A big thanks to those who read the last chapter. The response was greatly gratifying. Here's the second, from Artemis's perspective.

Artemis glared at the mirror.

The mirror glared back.

For a time, there was silence, whilst a wordless exchange of contempt with the figure before her was carried out.

And then the aggressive hair-brushing began.

"Stupid...smug...green-eyed...firework-loving…...boy..." she muttered between stroke, gritting her teeth as the bristles caught knot after knot of her post-workout, post-showered locks.

The viscous, incessant vibrations from her phone signalled that she was running late, not that she cared. Or at least, that's what she told herself. The fact that she was rushing around, trying to make herself look presentable, sort of contradicted that statement.

A feeling of self-loathing passed through her form.

She so cared…...but then again, she really didn't.

Maybe it was the sense of self-pride and respect her father had drilled into her skull.

Yeah. Pride. That was it.

"Psht. Lame," a voice behind said, making her jump with a shrill yelp, and instinctively whirl around, launching her hair-brush right across the room at the source, who sat on her bed lazily.

It met with thin air. And her book shelf.

"That wasn't very nice," the voice tutted, and Artemis flicked her eyes to her wardrobe, groaning loudly as silver met green.

The figment of her imagination smirked back at her in that infuriatingly hot way, from the top of the furniture, legs swinging restlessly.

She held up a finger before he could open his mouth again. "Not tonight," Artemis glared, sliding across the room to grab her hairbrush, before returning to the mirror; her brushing somehow more...violent than before.

"Someone's touchy. Have you thought about doing yoga?" his stupid voice sounded. Artemis couldn't get enough of it.

"I don't need to do yoga. I need some peace and quiet," she told him. Well. Herself.

"You wanted peace and quiet, so you decided to go to a fireworks display? What's your GPA again?" he taunted smoothly.

Artemis's hand clenched tighter around the brush, before she relaxed slightly, trading it for a silver elastic band, and quickly gathering her hair into a crude, but neat ponytail, with just a few strands of those smooth, red locks poking out across her temples.

"Bite me. I'm talking about school," she eventually said, though she knew exactly what her mind was going to respond with next.

The figment of her colourful imagination gave a predictable snort of derision.

"Uh-huh. So you agree to go to a fireworks display, and in exchange, this one guy will stop sitting next to you at lunch. Right. Because that sounds totally reasonable. And what are you going to do for the other seventy kids in the room? A five-course meal in a restaurant downtown? A two-week cruise in the Bahamas, perhaps?" he mocked her, and Artemis didn't need to turn around to know he was giving her that shit-eating grin that made her utterly furious, and yet utterly weak, all at once.

"Shut up," she hissed, putting her crescent-shaped earrings on - a gift from her step-father. One that she had never worn before, or even thought to. "I can handle the rest of them. It's just yo-him," she corrected, gazing at herself in the mirror, before giving a satisfied nod at her appearance...only for her face to fall and her eyes roll. She whirled around, glaring at the figure, who could barely contain his laughter.

Artemis raised her brush threateningly. "No."

The smirk only widened. "Those earrings… Never worn them before… Sounds like you're making an effort for Percy… Sounds like you care what he thinks about you…" those sea-green eyes sparkled, obviously baiting Artemis.

"Don't you dare," she hissed dangerously, but the deep sanctum of locked-away, forbidden thoughts, was not to be denied.

"It's almost as if...you like him…" he finished, his eyebrows flickering upwards suggestively, in a manner that only served to rile Artemis up more than she already was.

Quite predictably, the temperature in the room lowered as those feelings slapped her readily on the cheek. Her instinctive response was anger, and while it veiled over that same strong wave of confusion that she felt in Percy's presence, her defensive response always topped anything more rational, crumbling though it was.

"I do not like him!" she responded darkly, chewing on the words with an air of finality to them, but given the fact that her conscience merely sat there, smirking down at her with that big, fat elephant, Artemis was beginning to feel like she was losing the fight. She could barely believe those five words anymore herself.

