Yay! We reached 20 reviews! Thank you guys so much! That makes me so happy. Anyway, as a thank you, I got my creative juices flowing and finished the next chapter early.

Hope you guys like it! :)

Chapter 5

Percy's Pov

A week has passed since I'd been consoling Annabeth and a lot has changed. We no longer throw glares at the other, spitting insults left and right, whenever we see each other. Now, we give each other small smiles and even, stop to exchange a few words about how the other is doing. Most of the time when I ask that question, Annabeth responds with a "very busy", which is the honest truth. The deadline for her new album is rapidly approaching and she's on a tight schedule. She's locked in her room writing and perfecting songs at least fourteen hours a day. Annabeth doesn't even have time to eat dinner with us anymore; she just grabs a plate, stacks it with food, and heads right back up to her room. Honestly, I feel kind of bad for her; she has hardly any time to just relax and have time for herself without her music getting in the way.

I figured today wouldn't be any different than the others. Annabeth would still be a recluse, only leaving the confines of her room for dinner or bathroom breaks, Mr. Chase would be in the airplane hanger, remodeling a new plane, and Mrs. Chase would be busy playing the trophy wife. Besides, Mrs. Chase had her brunch with her country club friends today so I doubt she'd care if Nico, Thalia, and Grover came by for a few hours.

A knock on the door announced their arrival and I sprung up from the couch, rushing to the door. Twisting the know, I swung it open and was met with the sight of my friends, clustered together on the porch, looking at the giant that is my house. They stared up in awe at the overall size and beauty, but who could blame them? It was an awfully nice house. Expensive as hell, but nice. Well, except Thalia who seemed bored by the whole ordeal, but this is Thalia were talking about. Not much excites her.

I invited them all inside and debated whether I should take them up to my room or to the basement.

"Holy Hades, Percy. You live here?" Nico said while soaking in the whole house like a sponge. I don't see why he was so surprised. His house was just as fancy as this one, maybe even fancier. Granted, it was entirely black as night, but nevertheless, it had an eerie beauty to it that's indescribable.

"Yeah."

"It's so pretty here, especially outside the house. Back home, it's so drab and dreary, but here, it's sunny and bright. Surprising, I kind of like it." That was a surprise. Nico basically hated anything that wasn't black or gray.

Grover picked up one of the flowers out of our new vase and smelled it, the scent wafting up his nose.

"Hey, Percy?" Grover said still twirling the flower around in his fingers. "Are these real?"

"Umm…yeah, I think so." I replied, suddenly wondering why he cared. Well, he was a tree hugger at heart so I guess I shouldn't be so curious.

"Awesome." He said before yanking his phone out of his pocket and snapping pictures of the flowers.

"What are you doing?" Thalia asked having taken notice of Grover's obsession over the flowers.

"These babies," He said, pointing to the flower pics displayed on the screen, "are going on Instagram."

"No offense, but who would want to look at blurry pictures of tulips?" I asked.

"My followers from Nature club." Grover had convinced our school's principle that the school wouldn't be complete without a Nature club so now every Thursday, Grover and his tree hugger buddies meet up immediately after school and talk plants or something of the sort. He'd tried to talk me into joining, but quickly revoked his offer when he found out how little I knew about nature.

Not wanting to spend the majority of our time watching Grover take nature pics, I said:

"Wanna go downstairs? We could hang out down there, if you guys want." They all agreed and I led them down to the basement. It was hardly ever used, which was pretty sad, considering it by far the nicest basement I'd ever seen. And to prove my point, my friends gasped, their eyes taking it all in.

Upon descending the last step, you come face to face with a wide expanse filled with items of all different kinds. Straight ahead, you'll see the movie theater with an enormous screen that takes up the entire wall. Rows of movies theater seats were placed in front of it and a popcorn machine was set up beside them. To the left, there's a pool table and a few old arcade games that Nico was practically drooling over, which was no surprise. The boy loved anything that involved technology. To the right is the entrance to the Olympic-sized swimming pool that had become my favorite pastime- Mrs. Chase had told me about it after I'd admitted that I'd wanted to be a swimmer.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" I asked them, expecting different answers from each of them, but was surprised when they all agreed on watching a movie. Even Nico who was staring lovingly at the arcade games only moments ago.

