I'm writing this at midnight so please excuse any incoherency.

Ahem: thank you all for being here!

And credits to my co-author, MANation, for writing a good majority of this chapter. It's midterms this week so… yeah, that's fun.

Anyways, hope you're all doing safe uhh staying home etc!

Enjoy!

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Annabeth had had enough. She was just fed up with this day, this week. So, even though one of her employees, specifically Percy (because of course it was him, who else would it be?), was in the elevator with her, she was just so frustrated she slammed her head into the panel with all the buttons.

The elevator still didn't move.

"So, uh," Percy said, wringing his hands uncomfortably. "I'm going to guess that's… not supposed to happen?"

"No, Percy," Annabeth snapped, looking back at him. "This is exactly what I wanted to happen today. Yes, let's have my ex come to my place of work, after having scheduled a meaning with my secretary, instead of talking to me like an adult, to try and justify everything he did, and then, when I'm just trying to take the day off to deal with everything, not only does someone else get on the elevator with me but the stupid, miserable, worthless thing breaks down!"

Annabeth huffed in frustration, completely overwhelmed by it all. Percy looked on in some combination of sympathy, fascination and fear.

After seeing his expression, she sighed, and sunk to the floor. "Sorry. It's not your fault. I'm just mad, you know?"

He nodded slowly. "I can te- I mean, I can't blame you." In spite of herself, she smirked at that.

Percy ran a hand through his hair and sat down beside her, criss-cross-applesauce. Sighing deeply, he said, "Okay, so, look. I know you aren't exactly happy to see me or have me here or whatever, and I get that, but, ya know, if I can help I'd like to."

Annabeth grimaced. "It's not you specifically, so don't take it personally or anything. Like I said, this is just a bad day."

He nodded, more to himself than her, with a small smile on his face. "So, is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, turning the full force of his big, sad eyes on her.

How sweet. I look like a crazy person throwing a tantrum and he wants to help me. She smiled at him tentatively. "You could tell me that joke, I guess."

He smacked a fist into his open palm. "Oh, right! Okay, ahem," he raised his fist to his mouth before clearing his throat. Then, holding his head high, he asked, "What's the difference between a run down bus stop and a lobster with a bra on?"

Annabeth tilted her head slightly, utterly confused. Percy grinned widely at her.

Struggling to hold back his own laughter, he said, "One is a crusty bus station, and the other is a busty crustacean!"

Percy cracked up, and Annabeth gave him a courtesy laugh that turned into full-blown giggling. "That's horrible, Percy."

"But it's funny!" he said.

Annabeth nodded in grudging admittance. "Yeah, it is. A little bit."

An awkward silence ensued, during which Annabeth sent off a rapid-fire text to Silena. Stuck in an elevator. Get me out ASAP. Thanks.

The silence dragged on for a few minutes until Percy spoke.

"So, uh," Percy scratched the back of his neck. "You said… ex-boyfriend? I don't mean to pry, it's just- I'm just wondering. You don't have to tell me, of course, but I just thought I'd ask so-"

She put her hand out to stop his rambling. "It's fine," she said, sitting down next to him. "No point in keeping it from you, anyways."

She took a moment to collect her thoughts. How much should I tell him? Is this weird? It's probably weird. She looked at him, watching her expectantly. She pursed her lips. Too late to back out now.

"I guess I can start way back. Do you remember that time you delivered pizza to my house?" He nodded, blushing lightly. She couldn't blame him. She remembered him running out of her home, almost in tears.

"Back then I told you I was having… relationship troubles, and was asking for advice. Well, things had been going poorly for quite a while. Turns out I was trying to save a relationship that my ex had realized was long since gone. I just wish he'd told me about that," she added, mostly to herself.

Percy nodded along in time with everything she said. "Why was it dying?"

Annabeth grimaced. "He… he cheated on me, you know? I mean, it wasn't on purpose or anything, it's just- we'd been drifting for a while, and… I don't know. Lu-" she stopped herself. "I know he made a mistake. But I still don't think that makes it okay."

"It doesn't," Percy agreed. He looked thoughtful. "I can tell you still have feelings for him, and I know how hard it is to handle a breakup when you're hurting but still trying to think positively about someone because you care for them. If you want, you can just talk to me about things. All of it; the good, the bad and the ugly. Just let it out. I promise you can trust me; my lips are sealed." He made a motion of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key.

Annabeth looked at him in surprise. She barely knew this man, and yet she could see the genuine earnestness in his eyes. He really wanted to help her, someone that, outside of one instance of spending time together, was a total stranger.

"I mean, are you sure? Because I might talk for a while, and I don't know if it'll actually help, and you don't really know me, and I don't want to unload my emotional baggage on you, and-"

Percy gently raised a hand to cut her off. "I am sure, we aren't going anywhere for a while, it will help, trust me on that, I don't need to know you to care about you and I'm offering my help, you aren't forcing anything on me. And this isn't pity, if you're worried about that; it's sympathy, and there is a difference. I know how this feels, and if you'll let me, I want to help."