'Not liking him' was quickly turning into 'so what if I like him', and still, those bottomless sea-green eyes were ingrained deeply within her mind. It was a battle, she realised. Her mind was telling her two things at once; the consequences of one being a confusing plateau that she couldn't define or see; of mystery, want, adventure, and ardour.

The other was grey. Familiar in its stagnation, but devoid of fulfilment. The safe path. It was what Artemis saw when she looked in the mirror each day; a girl going nowhere, and yet was telling herself that things would be better in the future, as she had done for the last six months.

Things were not better, though, and it was beginning to feel like an excuse; a justification to remain shielded, closed off, and whole.

She was living in the past, for a future that was not coming, whilst the present was slowly slipping by, waiting for her, calling for her, as it always had done. There had never been a green-eyed devil to pull her in, that being said.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, her dad chose that moment of internal turmoil to open the door to her room, making Artemis jump at the sudden intrusion.

His cold, obsidian eyes surveyed the room once, before centering on the auburn-haired teen in the centre. "Who are you talking to?" he asked flatly, and quite abruptly, Artemis's feelings of insecurity and confusion were masked by a frosty-exterior.

She may have been at a crossroads, but each path held the same level of animosity directed towards her father. That was one thing Artemis would always stand by.

"No-one. I'm rehearsing for my drama class," she replied coldly, affixing him with her familiar, hostile stare that made it clear she didn't want to talk to him.

If Atlas appeared hurt by the hatred he had garnered from his daughter, he never showed it. Artemis wondered if he was capable of feeling anything full-stop. They rarely fought, but then they rarely talked anymore either. A year ago, things were different, but a lot can change in a year.

Those black eyes watched her for a few seconds, before Artemis felt them land on her ears, and those moon-shaped ear-rings he had bought her as an appeasement gift. Artemis didn't do appeasement.

His lips twitched, and to her horror, she thought he was actually going to smile. But he didn't.

"Alright..." he eventually said, before leaving unceremoniously, with that same, blank mask on his face as he always had. No change there.

Artemis released a breath she hadn't realised she was holding as the door clicked shut, and her fingers immediately went to her ears to remove the silly, metallic vanity.

She stopped, though, as Percy's face returned to her mind as quickly as it had gone, causing a resigned curse to spill from her lips.

If he could make her question her life path, compel her to wear jewellery from her father, appear in her dreams both day and night, make her so utterly confused that she would attend a fireworks display just to get forty-minutes of quiet at lunchtime (or so she had told herself), well...that could mean only one thing.

The walk to school was something that Artemis both despised and relished. It was quiet, and gave her time to think, but the end-result was always the plain, uninspiring, brick facade of Goode High School.

It was a somewhat different experience walking there at night, however. The streets were quiet, as they usually were, but it felt wrong travelling away from 'home' when the Sun had already set. Or at least, that's how she explained the nerves that made her hands shake within the warmth of her pockets.

"Lame," that whimsical voice repeated between her ears, almost boredly, and though she quickly slapped Percy's devilish smirk out of her mind, she reluctantly agreed with that coherent sentiment.

It was the crowd, Artemis realised. The people. The noise. The laughter. The happiness. All of it induced a feeling of jealousy, and made her think back to a time when she had all of those things. Friends. Family. Fun.

Now distant memories.

The faint glow of the school in the distance made her freeze, swivelling on the spot to gaze back down the way she had come, towards the cold, familiar embrace of her covers, where she could hide from the world and imagine the 'what ifs' of her life. The grey. The stagnant. The safe path.

There was a brief moment of still silence where she actually considered going back, but it was quickly replaced by an unshakable feeling of disgust towards herself.

Weak. Cowardly. Easy. That was not who she was.

National Archery Champion two years running - now that's who she was. Confident. Self-assured. Outgoing.

