Hey! Chapter nineteen, AKA when all the drama starts..oh well. :/ Three more chapters. The next update will be December 22nd. :)

Also, WE HIT 100 REVIEWS! Thank you guys, they really have made my day(s.)

IvyAntionette: Thank you! (Lol...that happened to me once. I then played it so many times my brother tried to turn off the computer.)

ThatGirlWithaCat: YES YES YOU DID!
Yeah, let us not waste it.
...oh well. You only live once, right? Well, anyone reading this review response...you have been warned.
Lol. NO PDA.
Lol. *insert emoji with hearts around it*

Thanks!

WindGoddess: I'm not telling ;-; Thank you!

Daughter of Sally Jackson: ;-;. Thanks!

Poseidon1702: It is, isn't it...well. This really is a shame...what could go wrong? *scuttles off to go write the next bit with a maniacal laugh* Thank you!

Nothing could go wrong: Annabeth doesn't really pay that much attention...plus, in that chapter it was dyed...shame about this one. :D Heheheh... in this story, maybe. I guess I'm just PrEdIcTaBle. Thanks!

Annabeth's POV:

"Go on! You only have a six month anniversary once, you know!" Piper huffed. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me you were dating Percy until like five months ago but you guys are having your anniversary and I don't think it would make a good impression on your boyfriend if you showed up thirty minutes late with a flimsy rush hour excuse."

"Alright…" Annabeth said slowly. "But seriously, I want to get a drink first, I'm walking the whole way there."

"You could drive," Piper pointed out, "Goose Lake isn't that far away." Annabeth shrugged at her, not really listening.

"Well, I'm not going to be driving, so that doesn't really matter. Just let me get a drink and I'll be on my way." Piper shrugged and stepped aside, Annabeth walking toward the kitchen. "Anyway, why are you so hyped up? It's not like it's your six month anniversary."

"I'm just- happy for you," Piper said lamely. "And anyway, a six month anniversary is a cause for celebration for all parties, not just you and Percy. Now go, go!" she all but pushed Annabeth out the door, clucking her tongue as she did so.

"Alright!" Annabeth called inside, smiling. She heard Piper laughing before she turned and walked towards the stairwell, using her walk to Goose Lake- next to New Pine Creek- as something for thought.

Hers and Percy's relationship had progressed well- at least, better than the previous relationships Annabeth had had, in her opinion. Of course, she was probably a little biased, as it was her present relationship but she still thought it was going rather well.

They'd talked of soulmates in passing- Percy had wanted her to meet his mother, Sally Jackson, around their five month anniversary together. Sally, she'd learned, had had two would-be soulmate romances, one with Percy's father, and one with a man named Gabe. She'd found her true soulmate, a man named Paul, who she was presently married to. Annabeth would fly to New York with Percy to meet her in two days.

Luckily (for Annabeth at least) Percy had not found his soulmate and so had not ended their doomed relationship for his 'one and only'.

"Percy," Annabeth called as she made her way down to the lake, smiling at the blanket he'd spread. It was much too cold for a picnic, but Percy had lit candles, and they were bundled up in thick coats to combat the biting January. "It's beautiful." Percy looked up at her from kneeled down to light the last candle.

"Hey, Annabeth," he said as if he did this all the time. "Aren't you cold?"

"No," Annabeth said, "aren't you? How long have you been out here?" Percy shrugged modestly.

"Not that long. Uhm…thirty minutes?" Annabeth opened her mouth, "I only was to make everything perfect for our sixth month anniversary," he said hastily. "Anyway, sit down."

Percy busied himself with straightening the edge of a blanket, and Annabeth rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "How was your day?" Percy sighed.

"Well, today, Abby tried to eat crayons, and Xavier dumped out all the markers out of the bin. Charlie got picked up early, at least, but without her, Mandy would not stop crying. And my student teacher has no idea how to deal with kindergarteners, which makes me wonder why she decided to become a teacher in the first place."

"You know, there's a learning curve with every job," Annabeth pointed out. "I'm sure she'll learn."

Percy sighed. "I hope so. How was your day?"

"Well, Malcolm wants me to design another house for the neighborhood. He got called away early today because there was a problem with the design, and Sorrel called in sick, so Delta and I had to do her work."

"I thought you were just, like…the coffee girl." Annabeth glared at him halfheartedly.

"I am…but with more pressure on Pallas, Malcolm's been spreading the workload, even to me. He's been giving me more architectural jobs with more influence in the company. We aren't very big…every person counts."

"I thought you wanted to write."

"I do," Annabeth protested. "But if I don't go along with everything at Pallas, I could get fired. And if I get fired, I can't pay the rent with the meager salary from Bücherregal. And if I can't pay the rent, that will put more pressure on Piper, who's taking college classes for her music degree, and we'd either lose the apartment or she might have to drop out, and I couldn't do that to her."

"How are you going to write if you're working two jobs, one where you're moving up in the ranks?"

"I don't…haven't figured that part out yet." Annabeth said stubbornly. "It'll be okay." Percy didn't look very convinced, but he wasn't there to judge her, and he knew that.

It would be okay.

The temporary dye in Annabeth's hair, she noticed, had faded quickly over the course of a week- almost too quickly. She stared at it in confusion- she used the same dye every time she dyed it, and while it always gave a mixed result due to her own inexperience, she didn't like how it had worn off now- washed away almost in one shower.

The twisting green and blue gave way to blue and purple, the colors melding into one another as evanescently as love.

Annabeth drowned the traitor lock in golden curls. It could not, would not, ruin her sixth month anniversary with a wonderful boyfriend.