I approached the DVD rack while Thalia, Nico, and Grover took their seats in the front row. We went back and forth, arguing over movie choices, until we finally settled on one. I popped open the lid and slid it into disk tray before taking my seat beside Nico.

The movie hadn't even finished the previews before Nico screamed for me to pause the movie.

"Percy, pause it hurry."

"What?" I asked, unable to depict why pausing the movie was so urgent.

"We need popcorn." He said while giving me a look that clearly said duh. "We can't watch a movie without popcorn. That's like-"

"-going to a restaurant and not ordering enchiladas." Grover jumped in, interrupting Nico.

"Umm….sure." Nico said.

He stood and headed over to the popcorn machine, pressing buttons randomly, unsure how to use the machine.

"Nico," I said, getting up to assist him, "let me help you."

"Nah, it's okay, Perce. I got this. It just needs the magic touch." Apparently, "the magic touch" involved slamming your fists against it repeatedly and cursing when it didn't work.

Yanking Nico away from the machine before he caused irreversible damage, I pressed the correct button combination and popping noises sounded from inside the machine.

"I warmed it up for you. You're welcome." Nico said, trying to play it cool, which was so unconvincing that the most obtuse person in the world would know it was a lie. I laughed, rolling my eyes at his stupidity.

Within minutes, we all held bowls of steaming, freshly-popped popcorn and we're situated in our seats, fast forwarding through all the previews until we got to the menu screen. Pressing "play", the movie began and we were engrossed into the world of Avatar as the blue people struggled to welcome a human among them.

Halfway through the movie, a masculine voice rang out from behind us. Pausing the movie yet again, I spun around and saw Luke Castellan, son of Hermes and famous actor, standing beside Annabeth who'd obviously decided to come out of hiding and get some fresh air.

Luke was fairly tall with sandy blond waves of hair cascading over his forehead and blue eyes as deep as the sea. He wore a cocky expression on his face, which I'd learned is basically the only kind of expression he has. The girls at school gush over his looks, but a few have complained how his attitude cancels out the looks factor. I've never officially met Luke, but he gives off this air that lets you know that he thinks he's all that. Lately, I've heard my heard my friends say some pretty harsh things about him and how he'd taken something from them, something they don't think they'll ever get back. I'd never gotten the chance to ask what it was though. Honestly, I hadn't even known that they knew Luke until they'd spoken of everything he'd done. They've talked about his façade that he puts on for the audience, but lets crumble around people who don't have a camera. He acts all kind and charming on camera, but off, that's when he shows his true colors.

"Mind if we join you?" He asked in a sickly sweet voice, directing a smile at Thalia that would've made any other girl swoon.

"Mind if I shove my foot up your ass?" Thalia growled, not at all happy to have a reunion with her ex-friend. She'd never told me why they'd broken off their friendship and I didn't pry, but I almost wished I had. If what Luke did was enough to unhinge Grover, the calmest of the group, then what he'd done must have been bad.

"Yes, actually, I would. That would be rather uncomfortable." Luke responded before throwing himself down into a seat in our row, but thankfully, on the other side of the aisle. He was closest to me, which was a relief because if he put Thalia any more on edge, I was going to lean across the aisle and jam my fist into his face.

"Coming, Annabeth?" He asked, twisting in his seat to look at her.

Thalia jolted in her seat, her slumped posture going rigid. She looked toward Nico and Grover who looked angry with a twinge of surprise mixed in. Thalia looked behind her along with Grover and Nico, just now taking notice that Annabeth had been standing there. All of them had been oblivious to her presence until Luke had spoken her name. Obviously, my friends were more than displeased that she was here, but surprised also.

Annabeth moved forward to take her seat beside Luke, but just before she sat down, Thalia launched out of hers like a rocket.

"No! You," Thalia screeched, thrusting her pointer finger in Annabeth's direction, "get the hell out of here. What are you even doing here?"

"I-I live here." Annabeth said hesitantly, as if Thalia was the snake and she was the mouse, seconds away from becoming a nutritious snack. Out of the three weeks I've lived here, I'd never heard Annabeth stutter. She'd always looked so confident in herself; now she looked anything but.

