~You'll see a reply from me at the very bottom if you're still reading it, Antisocial Idiot (Guest).

Author's Notes at the very end of the chapter.

"You have to choose… Between Jason and myself."

"What?" That was the only word Percy could utter out.

"You're gaping a lot lately." Annabeth commented lightly and absentmindedly, completely not in the mood for teasing and jokes.

"How long do I have to make this decision?"

"Not long." She pondered the next step she had to take, her eyes never leaving the city view.

"Can you be more precise?"

"Fine, until I leave for tonight." She rolled her eyes at him, not seeing this as a hard choice. She silently prayed that whatever his choice was, he would stick to it and not dwell in the process of decision making.

"Why do I have to make this choice?"

"You'll know once you've made it."

"I don't see how this is related to us or how it's important." He commented lightly, only voicing his own thoughts.

"Time's ticking away." She reminded him. Glancing at him, she saw that he was thinking. The gears in his brain were turning in high speed. She knew what he was doing, he was listing the pros and cons while trying to understand the reason behind this decision. "I wouldn't go through this process with anyone else other than you, Percy. I only did this because I don't want to choose for you and force you into something that you may not want to be involved in."

"What- are you talking about?" He narrowed his eyes at her, but she looked nonchalant, completely not bothered.

"Make your choice. It's for your own good." She liked the feeling of being in control, but something in her made her feel uncomfortable for putting him in this situation and in this position. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but you really have to choose." She sighed, apologizing, trying to make the other part of her feel better.

"Can I know what will happen if I choose Jason or if I choose you?"

"No." She declined without thinking.

"What if I don't make a choice?"

"Then I will make it for you, and I can't promise you that you'd like it."

"What will you choose for me?"

"I have more options than you do, Percy." Her tone sounded evil. It was far from the innocent voice that he had slowly gotten used to since the time he picked her up. It sounded just like her attitude back in jail. At that instant, he knew that this was her area, and it was what she was confident in. It was what she knew. Being completely institutionalized after being released, this was the first time that she felt she was back to the position that she belonged to. "After all, it's me that'll be in control." She smirked.

The Crime Lord from jail was surfacing, and Percy didn't know whether to be scared and flee or to embrace the danger.

"Can I change my mind afterwards?"

"No," she knew the answer all along, and she was prepared for either choices, "you got one chance and that will be it."

"Can I at least know a little bit more about what I'm getting into?" He pleaded.

"If you choose me, then you'll be cut away from Jason completely, utterly and totally. If you choose him, then you'll be cut away from me in every way possible and available." She concluded, summarizing the next step, taking pity on him and getting him out of his misery.

Percy groaned into his hands.

"I know it's a painful decision, Percy, that's why I'm giving you until midnight."

"Don't you have a curfew?" He looked up in surprise.

"I do." She nodded in all seriousness, but the defiance look in her eyes told him that it never bothered her. It was her natural ability to defy rules and regulations, even if she just came out of jail. "I have all the time in the world."

Time went past quickly. They didn't talk, but from time to time, she would turn and stare at him, covertly admiring his glowing face under the building lights. He would sense her stare and turn to look at her, but her eyes would move away the second he turned. When she knew that he caught her staring, a smile would creep up to her face and she would mirror his expression, failing to suppress the happy face that she refused to show. The air between them were light and dark at the same time. The subtle interaction lightened the mood, but the question was bogging them down.

It was nearly midnight: Annabeth was way past her curfew and she wasn't the slightest worried; Percy's deadline was nearing and he had absolutely no idea who to choose.

"To put you out of your misery and ease your worries, Percy." Annabeth's tone was light and gentle, but it still held weight. "I'll help you a bit."

That caught his attention, waiting for her to continue, he shifted his weight from one leg to another and leaned against the railing with his side.

"One major advise," she held up one finger, "follow your heart."

Percy rolled his eyes, finding the advise very helpful at that phase of the time.

"Okay, fine, sorry." She chuckled. "That didn't really help." The smile still hadn't vanish yet, surprising him but he didn't show. "You'll get to know more about me and you might get a chance to reunite with Jason again in the future, depending on how things go. However," she started to list the obvious pros and cons for both choices, obviously leaning towards the choice that she wanted him to make. "If you are to choose Jason over me, then this will be our last time together and from now on, you'll know nothing about me and till the day you die, you're not going to hear a single word about me; you will be living your life as if I don't exist and there is absolutely no chance of you meeting me ever again." This was exaggerated, because she wanted him to choose her, but it was true. While he might hear stuff about her, he would definitely not see her again.

It was rather overt to Percy that Annabeth wanted him to choose her, but he also knew that she wouldn't admit it to him. Part of him wanted to choose her, because he genuinely liked her and was interested in her, but another part of him also didn't want to give up his friendship with Jason.

