Warning: This chapter contains mentions of school.

Did you miss me? Did you miss me? Yeah you did

alright, so this is the final chapter of the 11th year. if you don't know what that means, please check the author notes of the previous chapter. yeah, get ready to wait even MORE for another chapter. i'm amazing.

other things: i meant to have a piper pov in this chapter but i ended up liking this with just percy's pov, so i didn't include it. i am completely head over heels for drew/thalia, and you should be too. one day i'm going to marry thalia grace. you're all invited to the wedding.

alright, enjoy this chapter, enjoy your break, and happy holidays! see you all in a few months

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Percy watched as some guy ripped his notebook in half, growling while his friends laughed and cheered him on. He flashed a big grin. Thalia whistled.

"Impressive." She called, a mocking approval smile on her face, before turning her attention back at the small device she held in her hand. This had been about the fourth person destroying their notebooks/textbooks/tests he had seen that day, so he didn't see why it was such a big deal. Percy didn't really get the whole destroying textbooks thing, since they were super expensive and all, but still, he shared the feeling.

The last week of school had been dragging itself on and on, and it didn't help that Percy had two teachers who still believed classes should be taught as usual even when school was ending- who did that?-, but finally friday had come, and he and his friends were only 110 minutes away from being free from the hell hole they called a school.

His and Nico's biology teacher, bless her heart, had let her students leave class early once they had filled out their auto assessment sheets, and they had found their cousin texting her girlfriend when they made their way to the school bar do to their lack of options on where to go. Now, the three of them sat on the floor while on their phones, bored out of their minds, occasionally complaining about the shitty internet, waiting until it was time to go to the end-of-school pep rally so they could all go home, also waiting, of course, for Annabeth and Drew to come out of their Informatics class. When the bell rung, his friends shared a groan. "Finally." His cousin mumbled, getting up. As if predicting her actions, the second she was standing, her phone rang.

"Yeah?" She answered, sliding the strap of her book bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, we'll meet you there- ah, no, the bar, don't bother."

Nico got up with a sigh, like leaving the spot where he had been sitting, a dusty floor next to some kids that were talking way too loudly about how they were totally getting laid this summer was annoying. Yeah, okay, Percy thought, like you weren't just wishing the bell would ring so you could get out of his place. He didn't say anything, though. He was used to Nico's grumpy attitude by this point, and sure he didn't enjoy it, but he still tolerated it. He was a decent guy nonetheless.

Percy stretched his arms and held his hand out for his cousin. Thalia grabbed his wrist and pulled him up, stumbling a bit. "Hm. 'Kay, see you in a bit." She ended her call as he grabbed his backpack from the floor and shoved his phone inside his pocket. "They're going directly to the gym, said to meet them there."

He gave her a small nod while Nico was already making his way out of the school bar. The two of them followed him as he silently led them upstairs, which, Percy guessed, was a way to escape the crowd that had probably been formed on the ground floor hallways. It worked. The only people they spotted while they walked were two girls who were cleaning out a locker and that giggled at them as they passed by, but that didn't give them much attention other than that.

"This feels kinda weird."

"What? The girls?" He shrugged. "Maybe they forgot to get their stuff before, I don't know."

Thalia snorted. Nico sighed. "I wasn't talking about that." He replied.

"Oh." Percy muttered, feeling his face heat up from embarrassment. "Right. Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention. What were you talking about?" Nico huffed.

"Just, " The boy waved his hands around. "this. It seems kinda surreal that we won't have to step into this place for three months."

Thalia shrugged. "Time flies."

Her cousin shook his head in disagreement. "No, it doesn't. This year has been dragging itself on forever. That's why it feels weird."

"Yeah, you're right. September feels like ages ago." Percy added, shoving his hands in his pockets in the process. His cousin tsked.

"You're overreacting."

"Yeah? Do you remember when you and Drew weren't dating?" He replied. Thalia furrowed her brow.

"Of course I remember the first sixteen years of my life, Percy. Jesus." She answered, slightly irritated.