The image of her bow, gathering dust beneath her bed, crossed her mind, and quite abruptly, the anger she felt towards the world, towards everyone, was replaced by anger towards herself. At her weakness. At her lack of effort.

Artemis swivelled back on the spot, and marched towards Goode, fists clenched tightly to her side. She didn't know why her legs were leading her there, because it definitely wasn't about Percy annoying her at lunch anymore. It wasn't about forty-minutes of quiet.

She just knew she had to, or else nothing would ever change.

Her newfound convictions quickly propelled her through the front-gate, and though she was vaguely aware of several students looking her way, Artemis paid them no heed.

Her mind was focused on one person, and one person only.

She spotted him loitering near the main-entrance, idly tapping away at his thighs with his finger-tips, clearly lost in his own little world. He was in good shape, she thought, and though Artemis wasn't one to keep up with the school's sporting exploits, she knew the swimming team had almost completed a perfect year of straight victories, all because of Percy's prowess in the pool.

It was a fact that both impressed, and angered her, mostly because he was everything she wasn't. She saw her old self in him every time they met. Happy. Athletic. Confident. He was a reminder of her failings, but also a strange beacon of hope, that made her want to leap out and take on the world. That was his true effect on her, she realised.

That being said, Artemis couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the cocky, raven-haired junior, that met the eye. Even when she was chewing him out publicly, he didn't seem to care. It was almost as if he had been in the situation before, although perhaps Artemis was just imagining that part.

It took her a few seconds to realise she had, in fact, been staring at his oblivious form the whole time, and had he looked around, she was sure there would have been a strong, familiar smirk on his face.

Closing her eyes for a second to prepare for the social rigours that she had become accustomed to over the prior months, Artemis approached silently, stopping a respectable distance away.

"Jackson," she said, perhaps more coldly than she meant, as her gaze hardened into a neutral, patented, 'resting bitch-face'.

Percy jumped, whirling around quite theatrically, before his wide eyes softened upon recognising the auburn-haired junior. The amusing look tugged at Artemis's heartstrings a little, and her lips twitched restlessly.

"Artemis. You're looking beau-" he began, but Artemis held up a hand before he could finish and walked past him, or else the smile that was threatening to break free on her face would have become visible to his deep, green eyes. That, and the red tint to her cheeks at the implied compliment.

"Save it, Jackson. I'm here for the colourful explosions; not your verbal diarrhoea," she lied.

"Aw, and there I was thinking you actually enjoyed the sound of my voice," he cooed childishly in reply, his voice teeming with amusement.

Artemis did, in fact, enjoy the sound of his voice, but there was no way she'd let him know that.

There was a brief period of comfortable silence before Artemis turned around. "What's the plan, Jackson? Are we going to stand out here all night, or are we actually going somewhere?"

Percy's eyes sparkled with the promise of mischief.

"Of course I have a plan. It involves breaking into the school, though," was his nonchalant response.

The silver-eyed archer deadpanned.

"You can't be serious..." she said, but the look on Percy's face told her all she needed to know. The school was probably deserted inside, but even so, whatever he was planning can't have been worth the risk of eternal damnation. Or after-school detention for life.

"Is the mighty Artemis scared?" he smirked, taking a step towards her and forcing every fibre in her body to tense up.

Still, she gave him a look of obvious incredulity. "Er, yeah? We could be expelled, you idiot. I'm sure you'd survive, but trust me, my dad will crucify me," she replied, though even as she said it, Artemis doubted her father would deign to care. Or if he did, at least he might say more than ten words to her at a time.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Chill out, Arty. No one's going to catch us. I've done this before," he said quite confidently, and though she wanted to believe him, the use of that nickname was a declaration of war.

"Forgive me for not handing you my vote of confidence," Artemis retorted, folding her arms and gazing at him with a look of scepticism.

The green-eyed devil held a trump card, though. "Oh, so you'd rather mingle with the crowd on the football pitches?" he gleamed, with that lop-sided grin, knowing he had her trounced.

