All characters belong to Rick Riordan because he created Percy Jackson blah blah blah.

Author's Note: Ok, I based the beginning of this chapter off a headcanon, so I also give credit to whoever made the PJO headcanon where Annabeth is apologizing to Percy... well, you'll see. (SPOILER ALERT: The original version said Monopoly, by the way). Sorry for the short chapter.

Chapter 13

Percy stood up and stormed off to his room. He slammed the door shut and locked it, anger filling him. He heard crutches outside the door, but he didn't care.

"Percy, come on! You know it was an accident!" He heard Annabeth's voice shout from the other side. "I didn't mean it!"

"No, Annabeth! You can't just do that and walk away as if nothing happened!" Percy screamed back, his voice rising by the second. Annabeth, of all people. Percy had believed in her, and she'd stabbed him in the back.

"Percy!" She persisted. "Come out! Let's be mature and talk this out! We can figure out what went wrong. You're being really immature right now!"

Immature. Did she actually have the nerve to say that to him? After what she just did? Percy couldn't take it anymore. He flung open the the door, boiling with rage. "Are you seriously calling me immature now? After what you did? You don't have that right anymore!"

"Percy, calm down, for gods' sake. It's just Jenga!"

He pushed past her and stomped in the living room, where they'd been playing. "Annabeth, this," Percy gestured at the rubble, "is on you. I was winning, you knew it, then you sabotaged the piece I was about to move so it would fall down!"

"Gods, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth sounded exasperated. "Can we just move on? This is a really dumb argument."

"Not until you agree that I win because you cheated and hand it over." Percy declared.

"But I don't wanna hand it over!"

"We agreed that winner would get the other's! So say that I win and give it to me, then we can move on."

Annabeth groaned. She reached behind her and grabbed her bag of candy. It was filled with lots of blue candy (and other kinds) from the shop in New York where Percy's mom used to work. Percy grabbed it greedily and stuffed some Sour Patch Kids in his mouth.

With his mouth full, Percy said "Byf duh way, I'm meber pwaying Jenga wiff you agaim."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, then flicked a chewed up piece of candy off her arm. "Ugh, Seaweed Brain, can you please chew with your mouth closed, then talk?"

In response, Percy chewed with his mouth wide open, making loud squelching noises. Then he stuck his tongue out.

Annabeth scoffed, then took a piece of candy out of her bag, which Percy tried desperately to get back. She started to unwrap it, pretended to think about it, then stopped and threw it at Percy. He threw it back.

This continued until Percy started throwing handfuls, which Annabeth threw back or gathered and kept. In the end, the candy was either on the floor, scattered everywhere, or with Annabeth. There were only two lonely pieces sitting at the bottom of Percy's bag, which he ate.

They- well, mostly Percy- searched the apartment for any candy, discovering that he was a really good thrower. Some had landed in the kitchen, the bathroom, and even as far as the guest room. Annabeth only grabbed the ones within her reach so she wouldn't abandon her growing stash.

And that was how the monthly tradition of the candy scavenger hunt began.

. . .

Nico listened to Percy regaling him with the story of what was now known to Annabeth and Percy as the Candy Fight.

Nico scoffed when Percy told them when he was being childish about Annabeth cheating and muttered, "No surprise there."

Percy shit him a glare and continued telling his story. Nico almost nodded off, because he was used to this kind of story. It sounded a lot like Will and himself. Percy kept snapping his fingers under Nico's face, though, when he started sleeping.

Percy finally finished, and Nico yawned. "Can I please ask you something? Then I'm leaving and getting McDonald's."

Percy shrugged, gesturing for him to continue.

"Okay, I think it's important we address this problem before it gets to a point where it can't be fixed." Nico started, Percy with a puzzled look on his face. "The Lotus Hotel. I know Annabeth already knows," he said when Percy opened his mouth. "But the others don't. I don't think it's a good idea to let this friendship go on any longer without feeling them." Percy still looked confused. Nico sighed. "Percy, think about it like Jenga. That was the best analogy I could think of, don't kill me. The base of our friendship is the first pieces set down, and we keep building. But there's a faulty piece at the base, and we forgot about it. So when we start playing, or mention it in our case, the whole tower will fall."

Percy looked slightly less confused. Nico groaned. "Just tell Annabeth my analogy to friendship and Jenga. She'll get it and explain it to you. But all I'm saying is we need to figure how and when to tell our friends about it. There is no if."

And with that, Nico, true to his word, stalked out of the apartment in search of McDonald's.

. . .

Will couldn't find Nico in the building. So he went to the first place that popped into his mind.

Will walked in to the McDonald's, and saw Nico at a table, a happy meal in front of him, and the toy wrapper on the ground. Will leaned against the wall and watched his boyfriend play a little with the toy, then look around and seem to remember that he was 16. He shoved the figurine back in the box.

