First off, I want to say: Pray for those people that were in the Boston Marathon. It might've not seemed as much damage from the past events, but it's still pretty scary to be guerilla-attacked on when you're innocent. Many people were injured when they didn't have to experience it and so I hope that they will be nourished back to health - and not just physically.

Second of all, I want to tell those people who also have to deal with FCATS: good luck because I know that these tests are a big pain especially when we have to hear the same thing over and over and over again.

Thirdly, I would like to thank the reviews and followers and favoriters. And that here is the second chapter - featuring Percabeth.

I do not own PJO, only Rick Riordan does. But please enjoy!

Chris sat up with her, his hand lightly resting on her back. "Pipes, you okay?"

She gritted her teeth at the nickname but she didn't protest about it to him. "Um…Have you—do you watch…him sometimes?" She asked, pointing a limp finger at the screen.

"Jason Grace?" His brow furrowed. "Sometimes," Chris rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Piper said immediately after and she turned back to Chris, wrapping her arms around his neck and continuing their kiss that her ex-boyfriend had ruined.

But Piper couldn't resist peeking open one eye at the T.V. screen. Jason had stolen the ball from a lay-up and the team began to run to the other side of the court. He passed it to a teammate and then there was some more passing involved but Piper's eye was mostly kept on Jason. She blinked away, her focus averting back to Chris, who kept kissing her. But then there was another commotion on the T.V. She looked back and found that Jason leapt up, shooting the ball gracefully. It twirled in the air and bounced on the rim, wobbling like it wasn't going to go in, but then suddenly jerked and swished through the net.

A small squeal erupted from Piper's lips.

Chris grinned, thinking it was because of himself, and then began to push her back again. Piper chuckled and tangled her fingers in his hair. But she slipped one hand behind her back and tapped the cushion until she found the remote. Finally, her fingers wrapped around it. Despite how she felt, she turned off Jason's glistening face and the T.V. turned black. It had just been one little trip causing their paths to cross. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, Piper thought.

Once she couldn't look at Jason's face anymore, she continued back to her boyfriend and the remote slipped from her grasp, clattering against the floor. They paid no mind to it as their mouths kept moving.

There was a cringing feeling in Piper's stomach as she could feel a slight ridge in his lips. Almost like a…like a scar. Her eyes snapped open again and she tried looking down at his lips. But she couldn't see it and she decided that it was just her imagination. Piper closed her eyes again and deepened their kiss. But the bad thing about that was that Jason's image was burning on the back of her eyelids and in her mind. His glistening body—so focused and with stealth. Just like it used to be. Her body went rigid and her eyes snapped open again. When he felt her body freeze, Chris opened his eyes as well.

Piper yelped when his eyes were blue—electric blue. She let go of him and scooted away knowing that it was all in her head. But it still freaked her out and she felt her back hit the other armrest on the other side of the couch. Chris sat back, his knees folded beneath him.

"What's wrong with you? Ever since you saw that Jason Grace, you've been acting…" he stood up, running his hands through his hair and shaking his head because he couldn't find the words. Then Chris lamely said while raising his shoulders, "Not normal."

"I know and I'm sorry." Piper began to stand up. "I—it's just because I had a long day at work. I'm sorry; I just need to spend some time alone, I'm sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry!" He said as the corners of his mouth turning upwards as he grabbed her elbows.

She shrank back. "Sorry?" she squeaked.

He let go of her, giving her a look.

"I'm sorry—agh!" She took a deep breath, a lock of hair flying upwards. "You know what I mean. I…I have to think about some things."

He gave her a small smile. "You should go." He rested his hands on her shoulders, slowly guiding her to the door. His lips were next to her ear as his smooth and deep voice rumbled, "Go home and get some rest, Piper." He kissed her cheek from behind. "I'll see you tomorrow."

A chill was sent up her spine. He sounded so convincing and her muscles felt tired like she just wanted to collapse in her bed and doze off. "You're right. I'm exhausted; I'll see you tomorrow," She pecked him on the lips and then grabbed her black bag before walking out of his apartment.

Suddenly, her own thoughts dawned on her as she realized that she couldn't sleep. Not at a time like this. She wondered if any of her other friends knew…

Piper rapped on the door that was in front of her. There was a loud barking noise from a dog and then she could hear the thumps and clatters and groans.

"Get the door!" A female voice said, her groggy voice dragging out the vowels.

"You got them last time…" A male voice softly grumbled.

"Not the kids, the door, Seaweed Brain!"

There was a slightly audible thump and then the male voice exclaiming. "All right, all right…"

Piper had sighed impatiently but then a chuckle leapt from her when she heard the two. They were such an amusing couple—she'd always loved the relationship they had.

