I do not own anything from Rick Riordan's Universe.

Chapter 15

"Grover, can you stop biting the paper bags, please?"

"Sorry…I do it when I'm nervous."

"I know. Just put them away and…Can you help Thalia with the balloons? I think she's running out of air."

"Sure thing."

"Thanks."

Annabeth watched as Grover folded the paper bags and neatly placed them on Percy's kitchen counter. Then, he sat on the floor next to Thalia and grabbed a handful of dark blue balloons, receiving a mischievous smile from her.

Jason and Reyna were hanging the Happy Birthday sign, while Frank and Hazel used tape to glue the inflated balloons to the walls. Leo was playing with confetti and Piper was helping her with the snacks and the food.

"We are so old." Her friend commented as she put the last candle on the blue cake Sally had baked for them. "It's a miracle we are not using canes to walk."

Annabeth laughed. "Speak for yourself. My back hurts if I sleep on the same side all night long." Piper exaggerated a gasp. "My dad would kill me if he heard me saying that. I can imagine him saying, 'If you're old, then what am I?'"

Piper smiled as she opened a pack of Doritos. "At least your dad grows old. I'm convinced my parents are vampires. Last Thursday, I had lunch with my mom." Annabeth raised an eyebrow and her friend waved dismissively. "She wanted me to write an article about her new collection. Anyway, she said something that made me frown (like always), and she looked at me as if I had a horrible disease." Annabeth made her a sign to stop as she switched on the blender. When she finished mixing the alcohol-free Margaritas, Piper resumed her story. "I asked her what was wrong, and she said 'Oh my dear, you have wrinkles. That's not good.', before giving me a thousand expensive products her famous dermatologists had told her to buy."

Annabeth frowned. "She gave them to you?"

"Yeah, she has lots of them."

"Are you wearing them."

"No…" She narrowed her eyes at Piper. "Well, yes! But there's no better way to lower your self-esteem than your mother telling you you're getting old."

Annabeth laughed, as she neatly placed the Taco ingredient on the little bowls, she had given Percy when they decorated his apartment. She said, "That's a fair point.", before biting her lip.

Piper smirked. "You wanna try some of them?", she asked as Annabeth smiled guiltily and shrugged.

"They can't hurt, right?"

"Right."

There was a knock on the door, and everybody froze. Jason, who had been talking with Reyna on the fire exit, popped his head through the window and mouthed, "Percy?"

Annabeth frowned and looked at her phone. There were no new messages. He had told her he was going to be home by eight. It was seven-forty, and Percy was never early to something. She would have been mad at him if he chose to arrive early for the first time, and it was the same day as his surprise birthday party. Besides, Percy had his own keys. Quietly, she walked towards the door and peeked through the peephole. She let a breath out.

"False alarm." She said, and they all relaxed. "It's Juniper." Annabeth motioned to Grover and he quickly rushed to open the door and quickly greet his girlfriend. They said a collective hi to Juniper, and she returned to the kitchen, where Piper was glaring towards the fire exit.

"Hey," she said, putting a hand on Piper's shoulder. "Everything okay?"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah…well, no. I don't know. I'm probably going to sound paranoid."

"Some call it paranoia, others a sixth sense."

Piper smiled gratefully and continued, "A few days back, I discovered that Reyna and Jason had been something before…you know." Annabeth nodded. "And, Jason and I have been fighting a lot lately…and he's been spending a lot of time with her…You get where I'm going?" She nodded again. Piper grimaced. "I guess I'm just scared."

"Of what?"

"Of many things."

"Of him cheating on you?"

She laughed dryly. "No."

"So?"

Piper did an exasperated noise. "That maybe we moved too fast. I feel like Reyna gets him better than I do. Maybe we rushed into a relationship without having a solid bond with each other. And you know what they say…easy comes, easy goes."

"You really love catchy phrases."

"I do."

"So, you feel like you need space?"

