HEY GUYS! Here is Chapter 8 of Layers!

This is my longest chapter yet so tell me how you like it! ;)

ALL THINGS PERCY JACKSON BELONG TO THE OH SO WONDERFUL... Rick Riordan.

It had been 16 days and Annabeth still hadn't heard anything from Jason.

A part of her was happy that she didn't have any unnecessary drama in her life, but the other parts of her missed her boyfriend. She missed his laugh and his smile and his humor and his touch. She missed it all.
But she stood her ground and held onto her pride because it wasn't like he cared. What hurt the most was that he didn't even seemed phased by her absence. She still saw him laughing with his friends and acting like nothing had changed, even when someone who was supposed to be one of the most important people in his life, had been out of it for more than 2 weeks.

But then again.

Annabeth was grateful.

It was around that time where the teachers were staring to get into the groove of the new school year... which meant more work for the students. And seeing as Annabeth was already in all AP classes, she had more than most.
A moody boyfriend would just get in the way of that.

Well that's what she kept telling herself anyway.

Things had calmed down slightly at school. Thalia and Leo had gotten in trouble for a locker prank a few days ago, but aside from that, things had been kind of...boring. But best of all, she had no more problems with Percy Jackson. Well she hadn't had any problems as of now, she didn't want to jinx herself.

The last she had heard from him was when he barged into biology angry and red faced a few days after she gave him the apology. He stood in front of her and spoke angrily at her about paying off teachers.
Apparently he had read the letter.
He accused her of giving Mr. Brunner money to overlook her 'discretion's' as he called them. Annabeth thought that was laugh worthy. She had absolutely no money of her own and if she did, she wouldn't be spending it on paying teachers to keep their mouths shut. But he didn't appreciate her laughing at him. So he yelled at her until Calypso, who decided that she would be late to class that day, finally came to save her and hilariously made him go sit down in his seat.

Far away from Annabeth.

That was the last time they had any interaction. They were completely ignoring each other during 2nd period and 5th, but Annabeth kind of considered his cold shoulder a blessing.

(line break)

Annabeth was sitting next to Thalia in her car after getting lunch from Subway.
Piper had to do a rain check because she was was meeting her new boyfriend for lunch, so Thalia decided to take Annabeth, Leo and Nico out.

"It's so dirty in here. I feel weird about eating where something could just jump on my sandwich and walk away with it." Leo said from the backseat.

Taking a bite of his sandwich, Nico shrugged. "You get used to it. Plus it's a thousand times worse back here. Little Miss Priss likes to keep her area clean and then forgets about other people that might have to sit in the back." He paused, "Why am i in the back again?"
Thalia rolled her eyes, "To keep Leo company. And i doubt you would appreciate me and Annabeth yelling across the car about our periods."
Both of the boy's eyes widened, "You guys seriously talk about your p-lady things?"

"Not at all, but for a minute there you were terrified." Thalia said with a smirk.
"You guys are cruel," Leo whispered. "One day there's gonna be a guy that doesn't care about that stuff and you won't have the upper hand anymore."

Annabeh laughed and finally spoke up, "Yeah and when that day comes you guys could use some lessons on how to man up."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Nico said balling up his sandwich wrapper and throwing it on the floor, adding to the clutter.

"C'mon Leotard got need to leave 'cuz i feel some girl talk coming on."

"But... I haven't eaten my sandwich yet." Leo said, still looking around for things that could jump at him.
Nico shook his head and jumped out of the car taking his backpack with him. "Suit yourself." He looked at the girls and waved, "Bye ladies," he nodded to Leo, "Leonnaise."

"Just Leo is fine!" He said annoyed, but Nico had already shut the door. "Jerk wad."

"Ok!" Thalia said loudly. She clapped her hands like a child. "Annie, you're coming over after school."

"Why?"

"We're going shopping." Thalia said excitedly.

"We're going shopping?" Annabeth asked incredulously. Thalia doesn't shop and on the rare occasions that she did it didn't lead to anything good. She had a history of scaring shoppers and had been removed from 4 stores...forcefully.