"I think what he means," Nico stepped in. "is that it's been a long time since you've gotten together. And it has."

Nobody said anything for a bit.

"Alright. You have a point." She sounded a bit content, which was weird. Thalia wasn't someone who especially liked to grant other people the chance of being right. Her cheeks were turning red, he noticed. "It does feel like a long time. But it's just a little over a year."

Percy was about to comment on how a little over a year was, in fact, a long time, especially considering that Thalia and Drew were teenagers, when somebody yelled. He jumped a bit, but kept on walking. It was probably some other kid excited about vacation.

They were going down a flight of stairs, about to reach the crowd that had formed by the doors of the gym, when his cousin spoke again.

"Guys?" She sounded a bit uncomfortable. "I really like her, I think."

A small smile had made its way onto her face, and Percy grinned. It was hard not to feel good for her. "I think she really likes you, too." He replied.

"It's the only reason she'd actually hang out with you so often. No offense, but you're kind of a pain." Nico added. Thalia shoved both of their backs. He was pretty sure she had called them assholes too, but he could hear the happiness in her voice.

They found the girls after making their way through the group of people that surrounded them for a few minutes. When they approached, Drew took Thalia's hand, interlocking their fingers without saying a word. She furrowed her eyebrows at the look on her girlfriend's face, but Thalia shook her head lightly and smirked. Drew raised her eyebrows slightly before turning her attention the rest of their group.

"The doors are gonna open any minute now, just fyi." She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "God, I don't get why we have to sit through this. You'd think the millions of pep rallies and football games we have to sit through during the school year would get us out of it."

"Apparently not." Annabeth stated. Percy hadn't noticed that his best friend was glued to her phone's screen. She must've felt he was staring at her, because she looked up a few moments later. "What?" She asked.

"She spent the entire class like that. Wouldn't even talk to me." Drew complained, putting her free hand on her hip. The blonde glared at her.

"I did talk to you."

"For, like, five minutes, before figuring out you had wi-fi and switching over to Reyna mode." She rolled her eyes, a smirk on her face. "You are so into her, it's not even funny."

She was probably just kidding. Or maybe not, it was really hard to tell with Drew. Either way, even he understood the importance of her words. All of them fell silent. Annabeth froze. Nico took a small step back. Thalia's eyebrows shot up faster than humanly possible.

He was about to say something to lighten up the mood a bit -which probably wasn't a very good idea, but someone needed to break the tension- when the crowd around them started moving. The gym doors had been opened. Drew turned around and made her way inside, her girlfriend close behind her. Nico was next. Percy grabbed Annabeth's shoulder, shook it lightly, and she started walking, quickening her step so they wouldn't get lost from their friends.

She wasn't an easy person to read. Most of the time he couldn't tell if his best friend was angry, frustrated, happy or bored just by looking at her face. Plus, he wasn't one to look too much into things, and most of the time it didn't really matter. It didn't take much to figure out how she felt now. Her stiff posture, the slight scowl on her face, the blank look in her eyes and the way she was picking at her nails, her hands, the loose strands of hair that had fell off her bun gave it away.

Of course he had suspected it. He still remembered when she had first told him she liked girls and he had asked her if she had a crush on every girl he could remember. Silena? Thalia? Clarisse? No, no and no, she had said. Ever since Katie Gardner, way back in middle school, there had been no other girls. And then Reyna came along. Reyna. My penpal Reyna at first, Reyna from the internet whenever his mum asked, my friend Reyna and eventually just Reyna. "I just- I told her everything." ,"I do like Reyna.", "Oh my god, Reyna. Oh my god.". It was impossible not to suspect it.

"Man, you guys are better friends than I thought."

"Annabeth?" He called quietly as they sat down. He thought she hadn't heard him until she bit her lip and turned around to face him. "Do you- I mean, is it true?"

She sighed and readjusted herself on her seat. Her answer was so short and so quiet he thought he might have imagined it.

"I think so."

The band started playing, the cheerleaders started their choreography, the students started cheering. He'd have to ask her again once they got home.