Hello everyone! I finally finished my exams and I'm so happy to share this chapter with you. The longest one yet. The next upload will be on Saturday.

Thank you all for your support and remember I do not own anything related to Percy Jackson.

Chapter 6

"Annabeth"

A warm voice called her out of her dream. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately closed them protecting them from the bright white lights on the ceiling. The air smelled extremely clean with a hinged of antiseptic. She felt slightly cold, despise having Percy's jacket still on her. She tried opening them again and was greeted by Will's face, shielding her eyes from the blinding lights.

Her body was stiff, and a small slash of pain cursed her body when she moved her hand with the intravenous a little bit too roughly. Her headache, however, was almost entirely gone and she felt her mind clearer.

Will carefully helped her sit down on the bed. "It's nice to see some color on you face again," he said, checking the almost empty plastic serum bag hanging from the metal hook beside them. She noticed a passed-out Percy by the chair near her stretcher. It didn't look like a comfortable place to sleep but his friend didn't seem to mind as he drooled happily in his dreams.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily after Will had taken her vitals again. He looked at his watch before writing on his clipboard again. "Four-thirty a.m."

Annabeth's widened at his answer. When did time fly by? She immediately thought about her morning classes that Saturday. Seeing the surprise on her eyes, Will decided to give her more information. "You've been sleeping for two hours. Some of your friends came by an hour ago and gave Percy your stuff" She noticed her jacket hanging on the chair. "I didn´t want to wake you but I got your blood results"

"So?" she asked tiredly.

"They were positive for drugs. They were not in big doses, but apparently your body had a nasty reaction to them" He carefully watched her expression. "Did you leave your drink unattended at any particular moment?"

"No that I can remember" she finally answered. "I was with my friends the whole night" Friends was a little bit too generous, but she didn't believe they had intentions of drugging her. She felt a sting on her heart. Luke wouldn´t be capable of…

Will shot her a pitiful look before saying, "Should I call the cops?"

"No" she replied. Her headache was threatening to come back. "I'll deal with that later"

She noticed the look of disapproval on his eyes but didn't say anything else on the matter. He pulled a metal trolley near him and prepared a syringe.

"I need to monitor you for another hour. These medicaments will help you get the rest of the chemicals out of your system, but it might take a whole day. So, you'll need to get home, get some rest and stay hydrated" He injected the liquid into her intravenous tube and took off his blue gloves throwing them into the red bin. "I'll come back in an hour to hopefully sent you home"

"Will?" Annabeth called.

"Yeah?" he stopped and stared at her.

"What's Percy's last name?"

Will looked at the sleeping boy instinctively as he was afraid of betraying him but finally answered her question. "Jackson. Why?"

She smiled "Just curious"

He gave her a suspicious glance before shaking his head and leaving them alone. Annabeth had a lot of things to think about, but once her head hit the flat pillow, she drifted back to sleep.

HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake

The next time Annabeth opened her eyes, Percy had his headphones on and was playing some racing game on his cellphone. She stretched her body and found herself feeling a thousand times better. She triumphally managed to sit up on the bed by herself.

"Wow, easy there" Percy had noticed her movement and stood up from his chair. "Will said you should take things slowly" He grabbed a bottle of water, surely bought in a vending machine, and gave it to her. She gratefully accepted it and took a few sips. "How are you feeling?"

"So much better" she gave him a sincere smile. "I don´t know how to thank you, Percy. You've been so nice to me"

"It was the right thing to do," he said resting importance. "Any decent person would have done the same"

"I doubt it," she said. A subtle blush appeared on Percy's cheeks before clearing his throat.

"Jason and your friend Piper came by a couple of hours ago. They left your stuff and wanted to check on you, but I told them you were sleeping. You should call her when we are done here" he added taking the bottle from her hands and carefully watching her. She just nodded. They stayed quiet for a few more minutes.

Percy finally asked her the question she was preparing for. "Annabeth about what happened…"

"Percy I really don't want to talk about it right now," she said tiredly. His worried look turned into a pissed one, but he didn't push her. Annabeth decided to change the subject.

