"A/N: So I'm back- Yay! (Or not, I don't know). Sorry, I know that was more than two weeks, but I was ill and so couldn't write. So I have just like, five or six days to get as much writing in as I can, before leaving again, for roughly ten days (Sorry :( ).And after that, school starts. Fun. Anyway, I'll try to keep up with the writing as much as I had been before, especially in September, but I honestly don't know if I'll have much time. *is sad.* But I'll try :) Keep reading guys!

Leaving the school hadn't been hard. For a building full of delinquent kids and stressed out teenagers, the security was remarkably lax- the back gate hadn't even been locked. Even still, with the effortlessness required to exit the place, it was clear that this was something that Percy had done before. Distantly, Annabeth marvelled at the fact that she didn't entirely disapprove of that idea. As a teenager- demigod teenager- she could understand the need to escape every now and then. From this hellhole in particular.

As they darted down the block, hoods turned up lest a teacher walked past, they held onto each other, smothering giggles as they went. They tripped over each other's feet and their own, and only paused to catch their breath when the had raced up two entire blocks, and leaned against a gritty wall, knees buckling beneath them.

"That," Percy wheezed, "was exhausting."

"Uh-huh." Annabeth slid down to the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest. Percy joined her. Together, they stared out at the bustling streets- even under the heat of the midday sun, it was packed. Cars honked their horns impatiently, causing tutting from pedestrians and drivers alike. Two people were calling for a taxi. One man further down was pasting posters on the glass of his shop. A few of those who walked past Percy and Annabeth glanced at them suspiciously, but quickly lost interest. They were, after all, city people, and city people lived busy lives. Too busy were their lives to wonder at two teenagers panting on the ground during school hours. After a few minutes, Percy glanced at Annabeth and grinned mischievously.

"Skipping school, huh?" He asked . "Is this really Annabeth Chase?"

Annabeth grinned despite herself. With the sudden absence of adrenaline, the reality of what she had done was starting to hit her. This wasn't her, despite the horrors of school. She wished she was like Percy, so carefree, so untroubled.

"Mmm, yeah." she mumbled, not really focused. "I think so."

"Hey." Percy nudged her, catching her hand in his. "It's ok. No one's gonna kill you for missing an hour of school." Annabeth snorted and grinned.

"No one but my dad, I guess." Then she stretched her hand out, and pulled Percy up. "Come on. Let's find somewhere better.

It didn't take a very long time to find a secluded green space, hidden from the public view by the two colossal manors that towered up above them. The redbrick structures cast shallow, empty shadows in the glare of the noontime sun. Admittedly, it made it pretty cold in the square that they had found, but that didn't really matter. On the neat sidewalk that bordered each house surrounding the little park, a few people walked. One woman walked a small, fluffy dog, oblivious through her earbuds to the insufferable yapping of her canine. Somewhere on the other side of the square, two men in suits walked at such a pace that something might have been breathing fire at their heels. They talked in short, clipped voices, as if they were just colleagues, business partners resigned to each other's company.

None of this really bothered Annabeth as she followed Percy into the blissful shade of a sizeable oak tree. No one would find them here- no one would bother them for the rest of the afternoon. They threw themselves down, lying spread eagled on the soft grass, hands linked, and blinked up at the sun that filtered in through the canopy of leaves above them.

Eventually, Percy stirred at her side and sat up. "Good choice?" He asked, amusement coating his words. Annabeth grunted and looked around her.

"Yeah," She muttered absently, closing her eyes to the warm glow of the sun on her eyelids. The warmth left colours dancing in its aftermath, a curious little display of brightness swimming in the darkness. She felt a tug on her arm and hand close more tightly around her own. She returned the gesture and wrenched open her eyes, then glanced at Percy sitting at her side. She allowed herself to be pulled up, and they were presently sitting shoulder to shoulder, heads resting on trunk being them, hands linked and resting on the grass.

"I come here sometimes," Percy muttered, almost to himself. "Alone." He turned bright, sea-green eyes on her. "Here I can think."

Annabeth had no answer to that. Others might scold him for leaving school so often, but was she really in any position to judge? Instead, she just squeezed his hand tighter, a sure reminder that she was here, that he didn't have to be alone all the time. At her grasp, his small smile stretched into a grin and he pulled her closer. Suddenly they were kissing. At first, they were the gentle, soft kisses that sent shivers through her spine. Kisses so delicate that it was like if they got any deeper, the fragile parts of each other would shatter. Each touch of their lips, and sparks flared, electricity that ran through her body and set her nerves on fire. But they were like drugs. Each one brought the soaring relief of unfiltered love, but also an undeniable sense of thirst- the thirst for more, and more, and em style="box-sizing: border-box;"more/em. Slowly but surely the kiss turned deeper. It turned more passionate, more fire and less fireworks. The wrath of the flame danced over their lips, through her hands as they tangled themselves in Percy's hair, through every part of her skin that made contact with Percy's. The kiss went on and on, longer than should have been possible, longer than even gods could have accomplished. At long last, they broke apart, and the crash that they felt as reality fell into place around them was more painful than Icarus' fall from the sky.

