Percy's P.O.V

The past four days had been terrifying. Mr. Chase had arrived at the hospital roughly five hours after I had called him. I'd asked how he managed to get here so quickly, and he had informed me that he flew himself in his own plane. The man really liked planes!

He had spent a lot of his time here so far speaking to doctors and the police, with a small interruption to collect his wife and sons from the airport when their plane landed.

I refused to leave Annabeth's side, not until she woke up and I knew she was okay. Mr. Chase gave up trying to convince me after day two, my mom tried every day to get me to go home, so did Thalia and Piper.

No matter how much I wanted to do what my mom asked of me, I couldn't. I couldn't leave her not when she needed me. Although I wasn't sure how I was supposed to help, if anything I think she helped me work through my fear of losing her without telling her how I felt. I had promised myself I'd tell her, the first opportunity I got, but as always, that did not go to plan.

Mr. and Mrs. Chase finally relented and agreed to stay for Christmas after Mr. Chase flew home and back again to retrieve all their gifts and more clothes for the four of them.

Piper and Thalia had packed the things that Annabeth would need and put them in my old room at home.

It was going to be cramped for Christmas, but mom and Paul had all the arrangements figured out.

Mom, Paul and Estelle would be in mom and Pauls room, Estelle on a camping bed. Estelle's room would house the twins. My old room would be Annabeth's, the guest room would go to Mr. and Mrs. Chase and I would take the sofa bed in the living room.

Mom loved Christmas and in turn so did me, Paul, and Estelle. I had discovered that the twins and Mr. and Mrs. Chase also enjoyed Christmas, although they wished Annabeth would fly home for it more. Annabeth, I knew liked her secluded Christmas in New York, and didn't really celebrate it, but I was hoping this year would change that.

We had all sorts of Christmas traditions in this household and one of those was Christmas jumpers. It didn't matter if they were traditional like Paul's, or goofy like mine, or classic like mom's, we all wore one. Estelle needed a new one having grown out of hers from last year.

I had decided to include Annabeth in our tradition, especially once Piper had told me she didn't own a Christmas jumper.

It was four days to Christmas, Annabeth and her family were settled in at mom and Paul's, Piper had finally flown home for Christmas, but only after I had promised to send updates and make sure Annabeth was okay. I had duly promised, and Piper had flown home. Thalia and Jason had gone to decorate Thalia's place for Christmas but promised my mom that they would stop by on Christmas day as always for dinner. Hazel had Nico coming back from LA for Christmas, so they were staying at their dad's even though it would just be the two of them. Mom had also extracted a promise out of them to attend Christmas dinner at ours.

It was mom's way of making their lives a little easier and it meant she got to see her nieces and nephews on Christmas day, everyone involved won in some way.

"Mom, Annabeth and I are taking Estelle to get her new Christmas jumper do you need anything?" I called from the living room as I collected my keys and wallet.

"We are?" Annabeth asked from the chair she was sitting in before mom could reply.

"We are, we're also getting you a Christmas jumper too, unless you trust my judgement to pick one up for you." I teased as my mom called back.

"I have a list of groceries. Can you stop by the store on your way home?" She asked me.

"Of course, mom" I replied, Annabeth rolled her eyes at me, but she did get up to come with me.

"Bobby, Matthew, grab you coats we're going Christmas jumper shopping with Percy and Estelle!" Annabeth called and I smiled, it was nice she was including them too.

Piper's P.O.V

Silena, Charles and I had just finished watching the Grinch and we were about to put on a Christmas Carol when my phone dinged four times. Confused, as Annabeth had said, in no uncertain terms, that there would be nothing to update me on the Percy front when we'd spoken an hour ago and as far as I knew, she still hadn't changed her position on that. I checked my phone. I was equally surprised that it wasn't Jason, but Percy. I opened the messages and found three of them to be pictures of him, Annabeth, Annabeth's brothers and Percy's little sister in Christmas jumpers in a store laughing. The fourth was a text.

Percy: I think Christmas suits her.

I didn't disagree, as such, but I thought it was more than Christmas that suited her, I thought he suited her.