What the hell is going on? Obviously, Thalia and Annabeth have some history, bad history involved with painful memories. But what? What could have made Thalia so loathing of Annabeth? Granted, Annabeth had the tendency to be a grade-A bitch sometimes and Thalia had a short temper, but what could have caused so much hatred between the two? So much hatred that even Grover looked about ready to drop kick Annabeth into the next century.

My friends all turned their attention to me, silently interrogating me as to why I didn't tell them I'd been living in Annabeth's house.

In response, I shrugged. "I didn't think it was important."

"Of course, it's important, Percy. How could you just leave something like this out?" Thalia asked, the anger she'd had in her voice when talking to Annabeth had faded into frustration.

"Thalia," Grover said, butting into the conversation, "you can't blame Percy for this. He doesn't know about the….incident."

"She didn't tell you?" Thalia demanded, nodding her head in Annabeth's direction.

I shook my head.

"I have no clue what you guys are talking about." I said.

"Good. Because if she'd told you, she'd probably twist it around in her defense." She replied, glaring menacing at Annabeth.

"No, I wouldn't," Annabeth roared.

Thalia chose to ignore her, clearly disbelieving what she'd said.

"Listen to me, Thalia. What happened that night eats me up with guilt. Do you have any idea how awful it makes me feel?" Annabeth cried, not accepting Thalia's refusal to respond.

"You don't feel awful about anything anymore, Annabeth, anything that doesn't involve losing a fan." Thalia muttered, the fight leaving her. "But what's one more when you've already lost three." And with that, Thalia, Nico, and Grover retreated the way we'd come, back up the steps.

My eyes darted between Annabeth and place my friends once stood. I was beyond confused, even more confused than usual, which is embarrassingly hard to accomplish.

Annabeth's expression was one of sadness. Her tanned skin was pale and her eyes lost their spark. Whatever happened between the two of them, Annabeth was really beating herself up over it. I wondered if Thalia knew just how much Annabeth regretted what had happened.

She looked up and our eyes locked. Hers were dull and lifeless and so unlike how they are normally. I sent her an apologetic smile, silently letting her know how sorry I was for how things had gone, to which, she returned with a small, sorrowful smile.

Annabeth nodded her head in the direction of the stairs, shooing me to go after them. In response, I mouthed the words We'll talk later before talking the stairs two at a time after my friends.

Annabeth's Pov

As soon as Percy was gone, I slumped back down into my seat, pulling my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

Seeing Thalia again had been bittersweet. I'd missed her terribly and it was good to see her, but with the past still in the way, it was anything but pleasant. I couldn't blame her though. Truth is, if I were in her shoes, I'd have done the same thing. What I'd done doesn't deserve forgiveness. It was a careless mistake that cost us our friendship, but had cost Thalia so much more.

I exhaled sharply as the memory of that fateful night played in my mind.

Blaring music crackled from the speakers. Drunken partygoers staggered around as they attempted to dance, their words slurred as they sang along with the song. I was among them, but I, unlike the others, was sober.

I swayed my hips to the beat of the song, the rhythm flowing through me, urging every cell in my body to ignite with the impulse to dance. I laughed along with the other guest who were all giggling like lunatics even though nobody said anything funny. Being newly famous, I had wanted to fit in with the crowd so I followed their lead, throwing my morals out the window.

A knock on the door interrupted me from pouring myself a drink that was no doubt spiked with alcohol. I walked over and yanked it open, revealing my best friend in the whole world, Thalia Grace, and her little brother, Jason. Both were soaked from the rain pelting down from the sky.

Letting them in, I noticed an unhappy emotion roll over Thalia's face as she took in the party scene.

"I thought you said this was going to be a small party." Thalia said, clearly upset that I'd lied to her.

I'd called her a few hours ago and invited her to come to the party, but she said she couldn't come because she had to babysit Jason since her mom wasn't home. Disappointed that she wouldn't be there to celebrate my rise to fame with me, I'd told her it was going to be a small party among friends, suitable for Jason to accompany her. She'd believed me, which explains why she's here now.

"This is a small party." I replied, a bit put out that she wasn't happy to come.

"Annabeth, Jason can't be here. He's too young for this."

Jason was several years younger than us and much too innocent to be exposed to a wild party like this. But at the moment, I didn't care. My song was on the radio, fans screamed my name now, and I wanted my best friend there to celebrate.

