A/N: I do apologize that this chapter took longer and I'm not going to give you guys excuses because I know you know the reason why there's spaces between the time I update a new chapter.

Before you read this story, I just want to point two things out. There is love story in here, yes, but that isn't the main focus of the story. As I've said, this is mostly a story of letting go, of the characters trying to make peace with their past and present and to look forward to their future. Annabeth and Reyna are both being given their own chances to tell their story, but I know you noticed that it focuses mostly on Percy. I want you to know that I'm not writing a one-sided story whereas I give Annabeth her part and then give Reyna a bigger one. This is not a question of who gets more time but who is needed in that specific part of the story. This is a compilation of three people's story and how they come together. Everyone gets their chance to tell their own story.I know I might lose some of you, my readers, after you read this chapter and that's okay - I respect your decision if that's what you'll want by the end of this chapter. But let me just tell you this: This has always been how I planned this. And if you guys remember these words by the end of this chapter, I ask that you set aside you being a Percabeth fan, or Preyna fan and see the story as it is. I create conflicts because that's where stories start and the twist at the end will present some more painful conflicts to our beloved characters.

I take risks writing my stories. I don't want to play safe. That's how I do things. Whatever your choice will be, I respect it.

Second is, with the recent (or a few months recent) development with Rick's series, whereas Nico di Angelo was revealed to be gay, i was asked a couple of times if I will use it in this story. At the time, I didn't see how this will impact the dynamic between the characters and the story itself. But I guess that's your way of asking what i think about that specific twist by Rick. Through a scene in this chapter, you'll know.

All right, enough. I'll let you guys go on and read. Enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review. :D

shira.b:Okay, I do apologize for this very, very late Happy birthday. And yeah, I'm great. I hope you, too. :D

TinaDaughterOfPoseidon23:It sucks? Your expression in English suck? Oh, come on! I couldn't have put that better myself. As usual, you have provided me with a very useful review. Know that no matter how long they are, I always read it word by word because I knew you will provide me something that I can apply. And, hey, I'm not trying to kill you emotionally to prevent those from coming because I really need them :D

P.S. So that's your voice I've been hearing? LOL.

CimFan:Hey! How're you doing? I'm glad to know your friend's doing better. :D

IamElizaBennett: Well, I guess we'll have to wait, don't we? :D

Epicator13:I'm sorry but your question in reference to Darkness Arising I cannot answer right now because I'm still trying to map that story out. I know how it's gonna end, but the in-between I have to figure out.

Song of the chapter: Hold On, We're Going Home (listen to Chritina Grimmie's version, it is so much better than the original, although we have the same first name. I'm totally starstruck with Christina right now.)

DON'T JUST READ, LEAVE A REVIEW!

NEVER LET ME GO

Chapter 25: LOST IN THE ECHO

PERCY

Something went wrong. There had to be something that went wrong when the second session of Noah's bone marrow transplant was done. He was rushed out of the room, nose and mouth bleeding, completely out to the world.

I could feel the panic that rose in my throat, which I tried to swallow back. Dr. Mears had already warned me that this might happen and that bleeding of the nose and mouth were inevitable in my son's condition. Tried as I might, I still couldn't just look at it and think that It's normal. Everytime that something hurt him, I always think there was something screwing it up.

I tried to wait patiently with Mom and Paul, tried being the operative word. I wanted to bust in and demand what was happening. Annabeth was wheeled out of the room by her father, unaware of the activities going around.

Annabeth looked up, looking at me. I must've looked different for her expression suddenly went worried. "What is it?" she asked. She wheeled herself forward to where I was seated. Without a word, I took her hand and trained my eyes on the door where they took my son.

"I don't know, Wise Girl," I answered. "His nose was bleeding when they wheeled him out; I don't know what's happening," I said, barely containing the quiver in my voice. Annabeth squeezed my hand. I looked up and only then did I notice the dried tracks of tears on her cheeks, and how red her eyes were. I felt guilty that all I thought about was how I felt, without considering that Annabeth was hurting as much as I did. More, in fact.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "Fine," she answered a little too quickly. She sighed, knowing that she might as well write I'm lying on her forehead. "My back hurts, but it's fine. What I can't stand is the cold." Looking at it, I did notice that her hands were clammy with cold sweat and she was shivering.

I cupped her hands in mine and breathed into the space between, rubbing her palms together. Annabeth gave me a sad smile as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes and grounded myself to the feeling of her against my skin.

