Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus Series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

Note***- Will be boy x boy. (I promise, it is coming) Don't like? You don't have to read.

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January 3rd

Apollo POV

My sword barely made it up in time to deflect Percy's attack. The son of Poseidon then used his blade to push me off center. It took me a moment to regain my balance.

He lowered his sword point to the ground and shook his head. "Come on Fred, it's like you're not even trying."

I frowned and attempted to hit him with the flat of my blade. Even with his arms at waist level, he still had no problem brining up his blade and blocking the cheap shot. I fell back a few steps and tried to catch my breath.

"I assure you, I am trying. Swords have never been my forte."

He rolled his eyes.

I couldn't even blame him. I was making excuses. I knew exactly what he meant. I had been steadily getting better with a blade, but nearly two weeks without practice certainly had a noticeable effect in my abilities. I didn't yet have the muscle memory that most of the demigods around me did. As much as it killed me to admit, even to myself, I was still a beginner. Two weeks without picking up a sword had knocked my progress back a few steps.

Percy sighed, "There's no point in continuing if you're tired. Do you want to call it a wrap for today?"

I was torn. On one hand, I could barely breathe. We had been only been at it for about thirty minutes but my arms already felt like jello. On the other hand though, I was a god. Gods didn't get tired from such a simple activity. My pride didn't want to admit defeat.

Apparently Percy could read me a little better than I expected. I hadn't even reached a decision before he rolled his eyes. He slipped Riptide back into his pocket with a smile. "Come on then, let's go."

I considered arguing with him but truthfully, I was ready to quit. As long as I didn't have to say it, I was fine.

However, just because he was doing me a favour didn't mean I couldn't tease him. I flashed him a smirk. "It's okay Percy; you don't have to make up ridiculous excuses. You can admit when you're tired."

He gave me a disbelieving look before he burst out laughing. He threw an arm around my shoulders and shook his head. "Okay Fred, I admit it. You're tired."

I narrowed my eyes at the green-eyed boy. "Cute or not, I will hurt you."

He winked and playfully dropped his head on my shoulders. If my heart skipped a beat at the action, I didn't let it lighten my glare.

"No you wouldn't, you like me too much."

I drew in a breath to retaliate, but I was interrupted by a polite cough. I was too busy glaring down the newest god to notice who it was but Percy's eyes went wide and he immediately pulled away. I couldn't stop the slight feeling of bereavement at the loss of contact.

I turn my glare on the intruder and felt my shoulders stiffen. If there was one person that you didn't want to catch you arguing/flirting with your best friend, it was said best friends girlfriend.

"Hey Wise-Girl," Percy's 100 watt grin was in place but something about his eyes seemed a little off.

"Hey Percy," She returned his smile, though it dropped a little when she looked back at me, "Hey Fred."

I cleared my throat and nodded in acknowledgement, "Annabeth."

About ten seconds of silence later and I was positive that we were all feeling sufficiently awkward.

The son of Poseidon broke the stillness, "Were you looking for me?"

The daughter of Athena seemed to shake off her thoughts, "Oh, ya. Sorry. I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch with me."

The young god's smile widened. "That sounds great, what do you say Fred?"

Percy turned to fix his smile on me so he didn't see the look that crossed his girlfriends face. I couldn't help but chuckle. For someone who had saved the world on multiple occasions, he seemed to be woefully oblivious to the romantic side of life. Though truthfully, it would only help me. If I made a slip up in hiding my affections, I doubted he would notice. It made me wonder how he and Annabeth got together in the first place though.

As much as I always loved an excuse to spend time with the son of Poseidon, I also knew how much Annabeth meant to him. It was also obvious to me that their relationship was sinking. If he wanted to fix it, he would need to spend some time with her, without all of his friends. Even though a part of me was more than fine with the idea of being his comforting shoulder after they broke-up, he was my friend. I decided weeks ago that I wasn't going to stand between them. No matter how tempting the idea was.

Sometimes I really hated my selfless side...

I cleared my throat. "Umm Perce, I think she meant just the two of you."

It took less than a second before his eyes widened and he looked back at the daughter of Athena with a bright blush on his cheeks. "Oh, okay. Sure."

The daughter of Athena rolled her eyes and stepped forward to take his hand. "Come on, Sea-weed brain."

He looked back over his shoulder as they left, "See you Fred."

Maybe I was just reading things wrong but, it seemed to me that now Percy knew it was just going to be the two of them, some of his enthusiasm had faded. It was weird to me considering that less than three weeks ago, Percy would have been ecstatic to spend time with her.

I was probably just seeing things that weren't there.

ΩΩΩ

Percy POV

I felt like a jerk.

I accused Annabeth of not spending anytime on our relationship. Now that I had actually said something rather than just keeping my thoughts to myself, she was working on changing her work habits. Not that she was slacking, but this was the fourth time over the last seven days that she had taken an hour or so off to spend with me. She would sneak away to join me for lunch or dinner, or even just for a quick sparing practice.

I should have been over the moon about the change, but for some reason I wasn't. It's not that I wasn't happy at all, just that it wasn't as big of deal as it should have been. It was similar to how I felt being able to see Will, Nico, and Piper after two months. It was like I had gotten a chance to see a friend.

I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what... or more accurately, what to do about it.

I had been in a relationship with the daughter of Athena for over a year, but it had never felt like this. Even before we'd gotten together, Annabeth was different. She had always been the one who I would pick above all of my other friends. It constantly made my heart leap to be near her.

Without that spark... I felt lost.

ΩΩΩ

Lunch was a rather quiet affair. Annabeth told me about her plans for Khion's temple. I tried to add to the conversation, but I couldn't think of anything to say.

I walked Annabeth home afterwards. When we got to the door, she reached up and pulled me down for a kiss. I gave her a smile and said good-bye as she headed back to her work.

I made my way back to Apollo's apartment. I was doing my best not to think about the kiss, but nothing could stop my brain from thinking about our relationship. It felt like we were falling apart. I was beginning to worry that I was wrong. I was beginning to think that maybe I wasn't imagining things.

Because as much as it killed me even to think it, in that kiss, I felt nothing.

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Authors Note

I have had a few people ask me now about when exactly I will update on the Sundays. I can't guarantee a time. I post the chapters when I can but not only do I live in one of the last time zones to flip over, I also work the night shift. Sometimes I can post it first thing in the morning (like 4-5am MST) but that's only if the chapter is completely done and already self-edited by Saturday night. I promise to post it, but please bear with me.

Also sorry for the length of this chapter, it was crazy hard to write. In recompense for an unsatisfying length, I'm going to be posting an aside in Annabeth's POV. It should be up this week if all goes according to plan.

P.S. we're getting really close to the big break up.

Next update will be August 2nd

Next Chapter:

It seemed the more we tried to close the gap between us, the bigger it got.