over to my pretend kingdom. Now, though, I couldn't help but stare as Annabeth's eyes flicked over mounds of our sand castle, calculating the exact places she could place the seashells we'd collected that'd been scattered all over the sand. I'd been sitting there for an hour now, watching Annabeth's delicate hands mold and shape the mushy sand, and she still refused to let it go until it was perfect. My eyes trailed over the complex shapes and swirls I'd carved into the wet sand with a stick. It reminded me so much of my early years that I couldn't help but smile as nostalgia coursed through my veins. I missed those times. Annabeth looked up from her work and turned to me.

"What do you think Perce?" She looked as excited as a little kid on Christmas.

"It looks great, Blondie, super proud of you." She rolled her eyes at me, picking up the mocking tone in my voice as she clapped her hands together to get the sand off.

"Does it say posh and sophisticated?" She asked, picking up one of the stray flowers on the ground and placing it near the base of the castle. I shook my head at her and laughed.

"No, it says sand castle."

"Just shut up and take a picture for Reyna, she told me to keep her updated." She demanded, shooting me a look as she tossed her phone over to me. I rolled my eyes at her, stifling my smile and watching her beam at the camera as I snapped the picture.

As soon as her phone was safely back with her, she threw herself back into the sand castle. I watched as her still damp hair fell into her face, her cheeks warming from the sun. Under the lighting of the beach, her eyes became as vivid as they could, the silver specks in the clouds of grey shining through.

"You're beautiful." I blurted impulsively, not regretting for one minute that I had. She looked up from her sand castle, raising her eyebrows in question.

Every time my family and I would go to the beach together, without fail, Dad would find the most exquisite flower you could find at a beach, and when the time was right, he'd present it to my mom by tucking it lightly behind her ear. Every time he'd do this, and every time my mother would react the same way; cheeks flushed, eyes bright, like she'd never heard anything more romantic in her life. Pensively, I grabbed one of the many flowers lying around the base of the castle and repeated the same motion with Annabeth, the way I'd always watch my Dad do to my Mom. Her reaction was immediate, and I couldn't help but smile at the way she looked down almost sheepishly.

"And you're cheesy." She responded, but even then she couldn't disguise the bloom of red on her cheeks, and the small, pleased smile she was pushing down. She got up then, suddenly, rushing up to a stranger and talking quietly before handing him her phone and then running back up to me.

"Is this picture for Reyna too?" She grabbed my arm, draping it over her shoulders loosely before wrapping her arms around my torso. She looked so at peace, I could stare at her forever and never get bored. She was a work of art. This is how I wanted to remember Annabeth forever. Bright eyes, big smile, and overwhelmingly happy.

"Mostly for me, but I'll send it to her anyway." And then I didn't even have to pose for the picture because I was already smiling so brightly at her. As soon as the picture was snapped, I ran up to the stranger and grabbed the phone for her. Absentmindedly, I pressed the send button on her phone and then tossed it back to her.

As we walked away, Annabeth's phone safely in her bag, and our hands intertwined, she met my eyes, a look of tranquility and cheerfulness running through her face. Without warning she stopped us in our tracks, snaking her arms around my neck and leaning her face close, until our noses touched. I took in a breath.

"Thank you, Percy."

"For what?" Because I was legitimately confused as to what I had done.

"For taking me here. And being here. Just everything. Seriously, it's a big help. I-" But I stopped her in her tracks, covering her mouth with mine and drowning out her words. The sand castle was long forgotten, the concern washing away from my very soul and leaving me just completely overjoyed. Every time I ran my hands through her hair it felt like silk was between my fingers, and every time our lips clashed it felt like my spirit lifting gradually. I smiled against her lips and wrapped my arms around her waist, picking her up from the ground and hearing her surprised intake of breath. I broke away and kissed her nose and her cheeks and her jaw and her temple until her beautifully wonderful fits of laughter drowned out every other sound around. And then she ran her hands through my hair for the nth time that day, and I leaned back and looked at her smiling figure.

"You don't need to thank me for anything. I would take you anywhere if it meant I could see you smile as much as you are right now, Blondie. I'm always gonna be here." And I genuinely meant that. She'd smiled so wide it seemed like I'd just given her the world when in fact all I'd done was tell her the truth. So when all was said and done, I'd carried her back to the shack and pretended it was our own little world, forgetting about all the present conflicts.

I ran my fingers thoughtlessly through Annabeth's hair, watching her face quietly. A movie blared in the background, but I was much more concerned with the movie playing right in front of me that consisted of Annabeth's facial expressions. One minute her face was scrunched up in thought, the next it was blank. She was staring intently through the window of our little shack, deep in thought. Every so often, after her deep thinking tired her, she'd set her head on my chest and slowly her eyes would flutter close. I watched as her face scrunched up again and I let my hand fall from her hair, getting ready to bring up a topic I knew neither of us wanted to talk about.

