"I guess one could say that you've fallen for me." Annabeth grimaced and scrambled off of John. She stood up quickly and brushed the dirt off of herself. "Come back, baby!" John called, sitting up and running his tanned hands through his sandy blonde hair, brown eyes alight with playfulness. Annabeth nearly gagged right there.

"Stay away from me, perv," Annabeth hissed. John Reed was one of Hephaestus's kids, but no one really knew him for that. John Reed was an infamous guy because of his tendencies to spy on girl's anytime and anywhere. It seemed he held a special place in his heart for Annabeth, though.

"Oh, but you know you love it!" John called after Annabeth as she stormed off toward her cabin. His voice was paired with the sound of footsteps and then his arms were tight around Annabeth. She went rigid and clenched her fists. If she struggled, John would only hug her tighter. Her back was already pressed tight against his chest, and any tighter would be more than uncomfortable. I'm going to have to burn these clothes, Annabeth thought angrily.

"Let me go." Annabeth's voice was deadly calm. Usually, it was the calmness that scared people, but John was determined.

"But this is soooooo nice, Annie." He knew that she hated being called Annie, and that combined with the fact that his voice was like nails on a chalkboard was starting to bring on another headache. Annabeth opened her mouth to retort when another voice piped in, this one all too familiar.

"C'mon, Reed. Let little Annie here go." Annabeth turned to see a tall figure with dark hair tousled to sexy perfection, a smirk that glowed in the dark, and bright sea-green eyes staring back at her. Her heart stopped in her chest, yet she didn't know what for. She opened her mouth to say something but Reed interrupted her.

"Percy fucking Jackson," he spit. Percy smiled at Reed, but it wasn't the smile that Annabeth knew and used to love. This one was the top layer of a person filled with arrogance, carelessness, pomp, sarcasm, and conceit which all created the jerk that was Percy Jackson.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Annabeth muttered still trapped in Reed's arms. Percy gaze met Annabeth's glare. Deep in Annabeth's hay wiring mind, the fact that this was their first time looking at each other in two years surfaced. It was just as awful as she had always imagined.

Still staring at Annabeth, Percy retorted, "Well Reed, I'm definitely not fucking Jackson but if you ask around, I'm sure you can find out who I have been." Annabeth knew the words were meant as a jab to her. Rage flared through her, and with it, a tiny bit of hurt. Memories of all the things that he had done to her came rushing back, making the fact that he was standing in front of her almost unbearable. Reed snorted behind her, snapping Annabeth out of her thoughts.

"Jealous Annie?" Percy taunted. Damn, she thought, he had seen her emotions change in her eyes, even though none of them had been jealousy. "I thought you had your own boy toys to play with?" He laughed. "I always knew you would turn out to be a whore."

"That's fucking it," she hissed, and brought her foot up into Reed's groin making him yelp and let her go to sink down to his knees. Surprise filled Percy's face, but just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Annabeth stormed over to him prepared to give Percy an even more extreme taste of her rage but he stopped her before she could act. He grabbed her arms and pulled her tightly to him. Annabeth froze, she knew that fighting her way out was not going to happen, and she had her in a position where she was facing him, but not so that she could deliver a good blow. As she stared up at him, Percy's face grew serious. They stared at each other for a moment before, in one swift movement, Percy brought his lips to hers.

They were warm and soft and just as she had always remembered. It took all of Annabeth's self control not to kiss him back. She had to bring back all of the hurt and remind herself that he had broken her heart. He had ruined her life. And that she hated him. With a forceful shove to Percy's surprisingly rock-hard chest, the two broke apart. Percy let her go and crossed his arms, his new signature smirk on his face while Annabeth tried to put all her thoughts back together.

"I don't see why any of them even wanted you, you aren't even a good kisser," he stated. Annabeth looked at him, her eyes stormier than her emotions. He stared back unflinchingly.

"You wouldn't know a good kisser if she kneed you in the balls." And with that, Annabeth slammed her knee up with as much force as she could muster. The only sound that came from Percy was a guttural groan, as he fell to the ground beside Reed, who was still curled up from Annabeth's previous blow. Annabeth stood above the two, admiring her work before tossing her hair behind her shoulders and walking back towards her cabin.

By the smiles and waves her old friends were giving her, Annabeth figured no one had witnessed the scene that had just happened between them. Good, she thought, some people wouldn't take it well that she had just attacked their precious little Percy.

After a few more steps, Thalia appeared next to Annabeth laughing.

"Nice!" she said, raising her hand for a high-five. Annabeth only looked at her hand and glared. Thalia quickly dropped her hand. "Oh c'mon, Annabeth!" When Annabeth didn't respond, Thalia asked, "what's wrong?" Annabeth almost laughed. The better question would be what wasn't wrong. She didn't know why she was so upset. She knew she would have to confront the asshole sooner or later. She knew it was going to be painful. Hell, she thought, I spent two years blocking out all the memories and emotions to make it all less painful. And yet, she didn't expect to be feeling hurt.

"Annabeth?" She turned to look at Thalia's worried face.

"The bastards made me miss my chance of getting top bunk," she said, trying to make light of the situation. Thalia took the opportunity to escape delving into Annabeth's inner feelings gratefully.

"Well," she cracked her knuckles and rolled her head in an attempt to look mean, "I could always bully someone into giving you theirs." Annabeth laughed, letting the anger dissipate.

"We both know you wouldn't do that. Everyone here loves you." Thalia laughed and flipped her hair playfully.

