I just realized I haven't been doing the disclaimer... so here's to compensate for the previous chapters: I do not own any of Colbie Caillat's/ Zac Brown Band's/ Demi Lovato's/ Kelly Clarkson's/ or Taylor Swift's music. That ownership belongs to the artists and their recording labels. Enjoy!

Song: Last Kiss

Artist: Taylor Swift

(Annabeth POV)

I slid down the wall, and each splinter that grazed my back felt like a knife stabbing my skin.

I miserably stared across the room, and absently sniffed the plaid, too-big shirt that used to belong to Percy. He'd left it behind when he left. It still smelled of his signature sea scent, a wonderful combination of sea salt and brine and early morning waves.

I stared at a picture, the only one of Percy I had left. I'd burned the rest in my rage when he first broke it to me that we were no more. But something about this one, the way his black hair shone in the mid-day sunlight, and the way his green eyes sparkled with excitement, made me pause at the hearth, and preserve it.

It reminded me of the look on his face, lit through the brutal darkness by a soft moonlight one fateful dawn at two in the morning. I'd snuck off from the cabins to meet him by the beach, and I can still recall the soft whisper of his words as we sat, intertwined and half-buried, in the sand. He told me he loved me for the first time, and now, as I sat on the hard floor of my empty cabin, too far from the beach and that wonderful memory, all I could wonder was, what changed?

Rain started to pound on the roof, each drop a hammer to my heart. But the sound was somewhat soothing and tranquil.

It reminded me of the trip Percy and I took to San Francisco to meet my dad. I traveled by air; him, being the son of Zeus's greatest rival, traveled by train. I still recall the smell of the fresh rainwater. It was new on the pavement as I rushed off the plane and straight into his arms. I could feel his distinct heartbeat; it jumped through his shirt, almost like it couldn't wait to reach me. I can still feel his warm, loving arms wrapped around me.

I remembered with great pride the steady, firm handshake he used while meeting my father. It's not like my dad needed any more vindication to love Percy after he saved my sorry butt from Atlas's grip three years ago, but that was the icing on the cake.

I heard someone laughing outside, and it reminded me of yet another memory.

It was at the party Chiron held at the beach, a week or two after our victory against the Titans. I smiled at the memory of the spring in Percy's step as he marched through the sand and caught sight of the party before him. He splashed in the water, molding waves six, seven, eight feet tall and diminishing them as quickly as they were created. I rolled my eyes at him; he was showing off again. When he caught sight of my expression, he waded out of the water and pulled me in close, swaying us side to side to the steady lull of the waves.

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I remembered how Percy would always wipe them away. I remembered how, when I was spewing facts about architecture and the like, he would kiss me in the middle of my sentence. Not a day goes by when I don't miss those rude interruptions.

I realized then that, no matter how much I yearned for him, Percy wasn't coming back. With each passing day, I could feel him forgetting me, and I died a little inside.

I kept up with Grover, our old friend, just to ask him how Percy was doing. He'd answer the same old stationary answer, and I'd miss Percy even more.

The thing was, I didn't know how to be something he'd miss. I'd always just be the ex to him, nothing more. And he'd move on and find someone else, and they'd be happy.

And I'd be forgotten.

But his name would forever be the name on my lips.