"I made sandwiches," Percy told her. "Peanut butter and jelly." Annabeth smiled at him.

"Blueberry?" Percy laughed.

"You know me too well," he said, teasingly. Annabeth grinned at him, having only guessed blueberry because blue was the color Percy had some sort of attachment to. She considered it interesting that he'd never dyed his hair blue in some sort of nod to whatever it was.

"Well, if I dyed it," Percy said, giving her a funny look, "I might make my hair fall out and it wouldn't match." Annabeth stared at him. Had he been reading her mind?

"What?"

"You thought out loud, Beth." He said, giving her a crooked smile. "Is something wrong?" Annabeth flushed.

"Oh. Sorry. And no, nothing's wrong. And…how would your hair not match? If you dyed all of it, it would match. And even if you didn't, it would make a big statement."

"No it wouldn't," Percy said, giving her another odd look. "Permanent dye doesn't work, and then I'd just have a little bit all funny, remember?"

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked him.

"What are you talking about?" Percy fired back. "My soulmate mark, remember? It's in my hair?" Annabeth remembered now- it was that green and purple streak in his hair that reminded Annabeth of some sort of joker or something. "If I dyed my hair blue, there'd still be hints of it, it would never match and you'd probably complain that I was embarrassing you or something."

"It would be embarrassing," Annabeth defended herself. "I couldn't let my wonderful boyfriend…" her voice trailed off. Percy was messing around with his hair and looking thoroughly idiotic until he managed to separate a lock of hair:

There was more of it than hers, but his hair was shorter- it started off a mix of green and blue, twisting down to blue and purple. The colors melding in together…the same way. The same way as her hair.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked, giving her a concerned look. "Is something wrong?" something bitter bubbled up in Annabeth's throat, choking her, as if her soulmate lock had wrapped itself around her neck and squeezed. "Annabeth, you're scaring me." He said gently.

"Is that…" Annabeth gulped. "Is that your soulmate mark?" Percy tried to raise his eyes to the mark, but failed- it was too far atop his head for him to see it.

"Well, yeah," Percy said slowly. "What's going on?" Annabeth's vision tunneled until she could only the one traitorous lock of hair in the otherwise black sea on Percy's head- the same colors in almost exactly the same places. Zebras may have had different stripes, but they were all the same species. How had she managed to do this? This wasn't supposed to have happened to her. There was no way she and Percy were soulmates. Her fingers trembled as she brushed her hair out of the way of her own, matching lock of hair, but Percy grew only more confused. "Annabeth, what…?" Annabeth stood, knocking her peanut butter and jelly sandwich off her lap and onto the picnic blanket, her head spinning.

She'd thought living in New Pine Creek would vanish the chances of meeting her soulmate. That if she just dyed the lock of hair and ignored soulmates, it would go away and leave her alone.

How wrong she'd been.

She'd managed to fall for him.

Her soulmate.

"They- you-" Annabeth's vision blurred. "You don't see it?" she blinked fast, diminishing the tears and staring again at the lock, which stayed the same. It didn't change; it stayed the same colors.

"See what?" she wanted to lose it, to cry or scream at him then, but it wasn't fair to him- if she told him he'd be ecstatic and she didn't know what to do now. She didn't want to fall in love with her soulmate, and here he was, more perfect than she could have imagined.

"Beth…" his gaze travelled from Annabeth's face to the hair she wanted so much to pull out of her own scalp- she'd tried that once, but it had hurt like hell and grown back so, so fast- and his mouth opened. "Oh…well, this is great- Annabeth?!"

She'd turned and started walking before he could say that it was great, and the cold stung even more. She was supposed to meet his mother, in two days. This was their anniversary and it had all gone wrong. "Annabeth!"

She ran all the way home, fighting her way up the stairs and running into Jason on her way back- Jason who stared at her like he'd never seen her before and she ignored his questioning call and jiggled the doorknob of her apartment desperately. If she looked back, she could imagine Percy chasing her, almost catching up to her, and she had to get away-

The door swung open and Annabeth couldn't look at Piper as she pushed past her and into the bedroom, climbing up and ignoring the burn of her legs as Piper followed behind her saying, "Annabeth, I thought you were having your date with Percy?" the bunk bed creaked as Piper climbed up behind her. "Are you crying?"

"Am not," Annabeth snapped. "I'm fine." Piper didn't move, and Annabeth could feel her presence behind her, tentative but unwilling to ask. She relented. "He's my soulmate."

"That's great!" Piper said, not getting the problem. Annabeth turned and faced her, with (probably) red eyes and an angry face.

"No, it is not great, Piper. Do you remember how I feel about soulmates? The concept is broken. I've told you time and time again how if I ever loved anyone, I would most certainly not fall in love with my soulmate, and whoop dee doo, I hate this hair."

"You love Percy?"

Annabeth scoffed. "…no?" Her voice was weak to her ears. "But that's not the point, Piper. The point is that I can't date Percy now, knowing that he's my soulmate."

"Why not?" Piper asked, sounding utterly baffled. "You didn't fall in love with him because he was your soulmate," Annabeth scoffed.

"Please. That's what they want you to think. I know the sick games the system plays." She could hear Piper's eye roll.

"You didn't know Percy was your soulmate and you fell for him anyway. You were really happy, Annabeth. Are you going to throw that away just because some of your hair is the same color?" Annabeth stayed silent.

When she looked behind her, Piper had left.

Your song of the chapter can be...Dawn is a Feeling, which is by, you guessed it, the Moody Blues. Have a nice night!