Chapter 11

Annabeth

"I'll see you in an hour," I said, kissing him gently on the lips.

"See you," he kissed me again, our lips moving in perfect synchronization. "I love you."

"I love you too."

I pushed open the glass doors and waved one last time, then turned and walked briskly down the wooden beamed corridor that led into a wide spacious room.

What I did not expect was to hear every single girl in the orchestra screaming and shouting, crowding around somebody with unforgettable messy black hair.

Great. I should've known that it was Percy's first day in this orchestra. His new permanent job. If the worst comes to the worst, I would have to quit. It seems shallow, but I can't bear to be anywhere near him.

"What's all the fuss about?" I scoffed, standing next to Hazel – who was the only girl that wasn't fawning over him. "It's just another human being."

"Yeah, an immensely attractive one with a whole load of talent," Hazel muttered. "Are you ok? You look a bit pale."

Do I? Even better. "We had an argument...last night."

"You spoke to him last night?"

"Unfortunately," I responded. "We're not talking anymore. So I guess Drew can have him for all I care."

"What happened to 'winning back his love'?"

"It's too late, there's no point."

"And is that a good enough reason to give up?" she carried on, gesturing towards him.

I glared at her. "Yes, because I'm not in love with him anymore. I love my boyfriend, Luke, he's shown me nothing but love which is a hell of a lot more than Percy has."

She studied my expression; making me feel self conscious by the way her golden eyes seemed to pierce straight into my mind, seeking out every secret and inner emotion buried deep inside.

"Annabeth...I know Luke, he's not the guy you think he is – "

"Oh and how would you know?" I shot back, ready to defend Luke if I had to.

"In college, Luke was – "

"Everyone settle down!" Chiron shouted over the noise. "Would you all please sit down at your stands, we're starting on our first movement – Drew I don't think that's very appropriate, and can everyone step away from our new pianist."

"Tell me later," I whispered to Hazel, sitting down in front of my stand.

"So remember the quiet spiccato at the start, the time signature changes at bar 14," he raised his elegant white baton and looked down through his glasses at his music before starting.

The quickly paced music filled the whole room with a warming deep sound, vibrations shuddering through the floorboards and transporting my mind elsewhere.

The speed suddenly slowed down and the melodic sound of the violas sang sweetly into the space. All the while, I could hear the clear flowing tune of the piano, faster and faster, reminding me of falling snow...

There was a faint smile on Percy's face, instead of the look of concentration most musicians wore. Maybe that was part of the reason he became so famous – the fact that he could relax whilst playing on stage and still perform greater than anybody in history.

Natural raw talent, that's what the press said.

His fingers flew faster over the keys, curved and elegant, flawless in movement. He barely even looked at what he was doing; he merely kept his eyes half closed.

Perfect like an angel. Perfect in appearance.

But he broke my heart and stamped on it, and scattered the pieces in the wind. Only to be healed together by Luke.

The piece stopped with a long double stop.

Silence.

An awed hush that no one dared to break. Not even Chiron wanted to ruin the almost magical stillness.

"That's a great start," he said finally. "Viola's can I hear your part at bar 22 – "

Suddenly, I couldn't take it. His eyes were watching me. Studying me with those dark green eyes.

I stood up suddenly.

Everyone's eyes turned to me with confusion.

Hazel looked at me with sympathy.

Chiron somehow seemed to understand.

"Sorry sir, I just need a break."

I rushed out of the room and wiped the sweat from my brow.

This is it, I'm quitting my job. I'll join another orchestra somewhere – or I'll go in for a teacher training course and become a math's teacher. I'll move out of London – no I won't, I need to stay here for Ebony...

But I'll still have to see Percy every time I see her.

What do I do?

I literally ran into the girl's toilets and held the sides of the sink with trembling arms, trying to keep myself together.

What is wrong with me? Why am I reacting like this?

The bathroom seemed to spin around me and the scent of lavender suddenly felt overpowering, my head hurt and throbbed.

Why am I reacting like this? I kept thinking that over and over again.

I just want to go home, back in time when everything was going smoothly in life. When my father and I actually cared for each other and when I would spend every night at Percy's house, becoming better friends as the days passed.

What happened to us, Percy? Tell me where we went wrong. Tell me what I did wrong. Tell me the truth.

There was a knock on the door, making me tense in alarm. I opened the door slowly, bracing myself for another lecture.

"Hazel I – "

I stopped, and stiffened immediately. "Percy..."

"I just came to see if you were alright."

"Why would you care?" I retorted, ready to slam the door back in his face.

"Because that's what friends are for," he replied simply. "Even if we broke up five years ago, I still care about you. A lot."

I looked away, my lip pulling up in disbelief. "Look, I don't want to get into this again. I'll quit from this orchestra – we both know that it will only cause trouble if we both stay."

"No wait; you're not quitting your job because of me. Maybe we can somehow make it work out, none of us has to quit."

"I'm not changing my mind, now if you excuse me..." I tried to push past him, but instead he gripped my wrist firmly and stared deep into my eyes. "Let go of me."

"Not until you see sense. If you really don't like me, then I'll leave your orchestra – "

"I can't take your job. You must've worked really hard to compete for the piano part; the competition was high for it."

He shook his head, refusing to get annoyed. "You must've worked harder to become the soloist. I can't take that away from you. Why can't we just negotiate and work alongside each other?"

"Because..." I searched wildly for a way to escape, but his fingers were still wrapped tightly around my wrist, trapping me against the wall.