There were unshed tears and unspoken pain in that kiss. Fear. Uncertainty. Anger. Love? Obviously there was. I knew Annabeth still loved me and there would always be a place in my heart that only she held and will hold. There was no use in denying it, because I knew that I will always love that girl who sat with me in the shallow water with Mrs. O'Leary while waiting for the animal rescue team to arrive.

She pulled away, leaving me wanting more. There was an unexplainable feeling in my chest that refused to go away, even when I swallowed thickly a couple of times. "I hate this chair." Annabeth commented. She looked at me. "Help me stand up?" she asked. I nodded and took her hand, draping one of her arms across my shoulder while wrapping my own around her waist. Frederick was behind, arms stretched, ready to catch his daughter in case my grip failed. But I knew it wouldn't. Somehow, Annabeth strengthened everything within me.

"It's okay, Dad," she assured him.

I sat Annabeth between me and her Dad, not letting go of her hand until Dr. Mears exit Noah's room. I stood up to meet him.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He's fine, Percy," he answered. "Nosebleed is an effect of his disease and the treatment; there is nothing to worry about." He paused and I knew something else was coming. My breath got caught in my throat as I anticipated all bad things that could happen to my son. "He'll be needing some blood transfusion soon." I exhaled. That's at least something I could do.

"Alright, let's do this," I said, rolling up my sleeves.

Dr. Mears shook his head. "Percy, I'm not going to have you donate blood when you haven't slept a wink since last night. I need you to take at least three hours of sleep before I deem you ready."

"But, Doc -" I start to protest but he stopped me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"You'll donate later tonight and we'll have the transfusion tomorrow morning; Noah needs to sleep anyway."

I nodded, doing it the doctor's way. Besides, I already feel light-headed and woozy; who knew what would happen if I did try to donate.

"I'll talk to you later," he said, turning to head back to his office.

I turned to Annabeth. "I'll go check on Noah," I informed her.

She got to her feet shakily. "I'll go with you," she announced. I gave her a small smile. I was counting on that.

Noah was asleep on his hospital bed, lying on his side. His breathing was equal, a bit slow. I approached him, arm around Annabeth's shoulder.

My son's face was peaceful, no traces of the painful process he just went through. I leaned down and hiss his forehead, brushing his blonde hair from his forehead. Annabeth sat on the edge of the bed, tucking Noah's feet under the blanket, watching our so with so much love I could feel it resonating around the room.

"Go to sleep now, Percy," she said. Even when she was the one who clearly need rest, she was thinking about me.

No, I think. Not me, but Noah. Annabeth knew that when ready, we would need to proceed with the blood transfusion right away.

Because Dad asked for it, a spare bed had been placed at the corner of my son's room for instances like this. He knew there was no way I would go home to rest when his grandson was here.

"Alright," I said, "But come lay with me." She started to protest. "Wise Girl, I know we both know that if there's someone who needs rest between the two of us, it's you." I paused as Annabeth shook her head. "Come on," I said, hopping from the bed and helping Annabeth get to the other bed.

She was still shivering so I had her use both blankets while rubbing her arms. We were lying on our side, facing each other. I closed my eyes and breathed through my mouth, not wanting to inhale the distinctive smell that only hospitals have. I felt Annabeth's hand rubbing circles on my cheek - the feeling of it, and the rhythm of her hand against my skin were what sent me into a restless sleep.

I woke to voices speaking in hushed whispers. I groggily opened my eyes, momentarily confused as to where I was. The white walls, the window overlooking the city, the beeping sound and the smell of antiseptic that hang in the air - none was familiar. Until I saw my son sitting on his bed with an IV drip attached to his arm. Yeah, I remembered. We were in a hospital.

Surrounding his bed were my friends from highschool - Grover, Callie, whose real name was Calypso and my cousins Thalia and Nico. I knew they were in California, visiting Grover's family who migrated there after my best buddy finished college. We hadn't seen each other for a long time, given our busy lives. For a moment I wondered how they found out about Noah's condition, then I thought Mom must've told them.

I jumped to my feet, bringing their attention to me. Callie was quick in giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, as well as Thalia. Grover and Nico both gave me pats on the back.

"Hey, man," Grover greeted. "We came as soon as we can." He must've sensed the question in my head - we're weird that way. Annabeth always claimed that Grover and I shared some sort of a link, allowing us to sense each other's thoughts - for he quickly added, "Your Dad called us."