"Yes and no. I really love him, Annabeth. But I don't know if it's in that kind of way."

"Well, then maybe you should talk to him. Tell him how you feel and take your space and time if you need it. Learn to walk, before you run. And, it's better if you do it now before it goes down in flames."

"It's not going to be easy."

"I never said it would. But whatever happens, I'll be here for you."

Piper smiled and gave her a huge hug. "I know. Thanks, Annabeth…Now, let's talk about your problems."

Annabeth rolled. "Why do I get the feeling you're gonna ask me…"

"Have you told Triton?"

"…about Triton." They said at the same time. Annabeth sighed. "I told you, Pipes. He's out of the country for business, and this isn't something you say on a text."

"Annabeth. You and Percy have been dating for a month…"

"Three weeks actually."

"Whatever. Percy's gonna get tired of hiding in public."

"I know. Triton comes back this week, and the first thing I'll do is tell him."

Piper frowned and asked, "Are you sure the only reason for not telling him, it's because you want to do it in person?"

"What other reason could I have, Piper?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I don't know. You tell me." Annabeth shrugged and her friend continued. "Maybe you feel like giving up on Triton, means giving up on your career with Aurora."

Annabeth grabbed a glass and filled it with water, angrily. "Maybe you're right. If I don't get the deal from Triton, Aurora is never going to give a promotion."

"Then quit! Look somewhere else, where they actually let you be an architecture."

Annabeth finished drinking and put the glass on the sink. "She's the best, Piper. Another job, would be just too small."

Suddenly, Jason entered through the window and said, "He's here. I saw him park his car."

"We haven't finished this conversation," Piper warned her, as they rushed to finish the last details.

Annabeth was about to turn off the lights, when Juniper yelled, "Grover!" She turned her head to find Grover grabbing his neck and his face growing purple.

"What happened?!" she yelled as she ran to her friend and started the Heimlich maneuver.

"He swallowed a balloon," Thalia said, exploding with nervous laughter.

"Why are you laughing?!" Reyna asked Thalia.

"She laughs when she's nervous," Jason said, watching Grover's face.

"Should we call an ambulance?" Hazel asked and Frank tried fanning his head.

"How is that helping him, Zhang? Do you plan to fan the balloon out of existence?" Leo asked, grabbing his phone and trying to dial 911.

Piper was trying to calm Juniper down, who was now on the verge of tears. "Leave him alone, Leo!"

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Annabeth yelled applying pressure one last time before Grover coughed loudly and the balloon flew across the room. Grover collapsed in her arms, and she used all her strength to avoid falling to the ground with him.

Someone cleared their throat, and they all looked towards the entrance. Percy still had his key inserted in the door's knob, and his bag was hanging from his shoulder. He was wearing a white buttoned shirt, with its sleeves rolled up, and his usual grey pants.

"Surprise!" They all yelled, as Leo shoot the confetti guns and Annabeth lost her balance, falling straight to the ground with Grover.

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Annabeth put the last dishes into the sink, as everybody gathered their things and headed towards the door. Percy and Thalia were still laughing at Grover for having choked with a piece of latex, and Juniper kept pecking him on his red cheeks.

Leo picked up his UNO and his Monopoly, as he happily chatted with Jason and Piper about his new project for Aurora, and Reyna, Hazel, and Frank were listening too. Annabeth smiled with relief. Apart from the ruined surprise, everything had gone well. They talked and laughed like old friends, and all the food had been devoured. There was only a piece of blue cake left, and she had already hidden it inside the fridge so Percy could have more later.

"Thalia, Annabeth, I can take you home if you want to," Leo said, playing with his car's keys. Annabeth had forgotten he also lived in Queens.

Thalia fist-bumped the air. "Yes! No subway today." But Percy quickly threw her a look, and Annabeth got the message.

"Thanks, Leo. But I'll stay and help Percy with the cleaning. He can take me home later."

