A/N: Hello friends! I'm all moved in for my second year of college, and luckily I wrote a chapter before the chaos so now I have one all ready to go for you! I hope you enjoy!

xxx

The time had finally come. It was the opening night of "Annie." Annabeth was super proud of her set design, and Vincent kept her around as an extra set of hands for the week of the show. It was a new kind of exhausting for the demigod who had fought in two different wars. Obviously, not in the same way, but in a way she never expected. Being so busy also kept her away from Percy, but luckily, he understood. An unexpected benefit, she found out, was a lack of panic attacks and flashbacks. Keeping busy with a normal world activity was a good way to avoid triggering an attack.

Annabeth was also super proud of Jess. She had scored one of the female leads: Grace Farrell, and she was absolutely killing it. Her talent could rival any of the Apollo kids.

Currently, it was nearing the call time for the actors, but Annabeth and Vincent had never left the school. Because of this, Annabeth persuaded Percy to bring them dinner. The three of them sat in the back of the auditorium to eat, far away from the chaotic backstage area.

"You guys look exhausted," noted Percy before taking a bite of his hamburger.

"These would be the ever-present under eye circles of tech week," Vincent explained. "I am greatly looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday morning."

Annabeth nodded in agreement while stuffing her mouth with french fries. The three sat in silence seating for some time until a fully costumed Jess stormed up to them.

"Food. Please," she said, plopping herself down next to Annabeth. Percy passed her the food Annabeth ordered knowing Jess would be starving. "Thank you. You know, I really love theatre, but the amount of drama backstage of a high school production is literally enough for me to never want to be in a show again."

"What happened?" asked Annabeth.

"Just that obnoxious Cissy girl. She's bossing around the actors and crew members like she runs the place. She tried to tell me that my makeup wasn't correct for the time period. Besides the fact that it is heavy stage makeup, I hardly have anything obvious on. I play a freaking secretary," Jess huffed.

"Yeah, I've had my run-ins with that one. Not very fun," Annabeth soothed.

Vincent groaned, "Try being in charge of her. I cannot stand it. But I'll talk to her if you think I need to, Jess."

"Please."

Soon enough, it was time for the show to start. It went off without a hitch, truly a feat for a high school production that included a dog. Jess belted out her songs perfectly, and Annabeth cheered extra loud for her friend.

Normally, Annabeth would never be able to sit through a musical due to her ADHD but being directly involved with the production kept her attention focused. How Percy was able to sit through it she would never know, but he won extra boyfriend points because she knew it would be difficult for him.

After the show, Annabeth found Kimberlee and Gabby out in the lobby.

"Annabeth!" Gabby squealed. "The set looked so good! Vincent was smart to recruit you!"

"Thanks, Gab," Annabeth laughed. "Have you guys seen Jess?"

"No, we were just looking for her," Kimberlee answered.

The three girls started pushing through the crowd of people, but before they found Jess, they found Percy talking to Lee.

Percy smiled and gave Annabeth a single rose. "For a beautiful set design," he explained.

"Aw, thanks Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said leaning up for a quick kiss. They noticed a flash and turned to see Gabby typing on her phone.

"You're welcome," was all she said and Annabeth felt her phone vibrate. It was the picture of her and Percy, and she actually thought it was really cute.

"Ooh, send me that," Percy said. Annabeth laughed and forwarded the picture.

"Okay, we really need to find Jess," she instructed the group.

"I think Lee already has," Kimberlee pointed out. They all turned to see Lee giving Jess the bouquet of flowers he was holding. "Gabby get pictures."

"On it!"

The group moved closer to where Jess and Lee were standing.

"I want a picture with my girls!" Jess exclaimed.

"Nope, you and Lee first," Gabby instructed.

Jess laughed and posed with Lee then the girls gathered for a picture.

"Alright, we are all going to the diner down the block to celebrate opening night," Jess instructed the group once they were done taking pictures.

"Yes, ma'am," Percy joked with a mock salute.

"Watch yourself, Jackson. I can uninvite you and just take your girlfriend," Jess jokingly threatened.

Percy fake pouted and wrapped his arms around Annabeth. The rest of the group just laughed.

Annabeth and the section of their friends that were spectators at the performance went to the diner first, knowing that Jess and Vincent would be awhile. Annabeth was equipped with their food orders so that it would be ready when they got there.

There was one other group at the diner when they arrived, and it seemed to be another group of students who had gone to see the musical. Annabeth didn't recognize any of them at a first glance, so she moved to tell a waitress that another large group had arrived.

"I'm headed to the bathroom. Be right back," Percy announced.

"Alright, we'll work on getting a table," Annabeth replied. The wait staff had recognized that another group had walked in, and her friends were currently helping them push tables together. She moved around them to place Jess and Vincent's special orders with a request to not make them right away.

"Um, you're Annabeth Chase, right?" came a hesitant voice beside her at the counter.

"Yes," she replied cautiously and looked at the boy next to her. Up close, he looked familiar but she did not know his name. "You go to Goode, right? Sorry, I'm blanking on a name."

"It's Jeremy. We've never formally met. I just recognized you from architecture class," he explained.

"Oh, that's why I recognized you!" she exclaimed. "Sorry, I can disappear into my own world in that class. If it weren't for Vincent, I would never talk at all."

Jeremy laughed with Annabeth.

"Well, I just wanted to say 'hi.' Enjoy your night with your friends," Jeremy said and walked away.

When Annabeth sat down, Percy had already returned from the restroom.

"Who was that?" he asked curiously.