Piper: I think it's you, not Christmas, but yes, it suits her.

I debated for a while about pressing send and then decided 'to hell with it' and sent it. Because, to quote a well-known film, if you can't say it a Christmas, when can you? Annabeth would kill me for interfering in her love life, and after all of the failed blind dates I set her up on after Josh, I didn't blame her for her reasons. But I'd never seen her this happy, so I was willing to risk the wrath, I knew I'd receive.

I smiled to myself at the thought of how happy my best friend was as I settled in to watch the film with my sister and my brother-in-law.

"Piper! Your phone is ringing" Charles shouted from the theatre room, I'd gone to make more popcorn.

"Can you answer it I'll be back in a few minutes!" I called back to him, and I thought he might have responded with 'sure', but I wasn't certain. Either way I focused on not burning the popcorn.

"Piper?" Charles said, "it's Jason" I smiled instantly, he handed me my phone and then took the popcorn from the microwave before disappearing again.

"Hey Sparky, how are you?" I asked him.

"Hey Pipes, I'm okay, I miss you, how's home?" He asked. I smiled I liked knowing that he missed me, it gave me a warm feeling.

"I miss you too, home is good we've been watching Christmas films today, what have you and Thalia been doing?"

"We decorated the house, and got Aunt Sally's present," he paused, and I heard him yell 'what?' to who I assume was Thalia. "Thalia wants to know if you've heard from Annabeth?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said sitting at the island in the kitchen with a soda, "I called her this morning, oh ask her if Percy texted her this morning" I said.

"She says no." He told me.

"Oh, have I got an update for her then, I'll text her later." I heard him tell Thalia and then I heard scuffling on the other end of the line. "Jason, you, ok?" I asked but it wasn't Jason's voice that came back to me.

"Update date me," Thalia said, and I vaguely heard Jason telling her to give him his phone back, I laughed, they had a really good relationship.

"Percy sent some interesting pictures of our dear friend Annabeth." I said.

"Interesting in what way?" She asked cautiously, like she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, I laughed.

"Nothing bad, she actually looks like she's having fun, shopping for Christmas jumpers no less" I told her.

"Shut the front door! He didn't!" She exclaimed.

"He did, could you not mention the pictures to Annabeth though, I might not get more if you tease her." I said.

"Alright," She relented, and I head Jason ask for his phone back again and I could almost see her rolling her eyes at him.

The next update I had from Annabeth was a phone call the following morning. I didn't mention the Christmas jumper and she didn't volunteer it either. I wondered if she knew Percy was keeping me updated or not. I didn't mention it because it was nice to get updates of my friend safe and happy in a holiday period, that she normally spent preparing for the following semester.

"Hey Piper, how are you?" She said.

"Hey Annabeth, I'm okay, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm okay, I had my normal shift at the coffee shop last night, Percy insisted on walking me there and back. His mom thankfully told him she needed him to do something, otherwise I think he would have stayed at the shop for my entire shift." She told me.

"And that would have been bad because?" I asked her.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't, but I can do things on my own." She said.

"I know you can, and so does Percy, he's just worried about you Annabeth, you did only get out of the hospital a couple of days ago." I reminded her.

"I know that," She said sounding a little irritated and I got the impression something else was wrong.

"What's bothering you?" I asked.

"I've had no time to read" She confessed.

"That's not a bad thing" I replied, she spent a lot of time with her nose in a book, it was part of the reason Thalia and I didn't pack any. We were trying to encourage her to spend more time with Percy and her family.

"I would just like to escape in a book for a couple of hours." She told me, and I smiled somethings would never change.

"Well then tell him that, he's not a mind reader Annabeth" I laughed, and she did too.

"No, he's definitely not. He's just got all of these activities he wants to do and include me in." I wasn't sure if she was complaining to me or informing me of it.

"Like what?" I asked because I really wanted to know.

