Hi people! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, happy belated Thanksgiving! If you don't…well, happy typical day!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

I headed to the car. I wouldn't have directions, but at least I wouldn't have to talk to certain people. I really didn't want to talk to Grover right then, and I didn't want to talk to Annabeth. Ever.

There was a plastic bottle of water in the cup holder, and I tipped half of it on the cut across my upper arm. It closed up immediately.

"Percy, wait!" I heard a girl yelp. I turned around, and saw that Juniper was coming to the car, too.

She opened the passenger door. "We don't have enough time to waste driving around the country." In her hands were the directions.

"All right." I drove out of the parking lot. We drove in silence for half an hour.

"She does care," Juniper blurted out suddenly.

"What?" I looked at her. She was frowning, like I'd done something wrong.

"She does care, Percy. You didn't see her when you were gone."

"I don't know who you're talking about," I lied.

Juniper sighed impatiently. "You know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Annabeth. When you were gods know where for two weeks, she was shattered back at camp. You were—and still are—her best friend," she was going to keep talking, but I interrupted her.

"Oh, yeah, some friend," I scoffed. "What kind of friend does something like this?" I gestured towards where she'd cut me.

"Well, did you ever think about why she did that? Maybe she didn't want to talk about Luke!"

"Then she and I are no longer friends. If she likes him, then she and I are not friends. So I don't know her," I said heatedly.

"You are impossible, Jackson! Did you ever think that maybe she likes you?" Juniper yelled.

"She likes me so much she decided to slice me to pieces. Oh yeah, nothing wrong with that picture at all."

"Percy." Juniper took a deep breath. "Put yourself in Annabeth's shoes for a minute. Think: you spent your childhood on the run, fighting monsters with an old hammer. Then you met two older kids who helped you, understood you, took care of you the best they could.

"Then one day, one of them 'died' trying to defend you. You and the other were devastated. This was a huge loss for your 'family'.

"For five years you stayed at Camp, never leaving except for short field trips. Eventually you saw your other friend in another way—not just your hero. Then you were told you could leave only if another person came.

"When that person came, he, another one of your friends, and you left on the quest. Eventually you stopped hating this other person, and you actually became friends. You decided that this other person wasn't at all bad when you came back to Camp.

"Then you found out that your hero—and maybe something else—wasn't all good like you thought. No, your hero was a traitor.

"But you kept living—and going on quests with that other person. You went from enemies to acquaintances to best friends.

"Then…you wondered if maybe you weren't just friends? But then that person became friends someone else. And then this best friend disappeared for two weeks. You were devastated once again.

"Then you lose your memory, you contract a disease. You and this best friend's relationship is strained, and the thought of your hero stings.

"And now, you don't know where you stand with this person."

"Oh sure," I said. "Then shouldn't Annabeth know what I think? I was born as a mysterious hero, with a prophecy surrounding my every movement. I was just thrown into this mess without a clue what was happening. I ran blindly, just a tool of the gods.

"Then I met this curt, blond-haired, grey eyed, 'Miss Perfect' with whom I went on a quest across America. We became friends, and then best friends. I wasn't blind anymore. We went on more quests.

"Somewhere along the way, we hit a snag. Somewhere along the way, we just…collapsed. It was hard…and I was running blindly once again."

Everything was quiet.

"Then tell her," Juniper said quietly. "Tell her, because if you don't tell her now, your friendship won't be able to survive this shock."

"No," I shook my head. "No. If she wants to be friends, then she needs to apologize."

"Do you want to be friends again, Percy?" Juniper asked.

I sighed. "Yes. Yes, I do want to be friends."

Juniper grinned happily. "Okay then! There's an exit coming soon, so pull over!" I did as she said. "We can all talk over lunch. We're in Helena, so it should take another eleven hours or so. Off topic, Percy, but I know you and Grover have been friends for a long time now…"

"Yean," I said uncertainly. I wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"So you must know lots of embarrassing stories about him, then." Juniper smiled wickedly.

I laughed. "Yup. And believe me; I'd be glad to tell you every single one of them." She laughed too. We sat quietly for a while.

"Thanks, Juniper," I said suddenly.

"What are friends for?" she asked loosely. "You know, Nico, Megan, Grover and I were talking the other day, and all we really want is for you and Annabeth to be happy. And really, it's none of our business whether or not you and Annabeth should be friends or more."

"Does that mean you'll stop plaguing us now?" I asked hopefully.

"Um, we're not that nice, so nope. Not a chance!" I groaned loudly. Juniper laughed again. I saw the restaurant and pulled over.

"I'll go get them. You go get some food," Juniper ordered.

"Okay." Truth be told, I didn't really want to see Annabeth right away, so I walked into the restaurant. Radio music was playing loudly—but something was wrong. Because the song that was playing wasn't a recent one. It was one of the songs at the masquerade: New York City Rhythm.

Just then, the song ended and the radio dude announced "That was New York City Rhythm, by Barry Manilow."