"Hey, we need to talk." Immediately she sat up, her attention quickly changing from the scenery outside to my words. Her face, which was empty of concern one moment suddenly twisted with worry. I felt her hands fidget on my chest and instantly panicked. She'd been set off again and I had no idea why. I waved it off and continued.

"I think we need to tell Malcolm about us." I explained my reasoning to her, noticing the way she eased slightly. The truth was, aside from the fact that we'd been dating for a while, I had the feeling if we didn't tell Malcolm soon, he'd find out all on his own. Reyna knew now, and there was no doubt in my mind that more people would find out eventually. Just today I thought I'd seen someone vaguely familiar and completely freaked out. If Malcom found out before we told him, everything would go to shit, he'd completely lose his mind. It was about time. Annabeth nodded and let out a breath before she spoke.

"Um, 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 he'd just get-" Suddenly she stopped, her head jerking back to the movie I'd completely forgotten about. Out of nowhere, Annabeth burst into tears, her hands immediately going up to cover her face.

"Turn it off, oh god. Turn it off, just turn it off." Her sobs were loud and throaty, and they were the only thing holding my attention. The only thing I could manage to ask her is if she was okay, over and over again, but there was no response. I instantly wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to me and running my hand through her hair in a soothing motion. I had no idea what was going on but my panic sensors were going off and all the serenity and peace we'd been feeling for the last couple hours completely evaporated into thin air. The only thing I could feel was worry and dread. She tried calming herself, but her breaths came out in ragged, short wisps.

"Alright, okay, look at me, just look at me." I let my hands fall from her shoulders and cupped her face, forcing her to make eye contact with me. They were so full of fear I could feel my heart splitting in two. If she didn't calm down soon she was going to have a full blown panic attack. My words, instead of calming her down, just made her crying intensify, and her breaths came out more heavy and short, nearing hyperventilation. She was completely losing it. Her eyes were now fully red, tears streaming from them constantly and without ever planning to stop. They snaked down her cheeks and hit my thumbs quietly.

"Breath, Blondie, just breath. I'm here, okay? I'm here." She closed her eyes quickly and nodded, trembling with fear. And we just sat there for a while, me holding her, her trying to get her breathing aligned again. When she finally managed to calm herself long enough to stop shaking, she looked up at me and her face looked just like the night of her birthday party when she'd broken down on the curb. Her eyes were all watery and she looked as fragile as glass. She grabbed my hand softly and before she could even talk, she shook her head and raised her free hand to cover her face again. A lump formed in my throat.

"Percy," She started, and I watched as her eyes shut quietly, almost as if she were trying to will herself to keep going. "I have to tell you something." At that moment my mind ran. What could she be telling me that was so bad she reacted like this? What was going on that was this horrible she couldn't even go a full day without it coming up? I gripped her hand back firmly, reassuring her. And then she started.

"Do you… um, do you… remember the night of the playoffs? When you went to that party?" She was visibly struggling to keep herself together and I could feel myself breaking into pieces watching her like this. I nodded quietly, rubbing circles on the back of her hand.

"And you know how I went home by m-myself?" Her voice cracked at the last word and her face twisted again, fresh tears pouring out.

"Hey, you're okay. You're okay. Take it slow." She shook her head at me, letting the tears overcome her.

"Percy, something happened. When I was going home, something happened." I froze, looking at her, really looking at her. Thoughts were running through my head that I didn't wanna be thinking and I shut my eyes quickly.

"What happened?" I asked, not sure at all I wanted to know the answer. At my question she just cried harder, and I kept my eyes closed, hoping what I was thinking was completely and utterly wrong.

"This guy found me and h-he threatened me, made me drive to his house," She paused, her crying stopping her from speaking. She covered her face with both hands and I sat there quietly, biting the inside of my cheeks. I couldn't say anything even if I wanted to. I was rendered speechless, already knowing where this was headed.

"And then he…he did things. To me." And then everything was silent. The only things you could hear were Annabeth's crying and short breaths. I felt myself standing up from the couch, pacing back and forth, running my hands through my hair, everything. I was doing it, but I wasn't feeling it. I was acting, but I wasn't conscious of it. I hadn't fully registered the gravity of the situation yet. It was just starting to sink in.

Suddenly, things that didn't make sense before fell into place. Like how she didn't call me when she got home that night, or her not picking up my extensive amount of calls, or how her breath smelled like alcohol the day after. I cursed myself, my pacing quickening. I felt like everything was happening at the same time but I couldn't keep up.