Leo smiled, knowingly. "Oh, cleaning…sure. Then let's go, Thalia."

Before leaving, Thalia grabbed Annabeth by her arm and whispered, "Be careful. I'm not ready to be an aunt yet." Then she left laughing at Annabeth's red face. Percy waved goodbye to the others and once all their friends were gone, he closed the door and they were finally alone.

"So…did you like your surprise party?" Annabeth asked, picking up the empty packs and throwing them in the bin. She was glad they had used paper cups and dishes, so she only had to wash the utensils they had cooked with. She started rinsing the blender when Percy surrounded her with his arms from behind.

"It was amazing, Wise Girl. Thank you."

"Well, it was a team effort." She said, trying to remain calm as he kissed her neck. "Percy, we need to clean this mess."

"Uh, I thought you were just joking about that."

She laughed. "Nop. You can start by popping the balloons."

"But I like balloons." He pouted.

"Just think how much fun I'll be to pop them."

…

"Fine."

She kissed his cheek. "C'mon! The sooner we start, the sooner we'll finish."

Annabeth continued washing as Percy grabbed the scissors, and grumbling began his task of exploding the blue orbs around the apartment. She asked him about work and crossed her fingers so he wouldn't ask the same to her. But he gladly avoided the subject. Not that Percy was a bad boyfriend? And didn't ask about her day. He used to do it until they realized they always ended up fighting about her boss.

She finished washing and noticed Percy had stopped popping and was now scrolling on his phone. Shaking her head, Annabeth left the kitchen with a broom and a dustpan.

"What are you doing, Seaweed Brain?" She asked, sweeping the pieces of confetti spread on the floor.

"I got bored."

"Percy…"

"And, I thought some music might help us." His eyes were shining as he approached his desk and turned up the volume on his speakers. He pressed play and Annabeth froze on spot.

"Oh, no," she said, trying to hold back a smile.

"Oh, yes." Percy chuckled and started dancing his way towards her.

"I'm not dancing Footloose." She said, laughing at his dance moves and backing away from him. "We are not there yet."

"Really? I think we are more than ready for that."

Just as the chorus blasted from the speakers, Percy took away the broom from her hands and she finally surrendered, letting her body be carried away by the music. They were dancing awfully, but she still managed to enjoy herself. That was one of the things she loved about Percy. He pushed her to do things out of her comfort zone, that made her feel happy and alive.

"I can believe you haven't watched that movie," Percy said as they drank a glass of water in the kitchen after the song had ended.

"They say is a bad one."

He mocked being hurt. "Whoever said that it's the ultimate snob." He put the glass on the sink. "We should watch it."

Annabeth finished hers, before saying, "We've never finished a movie when it's just us two. And, I think Footloose won't be the exception." She unmade her now messy ponytail and combed her hair with her fingers. She was ready to pick up her hair into a bun, but Percy stopped her.

"I like it that way." He said running his hand through her loose curls. Annabeth closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch. She let him corner her against the counter and let out a sigh of pleasure when his lips brushed against hers.

"Do you want to keep cleaning?" he teased, pushing one of her curls behind her ear.

"I don't know…you have something better in mind?"

Percy's eyes glinted mischievously and squealed when he grabbed her waist and lifted her up, she could sit on the kitchen counter. Thank gods she had cleaned it sooner. She laughed and threw her arms around his shoulders.

"Have I told you how incredible you look with your hair down?" he whispered.

"Oh, you have. Many times."

He pouted and Annabeth took the opportunity to steal a kiss from him, biting his lower lip. Percy chuckled, before gently grabbing her chin and returning the kiss, a little bit more urgently. Like had happened many times recently, things heated up pretty quickly. Their kisses became more aggressive and demanding, and their hands explored fiercely each other's bodies.

Annabeth's heart was pounding loudly on her ears and her chest ached to be closer to him. She desperately wanted to feel his skin and kiss every inch of his body. Percy was busy kissing her neck when she started unbuttoning his shirt and then helped her take it off. She pulled one sleeve too hard, and her head hit one of Percy's cabinet.

