Piper's P.O.V

Trying to get Annabeth to admit she liked Percy was like pulling teeth, painful. But eventually after Thalia had left for work and Jason went home, she couldn't hide it anymore.

And if she hadn't finally confessed to me then, it could not have been any clearer that they liked each other, than it was when they were studying together in one of the booths at Jackson's. They sat side by side arms touching the entire time while they went over last-minute prep for Percy's calculus final. I had a shift, so I saw most of their study 'date' first-hand.

It was all going really well until Percy went to the bathroom and a blonde-haired guy that I didn't recognise slid into the booth opposite Annabeth. I didn't get to see much of the interaction due to serving customers, but Annabeth's body language immediately changed. As did Percy's when he returned, he apparently knew the blonde-haired guy. That much was obvious, he looked like he wanted to punch him, and Annabeth looked ready to cry. I wish I had been able to pay more attention to what was going on before Percy returned.

The next thing I saw was the blonde guy had got up to leave but not before saying something to Percy and bumping his shoulder. I suspected had this not been his mom's coffee shop he would have started a fight. As it was, he sat down next to Annabeth instead and immediately pulled her into a hug. I really wanted to know what the blonde guy had said to upset her so, but I knew she was in safe hands with Percy.

Instead I made a mocha for a customer and by the time I glanced over at the again they had packed away their books and were making their way out the door.

When I got home Percy and Annabeth were asleep under a blanket on the sofa and the credits to Mulan rolled across the TV screen. I could tell Annabeth had been crying. I picked up Annabeth's phone, as it was late, and set an alarm knowing Percy had his final in the morning and then turned off the TV.

I had hoped I'd be able to talk to Annabeth about what had happened earlier in the coffee shop, but it could wait until tomorrow. I sent Hazel a text, I knew she was out with Frank tonight, so that Frank would know Percy was alright and then headed to bed myself.

I awoke to the sound of the alarm I had set on Annabeth's phone. I made my way out into the living area to discover that neither Percy nor Annabeth were there. I turned off the alarm and checked Annabeth's room. She was curled up in bed alone. They must have woken up after I went to bed.

Now I was up I decided to shower and dress. I had a final this afternoon which was why I was working yesterday I had swapped my shift with Leo. Today was my last final thankfully then I had two days to chill before I flew home for Christmas.

Annabeth emerged from her room at 9am which was really late by her standards.

"Morning" I said, she looked exhausted.

"Morning Piper" she replied grabbing a mug and pouring herself a coffee, "What time did Percy leave?" She asked me.

"I have no idea, but it was before 7am, because I set an alarm on your phone to make sure he made his final and he wasn't here when it went off."

"His final! Oh, I hope he made it, it's all my fault if he didn't, he shouldn't have stayed." She said in a panic and picked up her phone from the coffee table and set to typing a text.

"Though thinking about it, sending that was pointless if he did make it." She said, "I guess I'm hoping for no reply, at least then I know he made it, right?" She asked me, like I'd have an answer for that.

"I guess so" I replied, "Do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?" I asked and she sighed.

"You noticed," She said taking a seat.

"It was hard not too" I replied, and it had been, "I'll admit I was watching you and Percy study when I wasn't serving. I was hoping you might tell him how you felt." I confessed, "Not that I could hear you, but your body language was flirty. Until that blonde guy turned up anyway."

"Luke, the blonde guy was Luke." She said staring at the Christmas tree, as if lost in the memory of yesterday. I waited.

"I've been receiving text messages from unknown numbers since I bumped into him the first time. Turns out they were from him. Which isn't all that surprising really, they were creepy and made me feel uncomfortable, a bit like I did when I bumped into him." She said and shook her head. "I should have put it together really, but the number was always one I didn't know so I just deleted them and blocked each number."

"Sensible" I noted, she gave me a weak smile.

"I thought so until yesterday, Luke was angry that I was ignoring his messages and came to confront me about it. He asked me on a date, and I turned him down which just made him even angrier. He asked me if I turned him down because of Percy, I didn't answer him quickly enough and the fact it was Percy I was with at the shop seemed to make him mad too. He promised me I would go on a date with him." She paused.

"It wasn't Luke, not the Luke I used to know before he stopped talking to me. That Luke was kind, caring and compassionate we were friends, family even. The Luke that spoke to me yesterday was so angry and full of hate." Her voice wavered a little and she paused to collect herself.

