WARNING: The next few chapters may contain PDA, minor offensive content, and sexual interaction.

Annabeth

I'm gonna be honest here. I did not expect Anestin. Percy was so flirty I never would have figured he had a girlfriend. But I'm not surprised, either. He's cute, and smart, and considerate, and cute, and sweet, and athletic, and cute… I'm getting ahead of myself. I shake myself and stand up, putting my books away. I liked being friends with Percy, but Miss. Super Overly Jealous and Protective will make it a lot harder. Maybe I should bring Luke with me next time to show her I'm not hitting on her guy. I groan. I hate drama. I've usually managed to avoid it, but, I mean, Percy's pretty popular, and I'm, well, not.

On the positive side, I get to interrogate Luke tonight and Percy tomorrow morning. So that's something to look forward to.

In Marine Biology, Percy and the teacher, Mr. Bruner, keep making eye contact. Another thing to add to my list. How does he know the teacher? He also subs in Latin sometimes, but otherwise I've never seen him. And this morning I'd seen him pull up in a navy blue Tesla. Like, what the heck? There are too many questions to keep track of, so I pull a notebook out of my pocket and scribble down a few ideas

How does he know Mr. Bruner?

Why am I in danger?

Why the heck does he have such a nice car

What does he have to do with Luke?

WHAT IS UP with his eyes?!

I pause for a moment and finally decide to face the question I've been avoiding for a while now. I scribble it down. Not for him, but for me.

Do I like Percy Jackson?

Annabeth

The next morning I waited for nearly an hour until Luke showed up. He sat next to me in the courtyard.

"Hey Annie." He said, kissing me lightly before settling down and pulling a notebook. "I was wondering. This equation doesn't make sense…" He trailed on and my brain switched to math/tutoring mode.

Forty five minutes later I had basically retaught Luke how to solve for the area of a sphere if x was equal to pie. 8th grade stuff.

"Hey Annabeth." Luke's tone snapped me out of math mode.

"Yeah?" I said. He exhaled.

"I was wondering… What did Percy tell you?" He said. I bit back a groan. Not this again. "No seriously Annabeth." Luke persisted. "He…" Luke paused. "He likes you, Annabeth. He really likes you. And I was just… I don't want to lose you to the famous Percy Jack-"

"Luke." I cut him off, making him look at me. "I have no feelings like that towards Percy," Lies, "And I never will. I love you, Luke. Okay?" I said, the guilt already painful. Luke nodded slowly. He leaned in.

"Okay. Will you do something for me?" He asked quietly. I nodded.

"Of course." I said. Luke looked slightly guilty. "What?" I persisted.

"When Percy shows up at school today… Do you- Do you think you could- could." Luke fell quiet. "I can't do that to you. Nevermind." He shook off my look. Then I understood. My shoulders relaxed. I softened my eyes. "Oh." I said. "Oh." I laughed. Luke looked up.

"Luke, I never-"

"I know, Annabeth, I just…" Luke looked at me sadly. I smiled.

"Of course Luke." I said, nodding. "Of course I will," I say the glint of dark blue pull into the parking lot, and heard the purr of the engine. Luke began too stand up. He didn't know what Percy's car looked like. The engine cut out. I stood as Luke did. I caught his shoulder and spun him around to face me. "And it's no type of sacrifice for me, okay?" I said, and I didn't wait for his response. The Telsa's door had opened. I pressed my lips to his. And when I pulled away a solid minute later, I turned and walked away, but not before I caught Percy's expression in the glass windows of the school building. It was utterly devastated.

Percy almost evaded me, but right before lunch I caught him. I dragged him to an empty, dark classroom. I closed the door and whirled around to face Percy.

"Percy Jackson-"

"I like your choice of interrogation room, Annabeth." Percy interrupts, smirking. I raise an eyebrow, confused. Then I realized what he meant. My face reddens.

"No, I didn't- I- why are you making this so difficult? What do you have to hide?" I demand. Percy stuffs his hands into his pockets.

"So much. So, so much." He says softly. I drift a little closer.

"Yeah, I can tell. So, start with this, how do you know Mr. Bruner?" I say, matching his tone. Percy swallows. He's going to lie. Or at least bend the truth. "Don't lie to me, Jackson." I warn. Percy takes one step away from me. I make it up, narrowing my eyes and raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, summer camp director." Percy finally says. It's at least mostly true, I can tell.

"Why am I in danger?" I ask.

"I already told you that. I have no idea. I do know you're a demigod. I can explain that later, but-" Percy trails off, noticing I'm looking uninterested anymore. In reality, I was just wondering how someone's eyes could be that beautiful.

"What?" Percy asked, his voice softening again. I give him a slight smile.

"What does Luke have to do with any of this?" I ask, rushing on.

"He was possessed, Annabeth, call me a psycho, but I'm telling the truth. There was a four year long war and people died. People betrayed us and got killed. People went insane. Monsters came back from the dead. Luke killed people. There was total destruction and immeasurable fear and it was his fau-"

"Stop." I say, my voice dangerously calm. Percy goes silent. I shake my head. "Luke wouldn't do that. What you're talking about is- is- impossible." I shake my head, turning away. Percy takes my hand, turning me back to face him.

"Annabeth. Annabeth, I swear I would never lie to you. I'm not making this up." Percy said, pleading now. Pleading for me to understand, to sympathize. But I was distracted again, by our closeness and by his ocean scent. I shook my head. Luke never distracted me like this. He wasn't so cruel.

"Percy, don't. Just stop. You would lie to me. To… protect me or whatever. I'm not a five year old and all I wanted the truth-"

"Annabeth." Percy's voice was unbearably soft. I looked up at him. "If… If I confessed something, something… big, would you believe I'm telling you the truth?" He asked softly. I was surprised.

"Depends on how big this thing is." I said stubbornly. Percy winced.

"It would mean betraying one of the three most important people in my life." He whispered. He sounded weak. He sounded helpless. What was he offering to confess? What could of reduced him to… this?

"Okay. If I decide I can believe you on your… secret, I'll believe you about Luke. " I said, very much reluctant. Percy hesitated.

"Promise?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." I breathed, alarmed by the two inches between us. Between our lips. Everything was going blurry as I tried to pay attention, to listen to what Percy would say. He exhaled and closed the distance between us. I gasped against his lips. He pulled away, looking at the floor. My head ran in circles, but the main thought, buring the betrayal and mixed feelings, was the fact that my lips felt abandoned.

"Do it again." I gasped. Percy looked up at me, surprised. Annoyed, I put one hand behind his neck and pulled his lips back to mine. His lips were tentative, but warm. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I was kissing Percy Jackson. This guy didn't kiss girls like me. I didn't care though. His lips were the best thing that had ever happened to mine. Percy grabbed my hand on the back of his neck and put it down. He cupped my face in his hands.

"You have Luke." He reminded me. But he didn't break the kiss.

"I could care less right now." I agreed. But I still kept kissing him. It was amazing. I would have sat there all day not having a thought of Luke Castellan.

The classroom door banged open and we jumped apart. I blinked the light out of my eyes. I couldn't tell who the figure was until he spoke. His voice was dangerously calm.

"Perseus Jackson," Luke said, his eyes flaring with loathing, "Did you just kiss my girlfriend?"