Annabeth's P.O.V

Dad, Helen and twins went into the city for the morning. They had asked if I wanted to go with them, but I politely declined, I just needed a morning with my nose in a book. Sally (Mrs. Blofis insisted that I called her Sally now), Paul and Estelle were also out, I wasn't sure where they had gone, just that Percy was the only other person here with me.

I tried to stay in his room out of the way, my problem was that I didn't have any of my books. I loved Thalia and Piper dearly, but neither of them appreciated how much I needed the solitude of a good book.

There was a knock at the door and Percy stuck his head in before I could answer.

"Hey Wise Girl, what did you want to do this morning?" He asked me, he was wearing jeans and a NYU t-shirt today. I got the impression that it was an old NYU t-shirt as it looked a little snug, but in a good way. 'In a good way?' Gods Annabeth you need a distraction!

"Hey Seaweed Brain, I was hoping to read but my best friends decided not to pack any of my books."

"Well, they might not be your books, but I'm sure we can find something here for you to read." He said. Instantly I smiled. He didn't question it or call it boring. He was just going to let me get on with it. I really appreciated that. He stepped into his room and riffled through the cupboard that apparently doubled as a closet.

"Hmm…must be able to do better than 8th English." He muttered after a few moments, before placing a book on his desk. "Let me check mom and Paul's room" He said.

I looked at the book on his desk and noticed it was one of my favourites.

"Actually Percy," I called as he reached the door. "I think 8th grade English will be just fine." I said picking up the book and following him into the living room. He had cables all over the floor and an old games console. "What are you going to do?" I asked taking a seat on the sofa.

"I thought I'd set up my old Nintendo 64 for when the twins got back, show them classic Nintendo gaming." He told me.

"That's sweet of you, they'll like that." I noted. I opened the book Percy had let me borrow, whilst he sat untangling cables on the carpet.

I was half way through the eighth chapter when I couldn't block out the noise of Percy's game any longer.

"Percy," I said, looking up from my book, "I'm sorry, do you mind turning the volume down?" I asked.

"Yeah sure, sorry" he said to me, turning the volume down, "How's the book?" he asked.

"Thank you," I said, "it's as good as I remember." I replied before turning back to said book.

"Would you like a turn?" Percy asked, before I could start reading again, offering me the controller he was holding. I placed the book in my lap.

"I'll give it a go. What game are you playing?" I asked.

"The Legend of Zelda" He replied.

"What's the objective?" I asked, accepting the controller from him, and placing the book on the coffee table.

"At the moment it's to collect the water and fire spirit stones, then they need placing in the temple of time with the forest one which I already have. We'll then time travel to the future, after being frozen, the game will explain," he said. "But, essentially, rescue the princess and save the kingdom."

"Alright, well much like my brothers, I've not played on this platform, give me a quick run through of the controls." I said and he did, as he told me what each button did, I pressed it and tried to get used to the controls.

I won't lie, for the first few attempts I was so terrible that Percy was trying not to laugh at me.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." I said, and he held up his hands in mock surrender. After falling in the lava a few times, I eventually got the hang of things. In probably, three times the amount of time that it would have taken Percy to do it, I had earned the fire stone. I was rather proud of myself too.

"Nice job Wise Girl," Percy said to me, and he smiled at me, while my heart raced in my chest.

"Thanks Seaweed Brain" I said handing him back the controller. I had long since given up on finishing the book knowing I could finish it later, as I watched Percy set off in search of the water stone.

Everyone except for Sally returned just before lunch. Sally had a shift at Jackson's. It was Percy's turn on the game, and he was just making his way to the forest temple, we'd done the whole time travel thing, already.

"Percy! Percy!" Estelle called as she entered the apartment and ran straight to Percy and jumped on him.

"Ah! Estelle! You just killed me!" He said, as a boulder squashed him in the game. I tried and failed to stifle my laughter.

"Better luck next time, Seaweed Brain!" I said taking the control and pausing the game.

"Sorry Percy," Estelle said looking genuinely apologetic. I got the impression this wasn't the first occurrence of such an event.

"It's okay" Percy said smiling at her. "What's the Emergency?" he asked her.

