A/N: There won't be any shoutouts in this chapter. I'm running out of time, so I'm just going to leave you with a question: WHO DO YOU WANT PERCY TO END UP WITH? Answer me through reviews, and while you're at it, let me know what you think of the story. :D

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NEVER LET ME GO

Chapter 10: CALM BEFORE THE STORM

PERCY

"Noah, do you want some cookies?" I asked, glancing sideways to my son who was looking out the window.

Noah shook his head at me, looking away once more. I sighed. Noah refused to talk to me after what he saw. I tried to get him talking but he would just shake my head or give me a one syllable reply. I knew that Noah was well aware that I was reaching out to him because I was offering him sweets even when it was almost night. Normally I wouldn't as he was already hyperactive and if I as much as give him a piece of something sweet, we both won't be able to sleep.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked him quietly, hoping that my Mom and Reyna, who were sitting at the backseat of my car, wouldn't hear.

But they did. "Perce," said Reyna, placing a hand on my shoulder and leaning closer so she was speaking next to my ear. "After what happened earlier, Noah is traumatized. Expect this kind of behavior on him. Tomorrow we can bring him to a therapist."

I looked at her, unable to stop the guilt from flowing into my chest and weighing me down. I could remember what happened between Annabeth and I and the thing that really annoyed me was I could still feel her lips against mine. Damn it, I cursed inwardly. Get it out of your head.

"I'm just tired, Daddy," he answered simply.

"Why don't you sleep?" I told him. "I'll wake you up when we're home."

Noah shook his head. "I'm not sleepy, Daddy; just tired."

"Okay," I answered, not bothering to hide the sadness in my voice. Reyna once again reached out and gripped my shoulder softly, giving me her support without having to voice out anything. What she didn't know was that guilt was eating up my insides. I couldn't even meet her eyes in the rearview mirror.

I exhaled loudly and decided to drive in silence. The lack of conversation gave my mind a lot of room to think about what happened. I knew my son was confused with what he saw. Both Annabeth and I were too shocked that we failed to come up with some explanation to provide him. He walked into the room and just stared at us. I could read the panic I was feeling reflected in Annabeth's eyes. It's bad enough that it was what Josiah accused us of doing but Noah seeing us was a whole lot different.

"Why are you kissing my Daddy?" he asked Annabeth.

"Um . . ." Annabeth trailed off, obviously loss for words. I was having the same difficulty of coming up with a reason. She looked at me, her eyes screaming for help. I wanted to look away, to let her deal with this on her own as she was the one who initiated the kiss but then I realized that I had a participation in it. Instead of pushing her away, I let her.

I looked at my son. "Noah, go find your grandma. Tell her to clean you up; we'll be leaving shortly." He stubbornly looked at me, his expression saying Explain to me first. I sighed. "Noah, please. We'll talk later."

Noah nodded and went out of the room, but not before giving us a look.

When I was sure that he was out of earshot, I turned to Annabeth. "What did you do that for?" I asked her. I expected myself to be mad at her, to be yelling, but my voice came out as barely a whisper.

"I can't exactly stay away from you without doing that at least once," she said. Annabeth took my hand and looked me in the eyes. "I'm sorry for what I did five years ago. I never wanted you to feel abandoned, but I also didn't want you to get hurt because of me. And I'm sorry for what I did a while ago. I just thought you should know, Seaweed Brain," she paused, reaching out and touching my face, "I love you. I always have and always will." She gave me a quick peck on the lips before standing up and walking out of the room.

I sat there and watched as she walked out of my life for the second time.

I pulled on the driveway of our apartment, killing the engine. Mom and Reyna got out of the car and started taking out our things. Noah tapped my arm and held out his hand. "Daddy, keys," he said.

I unhooked the key chain from my pocket and gave it to him. After removing his seatbelt, Noah got out of the car and ran to our apartment. He unlocked the door and held it open for my Mom and Reyna. I was about to get out of the car when my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket and checked the caller ID. The number was unregistered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Seaweed Brain."

I looked over the dashboard and checked that Reyna was inside. God, I felt like I was cheating on her. "Why are you calling?" I asked, unable to hide the hostility in my voice.

Annabeth was silent for a moment. "I honestly don't know," she said. "I just I just wanted to hear your voice."

I ended up smirking. "Yeah, right." Annabeth didn't answer, giving me time to think. What frustrated me the most was that I could still feel her lips against mine, like they were still glued together. I slammed my palm against the steering wheel, mad at myself for letting something like that happen. What would Reyna say?

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "I didn't mean to just kiss you. I wasn't thinking – no, I was. For that to happened I would've had thought about it before. I guess I'm apologizing because I know what you're going through right now."