"Percy?" Her voice was thick but concerned, and I wanted to scream.

"Did you know him?" I looked over at her small figure, tears welling up in my eyes as she nodded. A thought occurred to me suddenly and I stopped in my tracks.

"Did I?" I watched horrified as she nodded again.

"Who was it?" She let out a breath, shaking her head at the ground. "Annabeth, who was it?"

"The guy from the coffee shop. Luke."

At that moment, everything became so real. It was like if I couldn't put a name to the person who did it, maybe it wouldn't be real. But now I knew, and it was, and I didn't know what to do with myself. My mind flashed back to that day when we'd skipped school and gone to New York. I remember finding that letter on my front porch and reading it, my blood running cold, everything around me completely freezing. The letter had told me to keep watch of Annabeth, and now here she was telling me that something had happened to her because I did the exact opposite of what that letter told me.

Before I knew it I was punching a hole in the wall, and Annabeth was gripping my shoulders trying to calm me down. I couldn't process anything. All I could see was red. I felt myself crumbling down to the ground, a wetness flowing from my eyes as Annabeth called my name repeatedly. I didn't answer.

"Percy, please calm down." She pleaded for what seemed like the millionth time. I finally looked up from where my face was buried into my knees and met her eyes.

"How can I calm down? You got hurt because of me. If I had just taken you home that night, if I just hadn't gone to that party you-"

"I what? I wouldn't have been taken advantage of? You have no way of knowing that, Percy, for all you know if you'd been there you could've been hurt too and everything would've just been worse."

"If I had gotten hurt that would've been a million times better than it being you, Annabeth. I should've been there for you, I should've tried to keep you safe." She grabbed my face with her hands and suddenly we were in the same position as just a couple minutes ago, but this time I was the one breaking down and she was the one trying to keep me together.

"You can't blame yourself for this Perce, you had no way of knowing."

"I was at a party while you were getting hurt. I was at a party. You got thrown in harm's way because I was at a party. I should've come and checked on you, made sure you got home okay." I paused, my hands balling up into fists. "I'm going to kill him, I swear to god, I will find him and I-"

"No," Annabeth shook her head at me, her eyes still red. "You're not going to do anything. He told me if I said anything to anyone, including you or Malcolm, things were just gonna get worse. And I don't think that was an empty threat. I don't want you to get involved."

"But he can't just get away with this that's not okay, that's not fair to you!" I was losing my mind. I felt like the world was collapsing around me and I was just sitting back and watching it happen.

"Percy, I know it's not. But even if I wasn't worried he wasn't going to hurt you, I wouldn't have said anything anyway. It's not like anyone would take me seriously with Helen. Trying to go to the cops about this is the same thing as going to Helen, and she wouldn't do anything." I opened my mouth to speak but she stopped me, running her thumb over my cheek.

"It happened. You throwing yourself at him isn't going to change that." My eyes shut close instantly as I let out a small breath. Once again, the feeling of uselessness settled into the pit of my stomach. I failed her. She was hurt and I couldn't do anything about it, and for the second time, I just had to sit there while she fell to pieces.

"Percy, it's okay."

"No, it's not, I know it's not, and I know you're not either. He did this to you, him just getting no consequences is far from okay." I said immediately. Annabeth's eyes fell to the floor promptly and I grabbed the hand that was settled on my face. My stomach twisted just thinking about him getting off free.

"You're right. It's not okay. But there's nothing we can do. I may not be okay right now, but I'll get there eventually." She hesitated, looking away, and when she turned back to me, her eyes were cloudy all over again. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" My voice was incredulous. What did she have to be sorry for?

"Not telling you sooner. I just didn't think I could do it. I felt so guilty about the whole thing, I didn't want you to look at me differently." I shook my head at her, disbelief running through my body. I couldn't even believe what I was hearing.

"Are you kidding me? You have nothing to apologize for. You didn't do anything. There's not a thing on this earth that could ever make me look at you any different, or change my opinion of you." I pulled her closer to me, trying to breath despite the way I felt like I was breaking from the inside out. "I'm sorry that this happened. And I'm sorry I wasn't there. But I promise you I will do everything to make sure you don't get hurt again. I told you earlier that I'd be there for you and I meant that."

And I did. Because if there was one thing I knew it was that I never wanted to see Annabeth as broken down as she was right now. Every time she cried I felt a hole expanding inside me. She looked up at me with awe in her red-rimmed eyes and it was all I could do to not completely break down all over again. She didn't deserve this.

"I love you." Her voice was thick, but completely sincere, and I gave her a sad smile.