She was taken out of her thoughts when there was a light scratching noise and then sharp noises like the door unlocking. The door opened just a crack as the male voice said softly, "Stay back, Mrs. O'Leary."

The door swung wider and Piper saw the man's foot as it guarded a darkly coated German shepherd puppy. "Mrs. O'Leary, get back," He scolded lightly again, his bare foot lightly pushing on its fluffy chest. It whimpered, but slowly obeyed to its master as it pawed at his foot and scooted back a smidge.

Piper smiled down at the adorable dog. Then she looked up at the man. He had dark ringlets under his eyes and his eyelids drooped like he'd just woken up. His black hair was ruffled and matted down on one side. His firm form was slack, leaning against the doorframe. A shadow from the dark apartment hung over half of his face, his green eyes glowing brightly.

Percy Jackson's expression stared back at her zombie-like. "What the hell are you doing here, Piper at—" He leaned back, turning his head to the side. He looked back at her. "—almost three in the morning?"

Piper wasn't sure what to say. That she just came over to tell them about her ex-boyfriend? That seemed fatuous and needless. She already felt like the weak one. But she knew that she wouldn't let herself feel that way and she straightened, taking a small step further, making Mrs. O'Leary lean her nose over Percy's foot, sniffing her aura and fragrance.

"What, a friend just can't come over these days?"

"Not when you wake us up at three in the morning."

"I'll only be a little while. I just have to tell you something."

Percy's eyebrow shot up questioningly and expecting her to continue as Piper stood awkwardly. She folded her hands together and looked at him, the two having a silent conversation. Her eyebrows slowly rose to her hairline but Percy's expression stayed emotionless, the sea-green in his eyes mixing like a smoky substance.

Finally, it ended as Mrs. O'Leary barked twice, rising on her hind legs as she rested her front paws on Percy's foot. A few seconds later there was a crying baby from another room; it was a domino effect as two more faraway cries echoed. Percy's eyes closed with distraught, his once-emotionless face falling.

"Now look what you've done. You've woken up the kids."

Piper looked down at the dog and Mrs. O'Leary had a glint in her eye. Piper gave her a small smile and thought: Partners in crime…

There was a clambering behind Percy and through the shadows of the apartment, Piper could make out a silhouette of a woman walking, slouched over, into a room at the end of a hallway. A soft voice was heard and the cries descended.

The woman came back and Piper saw that it was Annabeth wearing a large blue t-shirt and shorts. On her hip, she held a baby boy who was slowly falling asleep on her shoulder, drool producing a puddle on the smooth cotton. Although Annabeth was in her mid-20s, she didn't look that old—especially with her hair messily thrown into a loose bun. Although the dark circles were supposed to make her look tired, her gray eyes still stood out, alert and alive, like they always do.

Percy wrapped his arm around her, his foot still guarding Mrs. O'Leary.

"Oh, hey, Piper," Annabeth gave a small smile. Her voice sounded tired as well. "What are you doing here?"

"That's exactly what I was asking." Percy grumbled. Annabeth swayed her hip a little, giving him a nudge, and then turned back to Piper. But Percy answered for her: "She said she has to tell us something."

"Couldn't you have called us?" Annabeth tilted her head a little. She quickly added on, "When we were actually awake?"

Piper shifted her feet uncomfortably. She knew it was a mistake to come here only to tell them about Jason. It just felt a little useless to her now. But there was a small voice in her head that reminded her that his appearance on the television was bothering her. "Um…yeah, the thing is…" Piper trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"What's wrong; did something happen?" Annabeth reached with her free hand to touch Piper's arm. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Something popped up." Piper blurted out.

"What?"

"Well, actually, 'something' is a lie. More like 'someone.'"

The two's faces suddenly filled with apprehension. Annabeth's gaze slid to the ground, her lips parted. Percy wouldn't meet Piper's gaze either.

Piper didn't seem to notice this as she slowly continued, "And I think I would prefer it if I spoke to Annabeth about it."

Annabeth turned to her husband. "Can you take Nick back to his crib, please, Percy?"

Percy nodded and Annabeth slowly unhooked Nick, their baby boy, from her side. The boy grasped, his face wincing as he didn't have a parent to hug. Piper might've thought that Percy would be awkward holding a kid (as he was at first), but his fingers wrapped around Nick and he smoothly pulled his son into his chest. Piper watched in wonder as Percy held his rear up with one hand and softly caressed Nick's jet black hair—just like his own. The son of Poseidon walked away and disappeared into the back room Annabeth had gone in before.

Annabeth bent down as Mrs. O'Leary began to slowly inch forward as if her owners wouldn't be able to see her trying to dash out of the door. Annabeth gripped her collar and pulled her back, soon pulling her into her arms as if she were a baby. Mrs. O'Leary seemed to like it as she tilted her head at Piper, who walked in and closed the door behind her, and her tongue rolled out of her mouth. She panted, a smile seeming to spread across her face. Then her tail wagged vigorously as Annabeth scratched her tummy—which was facing upwards. Annabeth, from instinct, began murmuring compliments in a deep voice.

