Annabeth- What is wrong with me?

Ok, I thought to myself. It's not rocket science Annabeth, that's considerably easier.

I crouched behind the poseidon cabin, spying my boyfriend, Percy, riding his midnight black pegasus. I had left the meal early without Chiron knowing, so I could meet Percy when he got here.

Since we got back to half blood, Percy and I have been fighting nonstop, and every time afterwards, I would walk away and think, Why did I say that? I always start it, and he always tries to finish it as soon as possible. It's a vicious cycle. I would go up to him, try to talk to him, or at least try to apologise… and every time I approach him, I just… don't love him. Worse, I hate him, and I don't know why. It's involuntary, I find myself needing to find something to fight about, something to say solely for the purpose of spiting him. So I usually go back to the one subject we disagree about: Daniel.

I don't understand. I would go up to him with the best intentions, the intentions I feel right now. I love Percy, so much. But he's more than just my boyfriend; since we were twelve he's been my best friend, and that never changed. He makes me laugh, he's always there for me, and my gods he's just so… Percy. However, whenever I approach him, whenever I gaze into those sea green eyes that used to mesmerize me, I reveal a side of me that I have never felt before. A person that simply isn't me. Even after that tender moment at capture the flag, I spat it all back in his face. I feel like in those moments, it is my personal mission to push him away from me, to destroy our relationship.

Blackjack landed just outside the cabin's door, and Percy patted his neck before he flew off. Percy turned and placed his hand on the doorknob, then paused, taking a shaky breath before pushing himself into his cabin. I waited till a count of five, then snuck around, still crouched as I reached the doorway. He'd left the door wide open.

It was obvious then that something was wrong. Percy was just standing there in the middle of the room, his body shaking, fists clenched, shoulders sagged. He looked like at any moment his legs were going to collapse under him. Part of me wanted to just leave him alone; the last thing I want to do is hurt him further, but what if he needed me? He looks like he does. I can keep myself together, I thought. I love him, and he needs me. I couldn't possibly go off at him, not while he's like this. Just stay calm, Annabeth, I counseled myself. Besides, I wanted to know what's bothering him, now that he'd peaked my interest.

"Percy?" I started, as I stood up in the doorway. He choked out a small sob in reply. "Are you ok?"

"Yea," he said, in a small voice. "I'm fine." He didn't turn around. It's obvious he was lying to me, and the instant realisation rose boiling anger in my chest. I swallowed as I forced down the rage that had so quickly built inside of me. Calm down, I told myself. I slowly walked towards him, my resolve weakening a little with every step, until I was right behind him. I wrapped my hands around him, and placed my cheek on his back.

"What's wrong, seaweed brain?"

"Nothing," he croaked, the lie once again sending an electric jolt through me that made me tighten my grip around his body. I calmed myself down once more, assisted by the feeling of his hand on mine.

"Percy, tell me. I want to help."

"You can't help, Annabeth. Trying will only make things worse." This definitely made me feel angrier than it should have. I let go of him, and walked around, until I was staring into his eyes. They looked like those of a tortured puppy, but all he got from me was a steely gaze, no longer capable of caring that he was hurting.

"What is it?" I asked harshly.

"It makes no difference, Annabeth," he said. I continued staring into those eyes of his. They were like the ocean, able to change as quickly as the tide. But at that point, the surf was flat. He looked defeated, a realisation that gave me a deep, dark joy. I knew I would feel bad about it later, but I didn't care.

"Percy, what are you keeping from me?"

"It… It's better for you that you just don't worry about it. It's not for you to know," he said, already knowing what my reaction would be.

"Not for me to know?!" I screamed

"Percy Jackson don't you dare keep things from me! I'm the smart one in this relationship! You don't decide what's better for me!"

"Leave, Annabeth," he said softly. "You're not helping me, and you're definitely not helping 'us'. Please go. I've got enough problems to last an eternity," he said, his eyes dropping at the end of the sentence.

"Well if you're so desperate to get rid of me, why not just end 'us' now?!"

He choked back a sob. "If- if that'l make things easier, then I won't stop you," he said quietly, tears building in his eyes.

"Fine then! We're done! I'll leave tomorrow. Enjoy fighting the war all… by… yourself," I said slyly. As if the war was the most important thing on his mind.