I waited for her to continue. "Percy came back from the bathroom and his demeanour instantly changed when he saw Luke. I've never seen Percy so angry, and I don't really know why either. Luke got up to leave but not without telling Percy that he'd take me from him one way or another and then he bumped Percy on purpose to try and get a rise out of him and left. Percy to his credit didn't take the bait but that's not the point." She said and I was angry on her behalf how dare Luke threaten her like that!

"Annabeth, you need to report Luke, he sounds dangerous." I said.

"You sound like Percy" she told me, "we're going to go and report it after his final" she said.

"Good, at least the proper people can deal with it then." I replied, "So what happened after you left with Percy?" I asked.

"We came back here, and he put on Mulan because we didn't get around to watching it in San Francisco, but we didn't really watch it because I ended up crying until I fell asleep, I woke up in my bed, I guess he put me there before he left." She said. Add to the list of things I was learning about Percy Jackson; he was a gentleman.

Percy's P.O.V

I woke up at Annabeth's at 6am, I'd set an alarm on my phone to make sure I had time to get home and shower and leave for my final if necessary. Fortunately, Annabeth didn't wake up when the alarm went off. I was still really angry about Luke, but I had to let it go to concentrate on calculus. I lifted Annabeth up from the sofa and carried her to her room and placed her under the quilt before letting myself out.

The final was hard, but I'd done my best and that was all I could do. I hoped it was enough to get the 75 Mrs. Anderson hoped I got. I also hoped I got a grade that did Annabeth's tutoring justice.

I turned my phone back on after I left my final and when it got service it dinged a few times indicating I had text messages, one from Annabeth and one from my mom, I read the one from my mom first.

Mom: Good luck in your final! Love Mom

I smiled she always sent me a good luck text before all my exams, I sometimes had to turn my phone off before they came through, but I still appreciated them. I sent her one back.

Percy: Thanks Mom! I Think it went ok.

Then I read the one from Annabeth.

Wise Girl: Percy I'm so sorry! I hope you made your final! Let me know!

I sent her a reply, feeling guilty that she was worrying about whether I had made my final.

Percy: Wise Girl, just finished! Sorry I made you worry! What time am I meeting you?

I'd made Annabeth promise to report Luke to the cops. Nothing might come of it, but I wasn't going to take his threat lightly.

Wise Girl: Just having Coffee with Thalia. You're welcome to join us.

Percy: See you in ten.

I put my phone in my pocket and made my way to Jackson's.

Thalia and Annabeth were in a booth near the back when I arrived, Leo was on shift this morning.

"Hey Perce, how are you doing?" He greeted me when I got to the counter.

"Not too bad Leo thank you, how are you?" I asked him.

"All good, all good, so what can I get you?" He asked.

"Can I get another round for Annabeth and Thalia, and my usual please?"

"Coming right up, I can bring it out to the booth if you want?" He asked.

"Thanks Leo" I said handing him the cash, before going to join Annabeth and Thalia.

"Hey" I said sliding into the booth next to Annabeth.

"Hey Kelp Head" Thalia greeted me, I swear you get seaweed stuck in your ear one time when you go to the beach and you never live if down with her.

"Hey Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said and smiled at me.

"Wise Girl, Pinecone Face" I said.

"Do I want to know about the Pinecone thing?" Annabeth asked.

"Nope" Thalia said popping the P, as she always does, before I could answer causing Annabeth to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Okay then" she said in response, though I got the impression she'd ask me later when Thalia had gone to work.

"So, Annabeth was just about to tell me about her day yesterday" Thalia said.

"Oh" I said.

"Oh, indeed" Thalia said raising her eyebrows at Annabeth, who looked at a loss for words for the first time since I'd met her. I took her hand under the table and squeezed it in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. She took a deep breath and start to tell Thalia about her interaction with Luke.

"...And then Percy got really mad," Annabeth said turning to face me, "I still don't really know why though?" She said in a questioning manner and I glanced at Thalia, because really it was her tale to tell.

Thalia sighed and said, "I might be able to tell you why."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked turning to face her.

"Do you remember when you were ten and I was in the hospital for a bit?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, you hit your head and lost a lot of blood you needed a blood transfusion, you were in a coma for three weeks." Annabeth said.