This internal debate had kept him up all night. He still hadn't been able to give her an answer. Handing his life to fate, he decided to let Annabeth choose, because he couldn't bear the thought of loosing both of them. He knew that she would most likely choose herself, but it was still possible that she would choose Jason for him. He struggled to decide who he wanted right that moment. Choosing her seemed more beneficial than choosing him.

"Your time's up, Percy." She said, stepping out of the car in front of her half-way house. "So," she held on to the door, "if you're not to grasp this last chance and give me an answer," she paused to cause an effect, closing the door slowly, "this is goodbye." She let out the last three words slowly, dragging each syllable.

"Wait." Came his voice before she could fully slam the door shut. He pushed open the door, standing outside of the car. "You helped me decide already?" Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her back to him.

"I've made the decision long ago, Percy." She whispered to him in the softest tone he'd ever heard from him. "But you still don't know what it is." When he leaned closer to her, she didn't back away. He hovered above her lips, staring in to her eyes. The mixed emotions were sending him mixed signals, but he believed that he saw the attention she granted to his parted lips. Darting his eyes down at her lips again, he silently asked for permission.

He didn't know why he wanted a kiss, maybe it was because he thought it was the last time they would see each other.

"Can I?" He asked in the lowest voice, almost mouthing the two words. She nodded and closed her eyes. Timidly and hesitantly, he closed the gap between their lips. His hand came to cup her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. She allowed her hand to travel up his sweater and to the nape of his neck, pulling him closer.

He took her bottom lip in his teeth, nipping it teasingly, tugging it gently as a request for permission to slide his tongue in. She granted him. Sticking her tongue out to meet with his in the middle.

There in the car, he thought she would reject him; but here outside the car, she was kissing him back with the same passion that he was trying to convey to her. His only wish was that her passion was just as genuine as his.

"You should really go in, I don't want to get you in trouble." He panted slightly, letting his forehead rest on hers.

Her hands stroke the short spikes at the nape.

"Why?" She asked, wanting to know why he kissed her.

"I don't know." He whispered back, genuinely lost and confused by his own emotions. His eyes left hers for a brief second when he thought of an appropriate answer. "I thought this is the last time that I will see you."

"So you decide to just kiss me?" She wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"Yes." He wasn't ashamed of playing along, he was more than experienced with this shit.

"And does that count as taking advantage of me?" She teased.

"Depends, though I thought you loved it just as much as I did." He pretended to muse over her question.

Annabeth couldn't help but smiled, she stood on her tip toe, leaned up to him and gave him a soft peck on the lips. "You wish." She winked.

Before she could enter the house, he called her.

"Does that mean this won't be the last?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr Jackson." She replied over her shoulder, a smirk clearly laced in her tone.

¢.¢

The premium was successful. The only regret was that the main producer and director wasn't able to be present. It struck up tons of questions of who this was based on and only a few knew. Upon the few, two were there, in vain hope that they would meet the crew, and more specifically the director himself.

Piper and Jason heard the new release of this movie, so they went, knowing that the crew must be there for promotion, but what they didn't know about was who he was bringing.

Three years ago, when Percy appeared in the cell for Annabeth, Piper knew that their relationship wouldn't be simple in the future. It was furthermore confirmed when Annabeth started to talk to him. She just had a feeling that it wouldn't be simple and their relationship wouldn't be normal, considering their reputation in public.

When Piper left cell, the words from Annabeth left her puzzled, but she wasn't able to get ahold of her later on. She begged Jason to help her, but he refused.

"Piper, I would do anything for you, but this is just off limit." He once told her sternly, declining her request once and for all. "Annabeth's different, you don't know her and you won't want to." He warned her. "So give up trying, Pipes."

"Then tell me what you know that I don't." She accused him of hiding things from her, but as much as he didn't want to ruin their information, he also didn't want to dig up the memories.

"Pipes, please, listen to me and believe me on this." He begged. "I don't want this to ruin our relationship. I can only tell you that what she did for you was the best solution to resolve the problem."

"What's the problem? Jason, what are you hiding from me?" She was furious, but the rational part of her knew that when it comes to Annabeth, it was complicated.

"I don't even know." He confessed. "What she told me was more than ten years ago, but I'm not allowed to say anything. Piper, you trust her don't you?" He could only play this card to get her to drop the topic. She nodded. "So please do so all the way. I'm begging you. I will tell you what I can when time comes, for now, can we just live our life without her?"

Three years later, at the premium, this conversation was once again brought up. The subject was inevitable, both of them knew it, it was only a matter of time that they would fight over it.