Annabeth was so overwhelmed she had to bite her lip to keep it from quivering. No one had ever offered to listen to her like that, but he sounded so certain she couldn't doubt him.

She wanted to say no, to thank him politely and turn down his offer. She wanted to just keep up her walls and wait for the elevator to start moving again. That would be the right thing to do… right?

She'd always thought it was selfless of her to not burden people with her problems, but looking at this man in front of her now, Percy, she wasn't so sure anymore. And honestly, even if she was right, today she thought maybe being selfish wasn't so bad. And so, she began to talk, and he continued to listen.

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Percy didn't know for sure how long he listened to Annabeth talk about her ex, but he patiently let her get everything out. She talked about why she liked him, how long they'd known each other and been together, his flaws, how angry and betrayed she felt, how she thought it would last forever and it broke some part of her that it hadn't, and more. He took in every word, and as she spoke more and more about her ex there grew a feeling inside his chest he couldn't quite identify.

She sighed, using her hands to talk. "...I guess Luke just-"

"Wait," Percy stopped her, cutting her off for the first time since she started. "Luke?"

Annabeth blinked in surprise. "Well, yeah, that's his name. I thought I already told you…? I guess not. He's got blonde hair and blue eyes and-"

Percy's eyes steeled over, his jaw set. "Yeah," he said roughly, "we've met."

Annabeth looked shocked. "Oh," she said in a small voice.

A strange silence fell over the room as Percy closed his eyes and began breathing deeply. He forced himself to uncurl his fists so he could sit on his hands. After several seconds, he opened his eyes to see Annabeth leaned away from him slightly, her expression not having changed. He winced.

"I… I am so sorry about that," he said apologetically. He looked down as his face burned with shame. He took another deep breath to steady himself. "I've had some anger management problems in my past, thanks to my crappy ex step dad, and some crappy teachers, and me constantly having to defend my friends, and being insecure about my disabilities, and having to worry about my mom's-" He cut himself off, nearly burning a hole in the floor with his gaze.

His head dropped between his knees, his expression defeated. If there was any doubt about her liking me, now I know for sure. Because now she's scared of me.

Percy said quietly, "I had just thought he was a good guy, so to hear about everything, about how he hurt you… it just really pissed me off. I'm sorry for scaring you." Then he muttered so quietly he hoped she couldn't hear, "You don't have to be afraid."

After a few moments passed, the fear inside him grew to be almost more than he could take, but then he felt a hand begin gently rubbing his back and he heard Annabeth scoot closer to him. When he looked up, her expression was comforting, gentle, and the grey in her eyes looked like solace from the storm.

She smiled at him kindly. "It's okay," she said quietly. "I'm not afraid."

Percy's breath caught, but she continued. "It caught me off guard to see you so angry for my sake, but I could never imagine you being violent; at least, not unless you were hit first. I trust you, Percy." Her voice had gotten so soft by the end, Percy almost had a hard time hearing her, but she was sincere.

Then, she added in a much lighter tone, "You know, you remind me of a friend of mine from high school; I actually mentioned her in some of the stories from earlier, Thalia. I haven't talked to her in a long time," she said. Then she winked at him, trying to lighten the mood. "Thanks for reminding me."

Percy took another shaky breath. He was just grateful he hadn't scared her off. "What happened that prevented you two from talking?"

Annabeth shrugged, though her hand didn't leave his back. "Different life paths, really. I went to college for architecture, she started a band. They're actually pretty successful, you may have heard of them. They're called Half-Blood Hellions, I think."

"Oh! I've heard of them. I only know a few songs, though." Percy sighed. "I don't really have much time for music anymore."

She sympathetically touched his arm for a moment. "Aww, that sucks. You were into music?"

He closed his eyes. "Yeah. A long time ago. But that's…" he smiled at her ruefully. "In the past. I don't have the time now to keep chasing childhood dreams."

Annabeth bit her cheek, and Percy thought he could almost see her deciding whether or not to be comforting or lighthearted. Eventually she smiled, though her brow was still furrowed.

"I thought you said your inner child would never die," she said softly. It took Percy a while to come up with a retort.

He shrugged. "I tried, I failed. It didn't work out, and I don't have the time or the opportunities to try again. Turns out a big part of being successful is knowing the right people," he added lightly.

"And you didn't?" Annabeth asked.

Percy frowned, thinking of his ex girlfriend. "At one time, I thought I had. I thought she could've helped me the way I helped her, but that's just not the way things played out, I guess." He shrugged again.

Annabeth pursed her lips. After a moment, she nodded to herself. "Okay, you know way too much about me and my problems for me to still know nothing about yours." She sat down on the floor beside him, but so that she was facing him from the opposite direction. Their legs were touching, and while Percy's blood started to rush he wasn't sure if Annabeth even noticed. She stared at him so intently, as if he was some problem she was trying to solve.