"I was and I did, and for a long time I didn't remember what had happened. Percy was actually the one to give me the blood transfusion I needed."

"You were?" Annabeth asked me.

"Yeah, it's the only other time I've been on a plane, it didn't go as well as it did this weekend just gone, either, I had to be sedated." I confessed.

"But you know what happened now?" Annabeth asked and Thalia nodded and took a breath, I knew this was hard for her to talk about.

"You weren't the only one to have a crush on Luke when we were kids, Annabeth. I just wasn't willing to admit how I felt like you were, back then." She said sadly and Annabeth reached for her hand over the table and Thalia let her take it.

"We were hanging out, Luke and I, it was a weekend, you weren't with us and I don't remember why" Thalia said frowning.

"It was the weekend, they opened a new exhibit at the museum, dad took me, we left early when we heard about you, to get to the hospital." Annabeth said and Thalia nodded.

"Anyway, we went down to the park and we were messing around near one of the bridges and I didn't think anything of it I was with Luke, I was safe." Thalia continued, "We were pushing and shoving each other like we always did, and I guess Luke pushed me a bit too hard and I was too close to the edge- "

"You guess he pushed you a bit too hard? Thalia come on" I said imploringly because I still didn't think it was an accident.

"Anyway, I fell and hit my head really hard, and that why I was in hospital, Luke said it was an accident but as you can see Percy never believed that." She said gesturing to me. Annabeth had been listening in silence.

"Why didn't you say anything back then?" She asked Thalia.

"Because, if we're being honest, I didn't want to believe it. Luke was my friend, my family, someone I spoke to about things I didn't think I could tell anyone else, except you. Percy kept trying to make me see it, but I didn't believe he'd hurt me on purpose. And I didn't believe, not until that night five years later when he hurt you." Thalia said. "Annabeth, Luke knew you had a crush on him, and he didn't care he purposely sought out Sarah, that was her name, I found out the day after when I tried to ask him why he'd done what he did, I'm sorry." She said.

Annabeth's P.O.V

As I listened to Thalia tell me about the time Luke put her in the hospital, I compared it to the memory I had of that time. Of Luke, telling me that she had just fallen, that it was an accident and that 'I knew how clumsy Thalia was'. I had this memory of me just nodding along not really taking in what Luke had been saying until much later.

I'd visited Thalia every day after school to see if there had been any improvement and for three weeks there hadn't been. Then one day she had woken up, after her blood transfusion which she had said she'd had when we discussed it after she was awake. I remembered her not really remembering what happened. I remembered me telling her that Luke had said she had fallen, that it was an accident.

It was my fault that she had thought that because it's what I had told her, because it was what Luke had told me. How many of his lies had I fallen for because I had been too naïve to see the truth?

"-I'm sorry" Thalia said.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked her.

"I'm pretty sure, my confronting him is the reason he just stopped speaking to us. If I hadn't have confronted him about Sarah –" I cut her off.

"Then he would have let me down in some other way." I said, "like you said Thals, he knew I liked him, he purposely sought out Sarah rather than me knowing it would hurt me when I found out. Sure, he probably didn't intend for me to see what I did. But I tried to talk to him for weeks. He decided to turn his back on me and ignore me, not you." I said and I squeezed the hand I still held in my own on the table and the one of Percy's which held mine under the table, which I really appreciated.

Leo took that moment to bring over Percy's order.

"One black coffee for the feisty yet pretty lady," Thalia rolled her eyes at him as he continued. "And two hot chocolates, one with extra marshmallows and one blue." He said placing the cups down.

"Thanks Leo" Percy said, Leo nodded before returning to the counter.

"Thanks Kelp Head" Thalia said to Percy who smiled at her. "Annabeth, I feel like I should have told you this a long time ago and I'm sorry I didn't. We just never really talk about him, so I never brought it up."

"It's okay" I said, "I just wish I knew why, so I could put the issue to bed. That's all that really bothers me about it still now anyway. Why would he do that to me, to you, to us? We used to be like you said a family and one day he just up and decides he's going to ruin it all and I wish I knew why." I said sadly but I was glad I had spoken with Thalia and Percy about it all and I was glad that I now understood why Percy was so mad at Luke. Luke had hurt Thalia on purpose and now I knew the truth I was hurt and angry about that myself.

