Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

I'm back everyone! Sorry that it's been a while, I've just been having trouble getting motivated to write this chapter, and I've been pretty busy with Pre-Calculus homework and such. But I'm back, and I don't want to procrastinate another day for this chapter, so I'm back!

No more delays, you've been waiting long enough, so, Chapter 9!

Annabeth's POV

I was in the arena with my cabin, going through the motions of practicing fighting with my siblings, although I wasn't focusing on it. Ever since I broke up with Percy I'd had a hard time focusing on what I've been doing.

At the time, it had seemed like the thing that I wanted, Adam is such a nice guy, and Percy had just seemed like an older brother. I hadn't wanted to hurt him, but it just didn't seem like we should be together, I had still wanted to be his friend, we'd been through so much together, but I didn't think we were meant to be together.

Then that all changed. When Nico and I found Percy and saw him collapse to the floor of his cabin with a knife in his stomach, I realized what he meant to me. I couldn't bear to think what would have happened if Nico hadn't had the idea to check his cabin to see if he was there.

I'd watched his eyes close as he blacked out, and realized that I did love him. I've wanted to talk to him, but I can't, I know he hates me now, there's no way that he doesn't after what I put him through. I don't know what to do, I feel so guilty I can barely stand to see him around camp. I'm worried about him but for the first time, I don't know what I should do.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice Thalia barge into the arena and storm (literally, being the daughter of Zeus she can do that) and startled me by starting to shout at me.

"How could you do this to Percy?!" She yelled, ignoring the startled looks from my siblings, "He's never done anything wrong to you, he gave up eternity with Calypso for you, he even gave up being a god just so he could stay with you!"

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just stared at my feet as I felt a wave of guilt and shame wash over me.

"He's been miserable and you have the audacity to do nothing! The only person in this wretched camp who has been decent enough to be a friend to him when he needs it most is the person you all think of as a monster, Nico!" She paused, glaring at all of the other campers in the arena as they silently shuffled foot to foot, looking down.

"Thalia, I didn't know th—"

"No! I don't want to hear how you thought he would be ok, that he could just move on and you didn't think it would hurt him! You know what he's done for you, all he's given up for you, it's obvious he loved you and you threw it away!"

Annabeth's eyes started to tear up, but she held it in.

"What have you got to say for yourself?!" She shouted.

I couldn't take it anymore, I fell to the ground and started crying. I felt really guilty for what I'd done to Percy, I felt horrible for pushing away the best friend I'd ever had for someone else. He'd done so much, he showed me he loved me so many times, but I hadn't realized what he meant until he'd nearly left me and the rest of the world because of it.

"Hey," Thalia said softly, "I'm sorry, I know this is a hard topic, it's just… I can't stand seeing you or Percy like this. I hate seeing both of you miserable."

I nodded and wiped the tears from my face. I looked up and saw that my siblings had all left the arena, so it was only Thalia, me, and Mrs. O'Leary.

"What should I do?" I asked her.

"Talk to Percy, tell him what you feel, and tell him that you don't want him to hate you. Try to be his friend again."

"I don't want to be friends, I want to be… us. I want to be us again. After I saw what had happened to Percy I told Adam that we couldn't be together." I answered

She stood in silence for almost a minute, then said "I can't tell you how to fix this, but you'll think of something." She said with a friendly smile.

I was glad I had a friend like her, she may have a short temper, but she would listen.

Percy's POV

I laid on my bed all day. It was ridiculous, but I didn't want to go out and do anything, I had too many things and emotions to think about. After Nico told me how he felt, I couldn't stop thinking about how he'd acted ever since I met him for the first time, and how I could kind of tell now that he'd told me.

I didn't know how I should feel, but I didn't judge. I knew what it meant to people now to be treated normally, even if you are different. Being treated like a freak was awful, I wanted to return the favor to Nico now, and show that I didn't think of him as a freak.

I didn't know what to tell him though, and I'd been thinking about it all day. It was late afternoon, and I still didn't have anything to say, I wasn't sure.

It was as if I'd lost my eyesight, and didn't know where I was going. I couldn't straighten my thoughts or feelings.

I finally gave up, it would have to wait.

I got up and realized I still hadn't changed, so I took a quick shower and got dressed so I wouldn't look like I'd been in bed all day… I had, but that wasn't the point.\

I walked outside and had to squint at the light.

When my eyes adjusted, I saw that everything was as it usually was.

I decided I would go find Nico, because he was, after all, the only person who still treated me like I was a person.

After I'd searched for him for a while, I found him sitting on the beach staring out at the sea.

I came up behind him quietly and put my head right next to his just out of his field of vision and asked "What are you looking at?"

He jumped and hit me in the chin with his shoulder.

"Gods Percy, don't do that!"

"Why, is the Ghost King scared?" I asked with a smirk.

"With good reason, who wouldn't be scared with you right behind them." He said looking back at the ocean.

I sat down next to him and we just sat in silence until I noticed him glancing over at me.

"Yes?" I said, drawing out the word as I dramatically swung my head over to look towards him.

"It's just… You haven't said anything yet Percy, and I don't know what to expect." He replied, looking at the sand by his hands.

"To be honest Nico, I don't know either. My emotions have been too scrambled over the last few days for me to make sense of them, but don't worry. I still want us to be friends, you are the one who saved me after all, I think I owe you respect at least."

He smiled and looked back up at the ocean.

"So, race you back to the dining pavilion? I haven't eaten or even left my cabin today, I could use the food and the exercise." I said.

"Come on Percy," He said, a bit sarcastically, "what are we, ten?"

I looked over at him again with a grin "I still eat blue food. I think it's ok to act like a kid once in a while."

He smiled and answered "You're on." And started to run.

I quickly got up and ran after my only friend.

Chapter 9! I apologize again for the delay, but I couldn't get myself to write yesterday and I've have some bad writer's block, but I got it done! Well, next chapter will the start of the branching stories, so this will be interesting. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!