I scoffed. "And what am I exactly going through right now, Annabeth? Do you know what? Do you know that I want to beat myself up because I practically cheated on Reyna and Noah wouldn't talk to me? Do you know what that feels like?"

"That's the reason why I'm saying I'm sorry," said Annabeth. "Seaweed Brain, I'm going away. I just didn't want to do that without doing what I did and – "

"And here I am once again, left alone to clean up your messes," I said, cutting her off. Annabeth didn't answer. "I guess you didn't think that way, huh? Well, Annabeth, maybe you can do what you said and stay away from us. And stop messing with my head."

"Well, you're messing with mine, too!" she said, her tone rising.

"Yeah, but that is your own doing," I said, shaking my head at her. Then I remembered that she couldn't see me so I stopped. "This time, don't make any calls or any attempt to contact me – your boyfriend might be watching and the last thing I want is him hurting Noah again."

"Are you going to sue him?" she asked quietly.

"What do you think? He hurt a five year-old. Dad's preparing all necessary actions right now. I'm not letting him off for hurting my son."

"I know," said Annabeth from the other line. "If you need any help with that, just let me know."

I wanted to tell her off, to say that I would never need her help. Instead, I found myself saying, "Fine." I took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look, I have to go. I need to talk to Reyna and Noah."

"Okay," she answered. "Bye, Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah."

I ended the call and got out my car. I found Mom at the couch flipping through the channels. Reyna was at the kitchen, fixing the stuffs we brought to the beach. Her back was turned to me. I went to where she was quietly and wrapped m arms around her waist, placing my chin on her shoulder. She stiffened but quickly relaxed when she realized it was me.

"Hey," she greeted me, turning her head sideways to give me a kiss.

"Hey," I said back, kissing the side of her head. I tightened my arms around her waist and whispered in her ear. "I love you."

Reyna disentangled herself and faced me. "What is it?" she asked, her eyebrows scrunched up in worry. She knew me. I'm not really the kind of person who expresses what I feel – though, of course, I constantly say those words to her – and Reyna was aware that I'm not exactly known for being verbose.

I shook my head, trying for a smile. "Nothing. Why, is it so wrong for me to say those words to my beautiful girlfriend?" I asked.

A hint of a blush appeared on her cheek but Reyna glared at me. "Don't be a smartass, Perce. I know you – you just don't say those words or get cheesy on me unless there's something you need or want in return." She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, she sounded like she accidentally swallowed a live parrot. "Jackson! I'm not spending the night!"

I frowned, wondering what she meant. "I know; you've told me in the car. And it's not like we haven't slept together before."

"Oh?" she asked. "Because I sure as hell know why you're being like this. I thought we've talked about this, Perce. We agreed not to be that couple. We have Noah to take care of and the last thing we need is another little Jackson running around the house."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "I wasn't talking about that, Rey! I didn't say those words to get in your pants. I'm not like my seventeen year-old self anymore; I'm more responsible now." Reyna's ears turned red. "Nice to know you have a very high opinion of me," I said, sitting down.

"Alright, I'm sorry," she said, sitting down beside me. She tried to take my hand but I whisked her away. She drew back, hurt. "I-I didn't mean to . . . Perce, come on." I don't know why but I burst out laughing, finding humor in her reaction. She glared at me, standing up and shoving my shoulder. "Ass."

"I was kidding!" I stood up and hugged her again. "Seriously, Rey. You thought I was asking for that? We've talked and we both agreed not to do anything along that line, remember? And I'm not changing my mind. I already have my hands full with Noah. Besides, I want to just enjoy being with you." She sighed as I kissed her neck. "And hey, have I told you I love you today?"

I felt her smiling. "Yes, Perce, not more than five minutes ago."

"Good," I said, kissing her neck. "Because I will never get tired of saying them. I will tell you those words until you get sick of hearing them from me."

She scoffed. "Like I will get tired of hearing you say them," she said, holding my hand and tightening my arms around her. "Like I will ever get tired of loving you."

"Now who's getting cheesy?" I teased her.

Reyna freed herself from our embrace. "Just shut up and kiss me, Jackson."

"Yes, Ma'am," I complied, trapping her face between my hands and kissing her softly on the lips. Reyna's hands automatically shot up at the back of my neck, holding me closer. She made her way up until her hands were tangled on my messy hair. We were pressed so tightly now that it hurt. But I didn't care. All I wanted was to tell her what she meant to me. I wanted to tell her that whatever happened between Annabeth and I was a total mistake and there would be no on in this planet I'd rather grow old with than her.