Thalia just laughed, "Yes silly I need some new shoes."

"Yeah...but that's why online shopping was created. For people like you."

"People like me, what does that mean?" She asked annoyed.

"That means that you don't like people. Especially large masses of people, so why would you purposely subject yourself to the mall if you don't have to." She asked with narrowed eyes.
Something was up. It was most likely a trap, a trap where Thalia got Annabeth to buy her something crazy, but she couldn't bring herself to say no, she wanted some new shoes herself.
"I call shenanigans, but whatever."

Leo leaned in between them finally eating his sandwich. "Why does Thalia wanting to shop seem shady?" He asked, some bread flying out of his mouth onto the radio knob making Annabeth want to gag.

"Gross dude," Thalia said picking up the chunk like it was nothing and throwing it out the window, making Annabeth want to gag even more. Thalia answered, "Little Annie here thinks I can't behave myself in public establishments based on some passed... incidences."

Annabeth turned around to look at Leo, "Passed incidences my ass. She has been banned from Forever 21, Macy's and Walmart!"

"How in the world do you get banned from Walmart?"

She threw up her hands, "That's what I'm asking!"

They heard the girl next to them sigh, "You knock down a few fruit towers and suddenly you're a criminal." She mumbled to herself.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and turned back around. "I'll go to the mall with you. Only," she said before Thalia could interrupt, "Only if Leo comes with us."

Leo choked, "W-w-what? Why do I have to come?"

"That way she might calm down a bit."

"But I don't like shopping, especially with girls."

"You'll like this trip, trust me."

"I don't have any money," Leo said grasping at straws.

"I'll spot you the cash Leo." Annabeth said with a laugh.

Thalia turned towards her friends. "Ooh, and where are you getting all this money from Annie?"

She shrugged, "Savings mostly. That's why I need to find a job soon."

Thalia scrunched her nose at that and Annabeth laughed, "Thalia we can't all be rich, some of us need jobs to get money."

"I could always give you some money Annabeth, it's not like anyone watches how I spend it." Thalia said shrugging.

She was shaking her head before her friend had stopped talking, "No Thals, I have to do this. It will prepare me for when I can't rely on my mother's money anymore."

"Yeah I work over at Wes's Body Shop. Good pay and I have fun doing it. Jobs aren't always awful." Leo chimed in.

Annabeth spun around, "So you don't really need any money?" She demanded.

Leo shied away from the agitated girl. "Well I will always want more, but I don't particularly need it at the moment. That was just a plea to get out of shopping."

"Whatever Leonardo. You're going with us." Annabeth said just to piss him off.

Thalia turned around smiling widely, "Come on, Valdez it's gonna be fun. We rarely go out like this."

Leo mumbled, "I'm sure I'm about to find out why."

Thalia waved him away.

"So Chick, what kind of job are you looking for?"

She leaned over to Leo and whispered loudly, "Cross your fingers she doesn't want to be a stripper. She can't dance for shit let alone money."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at her friend, "No Thalia I don't want to be a stripper. I want to do something I actually like. I need to look online for some open positions around here."

"You can do that tonight," Thalia said looking at her nails.

"I thought we were going shopping. Already changed your mind?"

"Nope, I've just decided to make this a sleepover."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "When we're you planning on telling me?"

Thalia shrugged, "When I didn't take you home after going to the mall."

"Do I get to sleep over?" Leo chirped, his eyebrows raising comically.

"Nope you have to go back to where you came from." Thalia said sympathetically.

"Will you at least feed me?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure," she said patting his head. "Okay!" She said loudly as if they weren't already paying attention. "We have 3 things on the agenda for today. Mall. Zoo. Then sleepover."

Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows, "Why are we going to the zoo?"

"I told Leo I would take him home." She said with an innocent smile.

"Hey! I do not live in a zoo!"

(line break)

"Ok. Chick, I will see you after 7th. Meet me in the parking lot and get ready for Thalia's Day For Loads Of Fun!" Thalia said to Annabeth as they walked out of biology class.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and chuckled before she walked away. She was halfway down the hall when someone called out to her. She turned around and slowed down when she saw Calypso trying to catch up.

