I'M BACK! I'm so excited for you guys to read this chapter, this is definitely a big chapter for Annabeth in terms of character development! I gotta say the ending is a little interesting…you'll see. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series Rick Riordon does.

Annabeth's POV

"Two days?!" I repeat trying to mask my shock. My hands were still shaking with nervous energy coursing through them. Mr. Poseidon nods his head as he looks over the business papers in front of him. Straightening my posture, I uncomfortably glance around his office.

"Sir, I-I'm still in college and I live on campus…I think this w-would be too short of a notice-"

"I already paid the fee for the late notice if that's what you're worried about." He interrupted me still looking over the papers and I frowned, before putting on a formal smile. My red lipstick had smudged against my teeth and I did my best to hide it along with my nerves.

I should've gone with the lip gloss instead!

"That's very kind of you s-sir…"

He glanced up at me and it was like looking I was into Percy's eyes only without the special spark and connection. His green eyes were sharp and had an experienced, mature, vibe in them. I tried not to fidget under his intimidating gaze as his irises darted back and forth, scanning my face.

"Is there a problem with that Ms. Chase?" Mr. Poseidon asks as I try to stop an embarrassed blush from creeping onto my face. I clear my throat trying to keep my professional smile in tact.

"N-No sir. It's all just happening really fast, I didn't know I'd be moving so quickly." I replied letting out an awkward chuckle at the end, hoping to ease the tension.

"It's for security purposes and I'm sure you'll adjust quickly…Mr. Hermes didn't give you any work today correct? I called him before you switched over and told him not to. I want you to focus strictly on moving into your new apartment these next two days, understood?" He asked and I nod my head like an idiot before remembering he was my boss.

"Understood, s-sir."

"Good now-"

We were interrupted by a loud beeping sound coming from his desk. Mr. Poseidon looked down before pressing a button in front of his papers.

"Yes?" He answered in an annoyed tone, that I figured I would have to get used to. A women's voice sounded throughout the room in response.

"Your son is making his way to your door, sir. I tried to stop him but-"

The secretary's voice was cut off as a flustered Percy came rushing into the room and Mr. Poseidon took his hand off the button. My heart started to beat a little faster and my stomach knotted even harder. What the hell was he doing here?

"Dad, I think I-"

"Perseus, I'm busy at the moment." Mr. Poseidon said gesturing to me with his hand.

Percy barely noticed the gesture as his eyes remained completely focused on his father and mine on him. His attire seemed similar to mine a few days ago with his dark grey sweatpants and blue band hoodie. I had to say that he pulled off the look much better than I possibly could.

I felt Mr. Poseidon glance at me and my cheeks burned at the thought of him knowing the highly unprofessional thoughts that began to enter my mind.

I drew my focus back to the troubled look on Percy's face as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Look, I was thinking about what you said this morning and I think you're right about Annabe-"

"Don't forget to greet our guest Perseus!" Mr. Poseidon interrupted, now standing. In a flash he was by Percy's side with an enormous smile on his face. He laid his hand on Percy's shoulder, angling him towards me until our eyes met. Percy awkwardly stumbled back into his father who prompted him forward with a slight nudge.

"Annabeth!" Percy laughed his panicked smile dropping into a friendly grin. His eyes seemed to hold an extra kick to them today, that made him even more gorgeous. He rocked back and forth on his heels as I gave him a small smile back.

"What are you doing here?" He asked still smiling.

"I work here remember? First day?" I let out a strained chuckle as his father stared at the two of us. Wow, this was awkward.

Percy's eyes darted between his father and I before he shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh yeah! That's right you work here now. How can I forget? It's all just coming back to me as we speak…So, um, like I was saying to you earlier Dad," He continued shifting his focus. "I think you were right…about that Anabel movie! Way too scary for me and Thalia to watch during family move night!"

His father gave him a curt nod, responding stoically as though he were discussing a business transaction, rather than talking with his own son. His grin was long gone now.

"I thought you'd come around eventually."

They stared at each other for a few seconds as I awkwardly looked on. I pretended to busy myself by brushing off the invisible dust on my folders but I couldn't help but notice through my prereferral view, Percy's fixed smile was beginning to look a little strained.

