Maybe sleeping peacefully was out of the question.

It wasn't anything in particular, but the whole night was unbearably awkward. After they had finshed their blueberry pizza, which left a horrible taste in Annabeth's mouth, Percy said he was tired and that he had some errands to do tomorrow. Since there weren't rooms in his enormous apartment, they had to hang up a partition sheet half way in between so she could feel more comfortble.

"Alright," Percy said. "You've got everthing you need?"

"Uhh...yea," she replied uneasily.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Still uncomfortable?"

"How could I not be?" she said. "This isn't exactly the most normal thing in the world."

Percy nodded. "Give it a little time. This place will grow on you, and before you know it, you'll be acting like it's home."

Home, she thought. How could this place ever be home.

Annabeth averted her gaze. The apartment was spotless; its grey and blue interior sparkling in the setting sun's light. All the furniture was perfect. His entire place radiated wealth, but that wasn't home. Home was something else.

"I don't think so," she said. "This place can't be home; home is where those you love are."

Percy watched her out of the corner of his eye. "And where your home, Annabeth?"

She looked out the windows and across the city. "I don't know," she admitted. "Perhaps at a bar uptown, or maybe at my mother's grave. I'll never know."

When Annabeth turned around again, Percy was gone; his shadow dancing through the partition sheet. Her eyes fluttered to the bed. Its light blue sheets glowed dimly in the fading light. She dressed herself and lifted the covers, allowing her body to slip in between the sheets. She flipped the white switch that was screwed to the wall above her. Still, a dim glow poured in throught the craks bewteen the partiton and walls. It was sometime around 8:30, much too early to sleep.

Annabeth stared at the celling, contemplating all that she had done that day. Just that morning she had woken up, shivering from the chill of he morning. Percy had picked her up fairly early and had brought her shopping at the most exepensive places in the world. That alone had taken most of the day. Finally they had made it back. The rest of their day had been spent eating gross pizza and awkwardly sitting around avoiding eye contact. Everything was different, except for one thing.

She was still cold.

When morning came, Annabeth greeted it with open arms. The entire night had been one fitful nightmare, and the only amount of sleep she'd managed to get was due to the crushing exhaustion that made her pass out late that night. Percy own light had remained on until somewhere around 1:30. Apparently being tired was just an exuse.

The clock on the wall read 7:36.

Annabeth strethced, her muscles screaming in protest. The sunlight steamed in throught the panel windows on the walls, giving the room a breathtaking beautiful radiance. It was stunning to say the least.

Just then Percy stumbled throught the partition. His hair was a black mess on his head and he was rubbing the salt out of his eyes. He was also completely naked.

Annabeth turned a shade of scarlet. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, completely exaspereated.

Percy nearly jumped out of his skin as he scrambled to grad a pillow to cover himself before he rushed back across the partition .

"Sorry, sorry!" he called throught the sheet. "I completely forgot you were there."

"How could you forget?" she yelled back. "Did you think that sheet was for decoration?"

"I don't know I was thinking coffee not Annabeth. Just, let's forget about what just happened, okay?"

"Yea, whatever," she said. Her face was still flushed to the roots of her hair, and her heart was racing. If she had a cup of coffee, she'd probably have a heart attack.

This dosen't make any sense, she thought. I walk, no, walked the streets. I've seen coutless men naked. Why would seeing him make me embarrassed.

The partiton sheet crumbled. Percy stood there, his eyes clearly avoiding Annabeth. Thankfully, he was dressed, albeit in a pair of pajamas. He walked over to the kitchen, turning on the brewer.

"Coffee?" he offered.

"No thanks," she replied with a grimace.

"I'll pass."

"Hot chocolate?"

"Two cups please."

Percy laughed a warm, full laugh. It was a very relaxing sound, like water rushing over stones. Some of the tension left Annabeth's shoulders,

"Two cups? I didn't know you liked chocolate that much."

"Umm...it's chocolate..who dosen't like it?"

Percy shrugged. "People who are allergic to it?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Smart-ass," she commented.

He hand her the first cup, it contents leaving a minty smell behind. The tips of his finger just barely brushed her own. They were warm from the drink; his touch sending tingles down her spine.

Annabeth suddenly felt a mixture of nausea and confusion. It wasn't as if she loved him or anything-after all, she had just met him, but there was something different about Percy that made him a magnet and her iron shavings. She hope it was because he was being nice to her. No one had done that for her in a long time, so of course it was natural for her to feel attracted to something like that. After all, she didn't even know him.

