Hey! Welcome back! Voting has ended! I don't really have much to say so I'm just going to start the chapter. Enjoy.

Stuck In My Head: When You Get Home, You're So Dead by Mayday Parade

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the PJO characters or any of the songs used in the story.

Chapter 8: Escape

Percy's POV:

The rain wouldn't stop. It just kept coming down harder. I wouldn't be surprised if a hurricane was coming. Yup, that's how hard the rain was. Annabeth and I were still stuck under the ledge. Both of our phones had died so we couldn't call anyone to pick us up.

"Maybe we should just run for it!" Annabeth yelled over the rain. I pulled her closer as lightning struck. "Uh, I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea!" I racked my brain to get an idea. Annabeth looked around although it pretty hard to see. She spotted something and pointed towards it. "Percy! Look!" I looked at what she was pointing at. It was an abandoned diner that was named, "Pig Stand". It was kinda far but I think it was a risk we needed to take. I gripped Annabeth's hand and kissed her. "On the count of three, we run. But we have to stay together."

Annabeth looked scared. "As long as we're together." She said shakily. I gave her a reassuring smile. I got in my running stance, so did she. "One, two, three!"

We ran for it. The wind was powerful and the rain didn't help. I heard an alarm go off. The tornado alarm. "Oh shit." I muttered as I pulled Annabeth to the diner. We stopped in front of the diner and searched for an entrance. The front door was chained. "We need to find another way in!" I yelled. "And fast!" She advised as she looked up at the sky. The dark grey, almost black, clouds funneled overhead, scaring the crap out of me. I gripped Annabeth's hand a little harder and pulled her around the building. The side of the building was in an alley. I looked around for a window. Found one. I let go of her hand and searched for a rock.

I found one by the trash can. I picked up the big black rock and threw it at the window, emitting the satisfying crack of the window. I reached up and cleared some of the leftover glass, cursing as it gave me cuts. I looked at Annabeth, who was waiting for me, and said, "Come on! You first!" She looked like she wanted to protest but I picked her up by the waist and hefted her up to the window. She climbed in. I jumped up and grabbed the ledge. Using all my strength, I lifted myself up and into the diner. Annabeth held out her arms to help me get down. I got down and dusted off my pants. "Thanks." She nodded and looked at the window. "We need to cover that." I looked around for something. A big wooden plank laid on the counter along with a hammer and some nails. Well, that's convenient. I picked up the supplies and covered the window. I sighed and slumped down onto the floor. I tried to catch my breath. Annabeth walked over to me and sat next me. We just sat there, the tornado alarm and rain were the only noise in the room. I put my arm around her shoulders.

"Percy?" I looked at her. "Yeah?" She looked scared. Like really scared. I was scared too but I didn't want to show it for Annabeth's sake. "Hey, don't worry. We'll be okay." I gave her a side hug to reassure her. Lightning came down and this time it took the electricity. The street light outside, which was the only thing allowing us to see, went out. Now it was dark. Annabeth stiffened. "What's wrong?" I questioned. "I-I don't like the dark." I bit my lip. I felt so bad for her. She must be so terrified right now. I decided to keep her mind off of the storm. "Let's not think about that right now, okay? We're are going to get out of here. In one piece. And when we do. We can…" I thought of something random to say. After a while I said, "We can run away together. You know, escape everything and leave." I felt Annabeth smile. "Sure." She said doubtfully. "What? We could if we wanted." I commented. "I doubt that." She said. "We could!" I said trying to convince her. "Alright, alright." I shook my head and leaned it against the wall. I thought about the idea of running away with Annabeth. I would do it.

"No but seriously. Think about it. Us running away together. Sure we're going to have people tell us that we shouldn't do it but we'll ignore them." She laughed and put her arms around my waist. "I think we could do it. But suitcases will slow us down. We going to need something that won't slow us down."

"What about shopping carts?" Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, shopping carts it is. And then before we leave, we'll have to leave our mark on the town. You know do something stupid that everyone will remember." I laughed. "Maybe we could… I don't know get drunk and steal a car or run around and yell so loud that we lose our voice. And then we can go to some unknown town so that we don't ever get caught." We both laughed at the idea. We got quiet again. The rain outside was dying down and I couldn't hear the alarm anymore. Maybe the tornado happened somewhere else… I looked down at Annabeth. She was asleep and softly snoring. I sighed and leaned my head against the wall again. Soon I fell asleep to the sound of Annabeth's soft snoring.

