7. A Month is Such a Short Time

"And 1! And 2! Squat lower! This isn't supposed to be easy!" Jillian Michael's voice blared through Annabeth's TV.

She had been doing her morning work out. Percy was supposed to come over later. Annabeth could only be grateful that he wasn't here right now to see her for she was dressed in a light blue sports bra with little black shorts and was dripping in sweat.

To say in the least, Annabeth looked like she had gone through birth. Several times.

a.a.a

Percy walked up to Annabeth's front door on her porch. No one answered the door at first. Percy started to tap his leg impatiently. It was one thing having to wait when you were ADHD. But it's another thing when you have to tell your girlfriend you accidently got in the army on top of that.

Dr. Chase opened the door. "Percy. I didn't expect you here so early."

"I didn't either. May I speak with Annabeth?"

Frederick frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Percy had to bite his cheek so his eyes wouldn't tear up. "I just need to see her as soon as possible, sir."

Dr. Chase allowed Percy in the house. Percy could tell Annabeth's dad knew something was up. He could only assume he thought they were breaking up. Then why would Dr. Chase have a small smile on his face?

"She should be in her room, Percy. I'll be in my office." Frederick noted.

"Thank you, sir."

Percy dashed up the winding staircase that led up to the blond beauty's room. When he got to her door, he could hear loud music pumping through the walls and a yelling voice of a lady.

He knocked a few times. Annabeth obviously didn't hear them. After some silent debating, Percy ran his hand through his black hair a couple times and walked into her room.

Annabeth was in the middle of her floor straddled over a yoga mat in front of the TV. She was doing some sort of squats. Percy couldn't help but notice her slender form dip with the upbeat music. He couldn't think like that at a time like this, though.

He cleared his throat. Annabeth immediately stopped what she was doing.

"God, Percy! You've got to stop barging in my room like this!" She shrieked, mortified.

"I'm really sorry. There's something I need to tell you." Percy apologized.

Annabeth couldn't tell the seriousness in his voice. "Well, can I at least put on some decent clothes first?" She joked.

Percy still kept his sullen face. "As you wish."

Annabeth emerged from her bathroom minutes later in a pair of jeans and an ocean blue v-neck. "So what do you want to talk about?" She asked, joining him on her bed.

Percy sighed. "You're not going to be very happy."

Annabeth frowned. Where was he going with this? "Percy, you're freaking me out. What happened?" She demanded.

The worst case scenarios played through Annabeth's mind. Percy must've cheated on her. Sure, he was definitely hot enough. Annabeth could totally picture random girls flinging themselves at him.

Percy must be fatally sick. He must have some sort of disease that attacks the, well, everything! And it's probably contagious, so Annabeth must've contracted it somehow.

But although Annabeth's scenarios seemed terrible, nothing could have prepared her for what Percy was about to tell her.

"Annabeth, I'm joining the army." Percy finally said. A tear rolled down his cheek. Percy wanted to slap himself for crying in front of Annabeth. The reality was finally hitting him.

Annabeth stayed silent for a while. Her eye brows were scrunched together in their normal thinking position.

She had a tiny frown and a crease in her forehead as she was deep in thought. Finally she stood up abruptly.

"You bastard!" She practically screamed.

Percy stood there frozen in her bed. He wasn't expecting her to take this news lightly.

"Annabeth, let me explain-."

"I-I trusted you, Percy! I agreed to go out with you when we first met! I allowed you to take me to that beach on our first date when I had no idea where the hell we were going! I thought you really liked me. I even told you about my mom. Because I thought you were different from all the others. I thought you weren't going to leave me."

Annabeth was crying now.

All Percy could do was sit on the bed and feel numb. He wanted so desperately to wrap his arms around Annabeth and tell her everything was going to be ok.

But he knew she would just push him away and use some expletives.

"Please Annabeth, it's not my fault." Percy begged. He just needed a chance to explain.

She brought her head up to face him. Her gray eyes seemed sparkly with tears.

"Then explain to me why you are deciding to leave me." She hissed.

Percy cringed. He hated seeing her so mad at him.

"I didn't choose this, Annabeth. Someone else did." Percy told her, sincerely.

Annabeth noticed the truth in his eyes. His voice didn't falter once.

"W-what do you mean?" she whimpered.

Percy walked over to her and engulfed her in a protective hug.

"Someone sent in an application to the US military headquarters. It wasn't me. No matter how hard I tried to convince that bitch who received "my" application, she wouldn't let me off the hook." He whispered in her ears, trying to calm her down.

"That bastard." Annabeth cursed again.

"Hey, I just told you I was innocent!" Percy defended.

"Not you, Seaweed Brain, the person who sent the letter." Annabeth corrected.

"I'm pretty pissed at whoever it was too. And Seaweed Brain? Where'd that come from?"

"I think you're head is full of kelp. I mean, I don't know many people who can manage to get themselves listed in the army on accident." Annabeth smirked.

Percy allowed himself to smile a bit. "I'll have to think of a nick name for you then."

But his smile didn't last long. They still needed to talk about this. He couldn't have Annabeth yelling at him one minute and then calling him pet names the next because she knew it wasn't his fault.

Even though Percy wasn't to blame for this, it was still happening. "So what now?" Annabeth asked in a small voice.

"I can't legally train until I'm 18. Which just so happens to be next month. And who knows? Maybe I won't even make it into the army. I still have a whole drill training to go through. And it looks like hell in all those movies." Percy tried to lighten the mood.

Annabeth didn't look convinced. "Have you told your mom?"

Percy frowned. "Not yet. Even thought she's my mother, I wanted to tell you first."

Annabeth smiled slightly. "That's really sweet, Percy."

"What can I say? I think I might love you. Oh shit. I shouldn't have said that. It's too soon isn't it?" Percy worried.

And then Annabeth threw her head back and let out a real laugh. Percy couldn't help but join her. What was wrong with them?

"Even though this isn't exactly how I imagined a guy to express his love for me, I kind of love you too Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said after a fit of giggles.

Percy swooped her up in his arms and spun her around before planting a big kiss on her lips.

"So we have a month, huh?" She asked, her gray eyes twinkling.

"A month before I have to go train." Percy confirmed.

"Then let's make this the best damn month ever."

A/N: Sorry about all the cussing, guys. I really don't like swearing a whole bunch in my stories, but I had to make this realistic. As always, reviews are appreciated! xoxo