A/N: Hey guys! Here's the awaited next chapter! Hope you like it!

Percy's been thriving in Maine. He wonders if maybe he should move up here— it'd be cheaper than New York, anyway. Plus, he's made more progress in his book in the past week than he has since, well...ever.

Meeting Rachel has also hyped him up more. Talking about the possibility of publishing and the process is inspiring enough to motivate him to work on the project. He's never been more committed to his dream of writing a book.

It isn't till he's in the middle of a paragraph detailing a phone conversation between the main character and a love interest does it strike him that he hasn't heard from Annabeth yet.

He checks his phone. No new messages.

He frowns. They've usually messaged each other at least something by now. He hasn't heard from her since...since last night's phone call.

Wincing, he remembers how he hadn't been able to talk and it must have been a thoroughly disappointing conversation. Mind completely drawn away from his writing, he dials her number. He had promised to call after all.

It rings for a whole minute and ends up in her voicemail. He hangs up when the tone beeps, so surprised that he doesn't know what to say. She always picks up his calls. Part of him thinks he's probably just busy...on a Sunday...maybe she's taking a shower or something? But another, more worried part of him, is thinking that something is wrong.

He shakes his head. She's probably just busy, she'll call him back. He turns back to his writing.

Fifteen minutes and two sentences later he gives up. His mind keeps drifting back to Annabeth and the situation, so he restlessly picks up his phone again and debates whether or not to text her

Suddenly he feels stupid, like he's sixteen again trying to get his crush's attention. He shakes his head again and just types out a quick message.

Hey, call me when you can

A minute later he sends another.

I miss you

That should be good. Probably. Maybe.

He needs to stop worrying about it, but when he turns back to his writing, his characters don't seem that appealing and he makes their conversation unsuccessful rather than romantic as he had planned.

It doesn't move the plot along, so he gives up and heads back to Grover's, trying to ignore the fact that Annabeth hasn't texted him back.

-.-

Annabeth is staring at the text for the third time when Piper snatches her phone away.

"Hey, you need to focus," she says putting her phone aside. "Looking at his text again won't help."

Annabeth nods miserably because Piper's right. They're sitting on her couch over caramel lattes that Piper brought. This is why she's an amazing best friend.

Annabeth had woken up to dry tears, a kink in her neck, and her laptop dead from being left on. She had proceeded to call Piper and only managed to brush her teeth and put her laptop on charge by the time Piper had shown up.

She leans back and takes a sip of her latte, letting the warmth wash over her. Surprisingly, she does feel a little better. Her eyes are dry now that she's cried it all out and she feels a little bit lighter as a result. The problems she's had are still there, but easier to handle in the morning light with her best friend and dry eyes.

"You know, these are all valid things," Piper says, watching her. She'd finished telling Piper everything when Percy's texts had come in.

"No, they're really not. Percy's done nothing wrong, it's all on me. I'm the one spinning this into something it's probably not."

Piper smiles. "Well, one; your feelings are still valid for the sole reason that you're feeling them. And two; at least you're self-aware of how things are. But," she adds in a firmer tone, "just because you're self-aware doesn't mean you should beat yourself up for having emotions."

Annabeth nods again. There's a reason Piper is pursuing her masters in psychology. And it really helped her last night to hear someone else say it was okay to be upset, even if there was probably nothing to be upset about.

"You're entitled to have them," Piper continues. "You're not entitled to take it out on him, but you are allowed to experience and work past them."

"Yeah..." Annabeth says miserably. She had missed Percy's phone call earlier when Piper demanded she go wash her face and debated whether or not to call him before Piper said she should work herself out first.

And she was right. It might be okay for her to feel all this, but it isn't good to take it out on him. It still sends a pang through her chest, though, because she was the one who hadn't picked up when he had called just like he promised he would.

"Hey," Piper says gently, getting her attention. "It's okay. You've been handling all of this stuff with Percy since the very beginning in a really mature way. There are adults who can't do what you did in some of those earlier situations. It's okay that some things slipped through the cracks and caused this. You've been trying your best and succeeding. It's okay to just not be okay now."

She has a point there, Annabeth supposes. There were plenty of situations that could have gone way worse. Like the morning after their first time, when he was late for Christmas gifts, even when he said he was leaving for a while. She could have blown up in a bad way. And she knows she's not perfect, she's probably done things that would have caused Percy to get upset too, but he has also maintained composure.

She supposes they really were, for the most part, handling things like adults. But for some reason this one thing has, as Piper said, slipped through the cracks, and she just can't get it together.

"You could talk to him, you know," Piper speaks up, interrupting her thoughts. "Tell him how you've been feeling. I'm sure he would understand."

Annabeth shakes her head. "No, it'll only make him feel bad...what if he takes it the wrong way?"

Piper frowns. "I don't think he would, not if you explained it…but if you're uncomfortable, then that's okay. Just get yourself to a place where you think you can talk to him again. I think another conversation would be good. He did call you after all."

He did. And that means a lot. She picks up her phone from the coffee table. Unlocking it and getting to his contact is easy, but all of a sudden pressing call seems impossible.

She glances at Piper, who nods encouragingly, and Annabeth sighs. She can do this. She presses call.

-.-

Percy has been mostly picking at his food, which is weird because he ordered it and it's Chipotle. Grover, being the ever observant friend, notices this and nudges him with a concerned look.