"Yeah so…I'm just gonna go now." Percy said, walking backwards. "Just gonna skedaddle! I actually have this thing I gotta go do today so I'll just go…do that thing! See you later-"

"Wait Perseus! I need you to do me a little favor." Mr. Poseidon said, turning to look directly at me. I felt like a flawed specimen under his skeptical gaze but tried my best to keep from visibly cowering back. Percy froze mid step, his smile faltering the slightest bit.

"I need you to help Annabeth with her packing. She's moving out of her apartment in a couple of days and it'll really speed things along if she had a little muscle to help her out…I'm sure that 'thing' you have can wait."

Percy glanced at me something flashing in his eyes for a brief second. I was taken aback more from the look then Mr. Poseidon's request. A cold feeling washed over me when Percy quickly averted his eyes from mine and suddenly things began to feel really small in the big office. I gripped my folders a little tighter trying to ward off the feeling.

Just as Percy opened his mouth to speak, Mr. Poseidon turned his back continuing, "I hope that I can trust you two alone together. Annabeth is my employee and you my son, so I should expect no make out sessions on the sidewalks, like last time, nor anywhere else for that matter-"

"We weren't making out-"

"-and I trust that her stuff will be in the moving van by noon tomorrow. You two are dismissed." He finished, sitting back into his office chair.

"Thank you sir. Have a nice day." I said red faced as I made my way to the door. I heard a low grunt in response.

Stepping out of the office I felt like I could finally breathe again. The huge weight on my shoulders was lifted and I felt much lighter. He had seemed much nicer in the restaurant but, God that man was intimidating. Was it always going to be like this?

Percy walked at an alarmingly fast paced and I guess he wanted to be out of that office almost as much as I did. I struggled to keep up, especially in my heels.

I almost trip over myself and let out an embarrassing squeak before regaining my balance. Percy turned back for a moment, his eyes meeting mine. I realize that it's the first time we've seen each other since our date yesterday and start to feel a pit form at the bottom of my stomach. I always seem to do a wonderful job at making a fool out of myself.

Percy tore his eyes away and continued to make his way out of the building at an even faster pace. I had expected him to say something or have at least some reaction, but he walked on without a word. I frowned.

Something was definitely not right. Where was my lopsided grin or my handsome smirk?

I waited until we got outside of the building before catching up. "Percy, are you oka-"

"You drove here right?" He asked completely cutting me off. He paused unexpectantly causing me to walk straight into his muscular back.

"I…Yeah."

"Good. So, I'll meet you there." He said almost emotionlessly, still not turning around to face me. I couldn't even see his eyes. My frown deepened as I took in his noticeably tense shoulders and slightly clipped tone.

"O-Okay, but-"

"What?" He turned towards me sharply catching me off guard for a few seconds. The intensity in Percy's eyes was surprisingly strong, resonating in a way that they never had before. He looked at me with a certain…coldness. Gone was the warmth in his face now that we were alone, outside of the enclosed office, replaced with a hint of annoyance and outright impatience.

I was at a loss for words as my mind tried to comprehend the drastic change in attitude.

"Um…I-I…Never mind?"

As soon as the last syllable escaped from my mouth Percy took off, walking away with such conviction that one would think he was trying to get away from the plague. I stood there agape, watching him soon drive off without a single glance in my direction.

Part of me felt absolutely crushed while the other side of me was plain out confused. He was acting completely different from his usual self, having changed drastically as soon as he stepped out of his office.

Was he just putting on a show for his Dad? Is he mad at me? Why is he mad at me? What did I do wrong?

As I finally moved from my spot and made my way to my car, these seemed to be some of the most frequent questions that floated through my mind. A very dark feeling was starting to creep up on me as I began to recall the similar feelings of dread I felt whenever Luke would get all pissy on me.

Times where Luke would get so mad that he wouldn't bother talking to me for days or he would scream at me for hours, began to run through my head before I caught myself.

"What the hell am I doing?" I ask myself looking in my rear view mirror, soon after reaching my car. A stranger was staring back at me as I tried my hardest to stay positive.

I take a few deep breaths and try my hardest to see the person I so badly wanted to be, staring back at me through the mirror. I wanted to be confident and strong. Not weak.

I wanted to not be so crushed by Percy's attitude and to stop driving myself crazy with all the possible things that I could've done wrong…Because maybe I didn't do anything wrong. Maybe he's just in a bad mood. But why take that out on me? I'm a nice person, at least I think I am. I don't deserve to be treated like that, right? Or maybe I do, cause I've probably done something wrong…

"Holy crap." I muttered as I realized that I was doing it again. I was putting myself down again for no reason! "What is wrong with me…well for starters I'm talking to myself-"

A loud honk interrupted my conversation with myself and I quickly drove through the green light. But not before mentally sticking my tongue out at the driver. Yes, something was definitely wrong with me.

