June 18, 1918

Annabeth,

Grove is dead.

I can't think of another way to put it. I can't think of anything else. My best friend is dead.

We attacked again some time yesterday, I don't remember and don't care. We headed out of our positions towards their lines. Grover was with his squad to my left. They opened fire when we were still a hundred yards out. We tried to get the boys into cover, we were so busy shouting at them. I didn't notice the machine gun.

I couldn't even get to him. He died alone Annabeth, I couldn't get to him.

He was moving between positions and the gun started firing. They caught him in the open. Grover didn't have a chance. He was hit twice, and they kept firing. I tried to get to him. I wanted to help. But I was scared. I was so scared and when I finally got up Jason pinned me down. He was screaming at me, telling me to stay there.

How was I supposed to stay there? How was I supposed to just watch my best friend die? He was calling for me. He kept calling my name and I couldn't do anything. They wouldn't stop shooting.

So I sat in that shit hole and watched. I listened to him crying out and calling for help. I sat in that hole and hid. That's the best I could do for him. He stopped moving and the shooting stopped. That's the last I really remember. I couldn't take it. I couldn't take seeing him laying there. There was so much blood.

I heard yelling and someone pulled me back to our lines. They wouldn't let me get him.

He's still out there as far as I know. Laying out in the dirt. I can't bury him Annabeth. I can't say goodbye.

I broke down and cried. It's the only thing I could do.

Is this what I'm destined for? To sit back and watch my friends die? They killed Nico and Grover. They've killed hundreds of us and our officers don't give a shit. The only thing they care about is if we gained ground. How in the hell are we supposed to move forward when they keep killing everyone?

He's still out there. Just laying there and I can't do anything about it. I can't forgive myself for that. I can't forget that he died calling out for me while I coward in a hole.

I can't sleep. I keep trying hoping maybe it will go away but it doesn't. I just hear him. Even if he isn't screaming I hear him talking and I wake up expecting to see him. What do I do Annabeth? I need you, please. I need you.

Lover,

Percy

Annabeth held the letter and cried. He was half a world away, grieving at the loss of his friend, sitting in a whole while the world crumbled around him and she couldn't help him. Annabeth knew she could write a thousand letters and none of them would do any good. None of them would bring Grover back, they wouldn't fix the damage that had been done, but she would write anyways. Maybe she could help him. If she was honest with him, told him everything, maybe it would distract him.

Annabeth knew it wouldn't really work. She could pour her heart out and bear her soul and Percy would still feel the loss. He would blame himself for Grover's death. Annabeth cried harder. Percy wasn't coming back. The boy who she had waved to as the ship left was gone, buried somewhere in that gods forsaken forest amongst it twisted and splintered trees.

Someone else would come back to her, if at all.

"No," she whispered to herself. "I can't think like that. He will come home, he will come back. He has to."

She closed her eyes and let the letter fall into her lap.

For the first time she really considered him not coming back. What would she do without him? Annabeth had lived most of her life with him at her side and the thought of not having him at all was too much. Her mind didn't want to accept it. Percy had always been there, he had never left her. He was the steady rock in her life and the person she could rely on but if he didn't make it back she would be alone.

Annabeth felt pure terror for the first time in he life.

Nothing compared to this. Not the day he told her he might join up, or the day he showed up in uniform, or the day he left. None of them could compare to this. She had been scared and carried doubt but she had always expected for them to be reunited. Now she doubted everything.

Annabeth realized it could have been Percy that had been hit. Percy could have been caught in the fire of that machine gun. For a brief moment she was glad it wasn't Percy and swallowed the guilt that came from it.

If Percy could have died without knowing how she really felt. She was tired of this, tired of beating around the bush and guessing at what his words meant. Why were they such idiots? She knew she loved him and he needed to know. She had to tell him and do it before it was through a grave stone.

She cried as she wrote. Annabeth told him everything, all the words and emotions she should have expressed before he left if only she had realized them. She told him how sorry she was for his loss, how she wished she could be there for him. That she wished she could take him away from the war but that he had to be strong, that he needed to come home to her. She told him she loved him.

She placed a kiss over her signature and one on top of the seal. She prayed to the gods it would make it to him, that he would find solace in the words.

She prayed he would come home soon.

A/N: First off I'm sorry it's been almost a month since I've updated. I have a list of excuses but they don't really matter. I just hope you liked the chapter and the next one should be up relatively soon.

As always thanks for reading and please leave a review!