"A guy from architecture class," Annabeth responded with a dismissive wave.

"Kinda looked like someone has a crush," interrupted Lee.

Annabeth glared at him. "We barely know each other. He just recognized me from class."

"I don't know. He looked nervous to talk to you," he teased.

"Who wouldn't? Look at her," Percy joked. She quickly gave him a grateful look for stepping in.

"Yeah, she's totally gorgeous," said Gabby with a laugh.

Jess and Vincent walked in at that moment and took their respective seats beside Lee and Lewis.

"Okay, so I agree Annabeth is gorgeous, but what did we miss?" Jess asked.

"It's nothing. Just your man being an ass," Percy joked.

"Sounds about right," Jess said, which surprised everyone at the table because she did not deny Lee being her man.

"Hey!" protested Lee. But everyone just laughed.

"Anyway, Jess did amazing at the show!" Annabeth changed the subject.

The group of friends immediately started to compliment their star and fall into an easy conversation about the show.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang coming from outside and an almost indistinct yell of "Perseus Jackson!"

Annabeth's hand immediately went to her dagger and she locked eyes with Percy. He was sought out, which meant nothing good could follow.

Thanks to the mist, everyone else only really heard the bang. Except for Jess, who looked very panicked.

"What the hell was that?" Vincent questioned.

"I don't know. Um, Percy, let's go make sure everything is okay outside," Annabeth said while standing up.

"Perseus Jackson! Come face us!" yelled a second voice.

"Are you sure?" asked Lee.

"Yeah, we are heading home anyway. We'll see if everything's okay on our way," Percy quickly improvised as they made their way to the door. Annabeth and Jess shared a knowing look, and she knew that her friend would cover for them if anyone questioned their abrupt actions.

Percy and Annabeth pulled out their weapons as they stepped outside. Seeing nothing initially, Percy gestured towards the alley. Annabeth nodded in understanding and carefully followed her boyfriend into the dark space. Her battle instincts were starting to kick in, but due to the darkness, it was more of an instinct to watch her back and get out. She saw two shadows but could not make out exactly what or who they were.

Percy must have had a better look at the two shadows because he called out, "Shouldn't you two be in Tartarus with your sister?"

"Why, Perseus, do you think so poorly of your ability to reform?" one called back.

"No, Stheno. I must have overestimated your abilities. You aren't powerful enough to warrant staying there longer."

That made Stheno angry and she charged. Trusting that Percy could handle himself, she kept quiet and snuck towards Euryale. Unfortunately, the gorgon sensed her coming and managed to slam Annabeth into the wall. She quickly got back onto her feet and charged. The Gorgon was strong, but Annabeth's reflexes were better. They struggled for a while, but eventually, Annabeth's dagger landed in Euryale's chest.

There was no time to relax. As soon as she had defeated the Gorgon, she heard a lot of struggling behind her. She turned in time to see Percy's head being slammed against the wall, and he slumped to the ground unconscious. Stheno started to get closer to him, and Annabeth took off. The Gorgon wasn't paying enough attention, because Annabeth's dagger was stabbed into her back and she exploded into dust.

Annabeth fell to her knees beside Percy and started digging around in her backpack looking for ambrosia and hopefully some water. She found the ambrosia, but not the water and decided that she would just take him back to her apartment to make sure that he was okay.

"Alright, Perce. You need to wake up so you can eat this," she muttered while trying to help him sit up. There wasn't a lot of blood, but she knew she had something in her bag to clean him off for the most part.

He roused enough to eat the ambrosia, but it was difficult to get him to his feet when he wasn't awake enough to hold any of his body weight.

She cursed under her breath and called Jess.

"Annabeth? Are you okay?" Jess asked when she answered.

"I'm fine. Percy, not so much. I need help getting him to my apartment. Bring Lee. Tell him that Percy had a panic attack and hit his head," Annabeth replied.

"Okay, where are you?"

She told Jess where they were and the pair showed up rather quickly.

"Um, should we take him to a doctor?" Lee asked.

"No, he'll be okay. He just looks worse than he is," Annabeth explained.

Annabeth and Lee each took one of Percy's arms to help him up. Jess called a cab to take the four to Annabeth's apartment. Percy seemed to be more conscious, but he definitely was feeling the hit to his head.

When they arrived, Lee helped get Percy up the stairs into the apartment and then into Annabeth's bedroom.

"Thank you so much. I wouldn't have been able to get him here on my own, and I'm sure my brother is dead asleep."

"No problem. Just make sure he gets better."

Annabeth knew she would have to find a better explanation eventually, but it was late and she did not want to worry about it. She also decided she did not want to worry about school the next day, and they would likely just ditch.

After shooting Sally a quick text, Annabeth changed into pajamas and climbed into bed. Percy's shirt was stained with his own blood, so she tried to shimmy it off of him, which stirred him a bit more.

"What's goin' on?" he slurred a bit.

"You're okay now. Just getting your gross clothes off of my bed," Annabeth joked. He smiled tiredly at her.

Luckily, they were thoroughly prepared when it came to extra clothes after a nasty battle, so she found him another shirt and helped him put it on. She laid down next to him and smiled as she saw he was falling back asleep. Still, he managed to wrap his arm around her, and she snuggled closer before falling asleep herself.

xxx

A/N: Sorry I suck at writing action, but we haven't seen any actual danger in a while. It was time to shake things up. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! Like I said before, I just moved back into college, so I don't know when exactly my next post will be, but I will try my best to make it sooner rather than later.

QOTD: Are any of you in college? If so what do you study and if not, what would you like to study or pursue?