Will sauntered up to him, smirking. "Really? The toy?"

Nico, munching on a fry, looked up, startled. His dark eyes were wide open, making him look so innocent and adorable.

Will frowned a little. He knew that kind of look. "Neeks, what's wrong?"

Nico sighed. He moved over, and patted the seat next to him. Will sat down, listening. "Will, I don't know what to do. We need to tell everyone about the Lotus Hotel, but I'm not sure how to. Hazel, Percy, and I all went in it. Our friends deserve to know. Annabeth and you are the only other ones who know.

"I made an analogy to Percy earlier. I said it's like Jenga, where we're near the middle of building our tower, but we didn't notice that there was a crooked piece at the base. Now that we see it, we need to fix it, before the tower falls over." Nico sighed again, as if he had let go of the weight of the sky.

"Ok, first of all," Will said, "That was a great analogy. Good job with that. Really deep. The second thing, I think you should just tell them. Ask Percy and Hazel if they want to tell them, but I think you should. It would make you feel a lot better. And," he said as Nico opened his mouth. "Even if Hazel is your half sister, she can make her own choices. If she doesn't want to tell frank, or the others, that's up to her. All you can do is guide her. But figure out what you're going to do first."

Nico nodded solemnly, and they walked out of McDonalds hand in hand.

. . .

Leo could tell there was something strange going on, as soon as he saw the look that Percy, Annabeth, Will and Nico shared at the diner.

He figured they would tell him when the time was right.

Calypso seemed to notice it too, but she had a very different reaction.

"What are they keeping from us?" She shrieked. "We became their friends, thinking we knew each other, but now there's this weird secret they're keeping from us!"

Leo sighed. "Calypso, calm down. You're kind of scary right now." He said hesitantly. Her shoulders loosened up a little at that, and the fire in her eyes calmed down.

"Ok," Leo started. "Sure, they have a secret. They're probably going to tell us, now or later, but they'll tell us if they really care about our friendship. And," he added. "You aren't exactly one to talk. They don't know why we never said your last name, or where you came from, and they haven't asked. Because they know we will tell them anything. And we should tell them soon. I really like where this friendship is going with all of them. I don't want it to fall apart."

Leo sat back, done with his inspirational speech. He reached into the tool belt he always wore, and started tinkering with some bolts and metal scraps.

Calypso groaned. "Ok, I guess you're right Leo. I can't be mad at them for keeping their secret, but we are not telling them anything about me. Do you understand?"

Leo gulped and nodded. Then he set his little invention on the table, and the wind up toy started waddling around, making disturbing screeching noises.

Calypso muttered something under her breath, and snatched the little creation away.

. . .

Piper and Jason were having the same argument.

Piper was being reasonable, and was having better luck at calming him down.

Jason had mentioned the look Will, Nico, Percy and Annabeth had shared when Nico brought Hazel over. Jason wanted desperately to know, because Percy was his bro, and was wondering why Percy didn't tell him what it was about. It was killing Jason, and even though Piper had her doubts, she needed to be grounded and levelheaded for the both of them.

She put up the same argument that Leo did, explaining that if they wanted to tell them, they would. But he just had to be patient.

No one knew it, but this seemed to be a hot topic within the friend group.

. . .

Hazel was killing herself.

She wanted to tell Frank so badly, about that look in the diner Nico shared with his boyfriend, and the other couple, with the really smart girl, Annabeth. Hazel wanted to tell Frank about the Lotus Hotel, and her connection with Nico, but she wasn't sure if she should.

Hazel called Nico for advice. They were, after all, half siblings.

Nico picked up on the first ring. "Hey Hazel, what's up?"

Hazel explained her dilemma, leaving out the part about telling Frank specifically, and Nico groaned. "How many times do I have to talk about this topic? I talked to Percy about it, then Will, now you. Lemme guess. You wanna tell Frank first." Hazel opened her mouth. "Ah ah ah. Hazel, I'm your big brother. I know you well enough to know that you want to tell the guy you have a crush on. Go, go tell him, before you get too far in whatever relationship you're in." He hung up, and Hazel stared at the phone, her brain frozen.

Frank walked into the doorway, knocking on the door. "Hey. You okay?"

Hazel took a deep breath and patted the bed next to her. He sat down, and Hazel began from the beginning.

. . .

Everyone meet me at the beach in 20 min if you can.

They all seemed to have gotten Nico's text. Leo and Calypso, then Jason and Piper. It didn't seem like Percy was coming, but he came, Annabeth on her crutches beside him.

Nico sat across from all of them, Will next to him. Percy, realizing what they were going to say, got up and joined them, and Annabeth moved with him. Piper and Calypso sat next to their boyfriends, who had confused looks on their faces for a few moments.

Nico took a deep breath and started. "There's something we need to tell you guys."

And he and Percy told them.