Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the song "White Horse".
I choked back tears, staring out the window at the stormy sky.
Don't cry. Don't let him see you cry.
"Oh, so now you're giving me the silent treatment?" Percy said scathingly. "Real mature, Annabeth."
Ignoring the lump in my throat, I turned an faced him. "Yeah, because you were so mature back there."
"How was I immature!? Tell me how I was immature!"
"You were in such a rush you didn't even enjoy dinner and you weren't even talking to me!"
"I did too talk to you-"
"Yeah, all one word answers! We haven't seen each other in how long, and this is how you're treating me?!"
"I'm not treating you like anything!" Percy cried, throwing his hands up.
"Percy, you never even call me anymore. Ever. It's been two months since we've seen each other, and you're being an asshole."
"I am not!" he said. "I've been busy! Or have you forgotten? I'm training for the fucking Olympics-"
"I don't care!" I yelled. "I don't give a shit! Not a single shit! You could at least call! Or text for gods sake!"
"I flew all the way out here to the east coast to visit you!"
"Oh no," I said mockingly. "Poor Percy had to stop slashing around in the pool to take a vacation to see his girlfriend."
"I don't think you realize how much training I'm giving up to come here-"
"Oh, I'm sorry seeing me is such a sacrifice!"
"I didn't say that!" he bellowed.
"That's why you were implying!"
"I wasn't implying anything!"
"Yes, you were!" I hissed angrily.
"God dammit Annabeth, quit acting like such a bitch-"
"Excuse me?"
"You're excused," he snarled as we raced down the street.
"Quit driving like a maniac! And apologize to me!"
"I'm not apologizing for anything. And stop nagging me!"
"Percy, you're driving like a madman-"
"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"
"Percy!" I shrieked as he sped up. "Stop!" I reached over to grab the wheel from him, and he angrily jerked away, sending us into the wrong lane. Thankfully it was empty.
"No! You are so demanding, and such a control freak!" he shouted, steering us back in the correct lane.
"Well you can't pull your shit together, like, ever, so I just-"
"Oh, my mistake! I didn't know to be in love you had to fight to have the upper hand!"
"What in the hell are you talking about?"
"You think you can be in charge of everything! You try to run my life!" Percy whipped into the parking lot of my apartment complex and roughly threw the gear into park.
"I do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!" I got out of the car and slammed the door, marching toward the entrance of the building. "Thanks for visiting Percy. I had a great time," I said sarcastically, turning to walk away.
"Oh don't even act like that," he snarled, and followed me in. My heels clicked on the floor of the hall and I pushed the elevator button with vengeance.
"I just wished that you cared about us as much as I do," I said haughtily as the doors glided open.
"How can you say that?" Percy barked as we stepped in. "You're kidding me!"
"No, I'm not! I haven't exactly been feeling the love recently!"
"Yeah, well that's a two way street, sweetheart."
"Whatever, Percy. The point is that you're acting like a douche bag, and you don't care about me or my life or my career."
"I do too care, it's you that's you that shutting me out-"
"No, I'm not!" I protested, exiting the elevator and taking out my key. "You've been so distant, and we finally see each other and now you're just being a jerk about everything, you don't wanna talk, you don't wanna do anything-"
"You know what, Annabeth?" Percy asked as we pushed into the apartment. "I'm done arguing with you and playing your games. This is all your fault."
"My fault?"
"Yeah! I haven't done anything wrong here!"
"Oh my gods, you've got to be joking!" I said fiercely, my voice rising. "You, have been a complete dick-"
"Oh, you think I've been a dick? That's rich, coming from you! I never pegged you to be the needy type-"
"I'm not needy!" I shrieked, pushing him roughly.
"Yes, you are!" he shouted, pushing me back, forcing me to slam into the counter.
"Ugh! I've been so stupid, I should've known you'd be just like your father, my mom was right this whole time-"
"Oh yeah? Well guess what, you're not a princess! This isn't some stupid fairy tale! You're a bitch, just like Athena, and you just want want want!"
"SHUT UP!" I screeched, voice up an entire octave. Enraged, I swung at Percy's face, only to have him catch my wrists. We struggled with each other for a while, backing into the family room.