"Hey," she said slightly winded.

"Hey." Annabeth chuckled.

"Don't laugh. I know I need exercise. You have history next, right?"

She nodded.

"Good, it's your lucky day. You're getting walked to class by Calypso Atlas."

Annabeth laughed, "Okay. Are you going to protect my honor?"

"Of course, fair maiden."

They walked for a few minutes in comfortable silence when Calypso broke it,
"I heard you and Thalia talking about having plans this afternoon. What are you guys doing if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh we're going shopping with Leo and then having a sleepover slash find-Annabeth-a-job night."

A look passed over the other girl's face. "You need a job?"

Annabeth nodded, "Why do you know of anything?" She asked almost eagerly.

"Yeah I do. Do you like books?"

"I absolutely love books." She said smiling.

Calypso shook her head. "I never understood book lovers, but whatever. Ok so there's a job at Athens Books, you know where it is? It's a few miles from the school." Annabeth nodded, she was pretty sure she had seen it before and motioned Calypso to continue.

"Ok so I know the owner, Sally, she's a really sweet lady and she's not necessarily hiring, but she needs some more help around the store. I could talk to her for you if you're interested."

Annabeth couldn't help herself and leaned over to hug the shorter girl. "Oh my gosh thank you! I owe you."

Calypso waved her away, "No you don't, you're my friend so I want to help. Let me call her and I'll text you about what she says."

Annabeth chuckled, "You have her number?"

Calypso nodded and avoided her eyes as she pulled out her cell phone. "Yeah we're good friends. She's like family."

Annabeth smiled, "That's sweet. Why didn't you ever work there?" She asked.

"Oh I did."

"What happened?"

"I realized I didn't like books." She laughed and left Annabeth to go to class.

Annabeth smiled as she left 7th period and made her way the parking lot. Calypso had called the bookstore and Annabeth was going to meet the owner after they went to the mall.
She spotted Thalia's car across the lot and walked over. She was listening to music and had her eyes closed while her head bobbed to the beat. Annabeth knocked on the window to get her attention and she heard the lock of the door click. She climbed in and got settled, turning down the music to talk.
"Are we waiting on Leo?"

"No, but I told him we had something to do and he should come find us in 15 minutes." Thalia said sounding half asleep.

"Why'd you tell him that?" She asked confused.

"Cuz we're gonna talk."

Annabeth waited a few seconds to see if she would respond.

She didn't.

"Talk about what Thals?"

"Whatever is going on with you and my idiot brother." She answered sounding more awake.

Annabeth didn't say anything so Thalia sat up and turned towards her. "What's going on? Its been...what like 2 weeks?"

"16 days." Annabeth answered mutely.

"And do you miss him?"

Annabeth threw her hands up, "Of course I miss him, Thals."

"Then why the hell are you two being so damn stubborn!" She scolded."You love each other and you miss each other so why isn't that enough?"

"It's enough for me. Just not him apparently." She said sullenly.

"Why haven't you reached out to him?"

Annabeth's responding scoff said enough.

"You can't be so prideful in these situations Annabeth." Thalia argued, trying to talk some sense into her friend.

"Well he hasn't tried to contact me now has he? Why should I go out of my way when he's just going around like it's completely normal to not be around me?"

Thalia sighed and scrubbed her face. "I don't know. To be the bigger person maybe?" She stopped when she saw Annabeth's expression. "Look, I think you both just need to sit down and have a chat. It's stupid to fight over something thing like Percy Jackson."

"That's not really..."
Thalia cut her off.

"Have you even told him what happened after he left?"

"No, I haven't talked to him in weeks Thalia."

"Well see that's one problem. This could have already been cleared up."

"You're putting this on me? I don't see him busting down my doors to find out!"
Annabeth crossed her arms and tried to stop the pout forming on her face. She knew she was probably being childish and if she had seen herself acting like this 2 weeks ago, she would have already kicked herself in the ass and said to stop being so petty, but that wasn't going to stop her from feeling like she did.

"Well chick were going to nip that in the bud tonight."

Annabeth whipped her head around. "What are you talking about?"

