Chapter 5 (Part 2) and 6

A/N: I apologize for the latest update on earth, and for the crappy action in this rather long chapter. Oh well, at least it's a new chapter! Hope you like it!

Annabeth POV.

No effing way. Annabeth normally didn't curse, but she was willing to make an exception this once. Was he freaking stalking her? Annabeth had had enough with that one encounter the other day, the gods really were out for her. She felt like she might drop dead because of the shock any moment, and she wouldn't be surprised if down in the underworld, she saw him too.

But the problem at hand; Percy was actually here, and she wasn't going to spend any unnecessary time with him. And so her original plan to borrow some Aphrodite girls' dress went down the drain. She was going to do something she had always avoided – shopping.

Annabeth was now at the bus stand, waiting for a bus to take her to the dress shop. She was reluctant to leave capture the flag and the campfire, but it was definitely better than an awkward face to face with Percy. She was wise enough to not repeat that episode. She definitely wasn't her wisest that fateful day she slapped Percy which happened to be… what? Yesterday?

She growled in impatience, waiting for the stupid bus to arrive. It was supposed to arrive 3 minutes ago… just as that thought came through her brain, a long white bus appeared. Annabeth took a deep breath before stepping into the bus. She was really going to miss her favorite game and the campfire. Her one day of vacation was ruined. All because of Percy. So she was determined to make the best of the rest of her day where Percy couldn't possibly go: dress shopping at the clothing. Unless, of course, his girlfriend, Piper dragged him along to the exact same place. Don't jinx it! Annabeth scolded herself.

Annabeth lost track of time as the bus moved. She figured if she was going to stay at the camp a few more days to wait for the dance, she might as well get the most working time when she could. But it wasn't even clear that she would be spending extra days at Camp Half Blood, seeing as she would need to interact with Percy. She pulled out Daedalus's laptop, toggling with the controls for one of her projects. But it wasn't even clear that she would be spending extra days at Camp Half Blood, seeing as she would need to interact with Percy.

The majority of her told her that she should just leave. If Percy was preventing her from have a good time the one day she needed a break, then she was going to avoid him and leave to allow herself to have a good day.

The some part of her fought against that thought. She wasn't afraid to face Percy. She couldn't just leave because someone was blocking her. She couldn't live her entire life in fear of one ex that had dumped her so many years ago, especially now that he was famous. Maybe she shouldn't have left the camp for shopping after all.

Nah, she needed a little time to clear her mind.

The bus stopped just then at a dress store that she'd never been to before, but had seen good reviews for on her laptop.

She got off by herself, and entered the shop.

The cool air-conditioning hit her face, and she let out a deep sigh.

If she didn't find a dress, at least she got AC.

But still, she didn't waste any time looking. She found a red one and a green one by the end of an hour. The red one was sleeveless and looked quite tight it reached the ground. The green one had one inch straps, and reached midthigh. It had sequins around the waist. She found both slightly too revealing as she tried them on.

She sighed, why waste time on finding the perfect dress if she didn't really like the guy yet? She should just save some effort, it was only a party after all.

A woman, who seemed to have picked up on her mood, came towards her, "Do you need any help finding a dress just for you?"

"Yes, actually." Annabeth admitted. Usually, she hated to show any weakness. But she knew that fashion definitely wasn't her strong point.

Annabeth's expectations weren't too high, so her jaw dropped when she saw what the woman picked out. How had she missed it?

The dress was absolutely beautiful (A/N: I'll put the link at the bottom because I suck at describing dresses). The silver material was silky, and wrapped around her body nicely. The straps weren't really straps, but a white, almost transparent looking and wide. There was a beautiful and intricate design on it, and did she mention, it was silver? It was modest, and left a lot to the imagination.

"Is this what you're looking for?" She asked.

For the first time since I entered the store, I smiled. "Perfect. Thanks so much."

At least that's what she thought until I checked the price tag. "259 dollars?" Her mouth went dry.

"I suppose I could give you a discount, since it really seems great for you. How's $100?" She said.

Annabeth felt a rush of gratitude. "That would be amazing. Thank you so much."

And so Annabeth left the store with a small smile playing on her lips, and walked to the bus stop. She waited for 5 minutes, which was when it started storming. 10 minutes later, the rain and lightning only increased, and so did Annabeth's panic level.

It didn't seem that the bus was coming any time soon. Annabeth checked her phone, 6:10, and it was almost out of battery. She needed to call someone to pick her up, camp half-blood wasn't exactly close. But who to call? She couldn't call her dad; he was still in San Francisco. And that's when the realization hit her that she didn't have any real friends. She should've gotten Derek's number while she could. Mentally cursing, she went through all of her other contacts. Thalia was in North Carolina with the hunters, and the rest of the demigods normally didn't carry cellphones. The only other number she had was… Annabeth felt her stomach churn. She almost wished that number weren't there, but she had never bothered to delete it.