"Let go of me!"
"No," Percy said. "I don't think I will!"
"Percy Jackson, you let go of me!"
"Not until you admit you're wrong!"
"Let go!" I cried, finally pulling free of him. "You know what? I'm finished with you. I'm going to find someone who will actually treat me well. You can sleep on the couch tonight, honey."
"Thats it! I'm leaving!" he yelled angrily, storming towards the door.
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fuck you, Percy!" I screamed, and I instinctively grabbed the vase of flowers that Percy had brought me and threw it at his back. It shattered against the door he had slammed behind him, throwing tiny shards of glass around the room.
My apartment was eerily silent.
Alone now, I allowed myself to cry. I sank down onto my couch, feeling miserable. As seniors in college, Percy and I were both stretched thin; but we had always been able to enjoy our precious time together. Recently though, we had been cut off from each other, and tonight was the final straw.
I realized that for the first time since I was sixteen, I was single.
As I sat there on the couch, I felt a gentle nudging on my leg and looked down to see my cats rubbing up against me. Kermit and Minerva kept me company at college, since I no longer had a roommate. I kicked off my heels and pulled my cats up on my couch with me, where they happily snuggled up to me. Stroking Kermit, I tried to pull it together... but I couldn't. Percy had been right, I was needy; I needed him.
I was so naive. I got caught up in the first boy who liked me, got lost in his eyes and thought I was in love. Gods, I was so stupid. Stupid.
He said he loved me. I honestly believed in him, that we'd have a happy ending. Letting my emotions over ride me, I let the tears flow freely down my face. I didn't want to move or to think or to breathe- I just laid there.
Ten minutes later, I had busted out the ice cream and was pacing back and fourth. I had so many dreams of us, growing old together... Well, not anymore. He let me down. This is a big world, there's someone else out there for me.
No there isn't.
Yes, there is.
Come on, you know Percy and you are meant to be.
Percy and I are done. He means nothing to me.
Yeah, right.
Really. I don't care about him.
You're in love with him.
Not anymore.
This is a bump in the road.
No, this is permanent. We just weren't going to work out.
He'll come back, begging for forgiveness on his knees.
Well tough. I'm so sorry, but I won't be taking him back.
You need Percy.
No I don't! I don't need anyone!
And, determined to prove it, I called the one person who would side with me.
"Hello? Annabeth?"
"Thalia!" I said warmly. "Gods, I'm glad you answered!"
"Why?" Thalia asked, suddenly concerned. "What's happened? Whose hurt?"
"Nobody's hurt. I just wanted to call you because I've made a big decision."
"Oh?" Thalia said, sounding interested.
"Yep!" I said brightly. "I'm going to become a huntress!"
Dead silence.
"Pretty exciting, huh?" I said. "We'll get to be with each other for forever!"
More silence.
Then, finally, "Annabeth? Are you drunk?"
"No," I said.
"High?"
"No."
"Being forced by your mother?"
"No."
"At gun point?"
"No!"
"Say 'Cantalope' if someone is threatening you."
"Thalia!" I said exasperatedly. "I'm doing this of free will!"
"Well, then I don't think to understand the whole idea of this group. We're eternal maidens."
"No shit, Sherlock."
"That means you can't have sex."
"I know."
"Or get married."
"I know."
"Or date."
"I know."
"Hon, I think you're forgetting something!"
"What?" I said, rolling my eyes.
"Uh, you're dating Percy!"
I sighed deeply. "Actually, I'm not."
"You... you're not?"
"No."
"Oh."
It was quiet on the other end.
"When did this happen?" Thalia asked nervously.
"Umm..." I looked up at the clock perched on the coffee table. "Twenty minutes ago."
"Okay, Annabeth. You're just in the middle of a crisis; you don't want to be a huntress."
"Yes I do, Thalia. I know what I'm doing! I should have done it seven years ago!"
"Annabeth, listen to me. You are meant to be with Percy. It's fate; don't try to change it. I'm part of a feminist group who hates men, and even I support your relationship. Trust me."
"Thalia, I want to do this!" I said, becoming increasingly frustrated.
"Believe me, Annabeth, you don't!"
