A/N: Hey guys! Back with the awaited next chapter after the fight! Hope you like it!

The last thing Annabeth expects when she opens the door to the roof is for someone else to be there.

In hindsight it makes sense. If this is where she went to think, then it really isn't much of a surprise.

But in the moment, she's taken back, and all she can do is stand and stare as he turns around.

Dark hair swept to the side haphazardly, lean build, defined jaw and very very tired eyes (that probably mirror her own).

It's definitely him.

She steps further onto the roof, still holding the door open and letting the yellow light from inside spill out into the darkened night.

He stands up and walks over to her, and she's face to face with her boyfriend.

They stare at each other in silence, and all the things she wants to say are overwhelming her brain so much that nothing comes out. She can tell from the conflict in his eyes, he's in a similar boat.

Finally, her brain manages to latch onto something. Maybe it's the way the shadows fall across his face or how his hair is bathed in yellow that reminds her of all those months ago, when she had stepped onto the roof and seen him, like this, for the first time.

"You," she says quietly.

Recognition flares in his eyes and it's all they need to break down whatever it was that was holding them back. In one motion, he surges forward, gathering her in his arms and holding her tightly. His warmth and scent flood her senses and she relaxes in his grip because god, it's been so long since she's had this.

She feels a piece of her heart tug back into place and lets out a relieved sigh that is mimicked by Percy. It'll be okay. She knows that now.

And though it feels so good to be in his arms again, and the thought of moving is horrible, she knows they have to talk. She forces herself away and looks up at him. The shadows make it hard to see and he leans in.

"I'm sorry," he breathes, still holding on to her.

Leaning into his touch, she nods. "I'm sorry too."

And they leave it at that, resigning themselves to the quiet of the night on the roof, huddled together in warmth.

They still have a lot they need to talk about, a lot they need to figure out, but for now, this moment is enough.

Nothing's fixed, but it isn't so broken anymore.

-.-

Percy goes straight to Annabeth's after she comes back from work the next day. Part of him wants to continue like nothing had happened. And while they had been okay on the roof last night, he knows it's not alright.

Annabeth had, perhaps unwittingly, said in not so many words that he had left her. And that was completely untrue and had not been his intention at all.

That along with this jealousy business had to be cleared up, on both their ends. Because even though it had only been a sentence or so, he can still remember the way she had said it.

The words were biting and cold and so unlike the Annabeth he knew.

"Hey," he says softly when she opens the door to let him in.

She offers a small smile in return as they settle on the couch and turn towards each other. She doesn't seem to be willing to start the conversation so he pushes it forward.

"I want to say, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things last night. I know Frank is just a friend." He takes breath.

"I was just a little strung because I felt like there was something off from our last phone call and I left early just to see you and I was expecting a much different reception and it just caught me off guard and…" he trails off. He knows he's basically rambling, but he needs to explain himself.

"I shouldn't have picked a fight, and I'm really sorry," he ends lamely.

Annabeth is silent when he's done and it almost gets on his nerves, but he holds it back.

Finally, she nods, letting out a sigh. "Yeah, I know. It's okay."

She looks down at the throw pillow in her lap, tugging on a tassel on the end of it. "Um, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have made it worse."

"It's okay." Another moment of silence as Percy contemplates if he should bring up her other accusation.

She's still playing with the tassel and avoiding eye contact and it sways him to the side of yes. "You said that I had left you," he says breaking the silence.

"Well, technically you did…"

Frustration nips at him again. "I didn't leave you. I'm still here aren't I? I just needed a change of pace, it has nothing to do with you."

She remains silent, though the hand that was playing with the tassel has stopped. Her silence is grating.

"Say something, Annabeth! I need you to talk to me, I can't read your mind!"

Finally she looks up at him. "You're mad."

He throws his hands up. "I'm not-" he cuts himself off and stands up. "I'm not mad, I'm just frustrated. You're closing yourself off."

"Maybe you should leave," she says so quietly that he barely hears it.

It stops him dead in his tracks. Does she just want him gone? Is that it?

He huffs angrily and actually almost turns towards the door because clearly that's what she wants. Something stops him right before he does though and when he looks down at her the anger leaves as quickly as it had come. She's bent over and hiding her face with her hair, shoulders drooping and he realizes that he doesn't want this. He doesn't want this fight.

"No," he says loudly. "We need to figure this out. I need you to talk to me." He walks over to kneel in front of her.

She looks at him and he sees the tears starting to form in her eyes and he's so glad that he didn't leave.

She takes a deep breath. "I know, you're right. I shouldn't have said that last night. I know you didn't leave me, you just needed something different. I just…" she shakes her head angrily but he realizes the frustration is actually towards herself.

"I just, for some reason, couldn't help but feel like you had. I just…" she looks at him with such despair in her eyes it hurt. "I just felt so lonely and I don't know why, but things have just been really shitty for me recently, but that's not your fault and I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." She ends it with a shaky breath.

He had no idea she had been feeling like that. He grabs her hands. "It's okay, Annabeth. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Maybe I could have helped."

She shakes her head. "I didn't want to ruin your good time with this bullshit. It's irrational, I know it is."