{Page Break}

I woke up to Annabeth shaking my shoulder.

"Percy! Wake up!" Opening up my eyes, I groaned. "What?" I complained. I coughed. She squatted in front of me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" I coughed again. "My throat hurts." I said in a raspy voice. She frowned with concern. "Let's get home and I'll take care of you there."

"But what about the storm?" She stood up. "It stopped." She held out her hand. I grabbed it and she helped me up. I tried to clear my itchy throat but it only made me cough more. "Yeah, we need to get you home." Annabeth advised. She grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the window. She grabbed the hammer and pulled the nails out of the wooden plank. She dropped the hammer after she was done and moved the plank out of the way. She dusted off her hands. "Go. I'll help you up." I put up my finger when she protested. "Remember what I did when you protested last time. Just go Annabeth, you're going to go first anyways." I said in my raspy voice. She sighed and let me help her up. Once she got to the other side, I heard her yell, "Okay, you're turn!"

I climbed up and got out of the dusty diner. Once I got down, Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. I looked around and saw her by the entrance to the alley. I walked up next to her. "Hey, what's wrong?" I rasped out. "Look." She pointed to the street. I looked. "Whoa…" I muttered. On the street was a huge tree, carelessly thrown on the road. A group of people tried to move it out of the way. The weird thing was that it was morning. "Did we sleep through the night?" She nodded. "Yeah, it's Sunday." She informed. I nodded and intertwined our hands. "Told you we'd be fine." I muttered. She rolled her eyes and pulled me away from the tree sighting. "We need to get home. I'm pretty sure your friends are worried about you." I nodded.

As we walked around downtown, we looked at all the damage that was caused. Pieces of wood were all over the place but gladly we saw no hurt people. I looked down at my hands as we turned into my street. Little pink scars were scattered all around my hands, which were caused by the glass on the window. Annabeth noticed that I was staring at the scars. She grabbed both of my hands and kissed my combined knuckles. "There. Better?" She asked softly. I grinned and gave her a peck on the lips. She giggled a little. We kept walking down my street. Once we got to my house, I looked at the driveway. My mom's car was there. Oh no… Mom's here. I clenched and unclenched my jaw repeatedly in a nervous manner.

I took out my key and unlocked the front door. "Mom?" I called out, wincing when my throat stung. Annabeth smirked. "I forgot you lived with your mom." I blushed and closed the door behind her as she got in. After a couple of seconds, I heard thumps. "Percy!" I looked at the stairs to see my mom running down. She tackled me in a hug. "Oh Percy! I was so worried!" I smiled and hugged her back. "Yeah, sorry mom. Annabeth and I were stuck at Central Park and both of our phones died so I couldn't contact anyone." She pulled back and looked at me with concern. "What happened to your voice?"

"I think he's getting sick." Annabeth answered. My mom frowned. "Oh no. You better get to bed and I'll make you some soup." Annabeth piped up. "I'll put him to bed and then I'll come back down to help you with the soup." My stomach dropped. Ok, hold on. Back up. Did she just say that she was going to help my mom cook? That means… she could talk to her. I really don't want Annabeth to find out my secret from my mom. "Actually, I was hoping you and I could talk. Upstairs." I said nervously. "We can talk later. Right now, I want to get to know your mom."

"Yeah and I want to get to know my son's girlfriend." My mom said. This is bad. "Uh no no. Uh we were going to go t-talk upstairs about… about… um." I struggled to come up with something. I didn't. "Percy, until you figure out what you want to talk about, I'll be down here, helping your mom." I gave up and nodded. Annabeth gave me a reassuring smile and led me up the stairs. Once we got in, I sat down on the bed. Annabeth closed my bedroom and leaned against my desk. She crossed her arms. "So, um, why don't you want me talking so much? Do you think she's going to show me some of your baby pictures?" She joked. I rubbed the back of my neck. "N-No. It's just that…" I still couldn't think of anything. Annabeth pushed off my desk and walked over to me. I hugged her waist as she played with my hair. "I'll be back okay? And then we can talk about whatever you want to talk about. Okay?" I gave up. Maybe I'm just overreacting. "O-Okay." She kissed my head and pulled back. "Get some rest." She demanded. I saluted. "Yes ma'am." She laughed and left my room. My hands shook as I plugged in my phone. After a while, it turned on. I scrolled through the millions of texts and missed calls I got from the guys and my mom. Well, my mom knows I'm alright so I guess I can call the guys. I dialed Nico's number and waited for him to answer. After 1 ring, he answered. "Percy! Oh gods! Please tell me you and Annabeth are okay?" I smiled at his concern for both of us. "Hey Nico. Yeah, we're both fine."