"You can trust me too, you know," she said quietly. Then, she added solemnly, "What happens in the elevator stays in the elevator."

Percy laughed, and Annabeth smiled.

Percy wrung his hands nervously. "I dated someone back in high school. Before… well, before I dropped out. My mom-" his voice shook slightly. "She wasn't very healthy at the time. And my girlfriend - well, we were friends at first until one day she asked me out. She said she'd been dropping hints for a while and I'd just… never picked on them." Percy's mind flashed back to several years ago.

They were walking down the hallways together like they always did, when she suddenly spun on her heel to face him. "Percy," she smiled. "Wanna go out?"

He blinked, confused. "What?"

"Like, date, Perce." She folded her arms across her chest. "I've been dropping hints for a while - don't tell me you never picked up on anything!"

"Ah…"

"Yes or no, Perce? C'mon, don't keep me waiting, or I'll leave you behind!" She skipped past him, sticking her tongue out as she went.

He smiled softly, reminiscing. "We had a really good run. I loved her, she loved me - at least, I think she did." Don't keep me waiting, or I'll leave you behind… Percy shook his head. I really should've listened. "But she had all these passions, y'know?" Percy flopped down on the floor, though his legs were still touching Annabeth's.

"She was an aspiring artist - a really good one, too, and had a lot going for her. She wanted things - things I couldn't give. I was always busy working so I could pay the hospital bills and stuff and then we had this big fight and she- well, she broke up with me."

He heard a sharp intake of breath, and when he looked up he realized why people around the office said Annabeth could be scary. He hadn't believed them before. Now though, with her grey eyes fierce like tornadoes and her whole body tensed in a way that looked almost painful, he understood the fear.

When she spoke, her voice was raw with emotion.

"That's... really low of her. To leave someone who needed her, who trusted her."

Percy realized she probably wasn't just talking about Rachel anymore. He also noticed Annabeth hadn't taken a breath since she started talking, so he sat up and lightly put his hands on her shoulders, which were incredibly tense.

"Breathe, Annabeth." She took a shallow breath. Percy smiled gently. "Breathe deeply, Annabeth. Breathe in and out with me."

Percy has never really expected he'd be taking anyone, let alone his boss/crush through the breathing exercises he'd been taught a long time ago, but as they held a deep breath he realized he had never really expected anything in his life to go the way it did.

"It's cute you'd get so offended on my behalf," he said teasingly between breaths. Percy bit the inside of his cheek, hard. Whoops. I guess I dropped my filter at some point. I need to find that and pick it back up. Maybe she didn't notice?

Annabeth didn't seem flustered, so Percy sighed in relief. He hadn't moved his hands off her shoulders yet, and he didn't really feel inclined to do so now. He watched her continue to breathe deeply, and while she had calmed down some, Percy noticed her body never lost its tension.

"Sorry. I guess I have problems with my anger too," Annabeth said sheepishly. "It just really bothers me, how could someone be so insensitive, so inconsiderate to how someone is feeling, to leave them when-"

Percy cut her off by leaning forward and squeezing her shoulders gently. "Hey, it's okay. She wasn't happy, and she handled the situation gracefully. She said we were leading different lives and maybe we weren't meant to be together like we'd always planned. I was her inspiration for her art, but we started drifting apart and at some point I stopped being that for her anymore, too."

He leaned back, deep in thought. "I think her art was her way of showing she loved me, but once that stopped - it was kind of like she stopped loving me. If she ever did," he added quietly.

Annabeth watched Percy like she found something impressive. "That's very mature of you, to be able to let all that go."

Abruptly, Percy laughed, startling her. With a sigh, he looked down at the space between them. "Yeah, well, it took awhile to get here. I definitely didn't see things this way at the time."

He absentmindedly began rubbing her shoulders, the way he'd start the massages he'd give his mom, and Annabeth immediately responded, shoulders rocking back and forth with his fingers.

He closed his eyes, and in a gentle voice he added, "Closure will come with time, Annabeth."

When she didn't respond, he tentatively looked up to see her reaction. He was worried his words had made her emotional again, which is why he was very surprised when he saw her eyes nearly closed and mouth slightly open, with her head tilting backward and forward with his hands.

As he felt the deep tension under his fingers, his heart welled up with sympathy. She must've really needed this massage.

So, before he could back out, he said, "Hey, I realized you've got some really bad tension, and like, um, I'm good at giving massages cause my mom has early onset arthritis, so, uh, if you want I can give you one too. It could help you get better sleep and you'd be less tense and-"

Annabeth held up a hand and saved him from his rambling. "Yes. Please."

He gestured for her to spin around, which she did. Percy stared at her blonde curls, currently put up in a messy bun, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

"Okay," he said, "here we go."