He squeezes her hands. "Doesn't matter, Annabeth. I want you to tell me about this kind of thing. I'm here for you, you know."

He brings one of her hands to his lips, brushing a light kiss on her knuckles.

She nods. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll…I'll work on it."

He wants to push a little more, but he knows that this is what she can give at this time so he nods.

"Are we…are we okay?" he asks instead. Last time he had asked this question, it hadn't been okay.

This time though, she's in front of him. He watches as she takes another deep breath, squares her shoulder and looks him in the eyes.

"Yeah, we are."

And he believes it.

"Are you okay?"

There's a pause before she answers. "I'll get there."

And that's enough.

-.-

She told Percy she'll get there, but she's not entirely sure how. Because while she's doing slightly better, she also knows that there's a lot she still has to figure out if she's going to come out of this.

The thoughts are distracting enough that she doesn't realize she's overfilled her water bottle until the water drips over the top and splashes her hand.

"Are you okay?" a voice asks from beside her. She turns to find the deep chocolate eyes and kind face of Hazel staring back at her.

Any other person she would have brushed it off, but Hazel is a different case. Something about her always made Annabeh feel like she could be honest.

"Not really." There's a surprising relief at being able to say those words. Hazel smiles sympathetically.

"What's wrong?"

Oh, where would she even begin? Too many thoughts, too many things that hurt, and that emptiness...how could she possibly ever say all that.

"Too much," she responds. "I've got too many things on my mind and I can't even begin to find what's wrong."

Hazel is silent as she uncaps her own water bottle and moves towards the fountain to fill it up.

"Well," she begins slowly. "A lot of the time, the problems we think we have aren't the ones that need to be solved."

Annabeth's brow scrunches up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It's like, you may think that your problem is that you're jealous of what someone else has or is doing or whatever. But really, it's not any of those surface level things, it's actually what you feel about yourself." She caps her water bottle and turns back towards Annabeth.

"Your problem won't be solved by simply acquiring or doing the thing that you were jealous of because that's not the problem. The problem is what caused you to think you needed that in the first place, and that's the solution you need to find."

"That's just an easy example but there are other things like that. People think their problem is that their roommate doesn't do the dishes, but really it could be that they feel ignored, or unheard, or disrespected. The dishes are just the outlet for the deeper problem."

She lays a hand on Annabeth's arm, looking at her kindly. "I don't know what your problems are Annabeth, and maybe it's something that doesn't go all that deep, but I think you should try to dig deeper and find the core of it. That might help."

Hazel is most definitely a psychic. She has magical powers and no one will ever be able to convince her otherwise.

She wordlessly nods as they walk back towards their desks and only manages a broken thank you, when Hazel turns at the fork in the hallway.

"Of course," she replies with another kind smile and Annabeth ambles back to her desk.

She's got some major soul searching to do.

-.-

Percy is all too aware of the arrival of Valentine's day and all too aware of the fact that he's been unemployed for a month now. It's so disheartening. He doesn't even feel like applying to any more places because he's not entirely sure he can handle another rejection email.

"It takes time," Leo says over the phone. Leo, like him, had been let go once the project had ended. Leo, unlike him, had also been offered a permanent job at the company.

Percy tries not to feel resentment for that.

He sighs. He knows it takes time, he's been through it before. It doesn't make anything easier, though.

"I know," he responds. "It just sucks."

"Yeah," Leo sounds genuinely sorry. "I'm sorry, man. I'll try to see if they're still hiring and put in a good word for you," Leo offers. It's nice of him, but Percy can't stand to stay on this topic any longer.

"How's Calypso?" he asks instead, trying to veer the conversation in a different direction.

"Great!" Leo responds enthusiastically. "She asked about you actually. She wants to meet up, do a double date sort of thing. If Annabeth's down, that is."

Percy's honestly not sure if she haven't been fantastic in that department either, and though they have recovered from the fights, they aren't in the best places individually and it's causing a strain.

He wishes he hadn't veered the conversation in this direction.

"Yeah, I mean, I'll ask her…listen man, I got to go, but it was nice catching up with you." He feels bad but the conversation isn't helping him and he needs to end it. Nothing against Leo, he's…well, he's mostly just jealous.

"Oh sure, same dude. Hope to hear from you soon, I'll be on the lookout for that job."

"Thanks man, see ya." After he hangs up Percy rubs his face, that simple conversation draining everything out of him.

He's just tired. So tired. His writing has halted, the job applications aren't going anywhere and him and Annabeth are still a little off.

Scratch that, he's exhausted.

A/N: Did any of you catch the reference in the beginning there? A lot of character focused stuff in this chapter, as expected out of a fight. With both of them being in not great places the struggle to overcome the fight is also difficult, but not impossible.

A few of you were able to relate to the last chapter and I'm glad, not that you had a rough time, but rather I hope you see that though these things happen, you can overcome them and work towards better. And you're most definitely not alone.

I really want to take a moment to thank all of you who've read this far, I know that the story is not at this great happy place and I appreciate you guys for sticking through it regardless. Much like life I suppose.

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

And as always, thanks for reading!

See ya! :)