Thalia smiled deviously. "I think you sometimes forget that Jason and I are siblings and that we live in the same house."

Annabeth dug her palms into her eyes and groaned. Oh course Thalia had already planned this! It was probably the entire reason for the impromptu shopping trip.
"Thalia I don't want to do this. Not tonight."

She felt the annoying girl pat her on the shoulder. "Dude relax, you guys don't even have to talk. I just thought it would help if you two were in the same area and maybe saw each other."

"We're you ever actually planning on helping me find a job?"

"Of course. Just...after you had talked to Jason."

Annabeth looked back at her friend. "Well we don't have to worry about that now."

"Why not? Did you change your mind?"

"No. Calypso got me an interview with the owner of a book store down the street. We're going to stop by after we go to the mall."

Annabeth turned as she heard the back door open behind her. And Leo stuck his head in. "Hey. What did I miss?"
He said getting completely in and making himself comfortable.

"We're taking Annie to a job interview after the mall." Thalia said while she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Oh that's cool. Where at?"

"Athens Books."

He nodded, "Oh yeah I've been there a few times, the owner is super nice, so you don't have to worry about bitchy bosses."

Annabeth laughed, "Yeah I know. Calypso told me she was nice."

"Calypso Atlas? She's hot."

Thalia rolled her eyes, "She's taken, so you're gonna need to find another girl to pine over, lover boy."

Leo scoffed, "Oh please, I can name them all. Leo is not a one woman kind of man. Let's see...we have Peyton Cross, Kailey Tatum, Cameron Iman, you two ladies of course, Annslie Chapman..."
That was how the rest of the car ride went. The entire time they were in the car up until they made it to Thalia's house, Leo named every girl from the school that he thought was hot.

"Where are we going again? Aw man you guys are gonna kidnap me aren't you?" Leo cried from the backseat.
They were driving on a trail in the woods and to an outsider, it looked like they were in the middle of nowhere, but Annabeth knew they were only a few minutes away from Thalia's house.

Zeus Olympian, billionaire entrepreneur and owner of Olympian Inc., also known as Thalia and Jason's father, wanted to build a house big enough to live up to his name. Even though there were only 4 people living there at the time, he wanted his fortress to be larger than anything the state of New York had ever seen. And he accomplished just that, but there wasn't any open property around so he had to build in the secluded forests. The house was the perfect set of a scary movie.

She heard Leo's sharp intake of breath as they pulled up to the front gate. She chuckled at him, her response to the mansion was similar if not worse when she saw it for the first time back in 3rd grade. She had sat there open mouthed for 10 minutes just staring until Zeus finally made them come inside.

Thalia drove up and typed the pass-code to get into the gate and Leo watched in amazement as the tall iron gates opened to show a castle of a home.

Annabeth turned around and whispered to Leo. "Wait until you get inside."

Thalia parked in the large circular driveway and hopped out without another word. Annabeth and Leo got out and had to jog to keep up with Thalia seeing as she was already past the large columns that flanked the front door. She heard Leo sputtering behind her. "This place has got to be...what 50,000 square feet?"

Annabeth smirked, "66,380 square feet and over 1000 acres of land."

"How...?"

Annabeth shrugged, "I had to do a architecture project back in 10th grade and Mr. O said I could use their house."

"I'm guessing that's their dad?"

Annabeth nodded as they walked inside the massive house.

As much as the house resembled a castle the inside was surprisingly modern. Dark wooden floors, marble accents, bright decorations and tons of windows. Zeus let his wife take care of all the decorating.

"Where is Thalia's room?"

"Well, she has a room, but it's more of a space. She has a third of the entire house."

His eyes bugged. "A third? Who has the rest of the house?"

"Jason has another third..."

"Your boyfriend?" Leo interrupted.

"Uh yeah. And then the rest is for their mom and dad. Well, when he's home."

"Is he home often?" He asked as they climbed the spiral staircase to Thalia's room.

"Maybe one or twice a month." She shook her head. "It's complicated."

They reached the top of the stairs in silence.

"Thalia!" Annabeth called out, "Where are you?"