I didn't get to find out what the emergency was as Estelle grabbed Percy's hand and pulled him away. I decided to help Paul make lunch, while Dad and Helen set the table. Percy was left to entertain the twins and Estelle after Estelle had told him what the emergency was. I have to admit he had a natural talent for it.

Thalia's P.O.V

Christmas was always just me and Jason, since mom died, dad almost couldn't stand to spend the holidays with us. I'd had a lot of anger over my mom's death but with Aunt Sally's and Annabeth's help, I had let it go. For years, I was angry at both my mom and my dad. Why weren't we good enough for mom to stop drinking? Why did dad send Jason away to boarding school in New York and not me? Why wasn't I enough? I'd had many other questions as well, but they were the main ones that Aunt Sally had helped me put to rest over the years. I'd never told Annabeth about Jason because it hurt me too much to talk about. I told her about my mom though and my dad ignoring me after her death, she helped me with a lot of that even if she was younger than me.

Aunt Sally had helped me through my anger and my pain and as a result of my spending so much time there Percy and I had become really close. Dad flew me out to New York each year for Christmas and Jason came across from boarding school too. And, thus, a new tradition was born, one where we spent Christmas at Aunt Sally's.

As we got older and I moved to New York for college, Jason and I started to go to Aunt Sally's just for Christmas lunch, so we didn't impose on her and Paul. Even though we knew she didn't see it that way. She wasn't happy about it at first, because she liked having us all day, but that first year without us there had been Estelle's first Christmas and it meant Sally could relax a little before worrying about dinner, so it ended up working out in the end.

This year, Christmas would be different again, Annabeth and her family would be there too. I wondered how she was doing with so much family time. It was such a new concept for her since she'd left home for college, I hoped she was handling it okay. But I knew Percy would ease any tension, he was good at that. Still, I promised myself to message her in my break and find out how she was.

Percy had been sending updates to me and Piper, so I knew Annabeth was okay, but I still wanted to hear it from her. They hadn't caught who'd attacked her yet, but, from local business security footage, they knew they were looking for Luke.

I was angry about that, angrier than maybe I had a right to be, but the three of us had been as good as family. When times had gotten hard, we'd had each other, when we were kids at least. Right up until Annabeth was fifteen, I was a junior and Luke a senior, and he threw it all away. Threw us away like our family meant nothing to him. I still don't understand why.

And now he bumps into Annabeth and suddenly, just because she's moved on, he decides to force her to what? Like him back? Go on a date? What?!

"Thalia if you wrap that paw any tighter it'll fall off due to lack of blood flow." My boss, Zoe said to me. I blinked a few times to clear my thoughts and focused on the poor cat whose paw I was unintentionally amputating. I immediately unwrapped the paw.

"Sorry," I said as I began to re-warp the paw properly.

"Everything okay?" Zoe asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind."

"I can see that. Why don't you take your break early?" She asked me.

I nodded "Thanks" I said.

"You know my door is always open if you need it." She said smiling and taking the bandage wrap from me to finish wrapping the paw as I went for my break.

"I know, thank you." I told her.

I decided while sitting in the break room to turn my thoughts away from Luke and focus on Annabeth. As I had an earlier shift tonight, I knew she'd still be awake.

Thalia: Hey! How are you?

Annabeth: Hey! I'm okay, how are you?

Thalia: Not too bad. How's your day been?

Annabeth: Not bad, I made a monument out of gingerbread this afternoon. You?

A monument out of gingerbread? Just what exactly was my cousin up to? I'll admit after hearing that they were supposed to be going on a date on the day after everything happened, I was a little surprised that Percy hadn't tried to re-arrange.

Thalia: Of course, you did! Mines been okay. On an earlier shift tonight finish at 12 :)

I texted Annabeth for the entirety of my break and it did help clear my thoughts of Luke. I learnt that she and Percy were going to the Aquarium tomorrow with their siblings, she invited me to come along as they were going for 10am. I decided to accept, as I'd not seen either of them since the weekend, who knows it could be fun.