He was the same Grover I could remember - curly brown hair, trimmed beard and crutches from a vehicular accident he was in when he was younger that he didn't fully recover from.

Callie was as beautiful as ever. We actually had history. Before Annaneth and I started dating, Callie and I went out a couple of times. I wasn't sure what it was that we shared, being young and all, and I thought for sometime that I was in love with her. That was until Annabeth knocked some sense into me. Both she and Callie agreed that I was too dumb to handle my emotions - that's how they became friends, actually. Go figure.

Thalia, my other cousin, was the same. Uneven black hair that she cut herself, black statement shirt and ripped jeans. If you happen to meet her on a dark alley, I'm sure you would steer clear. But she's actually a big softie. I hadn't seen her much for the past year. From what I heard, she and Grover were busy participating in some sort of non-government association that Grover's boss named Spam, or something like that, founded.

Nico - well, nothing's changed. He's still the same emo, skinny, messy-haired cousin of mine, except that he sent me a text informing me that he had come out to his family and our friends. My cousin is gay. He said he'd known it for a long time, only he was scared we would shut him out if he told. I felt guilty. I had been too caught up in my own problems that I failed to notice that my friends and extended family were struggling, as well.

I pat Nico's shoulder. He gave me a questioning look. "I'm proud of you ,man," I said sincerely. "And I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

Nico was hesitant. "You're not disgusted with me?" he asked.

I scoffed. "Are you seriously asking me that? Of course not!"

"Well," Thalia butt in. "You might change your mind after this." Nico's eyes widened and tried to lunge at her but Thalia sidestepped easily, knowing Nico wouldn't really try to make a scene, given we're in a healing facility. "Did you know that back in his freshman year in highschool, Nico had a crush on you?"

"Thalia!" he protested, face flushed. "It was not a crush - i-it was more like a familial admiration! Besides I was too young and impressionable!"

Laughter made my chest shake. I didn't want to let it out because Nico might take it differently, but I couldn't just hold it in. After days of always worrying and tears, a booming laugh escaped my throat. Everyone in the room looked at me like I was crazy. I seriously tried to stop, but I couldn't. Nico's reaction was just too hilarious.

"Sorry," I finally managed to croak out. "That - that's crazy, Nico. Seriously?"

My cousin glared at me. "I told you; it wasn't exactly how Thalia put it."

I draped my arm across his shoulder. "Whatever, man; you're still my little brother." I grinned at him, and after some time, he grinned back.

"Okay," Callie interrupted. "Can I say something, please?" she asked. We all turned to her. She smiled. "I finally got over the great Percy Jackson; I have a boyfriend now," she announced happily.

"That's great Callie," Annabeth commented, giving her a hug.

"I know," she agreed. "His name's Leo. He's scrawny, kinda small, tells lame jokes and is obsessed in automobiles and I'm in love with him"

I smiled as I watched my friends make fun of Callie's boyfriend. These past week, I'd never felt something I could remotely refer to as happiness. It just didn't feel right, with what's going on. With these people surrounding me, I reminisced the time when we were young and careless and didn't give a care to the world, when everything was so simple and less complicated. How did time change everything so quickly? I wanted to live back in those moments when I didn't have to worry about waking up and finding that the family I cherished has been taken from me. I wanted to have those moments back, moments that had come and gone, all that was left was echo. Echo of the past, of time we would never be able to take back. But the echo was more than a reminder of something that we wouldn't get a second shot at, it's also a reminder that things do get better. There's always a rainbow after the rain a song pointed out.

As much as I wanted to travel back in time, I knew I would never exchange the time I was in for anything, because in here, I have Noah, and these amazing people. I wanted to go back but I didn't want to go back. Such paradox.

"Juniper's already planning for our marriage!" Grover exlaimed, horror-struck. "I mean, we're together for eight months and she's already planning for that?"

I grinned at him. "You're so whipped G-man."

Noah was grinning from his bed, watching us. I went over to him and messed up his hair. "How are you, little man?" I asked him, knowing how he hated the remark.

He glared at me, but smiled back just as quick. "I like your laugh, Daddy," he told me.

I felt warm as I kissed the top of his head, whispering, "I love you."

"You, too," he grinned back at me.

A knock on the door made me turn. Annabeth's Dad peeked in. "Percy, someone's looking for you."