"So, Jackson. Huh?" Percy froze and looked as guilty as someone who had just robbed a bank. He broke eye contact and suddenly found the chair interesting. Annabeth just waited. Finally, he sighed changing the weight on his feet.

"Sorry I lied"

"Why though?"

Percy's expression turned sour. "I don't like it when people look at me as Poseidon Jackson's poor Bastard Son. I am his best-kept secret. I didn´t want you to think any less of me" His hand was mildly shaking with rage. Without thinking, Annabeth took it trying to comfort him.

"I wouldn't have, and I never will" she assured him. His eyes turned soft when he looked at her and she felt him relax. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but the blue curtain was pushed away, and Will Solace entered their small section. His eyes lingered curiously on their joined hands and Annabeth quickly took hers back, begging for him to not notice her now red cheeks.

"Well Annabeth I'm happy to see you're feeling better," he said handing her a small piece of paper with a list of generic medicines to help her with her detoxification. "Remember lots of rest and lots of water and, if anything else happens, Percy has my number" He took out the needle from Annabeth's arm and replaced it with a small circle-shaped band-aid. He gave her a last long look. "Sure, you don´t want to press charges?"

She sighed "I still don't know what happened Will" Neither of the boys seemed satisfied with her answer. Percy even looked like he wanted to punch someone, but he didn't press it.

"In that case, you are free to go"

A nurse came seconds later with a wheelchair. Annabeth wanted to stretch her legs a little more, but she knew it was a protocol thing. She was handed her stuff before leaving. Will accompanied them to the reception while Percy claimed back his papers. Annabeth tried to snatch the bill from his hands, but he was quicker. "We'll talk about that later" he simply said.

They thanked the blond resident and before they got into the elevator Will touched Percy's shoulder.

"How's Nico doing?" he asked, trying to seem casual about it. Percy just smirked and patted him on the back.

"Why don´t you call him and ask him yourself?"

They shared a smile before Annabeth and Percy got into the elevator and waved him goodbye.

HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake

They drove away from the hospital in comfortable silence. Annabeth texted Thalia and Piper telling them she was okay and was now out of the ER. Percy put his Spotify playlist on, and she enjoyed him humming to the beat of his favorite songs. Their quiet moment was only interrupted by Percy's stomach asking for food. She smirked at him.

"Finally, I am not the starving one"

Percy chuckled and turned right on one intersection. "I would love some blue pancakes right know"

Annabeth smiled at his addiction to blue food and looked outside the small car window. The sun was just lazily starting to rise above Manhattan, allowing the chill winds of fall to permeate the small vehicle. She snuggled in Percy's jacket as she watched the streets starting to be filled with early joggers and cyclists. The start of a typical Saturday morning. And then, a metaphorical bucket of cold water was thrown over her. She quickly looked at her phone. Six fifteen a.m. Her classes started at eight a.m.

She examined her environment and realized Percy was driving in direction to Queens, surely wanting to take her home. She took her back away from her seat and turned to him.

"I can´t go home," she told him. "I have a class at eight"

Percy stopped at a red light and gave her an incredulous look. "You can´t be serious," he said, hoping she was just hallucinating from exhaustion. Annabeth crossed her arms.

"I am"

Percy threw his arms on the air before rubbing his eyes from tiredness, clearly exasperated at her. He started driving again and glanced her way to see if some sense had entered her brain. She just looked back with determination.

Percy frowned. "No Annabeth. I'm taking you home so you can rest, just like Will said you should"

She pinched her nose bridge and sighed. "Percy if you take me home, I'll just grab the next train to Manhattan, even if I'm late to class. So, you might as well save me the extra trip and just take me to our central campus"

Percy took the vehicle to an abrupt stop, earning some colorful commentaries from the taxi who was behind them. He quickly pulled over before they caused a traffic accident. Enough hospital bills for a good time.

Annabeth watched him as he put his elbows on the wheel and rubbed his temple. She really didn't like being a bigger complication to him, but if she went home, she would probably freak out more for nor being in class, getting no rest at all. So, she might as well go to her classes that day and catch some rest between each of them.