Percy's P.O.V

I was laying on the sofa bed thinking about the day. We'd made gingerbread houses this afternoon, well I had made a house, Annabeth had made an Empire State building and the detail was incredible! Estelle, Bobby and Mathew had started to make a castle and then got bored, so it looked more like an abandoned castle which was still pretty cool, so it was kind of a success.

Annabeth and I had made dinner for everyone and mom had been happy when she'd returned from work. Before you say 'student meal' we actually cooked a roast. Chicken to be precise, Annabeth had done all the vegetables, I'd done the Chicken, the potatoes and the gravy. It had actually been a lot of fun and it meant mom had one less thing to do when she got home.

There were two days left before Christmas and I was trying to come up with things to keep Annabeth and our siblings busy. I knew there was still a lot to do for Christmas, the least I could do was entertain the kids.

Mom was always busy this time of year, work and making sure she had everything just right for Christmas day. Paul, as usual, was taking care of all things Christmas while mom was working. She always worked Christmas eve as well, so all her employees didn't have too, I thought it was a nice thing to do as a boss.

Mr. and Mrs. Chase had work to complete too, they were working remotely, only half days, but they always seemed exhausted when they were done.

Annabeth had her normal shift at the coffee shop tomorrow afternoon, so we'd decided to take the others to the aquarium in the morning. Then drop the three of them home and I'd walk Annabeth to her shift. I felt like I was being over protective, but I wanted to make sure she was safe.

I really wanted to ask her out on a date again, but I wasn't really sure if it was a good idea with everything she was going through.

We got to the aquarium for 10am, we got in free of charge because I worked there. To my surprise Thalia met us there as well. She hugged Annabeth and the twins, she then hugged Estelle and then finally me.

"Hey Pinecone Face, what brings you to the aquarium?" I asked.

"Annabeth invited me." She told me.

"Ah I see, you missed all this," I said gesturing to all of me, as a joke of course.

"Don't be gross, Kelp Head." She told me, and Annabeth laughed at us, when Thalia shoved me.

"Anyway, on with the tour," I said as we set off around the aquarium. I set off with Estelle, Bobby and Matthew, leaving Annabeth with Thalia. I figured some time to catch up would be good for her and I didn't want to be over bearing, well any more so than I already was being that is.

It was all going really well, Annabeth and Thalia were laughing and having a good time, Bobby, Matthew and Estelle were all taking in the exhibits and my random facts about each one. It was all going really well, until we reached the dolphin exhibit. Summer wasn't in the tank with the other dolphins, something was wrong. I looked around to see if I could spot a member of staff, normally we weren't to be seen around the exhibits, we were behind the scenes only, unless we were giving a tour.

I spotted Jennifer by the whale exhibit and walked over, leaving Estelle, Bobby and Matthew with Annabeth and Thalia.

"Hi Jennifer," I greeted.

"Hi Percy, I saw you were visiting today, how's your time off going?" She asked me.

"Okay, listen how come Summer isn't in the dolphin exhibit? I thought she was better?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Every time we've tried moving her back, she freaks out, Mr. Brooks has left her in the isolation pool." She told me.

"But she'll get depressed if we leave her there too long," I said. "Let me try to get her back into the exhibit with the others before she gets depressed."

Why had no-one told me? Or at least tried to contact me to ask me to help, I could have spared one afternoon, does no-one but me care for this poor creature? I was angry, but I couldn't let it show at the moment. I had two problems right now, that I needed to sort out, Summer was one, the other was I was responsible for all involved in our visit to the aquarium. I couldn't just abandon them.

"Thalia," I said, "If I were to go and help put Summer back in the tank, would you keep an eye on Estelle?"

"Sure, Kelp Head" she said to me.

I turned to Annabeth, "I'm so sorry, I won't be long, I just don't want her to get depressed."

"It's fine Seaweed Brain," she said, and I got the impression that she was going to say something else when Jennifer interrupted her before she could.

She placed her hand on my shoulder and said "Percy we're ready" I nodded.

"Thank you" I said to her, before turning to Estelle. "Estelle, I want you to stay with Thalia and Annabeth, okay? If you watch this tank, you'll see me, okay?" I asked.

