I'm sorry it's been so long :(

But I PROMISE the next update will be quicker and (hopefully) longer than this one! I finally have some concrete (and a bit dramatic?) ideas for this little story.

Hope you enjoy! And don't forget to drop a review!

While normally I would've complained about being called away by my father, I couldn't help but be thankful for it this time around.

It's not that his requests were ever particularly dangerous or strenuous. Before I'd gained some semblance of acceptance at Camp Halfblood, during the time I'd been a lost wanderer, it had given me a purpose. Serving my father after years of being ignored and shoved away was welcome. At least he accepted me, unlike so many others.

But as of late, I'd been dreading the very real possibility of being called away for a quest for one very, very important reason.

Percy.

If this call to action had come any earlier, I would've flat out refused and shown a backbone for once, even if it meant paying hell for it later. Nobody crossed my father like that, not even me. But Percy took priority in any situation, he was infinitely more important than anything else in my life, even my father. I could've dealt with the literal lord of death and destruction being angry at me if it meant keeping Percy safe and healthy and a least a bit sane.

But everything was going fine following my most recent (and longest) stay at camp. Percy had improved drastically, to the point where he was just on the cusp of complete normalcy. He ate and slept and generally functioned like a normal human being. Nightmares every now and again were nothing to difficult to deal with. Frankly they were to be expected from someone who'd seen such horrible things. Demigods could never be totally normal, but his new behavior was a definite step up from before.

He was getting better and better with each passing day.

I didn't have to be afraid anymore, and I was eternally grateful for that. It was nice not having to be afraid of losing him after spending so long fighting to keep him alive, fighting my way to the Doors of Death to find him and save him from that gods-forsaken hellhole.

I was finally confident that Percy was alright, that he could handle my brief absence. It was something he would have to get used to anyway. Summer was coming to a close, and he'd be moving back into the city to start his junior year (which was a real surprise and only due to the fact that Annabeth had forced him to power through a whole lot of schoolwork before the whole Tartarus disaster). I would still get to see him plenty, considering shadow travel made getting into the city a lot easier and I was sure Sally would rope me into a ton of dinners. But he needed to get used to not seeing me everyday. So I agreed to my father's request wholeheartedly, for multiple reason. The first being that I generally made it a personal rule not to piss him off too much. The second being that I was confident in Percy's unfound sanity. The third being that I really needed time away from freaking Annabeth.

In the beginning, she'd been fine with me. She didn't mind me, really just payed pretty little attention to me. She respected my skills in battle enough and knew I was a powerful demigod. She thought me to be at least a halfway decent leader. She'd even pitied me at some point, felt bad for the poor outcasted son of Hades who'd lost his sister. But I think I'd crossed a line with Percy that she couldn't really handle.

I think she hated me, now more than ever. She hated how we'd gotten so close over the past few weeks. She hated the fact that we had so much to share, so much we could relate to.

Honestly, I think she knew. I think that, because of all her gods-given Athena wisdom, she knew I liked him more than just a friend. I think she knew I was hopelessly in love with him.

She wasn't oblivious like Percy, all she needed to do was look at the way I treated him to understand just how much he meant to me. It went back to the very first night I'd tried to soothe his nightmares. That icy death glare she'd given me was enough to make me understand that she didn't like how close I was getting to him. And there had been plenty more of those death glares shot my way. She got red in the face every time she walked in on us in his cabin while we were just innocently watching television.

It was only a matter of time before she confronted me about it.

I had no idea what I would even do in a situation like that. How could I even react? I could hardly lie to save my own skin, especially about something as important as my "crush" on Percy. I would inevitably start blushing bright red or else look like a deer caught in headlights. She was a child of Athena, after all. She would see right through me and know I was lying.

She would really hate me then, even after all I'd done for Percy, even after literally saving him. And she would make sure that I wasn't around anymore. She would keep me away from him now that all the dirty work was finished and she had her perfect boyfriend back in working order.

So it was most definitely a good thing, me getting away. It would make things easier. It would give Annabeth time to calm down.

Everything would be fine. Percy would be fine without me around, and I wouldn't be gone for more than a week, two weeks tops. After that, I'd be back at camp and back with Percy.

It's not like I had anything to worry about.

Don't forget to review and tell me what you think! Hope to be back around sooner than before, now that it is finally summer for me!