Hey again! Two updates in a row?! You guys are SO lucky.

Disclaimer: These get tiring. But, I must, so: I don't own Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus. All rights to Rick Riordan.

- Blair

Chapter 5

Annabeth's POV

You know how when you wake up and it's completely dark and you can't see anything at all, and then you have that mini heart attack?

Well, that's exactly how I wake up, seeing absolutely nothing at all, and my heart pounds against my chest, anxiety setting in. My eyes adjust to the dark, and I notice the outlines of furniture, and I realize I'm in Percy's room. The sliver of moonlight seeps into the room through the dark curtains, and my bruises throb.

I notice that I'm alone, and the digital clock's bright red numbers show that the time is eleven at night. What is my family thinking, if I'm not home?

I stare at the dark ceiling, trying to clear my thoughts and ignore the pulsing pain and the headache coming on. After a few minutes, the pain gets worse and the headache is now a migraine, and so I try to get up slowly, as not to get dizzy, so I can go find Percy. Tears are in my eyes as the feeling of pure agony intensifies. I open the door a crack and look into the lighted hallway. Maybe Percy or Sally are close.

"Percy?" I whisper-shout.

No answer.

"Percy?" I call a little louder.

Silence.

I step out into the hall, holding my head in my hand.

"Percy? Are you there? I need you!" I yell, pain shooting through me. "Percy, please!"

"Annabeth? Is that you?" A familiar deep voice answers.

I nod, my eyes closed. I use the wall for support so I don't drop to my knees in exhaustion. I hear footsteps come closer.

"Hey, Annabeth, are you okay?" Percy asks softly.

I shake my head. "I feel sick."

"Hey, it's okay, come here." Percy takes my forearm and pulls me to him gently, and I wrap my arms around his torso, burying my head in his chest.

I feel acid rising up in my stomach and I barely get out, "I'm going to be sick."

Percy lifts me up bridal style as I try to keep from throwing up, and he carries me quickly into a bathroom and sets me down on the ground in front of the toilet. He rubs my back as I lean over and after a few seconds I end up retching into the toilet, feeling ill and exhausted and upset. He holds my hair away from my face and hums soothing sounds into my ear as I continue emptying out my stomach, and when I finish, I lean back, shaking uncontrollably.

Percy wraps me in his arms as my body racks with silent sobs, and I wrap my arms around his neck, hiding my face in his shoulder and clinging to him for dear life. After a few minutes he lifts me up and I rinse my mouth, then pull my hair back into a messy ponytail and lean against the sink.

"Annabeth, what happened?" Percy asks softly.

"I woke up and I felt really sick..."

"How's your bruises?"

"That was it. Everything hurt so badly and then I got a migraine so I got up to go find you and here we are."

"Oh."

Percy kisses my cheek after a few seconds and stokes stray hairs away from my face.

"How are you feeling now?" he asks.

I shrug. Everything hurts, but I can't tell him that. "A little better."

He must realize I'm faking, because he looks at me like a mother would look at her child when they do something wrong.

"Come here," he says, and opens his arms wide.

I step closer to him and lean into his chest, wrapping my arms around his torso and pulling closer until there is no closer. He wraps his arms around my narrow, fragile frame, careful of my injuries, and kisses my clammy forehead. After a few minutes, he picks me up and carries me somewhere, and the next thing I know, we're lying on something extremely soft. Above me, I can see the night sky dotted with twinkling stars, and I can feel cool air wrapping around my sweaty skin. Percy wraps his arm around my waist and I lean my head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat soothing me as his strong arms protect me from harm.

My favorite thing about the night was always the stars. It always will be. After I started dating Luke and he started hitting me, I would go outside at night and stare at the stars, finding constellations and the brightest stars, and counting as many stars as I could. I told myself that the number of stars I counted each night was the number of days I would have to wait until I could get away from Luke, away from his words and his looks and his touch, the way he hits me and tells me I'm useless.

I guess I'm being saved sooner than I thought.

Maybe a bit of a filler? I don't know. And I'm sorry for it being so short. But I seriously love the ending on this. A lot. Please tell me what you think in your reviews, and thank you so much for reading!