He finally incorporated himself and looked at her. Annabeth felt guilty of how tired he appeared. He had, after all, just spend the rest of the night on an uncomfortable chair, after almost being puked on, sacrificing a fun night with his friends. Still, his sea-green eyes were still vibrant and strong, and somehow, they even looked more beautiful to her on that particular morning.

"Please" she pleaded softly. He looked like he was about to refuse and possibly kidnap her to her apartment in Queens, but instead, he put the car on Drive and took the first turn to the Upper East Side.

"You're something else" he muttered under his breath. Annabeth was sure he wanted to say she was a workaholic and inside she didn't mind. She got that comment a lot. She lowered her visor and checked herself on the tiny mirror. She looked horrible. Her blond curls were a mess all over her head, and she cursed herself for not carrying a hair tie on her wrist last night. She refused to find out if there were rests of her stomach content on it. Huge dark circles were framing her eyes, and these were dull and tired. She was still pretty pale, and her t-shirt had wrinkles all over it. Annabeth suspected she still reeked of alcohol.

"I desperately need a shower"

"You can take one at my place" His tone suggested he was very annoyed at her, so she opted for not asking more questions and just let him do his thing. She watched as the business owners opened their various shops across town and her stomach growled when her eyes caught a small bakery with beautiful bagels on its counter.

Her pocket started ringing. She got her phone out and almost choked at the caller ID. It'd been years seen she last saw that contact calling her. She considered ignoring him and just pretend that night had not happened at all. But it wasn´t in her blood. She pushed the green button and took her phone to her ear.

"Annabeth…"

"Did you know?"

There was a moment in silence. Her heart was pounding heavily on her chest.

"Luke did you or did you not know there were drugs on my drink," she asked slowly, feeling Percy going tense beside her.

Another haunting silence. When he answered his voice was shaking.

"Ethan told us they were harmless…" She felt dizzy again. "And you didn't want to talk to me, and I just wanted us to be like old times. I really believed…" he stopped.

"What?" she asked, barely audible. She felt a tear running down her cheek.

"I didn´t know you were going to react that way…Gods, Annabeth I was so stupid. Please forgive…"

She immediately hung up. Her world was spinning, and she felt she needed to grab the paper bag Percy had offered her that night. It was pure betrayal tugging at her heart. Annabeth couldn't breathe.

The phone rang several times in her hand. By the eighth missed call she was considering answering it and just scream at him, but Percy, who had remained quiet, softly took the device from her and threw into the back seat. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before returning his to the wheel.

Ten minutes later, Percy parked the Prius in front of a red-bricked set of buildings. Annabeth had never been to the student' residencies. She had considered them as an option before moving to New York, but Thalia wasn't a student and they had already decided to live together.

She handed Percy his jacket before grabbing hers, along with her annoying ringing phone, from the back seat. She turned the device off and stepped out of the car. They walked to the front door of the second building at a slow pace and Annabeth was quickly out of breath. She almost winced at the lack of elevators on old buildings.

"It's only to the third floor," Percy said noticing her suffering and trying to reassure her. "There's no rush"

Annabeth climbed up the stairs as if they were Mount Everest. They were going so slow that Percy was able to have a small talk with people who were leaving for their morning classes. They shot a gossip look at her before waving goodbye and continuing with their day. By the time they arrived at his door, Percy was tired of talking about his upcoming swimming competitions.

Annabeth squinted her eyes when she noticed the picture of a little girl on his keychain.

"Who is she?" Curiosity got the best of her.

"Estelle, my little sister," he said smiling fondly. A spark of humor reached his eyes "Her last name is Blofis"

She laughed softly. "Now I get it"

Percy opened the door and immediately his cheeks grew a bit red. His room was exactly as Annabeth had imagined. His bed was unmade, his laptop and a bunch of papers were scattered on his wooden desk located at the bottom, below the beautiful window. She caught a glimpse of dirty clothes on top of his chair and on his floor. "Sorry about the mess," he said, running inside and first hiding his used clothes on his laundry basket. "I've not had visitors for a while"

Annabeth bit her tongue from commenting on the last time his girlfriend visited him. She thought he might be the one always visiting Rachel in her place.

"It's fine," she said stepping into the small room. She almost smiled when she breathed in and her nose was flooded with Percy's cologne. It smelled like the sea breeze. She looked at a door on her left.