"Whoa, what's wrong with your voice?" He questioned. "Well, I think I'm getting sick."

"Oh. Well, the guys are worried sick about you. You should call them."

"Ok. I will." Then I remembered something. "Oh, hey Nick. You know how you said that we're having another gig soon. When is it?"

"Oh yeah. It's tonight." My eyes widened. "Whoa. Why so soon?" I asked. "Well they said they wanted us to be back as soon as possible, so we talked about it and they said that we could come back on Sunday. Which is today." He explained. "B-But Nico. We don't even have a song to sing. And not to mention that we still have to practice it."

"Hey, don't worry about it. The gig doesn't start until 8:00. That's plenty of time." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Okay, okay. I'll call you back when I have a song. And do you mind calling the guys for me? I need to get started on the song like now."

"No I don't mind. I'll call them. You just write the song. Call me if you need any help."

"Kay' bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and grabbed my songbook and a pencil from the bedtable. I got up and walked to my desk. Sitting down, I thought of ideas. I bit the tip of my pencil and thought. I sighed when I couldn't think of anything and put my head in my hands. I rubbed my eyes with the palm of my hands and winced when they started stinging. I pulled back and saw the cuts on them. Suddenly, when I remembered how I got them, I remembered the storm. Then I remembered the conversation Annabeth and I had in the abandoned 'Pig Stand'. I smiled and picked up my pencil. As I began writing, I silently reminded myself to thank Annabeth later for being my inspiration.

Annabeth's POV:

I was still wondering why Percy was so persistent on getting me to not talk to his mom. I mean, how bad can she be? Walking down the stairs, I heard the clanking of dishes hitting each other and the sound of running water. I turned the corner to see Ms. Jackson washing dishes. She didn't notice me until I actually got into the kitchen. "Oh hey Annabeth. Did you finally get Percy to let you go?" I let out a small laugh. "Yeah. He let go when I told him that I would be back." Ms. Jackson chuckled and rinsed the bowl. "Good." Ms. Jackson cooed. I walked up next to her. "Okay, so what do you need help with?" Ms. Jackson took the wet bowl out of the water. "Can you get me the dish rag by the oven, sweetheart?" I grinned when she called me 'sweetheart' and got the dish rag for her. I handed it to her and she wiped down the bowl. I waited for her to tell me to do as she set down the bowl on the counter. "Okay, now we have to cut up some vegetables." She turned around and walked over to the refrigerator. She looked through the crisper and murmured to herself. "Okay, here there are." She pulled out two carrots and two potatoes. "Now we have to cut the carrots and peel the potatoes." I nodded. She grabbed a peeling tool and a knife from the sink and dried them off. "Do you want to cut or peel?" She asked. "Whichever." She nodded and gave me the knife. She rinsed off the carrots and potatoes. "Here you go." She gave me the carrots. I smiled at her and started cutting the carrots.

We worked in silence for a while until Ms. Jackson started up a conversation. "So, did you meet Percy at school?" I shook my head. "No I haven't know Percy that long." She frowned but nodded anyway. "Well, he's very fond of you. I'll tell you that." She informed. I blushed. "Really?" She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. He is." I continued cutting the carrots. Once in a while, I would look up and look around the kitchen. Especially the picture on the refrigerator. It was a picture of a family at the water park. A woman wearing a bathing suit, who I'm assuming was Ms. Jackson, was standing on one side of a little boy who looked only 5 years old. The little boy had black hair and familiar sea green eyes. I realized that it was Percy. But the weird thing was, there was a man on the other side of Percy. An exact replica, except this man looked at least 30. He must've been Percy's dad… As a matter of fact, where is Percy's dad?