Percy interrupted her toughts. "I have some work to do today, so I'm going to leave you here for a little while. Is that alright?"

She look up from her cup. "Of course."

He stood up, walking back over to the kitchen. "At 1:30 you have a doctor's appointment downtown. I'll take you of course, but just remember to be ready by the time I get back. My meeting runs till 12:30 but they usually run late, so I'll probably be back a little late. Sound good?"

Annabeth nodded uneasily. "Umm...why do I have doctor's appointment?"

"Don't worry, it's just a check-up. He'll probably testyou for some stuff, and he might have to take a blood sample, but other than that it's nothing. I just want to make sure you're healthy, that's all."

"You could have asked me you know," she said. I am an adult after all."

"Nah it's fine, really," he responded while gathering his work clothes to change into. He walked into the bathroom, locking the door after him.

"It wasn't a suggestion," she said defiantly. "I can take care of myself perfectly well you know."

Annabeth hated not being able to do anything for Percy that would show her gatitude for what he'd done for her. It was bad enough that he was providing her a place to live, food, clothes, and a myriad of other things, but now he was providing her with medical care and gods know what else.

"Is there any way to cancel the appointment?" she asked. "I don't even have health care so this going to cost you a fortune."

Percy laughed through the bathroom door. "Alright fine, I'll tell you next time I plan something that involes you. Forget about cancelling though," he said.

"Why?" she prosted.

"Because you need to see a doctor, that's why. I"m not going to pry into your past or anything, but I'm worried for you. Plus, I've way more money than I know what to do with anyway, so this is perfect."

Annabeth sighed and sat down on her bed. It was hard getting used to the circular apartment and the lack of rooms. The only part of the place that was actually completely separted was the elevator and the bathroom. They were back to back, making a circle in the center of the apartment. That meant that she would essentially never have any privacy, not that she had anything to hide.

Percy stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a two=piece pinstripe suit. His tie was clearly a Jerry Garcia; its pattern a blue streak blened with a dark gray background and splattered with light blue dots. In short, it was wild and uncontrolled, perfect for a meeting.

"How do I look?" he asked, fixing his tie in mirror on the wall.

"Fine," Annabeth responded, her voice fluttering.

"Good," he said. "Then I'm out of here. Feel free to do whatever you want while I"m gone. Food's in the fridge, bathroom's in the bathroom, yadaydayada you know the drill."

"Um...okay... Bye?"

Percy rasied a hand in respone and stepped into the elevator.

It was eerily quit in the room once the door closed.

Annabeth looked around. The huge TV dimly flashed the day's news on the entertainment stand. Percy iPad lay on the coffee table, the dark gray magnet cover smudged with fingerprints and bits of food. On the other side of the room, far past the bar, stood an enormous bookshelf packed full of journals, novels, enormous bookself packed full of journals, novels, encyclopedais, atlases, and myriad other works.

In short, Annabeth almost wet herself.

It was a dream come true, literally. For as long as she could remember, books had always fascinated her, and she always found herself looking in the windows of books stores or libraries. Something about the enormous amount of free information intrigued her, and now, she had full access to enough books to last her a year.

Immediately Annabeth delved into the books. She grabbed things left and right, pilling up her takings on the floor. Once she had pulled out everything that had seized her immediate attention, she plopped down on the floor and began to read.

Annabeth was halfway through Aristophanes' The Clouds, when she looked at the clock for the first time. It was already 12:50. Percy was supposed to get back at 1:00, and she hadn't even changed out of her sleep clothes.

Throwing the books down, Annabeth grabbed a towel from Percy's closet and ran to the bathroom. It had been two days since she'd last had shower, Seven since she'd had a hot one. The steaming water poured out of the nozzle, making her smile like a kid on Halloween night. One one of the racks in the shower were three bottles of coconut shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

Halfway through her shower, Annabeth heard the elevator doors slide open on the reverse side of the shower. Percy was back and he specifically told her to be ready when he got back, and there she was, standing in the shower, as naked as she was the day was born.

"Percy I'll be right out, sorry!" she called though the door.

No respone.

Annabeth quickly washed the remaining soap off her body, dried herself off, and wrapped her body in the towel. She cautiously opened the door, sticking her head out to peek. Percy was sitting on one of his chairs facing, an obvious frown on his face.

Shit, she tought. He's clearly pissed at me. Why, oh why, couldn't I have looked at the clock sooner?

She stepped out of the bathroom and faced him.

"Percy?" she asked.

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