"Private bathroom," he said, making his bed.

"Wow. What a luxury"

He chuckled. "I know"

"Where do you eat?" she asked sitting on his now decent bed.

"There's a common kitchen on the first floor. And, there's the cafeteria on the last building, in case you have a meal plan or just want something extra to eat"

He stood awkwardly near his desk, scanning anything that might have scared her out of his room.

"It's cozy," she said. He finally relaxed and took a seat at his desk. "But Percy, why are you leaving in a residence if your mom leaves here in Manhattan? Isn't that an unnecessary cost?"

"I just wanted to have a little bit of independence I guess," he said looking around. "And about the cost…Poseidon is paying for it. He felt it was the least he could do after being absent from my entire childhood" He looked at his laptop resentfully.

"So, you two don't get along, huh?"

Percy took a long breath.

"He's a nice guy. And I actually think he felt guilty when he found out about me a few years ago. He tried to spend more time with me, but the only thing we have in common is our love for the sea" He played with a little shell on his desk.

"And your job as his assistant?"

He grimaced. "He offered it to me when he found out I was studying Marine Biology. He said it would be good for me if I learned about one of the biggest companies supervising the oceans. I gladly accepted it. Although being an assistant is not my thing" he admitted embarrassingly.

Annabeth arched one eyebrow.

"You told me you were studying business"

"I didn't. You just assumed it. It was a problem of communication" He mocked her, using her own words against her. "Fundamentals of Business was my elective this term"

"Touché," she said resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

He gave her a small smile. She liked how Percy was suddenly so open with her. They were passed the line of coworkers and were now becoming good friends. And even if she didn't want to admit it, Annabeth didn't have many of those.

"I should take a shower" she announced, standing up and looking at what was salvageable from her clothes. "You wouldn't possibly have women's clothes in here, do you?"

"Sorry, Rachel always takes her stuff back with her" So she did come to visit. Annabeth tried to ignore the image of them on his bed and the small flash of jealousy in her chest. She imagined the gears in his head, turning. "I have a t-shirt a little bit too small for me. It might fit you" He opened the small closet next to his desk and pull out a black t-shirt with a Led Zeppelin logo on its front, along with a clean towel.

Annabeth accepted it gratefully and closed the small bathroom door behind her. She wanted to take a quick shower, but she felt her hair needed a deep cleaning. So, she stole some of Percy's shampoo and tried to get the smell of alcohol away from her body.

She felt so much better once she was dressed in her jeans with a fresh shirt and her washed hair. She tried to comb it with her fingers, but her loose curls were a lost cause if she didn't dry them with her blow-dryer. The oversized shirt made her look a little weird, but how she looked was her last concern.

Annabeth stepped out of the bathroom and found Percy already in a new set of clothes with a familiar bag on his shoulder. "You look better," he said, giving her his signature smile. "Let's go" He grabbed his keys and opened the door.

"Aren´t you gonna stay and sleep?" she asked him, putting on her jacket.

"I'm already late to swimming practice. I'll have time to rest later" Annabeth wanted to argue that he was I no condition of working out, but that would make her a hypocrite. Together they left his room and made the 5-minute walk to the central campus.

HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake

It took all of Annabeth's strengths not to fall asleep in her class. She had asked one of her classmates for some paper and she took a pencil borrowed. She was tempted to play games on her phone to keep her eyes opened but her disciplined side won. That and the fact she didn't want to turn it on and count Luke's missing calls. She just hoped Piper had everything under control at the office.

Annabeth's class finished earlier, and she ran to the cafeteria to finally eat something. As she ate her omelet, something on the menu caught her attention and she looked at the clock on the wall. Percy's practice would finish at eleven, just in time to catch him before her next class.

She had never been to the indoor pool. She walked through campus with a small pace and had to stop a few times when she felt a bit dizzy. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten eggs for breakfast after having a rough night.

She opened the doors and immediately heard Percy's coach screaming at the team. The pool was Olympic sized, and Annabeth wrinkled her nose at the smell of chlorine. Some people were seating on the white bleachers making time while waiting for the practice to be over. She followed their example and sat way back to have a nice view of the pool, carrying a still-warm brown bag.