"If you don't mind me asking, where's Percy's dad?" Ms. Jackson grimaced. "Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to…" Ms. Jackson shook her head. "No, no. It's fine. It's just…" She paused. "It's just I haven't talked about Poseidon in a long time." Ms. Jackson grinned sadly. "He was only 45 when he died. He had said he was going on a fishing trip down at Long Island. He had asked Percy to go with him. Percy didn't go, thank gods." She sighed deeply. "He caught a large fish, the largest he had ever caught. The fish…" She leaned against the counter and bit her lip to keep from crying. I put the knife down and put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to continue." I reassured. She shook her head and recomposed herself. "It's fine. T-The fish. It, um, it escaped Poseidon's grip and flopped back into the water. The fish was so powerful that when it jumped off of him, it pushed Poseidon of the boat. He was too shocked to even swim back up… He drowned." I squinted at the carrots as Ms. Jackson let a tear streak down her cheek. "Are you okay?" I felt like 'I'm sorry' didn't make up for the loss of a human. So I just asked if they were okay. Ms. Jackson nodded and continued peeling. "Yeah, I'm fine. Percy was only 6 when it happened." I said nothing. We stayed silent as we continued to cook.

Once we finished the soup, Ms. Jackson poured some in a bowl. "Are you sure you don't want any, sweetheart?" I shook my head and took the bowl of soup from her. "I'm not that hungry." I said. Just then, my stomach growled, proving that I wasn't telling the truth. I smiled sheepishly as Ms. Jackson laughed and pulled out another bowl. "Go give that to Percy and I'll take you your bowl." She said while laughing. I nodded and walked up the stairs. I heard soft strumming coming from Percy's room. Frowning, I opened the door to see him sitting at his desk, playing his guitar. I sighed frustratingly. "Percy. I told you need to rest. Why are you up?" Percy looked up at me and gave the crooked grin that I fell in love with a month ago. I placed his bowl in front of him and closed the door behind me. "Sorry but I needed to write a song for tonight." He beckoned me over. I walked in between his open legs. He rested his head against my stomach. His arms hugs my thighs. "Tonight?"

"Yeah. The gig was tonight." I grinned. "Why so early?" I asked. "It's better than waiting another month." I let out a small laugh. "Have you finished?" I felt Percy smile widely against my stomach. "Yup. With your help of course." I chuckled. "My help?" Percy rubbed his thumb against my thigh. "Yeah. You inspired me with this song."

"Don't I always inspire you with every song I've ever heard you perform?" He laughed and pulled away from my embrace. "Yeah, but this one is…. Special." He informed. I smirked. "Oh?" He nodded. "Ye-"

"Knock-knock." Ms. Jackson said as she opened the door. I smiled at her as she handed me the bowl of soup. "Thanks Ms. Jackson." She nodded and smiled sweetly. "I'll leave you 2 to eat. Percy, bring both bowls down when you guys are done, okay?" Percy's hand rubbed my thigh as he nodded. "Kay'." He said. Ms. Jackson left. I looked back down at Percy. "You need to eat and then rest up for the gig tonight." Percy shook his head and grabbed the bowl of soup. I sat down on his bed while he sat by his desk. "I don't think I have time to rest." He rasped out. "Yes you do. Now, eat." I demanded. He smiled as he took a sip of the warm soup. "Mmm." He hummed. "Good?" I asked. He nodded eagerly. I laughed and took a sip of my own soup. He was wrong. It wasn't good.

It was delicious.

Percy's POV:

It took a while for me to convince Annabeth to leave when we started practicing the song I wrote. But after I told her that it was supposed to be a surprise for her, she left. The guys and I practiced and practiced. I had realized that I didn't tell my mom about the gig from a month before so I told about this one and she was ecstatic. She would not stop congratulating us… or leave us alone to practice. She was even coming to the gig. I didn't mind because she was my mom after all but I made her promise not to embarrass me.

Now, here we are. Once again, backstage at the Hard Rock Café. My mom said she would be at the back of the restaurant. Annabeth was with us in the back. I was grateful. "Percy, will you calm down? You've done this before." She said. "Yeah, but what if I mess up?" My voice had gotten better but it was still a little raspy. It made me sound like I was congested. She rolled her eyes as if to say, 'Here we go again'. "Percy, you said that the last time and look what happened." I nodded and stared at her. Just looking at her seemed to calm me down. It helped that she was ungodly beautiful in her red leather jacket, light brown V-neck, blue jeans, and ankle boots. She blushed. "Why are you staring at me?"