"Game room!" She called back.

They made a few turns and went down a hallway that opened up into the large room.

"Wow," Leo whistled, "I like the color scheme."

"I know right." Thalia answered from a big couch in the center of the room, "I never knew how many shades of black there were until I had to paint this room."

Annabeth sighed, "Thalia you know I like coming to your house, but why are we here exactly?"

"I needed to get my wallet."

"Is that why you're lounging on your couch right now? Looking for your wallet?" She asked incredulously.

"Fine fine lets go," she said and hopped off the couch and headed to the door.

"But we just got here."

"You can come back sometime later, lover boy." She said patting his shoulder.

(line break)

"I want some ice cream."

Leo whined as he shouldered the shopping bags on his arms. "Scratch that; I deserve ice cream."

"Stop complaining they aren't even that heavy." Thalia said as they made their way through Hot Topic.

"That's because you aren't holding them!"

"Don't be a pansy, Leo."

She fingered some skull earrings and put them in her cart. "We're almost done anyway, Annie just has to get some more shoes."

"Annabeth, just needs 2 pairs and my shopping doesn't take anywhere as long as Thalia's does so we should be out of here pretty soon." She said rolling her eyes.

"Okay, okay I'm done, calm your tits," Thalia complained and payed for her items.

"Okay where to Annabeth?"

She shrugged, she didn't shop very often and when she did, it was online. She had no clue what to look for.

"Well you're in luck, I know just the place," she grabbed Annabeth's hand and dragged her to the back of the mall.

"No I don't want any of your emo shoes." She said trying to free her hand from Thalia's wicked grasp.

She just pulled her harder.

"They won't be black I promise. And... the first pair is on me."

Annabeth groaned. "You don't have to do that."

"Oh I know, but I plan on paying for the expensive pair." She said turning a corner.

"What's your definition of expensive?"

She got her answer when they turned into a Christian Louboutin outlet. Leo whistled under his breath.

"Are you kidding me?"

Annabeth yanked her hand away and crossed her arms. What would she even do with a pair of Louboutin shoes? It's not like she went that many places, let alone places that called for those kind of shoes.

Thalia seemed to read her mind.

"It's only one pair and you could wear them on a date or out somewhere nice. Or even to school when you need to show everyone who's boss."

Thalia turned on the puppy dog eyes and tried to plead with the angry blonde.

"Just imagine how good your legs would look in them Annie. Jason wouldn't be able to keep his hands off of you."

Annabeth looked at her friend and sighed. She could picture the perfect pair of pumps on her feet, making her look like a goddess. She felt a hint of a smile on her face and that was how she ended up leaving the mall with a pair of bright green Vans... and some 4 inch nude pumps with the signature red sole.

"Okay gang!" Thalia yelled. "Time to go get Annie a job!"

(line break)

Athens Books was a quaint little cabin that looked so out of place next to the bustling buildings around it.
It was made out of dark wood and had twinkling lights hanging from the roof as if it was Christmastime instead of mid September. It looked so different from the other stores and Annabeth loved it already. She went inside and was immediately hit by the smell of pine, chocolate and cinnamon; it was very homey. The place looked a lot bigger on the inside than the out. There were rows and rows of books to the right and from what she could see, there were plenty of choices ranging from Historical Fiction all the way to Sci-fi fantasies. There was a large sitting area to the left with wooden chairs and large bean bag chairs where a few people were drinking coffee and working on their laptops.
Directly in front of them was a small receptionist desk being occupied by a young girl.

Annabeth walked to the desk and made sure her footsteps were loud enough not to startle her.
"Hello."

"What do you want?" The girl asked; not even looking up from the book she was reading.

Annabeth cleared her throat, "Um, I'm looking for Sally..."

The girl glanced up and glared, "Why?"

"I'm here for a job."

"We aren't hiring."

Annabeth sighed, "Could you just let me know where she is?" She paused, "Please?"

The girl just went back to reading her book as if Annabeth had never spoken.

Well so much for that.

She pushed off the desk and turned around to head back to the car when a smiling woman appeared in front of her.
"Hi, I'm sorry about her she's not a morning or afternoon person. How can I help you?"