We only broke apart when we were both panting, her face at the crook of my neck. "I love you, Rey," I said one more time, not because I wanted her to hear it but because I needed to say it. "Never doubt that, okay? Never, ever think for a second that I will leave you."

"Now you're starting to worry me," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

"Except for the fact that I want to break our agreement, throw you over my shoulder and never let you out of my bed? Nah, everything's cool," I said. I knew I should've told her what happened but I didn't have the heart to. Reyna was such a strong person and I didn't want to make her cry.

She laughed. "Shut up, Perce."

I bit my lip as I asked her the following question, "Aren't you going to ask me something?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I'm pretty sure by now that you're wondering why Josiah attacked me like that."

Reyna sighed. "I'm pretty sure you're going to tell me when you're ready. I don't want you to feel obligated to tell me everything. I know you, Perce – if there's something you need to say, you'll say it when you think it's time by then, we'll talk about it."

I sighed as I pressed my forehead against her. "Have I ever told you how awesome you are?"

She chuckled. "I'm pretty sure it hasn't come up until now."

"Seriously, though," I said. "Do you know what it feels like to have someone who understands you and takes you for who you are? Someone who looks at you like you're some sort of broken toy that needs fixing and turns you into a project to turn you into something that you're not? And someone who's happy with what I can only give and not ask for more." I took her hand and pressed it at the side of my face. "Thank you, Rey. You have no idea what you are to me. I don't know where I would be without you."

She kissed the tip of my nose. "Maybe you should thank yourself, too, Perce. You gave me something I never knew I needed. You gave me a sense of contentment and for the very first time in my life, I feel I belong somewhere, with someone . . . with you. It's not just me, Perce. It's you, as well. Loving you and having you love me is the only thing in my life now that counts for something."

I buried my face on her hair, inhaling her all too-familiar scent. For a while, we just stood there, holding onto each other without saying anything. We didn't need to. We talked without having to use words. We spoke without opening our mouths; just the proximity of each other was enough.

Reyna broke our embrace. "Okay, enough of the sappy moments. I need to get going; I'm needed at the office early tomorrow and I still need to drive your Mom home." She took my hand and led me to the living room to where Mom sat waiting for us.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah," Reyna answered.

I walked them to where Reyna parked her car earlier. She gave me a quick kiss on the lips before getting in. Mom tossed her bag at the backseat and smiled at me from across the car. "Bye, honey," she said. She was about to get in but stood back up. "And, oh, you have lip gloss on your jaw."

I wiped my face in embarrassment while Mom laughed at me, jumping in after Reyna. I watched them drive away. When I couldn't see Reyna's tail lights anymore, I let myself back in the apartment. I climbed the stairs and headed to where Noah's room was. I knocked on the door, calling, "Noah? You awake?"

"It's open, Daddy," he said. I twisted the doorknob and let myself in. Noah was sitting on the bed, his PSP on his lap, the game paused. "What is it?"

"Can we talk?" Noah nodded and moved aside, giving me room on his bed. I sat down and looked at my son. "Are you mad at me or something?"

He shook his head. "No. Why?"

"You weren't talking to me," I said. "Look, Noah, I know that what you saw is confusing. And after what happened this afternoon, I know you have a lot of questions but I can't answer them right now, buddy. You're too young; you won't understand – that thing with Annabeth and the guy – but I promised that in time, I will. But for now, I just need you to trust me."

"You were kissing Annabeth, Daddy," he said. "And you're with Reyna."

"I know, Noah, okay? But it's not what you think it is, I promise. I'm not fooling around. I'm not doing this to hurt the two of them. I just – you won't understand." I looked at him. "Please just trust me. Please don't be mad at me."

Noah sighed and went to sit on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I'm not mad, Daddy. I'm just tired."

I kissed the side of his head, cradling his face against my chest like I used to when he was small. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" I asked.

"Why?"

"I just missed you."

"We were together all day, Daddy," he pointed out.

"I know," I answered. "So can I sleep with you?"

He smiled and nodded, jumping on the other side of the bed and throwing the blanket over him. I kicked off my shoes, removed my jeans and crawled in under the cover with him. Noah lifted himself and placed his head on my chest. I combed my fingers through his hair. "Good night, Daddy," he said.

I kissed his forehead. "Good night, buddy. 'Love you."

"Yeah. Love you, too."

I tightened my arms around him, and closed my eyes, thankful that I have him with me. Thankful that even when life could get tough, I still have him.

Little did I know that things were about to change for the worst. Little did I know that everything was about to fall apart.

[Next - Chapter 11: AVALANCHE

(The chapter where everything changes.)]