There was nothing to say anymore. The words that may have been unsaid minutes ago had all been conveyed better than in words, in that kiss. They just nestled together, young and in love, for minutes, for hours. Maybe they fell asleep, because when the light had faded, and the blanket of darkness had settled around them, both were entirely oblivious.

The night was still young when they finally stirred out of the safety of each other's arms and begun to get up. As Annabeth's eyes blinked open, the world came together in a blurry manner. As the darkness of the sky above registered in her mind, she began to panic, frantically fumbling for her phone in the shadows of the tree. She was already envisioning the angry text messages that might attract an unfortunate amount of monsters ready to fight. When she found it, however, the first thing that blinked up was the time, and she felt such relief wash through that she felt slightly lightheaded. Just nine o'clock. The only message that flashed before her eyes was one from her dad wondering wether she was ok. She decided it might be safer to reply and risk a small, easy monster, than to let more messages ensue and allow every godly creature on the island to show up.

Walking hand in hand through the late night hubbub of the city, they eventually managed to flag down an empty taxi and climbed inside, taking in the musty smell of a car that's spent a day in the heat. Annabeth wrinkled her nose but settled by the window anyway. She made a point of rolling down the window, however, as Percy leaned forward and gave both their addresses to the driver.

As they made their way through congested roads, Annabeth stared out of the windows at the stars above. She liked stars. They reminded her how unimportant she was, really, in the face of the universe. She revelled in that idea. She had never wanted such a big role in the saving of the world, and this glimpse of the world above them made her think that maybe, just maybe, she had never had such a role. Earth was only a small part of the world, after all.

She was distantly aware of conversation flowing between Percy and the driver. Casual small talk, the ordinary attempts made in a taxi to still the tension that often hovered in the air. Questions that she caught were always things like "So, where've you been?" or "Is this you girlfriend?" These were followed by short clipped answers, those of one reluctant to have a conversation, but too polite to say this. In the end, the driver must have realised that the conversation was fruitless, as it died down until it ceased all together. When they pulled up by Percy's block of flats and she kissed him goodbye, the driver pointedly looked away, hand waving blindly behind him as he waited for the dollar bills to be placed in his hand. Once the door had slammed shut, the taxi sped rather quickly off down the road, leaving Percy as a dot gradually fading into the night.

Slamming the taxi door behind her, Annabeth shouldered her back pack strolled up the short path to her front door. Warm lights spilled from the windows, and the faint hum of music drifted out and filled her up. As she slid the key into the lock and let the door swing open, she loosed a breath, content in the knowledge that she was for once not walking in only to be yelled at.

"I'm home," she yelled into the house, dropping her bag by the door and kicking it shut.

"Hi honey," came a voice from the kitchen. As she headed down the hall, the mouth-watering aroma of some kind of meat wafted up her nostrils, putting a spring in her step as she trotted towards the smell. As she stepped into the room, she was greeted with the sight of her whole family gathered around their sizeable kitchen table, already digging into their dinner. She took a seat between her two brothers and immediately began loading food onto her plate.

"So," her dad began, stuffing a chunk of steak into his mouth. "Where were you today?"

Annabeth waved her hand nonchalantly. "Just out with some friends." There was no need for them to know she was alone with Percy. Although they didn't disapprove of him, it might still be a cause for awkward questions.

"Oh? Was that fun?" Something about her father's tone made her feel twelve years old, with parents who needed to know where she was every moment of every day. Not that her personal experience as a twelve year old had been anything like that. Nonetheless, she put on a bright face.

"It was great!" Frederick Chase nodded in approval. Then he turned to her brothers."What about your day?"

As her twin siblings started on a minute-by-minute description of their day, Annabeth was content to lean back and listen. It wasn't interesting at all. All "miss liked my drawing in art," and what-not. But there was something about the innocence and enthusiasm with which they described school that gave Annabeth a pang of jealousy. Whilst she was slaving away, balancing exams with battling monsters, her brothers were learning to colour-in and basic division. She lowered her head into her hands and let out a heavy breath. Life really wasn't fair, was it?