"I thought that was generally what happens at a fireworks display…" she responded quite lamely, not wanting to admit that the idea of mingling with the Goode crowd was her idea of hell at that very moment.

Percy's eyes bored into her own, making her shift uncomfortably on the spot for a second or two, before her will cracked, and it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Fine… But if we get caught, I'm taking you down to hell with me," she glared, eliciting a laugh from Percy's lips that quickly wiped the sour look from her face.

"Sounds like a date," he grinned, and before Artemis had a chance to process those words, his fingers interlaced with her own, and she was dragged inside unceremoniously.

The eeriness of deserted school halls was not something Artemis would soon forget. She half-expected zombified teachers to jump out of classroom-doors and pounce on her as they ran past - Old Mrs. Thatch getting her revenge for all that missed homework last term.

It was a frighteningly new, taboo sensation, to be breaking the rules so brazenly, given the thin-tightrope she walked on in school at the best of times. She couldn't pretend to even care, though, and in any case, she was concentrating on the fact her hand was being firmly held by Percy's as they ran down the maze of halls.

Yes. He was definitely holding hers. She wasn't reciprocating. Not at all.

Part of her wanted to let go; most of her wanted the opposite.

Her lips curled backwards, and to her horror, Artemis realised her traitorous mouth was seconds away from a full-blown smile. She quickly put a stop to that nonsense, but the hand-holding continued. It was easy to get lost, after all...

Percy led her to the staircase, and soon the tranquil building was filled with the sound of their echoing footsteps clambering up to the third floor, and the corridor beyond. In fact, Artemis had assumed he was simply leading her to one of the science classrooms for a private, nightly viewing of the display, but the sight of the 'Strictly-No-Entry-Under-Pain-Of-Immediate-Death' sign that marked the roof-access door made her think he had gone one better.

There was a certain exhilarating thrill to it all that Artemis hadn't felt for a long time; a rush of excitement that could only come from breaking the rules, but different because she was sharing it with someone else. Though all Percy would receive was her admonishment for such a silly idea if he ever asked if she was having fun.

In fact, what Percy did receive was her face clattering into his shoulder when he very abruptly skidded to a halt a mere ten yards from the skylight.

"Hey-" she began, but Percy's index finger pressed against her lips, silencing her whilst his brow furrowed in concentration, clearly spooked by something.

For a few tense seconds, there was complete silence, save the muffled laughter from the rambunctious party going on outside, and Artemis was just about to say he was hearing things, before a door to one of the science labs opened ahead of them.

Out stepped a figure, who, even in the dark corridor, Artemis could tell was the janitor, grooving to music that blared loudly out of the earbuds he was wearing. And even though the man was clearly lost in his own little world, Percy took no chances; an arm yanking Artemis backwards, and around into the second corridor that joined with the first.

Dark shadows obscured their figures, and the lockers, too, provided a dark background for them to blend in against. The rush to evade detection meant it took a second or two longer than usual to notice someone pressing against her.

More specifically, Percy was pressing her against the lockers. Chest to chest. Hands planted either side of her head. Face inches away.

…Intimate.

Her first instinct was to kill, but she found she simply couldn't breathe in such close proximity, as though the boy had sucked the very air from her lungs. The rebellious muscles in her legs, too, locked up, and the auburn-haired archer stood, frozen to the spot, gazing upwards at the green-eyed trouble-maker, who was easily a head-taller than she was.

Oblivious to his paralytic effect on Artemis, Percy's eyes watched the corridor, observing the janitor as he slowly 'boogied' his way past, until the music faded into nothing, and the muffled laughter from outside, once more filled the void.

Green then met silver, and if anything, the sight of Percy's eyes gazing into her own was enough to deepen the crimson flush that had taken refuge on her cheeks. He didn't pull away, and by that point, Artemis wasn't sure he wanted him to. He was waiting for her to make the move.

Percy was making her weak. Again.

