IT'S EASIER TO HATE THAN TO LOVE

Annabeth stared into the hollow eyes of her faded owl mask, worn and weathered from all the Masquerade Balls she'd been to. Her fingers ghosted over its stormy grey surface, every chip, crack and dent, a different memory. She pressed her palm against the deep groves that had been notched into the mask's forehead, one for every year she'd been at CHB.

One.

The year Luke found her, alone, frustrated, and miserable, tucked into one of New York's rainy alleyways. Her feet had ached horribly, Annabeth remembered, because she'd ran as far away from home as they could take her. She'd been so full of questions…

Why was their family different from everyone else's? Who was that lady, wearing the sparkling ring Daddy had bought? Mother? She'd be my new mother?

She'd been lost and Luke had found her.

Two.

The year they were claimed and enrolled into CHB. All their lives, Luke and Annabeth had waited for a chance to meet the people who had abandoned them. Annabeth was lucky, brighter than average; her mother had asked to see her. Luke on the other hand…all he got was a letter admitting his mom into Caduceus. No greeting, no contact, no nothing.

Three

The year Thalia fell into their lives. Strong, vibrant and stubborn, Thalia held their trio together. Together, they would show those who'd abandoned them what exactly they were capable of. Together, they were invincible.

Four

The year Annabeth had kissed Luke for the first time. It had seemed so right back then. They'd known each other for so long. Everything they did, they did together. Of course, the most logical person for her to be with would be Luke. Who else was there?

But now…it just seemed so wrong.

She knew Luke.

She loved Luke.

He loved her back.

So why had she seen Luke crouched over Silena Beauregard, menace and threat tensed into every muscle?

Cornered and trapped, Silena had been trembling and absolutely terrified.

Annabeth knew Luke wouldn't do that...There must have been a reason.

She set her mask on the bridge of her nose and looked at herself in the dresser mirror. Her hair fell evenly on her shoulders, barely touching the shimmering blue-grey fabric of her dress. Annabeth fiddled with the blond strands, closing her eyes as she breathed in deep.

Tonight she would ask. Tonight the secrets would be gone.

Ding dong

That must be Luke, Annabeth thought to herself. She breathed out, steeling herself, and stood.

Wading through organized piles of building sketches and architecture books, she grabbed her coat and made her way to the front door.

"Hey," Luke greeted as Annabeth opened the door. "You look great."

Annabeth peered curiously at her boyfriend. "Your mask, you changed it."

He touched the golden snake mask he wore and shrugged. "I thought a change would be nice."

"What was wrong with your old one?" Annabeth asked, remembering his old mask with its white wing motif.

"Nothing," he replied as he took her hand in his and led the way to the school. "I just thought…well, things need to change, Annabeth."

"Says who?" she retorted, knowing that she was just putting off asking the important questions. This wasn't time for small talk, damn it.

Luke didn't answer, and just flashed a sad smile. They walked the few blocks that separated Annbeth's home from the school in relative silence. The cold winter air blew against their backs, ruffling hair and dampening conversation. Soon enough, CHB loomed ahead of them and Annabeth felt compelled to kick herself.

Why couldn't she just ask? It would be better to do it here, where there were less people. That's right; the sensible thing would be to ask here.

With that in mind, Annabeth turned to Luke and started, "Luke I have something to a—"

"ID's?" a gruff voice demanded.

Annabeth glared at the guy who'd interrupted her. Maybe the intensity of her stare would melt his idiotic dragon mask into his face. She shoved her school ID at the guard, fuming.

"Gimme a sec," Luke replied, digging his hand into his pocket and sending a sideward glance to his girlfriend.

The guard gave a curt nod at the two of them and let them in. Great, now they only had a short corridor walk to settle everything.

"Luke, there's something important I need to ask you," Annebeth let out in a rush, stopping halfway to the gym.

"Yeah?" Luke said with a false air of nonchalance. He turned to look into the determined grey eyes he knew so well. Trepidation fluttered in him. Annabeth was smart…had she figured anything out?

"A few weeks ago," she started. "I saw you at Caduceus."

"Why were you at Caduceus?" Luke asked, maybe he could divert all this.