Before she could leave, I slammed the door shut, dragging her and Jason through the crowd of sweating bodies to the kitchen. It was quieter in there, less unruly.

"Jason, why don't you stay here? There's snacks and stuff in the fridge; have whatever you want." I said kindly. "Your sister and I will be in the other room. We'll be back to check on you in a bit. Okay?"

Jason nodded, but Thalia, on the other hand, shook her head vigorously.

"I'm not leaving him here, Annabeth. He needs to go home. Come on, Jason." She said, turning her attention to her brother.

I grabbed his arm, preventing him from following her.

"Please?" I said, begging for her to stay and party with me.

"No." She replied, gently tugging on Jason's other arm, urging him to slip his arm out of my grasp. But I only tightened my grip when he tried.

"But, Thals-"

"Annabeth, no means no."

"Fine." I grumbled, displeased with her lack of excitement.

"Watch him while I go to the bathroom and then we're leaving." Thalia said, disappearing down the hall toward the restroom.

I stood next to Jason, waiting for Thalia to return, but as the minutes ticked by, the more antsy I got. It was my party and I was missing it because Thalia was being unreasonable. If she wanted to miss out on all the fun, be my guest, but I'm sure as hell not going to.

Deciding to join in on the fun, I left Jason in the kitchen and returned to the living room, crowded with people dancing to the music. Jason will be fine, I thought to myself. No one's even in the kitchen.

But while I was partying away, sweet, innocent, little Jason, having loved thunderstorms and lightening, had unknowingly snuck through the sliding glass doors out onto the patio. The storm was going full force, striking Jason into a state of awe. He circled around the pool outside to get a closer look, but was entranced when he saw the lightening reflected in the water. Bending down, he brushed his fingers through the clear, chlorine-filled water, his feet teetering on the edge of the pool. When he went to stand back up, his foot slipped on a slick spot around the pool where someone had spilled their drink in their haste to get inside when the storm began. Jason went tumbling into the pool, his head hitting the bottom, sending a jarring pain through his skull. He was not only dazed, but unable to swim, having never learned. Jason thrashed wildly around in the water, trying to reach the surface or at least, disturbing the water enough to capture someone's attention. But the party raged on, no one noticing the splashing waves outside.

I was startled, messing up my rhythm to the song, when Thalia reappeared in front of me.

"Where's Jason?" She asked curiously.

"In the kitchen." I said.

"No he's not. I just checked there. Oh my gods, does this mean you have no idea where he is?"

"Relax, Thals. He's probably in the bathroom or in one of the bedrooms or something."

Thalia and I went through all the bedrooms, searching in all the wrong places.

When we returned downstairs, panic finally started to reach me. Where is he? Where could he have gone?

"Let's go check the dance floor. Maybe he went looking for me." I told her, trying to reassure her. Or maybe it was me I was trying to reassure.

Thalia nodded.

We headed through the throng of people , shouting Jason's name, but coming up empty. After circling around a few times, we met up outside the crowd.

"Oh, Annabeth, this is all my fault. I never should have brought him here." Thalia said, sounding miserable.

"No, no, this is my fault. I'm the one who lied to you and made you come, not you." I replied, wrapping my around her thing frame, patting her on the back. She returned my hug and we stood together, worrying about her brother when suddenly, Thalia jerked out of my embrace, gasping loudly.

I looked at her questioningly, but she wasn't paying attention. Her gaze was transfixed on the sliding glass doors and unanimously, the thought struck us. The patio. Jason loved storms;he'd do anything to get near them.

I slid the door open and shouted his name along with Thalia. When we came up with no response, we stepped outside and were met with a sight that would give me nightmares to the day I died.

The once crystal clear pool was now stained a vile red, visibility little to none. That's when the pieces fit themselves to form an ugly puzzle that should be burned and forgotten.

Thalia threw herself into the water, diving under until the water obscured my vision of her. Seconds ticked by and as time increased, so did my histeria.

Moments later, she broke the surface, one arm wrapped around an unmoving Jason, the other propelling herself through the water. She reached the edge and I hauled him onto solid ground. Lifting herself up and out of the pool, Thalia kneeled at his side, feeling around his body for a pulse. She skimmed her fingers over his neck and face, which were coated in thick, sticky blood spouting from an open wound on his head.