What the heck? There were lots of people in this place, but nobody seemed to find the song out of place. The restaurant was an old country place. A small sign outside said that it was built in the 1800s as an inn. The name was Aunt Allie's.

Just then, Juniper, Grover, and Annabeth entered. Juniper looked excited, Grover looked tired, and Annabeth…I couldn't tell.

She was stoic, but not like she didn't want to show how she was feeling, more like she was dead. Before I thought too much about it, she turned away. Silently she walked to a table, and we followed. Silently, of course.

Another song came on, and I recognized this one, too. It was Super Massive Black Hole, by Muse.

I said, urgently, "Hey, guys, there's something weird about this place. They play really random songs here. Like just before you came, the radio was playing New York City Rhythm. Now they're playing Super Massive Black Hole. It's really creepy."

The radio announcer dude said, After the break, we continue with our 'Through Time' music festival!

Juniper and Grover glared at me. I chuckled nervously. "It was an honest mistake?"

"Whatever. Let's get something to eat," said Juniper. She got up and asked us, "What do you guys want?"

"Let's all just have sandwiches," Grover said. "Vegetarian, of course, for me."

"Sure," I agreed. Annabeth nodded slightly and said to Juniper, "I'll come with you." She got up and they both walked to the counter. About four or five people were standing in front of them, so I figured it would take a while.

"So, Percy," Grover started.

"Don't tell me you'll lecture me, too," I complained.

"Did Juniper talk to you?" asked Grover.

"Yes."

"Good, then you apologize to Annabeth as soon as she comes back."

"Why? It was her fault as much as mine. Besides, she was the one that cut me!" I moaned like a little kid.

"Percy, I know she's really upset. She didn't talk to me at all back in the RV, and all she laid facedown on a bed the entire time."

"Which bed?" I asked. Blame my ADHD.

"How is that important?!" He yelled

"I don't know. Just tell me."

"The third one, why?" Grover sighed.

"No reason. But…" Just then, the girls came back, laughing, and placed the food on the table, then took their place across the table.

We talked about random things for a while. All of us talked, but Annabeth and I wouldn't talk to each other.

There was a lull in the conversation. Grover sighed, Juniper tapped her feet on the floor impatiently, and Annabeth looked through the window to her right. (Sitting right across from her at the square table, the window was directly to my left.)

Finally, Juniper said, "Will you guys just stop this nonsense? It is childish and immature, not to mention completely negative towards us getting to Florence by next year, much less this one!"

"I don't want to talk to anybody who thinks I'm a know-it-all, braggart brat," Annabeth said in a low voice.

"Annabeth…" I started. She stood up.

"Excuse me," and then she headed to the bathrooms at the back of the place.

"I'm going to talk to her," said Juniper. She followed Annabeth.

They were gone for a while, something like twenty or thirty minutes. When they came back, both their faces were expressionless. Juniper looked happier than Annabeth, though, for some reason.

We sat in silence for a while longer, not sure what to say. Then all of a sudden, Juniper said that she had to talk to Grover and pretty much dragged him out of the building.

"Look, Annabeth, I'm sorry," I started, but she cut me off.

"No, I'm sorry. I really am. I know I acted like a little kid. And I know that I shouldn't keep hanging on to Luke. But—"

"You don't owe me an explanation, Annabeth." She didn't; also, I could see it was hard for her. Hubris wasn't the best thing for apologizing. What she did next surprised me. She tackled me in a huge hug. "Thank you," she said into my sweatshirt. "Thanks for being there, Percy."

I repeated Juniper's words from earlier. "What are friends for?" She smiled in response.

I almost died when everybody in the restaurant started to clap. They'd been following our entire conversation…gods, didn't these people have lives?

Juniper and Grover chose that moment to walk in. Yes, right then, when everybody was clapping and Annabeth was hugging me. Again, awkward.

Juniper smiled. "If you guys are ready, I say we go and eat in the car, so we can keep going."

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, that sounds good."

In a minute, we were all sitting in the car, the trailer behind us empty. I drove, and Grover and Juniper opted for the backseat, so Annabeth sat next to me in the passenger seat. She reached over and turned on the radio.

"How do you know what station?" I asked.

"Oh, I asked the guy behind the counter."

"Oh." Soon, we were all listening to A Blast from the Past, or whatever it was. Either way, it felt good to be on the road, and even better to not be fighting again.

***

Okay, that's where this chapter ends. I'm so sorry it was rushed…but at this point I just want to be done with Accident.

***********WARNING: THE END TO THIS STORY IS VERY DISNEY-LIKE! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU! I DON'T WANT A LOT OF PEOPLE TELLING ME IT WAS CORNY, BECAUSE I KNOW…AND I LIKE IT LIKE THAT! SO DEAL WITH IT!!!!!************

This warning will be in all chapters till the end, 'kay? And I know now that there will be an epilogue! So, by ending, I mean chapter directly before the epilogue!

BTW: 1910 words…and that's just in the story, not notes and disclaimer…