I frowned, wondering who it could be. Reyna? I didn't think so. Sure, I hadn't seen her for the past two days but if it was her, she would've come inside herself. Now thinking back at it, it was weird because Reyna hadn't called or even sent me a single text message this past forty-eight hours.

"Be right back," I told everyone in the room.

I went out and met, not Reyna, but someone who looked remarkably like her. Same shade of dark hair and caramel skin, same relaxed but confident stature. The only difference were the height and the girl's light green eyes.

Reyna's older sister, Hylla.

She gave me a kind smile. "Hi," she said, extending her hand. "I believe we haven't met. I'm Hylla Arellano, Reyna's older sister."

I accepted her hand hesitantly, unsure of what the business of her visit was. "Percy Jackson," I said, shaking her hand. "Reyna's boyfriend."

"How's your son?" she asked. "Reyna filled me in on everything."

"He's doing better," I answered. "He just had bone marrow transplant a few hours ago and will have blood transfusion tomorrow."

Hylla nodded. "That's great to hear. Reyna's going out of her mind with worry."

"Yeah, it's been hard on all of us."

Hylla didn't answer. She just looked me in the eye and I had to turn away, extremely uneasy. Her eyes of different color from Reyna's were very much like my girlfriend's - deep and probing.

"I visited my sister in the hopes that I would be able to encourage her to go back with me to California and help me manage my spa, but after listening to how she spoke about you, I knew it is futile to try and convince her." She paused. "I know you know what my sister went through and for some time she didn't trust anyone. That was until she met you. I'm not sure if you've noticed this but my sister is basically being a martyr and letting you hurt her because she's afraid you're gonna leave her.."

"I - I"

"Percy, I hate to do this with what you're going through with your family but please understand that while you're trying to protect your family, I'm trying to keep mine from falling apart."

"I don't know where this is leading to," I admitted.

Hylla looked up at me. "Tell me, Percy, how much do you love my sister?"

Was she really doing this? Was she really asking me this question now? She's very much different than her sister, then. They were polar opposites because I knew Reyna would never put me in the same position as Hylla was.

"I -" I stammered. Describing how much you love somebody is impossible. "I - I don't know how to answer that."

Hylla seized me up. "You're not going leave my sister after this, aren't you?"

"What? What are you even talking about right now?"

A shadow of realization passed through her feature. "Reyna hasn't told you, has she?" She groaned. "Oh, that silly girl."

"What? What is it?" I demanded.

"Percy, your girlfriend is - "

"Hylla!" Reyna's voice rang out across the hospital hallway. She rushed forward, her face red and she grabbed her sister's arm. "I told not to talk to him about it!"

"Then maybe you should tell him" Hylla argued. "Don't keep this to yourself and tell him."

"Go home, Hylla," Reyna said through gritted teeth. "I'll talk to you later."

"Not until you tell him," Hylla said stubbornly.

"It's not your decision to make."

"Of course it is; you're my sister!"

"Seriously, Hylla, get out of here."

"No! Tell him that you're - "

"Get out!" Reyna screamed at her.

I was surprised with her outburst, never have I ever seen Reyna this way. I was the one who get lost of my hold of my emotions; Reyna was the one who keeps it together when nobody could.

Clearly, Hylla was as stunned as I was. Her voice was barely a whisper when she said "Tell her, Reyna; he deserves to know" before walking away.

Reyna took deep breaths before facing me, giving me a small smile, except that it failed. She burst into tears and fell into my arms. I rubbed her back as she sobbed into my chest uncontrollably, muttering "I'm sorry" over and over again.

I, on the other hand, was completely scared. What could've happened that caused this? What's going on?

Reyna broke our embrace and wiped the tears from her cheeks, not looking up to meet my eyes. "Rey, please tell me."

"I-I can't, Perce. I don't want you to hate me," she whispered, her voice shaking.

I was appalled. "Reyna, nothing you confess can make me hate you, or make me love you less." I grabbed her face and kissed her lips. "I love you. Please believe that. Please tell me."

When she replied, it was as if she didn't hear a thing I said. "I did everything to prevent this. I took every precaution but the doctor said there would always be a chance that this will happen."

Now I was genuinely scared. "Rey, you're killing me. Please, please tell me."

She shook her head. "No. I can't do this to you."

"Then don't. Please, please, please. Please tell me."

She looked down, tears dripping down the tip of her nose. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Reyna looked up and stared me in the eyes, delivering the news that would change things. "I'm pregnant, Percy."

[Next - Chapter 26: GROWING PAINS]