"Ouch." She complained but still laughed.

Percy smirked. "Now you know how that feels."

"Oh, shut up and help me take off mine."

He happily cooperated and nimbly unbuttoned her shirt. Annabeth was glad she had decided to wear her best bra that day. As she gently explored his bare chest with her hands, Annabeth couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. She loved the way Percy made her feel. With Luke, things had been rather awkward and clumsy, and with Triton, it was pure lust…and maybe not even that.

Without wanting to, her mind wandered to her conversation with Piper. She had lied. Triton wasn't out of town, and she just had been a coward about the thought of meeting with him. She was scared…and Percy knew it. She had promised him that she would leave Triton, and yet he hadn't pushed her to do it, apart from that day in the cinema. She felt like a bad person…like her mother.

"What's wrong?"

Percy's voice brought her back to the moment. He had noticed her sudden drop in emotion and was now tenderly holding her cheeks.

"Sorry…I just…I have a lot in my mind right now." She explained, now mad at herself for having ruined the moment.

"It's okay." Annabeth almost melted at his green eyes, full of adoration towards her. Her stomach shrunk with guilt. "Sometimes one is simply not in the mood."

She smiled gratefully and gave her a sweet kiss. She jumped off the counter and Percy offered her shirt back. Annabeth shook her head and said, "I rather one of your old rock shirts."

"Fine by me." He smiled and then stared at the sink, deep in thought, before saying, "I was wondering…"

"What?"

"Summer's about to end, and I really wanted to take you to Montauk. I know we are pretty busy with our works but…"

"Let's go next weekend."

He gave her a toothy grin. "Really?"

"Really. I'm sure Meghan can cover me for one Friday. That way we'll have the whole weekend for us."

"Cool." He said giving her one last kiss.

They left the kitchen as Percy headed towards his closet and started talking about the history of one of his shirts. Annabeth half-listened as she took her pants off and neatly folded them, leaving them on the small armchair.

"…And I bet Thalia would have killed me for not telling her I have this shirt…Aha, found it." He turned around and Annabeth laughed at his expression when he saw her in just her undies. He gawked at a loss for words, and she blushed when she grabbed the shirt from his hands. She put it on, and as she had expected it was just long enough to serve as a very short dress.

"I like being comfortable." Was her answer. She took a deep breath and said, "Do you mind if I spend the night here? I'm really tired and I don't want you to drive this late." She already knew his answer, but it was polite to ask.

"Of course, and maybe we can even watch Footloose?" he asked hopefully, also changing into more comfortable clothes.

"If you want…"

Percy grabbed his laptop and Annabeth took the liberty of snuggling under his bed mantle.

For the first time, they finished a movie together.

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Annabeth gave up. She couldn't sleep. She carefully reached for her cellphone on the small night table, as slowly as she could so she wouldn't wake Percy up. She pressed the lock button, and the big digital numbers flashed on her face. It was two a.m. and she was burning with guilt. At first, she thought the burning sensation came from Percy's body and a summer night but every time she closed her eyes, her conversation with Piper came back to haunt her.

She needed air.

Thankful for Percy being a heavy sleeper, Annabeth put the covers aside and stood up from the bed. With her phone on her hand, she opened the window and stepped into the fire exit. She took a very deep breath as she sat on the stairs and listened to New York's sounds.

Finally, she unlocked her phone.

2:04 a.m. Hi Triton. Sorry for texting this late, but there's something we need to talk about. Can we meet this week?

It wasn't a surprise when he texted almost right away.

2:06 a.m. Sounds good. I got some news yesterday that I'll like to share with you. Monday? Lunch? At Ogygia? There'll be a lot of paparazzi, so be ready.

2:08 a.m. Deal

"Hey."