The woman had long brown hair down to her waist and big blue eyes framing her heart shaped face. She looked like a little fairy.

"Yes, I'm looking for Sally. Is she here?"

The woman smiled brightly, "Sally Jackson, at your service."

Annabeth was speechless. This is who owned the store? She was gorgeous. Not that older people aren't, but this woman couldn't be older than her late 20s.

"I'm 37 actually."

Annabeth's face went red. She had said that out loud.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear that." She said still blushing.

Sally waved her away, "Nonsense. That's the best compliment a woman my age can get these days." She patted Annabeth's shoulder.

"Now you must be Annabeth. Calypso called about you earlier, you're looking for a job right?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Okay then. Tell me about yourself." She said walking over to the couches and sitting down.

Annabeth walked over and sat next to her, "Well, my name is Annabeth Chase, I'm 17 and a senior. My mother is Athena Chase. I have twin brothers, Bobby and Mathew. I enjoy reading and writing. I want to go to college outside of New York and I want to be an architect."
She took in a gulp of air and glanced over at Sally who was just looking at her with her face in her palms.

"Athena Chase, the neurologist?" Is all she asked.

Annabeth nodded slowly.

"I've met your mother." Sally said an odd tone.

Annabeth rushed to plead her case, "I'm nothing like her if that's what you're wondering."

Sally laughed and patted her knee. "I know you aren't sweety. I could tell from the minute you walked through that door."

Annabeth relaxed. "Good. Well...that's me."

Sally nodded, "You've got the job."

Annabeth jumped up. "Seriously, that's it?" She said with a wide grin.

"Yes. You seem like a good girl who can get her business done."

"I can."

Sally clasped her hands together and got up motioning for Annabeth to follow her into the back room. "Okay so all you're going to be doing is shelve and organize books and help customers find their books. It gets crowded in here sometimes so you have Jessica here to help. That's the girl at the desk." Annabeth nodded not looking forward to her. "And there are times when Jess isn't here so my son comes by to help out sometimes."

Annabeth nodded while she processed the info, when a question popped into her mind. "What would my hours be?"

"When can you get here?"

"Well school ends at 2:15 so maybe 2:30 or 2:40."

Sally nodded, "2:40 to 6:00 and you can just call me if you can't make it on time. How does that sound?"

"That's perfect."

She said smiling.

They spent the next 30 minutes going over all of Annabeth's duties and pay and when they were done Sally walked Annabeth out and gave her a hug. "Welcome to the Athens family Annabeth, we're lucky to have you."

Annabeth smiled at the sweet woman in front of her, "Thank you, I'm happy to be apart of this. I cannot thank you enough."

Sally shook her head, "It was my pleasure. And plus, I gained a new friend today."

Annabeth chuckled and hugged her once more before turning to find Thalia's car.

"So...what happened?" Thalia asked as soon she got in the car.

Annabeth paused for dramatic effect. "...I start Monday."

Leo clapped her on the back and Thalia gave her a hug. "That's awesome chick!"

"Yeah and do you want to hear the best news?"

Thalia nodded.

"You get to drive me here everyday after school!" Annabeth said enthusiastically.

Thalia's face fell. "That's not good news."

"It is! We can have bonding time," Annabeth said cheekily.

Thalia just huffed.

"Next stop. The Valdez residence!" Annabeth yelled.

(line break)

When Annabeth and Thalia made it back to the mansion, it was only 6 o'clock, but Thalia insisted that they put on their pajamas anyway to make it a real sleepover. So Annabeth dug into the pajama drawer that had been made for her years ago, to find something to wear and ended up in a Mickey Mouse onesie. She put her hair in a bun and joined Thalia in the game room to watch movies.

They were on movie 2 when a door slammed downstairs and a voice called up.
"Thalia you home?"

"Yeah in the game room!"

Annabeth stiffened when she heard Jason's footsteps climb up Thalia's side of the house.

Thalia leaned over and whispered, "Relax. Nothing is going to happen, he's probably just...taking the long way to his room." She said with a chuckle.