Five boys were swimming back and forth on their lines. They were all incredibly talented but there was one, in particular, that was way faster than the others. Their coach had a chronometer on his chubby hands and was screaming obscenities at them.

Finally, the fastest one stopped swimming rested his elbows on the edge of the pool and took off his swimming goggles. Annabeth wasn't surprised to find out it was Percy. He was the captain after all. He got out and walked dripping with water to his bag.

"Jackson!" his coach followed him, red as a tomato. "That was your worse time yet. What is happening to you today?"

It was his worst, Annabeth couldn't imagine his best. She felt a little bit guilty that he was screaming at his friend because of her. But Percy seemed used to his coach's erratic behavior because his eyes were distractedly wandering around the room until they stopped on her.

She gave him a small wave and a thumbs up. His eyes lighted up and he waved back. She laughed for a bit when his coach scolded him for flirting with their public and even Percy managed to chuckle before going back to the water.

Another fifteen minutes passed until the practice was over.

"Better Jackson!" His coach grunted approvingly before reminding them all about the coming competitions.

She descended through the bleachers as Percy neared her with a towel wrapped around his incredible body. She tried hard no to check him out.

"Hey, how are you doing?" he asked.

"Much better"

He sighed with relief.

"You're a really good swimmer" she complimented him.

"Thanks" he replied with a little bit of a blush.

"I thought you might want this" she passed him the paper bag. He looked at it with curiosity before opening it and letting its incredible aroma out. She could almost see his mouth, watering.

"Blueberry Pancakes!"

"Now don't get too excited. They are from the cafeteria"

"They are blueberry pancakes Annabeth. They are always good" He looked like he wanted to sit down and eat them right away, but realized he was still dripping water. "Wait for me while I shower. Then we can share them"

"Actually, Percy I need to get to my other class…"

"Just ten minutes," he said before grabbing his bag and rushing to the men's lockers.

Annabeth gave up and waited for him. Somewhere on her mind, there was a voice nagging her to not be late to class, but she was really looking forward to sharing pancakes with his friend. She was lost in thought when she felt a tap on her shoulder and a voice calling her.

"Annabeth, right?"

She turned to find fiery red hair and green neon eyes looking at her. Rachel. She was wearing a cotton green shirt that matched her eyes and a jean overall. Up-close she noticed some freckles adorning her face. She was really pretty.

"Rachel, hi!" She said in an abnormally high-pitched voice. Why was she feeling guilty all of a sudden?

She smiled excitedly and shook Annabeth's hand.

"Gods is so nice to finally meet you! Percy kept talking about how a good assistant you were and how you pushed him to be better at his job" Annabeth tried to find annoyance in her words, but she was being genuinely kind to her.

"He also talks highly of you" Annabeth, stupidly replied. She shifted nervously trying to find something else to say.

Rachel then seemed to notice how weird it was of Annabeth to be there and narrowed her eyes at her shirt. Damn, she knows it's Percy's.

"Isn´t that…?"

"Percy told me you sold all of your paintings. How exciting!" she half-yelled.

Annabeth felt very uncomfortable. She knew she had to explain her situation to her, but it was such a long story and her headache was coming back again. Besides she really didn't want to remember last night.

Rachel blinked a couple of times before breaking into a beautiful smile.

"Oh, yes! I am very happy. I'm sorry I didn't say hi to you that day. Percy told me you encouraged him to stay and support me. Thank you" Annabeth felt sick at how nice Rachel was being to her. And there she was pretending not to have a small crush on her boyfriend.

"Oh, it's okay…Listen can you tell Percy to remember calling the supervisor in San Francisco to let him know about the changes?" she invented. "I just came to remind him, but I have to rush to my next class"

Rachel took a moment and finally nodded.

"Sure"

Annabeth waved a quick goodbye and bolted out of the building. She managed to barely arrive at her block, before going to the bathroom and emptying her omelet. Maybe she should have heard Percy and just stayed home.

HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake

The subway back home was the longest ride she ever took. A kind sir had noticed her pale color and had offered her his seat. She took it gratefully. She looked at her phone several times, just to found it had run out of batteries the moment she tried to turn it on. She hadn't answered a single message that day, and she hoped Aurora hadn't fired her in the single day she didn't check her phone.

She opened the door to her apartment ready to drop herself on her bed and sleep for a whole day, but a soon as she took a step inside, she was tackled by a punk mess.

"This I need to breathe," she told her after a few minutes of intense hugging. They separated and Thalia looked like he wanted to punch her in the face.

"Why didn't you answer the phone?" she led her to the kitchen and made her seat on their small rounded table. Her friend filled their water boiler and got Annabeth's favorite tea out of the cabinets.

Annabeth got her phone out of her pocket and threw it carelessly on the table. It landed with a hard thud. "It died without me even noticing it". She buried her head on her hands and closed her eyes. There was a moment of silence.

When Thalia finally spoke, her voice was shaking with emotion "I'm so sorry Annabeth. I was so focused on celebrating with the band that I didn't notice you were gone. And then, when I went to find you, Luke told me you hadn't been feeling well and that some random guy had stayed with you. I panicked and got so mad at him for not taking care of you. After finally getting some sense into him, he told me Piper had taken your stuff and that he didn't ask her about your location. I didn´t have Piper's number, so I came back here and waited for you. That's when I got your message…"

Annabeth raised her hand and Thalia stopped. The blond girl managed to give her a small smile. "It's okay that. You were enjoying your evening. I didn't expect you to be on my side the whole night. To be honest, I was not that very observant of you either"

Thalia's shoulders finally relaxed.

"So, what happened?" Annabeth told her everything, leaving the awful scenes with Luke. She didn´t want to hurt Thalia, and she knew how much he meant to her. She wouldn't stand the hurt and disappointment in her eyes when she told her he knew about the drugs. Eventually, she would have to, but not then. Instead, she found herself emphasizing on how well Percy had behaved with her. When she had finished, the water boiler made a whistling noise. Thalia quickly prepared Annabeth's tea and she was relieved when only her first sip was helping her headache to go away.

Her friend's face was full of concern.

"Who do you think drugged you?"

"Don't know" she shrugged and took another sip avoiding eye contact. But Thalia was clearly not satisfied with her answer.

"We should call the police" Annabeth remained silent until her friend finally took the hint. She felt her frowning.

"Fine. Be that way"

They both fell silent for a few minutes, exasperated at each other. Thalia was the first one to break the ice.

"So, this guy Peter…" her friend started, inching closer to her. Annabeth was relieved at the change of topic.

"Percy"

"Whatever." She shot her a mischievous look. "Is something happening between the two of you?"

"We just met two months ago"

"That doesn´t answer my question"

"He has a girlfriend"

"Still no answer"

"We just work together"

"Uh-huh…"

"What do you want me to say?!"

"Let me rephrase that" Annabeth was growing irritated at Thalia's amused expression. "Do you want something to happen with him?"

She finished her tea and just sighed. "He was only being a good friend. Besides, you know I don´t have time for anything else than a friendship right now. I barely have time to see you" Thalia's eyes softened but still managed to raise an eyebrow.

"You are evading my question on purpose"

"No Thalia" she answered through gritted teeth. "I don´t want anything with him"

…

"Even Pinocchio was a better liar than you"

"I'm going to bed," Annabeth said giving up to her friend's stubbornness and neatly putting her mug on the sink. She muttered a goodnight to her friend and heard her yelling "At least he has good taste in music!" before hiding in her room.

It was only seven-thirty, but she felt overly exhausted. She connected her phone to its charger, took off her Converse, and changed her dirty jeans for some comfy pajama bottoms. Annabeth's room seemed a lot smaller than Percy's. She couldn't even fit a desk in there and her window only showed the grey exterior from the building next to them. She missed Percy's view of the shared patio with a pretty fountain in the center of the residency buildings. But she was glad to be back on her own bed. Annabeth considered taking off the shirt he had lent her, but ultimately decided it was comfy enough to sleep in it. She turned off her lights and finally got her much needed sleep with Percy's shampoo smell still on her hair.

HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake

Annabeth had a hilarious dream about her being a lion tamer in a strange circus. Usually, her dreams and nightmares were work-oriented, but she appreciated her brain for trying to make her laugh on her sleep. She was pretty disappointed when sunlight crept its way to her eyelids, waking her up from her unusual scene as a circus performer.

Her headache was gone, and Annabeth felt her mind as clear as ever. She was tempted to go back to sleep, but the sound of her stomach growling and a ping from her phone on her nightstand made her sit down on her bed.

Annabeth reached her phone, instinctively, thinking it was a work problem they needed her to solve. She flinched not only at the thousand messages waiting for her to open them, but also at the digital clock on the top right corner. Three zero seven p.m. She couldn't even remember the last time she slept that like that. She almost felt tired of sleeping.

She started looking through her work emails first. She answered some of them quickly and was relieved to find nothing out of the ordinary had happened in her absence. Shifting to her personal messages, Annabeth's heart skipped a beat several times and for a variety of reasons.

She deleted the ones from Luke almost immediately. Her strength wasn't powerful enough to confront him about it yet. She texted Piper back telling her she felt much better and even replied to his father's messages wondering if she was coming home for the Holidays. She decided no to worry him with what happened on Friday night. Annabeth left the one she wanted to read the most as the last chat she opened. She was still feeling a little bit of shame for ditching him at the pool and was afraid to read his messages.

Saturday

11:38 a.m. Hey. Rachel told me you had rushed to class. She was concerned with how pale you looked. How are you feeling?

2:17 p.m. Please call me when you can. I wanna know how you are doing.

3:50 p.m. Annabeth I'm starting to worry. Is everything okay? Do you want me to call Will?

4:30 p.m. I just realized my messages are not reaching you and that you might have your phone turned off.

4:44 p.m. Just call me when you see this

8:30 p.m. Are you home yet?

9:01 p.m. Annabeth I'm seriously freaking out.

He stopped texting her after that. There were a few missed calls from him, also from the previous day. She tried to ignore the warmth in her heart for how concern he sounded for her. He's just being a good friend.

Texting him a quick reply of her being ok, Annabeth finally got her messy curls into a ponytail and stood up from the bed. She needed to do some extra studying yesterday's classes since she was only focused on not throwing up on most of them.

She grabbed her phone, crossed the hallway to their shared bathroom, and finally brushed her teeth. She heard Thalia talking in the living room about music and assumed her friend might have been chatting with her band. Her tone was oddly cheerful. Thalia was usually very annoyed anytime she talked about which songs to play with The Hunters.

She didn't even check herself on their mirror, before stepping out of the bathroom and making her way to the kitchen. She entered the living room and froze on her spot.

"Look who's finally up!" Thalia said, smirking at her.

Her best friend was sitting on their couch. She was wearing her usual black outfit with her favorite combat boots. The coffee table was full of Thalia's CD's collections and her favorite electric guitar was placed carefully next to her. Annabeth was used to her getting her CDs out and rearranging them depending on her mood. But that wasn´t the case this time. Thalia was showing them to someone.

Percy Jackson was holding a mug to his lips when Annabeth entered the room. He had the decency of looking embarrassed by catching her off guard in her own home, but she also noticed a hint of humor in his eyes and probably a small smile being covered by the mug. He had some of Thalia's music in his lap and his cellphone on the other hand. He was wearing a simple blue shirt and black jeans, with his white New Balance. He looked as handsome as always.

"Annabeth, we have visitors. Aren´t you gonna say hi to them?" Thalia said taking a sip from her own mug.

"Visitors?" she repeated softly, extending the last consonant. Just then she noticed Percy's friend Grover standing in the kitchen. He was probably the most embarrassed one in the whole room. His face was extremely red, and his eyes were avoiding hers.

"Hi" she finally said. Grover took it as a sign of her being okay with them and gave her a timid smile. He raised a huge paper bag with an unknown logo to her.

"We brought some Enchiladas. I hope you like them. I mean it's okay if you don´t because we really didn't ask you…" Grover kept talking about their decision of which food to bring, while Annabeth felt her phone vibrating. It was a message from Thalia.

3:22 p.m. You slept with his shirt?!