When I reached the dorms, Percy was already outside of his car, waiting on me. I could see that the carefree attitude that he seemed to posses when we first met was gone as he paced back and forth between his car and the grass.

"Hey." I said getting his attention. He stopped pacing, glancing at my face for a mere second before looking back at the open lawn.

"Is everything okay?" I ask him. Not even bothering to meet my eyes, Percy nods his head curtly before making his way to the dorm.

I quickly catch up with him despite his long strides. "You don't seem okay…if I didn't know any better I would say that you're mad at me."

His step faltered for a second and he raised an eyebrow in frustration.

"And why would I be mad at you?" He asked. I could tell that he was trying to keep his tone and expression as neutral as possible, but I could hear the slight frustration in his voice.

"You tell me." I replied as my nerves spiked. It was taking all my will power to keep prying and to not give up. "Did I do something wrong-"

"I don't know, have you?" His eyes remained completely straight forward as we walked up the stairs.

I didn't know how to respond for a second. I couldn't even trust myself to know if I was doing the right thing now. I was irrationally nervous about every little thing that came out of his mouth.

"I-I don't believe so-"

"Then I'm not mad at you."

An awkward silence occurred as neither of us knew what to say next. I was about eighty-five percent sure that he was pissed at me, but didn't understand why. We were completely fine last night, hell better than fine, we were great!

"Is there, um…any place you would like to start first? With the packing, I mean." I kept my own voice low as I felt my sadness start to decline and my anger start to rise. I was slowly starting to realize for the first time in months that I didn't deserve to have another person's anger taken out on me.

"It's your dorm. I'll pack it up however you like, I'm just here for muscle." He retorted and I narrowed my eyes before opening the door.

"Well Muscle, there's not much to lift. Just a lot of packing. We'll start in my room-"

"We? No, you're not packing."

I blinked for a few seconds as I tried to register what he just said.

"Excuse me?" I ask, and Percy shakes his head.

"You're not packing, it's too-"

"Okay, before you tell me what I can and can not do let me ask, why do you think I'm here? Am I supposed to just watch you pack up my things?"

"You have a concussion. I don't think it's wise to-"

"I don't think it would be wise of you to finish that sentence."

The air was suddenly tense, and I had to say that even I was a little shocked by my own voice. The agitated feeling bubbling in my chest was growing within each passing second that we stared at each other.

"Alright Wisegirl." He huffed. "Since you're, so hell bent on being involved, why don't we work separately. You can do the lighter stuff and I'll do the heavier work-"

"You just don't want to be around me."

"That's not true-"

"Yes, it is Percy. I'm not stupid. I know you're mad at me and you know what? That's fine. But at least tell me why?"

He remained silent. I watched as his gaze dropped to the key in my hand and remained there. In that moment I mustered up every drop of courage left in me to finally stand up for myself.

"If you expect me to just sit back and take your cold attitude with a smile on my face, you're wrong. I will not let you walk all over me like I'm some kind of doormat. I can't even believe we're having this conversation! I thought you were different than…" I stop myself from finishing as unwanted memories begin to surface. I shake my head, ignoring the immediate nausea I feel after.

"I just thought you were different." I finish and the nausea I was feeling suddenly became a lot worse, but I didn't care. I had finally stood up for myself, something I haven't done in a while. My hands were shaking yet I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders…before settling in my stomach.

I barely had enough time to celebrate my win because before I knew it that nauseating feeling was coming up and out. Maybe it was due to nerves or something I ate, but I didn't have enough time to turn towards the bushes or find a garbage can. So of course right after my big shining moment, I embarrass myself by throwing up all over Percy's shoes.

Okay…Even I have to admit that ending was a little gross. But Annabeth finally stood up for herself! What do you guys think? If you were in Percy's shoes (which none of us want to be in at the moment) would you have treated Annabeth the same way? Have we ever treated people the same way? I will definitely update very soon! I have a lot of stuff coming up but it's almost summer! I'll have plenty of time to write so expect regular updates! I'm also in the process of working on the plot a very exciting, new story so stay tuned! Don't forget to follow, fav and review…It's so good to be back. PERCABETH IS BACK!

See ya!