"If you say so." Both girls giggled all the way to the Athena cabin. As Annabeth stared at the owl carved over the doorway of the blue and gold building, she sighed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Thalia asked again, suddenly serious.

"Never better," Annabeth replied with a strained smile. Thalia gave her a one armed hug, then ran off in the direction of her cabin, giving high fives to random people along the way. She turned to the door again and reached for the knob. Just as she had put her hand on it, the door flew open, and Annabeth was greeted by the cheerful faces of her half-siblings.

"Annabeth!" someone shouted, and then she was pulled into the small group. She was passed around from familiar face to face. There were other kids who were off to the side, watching awkwardly. They were the youngest of Athena's kids, the ones Annabeth had never got to meet because she had left. There were also the few older ones that Annabeth did know, unpacking their things, trying to ignore Annabeth entirely. They were the ones that had always been jealous of Annabeth's spotlight and the closeness she had to their mom. She always thought they were stupid for not realizing how lucky they were.

After everyone had had their chance to say hello and hug their favorite sister (at least, that's what Annabeth liked to believe) they dispersed to finish settling in. Annabeth saw all of her luggage piled high on one of the top bunks. She silently thanked the random Hephaestus kid who had put them there. She began to take them down one by one and put things up into the dresser at the end of the bunk. As she worked, Annabeth looked around the cabin. It was just as she remembered.

The bunks were all pushed up against the walls, with dressers at each end. One for the bottom bunker and one for the top bunker. Then there was the library. Annabeth smiled, seeing as it had grown a bit since she had last roamed the shelves. All of the old books and scrolls gave off a smell that she couldn't quite describe. It was almost musty, but in a good way, and fresh. Then, scattered here and there were chairs and desks for everyone to relax in and read or work.

After Annabeth had finished packing, she wandered through the door that led into the cabin's workshop. She ran her hand over all the workbenches and tables, admiring the blueprints and maps that rested on them. Some had complex 3D models of different buildings. The armor displayed on the walls reminded Annabeth of all the intense games of capture the flag that the campers used to play; some had nicks and scratches on them at least 5 years old. She stopped at one table. It was the only one without anything on it, hers. Or what used to be hers. It seemed as if no one had touched it in her absence. Hanging above the table was her old armor. She trailed her fingers over a scratch in the middle of the breastplate.

"It may need a bit of adjusting but I'm sure it still fits." Annabeth jumped, startled by the voice. She turned, and after seeing the owner of the voice, she tackled him with a hug.

"Malcolm!" Malcolm was probably Annabeth's favorite sibling. He had grey eyes and blonde hair identical to Annabeth's but while she had some softness to her features, Malcolm was all angles. He had been her 'second-in-command', and a loyal one at that.

"I would hope that you've taken the responsibility of head counselor very seriously?" Annabeth asked, half-joking. Malcolm, being her second-in-command, had taken over as head counselor when she left. The role was one of the things she missed about Camp Half Blood.

Malcolm smiled. "You know…you could take the position back. You did a much better job than I've done." As much as the offer enticed her, she knew she couldn't.

"I'm pretty sure I lost some of my smarts over those two years, what with me not using them as much. I wouldn't be able to be a perfect role model for the Athena cabin"

"Sure you 'lost' them," Malcolm teased, making quotations with his fingers. "Are you sure it didn't have anything to with all that partying?" Annabeth smacked him in the stomach, earning a grunt from him. She knew that he knew that she wasn't the big partier that she was portrayed as. If he didn't, he would have gotten a much worse blow.

"Yet, I see you haven't lost any of your strength." Annabeth laughed and stuck her tongue out at her half-brother. He mirrored her, laughing as well.

"Of course not, all that partying definitely keeps the muscles working," she teased.

"That and…" Malcolm wiggled his eyebrows, "other things." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "But seriously, Annabeth. You were amazing! Let's at least have a vote," he suggested. Annabeth sighed.

"Fine. But only because I know no one here will want me back." Malcolm pulled Annabeth into a hug, lifting her off the ground and squeezing until she couldn't breathe.

"Sure they will," Malcolm said. Annabeth kicked him in the knee, making him drop her. As Malcolm grabbed his knee in pain, Annabeth laughed.

"What was that for?!" he exclaimed.

"That's for you being an asshole!"

"LANGUAGE!" One of the guys called from the other room. Malcolm and Annabeth looked at each other simultaneously.

"FUCK!" They both shouted, earning giggles from the other room. Annabeth laughed. As much as she hated to admit it, there were a lot of things she missed about Camp Half Blood, her brothers and sisters being one of those things.

"I think it's time to get to bed." Malcolm's suggestion interrupted her thoughts. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him.

"You aren't mom."

"Damn," he said, looking down. "And I finally thought I was getting boobs." Annabeth shoved him, giggling at his weird little joke. "But seriously, it's going to be a big, big day tomorrow!" Malcolm started pushing her out of the workshop and over to her bunk.

As Annabeth climbed up, she asked, "and why is that?" He only laughed and walked away to his bed on the opposite wall.

Big blue eyes peered up at her from under her bunk. It was one of the newer girls here. She didn't have the same gray eyes as the most of the others. Her midnight black hair was piled onto the top of her head in a floppy little bun. She looked to be about thirteen, what with her rounder features.

"I'm Taylor," she said, her voice small and quiet. Taylor extended her hand to Annabeth's. Annabeth took it awkwardly and smiled. "Malcolm's right you know." Taylor said as she sunk back into her bed. "Tomorrow we start all of our defense classes. And you have been out for two years."

Annabeth's eyes widened at that. Yep, she thought, she was screwed.