Piper chuckled as Annabeth led her into their living room. Their apartment was dark from the night, the occasionally patches of moonlight shining through the windows. In Piper's eyes, their apartment seemed beautiful as the shadows of their comfortable life stuck out everywhere. They seemed to just have that peaceful aura that made Piper just want to lie down on their cotton-felt couch. She resisted the urge as Annabeth plopped down next to her, letting Mrs. O'Leary lay in between them. The dog stayed in the position, staring up at the two girls expectantly and with her belly stretched wide.

Piper smiled and grazed her fingernails across the dog's fluffy stomach. Mrs. O'Leary sensed something wrong and gave a noise as she poked Piper's other arm with her nose.

"What happened, Piper?" Annabeth asked as she laid the side of her head on her slender fingers, her shirt rising so as to place her elbow on the top of the couch.

"Well…I…" she stuttered, at a loss for words. "I was with Chris in his apartment and—"

Annabeth gasped and her hand shot out, gripping Piper's arm. Her eyes had grown very wide. "You guys didn't—"

Piper, already sensing what she was going to say, interrupted Annabeth, exclaiming, "No!" Though that was half a lie.

But Annabeth was still horrified. "He didn't—"

"No, he didn't propose either."

Annabeth sat back a little, but still looked at her in disbelief. "So then what did he do?"

"It's not Chris," Piper gave a half-hearted shrug.

"So then who are we worried about here?"

"Worried about? Well, not to sound selfish, but I'm worried about myself." Piper scoffed, turning her head away from Annabeth.

"Will you just spit it out already? You're leaving me in suspense!"

"Okay, fine. I'm not sure why I'm holding back anyway. You'd think I'd actually be rushing about my words when talking about Jason—" Piper had begun to talk faster.

Annabeth's voice rose, her tone getting stern (probably practice from Percy and their children), "What did—Jason?" She cut off mid-sentence, her voice returning to normal at his name. "Jason Grace?"

Piper took a deep breath. "Yes. Jason Grace: the freaking amazing basketball player. Out off all the sports he could do, he chose basketball. Never really saw it coming…" Piper trailed off, her eyes glazing over as they rested on a random spot on the wall.

Annabeth looked not only surprised, but a little amused as well. From what Jason had told her years ago, and from her curious hatred towards Chris, things should go pretty well.

"How do you know he's a basketball player?" Annabeth asked.

"Well I landed on the remote and his game was on and I saw him."

Annabeth gave Piper a smug look. "'You landed on the remote'?"

Piper's cheeks blushed. "Yeah," she answered short.

The other girl gave a dry chuckle. "Well that's entertaining."

"I don't understand why none of you like Chris. He hasn't done anything to you and you immediately shun him!" Piper said, jerking her wrist into the shadows at the mention of 'shun'.

Annabeth looked at Piper sadly. "It's nothing." She said in a tender voice. "I just don't want you to get hurt again. Is this why you came to our place at three in the morning?"

"Yeah."

Annabeth placed a hand on Piper's. "There's no need to be afraid about it." Her top lip turned upwards.

"I know…I just—"

"I know you've vowed yourself to not go near him again but that's a little childish, don't yah think? He's probably forgotten all about it by now and I'm sure he would love to see you again. You may not pick up exactly where you left off, but at least you'll be able to conclude what you had and start over new." Annabeth's eyes glowed wondrously and it was times like these that Piper wished she really was her older sister.

One end of Piper's mouth twitched upwards. "Yeah, I guess so."

"No, you don't guess so. I know so," she said the last part slowly, as if to make it clear to the beautiful girl. "You'll only make things grow deeper if you don't talk to him."

"How am I even supposed to talk to him? He's probably got thousands of body guards," Piper scoffed.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Well, I wouldn't say thousands."

"Whatever, you know what I mean." A suppressed smile danced on Piper's lips.

Annabeth squeezed Piper's hand as Percy walked into the room, lowering himself into a chair beside them and then sliding down deeper. "Besides, we can definitely get you free tickets to the game." He said, "Even backstage passes to meet him, if you honestly have to."

"Really? You know someone?" Piper's eyebrows furrowed at him.

Percy scoffed, "You know him, too." At her skeptical look, he shook his head. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Piper," Annabeth laughed softly, "Leo is his manager."

The daughter of Aphrodite's jaw dropped slightly as she stared at the two in disbelief. "No way," They nodded their heads. "Wow. See, I totally knew that he was going to stick with his best friend. I mean, everyone would've thought that he would be a worker or something but—wait a second…" Piper stopped herself as she realized something. Her head slowly turned back to look at the two. She cautiously moved to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. Then comprehension washed over her face. She leaned forward, pointing a hard finger at them. "You guys knew about this!"