It was alien to her, the feeling of being trapped, yet not uncomfortable. Forced to live in the moment, rather than actively avoiding it.

Instincts brought her eyes downwards to his lips, but she couldn't bring herself to do what she ought to have done, and the chance went fleeting by an instant later, when bright flash illuminated the dimly lit halls, followed by a shrill screech that ended with a reverberating bang that seemed to shake them both out of their respective dazes.

Percy cursed under his breath.

"Shit. The fireworks. Come on, Arty!" he called out over the sound of intense barrage; releasing Artemis of her 'twin-bicep prison', and disappearing up to the roof, leaving her to reel from the onslaught of emotions for a few seconds.

At the very least, she could breathe again, but her flustered cheeks and the weird 'fizz' in the pit of her stomach told her she had 'it' bad. In fairness, she had actually already accepted that, deep down at least. But Percy didn't know that. Or so she thought.

He did now.

With a groan, Artemis rubbed her palms into her eyes before attempting to compose herself with sharp swats to her cheeks, and deep breaths. It was all so confusing for her, but that being said, she hadn't felt so alive with feelings for a long time. Percy had given her that much, at least.

Sighing, she walked through the roof-access door, and up the short flight of stairs and into the cool, explosion-filled night.

The pyrotechnics were loud, but far enough away that Artemis could hear herself think.

Percy was leaning against the parapet, observing the festivities afar, clutching a bottle of beer in each hand. He looked up as she approached, smiling with that stupid grin again and offered her a bottle.

"Underage drinking? And I thought better of you, Jackson," she said, but surprised herself by taking the offered drink without much hesitation at all. It would calm her racing thoughts, she lamely reasoned with herself, though silently wished he had something stronger to completely dull the redoubtable feelings that were in conflict with her repressed persona.

"Look who's talking, Miss Perfect. I was expecting a five minute argument before I convinced you to drink it," Percy replied, eyes twinkling at what must have been a surprising sight. Artemis felt the same well.

She shrugged, taking a swig, and trying to remain calm and collected, despite the episode moments before. "Thought you wanted me to loosen up. Can't complain when I do, kelp-head."

"Touché. You're proving to be less of a challenge than I thought," he baited her, amusement seeping into his voice.

Artemis decided to bite. "I can be difficult if you really want me to. Maybe scream a little and tell them you kidnapped me to the roof," she said, taking another sip to hide the curl of her lips.

"You wouldn't. You like me too much to throw me under the bus," the raven-haired swimmer stated quite matter-of-factly, making Artemis's heart pang at how true that was.

She turned her head away from the display to stare at Percy with an evil glint in her silver eyes. "Maybe. Not enough that I wouldn't throw you off the roof, though," she said, gesturing to the parapet they were leaning on, as well as the forty-foot drop.

A few seconds of staring forced her facade to crumble, and her lips curled into a genuine smile, though she quickly looked away to hide it, albeit unsuccessfully.

"Did you just make a joke?" he smirked.

"I never joke, Jackson," she tried to reply seriously, but her smile was not to be denied, even as she gazed over the field at the explosions of colour.

Quite by accident, all seemed okay in the world, for once. Away from home-life, and noisy students; with Percy she felt...at ease all of a sudden.

The incident in the hallway was overwhelming, but Artemis reasoned that it had been akin to running before she could walk. Now a respectable distance away, their banter flowed smoothly, and naturally. It made her hopeful for the future, but simultaneously terrified. She had tasted the waters of life, or rather, had been reminded of their scintillating effects once again, but it also opened her eyes as to how terrible she had been. To everyone.

She was tired of that Artemis. The repressed Artemis. The closed-off Artemis. The wasteful Artemis.

Her eyes were opened, but at that moment, she just felt...down.

Next to her, she caught sight of Percy staring, and met his gaze without trying to hide her drained expression.

There was hesitation in those bright, green orbs, but his words peeled away the very last vestiges of resistance in her body.