"Percy got hit by a flower pot," Annbeth answered, scrunching her brow. She better get to the point before they got off track and she lost her nerve. "Don't change the subject. I saw you and Silena Beauregard together. It looked like you were threatening her."

Wisps of conversation drifted towards them from the other end of the hall. Luke started to panic, people couldn't see this. If he ever explained anything to her, it would be in private. "Look Annabeth, we should talk about this later, there are people about."

"I don't care if anyone hears," she told him, holding her voice to a harsh whisper. "As long as I hear the truth…"

Luke grit his teeth. "Annabeth, listen. This isn't something I can just tell you. There are people involved, people you don't want to be associated with."

"Then why are you involved with them?"

"Because I have no choice!"

This was bad. This was very, very, bad. Annabeth couldn't find out. Luke wouldn't let her find out. If he said anymore he knew she would start to investigate. No, he wouldn't let her get sucked into this.

He gripped her wrist and yanked her into another corridor, holding a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. The last time he'd done this, it was to Silena. Luke remembered feeling her tremble under his hold. But Annabeth wasn't Silena. She stood firm, eyes challenging him, asking him.

"Just stop, Annabeth," Luke pleaded, voice wavering. He lifted his hands and leaned his palms against either side of her. "I can't let you know…I just can't."

Annabeth looked at him, really looked at him. Beneath that mask, he was haggard. Whatever he was involved in was taking its toll. "You can't trust me?"

Luke laughed a mirthless laugh. "Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind."

They stayed like that, frozen in revelations and regret, until familiar voices reached them.

"…Peleus Security's top notch. No one knows why they were hired this year"

"Is this Ball really that much of a big deal?"

"It's tradition!"

Annabeth gasped, forgetting that she'd nagged Percy to come. Of all the people…Percy almost confused her as much as Luke did.

"Well," Luke said, quickly composing himself. "It looks like Grover's brought a friend. We should go in and join them."

Somberly, they walked into the gym, the upbeat music clashing horribly with their inner turmoil.

Annabeth spotted Grover's stubby horned goat mask first and called out. "Hey Grover! Grover!"

"Over here!" he called back, sending a cheery wave.

The blonde swallowed thickly, trying to push what had just happened aside. She could think about it later, somewhere more private. If things really were as bad as Luke made them out to be, she couldn't get anyone else involved with her suspicions.

The pair made their way towards their friends, weaving through the crowd. The first thing Annabeth noticed was her tutee's stupefied face.

"Percy, wipe that dumbstruck look off your face," Annabeth snapped, whacking him on the shoulder in mock annoyance. Her eyes shone with hidden confusion and theories and she hoped no one noticed how out of it she was. "I hate it when you look like an idiot."

"I don't look like an idiot," Percy retorted in that endearingly whiny way he did. "Someone told me I looked very handsome."

"Well who went and said that, half-blood?" Luke laughed, reverting back to his cool and sassy self. He wrapped his arms around her and joked, "Your mom?"

Annabeth felt her face heat up with frustration, knowing that the smiles and laughs were fake. She wanted to know what was wrong. She wanted to know, so badly. Inwardly sighing, she slipped into an insincere smile of her own and casually broke Luke's hold on her. "Percy, meet Luke Castellan, my boyfriend."

"Nice to, um, meet you," Percy mumbled, voice cracking slightly. "Wait, Castellan?"

"Hey kid," Luke said, lifting his mask to peer at the shorter boy. "I thought I told you to try and forget my name?"

"You two know each other?" Grover asked.

"He saved me from some thugs," Percy told his friend.

Annabeth's mind worked furiously at this new information. Thugs? "You got jumped by thugs, Percy?"

"Yeah, some kid named Ethan Nakamura," Percy told her. "Castellan stopped him though, talked him out of it."

Ethan Nakamura? Annabeth knew that name. He was an infamous delinquent. Rumor had it he was involved with the big gangs that occupied the slums. What was Luke up to that he had control and power over someone so high profile?

"Excuse us guys," Annabeth said. "We've got something private to do."

She grabbed Luke's arm and dragged him out into the corridor, determined to find out what the hell was happening.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Percy said as he watched the two slip away.