"Ok, wise girl… Then- then go. If what we have is so easily manipulated, then it's not worth keeping alive," he looked up at me, and our eyes met.

"Fine!" I screamed, expecting him to be bluffing. Surely he can't be serious, I thought.

He gestured to the door. "Then… goodbye. There's have enough issues I have to deal with, I… I don't need you adding to them," his voice cracked.

I searched his eyes, looking for a sign that he didn't mean what he just said. But all I could find was sadness; broken, hopeless sadness. He was serious. So naturally I did the best possible thing I could have done; I hit him. 'Hit' being the defining word. I drew back my arm, curling my hand into a fist. He hardly flinched as my fingers cracked against his cheekbone. He seemed more hurt emotionally than physically.

At least his crying now, I thought, bitterly, as a tear slowly ran down his cheek. I followed up by screaming a profanity in ancient greek, that does not bare repeating. Lets just say it had something to do with male genitalia, and leave it at that. Then, when I was done screaming at him, I stormed out, slamming the door behind me, confident I had just gave him the worst night of his life.

Once I was about ten feet from his door, the anger, hatred and rage dispersed almost instantaneously, replaced with the realisation that I had just done the very opposite of what I went there to do. I stopped walking, as a sinking feeling entered my stomach, and I felt my chest tighten to the realisation that I just screamed at him, punched him and then screamed at him some more, before running out like a child. Worst of all, we broke up. I toyed with the idea of going back for a second, but I was pretty sure that I'd just left our relationship dead and buried. I took another step, then another, then another, quickly breaking out into a fit of sobbing. I found myself sitting on a log at the hearth, alone. The sobbing turned into crying, and I placed my elbows on my knees and I rested my face in my palms as tears freed themselves from my eyes, and I went on silently in the night, for a few minutes.

Suddenly, I felt the cold night air heat up around me and I looked up to find the hearth fully alight, with a young girl sitting on the coals. She appeared about eight years old, with flowing brown hair, and flaming eyes, burning as bright as the hearth, yet in a calm and kind natured way, like the fire that warms your home, rather than the fire that burns it down.

She looked at me, a sympathetic smile of her face.

"Lady Hestia?" I asked, surprised to be face to face with a goddess, not to mention the only one I haven't met thus far.

"Young Annabeth Chase," she began. "It's been a hard path, hasn't it?" I felt the fire of the hearth warm my body, but I also felt more at peace, looking at the face of the goddess.

"Do not despair so easily. Your predicament is not your fault, and Perseus knows that. He knows more than you would believe."

"What does he refuse to tell me?" I asked, then I thought of a better question. "What is wrong with me? Why am I like this?"

"Questions that I… am not permitted to answer. I believe that in time, you will have your answers. Whether they come from his mouth or not, I cannot say. But one way or another, you'll learn the truth. These answers are not for me to give."

"But… at least- surely you can help me?" I asked, possibly stepping a bit out of line. But Hestia is known for her kindness.

"The hearth," she said, gesturing briefly to the fire as she continued to tend it. "This is a place of peace. No forces would dare intervene with this peace; it is a sacred place, no less so than the one on Olympus. Here, you can find peace with Perseus, you both deserve that much-" Lightning crashed across the sky, and Hestia looked up towards the stars.

"Brother, dear. I don't like being spoken to in such a manner," she said to the sky.

"I'm afraid I've already said too much. I must leave you now; stay strong, my dear, it only gets harder from here. Be prepared for change, it will come rapidly, and in a way you won't expect." Then, the hearth blazed up, surrounding the goddess, and when the flames calmed, she was gone.

I sat there, thinking over what she had said. But once the goddess's presence was removed I found myself sobbing once again. Her advice draining from my mind, replaced by Percy. The memories, the times we shared, the fights, the make ups… the make outs. What if we really are done? What if I had just ended it for good? What now? I forced the thoughts from my mind as I remembered what Hestia had said. 'Your predicament is not your fault, and Perseus knows that. He knows more than you would believe.'

What if he does know what's wrong with me? I thought back to what he said. 'If what we have is so easily manipulated, then it's not worth keeping alive.'

So easily manipulated, I pondered, wiping a tear from my cheek, the harsh words still stinging me. But I found no time to continue these thoughts, when someone took a seat next to me on the log. I quickly glanced to my left, and my heart skipped a beat.

Percy.