"What happened to you, Artemis?" he asked quietly, a mixture of concern, sympathy, and other things Artemis couldn't recognise on his face.

The question caught her off guard a little, but...she had an inkling of where the conversation was going to lead, and that same fear intermingled with her need to follow it through. "What do you mean?" she replied.

The raven-haired boy rubbed the back of his head nervously, averting eye-contact momentarily, before continuing. "I dunno, I mean… You're very defensive in school, and you won't let anyone near you… But the instant we're on our own, you're the complete opposite. Just want to know what gives, is all..."

Her lips twitched, the urge to defend herself strong, but ultimately losing out to that tiredness of everything in her life. Everything she had become. "Is that the real reason you brought me up here, Jackson? Thought you'd deign to know what's happening in my life?" Artemis retorted, though her words lacked the bitterness or heat of her usual arguments. She just sounded...world-weary.

"Pretty much. I don't even like fireworks that much, but considering we went from you wanting to punch me on Monday, to you admitting that you thought about me daily on Thursday… I thought I'd see how far I could go," he explained.

"For what it's worth, I still want to punch you," the girl sighed, taking a sip of her beer, before settling it down on that parapet, feeling the barriers around her crumble.

"See? That's what I'm talking about. It's a convincing act, Artemis. You had me fooled for the first few days, but this is the real you; cracking jokes, drinking beer, at ease with life. Not the bitter viper I see sitting on her own during lunchtime, who would sooner rip your head off than talk to you," Percy continued, jamming the knife in deep. Sure, he was only telling her what she already knew, but to hear it aloud from someone else? It really hammered it home, and her eyes stung with the barely contained tears she should have released a long time ago.

"What do you want me to say, Jackson?" she whispered, meeting his gaze, which softened at the despairing look Artemis sent his way.

"What happened to you?" his tender reply came.

She hesitated momentarily. For the last seven months, she had tried so hard to forget, to study hard, to ensure her future, but as hard as it was to open up, she knew she had to. Or else she would have no future to speak of. She'd be that same loner at lunch forever. And that was a lot worse than being laid bare, picked apart by the boy in front of her, she decided.

"My mom and sister died. Twenty-fourth of October. Car accident. Dead on Thursday, buried on Saturday, moved to New York on Monday, back to school on Wednesday," she quivered, barely containing herself as the memories of the worst two weeks of her life came flooding back.

The call.

The funeral.

The numbness.

Zoë was fourteen years old, and her best-friend. Gone.

The tears stung her cheeks, in bitter-sweet release, but with a sniffle, she continued.

"And you know, I thought I could get through half a year, just concentrating on my studies, like my father told me to, and then I could grieve over Summer. I had no friends to cry on, no family who could understand, so I did what I had to do. I tuned everyone and everything out, and let nothing back in. What else can you do when you have no outlet? But then you had to come into my life, with your stupidly handsome smirk, and those fucking beautiful eyes. You broke me, Percy Jackson. It took you five days. You got what you wanted. The 'bitter viper' is wide open here," she ranted, with those red-brimmed silver orbs gazing into Percy's with unbridled intensity; his own expression distraught, matching exactly how she felt.

"I'm...I'm so fucking sorry, Artemis…" he said, seemingly unable to find the words, and though he stepped towards her for an embrace, Artemis stopped him with a palm against his chest.

"I don't want your pity, Jackson…" she sniffled, wiping the saltiness from her cheeks and eyes, trying to compose herself as her chest recoiled from the barely-contained sobs.

"You don't have my pity. You have my empathy. I...lost my father last year, and it was only with my friends and family that I got through it. But...what your dad did was wrong, Artemis. So, so wrong," he stated; his quiet voice going some way to soothing her, but she had to look away from him. His admission explained the hidden sadness she had caught behind his eyes. She should have known. She saw it everyday in the mirror.