Annabeth took a deep breath and gathered her courage. Come one, she thought. It's just for this once. I am not staying her all night. 5% left, she realized. She chewed her lower lip as she pressed call.

The worst part was probably the wait. The phone rang for about 10 seconds, which she forced herself not to hang up in, before he picked up.

"Um, hello? Annabeth, is that you?" The voice on the other end sounded static and unclear, but it was enough to make Annabeth overwhelmed. Also, she realized that one of two things must be true. Either he had never deleted her contact information, or he had remembered her phone number, or else he couldn't have known it was her.

"Yeah, it's me." She said, trying to get it over with as soon as possible. "Listen, I really don't want to do this, but you're the last person I could get to, so…"

"What is it?" Percy said. She could hear the worry in his voice across the line, though she probably just imagined it.

"I'm at that bus stop near the mall right now, and the bus didn't come. I need someone to pick me up. You can tell –" Annabeth didn't get to finish.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." Percy said. The line went dead.

Annabeth groaned. Just great. She had tried to spend the day away from Percy, and ended up most likely being alone with him.

The gods just didn't give her a break.

And now, chapter 6 officially starts.

Percy POV.

Well, this certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting.

The day had started off well enough. He had taught kids sword fighting, spent time with Piper at the canoe lake, and then brought victory to his team during capture the flag. Then, right in the middle of the campfire, one of his favorite parts of camp half-blood, he got a call. A call from his ex.

He knew it would be trouble from the start, since he could hear the thunder and lightning outside, which fortunately didn't penetrate camp half-blood. But the real reason he was unsettled, was that Annabeth hadn't called in 3 years, and she certainly wouldn't call unless it was absolutely 100% urgent.

After the call ended, Percy thought, well, at least she's not in trouble, or hurt.

"Who was that?" Piper asked.

"A friend," Percy said. "She's stuck somewhere in the storm, and needs my help. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Okay." She said. He gave her a quick peck on the lips before getting to his car.

When he got on the road, he realized how bad traffic was, and that there was no way that he was getting to Annabeth in twenty minutes. He tried to call her but she didn't pick up.

Percy grit his teeth, "Whatever." He muttered before taking off. Annabeth needed him right now.

Annabeth POV.

Where was Percy? Twenty minutes later he was nowhere to be seen. But looks like the monsters found her before he did. Just her luck.

She should've known that the phone call would attract monsters. And she did know, she was just so desperate at the time… as desperate as she was right now.

The little snakes were teaming up on her, and her dagger wasn't much of a help. If she remembered correctly, they were basilisks, and killed anything they touched. That meant short range was not the way to go. She had managed to slice two who had pounced, and kicked one away, which made her shoe start to be eaten away. She thanked the god that she had worn closed toed shoes, though they were her favorite Nike shoes, and cost as much as the dress did.

But none of that bothered her. Her eyes were fixed on the 5 remaining little monsters. The fact that they were so hard to reach and deadly to touch didn't help her case.

Wonderful, she thought sarcastically, Annabeth Chase, heroine of the war, killed by teeny little snakes. Finally, a snake pounced straight at her stomach. As a reflex, she dodged to the side, but her shirt was still singed, and a hole began to form. She anticipated that basilisk's next move, and ducked as she back rolled into the grass. She then took the opportunity to slice the snake's head off. Unfortunately, the other four were advancing on her. She was on her butt in the wet grass as the snakes slithered across the concrete. Annabeth tried to think of a brilliant plan, but the fact that the basilisks were on loose pieces of concrete that kept on clunking as they moved was distracting her. That was it; if one of them touched her skin, she was dead.

A light bulb lit up in her mind. That was it! If the snakes hit each other, they would burn each other.

Then, the basilisks blew fire. Annabeth gulped. One more thing to worry about.

Annabeth's mind worked fast. If she could get them to hit each other… she almost screamed. The snakes were taking their sweet time slithering on those dang loose concrete pieces, clunking nonstop, penetrating her train of thought.

Of course! The stupid stones cold smoosh them together, so that they would surely hit each other.

Acting quick as possible, Annabeth used her last bit of strength to lunge towards the concrete, her palms on the cement, dangerously near the monsters, as she used all her might to bring up the two loose concrete blocks against each other. As they collided, so did the basilisks. And Annabeth felt both tired and satisfied. That was before she heard the chorus of hisses behind her. There, in the bushes, where 10, 15, 20 some basilisks, looking angry as ever. Annabeth's dagger was several feet away, and she was in no condition to fight over 20 little monsters.