He didn't say anything, or do anything. He just sat there, his eyes watching the flames of the hearth dance before us, and already I realised that Hestia was right. I felt none of the previous rage in my chest, only the guilt over what I said, not to mention how I've treated him recently.

I finally turned my head to look at him. His eyes were red, I noticed. Few things can make that boy cry, take it from the girl who went to Tartarus and back with him; but I managed to achieve it in under five minutes. My mind was racing with things to say, but before I opened my mouth, he spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Ana," he croaked. "None of this is your fault, I shouldn't be treating you like it is." He's being awfully generous, considering what I said… what I did.

"No. I'm the one who-"

"Annabeth… none of this is on you," he shook his head, his eyes not straying from the fire. "Just believe me, I know. I can't tell you how, but-"

"I love you," I blurted out, then I straightened, and regained my composure. "And I don't want to break up," I said rather matter-of-factly.

He finally looked at me, and our eyes met. For the first time since we got here, I was able to get lost in his eyes again, like I used too. But there was an undeniable pain in them, a sadness as if he'd already seen the inevitable, and knew it was only a matter of time before something tragic happened. This didn't stop us from gazing into each other's eyes for the next five minutes though. Our hands met between us, and it was as if our spark had just reappeared for the first time, which I guess it had.

We sat there, mesmerized by each other, holding hands. But eventually, Percy decided that enough was enough, and he removed his hands from mine, and slid one to my thigh, the other around my waist. He pulled me into him, and we embraced each other. Then we embraced each other some more… and then some more… As Percy would put it, we did some hard core 'embracing' in front of Hestia's hearth. Hope she doesn't mind.

Some time later- "Ahem?" Said a voice from behind us, and we both recoiled, startled to see none other than Percy's brother, Dan, standing there.

"Yes?" Percy said, a little bit of annoyment in his tone. The rest of the camp was heading to bed, a few of them snickering under their breaths at us. Gods, how long were we there? The time seemed to just disappear.

"You two missed the party at the amphitheater. Have you really been here for the last two hours?"

"Maybe… I dunno," I said casually.

"Possibly," Percy replied, and I caught the hint of humour in his tone. He's starting to be more like himself again. I wonder if the same can be said for me.

"Well," he said. "The harpies are due to be out any minute, so you two better… um, untangle yourselves." We let go of each other, although Percy was a little reluctant, and I stood up. Dan let off a small grunt, and started back to the Poseidon cabin.

I'm not stupid. I'm more than aware that he has a little crush on me, but he's going to have to suck it up.

"We should be getting back," I said, and Percy pulled me into one last, long kiss, before releasing me.

"Yea," he said. We were both reluctant to part. I think we both had a small fear in our heads that I was going to see Percy tomorrow and hate him. We wanted to make the moment last. He cupped my face in his hands, and planted a delicate kiss on the tip of my nose. He followed up with a confident smile.

"I love you, seaweed brain."

"I love you too, wise girl," he replied. The sadness in his eyes had retreated, but it was still there. Something bad is happening, and I'm going to get it out of him. But not tonight. We both gave our goodbyes and parted, returning to our respective cabins.

When I walked in, everyone stopped their conversations and looked at me, snickering. I glared at them, and they all averted their eyes, deciding it best to go straight to bed. I dropped down into my bunk, and rolled over a couple of times to get comfy. I thought for a little about our conversation before all the… 'embracing,' and I realised that I didn't even ask any questions, let alone get answers. A small bit of anger flourished in my chest, so I thought about the night we just had… the good parts anyway, and it died down quickly. I began to go through all the good times me and Percy shared throughout our lives. I smiled at the memory of having to nurse that twelve year old boy back to health after taking on a minotaur. Back then, things seemed so simple, or at least, it all looks simple compared to now. I rolled over once more, and drifted off to sleep.

Hey guys! So I know I haven't uploaded much… or at all, this week. I had to take some time to reevaluate where I wanted to go with the story. I have decided that all uploads for this fanfic are to be put up on friday afternoons/nights. This means that it should all be up by Saturday (this will of course vary based on whatever country/timezone you're in). This does not mean you will only get one chapter a week, they will just all be uploaded on fridays. I believe that was all, so thank you for reading this far, and remember to tell me of any errors via private messaging so that I may rectify them. Bye! :)

Those dam author's notes.