The thought of her father, however, brought feelings of anger and resentment to the forefront of her mind. Her failings were numerous, she would admit...but his crime was unforgivable. "I begged him to let me stay. I...knew it was wrong, but after what had happened, I just had no energy to fight. It angers me every time I think about it, to the point where I can barely look at my dad in the eye anymore. I'll never forgive him for what he did. Never," she promised, and that was one thing she wouldn't be swayed on.

"Artemis… I…" Percy stammered, seemingly unable to find the words, and Artemis sympathised. In a way, she felt as if she had used him, but her appreciation for what he had done was boundless, because suddenly, the world didn't seem so small anymore.

Her silver orbs met his vibrant greens, lips curling into a slight smile that didn't quite match her tear-streaked face. "Now you know, Jackson. The big secret. The reason I sit alone at lunch."

"I just...wish I'd sat at that table sooner. The day you walked into school," he said, taking all she had said in.

Artemis brushed his warrantless guilt aside. "So I could use you as a pity blanket? No way…"

"I would have been glad to be there with you…"

She sighed at that. When it came down to it, opening up had been so easy, and that fact ticked away at the back of her mind. She'd come to terms with it someday; her stupidity, and blind obedience. Concentrating on her grades was the worst decision she could ever have made, because, ironically, the result was the opposite, as well as her miserable home and school life.

"Yeah, maybe. Hindsight's a wonderful thing, huh?" she stated, the bitterness turning into resignation at that simple fact. It was pointless thinking about it, after all. What was done, was done, and though it was new territory, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"So what now? You do realise that I won't leave you alone for the rest of the year, and next, right?" Percy pressed, and Artemis felt a great measure of comfort and relief hearing those words. She wasn't fixed, by any means, and there was still work to do. Despite owing her nothing, she hoped he would be there with her, every step of the way.

Still. She couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"I figured you as a man of your word, Percy," she said, with mock hardness to her voice.

"I am, but when my hand is forced, I'll do what I have to do. Even if it means removing a certain table from the cafeteria," he retorted, eyes glinting with mischief at the suggestion. Artemis believed he would, as well.

Her silver-orbs narrowed. "Don't do me any favours…"

Percy merely smiled. "Sorry, Artemis, but it's my duty to look out for my friends. Especially the ones that could have me on the floor in a chokehold within ten-seconds flat," the boy stated, and she couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, reciprocating his smile.

"Dork."

"Nerd."

"Kelp-head."

"Moonbeam."

Her cheeks may have flushed at the nickname, but the natural back-and-forth lifted her spirits to pre-admission levels. Those silver-orbs contained sadness still, but it was open. Naked. For all to see. She'd mourn her mother and sister properly soon enough, and when she returned home, she was already dreaming up a few choice words for her father.

At that moment, however, her eyes turned to the night-sky, no longer light by the flashes of the display, which had long-since finished. The silence was comfortable, and one she would enjoy sharing with him sometime again, but it was getting late, and the spectators had thinned until just a few stragglers were making their way out from the fields.

Fortunately, they had no more encounters with the dancing-janitor, and pausing in front of the school-steps, Artemis faced her newly-appointed psychiatrist.

"Thank you, Percy. For fighting for me. Cause' I'd given up long ago fighting for myself. I can't promise overnight changes, but...I'm happy to try and be myself again," she said, a flame burning in her silver orbs once again.

The boy gave a knowing grin. "You're worth fighting for."

A week ago, she wouldn't have believed him, but a lot can change in that time, and Artemis hadn't felt such clarity in a long time. She was going to fight, not just for herself, but for Percy too. She owed him that much.

"See you Monday?"

"I'll see you Monday."

She must have been ten yards away from his receding figure, before he called out to her.

"Hey, Artemis…" he said.

Her head turned, eyes flickering quizzically at his cocky expression.

"Do you really think my eyes are beautiful?"

"Bite me, Jackson," was her immediate reply, before turning around, and gliding into the night.

He didn't see her smile.

Bleh. Not too happy with this, but thought I'd release it anyway, otherwise it would never be finished. Tell me what you think below.