Annabeth felt her face growing hotter and hotter. She was now redder than Grover. Stealing a glance at Percy, she realized his expression was now of pure humor and he was hilariously entertained by the scene. She needed to get control back of her situation.

"It's fine Grover," she said, interrupting the guy's monologue about Mexican food and trying not to sound harsh. "I do like Enchiladas, so thank you" Percy's friend visibly relaxed.

She returned her view to the couch. "I'm gonna go take a shower, so you Thalia can help our visitors with the food" She shot Percy a curious look before running to the bathroom and trying to understand what the hell had happened.

She put on a flannel shirt with her comfiest jeans, before taking a long breath a heading to the living room once again.

Since their dining table was pretty small to fit four people at the same time, they had cleaned Thalia's mess and put the Enchiladas along with four plates on the coffee table. Some chill music was coming from their small portable speakers. Thalia and Grover were attempting to make some lemonade on the kitchen, and Percy was sitting on the floor, with his back against the couch, looking at his phone.

He put it away when he felt Annabeth kneeling next to him. They stayed in silence for a few seconds.

"How are you feeling?" Percy finally asked when their eyes met.

"Like my regular self. I even managed to answer some emails from work when I woke up" she said, grabbing a chip from a bowl, dipping in its sauce, and offering it to him. He practically inhaled it. She grabbed one for herself.

"Good, because I was the one who almost goes back to the hospital last night when you weren´t answering any of my texts" he joked.

She grimaced and took another chip. "Sorry about that. My phone died and immediately went to bed, once I got home"

"Yeah, Thalia told me"

They ate a few more chips before Thalia yelled them to stop before they left none for Grover and her.

"How long does it take to make lemonade anyway?" Annabeth yelled back.

"Shut up, Chase"

Percy laughed softly with her.

"So how did this happen?" she asked, hugging her left knee. Percy took a few moments to figure out what she was talking about.

"Oh, uh…I kind of panicked yesterday when you weren´t answering me…"

"Kind of?" she mocked him.

"Ok, I fully panicked. Then I remembered you saying your best friend was on The Hunters. So, I called my friend Nico and asked him to get Thalia's number from his sister. I finally phoned her, and she told me you were back at home, safe and sound…and then asked me to come and have lunch with you. I said yes and here we are"

Why wasn't she surprised of Thalia's sudden plan.

"And Grover?"

"I helped him with a peaceful protest today morning against a company that refused to follow the environmental laws. I just invited him to tag along. Was it ok?"

Annabeth smiled. "Of course. The more the merrier" Percy smiled back gratefully, just as Grover and Thalia arrived with the lemonade. Her best friend threw her a knowing look, but she just ignored her and started serving her food.

The four of them had an amazing afternoon. They talked about movies, work, hobbies and even had time to play some card games. Annabeth beat them all in Poker, but Percy won almost every round in Blackjack. They listened to Thalia's thoughts about modern music and Grover's opinions on climate change and activism.

Annabeth didn't remember the last time they had reunion like that at home. Mostly because she was too busy with work and study, and Thalia with her band and her music. She felt happy and relaxed between them and even managed to ignore her best friend's glances whenever Percy and she shared a smile or the way her heart raced at every accidental touch they shared.

They were saying their goodbyes by eight o'clock. Thalia mocked Grover one more time for his taste in music, while the boys were putting on their jackets. They thanked them for bringing food and Annabeth saved Grover's number on her phone.

Before they were fully out the door, Annabeth grabbed Percy's hand before she could regret it He turned and locked his sea-green eyes to her grey ones.

"Thanks, Percy…for everything" He smiled warmly making her feel butterflies on her stomach.

"Anytime, Wise Girl" And before she could even scold him for the silly nickname, he winked at her and closed the door.

Thalia just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Save it," Annabeth said, before taking her textbooks and tried to catch up with her studies.

A/N: I would really like to know if you're liking the story and what can I do better to make your experience more pleasant, so…review! I want to listen to your thoughts and ideas, or if you just wanna be listened that would be ok too. Your opinion matters!

Please, everyone, be safe, appreciate life and remember that love is an endless gift and it's for free