What had happened to the Luke I used to know? Why had he changed? I knew I probably was never going to get an answer, so I tried not to think about it. Which was hard considering it was all I had thought about since yesterday afternoon.

Percy and I headed back to campus after the police station. Thalia had gone to get some sleep before her nightshift and, as I had promised Percy, we reported Luke. The most they could do was note that he was stalking me, which I guess to some degree was true. I gave them all the information I had, and they said they'd look into it.

We had headed to our respective apartments on the way back to campus to pick up our coursework finals. Mine was due this afternoon so we headed to the architecture building first, my lecturer Mr. Peck was waiting in his classroom.

"Ah Annabeth, I thought you might be early." He said offering me a welcoming smile.

"Hi Mr. Peck, here's my final" I said passing him my blueprint.

"Thank you, I'll mark it down, you are free to go. Merry Christmas Annabeth." He told me.

"Thank you, Sir, Merry Christmas to you as well." I said politely before meeting Percy back out in the hallway.

"So where is your classroom?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm not handing it in today! Percy said, "I'm going to the laser printing lab, I want to print it up and bring it to life. I'm hoping for extra credit." Percy said and I smiled.

"Y'know for a Seaweed Brain, you can be a bit of a nerd" I teased.

"I cannot!" he protested, "You take that back Wise Girl". He said as we made our way out towards the design practical buildings.

It took an hour to print up Percy's reef model and he'd made sure to make it as colourful as possible. It was really beautiful.

"Wow, Seaweed Brain, this is amazing." I said as I looked at the different corals, sands and sediments he'd portrayed with his model. "You'll get that extra credit, why do you need it?" I asked.

"It always made up for my lower calculus grade, now I just want to show Dr. Tropic I'm serious about wanting to do this for my career." He said to me.

"I think he'll be able to see that Percy, this is incredible, you've thought of almost every creature." I said still examining his work.

"Thanks Annabeth, I'm glad you like it. Actually, if we have time do you mind stopping by the marine biology classrooms, I can hand it in then and that's me done for the semester." He said.

"Sure" I replied because it meant spending more time with Percy before my shift at Jackson's.

It took us about five minutes to walk to the marine biology classrooms and the walls were so colourful in contrast to the architecture rooms that I couldn't help but stare. Percy laughed at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You look like you're seeing colour for the first time" he said.

"Well, I suppose in a way, I am. You saw the architecture rooms there nowhere near this bright." I replied.

"Can't have dull coloured coral now" A deep male voice said from behind us, and it took me by surprise.

"Dr. Tropic" Percy greeted, "I just wanted to hand in my final for tomorrow."

"A day early?" Dr. Tropic said, "I know you're my top student Percy, but you're never normally early with your assignments, this makes a nice change." He said smiling at his top and, if I had to guess, which I didn't like doing, I'd say Percy was also his, favourite student.

"Always aiming to please" Percy said jokingly.

"Indeed" Dr. Tropic laughed.

"I'll set it down over there shall I?" Percy asked.

"Set it down? Percy the assignment was to draw up a plan for a habitat not to create one. You have drawn one up?" Dr. Tropic asked.

"Yes, Sir I know, I just wanted to print out my design, as a step further to the assignment." Percy said setting the 3D reef on the desk with his drawing.

Piper's P.O.V

I hadn't seen Annabeth since she had left for coffee with Thalia this morning so I decided after I had finished my final that I would meet her at Jackson's. She was working our normal shift which had started four hours ago, so she wasn't far off finishing. She'd been so shaken up this morning I wanted to make sure she was okay.

When I walked in, I found her bustling around as if yesterday had never happened. She was smiling brightly, the way she has only done since she met Percy. I don't know what that boy did, but he managed to cheer her up and I was thankful for that.

"Hey" I greeted as I got to the counter.

"Hey" she said cheerfully, "how was your final?" she asked.

"It went okay thanks, what's put you in such a good mood?" I asked unable to contain my curiosity any longer.

"Nothing really" She told me handing me my usual order as I took a seat at the counter. I raised an eyebrow and waited. "Fine, Percy" She said quietly to me, looking behind her, Mrs. Blofis must be in tonight. I gestured for her to elaborate and she continued. "I just had a nice time with him this afternoon on campus, that's all." She said.