"Thalia..." I whined, becoming more irritated by the second.
"You'd have to give up college!"
"I don't care!"
"You couldn't be an architect!" she said desperately.
"Thalia, just let me-"
"No, I won't let you throw your life away like this-"
"Thalia!"
"Fine!" she snapped. "One condition, though."
"Sure," I said.
"Tell me straight up that you don't love Percy anymore."
"I... I don't love Percy."
"You sure?"
"Yes..."
"You don't sound sure."
"I just..."
"You just still love him."
I burst into tears.
"See?" Thalia said soothingly. "It's fine. You don't want to be a huntress, you're just upset and confused. Oh, sweetie, tell me what happened."
Between sobs, I told her how we were growing apart, how I felt like he didn't care and how I had tried to hit him an how he had left, and how I had broken it off. The more I talked about it, the guiltier I felt. I missed Percy- I missed him a lot. After I had hung up with Thalia, I tried to go to sleep, but the bed felt so empty without him here.
Where was he?
After midnight and several hours of being left to my thoughts, I finally fell asleep. Sometime later, I was brought back into consciousness by the feeling of someone pressing their lips against my forehead. In the glowing light of my alarm clock which read 4 AM, I saw Percy, my Percy, kneeling next to my bed.
"You're back!" I said blearily, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I though you'd left!"
"I almost did," he said guiltily, hugging me back. "I was on the plane and everything, but I got off at the last minute."
"I'm so glad," I whispered. "Percy, I'm so, so sorry-"
"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I was being an inconsiderate ass and-"
"No, I was over reacting-"
"No-"
"Let's not argue anymore," I said, cutting him off.
"Deal," he said, and kissed me lightly. "Let's promise to never let stress get in the way of us."
"And I promise to understand that your busy."
"And I promise to call you more often." Percy stood up and shrugged his coat off, throwing it on the armchair. "Do I still have to sleep on the couch?"
"No," I laughed, and scooted over to make room for him in bed. I snuggled up next to him as he held me tightly, pulling my close to him.
"Well at least only one of us lost their heads," he said. "I can't believe I almost flew back to Arizona."
"Well, don't feel bad. I ate an entire carton of ice cream and almost became a huntress."
"You did?" he asked, laughing. "Jeeze, I think we're much better off together."
"Much," I said, burying my face in his chest.
"Annabeth, you mean so much to me," whispered Percy, tucking my hair behind my ear.
"I love you too," I replied. I fell asleep in Percy's arms, both of us sleeping soundly.
We dragged ourselves out of bed at noon to make pancakes.
"Here, Kermit," said Percy, giving a bit of blue pancake to my cat.
"Percy, he's a cat, not a dog. You just can't feed him leftovers like you can Mrs. O'Leary."
"Oh nonsense," drawled Percy. "He loves it," he said, gesturing to Kermit, whose white muzzle was stained blue from pancakes.
"Fine," I said lightly, flipping over another stack while Kermit came over to snuggle up against my legs. "But you're cleaning up his vomit later..."
As if on cue, Kermit made a strangled reaching noise at my feet and regurgitated a fair amount of blue paste.
"Percy!"
"Well, how about that," said Percy faintly, as if fascinated my my cat's dietary needs.
"Come on, Seaweed Brain. Clean it up, please."
"Ugh," he said, pulling a face. "Fine. Only if..."
"If what?"
"If the next batch of pancakes have chocolate chips in them!"
"Oh," I said, waving a fresh stack in front of him, loaded with chocolate chips. "You mean... Like this?"
Percy made a grab for them, but I laughed and ran out of the kitchen before he could reach them.
"Try and catch me now!" I cried gleefully.
He did, of course, and when he swept me off my feet and lead me up the stairwell to my bedroom, I didn't object. Pancakes forgotten, we spent the rest of the afternoon satisfying other cravings.
Weeee first breakup chapter! But they get back together... Yeah, writing "We are never ever ever getting back together" will be a tricky chapter.
Also, the most used Taylor Swift song for Percy and Annabeth is our next chapter, "You Belong With Me". Should I stick to the usual Rachel Dare scenario or branch out? Let me know!
PLEASE REVIEW!