I didn't say anything. I just simply kissed her. She smiled into the kiss. "Percy, we're going to start in- oh." Leo interrupted as he opened the small red curtain that was covering us from the rest of them. I pulled away and quickly stood up. "Oh sorry guys. I seem to know how to ruin a moment, huh?" I shook it off. "Its fine, bud. Just go get the guys so we can go over the song one more time." He nodded and walked away, closing the red curtain behind him. I rubbed my sweaty palms on my thighs. "Okay, well looks like I have to go." Annabeth stood up and hugged me. "You'll be fine." She kissed my cheek. "I love you." She murmured sweetly. I smiled as a surge confidence went through me. "I love you too." She grinned at me before leaving to go get a place in the large audience. Hopefully, I can see her from the stage. Composing my nervous self, I walked over to the curtain closed stage to meet up with the guys. Soft murmuring was heard from outside the curtain, the audience. "Hey guys." I waved. Beck nodded towards me as he taped his drumsticks. Nico looked up from his guitar, which he was tuning. "Hey dude." Leo was smiling widely at me, like he was trying not to laugh. I smacked the side of head. He just laughed. I got in my position, as did the guys.

"Okay, so are you guys ready?" The stage hand asked. We all nodded. "Okay, you're on in 5, 4, 3, 2," He went silent on the one and just held up one finger. The curtain opened to reveal a very large crowd. They all started cheering as we came into view. I smile when I spotted Annabeth by my mom. I waved. A group of teenage middle-school girls that were in front of Annabeth squealed because they thought I was waving at them. I laughed a little. I grabbed the mic when the crowd quieted down. "Hey there. I would like to dedicate this song to my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase." Everyone cheered but I saw some girls in the audience frown. "NO! PERCY JACKSON IS MINE!" I heard someone girl yell from the front of the audience. The guys laughed as I just shook my head and looked over at Annabeth. She was smiling widely at me. "Let's get started." Leo said into the mic.

(The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls)

(P)= Percy (N)= Nico (L)= Leo (B)= Beck (A)= All

(P) Paper bags and plastic hearts

All our belongings in shopping carts

(P&N) Its goodbye

But we got one more night

Let's get drunk and ride around

And make peace with an empty town

(P) We can make it right

(L) Throw it away

(P&B) Forget yesterday

(A) We'll make the great escape

(P&B) We won't hear a word they say

They don't know us anyway

(P&N) Watch it burn

Let it die

Cause we are finally free

(P) Tonight

I took the mic of the stand and started walking around the stage. The crowd was cheering loudly.

Tonight will change our lives

It's so good to be by your side

(P&N) We'll cry

We won't give up the fight

We'll scream loud at the top of our lungs

And they'll think it's just cause we're young

(A) And we'll feel so alive

(L) Throw it away

(P&B) Forget yesterday

(A) We'll make the great escape

(P&B) We won't hear a word they say

They don't know us anyway

(P&N) Watch it burn

Let it die

Cause we are finally free

(N) Tonight

(P&L) (All of the wasted time)

The hours that were left behind

The answers that we'll never find

They don't mean a thing tonight

I walked off the stage as they had an instrumental break. The crowd parted a way for me. I walked over to Annabeth. She was smiling at me with tears in her eyes. My mom stood beside her. My mom, on the other hand, was downright bawling. I smiled at both of them. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and put it over my heart.

(L) Throw it away

(N) Forget yesterday

(P) We'll make the great escape

(B) We won't hear a word they say

(P) They don't know us anyway

I kissed Annabeth's nose quickly before making my way back to the stage.

(L) Throw it away

(P&B) Forget yesterday

(A) We'll make the great escape

(P&B) We won't hear a word they say

They don't know us anyway

(P&N) Watch it burn

Let it die

Cause we are finally free

(P) Tonight

The crowd cheered on as the music ended. I laughed as the security guards held back the crowd from toppling us down. "Thank you!" I yelled into the mic but it was only drowned in the roar of the crowd. I looked over at my mom and Annabeth. My mom yelled, "I'm so proud of you!" Surprisingly, I heard her over the loudness. I smiled at her and looked at Annabeth. 'I love you.' She mouthed. I grabbed the mic. "I love you too, Annabeth Chase." My voice rang through the restaurant as she laughed. I waved at her one last time before the curtains closed.

Sorry. Probably one of my worst chapters ever but I couldn't think of anything else to do. Plus, this was kind of a filler chapter anyway, until the real drama starts. Next chapter will be the last week of school before Christmas break and then a little surprise for Leo (Everyone's favorite character). I hoped you enjoyed it anyway.

NEWS ALERT:
The Poll Results:

Yes- 5

No- 7

Yes, Annabeth will NOT be a musician.

Thank you to everyone that voted. I hope you aren't too disappointed with the results.

Bye!

R&R