They shared a guilty look but then simultaneously nodded their heads.

"How long did you know about this?"

Percy raised a shoulder, puckering his chin. "Forever, technically,"

"What?! And you didn't even think to mention this to me? After all those years and you didn't tell me?"

"Exactly," Annabeth gestured a hand to her. "You were just starting to get your life back in order and we just didn't want to bother it."

"Well you know what's going to happen now, right?" Piper asked, unfolding her legs from beneath her and landing her feet on the carpet.

"You're going to go see him?" Annabeth asked and her voice high with hope as she raised her shoulders to her ears.

Piper opened her mouth to deny it, but then she reconsidered. She took a deep breath. "Okay, yeah, but that's not what I meant."

Percy made a long whistling noise that slowly descended. Along with it, his pointed fingers sailed downward, floating through the air. Once it his cocked knee, he made an explosion as his hand bounced back up, his fingers blooming.

The two girls stared at him blankly.

He gave them a matter-of-factly look and pointed to his knee, speaking nonchalantly, "Your life,"

"Sure," Piper answered after a pause.

"What, you're saying her life is ruined now because she found the boy she used to love?"

"It wasn't love," Piper grumbled under her breath as she rested her cheek on her fist. There was a guilty PANG inside of her chest after that.

The couple didn't seem to notice as Percy said, "Well that's what most girls say: that their life is ruined."

Annabeth's eyelids lowered into a glare. She reached over and slugged him on his thigh, which was arched over his opposite knee. "That's not always true."

He rubbed the spot on his thigh as he said, "I know that." He leaned over and kissed her on the temple, his nose burying into her hair. "You didn't think your life was ruined when you got with me, right?"

Annabeth's mouth was propped open for a while. After a short breath, she said, "Right,"

Percy chuckled dryly. "You're just kidding, right?"

"Oh, yeah, sure…"

Percy looked like a pleading seal, his eyes growing wide and his lips turning downward. "Annabeth…" He stretched out her name in a sorrow-filled voice. It was like what she was saying was really disappointing him and ripping his heart from the inside-out. He said it in a way that made you think something that he truly loved had been taken away from him.

She got up, a smile on her face, and pulled him from the chair, bringing him next to her on the couch. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him. She pulled away, their noses barely touching. "I was joking," she whispered.

"Good." Percy said and he kissed her again, holding her just below her ribcage.

Piper smiled sadly at the two, wishing that she had something like them. But their love was impossible to copy; their love was untouchable and surrounded only themselves. It was like their own wonderland.

Annabeth realized this look about Piper and looked at her empathetically. "Maybe you should go home, Piper. And get some rest."

Piper nodded as she raised herself from the couch. "All right,"

Mrs. O'Leary, who lay unnoticed before, now jerked up and snipped at Piper. The girl turned back and scratched the dog's forehead, the animal's tail waving behind her.

"We'll handle the tickets, okay?" Annabeth said.

"We will—?" Percy was interrupted by his own groan from Annabeth's hard elbow making contact with his abs. "I…uh, I mean we will!" He said a little more enthusiastically.

Piper nodded and glanced at the glowing green clock that blazed on the microwave and oven—almost four now. Her limbs felt tired and she knew that now really was the time to go home. She was already planning her late excuse for not being at work on time. She grabbed her bag again and headed for the door.

Behind her, she heard Percy say, "Oh, wait; wait!"

Piper already had the door open and she turned back to see Percy padding over to her barefoot. She stepped out into the hallway as he leaned on the doorframe again.

"Hey, Piper," he called.

"Yeah?"

"You know," He ran a hand through his hair. It was long now but it was a rebel as it fought the way it was supposed to be combed and stuck out every which way. It brushed the ends of his eyebrows, sticking up at his forehead. "You shouldn't think that Jason will ruin your life." He leaned forward, the upper half of his body leaning into the hallway. "Because he won't. If you stop thinking that it's always the same cliché over and over again, things will actually happen very unexpectedly."

Piper blinked at him.

Percy blinked back. He shrugged. "I mean, you never know." His eyelids were dropping now and he had raccoon eyes.

Piper chuckled and she patted his shoulder. "Thanks for the advice, Perc,"

He gave a smug smile. "It's what I do best,"

"Yeah, sure. Get some sleep."

Percy leaned his head back, pumping his fists as he dragged in a low voice, "YES!" He straightened and cleared his throat. "I, uh, I mean: will do." He touched his lips with his finger and then poked the air at her. "You do the same."

Piper shook her head, smiling, and began the journey of walking back to her apartment.

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