"uh-huh" I replied.

"So, since we're both done with finals and I have two free days before I fly home, what do you want to do tomorrow?" I asked.

"Oh," She faltered, "Sorry Piper, I kind of made plans to hang out with Percy, could we hang out Friday instead?" She asked me.

"You're lucky I'm rooting for this boy to ask you out." I teased her. "Sure, Friday's good, I'll see what Jason's up to tomorrow instead." I said and I realised that would actually work out because I still needed to give Jason his Christmas present.

"Great, we could just have a chill movie day if you like?" She asked.

"And there'll be no tutoring to interrupt?" I teased raising an eyebrow.

"No, no tutoring" she said before going to serve another customer. I took the opportunity to text Jason.

Piper: Hey :) Are you free tomorrow?

Moments later I got my response.

Jason: Hey! Yes, I'm free, what time do you want to meet up?

Suddenly I was very much looking forward to tomorrow.

Jason knocked on the door at 10am, we decided why not sleep in if we could.

"Hey Sparky" I greeted him with a kiss to the cheek.

"Hey Pipes, you're never going to let me live that down, are you?" he laughed.

"Nope" I replied, smiling at him, he rolled his eyes fondly at me, which made my heart flutter, before taking my hand.

"No Annabeth this morning?" He asked as I closed the door and we set off.

"Nope, she's hanging out with Percy today, all day." I said stretching the word all out as much as I could.

"Oh Percy, you romantic moron, even giving up sleep for her now." He said almost in passing.

"I take it Percy isn't normally an early riser?" I asked.

"You'd wake the dead before you woke Percy on a day off, normally." He replied.

"Well, he was at the door for eight this morning, I hope whatever they're doing she has a good time." I said.

"Knowing Percy, he's probably taken her to the aquarium." Jason said.

We continued to chat about the possibilities of where Annabeth and Percy might be heading for their day together as we made our way to the bowling alley.

I'd never been a brilliant bowler. I'd told Jason this the other night and he'd insisted on taking me to see how true it was. After three rounds he figured out just how true that it was.

"Wow Pipes, you weren't kidding, you're an awful bowler." He said.

"Wow thanks Sparky, way to make your date feel good about herself." I teased knowing full well how awful at this activity I was.

Not noticing I was teasing him he said, "here, try this" he came up behind me and took hold of the arm I was holding the bowling ball with. "Line up the shot before you take it and then slowly pull back, swing and release." He said and as he said release, I let go of the ball. "Once you've released bring the arm up as if your following the ball. I felt stupid but I did as he told me to do, enjoying having him so close to me. To my great surprise I knocked down more pins with his help than I had in the past three rounds.

"See, nothing to it" he said, and I turned around and kissed him.

"I'm still better at the arcade games." I said and he chuckled.

"We can always have a round of air hockey, before we leave." He said raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"You're on Sparky!" I said smiling and looking forward to the day ahead.

Ψ

~Author's Note~

Hi all thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter – please let me know!

Sarcasm Rock – Thank you for your review! How long before they get together – probably too long in your opinion, but I hope you think it's worth it, in terms of story content! Hope you got your answer on the Luke of it all! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!

IzyBEE – Thank you for your review! I hope you also enjoyed this chapter please let me know!

Merendinoemiliano – Thank you for your review! I hope you also enjoyed this chapter please let me know!

WiseGrl14 – Thank you for your review! I hope you got your answer on the Luke of it all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter please let me know!

Something-PJO-Idk – Thank you for your review! Thalia didn't answer because until Annabeth confirmed it, she didn't know it was Percy. Annabeth seeing Percy interact with Estelle is on its way – I'm pretty sure it's up in the next chapter :). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know!

Going Dark – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thank you for your kind words you flatter me! I've also read the Famous Five series and The Faraway Tree series, which was a childhood favour, what about yourself? Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Anz2KFire – Thank you for your review! Please let me know what you thought of this one too!

PJisTheBest – Thank you for your review! I called the last chapter back to reality because they were returning back to their normal lives outside of the bubble, they had created for themselves in San Fran. I hope that helps explain it for you :) ! I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!

TheProudPearl24 – Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter too, please let me know!

Happy reading all and stay safe!