"Okay" She confirmed.

"I won't be long," I promised before following Jennifer to the isolation pool, and I couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that settled over me as I did.

Annabeth's P.O.V

'Percy, we're ready'. The way she said that while touching his shoulder like that infuriated me. I realised I was jealous, and I didn't really have a right to be. It wasn't like Percy was my boyfriend, he was a friend, who I'll admit, I had feelings for. A friend, that I was supposed to have been on a date with but had ended up missing, because I was attacked.

And he's been a great friend since then, but all it made me want, was to date him more. I knew he was being respectful, but I really wish he'd just ask for a do over for our date.

"You okay, Annabeth?" Thalia asked me, bringing me out of my internal battle over what I wanted.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" I said.

"You might want to tell your face that. You look like you want to punch Jennifer in the face." She told me, thankfully the twins and Estelle were just out of earshot looking into the tank waiting to see Percy. So that was Jennifer.

"I'm fine, just processing I guess" I replied, which wasn't a lie, I was processing.

"Anything I can help with?" She asked as we joined the others at the glass.

"No, thank you though," I said.

"There's Percy!" Estelle said excitedly interrupting our conversation, as she pointed at the glass.

Sure enough, there was Percy, in swimming shorts and a snorkel. If this was the view Jennifer got to see every time she worked with Percy, well no wonder she was flirting with him. I knew he had muscles, but I hadn't known he had a perfect swimmer's body.

"Careful, you're practically drooling." Thalia whispered teasingly to me.

"Shut up" I hissed, "I am not." I protested, but I think we both knew I'd been staring.

"If you say so." She replied.

"I do" I said, as we watched Percy guide Summer back into the exhibit.

"I still don't see why it took Percy, to get Summer back into the tank." Thalia said.

"What do you mean?" Matthew asked.

"Well Summer was doing really well before Percy took his holiday. She should have been integrated back sooner." Thalia responded, frowning and I knew she suspected neglect at the very least.

"I'm sure there's a valid reason." I said as we watched Percy swim over to the other dolphins, Summer following him.

Percy joined us by the dolphin exhibit not ten minutes later.

"Sorry about that." He said, with his work bag on his back, and a towel around his neck. I suspected the work bag contained his wet swim shorts.

"Do you always get to swim with dolphins?" Bobby asked him.

"Not always" Percy replied, but I could see that it was something Bobby wanted to do. I wondered if there was somewhere, back home that they would be able to swim with dolphins. I decided to look it up when I had finished my shift later.

"Percy!" Estelle said grabbing his hand, the action brought a smile to me face.

"Estelle!" Percy replied in kind.

"Can I get a dolphin like Delphin?" She asked him.

"Who's Delphin?" I asked, while Thalia snickered next to me.

"Percy's dolphin" Estelle said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Percy's face was as red as a tomato.

"Percy's plush dolphin" Thalia corrected quietly to me, but Percy heard her.

"Pinecone Face," he grumbled, before turning to his little sister. "I'll have to check with mom and Paul, okay?" he asked, and she nodded.

Noticing that Percy had not immediately retrieved his phone to call their mom Estelle pulled on his hand again.

"Yes, Estelle?" Percy asked and there was no irritation in his voice, I admired his patience with her.

"Check with mom and dad!" She declared and Percy chuckled but agreed.

After Percy texted his mom, we continued the tour of the aquarium and Percy continued to spout random facts about the animals in the exhibits as we got to each of them. I was impressed with how knowledgeable Percy was about all the animals in the aquarium.

Percy went ahead with the twins and Estelle again, allowing Thalia and I to fall back. I got the impression Percy was doing that on purpose to allow me and Thalia time to talk.

"So, you like my cousin?" Thalia asked though we'd been over this before and I had denied it, I decided to come clean this time.

"Yes," I said truthfully.

Thalia nodded and smiled. "Why is that important?" I asked.

"Because, for the first time in a long time, you're opening up your heart and he's opening up his. It's nice to see you both happy." She said.