I was in shock. This whole thing felt surreal, like a faraway dream that I'd soon wake from. But it wasn't. Everything was real, Jason was hurt, and even worse, it was all my fault. Those few words were the only things my brain could comprehend. It's all my fault. Those five little words rang through my ears like a broken record. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. Those five little words will haunt me forever.

Thalia's next words shook me out of my shock-induced haze.

"He's not breathing." She cried hysterically, tears streaming down her face like a river. "Does anyone know CPR? Anybody? Please, he needs help."

A redheaded boy I couldn't name threw himself onto his knees beside Jason.

"Somebody call an ambulance." He bellowed before parting Jason's lips, gulping in air, and releasing it in Jason's mouth.

Multiple partygoers surrounded us, having heard the commotion, and yanked their cell phones out, dialing the three digits that could save Jason's life.

The redheaded boy placed the heels of his hands on Jason's chest, pumping over the place his heart should lie. He repeated the process over and over until sweat poured from his forehead, dripping down his neck and soaking his shirt. Pump. Breathe. Pump. Breathe. Not once did the boy stop, not once did he falter or decide it was hopeless, he just kept performing CPR until the paramedics arrived.

The flashing lights of the ambulance blinded me. Everything felt as if it were going slow motion. Paramedics rushed from the vehicle, gently pulling him onto a stretcher, and put him into the back of the ambulance. Thalia and I climbed into the back with him, seated at his side. Thalia clutched his hand tightly as heartbreaking sobs rolled from her chest. I hadn't realized I was crying along with her until the salty tears streamed over my lips.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were forced into the waiting room while the doctors helped Jason. Waiting was torture. Thalia and I sat together, clutching each other tightly, tears pouring out of our eyes like a flashflood.

"Are you Thalia Grace?" A deep, masculine voice asked us, interrupting our crying.

Thalia nodded, unable to speak with so much emotion caught in her throat.

"Jason is alive, but he's in a very critical state. When he'd fallen, he'd split his head open and had lost a large quantity of blood. We're doing everything we can."

Thalia managed to choke out two words:

"Save him."

"I'll do whatever it takes to bring him back to you, Miss." The doctor assured, sounding sincere and saddened by the circumstances.

Hours later, we'd been let into Jason's hospital room. Immediately thinking the worst, we only cried harder, but upon entering, we discovered that Jason was awake.

"Jason." Thalia shrieked before dashing over to his bedside, clutching his face in her hands.

"Hey, Thals." He croaked weakly, the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. "Can you teach me how to swim sometime soon?" He joked, causing Thalia to laugh, but it wasn't amused. It was full of relief that he really was going to be okay.

Jason was released from the hospital several days later and the bandage around his head was removed shortly after. Thalia had taken him home and literally hasn't left his side since, waiting on his every need despite his protests. Their mother, who'd been at work during the incident, was furious with Thalia's lack of attentiveness around Jason and their once solid mother/daughter relationship crumbled. Her mother, having deemed Thalia reckless and a threat to Jason, shipped her off to live with her father, Zeus, founder of Lightening Airlines, and moved away taking Thalia's little brother with her. She never saw him again.

Ever since then, Thalia has hated me and I don't blame her. If our roles had been reversed, I'd have felt the same way.

Streams of tears cascaded down my cheeks and my soft sobs echoed throughout the expanse of the basement, full of heartache and regret. I'd been selfish back then, only concerned with having a good time, but what was the point of that if you were the cause of someone else's nightmare? There wasn't one.

Luke wrapped an arm around my shoulder, drawing me close, but it wasn't his arms I wanted comforting me. I wanted Percy; he always knew what to say to cheer me up. Just look at last week when I'd been a crying mess. He'd been there and turned the water works into fits of stomach-clutching giggles. But I'd already sent him upstairs, and I wasn't about to go up there and find him.

"Shh." Luke said in a voice that was supposed to comforting, but fell flat. "You're better off without them."

But that's where he was wrong. I wasn't.

There you go! Chapter 6. So now you all know why Thalia basically wants Annabeth's head on a platter.

Let me know your thoughts in a review!

Thanks,

~TwistedTrident~