Annabeth shot her a withering look. She wasn't amused.

Thalia sighed, "Look it was bound to happen. Stop being so stubborn."

She heard the doorknob turn and Jason peeked his head in. "Hey Thals did you eat yet I was..." He stopped when he saw Annabeth, who was just staring ahead.

"Yeah we already ate dude, it's almost 12 o'clock." Thalia said while watching Annabeth.

She heard him swallow, "O-okay just checking." He stuttered and closed the door quickly.

Thalia burst out laughing. "He almost shit his pants!"

Annabeth glared, "That wasn't funny Thals."

Thalia chuckled and turned back to the TV, "Yeah sure it wasn't. But I'm glad. You guys had some visual contact. Next time, we're going to work on your talking skills."
Annabeth rolled her eyes and started looking at the movie again.

They watched 2 more movies before Thalia was knocked out. Annabeth was sleepy too, but she needed something to drink, her throat felt like sandpaper. She turned off the TV and quietly crept out to the hallway and down stairs to the kitchen. She entered the gargantuan kitchen and went expertly around the cabinets to find the tea bags and a pot to boil the water.

"Always needed a late night drink before you went to bed, huh?"

Annabeth stiffened and almost dropped the mug in her hands. She didn't say anything as she heard Jason moving closer to her.

"Could you put an extra tea bag in there?" He asked.

Annabeth silently added another bag to the water.

She heard him sigh behind her, "Annabeth we can't just not talk to each other. This isn't us, we don't fight."

She whipped around to him so fast her ponytail hit her in the face. "You've been doing just fine for the past few weeks, I don't know why you would want change it now." She spat angrily.

He looked taken aback. "I wanted to talk to you, I just thought you would be mad."

"Oh and why in the world would I be mad, Jason?" She asked sarcastically.

He ran a hand through his hair, "I know I was being a shitty boyfriend, but I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

"Sure you are."

"I am. I should have listened to you and trusted your judgement."

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know. It's not like you've ever been wrong before. I should have taken your word for it and let it go."

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you know what happened after I gave him the letter against your 'wishes'?"

He nodded begrudgingly.

"What happened then?" She asked tersely.

"According to Thalia you shoved it up his ass and gave him a piece of his own medicine...you handled it...by yourself." He mumbled.

She stepped closer and put a hand to her ear, "I'm sorry. What was that?"

"You handled it." He said louder that time.

"Exactly." She snapped. "I did what I told you I was going to do and nothing happened."

He nodded, "I know you did and I should have known. I didn't mean for this to go on as long as it did."

"So why did it?" She asked, turning around to fix her tea.

"Because I thought that me leaving you would make you realize that you need me when it's actually quite the opposite."

She stayed silent not saying anything as she got the honey and sugar.

She felt his hands on her waist turning her around, "I've realized that I need you more. Please forgive me?"

She glared at him, "Why should I?"

He put the full force of his eyes on her and pulled his lips up into a grin. "Because I love you, Anna. And I know you love me too."

She felt her walls cracking quickly and she needed to get one thing in before they caved completely. "You won't do that again. You will trust my judgment, always." She said with the last ounce of coldness she could muster.

Jason nodded, "Never again."

He reached out to take her hair out of its restraints and ran his hands through her curls. She felt herself getting lost in his bright orbs right up until he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers.

Sparks.

Annabeth sighed into Jason and was just getting ready to deepen the kiss when a voice made them brake apart.

"About fucking time."

They turned around to find a half asleep Thalia rummaging through the cabinets looking for something until she found some Oreo's, saluted them both and turned back to her room without another word.

Jason chuckled, shaking his head and pulled Annabeth into a bone crushing hug.

Annabeth sighed and pushed her nose into his shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent.

She was home.

SO THAT WAS CHAPTER 8!
Annabeth now has a job working for Sally Jackson...hmmm.
You guys also got a smudge of info on Thalia's home life and some background
AND Annabeth and Jason got sort of 'back together'.

Let me know what you thought about it.

QUESTION: What do you guys think of Jason? ;)

~TUTU