Disclaimer : I do not own Percy Jackson, or any of the content published from Rick Riordan nor Photography by Ed Sheeran.

Another chapter for you lovelies! Feel free to leave reviews or ask questions at the end of the chapters. I will be flying through updates on this as my free time will be coming to an end soon and I won't be able to update near as much.

Anywho, enjoy!

Chapter 3

Annabeth leaned back into the seat of Percy's car and found that she was humming to herself slightly. She absolutely hated surprises but she didn't want to tell Percy that when he was being so incredibly kind to her right now. Her only line of defense was to lean back, close her eyes and hum.

"How much longer?"

Percy looked over at Annabeth, she looked a little tense and suddenly he was unsure of his plan. "Maybe ten minutes," he replied. Thankfully traffic was light for it being a Saturday night and he was able to fly down FDR Drive for a good chunk of the drive, reducing their travel time from an hour to about thirty minutes.

Annabeth just nodded at him and continued to hum to herself.

"What are you humming? That sounds familiar." Suddenly it hit Percy, he turned on the radio before Annabeth could answer. He quickly flipped it over to auxiliary and grabbed his phone.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked a little surprised at his sudden urgency.

"This is the song you were humming, isn't it?"

The music started and Annabeth nodded and then made a funny face.

"What's wrong," he asked quickly?

"That's the song but that's not the original. The original is by Ed Sheeran and this is definitely not my red headed wonder!"

Percy laughed at her shaking his head. "Your red headed wonder huh?! I am sorry I don't know who this Ed Sheeran is but that is because I have a younger sister I haul around for my mom and I can tell you he's not a Disney Channel star!"

"You poor thing," Annabeth said with mock sympathy. "That is sweet you do that for your mom though. How old is your sister?"

"She's eight going on nine in October. I will have to hide you from her though. The second she meets you she will be attached to you like glue. Thalia barely gets out of the house alive."

"Is she anything like you," Annabeth asked, truly curious about Percy and his life. She knew everything about Thalia but absolutely nothing about her cousin sitting right next to her.

"She's a handful. A little soccer star who would rather run around in dresses. She doesn't cause near as much trouble as I did but then again I didn't have an older sibling running around covering for my butt either."

Annabeth giggled and leaned back in the seat all the way, closing her eyes and allowing the song to wash over her.

'And you can fit me inside the necklace you got when you were sixteen,
Next to your heartbeat where I should be,
Keep it deep within your soul,
And if you hurt me that's okay baby only words bleed,
Inside these pages you just hold me and I won't ever let you go.
When I'm away, I will remember how you kissed me,
Under the lamppost back on Sixth Street,
Hearing you whisper through the phone,
Wait for me to come home.'

The song ended just as Percy pulled into a parking spot. Annabeth opened her eyes to the sight of Coney Island in front of her. Percy watched as her stormy gray eyes shone with excitement and then quickly diminished.

"Percy, look at the time. The park closes in thirty minutes."

"It's okay, I have a plan," Percy responded as he jumped out of the car and quickly ran around to let Annabeth out of the car. He grabbed her hand, shut the door, set the alarm and then started off in a jog. "Hurry, follow me!"

"Like I have any choice," She said laughing as they ran toward the entrance of the park.

Annabeth sighed in content and leaned into Percy's side and took a deep breath of the cool night air. The Ferris wheel stopped and they were staring out at the ocean.

"I can't believe you were able to talk the owner into keeping the park owner into keeping this place open an extra two hours"

"Yeah well when your dad donates to the park, you can do pretty much anything you want a couple of times a year."

"Well it's gorgeous tonight and I am glad you threw some weight around. This is actually the best birthday present ever," she exclaimed and then something dawned on her and her excitement faded. "Oh Percy, I forgot to open your present!"

"It's okay. You can open it when we get back. I figured this would definitely be a better alternative to the fiasco at the club. I still think you need to watch your back with Luke though. He's not going to forgive you easily."

Annabeth shook her head. "Honestly, I am not worried about the creep. Yeah he's a friend, if you want to call him that. I have known him forever and even as kids he annoyed the hell out of me. Generally he doesn't cross that boundary with me, it's just when he drinks he turns into an ever bigger ass than he already is."

Percy sat up a little bit straighter and turned slightly to the right so that he could get a better look at Annabeth. "I am just worried is all, he's done some pretty awful things and I don't want you added to the list."

Annabeth sighed and looked into Percy's eyes, the ocean reflecting back in them, or was that how they actually were? She wasn't sure but she shook her head and asked, "Why do you care so much?"

Percy carefully pushed a loose curl back behind her ear and whispered, "I just do. I can't explain it but just promise me you will be careful."

Annabeth thought about it for a moment. She leaned in to give Percy a hug as best as she could with the ride bar being in her way. "I will."

"Do you mind," Annabeth asked as she leaned forward to mess with the radio.

"Not at all. If you want you can go through the music on my phone and see if there is anything on there you like." Percy carefully pulled his phone out of his pocket while driving and held it out for her to take.

Annabeth took the phone and then hit the home screen button. She tried to navigate her way thought the iPhone but wasn't having much luck. "Help me please. Where on earth is your music at on this thing?"

Percy laughed at her and told her which icon she needed. "Android users . . . you guys know nothing!"

Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him and then scolded him, "Eyes on the road mister!"

Annabeth spent a few minutes scrolling thru his music and laughed. "I think your sister took over your phone, everything on here looks like a teeny bopper preteen girl picked it out."

Percy mumbled under his breath and she was pretty sure he was cursing his little sister. "We are almost back to your place, unless you want to go do something else," he said cautiously. He didn't want her to think he was trying to get into her pants.

Annabeth was desperate to keep Percy around a little longer. She wasn't ready to leave him for the night as his presence was calming and seemed to help her feel grounded, something she hadn't felt in a long time. "I have a pretty extensive movie collection, you up for a little wine and a movie?"

Percy smiled back at Annabeth, "sounds like a plan."

Thalia quickly ran up to her best friend's door. Percy's jeep was parked in her usual spot and she suddenly wasn't sure if wanted to just barge into her second home.

She readied her key, took a deep breath and then prepared herself for the worst and she unlocked the door and quietly walked into the apartment.

The sun was shining through the living room at just the right angle that it caused Annabeth to go blind the instant she opened her eyes. She quickly shut them and then stretched but realized there was something holding on to her.

'Oh dear God, what happened last night?' Her brain was doing circles but she couldn't for the life of her remember. She shook her head lightly to help clear the haze and opened one eye. She looked down and saw Percy's arm draped lightly over her. 'Plus side, I am fully clothed!' she thought excitedly. 'Nothing entirely stupid happened.'

She felt Percy's arm lift slightly and she turned back to see him stretching.

"Good morning sleepy head," he said quietly as he pushed a few curls out of her face.

"Good morning," she replied as a blush rose into her cheeks. She stretched again and then sat up slowly. "Oh the sofa was such a bad idea," she trailed off. "Not the most comfortable place to sleep in this house, I know that now."

Percy chuckled and then he heard the key in the lock. "And cue Thalia in three, two . . ." Percy let his voice trail off just as Thalia walked into the living room.

"What on God's green earth is going on here? Never mind I don't have time for that right now. Annabeth you have a problem."

"Yeah, I need to change the locks and then remember not to give you key," Annabeth said jokingly.

"We will discuss that retort later," Thalia said as she crossed her arms and moved to the big oversized chair next to the sofa. "Luke is pissed."

Percy threw his arms up in the air and looked from Annabeth to Thalia and back as if to say 'See I told you so Annabeth!'

"I don't care if he is pissed. The jerk kissed me without my permission. He got what he deserved." She got up and walked to the window and crossed her arms over her chest and looked out at the city.

"I told her last night he wasn't going to be too thrilled. Did he tell you anything else?" Percy was on the edge of the sofa leaning in close to Thalia now.

"Other than she would have to pay, no. That was it."

"Great. There's a mad man out on the loose." Percy shook his head and looked at the back of Annabeth, wondering desperately how he could save her from Luke's upcoming wrath.

"I don't know what you two are so worried about. I can take care of myself you know?" Annabeth turned around to face them. She slowly walked back to the two of them and sat down next to Percy so that she was technically next to him and Thalia.

"I know you can take care of yourself. You proved that last night, it's just that you have awoken a beast that I wouldn't unleash on my worst enemy," Thalia said taking one of her hands.

"What are you talking about? I have known Luke forever and he's never been "dangerous".

Percy took her other hand in his and said, "Let me tell you a little story. It's a story that ended badly for everyone but Luke. His last girlfriend was a sweet girl. Never complained about anything but one night another guy started talking to her at the club they were out at, when they got home that night Luke hit her so hard she died from her injuries. Four blows was all it took. Two to the head and two to the kidneys. All of the evidence was there and he was slated to be put away but something happened, the evidence was all screwed up and I am not sure what else happened, but a murderer walked away that day. He was eighteen when that happened. His money got him out of trouble, kept everything out of the media and no one else knew any different. His parents paid off the girl's parents and they moved away not long after the trial was declared a mistrial."

"And how come no one ever said anything. You aren't any better than he is," Annabeth screamed as she got up and moved away from the pair.

"I haven't told anyone because he's threatened my family Thalia said sadly. Percy, thankfully is great at playing the idiot in this whole thing but I got on his bad side once. I don't want to ever be on that bad side again. He told me if I ever did anything to lose his trust Alexa would die."

"Who is Alexa?"

"My sister," Percy said quietly. "Thals was her nanny of sorts for a while so she became Luke's choice of ammo. Of course I am not supposed to know about that. I have been playing dumb ever since Thalia told me what happened."

Percy got up and moved toward Annabeth. She took a step backward and then stopped. "So I guess I really do have to watch myself now," she said defeated.

"Don't worry. Thalia and I have your back. We aren't going to let anything happen to you." He held his hands out to her in hopes she would take them.

Annabeth hated relying on other people. They had a tendency to let you down but she didn't have much choice this time around. She could go to the cops but what would she tell them? 'Hi, rumor has it there is this guy who is making threats against me, can you help me with that by any chance?' That would only lead to a restraining order and essentially they were a joke. She decided for now her best course of action was Percy and Thalia.

Annabeth slowly extended her hands out to Percy and he pulled her close to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to you, Annabeth."

"You promise?"

"I promise."