"What's up, man?" he asks in a low voice. Rachel is over and her and Juniper are talking about the semantics of some makeup palette by some Youtuber (something that painfully reminds him of Annabeth, even if she didn't really watch too much of that kind of stuff).

He shrugs, stabbing a single piece of corn with his fork.

Grover shoots him a look that tells him that he's not buying it and won't let it go until he explains.

Sighing, he puts his fork down. "Nothing, it's just... Annabeth just hasn't called me back yet."

"I'm sure she's just busy." The sympathetic look somehow makes it worse.

"Yea,h but—" he cuts himself off with a frown and shakes his head.

"What?" Grover prompts.

"This is so dumb, but I was busy yesterday and I still picked up her call. Even though I couldn't talk properly I still picked up….I know it's dumb and unfair but…she hasn't even answered my text."

Grover nods while he chews on a piece of lettuce. "Hey man, it's okay to be upset."

"It's stupid."

Grover pats his back. "Even then."

The words don't stop the thoughts that continue to run through Percy's head. He tries to respond to something Rachel says about writing, but his heart isn't in it. He keeps checking his phone every thirty seconds and Grover shoots him another sympathetic look.

He's literally about to blow up and storm out of the room when his phone starts buzzing and her name lights up his screen. He lets out a breath he must have been holding this entire time and picks up on the second ring.

"Hey," he says, standing up to walk towards the kitchen.

"Hey," her voice is quiet, and he can't tell what the tone is. "Sorry," she continues. "I was with Piper."

"It's okay," he says, still confused because something is definitely off but he can't tell what. "Are you okay?"

"What were you going to tell me about, that publisher thing?" she asks, instead of answering his question. He wonders if he should press her about it, but ultimately decides to follow her lead on the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, um, Grover's friend Rachel works for this publishing company and she says she's willing to take a look at my book once it's done and see what she can do to push it through."

"That's really cool," she responds in the same quiet tone.

"Yeah…but I need to write a book first so, we'll see," he responds.

"You'll do it, I know you will." The words are encouraging but the tone is still soft and quiet. He can't hold back from the question again.

"Are you okay Annabeth?"

"Yeah, listen, I have to go, but it was good talking to you," Annabeth says, rushing past her answer. "Thank you for calling me today, by the way," she adds and it's the most believable thing she's said the entire conversation.

"Of course, I promised you I would."

"You did, I appreciate it."

There's a moment of silence before she starts to say she needs to leave again.

"What do you have to do?" he asks, interrupting her.

There's a pause before she answers. "I'm seeing Piper."

"I thought you already saw Piper?"

"I did, I'm seeing her again. She went out to get food, she'll be back."

Percy frowns, he believes her but something still feels off.

"Are we…okay?" He feels dumb for asking, but it's been stewing in his mind since she didn't pick up his phone call. Even so, as soon as the words leave his mouth he feels like a teen in a shitty romance movie.

"Yeah," Annabeth responds. She lets out a sigh. "We're okay."

Percy nods even though she can't see him. That's something, at least.

They hang up shortly after and Percy heads back to the living room, still feeling a bit weird about it all. Clearly something is wrong, but he can't tell what and he's not going to get anywhere over the phone. But she said that they were okay, so he holds onto that.

The next day, after another unsuccessful attempt at writing and another job rejection, he tells Grover he's going to leave earlier than planned. Maine has been fun, but he misses Annabeth and he needs to get back to his life. That, and his writing is starting to once again come to a standstill.

He hadn't bought a return ticket anyway, since his mom, upon learning about his unemployment and plan to visit Grover, had graciously offered to use some of her flight points to help him out.

Grover and Juniper urge him to stay longer but he shakes his head. It's time for him to go.

-.-

He stops by his empty apartment for only a minute to drop off his bag before running back down the stairs to knock on Annabeth's door.

Excitement overtakes him. He can't wait to see her again. It's been too long, and with the weird conversations he wants nothing more than to pull her into a hug and kiss her until she's breathless.

He also hasn't told her about his plan to come back early, so he can't wait to see the look on her face when she opens the door.

Annabeth looks stunning when she opens the door— a face full of makeup, a baby blue blouse and her hair let down rather than her usual ponytail. Her face is just as shocked as he had expected.

"Percy?"

"Hey," he says with a wide grin that disappears a second later, as he looks past the door to see a man sitting on her couch.

A/N: Let me start off by saying thank you guys so much for the overwhelming response on that last chapter! I honestly didn't expect it, especially since it ends on such a sad note, but to hear you guys either relate to or just be concerned for Annabeth was heartwarming. (Though I hope the ones who related are feeling better now!)

Also had a few people concerned about what's going to happen with Rachel and as you read in this chapter, nothing. This is all pre-written, I haven't changed the plot at all, because the point of this fic is to highlight the ups and downs of relationships while trying to show how to get past them in a healthy way.

The tension that's between Percy and Annabeth in this chapter is especially relatable I think because we've all had those awkward moments thinking that maybe something is off, while being unable to communicate it. And, of course, the semi-cliff hanger at the end. But if you've read this long authors note than I'm sure you already know that it isn't at all what it seems like.

Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

And as always, thanks for reading!

See ya! :)