Jason thought he might get a chance to see her alone and ask for consent, she thought she might just get to see her again and maybe ask her to explain. But in the end, none of them even spot the director, let alone the blonde.

"Can you just tell me please? It won't harm right?" She pleaded, bugging her about Annabeth once again.

"Then let's go somewhere more private." He finally gave in.

That night, when Jason made Piper swear on her life that she would never ever mention anything that he told her, Luke was jotting down every single detail that he had exposed. The latter considered this one successful mission that didn't fail his boss, he wouldn't let her down again.

So when Annabeth closed the door of her half-way house, a man in black was seated in her arm chair, marijuana lit in his hand, pinned between his fingers. Her heart skipped a beat, it was a bit of a deja vu for her, but calmed down as she flickered on the light.

Without uttering a word, she walked up to the guy, snatching the drug from him and putting it in her mouth, she held out her palm, waiting for him to start his business.

"How's your date with the movie star?" He teased.

"Cut the crap Luke." She chastised sharply.

"Jeez, the attitude." He kidded one last time before switching an expression under her glare. "They were at the premium, hoping that they would see you." He got straight to the point. Obviously, 'they' were Jason and Piper, but no one else would've known.

"I thought I've warned them."

"Apparently not enough of a threat."

"I don't wish to threaten them."

"Maybe you should start considering it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at his suggestion.

"Anyways," Luke took the silence as an opportunity to continue his report, "he told her."

"Everything?" Annabeth's eyes almost bulged out, her absent mind was no longer absent, she was now listening to what he got intently.

He shook his head, making her let out a relieved sigh. "Not everything, just the old shits, nothing important."

"Recording?" She raised an eyebrow, hoping that he hadn't forgotten his instructions from years ago. He pulled out a MP3 from his pocket and handed to her, she pocketed it after examining it for a while. "What does she know now?"

Luke nodded towards the carrier that he just handed her, signaling her that everything she wanted was inside. "Well, he promised that this would be the last time he'll say anything about you, and I do believe that he can keep his word, but I don't know what she'll do with the information that she has."

"Do they know…?" She asked, pointing her chin at him.

"No, they don't." He shook his head. "They thought it was private and thought no one would be there at that hour."

Annabeth nodded, satisfied with his report. He fist bumped the air mentally, he didn't let her down this time. She continued to stare at him, knowing that he had more to spill than just this little juicy gossip about her friends that she was spying on covertly to keep herself and everything she had secure.

"And that CPO you asked me to check on, he's nothing." Luke got the meaning behind her stare and answered the unasked question. "Harmless son of a bitch. Just be careful of what you're saying and where, he isn't associated with anything. Not even a fucking cult."

"Good." She nodded, patting his shoulder. "You did well, brother." She laughed with him as he nodded in agreement. "Anything else I must know?" She asked, prying everything out of him before letting him go on to another mission.

"Everything's under control and functioning well," he thought for a moment and said, then added, "my Lord." Getting a grin from his boss, making him exhale a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

Annabeth nodded, obviously relieved by the good news brought to her by her second-in-command. One last nod and an eye flickering to the door, he knew that he was dismissed and it should be his cue to leave, so he stood up and walked himself out like instructed.

"G'night." He heard a faint sound coming from his Lord as he close the door, a big fat grin split his face. This was a sign that he was now in her good books, she was very satisfied with everything.

It was one successful night for both of them.

¢.¢

Recording of Piper and Jason.

"You said to wait until we'd see her again, and we're going to, so can you just tell me?"

"But we didn't see her. What exactly did she tell you before you left?"

"She just said that I'm supposed to forget about her and never mention her to anyone. She told me to never look for her and to never do anything associated to her."

"I think she's right. You should listen to her Piper," there was a pause, "she could foresee a lot of things that you couldn't."

"But I want to know just a little bit more."

There was a sigh, in which Annabeth could only assume to be coming from Jason.

"I know, baby, I know you want to help your friend, especially when she is someone that you look up to, but you can't."

"Why?"

"Not only because you won't understand, but she's right, you wouldn't want to understand her world."

"Do you? You sound like you do."

"I used to, but not anymore."

"How?"

"Swear on your life that you will never ever mention or even think about what I will tell you in the future."

"I swear on my life."

"I do expect you to keep your words."

"I won't let you down. I will keep them."

A pause that was longer than before. Annabeth could hear Luke shuffling closer to them from the bush that he was hiding in, the sound of the leaves could be heard loud and clear from the recording. The noise suddenly came to a halt as Jason started to speak again.

"Do you know how old Annabeth was when she got captured and imprisoned?"

"Just eighteen, like me."

"Not exactly, but you're on the right track. She was taken to prison on her birthday at her celebration with friends."