"Maaaaybe you just ate a bad enchilada or something," Grover suggested.

"Percy, don't follow them!" Juniper scolded when she noticed the teen inching away. "When a couple says they want to be alone, you leave them alone!"

"I don't care," Percy huffed, breaking off from Grover and Juniper. He cut through the crowd, towards Annabeth's general direction. She'd been acting strangely and for reasons Percy couldn't understand, he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. From what, he didn't quite know yet. But he knew one thing, if something was wrong, he would be there to help, the same way she was always there for him.

~O~o~O~

"You've figured it out, haven't you?" Luke said darkly.

Annabeth checked the halls to see if anyone was around before ducking in to join Luke in the empty classroom she had found. "Figured what out?"

"Come on, Annabeth. You're smart," Luke drawled in exasperation. All this effort to keep things from her and she just shoves it down the drain. "Tell me what your wonderful mind has worked out."

"You're involved with gangs," she proclaimed, hoping for once she was wrong. "That Cronus school has got you doing illegal things."

"Great job, Annabeth," he clapped. "Now you're part of it."

Annabeth watched him warily. She knew he was being pushed over the edge. "So what now?"

"Now, you have to go," Luke told her. "Get as far away from here as possible. You can't be here when things start happening. It's already been set in motion, Annabeth. There isn't much time."

"Luke…these things you're doing," she started. "Are they hurting people?"

He didn't reply. That was enough of an answer for her.

"You can't be doing this," she said, half to herself, half to him. "This isn't you Luke. Just come back to CHB, we'll talk to Mr. D and see what they can do."

"Why come back here?" Luke retorted as he started pacing the room. "Why come back to the people who never wanted us, Annabeth? When was I claimed? While I was bleeding next to my hysterical mother! Years of teasing and bullying because she wouldn't keep quiet about 'winged shoes' and 'prophecies' and did they do anything?"

"They sent your mom to Caduceus, Luke," Annabeth reminded him. "It's one of the best hospitals in the country."

"The headmaster of Cronus offers a sweeter deal," Luke told her, careful to not directly say anything. "So I can't come back, Annabeth. It's…better where I am now."

"So you're fine with hurting people?"

"As long as it helps me, then yeah," he declared coldly.

"Annabeth?" someone cried from outside. Pounding sounded against the classroom's locked door. Percy, Annabeth recognized through her haze of shock and confusion. "I hear shouting!"

"I guess we stand on different sides of the fence for this one," Luke sighed. It was for the best. This way, she wouldn't follow him into the hole he'd buried himself into.

Annabeth stared up at him, tears stinging at her eyes. "I can't persuade you to stay?"

"There's nothing worth staying for," he smiled sadly, taking her into his arms for what he supposed to be the last hug they'd share. "Goodbye Annabeth."

"Goodbye, Luke," she whispered back.

He breathed in her strawberry and spice scent one last time before letting go. Walking over to the door, he let himself look back for just a moment before letting a flustered Percy into the room.

Percy shoved Luke aside and scrambled over to Annabeth, words of concern and comfort gushing out of him.

Luke sighed and stepped into the hallway. There was no reason for him to hang around here anymore. Now that Annabeth probably hated him, all that was left was—

"Luke!"

Speak of the devil. "Hey Thalia."

"Luke Castellan, what the HELL do you think you're doing?" she all but shouted, sliding the silver doe mask of a Hunter off her face.

"It's better this way, Thalia," he reasoned, not looking her in the eye. "With what I'm doing, it's easier for her to hate me."

"It doesn't work that way, Luke," Thalia growled, full of indignant fury. "Love doesn't stop when you're betrayed. It'll still be there; she'll still be hurting."

He looked at her and stared at those electric blue eyes. "You know from experience?"

"Yes, you bastard, I do," she hissed. Familiar, resentful thoughts about Luke and Annabeth leaving her behind came rushing back. She pushed them aside. This wasn't about her.

"I guess you hate me now too," Luke observed.

And with that, he left.

Thalia didn't try to stop him. Annabeth may not have seen the sadness behind that mask, but Thalia saw it.

She always had.

Note: Won't be updating for a while, but I figure this is as good a place as any to leave you guys :)