"Happy," I repeated, was I happy? Thalia frowned.

"What's wrong?" She asked, so I told her how I felt a little like one of the animals at the aquarium at Mrs Blofis', with everyone checking on me and making sure I was okay. I told her that Percy had found me a book to read when I wanted to escape for a bit. I told her that I wanted him to ask for a do over. I told her that I was angry about the attack and jealous about Jennifer.

Thalia laughed when I finished, and I frowned, I didn't understand why she was laughing at me.

"I'm not trying to take away from your feelings Annabeth, but you have nothing to worry about with Jennifer." She said when she finally calmed down.

"What do you mean?" I asked "She was clearly flirting with him earlier" I said.

"Yes, she was, but like most of the flirting Percy receives, he's completely oblivious to it. Also, she's married, and Percy likes you." She told me.

"She's married and she's flirting with someone else? Does she not see how that could hurt her husband? I'll assume husband as she's flirting with Percy." I said.

"Yes, husband, and he doesn't work for the aquarium, so he doesn't see it. I'm not saying that makes it right, but it makes it easier for her to do it."

"It's still wrong." I said and Thalia nodded in agreement.

"If Percy realised, I know he would agree with you." She told me, and I suddenly felt angry at Jennifer too. Having been cheated on, I understood how much that hurt, how could she do that to someone that she had vowed to love for the rest of her life?

Once we'd finished the tour, like all aquariums, not that I'd been to many, we ended up in the gift shop. Percy still hadn't told Estelle whether she could have a plush dolphin or not, but I suspected that his mom had told him whether or not it was okay, this close to Christmas.

Estelle wandered around looking at all the different sea animal soft toys. The twins were looking at sea life documentaries that they could buy to watch at a later date. In some ways we were very similar, even if the topic of the documentaries we liked were different, we all loved to gain more knowledge.

Thalia having seen it all before waited near the exit with me. I didn't have much need to visit the gift shop having done all my Christmas shopping. Matthew and Bobby came out first looking pleased with themselves, though I didn't know why, I just hoped it wasn't going to cause trouble for Mrs Blofis. Percy and Estelle took another few minutes to appear, Estelle looked happy but again I didn't know why, Percy was just smiling as his sister fondly. I wondered why but I didn't ask.

We headed out not a moment later to drop Estelle and the Twins off at the Blofis apartment. Thalia went home to spend time with Jason and Percy walked me to my shift at the coffee shop. He never stayed for the shift, which I appreciated.

I suspected he felt I was safe until I was finished because he always made sure to return ten minutes before closing to walk me home. In a way it was like having a relationship just without the hand holding or kissing etc. It was rather infuriating really, to know he cared and to care, but to not progress to anything.

~Author's Note~

Hi All, thanks for reading I hope you liked this chapter, please let me know :).

Going Dark – Thank you for your review! Apologies if it got your heart going, I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Percy is the swimmer correct and as I've said previously Josh will come up again but perhaps not in the way in which you suspect. You'll have to stay tuned :). I hope you liked this one let me know!

Merendinoemilino – Thank you for you review! I'm glad you like the Percabeth moments there are a lot more on the way. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

SarcasmRocks – Thank you for your review! I glad you loved it! I enjoyed writing Percy's story through Annabeth's POV felt like a nice cross over moment for sure. You've got some interesting theories on Luke, but I don't want to give anything away, so I won't confirm or deny your guesses. I hope you enjoyed this one please let me know.

WiseGrl14 – Thank you for your review! I don't want to give anything away, so I won't confirm or deny your guess. I'm glad you loved the last chapter I hope you loved this one too!

TheProudPearl24 – Thank you for your review! The last chapter was heavy hopefully this one was a little lighter :). Sorry to disappoint on the date but you won't have to wait too much longer. Let me know what you thought of this chapter.

Greninga19 – Thank you for your review! I don't want to give anything away, so I won't confirm or deny your guess. I'm glad you loved the last chapter I hope you loved this one too!

Aweesh Ganegoda – Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, I hope you liked this chapter too, let me know!

Happy reading all, stay safe! :)