Disclaimer: I don't own any thing, Rick Riordan does.

Before: Annabeth and Percy have a fake relationship to help Annabeth's writing and make Percy think about something else then his violent father. Then they have fight, because Annabeth feel what they are doing is wrong. During the fight she finds out she was originally invited for dinner.

Blue dress

A girl crying over a boy is nothing new. Annabeth however wasn't sad, she was furious. In her head she remembers all her previous fights with Percy. The apartment was empty, her dad was working. For some reason she wanted to scream. She didn't, she wrote. Fast and furious she typed in angry words, letting her characters scream for her. She wondered what she and Percy were now. Broken up? Still together? Could you even break up if you hadn't been together? She just typed, hammering her fingers on her keyboard.

Her clock showed half four and she no longer felt angry, she felt guilty. She was such a terrible person, forgetting about Percy and Sally, and Gabe. Annabeth imagined Percy telling his mum about their relationship. Sally with bright eyes because she was seeing her son's happiness. That Sally had inviting her over for dinner.


In the shower Annabeth felt the small drops of water run down her naked body. The bathroom was small and the mirror was covered in tiny drops of water. Her hair was full of white bubbles and they ran down onto the shower floor before they disappeared.

She put on a blue dress remembering all the blue candy Percy had eaten. Her hair was still damp and she put it up in a small knot: mascara, concealer, blush, a pair of owl earrings, and a last look in the mirror, scrambling a short note and leaving.


Annabeth almost knocked on the door. Then she almost knocked again. When she finally did it was short and pretty weak. They probably wouldn't hear her. Another knock, a little louder this time, sounds of steps from the inside of the door. Percy opened the door only half way, and looked a little confused at Annabeth. Again, if Annabeth could read minds she would know he was thinking she looked pretty in that dress. And with a few blonde curls falling down in her face.

"What do you want?" He grunted. He was standing in the way so he blocked the view of whoever was inside.

"To apologise, I didn't think. It was stupid but I…" She stopped herself.

"So now you just show up at my door?"

"I'm sorry! I was thinking maybe… No, forget it, I'll leave." So Annabeth turned around and started walking in the direction of her apartment. Her feet moved slowly, hoping he would change his mind, call her name, and forgive her. No one called her name, but when she was almost at her own door again, she could hear a door closing, and she turned around. He was standing out in the hallway. Not inside, but outside with her. She hesitated for a moment before she started walking towards him. He moved too, both of them slowly. None of them started to run dramatically like they do, people who love each other. This was no romantic movie enjoyed with chips and a few people by your side in a comfy sofa. They ended up close together, not touching, not looking down. They just stopped up.

"Thank you,"

"I was stupid too. If you want it to end, then of course we will end it. I wish we didn't, but of course we can. But if you still want dinner, you are welcome to join us. You can choose whether you'll be my friend or my girlfriend."


"Well mum, this is my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase."

Percy's cheeks were red and his not totally real girlfriend kept thinking he was pretty cute when he blushed. His mum had long black hair in a braid and wearing a red apron over a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt. Sally Jackson looked older then she was, with a face filled with worried wrinkles and blue paint stained underneath her eyes. But she was pretty, with her long eyelashes and big lips. And she was smiling.

"I was sure I'd heard you broke up?"

"We just had a fight."

"I hope you're not planning on breaking up every time you fight."


"This lasagne is delicious, Sally!" Annabeth sang out, and Sally smiled as a response, studying Annabeth while she was eating her second plate. Sally looked happy, and Annabeth wondered whether Percy's plan was working. The two of them were making her think of something else, something other than a man who was no longer behind bars. It was clear how much Percy loved his mum. A tiny needle pierced Annabeth's heart, remembering her own mother. Or not remembering her at all. If she could, had she made her lasagne? Why did a woman who had left her alone with her dad still haunt her? Percy was trying to get eye contact. She looked at him and he smiled.

"Just wait for the brownies! They are heavenly."