Annabeth almost dropped her phone when she heard the voice. A very sleepy Percy was on the window, rubbing his eyes, with his pillow hair all over the place. He looked goddamned adorable "You know it's very dangerous to be half-naked on a fire exit in the middle of the night in New York, right?"

Annabeth shrugged and gave him a small smile. "You were the eccentric one who wanted a fire exit. I might as well use it, so you don't feel like you're wasting rent."

"Yeah, well, there are better ways to use it than exposing yourself to danger, Annabeth." He tried to cover a big yawn. "What are you doing?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

She sighed. "I needed to text Triton."

That got his attention. His beautiful sleepy green eyes widened, and he suddenly seemed awake.

"We agreed on meeting this week…and I'll break up with him over lunch."

Annabeth felt a pit on her stomach, as Percy remained with his poker face on and just crossed his arms.

"Good." He said.

"Good." She replied.

She played nervously with her phone until he finally cleared his throat.

"Come inside, and I can try making my mom's secret tea."

"You make tea?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

He smiled. "Just this one. It's really good at helping you sleep. My mom made it a lot for me when I was a kid." He offered her his hand, and she accepted it. He locked the window behind her, and they made their way to the kitchen.

"You had insomnia when you were a kid?" she asked, as she hopped back into the counter and Percy got some ingredients from the cabinet.

He grimaced. "Not exactly. I had a lot of nightmares."

"About what?" She watched him put the kettle on the stove.

Annabeth watched him clench his jaw and she quickly said, "You don't have to tell me."

"It's fine. They were about my stepfather."

She frowned. "Paul?"

He laughed sincerely, and it made her smile. "No. Paul is amazing. I'm talking about my ex-stepfather. Smelly Gabe."

She raised an eyebrow. "Smelly?"

"The guy reeked of cigars and alcohol."

"What did he do to give you nightmares?" she asked, gently rubbing her hand against his cheek.

"Me? Not much. He was just a bully who took my money, told me awful things, and kept sending me to boarding schools away from home. But what he did to my mom…He used to hit her when he got very drunk, and practically treated her as a slave."

"What happened to him?"

"He died in a car accident. It wasn't exactly a bad day."

The kettle started whistling and Percy took it off the stove. He grabbed a small cup and started assembling the tea.

"That's why you don't drink." she said, putting the pieces together. "Alcohol reminds you of him, doesn't it?"

He simply nodded and handed her the tea. "Careful, It's hot"

"No way, Sherlock." She gave her a sweet kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for the tea…and for telling me about your awful stepdad."

He smiled. "What better way to bond with each other, than making tea at two in the morning."

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Annabeth tapped nervously her foot under the table. She looked at her watch for the hundredth time and cursed under her breath. Triton was running late, as always. The waiter had already brought two glasses of champagne and she had gulped them down in a matter of seconds.

Percy had been texting her all day, trying to lighten the mood. And she knew he was trying to encourage her, but at that point, she wanted to strangle him. She had started playing origami with her napkin when she heard a bunch of flashes on the street, and Triton Jackson entered the restaurant with his perfect hair and perfect smile.

Annabeth watched as he elegantly zigzagged through the tables, gave her a kiss in her forehead when he reached her and sat in front of her.

"Hello, Annie."

"Hi, Triton." Her heart was pounding. "How was your day?"

"Busy, but that's good." The waiter came and he ordered a steak for both of them, and a bottle of wine. "Thanks to us not having any scandals…" us? "…my dad is finally trusting me with more projects. I even think I might seal a deal with a big company in Australia."

He looked pretty happy with himself.

"That's nice…" Annabeth said.

"Oh, and there is more good news."

Triton talked for half an hour about his success in negotiating some ship routes with Germany, which might bring a lot of money to the company. Annabeth couldn't believe how different both Jackson bothers were. Percy only talked about the company helping the world, and Triton talked about the company getting more money by the second.

They finished eating and Triton hadn't stopped talking.

"Triton, I really need to tell you something," she said, as he finished drinking his wine.