"Because what?"

"Just let me go," I tried to squirm out of his grip, my pulse racing higher and higher.

"Annabeth – "

I slid down to the floor, curling myself up so he couldn't see the frantic look in my eyes or the shattered expression on my face.

"Just go away," I whispered.

His kneeled down next to me, his breath warm and familiar on my skin. I pushed him away, but my arms were too weak to make any difference.

The burning pain in my chest opened up, stabbing daggers of fire into my heart.

"You want to know why?" I said finally, summoning the courage to look straight into his eyes.

His grip slackened on my wrist, but I didn't try to struggle free anymore. The gesture seemed more caring than restraining, like I was some delicate object he was afraid to break.

"Why?"

I didn't reply. Instead, I took the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer, capturing his lips and shutting my eyes, letting the long forgotten spark ignite once again.

This memory was one I had never forgotten, the single touch of his lips on mine, moving slowly together in perfect harmony. Still as soft as always, tasting of his fresh boyish scent and the whiff of sea air.

The fear and hatred inside of me slowly evaporated, the worry and hurt disappeared. Only to be replaced by the one emotion I thought I would never feel.

He pulled away, looking down to the floor as if a thousand thoughts were flying through his mind. What was he thinking? Thinking that what we did was wrong? Or thinking that we can be lovers again, then I can break up with Luke and Ebony can have her parents together – just like she always dreamed.

"Annabeth...we can't start again, even if we wanted to."

"And I guess you're not going to tell me why," I shut my eyes again, not wanting to be hurt anymore. How could he keep doing this?

Maybe it was better if I stay away...

"It's not that...and I still love you the same as I always have."

"Percy, whatever your secret is, I don't care. It's not going to make me think any less of you," I said quietly, longing to hug him and never let go, to bury my head into the crook of his shoulder and to find my haven after all this time. "Why sacrifice our relationship for some stupid thing that happened years ago."

He was close...close to telling me. I could tell somehow.

"Maybe we could just be friends..."

My lower lip trembled. How I hated those words. Let's just be friends. The stereotypical thing to say after a breakup, not that we had just broken up but it still hurt. A lot. Although I remember telling him the same thing the other night.

"Best friends?" he tried again, staring at me hopefully with that small smile that I had grown to adore.

"Best friends don't love each other."

"But best friends stay by your side through everything."

It's better than hatred. "So you would be best friends with me but not a lover. What's the big difference?"

"Because lovers don't keep secrets from each other."

"And best friends do?"

"Well, it depends on how close the two people are."

I considered it and gave him the first smile of today. "Another kiss and I'll be your best friend."

He grinned and bent his head down and kissed me again, running his hands down my waist. I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him closer, our bodies entwining.

"So we're best friends now?" he whispered against my ear.

"Yup, come on, Chiron will go mental if we don't get back soon."

XXX

"Hey Luke, how was your day?"

"Fine, just another shift in the hospital ward."

I bit back a grin, trying not to picture him in a surgeon's uniform. "Ok, anyone die?"

"Not yet," he said, shutting the door to his house and leaning down to my neck, planting a trail of kisses down to my collar bone.

I tried to feel a spark, underneath my rising pulse and the thumping in my chest. I tried to feel something more...but everything I felt was just physical.

His hand tugged on the hem of my top, sliding it upwards with lust controlling his movements. Pupils dilated, short rapid breaths matching mine.

"Luke...I'm not in the mood –"

He ignored me and started unbuttoning my jeans.

Cold fear shot through me.

"Luke get off," I tried again, trying frantically to push his hands away. He was strong, stronger than me. "Luke stop –"

He pushed me against the wall suddenly, knocking the air out of my body. His expression was suddenly furious.

"It's because of Percy Jackson, isn't it?"

"What? No – "

"Yeah, I've seen you together, I saw you walking to his house the other day. Don't even think to lie – you've been fucking him all this time."

"No I haven't," I fired back. "You don't even know the whole truth – "

"Oh cut the crap Annabeth," he shouted. "I don't need to hear your excuses."

"Listen to me," I said ignoring him. "There's nothing going on between Percy and I – "

"Then why – "

"We used to go out five years ago, ok? We broke up after a year, before I realised that I was pregnant. I haven't seen my daughter after all these years."

He stepped back, anger, hatred, fury written all over his face. "You're lying; tell me that you're lying."

"I'm not lying – I've been planning on telling you – "

"And you've waited this long? – "

"We've only been going out for a week."

"Yeah and in all that time you could've told me from the very start. I can't believe I trusted you..." he turned away, raking his hands through his hair with his jaw clenched and eyes full of venom. "Get out of my house."

"Luke please – it was a mistake, Percy means nothing to me now..." my voice clogged up with tears at hearing myself saying those hateful words.

"Get out of my house," he repeated slowly, his pale blue eyes flashing murderously at me.

I shook my head slowly. "You're overreacting – "

Thump.

Crash.

My head hit the floor and my vision suddenly blurred, with pain searing through my skull like an embrace of fire. I could feel the blood pounding furiously and my vision continued to weaken...

Luke stood over me, his eyes softer than before. I could hear him yelling desperately at me though it was like listening to him underwater. Blurred speech and a stinging throb in my eyes...

Something warm trickled down my head, pooling on the white carpet next to me. Something red and alive, with a strange metallic scent as it dried quickly on the side of my cheek.

There was nothing after that.