Her head was fuzzy as she tried to get up on one and a half shoes. And grab her weapon. She was ready to make her last stand.

Percy POV.

He drove as fast as he could, probably breaking the speed limit when he saw the fiery sparks near that bus stop. Annabeth was on the ground, struggling to get up and grab her knife. Her clothing was torn, and the basilisks were closing in on her.

Damn it, Percy thought. Now he had save her from the stupid snakes. Monsters were bound to show up after a demigod made a phone call. But… they were just little snakes, Annabeth should have had no trouble kicking their sorry asses. That's when he saw the grass shrivel up as they slithered across it, and occasionally blow a bit of fire.

As they prepared to lunge, Percy pushed opened the car door and took a ball point pen out of his right pocket. He stepped out as he uncapped the pen, which became his beloved sword, riptide. Then, he willed the rain to push the little monsters back, the water creating a wave strong enough to get them back into the road. This didn't faze them, as they continued forward, their luminous yellow eyes fixed on Percy now. One lunged straight at him with incredible speed. He sliced it with his blade, which began to steam a little.

As more and more began to attack him. He realized that he couldn't beat them all. He couldn't slice them all at the same time, and his arms were tiring. He fell to the ground, expecting them to overrun him any time soon, when from behind, someone began stabbing and slashing at the basilisks, taken by surprise, they stayed motionless for about 3 seconds in which Annabeth was able to kill about 5 or 6 snakes. Percy sat in the grass, stupefied. Annabeth looked him in the eye urgently as the snakes started to ambush her. She stood on the road as the snakes slithered across the sidewalk.

"Car!" She yelled at him, and Percy understood immediately.

She jumped over the snakes to the grass before they could act, and Percy used all of his power to push the remaining basilisks into the road as he controlled the rainwater. The basilisks hissed in unison, clearly irritated that they had killed so many of their brethren.

3… 2… 1… Percy thought. On one, a huge 8 wheeler had charged right across the snakes. They were toast, as were the wheels of that truck.

All that was left was a few traces of gold dust.

An awkward silence lasted for about 10 seconds before Percy started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Annabeth asked.

Percy shook his head, "Nothing. It just felt familiar. Good, familiar."

"Okay." Annabeth said. "Let's get going."

She grabbed her bag, and Percy opened the passenger seat door. Annabeth looked kind of hesitant before she took a seat.

Percy felt kind of uncomfortable as he took his own seat right next to her, as she refused to look at him.

He decided not to say anything either, and turned on some music. About ten minutes later Annabeth spoke.

"Thanks." She said,

"Well, I couldn't exactly just leave you there." Percy said, mentally face-palming. Real smooth, Percy. He thought.

"Yeah, well." Annabeth said bitterly. "I wasn't sure what to expect after you left last time without an explanation or anything."

That struck a nerve. "I just saved you back there, you know."

"So I'm just supposed to forgive you just like that." Annabeth said sarcastically.

Most girls would have stopped it before that. They would have said sorry and tried to get as close to Percy as possible. But Annabeth Chase was not most girls, and Percy knew that very well.

"Look, I left you, that was my fault, but I just saved your sorry butt back there, and now I'm giving you a ride. We're even." Percy said, trying to stay calm.

"A long, horrible heartbreak with no warning or explanation, not even an apology versus some help. Do the math, seaweed brain, does it look like we're even?" Annabeth said angrily.

Percy didn't say anything. Seaweed brain. She had called him seaweed brain.

And he knew that what she said was true. They used to save each other all the time. It was like a daily routine with the life of a demigod. What had happened? Percy felt a surge of guilt, making his heart ache and throat burn.

"I'm sorry." He croaked.

Annabeth looked away. Although he didn't hear a thing from her the rest of the ride, he saw a single tear run down her cheek. Or was it just his imagination?

Although he was driving, he felt the urge to place a hand on her shoulder, comfort her, tell her everything was alright, maybe even hug her. He scolded himself for feeling that way. He had ended it with her long ago, and now she was just a sister to him. A sister that hates you and wishes that you were never part of her life, a voice in his head pointed out.

If she wasn't a sister or a friend to him, than what was she?

A/N: And it's finally the end to this crappy chapter! Still, I hope you like it, even though it was terribly late, and give it a review! Until next update, which will hopefully be earlier, though no promises with the school year starting and all! ;) Here's the link for the dress. sites/default/files/silver%20sequin%