"Dammit, I wish we'd gotten together earlier so I could have eaten more of this. It's the best thing I have ever tasted!" The three around the table were smiling, and forgetting old scars for a while. Sally kept looking at her son. He looked so happy, like a teenage boy in love. Annabeth never remembered eating more one night. Sally spoke passionately about a cook-book she was working on before she stood up and started to gather plates together. Annabeth rose to help.

"No, thank you. You two go on Percy's room. I'll leave the lovebirds alone!" Annabeth felt that she'd much rather stay with Sally and spend the rest of the time talking about cook-books and food. But she knew that would be weird.

"Okay, thank you for the food. It was truly amazing."


Percy's room was small, and very messy. The walls were empty except for two pictures. One was of him with his mum, on a beach somewhere. The other of herself, Thalia, Grover, Luke and Percy, they looked younger there, faking smiles, more scared. His bed, desk and floor were filled with clothes.

"Oh crap! I would've cleaned up if I had known you were coming!" She laughed, slightly nervous. She had been inside his room more times than she remembered, but never quite in a setting like this. She felt her heart beating fast; the walls threaten to crush her.

"It's okay." She didn't know if she meant it or not. He started picking up t-shirts and socks, three pair of pants and some underwear. He threw them all into a drawer while looking embarrassed, blushing. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

The two were sitting on Percy's bed. Not close enough to touch, but still so close they could reach out for a hug. Both of them looked like very realistic statues, for some reason located on a bed. The only sign that the two was living, was the slight moving they made when they inhaled and exhaled. They were surrounded by themselves. Thoughts worked like whirlwinds around them, even if the thoughts they were having was about the exact person sitting next to them. Slowly Annabeth turned her gaze from the floor over to Percy. His eyes were studying her, carefully, taking in bits and pieces, but looking away when he saw her eyes.


They were kissing. With their heart beating fast, lips moving, eyes closed and on fire. It was not as before; this was easier, faster, more. They were close, in a never-ending embrace. Neither of them broke apart, they didn't let the dusty air separate them. The two had for a moment forgotten that they didn't really like each other. Not that way.

It felt like forever, time stopping to make room for only the two of them. Annabeth felt Percy's hands gently holding her face, pushing away her hair. She didn't think about ending it, or how fake it was. Everything was just warm and good. Percy's right hand was moving, face, neck, collarbone …

"Percy stop!" She pushed him away, hard. They were both breathing fast, with red faces and red lips.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too, I swear, I don't know what I was thinking." He looked sorry, embarrassed and vulnerable. Both of them were busy studying his bed sheets.

"I just don't want to do any of that stuff."

"I'm so sorry, it's entirely my fault."

"Maybe I should leave." She rose up and tugged a couple of curls behind her ear, where Percy's hands had been.


"Thanks for the food and everything." Annabeth said quietly to Sally when she re-entered the living room.

"Are you leaving so soon?" Annabeth just nodded and wondered if Sally could see she had been kissing someone.

"Isn't he gentleman enough to follow you to the door? Percy! You need to give a proper goodbye to your girlfriend!"

Percy closed the door behind them, again leaving them alone in this empty hallway, filled by their memories.

"Maybe we should've made some rules." He muttered quietly, and Annabeth laughed.

"So you won't touch my boobs again?" She giggled. Percy looked relived and started grinning at her.

"Yeah."

"We'll figure it out."


AN: Just in case, if you are ever together with someone, and you want to break it off, you can, even if the one you are together with had a violent father (or just had something crap happen to them in general).

I was originally going to publish this chapter in the Percabeth week of the pjoshipweeks, but I finished it quite early so I changed my mind. However maybe if you're kind I'll write a shorter chapter and publish it in the shipweeks 3

Lately I have been going through some the first chapters and edited some stuff, not any big differences at all, but maybe the grammar is slightly better…

Thank you all so much for the reviews, and I would always love even more of them!