"I love you too, Blondie. So, so much." And then I held her face in my hands, leaning in until the only thing I could feel was our lips against each other's. I could taste the salty tears that had fallen down all the way to her lips but I didn't even care because at least she was breathing, and at least she was safe, and at least she was with me. At least this time, I was here.

When something horrific happens, usually one can always find comfort in the fact that at least it can't get any worse. So naively, that's what I was doing. But I had no idea everything was about to fall to pieces again, so quickly after it'd just been put together again. It was like the world was hanging on by a string and someone was holding scissors near it, threatening to close them.

It was hours after I'd completely broken down and I was currently watching Annabeth sleep in between my arms in the small bedroom of the shack. Even after all the time that I'd come to know her, I never got tired of watching her sleep. Her chest heaved up and down and I could only imagine the pure exhaustion she felt after our extremely emotional afternoon. While Annabeth had been doing nothing but sleeping, I'd doing everything except sleeping. I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes, scared that something would happen to her if I wasn't completely alert all the time. I pressed a kiss on the top of her head and watched as her eyes fluttered open, her hands instantly forming into fists to rub at her tired eyes.

"Hey." Her voice was scratchy and I sent her a small smile.

"Hey, Blondie. I thought you'd never wake up, you've been sleeping for hours." She smacked my chest, hopping from off the bed and stretching her joints like a cat.

"I'll be right back, I need to go to the bathroom." I nodded at her as she walked away and shook my head, wondering what the hell she was doing to me. Suddenly, the ringing of her phone snapped me out of my thoughts and I quickly grabbed it from the side table, not bothering to look at the caller ID

"Hello?" There was some movement from the other line and I heard the faint sound of a woman's voice in the background.

"Percy? Is that you?" The sound of Malcolm's voice hit my ears and my eyes closed shut, knowing this was about to be a complete train wreck. His anger rang through the phone and he didn't even wait for me to answer. "Can you tell me why the hell I received a picture of you and my sister at the beach looking extremely comfortable with each other?" My mind instantly flashed back to the picture on the beach and me sending it without even looking down. I wanted to throw myself off a cliff.

Annabeth emerged from the bathroom with a towel to her face and my football shirt still hanging loosely from her frame. She met my eyes and her eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Who are you talking to on my phone?"

"Is that my sister?" Malcolm yelled from the other side, and Annabeth's face fell. She joined me on the bed and I pressed the speaker button.

"Malcolm?"

"Annabeth, I stopped by Reyna's earlier and you weren't there. Would you care to explain?" She ran her hands through her hair and looked at me in despair, but I had no idea what to do.

"I'm in Montauk." Her answer was short and I could just picture Malcolm's face right now, twisting in rage. I heard the woman's voice again and instantly knew it was Thalia trying to calm him down.

"Why the hell are you in Montauk with Percy?"

"We decided to go on a trip, Malcolm, it's not that big of a deal."

"Why would you lie about it then? Why would you tell me you were with Reyna?" Someone honked in the background, indicating that they were on the road.

"Because I knew you'd overreact like this!" It was a valid point, but we both knew that's not the reason she lied.

"And Percy why the hell wouldn't you tell me you two were going somewhere?" He asked, completely ignoring Annabeth's explanation. I covered my face with frustration and opened my mouth to talk but Annabeth beat me to it.

"Malcolm, we're dating, okay? Percy and I are dating." My jaw dropped and I shot her a look of complete shock. When I said we needed to tell Malcolm I didn't mean literally that day.

"Are you kidding me?! Percy, that's my sister what the fuck is wrong with you! How could you do something like that?!" He paused, and I could literally see the gears turning in his head. "How long has this been going on?" I held my hand up to Annabeth, silently asking her to let me answer this one.

"When we went on the trip to Florida, things kind of-"

"Since Florida?!"

"Why does it even matter?" Annabeth asked, once again answering for me. "You have no right to talk anyway, you did the same thing with Thalia."

"This is different, Annabeth, you're my little sister!"

"I can make my own decisions I'm not five! Percy's a great guy, and he's been here for me when you haven't." Annabeth was visibly fuming, and I could do nothing but sit there and listen to this unfold.

"That's not fair and you know it, I have a kid on the way. And maybe if you made decisions that made any logical sense I wouldn't have to treat you like you're five, Annabeth! He's taking advantage of you!"

"I'm not taking advantage of her, Malcolm, I would never do something like that, you know that." I replied instantly. This conversation was losing more control every minute we kept talking.

"Yeah, well your credibility got thrown out the window as soon as you started dating my sister behind my back. You-"Malcolm stopped as Thalia's scream filled my ears, and the next thing I knew, we were listening to a combination of screeches followed by an all resounding crash. Then the line cut off.

AN: Yikes don't hate me. Drop me a review, till next time! - ShyGal