"I know. Just hold on one second. You're the only one who asks me about my day. I have to get it all out." Annabeth sighed and felt sorry for the guy. He did have a lonely life after all. So, she let him ramble a little more.

"Also, I got some very good news a few days ago for both of us…" Annabeth was distracted thinking about breaking up with him until he suddenly said the next words, "…and then Athena called and said she wanted to meet with you and Aurora, to concrete a project for something she plans on doing near Boston…"

…

What?

Annabeth blinked several times, and she felt her heart on her hands. "What?" she asked out loud.

"Yeah! it seems like you caused quite an impression on her at the dance. We are having an important lunch this Friday, and she told me you should go with Aurora to start talking on planning and design and stuff like that."

She felt about to throw up. "I can't this Friday."

Triton frowned. "Annabeth this is important. It's the reason we have this deal, and Athena is not a patient woman. You have to go this Friday. Haven't you worked hard for it?"

"Yes…" she muttered weakly.

"Then cancel whatever you have. I have a feeling you'll get your promotion this week." He filled their glasses with wine, and made a small toast, before continuing to talk about his work.

Oh, gods. What am I gonna do?

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Annabeth felt empty the whole trip to her apartment. The subway was more asphyxiating than ever, and she suspected she looked very pale as people kept asking her if she was okay. She had worked on autopilot for the rest of the day and had ignored everyone's texts.

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Percy's Prius parked in front of her apartment, and she didn't realize there were several voices coming from behind her entrance door. That's why her heart broke when she opened the door and found Percy happily chatting with Thalia and Grover on her kitchen. He gave her a beautiful smile when he saw her, and she couldn't take it anymore.

She dropped her bag on the floor and sprinted towards the bathroom without even closing the front door. Hell, she didn't even have time to close the bathroom door when she knelt in front of the toilet and emptied her stomach. She heard footsteps running down the hallway and suddenly Percy was on her side, holding her hair back.

When she finished, she had tears running down her face and Percy was desperately trying to wipe them away. "What happened, Annabeth?" She shook her head and avoided his worried sea-green eyes. "Did Triton do something to you?" She shook her head again. "Are you sick?" She shook it again. "Please, Wise Girl. Tell me what happened."

"I couldn't do it." She finally said.

"Do what?"

"I couldn't break up with Triton."

Silence fell over the small bathroom. She finally looked at his eyes, and she regretted it immediately. There was so much hurt in them.

"Are you in love with him?" he asked, and his voice broke a little.

"Of course not! I only want you, Percy." She explained, desperately.

"Then why?!" he pleaded, his voice starting to rise.

"He got me a deal with Athena. This is the opportunity I've been waiting for. The opportunity to be an architect in Aurora's firm. I just have to meet her this Friday and then I can say goodbye to Triton. I swear, Percy."

"We are going to Montauk this Friday."

"I know, but maybe we can change it."

He shook his head and firmly said. "No."

She was crying again. "Percy please…"

"No, Annabeth!" He yelled, finally losing it. "You say that now, but what if Triton tells you Zeus himself wants to make a deal with you. How long will I have to wait then? How long will I have to endure no going out in public with you or seeing the girl I'm crazy about kissing the stupid of my stepbrother on the covers of magazines every damn time I go to work. No, Annabeth. I've been patient enough."

"Percy…"

"Listen to me." He said, firmly and Annabeth quieted down. "I'm gonna be here to pick up, Friday at noon. If you're not here by the time I leave, then you made your choice clear. And don't even bother to call after that."

She wanted to argue, but Percy raised is hand. "Those are my terms, Annabeth. I really hope I'll see you on Friday."

Then he left. And Annabeth laid on the bathroom floor, feeling worse than ever.

What am I gonna do?

A/N: What did you guys think? The next chapter will be Annabeth's decision. We are approximately half-way through our story and thank you so much for being with me on this journey.

Kudos to all of you!