"How? Why?"

"No one knows. She's scapegoated, that's all I know."

"So she's innocent."

There were no verbal reply, because Jason replied with a nod.

"Then why can't she ask for another trial?"

Piper's naive thought made Annabeth chuckle. Don't you think I've tried, chick? She thought bitterly to herself, thinking back to her first few years.

"That's the past, Pipes, it's not what you need to know to quench your thirst."

"But I want to."

"You don't need to know that much, it won't effect our lives, we have to be selfish in situations like this. We can never help people like Annabeth, all we can do is be her friend and cooperate with her, that's the best support we can offer."

Annabeth wanted to hug Jason for this deflection, because it was all she needed and she knew Jason could understand her all along.

"What do I need to know then?"

"You need to know about my relationship with her. There's a deep bond between her and I, something that no one else can understand, but I want you to be acquainted with it."

"So I won't suspect you of cheating?"

"No, it's because you won't accuse me of not helping."

Annabeth could imagine the smile on his face that was laughing at Piper's naiveness.

"I've told you that we went to the same school right?" The pause indicated a response from Piper, which preferably was a nod. "One summer when we finished high school, Luke got into jail and Annabeth had her narrow escape."

She heard a gasp from Piper, but she remembered the time clearly.

"We were seventeen." Jason continued. "Annabeth and I were not as close as we used to be, because ever since we got into high school, she had been closer to Luke than me."

"Why? Are they dating?"

"They share the same value and believe the same."

"Do you not agree with them?"

"Not completely, but I do understand them, that's why I'm still friend with them."

"Were they deviant back then?"

"Yes, and I was the goody-two-shoes. They were just like you, the only difference was that they were bolder than you. They were the school's biggest pranksters, but Luke was always the one who got in to trouble."

"How?"

"Annabeth had always been the criminal mastermind. She has good grades and appeared to be the good student in front of everyone, however, the plans were all conjured by her but carried out by others. Luke was one of them. If Luke had better grades, he would get in so much less trouble."

"Really?"

"Really. Annabeth was so good in school, she was perfect at everything."

"But she never dated anyone?"

"Not exactly. People thought she was with Luke, so no one dared to bother them. Though some tried to ask her out, but she rejected them."

"Was Luke popular?"

"Nah."

The tone in Jason's voice suggested otherwise and Annabeth knew it well.

"I was more popular than him."

"But don't girls think bad boys are sexier than good boys?"

Annabeth could sense the teasing in Piper's question, she smiled, the teenager in her came out for that split second.

"Do you think I'm less cool?"

"Maybe."

"But I'm their friend. Many of our classmates would die for my position."

"Wouldn't they think that your status in school will make them look normal, usual and ordinary?"

"Apparently they didn't agree with you back then."

"So what did they do to get them into so much trouble?"

"Every crazy thing you can ever think of."

"Why weren't they expelled?"

"They were too good in other aspects, it was like blackmailing the school board."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know right. Their some badass."

"Ditto."

Annabeth laughed silently to herself in the dark, hearing the awe in their voice, especially Piper's, she knew that she still had a reputation.

"So, in continuation to what I was saying before you dragged me off track."

A giggle came from Piper which was her reaction to Jason's accusation.

"As I was saying, that summer when we were seventeen, Luke was in jail and Annabeth had no one to go to, she was lonely."

"Were they together every other summer?"

"Basically. Annabeth spent most of her summer time with him the past few years of high school, I have no idea what they were doing together and I wasn't exactly interested in prying, so I just didn't bother. They would call me and hang out with me from time to time, but they were together the majority of time."

"What happened that summer then? The last summer that you two spent together."

"Luke was in jail and Annabeth was lonely, so she came to me, asked me if she could spend the summer with me, I accepted of course. So that year, she told me practically everything she and Luke had done over the course of our high school life. I couldn't say I wasn't astonished, because it was beyond astounding."

"What did they do?"

"They're the anecdotes that I'm not allowed to share."

The apologetic and dejected sound in his voice almost made Annabeth wanting to give him her consent, but she knew she couldn't. At the same time, she was glad that Jason was trustworthy, she almost felt bad about eavesdropping and spying.

"But I can tell you that ever since that summer, I know that what I have with Annabeth is completely different than what I thought I had with her."

"Did you liked her?"

"Not romantically, but I've always loved her like my other sister."

"Then what changed?"

"The path that we were taking was towards two opposite direction. In spite the support we had for each other, I realized that we couldn't be friends like normal people do. I was faced with two decisions, it was like a crossroad. One end was me accepting who she was and the other was me rejecting her."

"So you chose the previous choice."

"Yes. I chose to tolerate her every flaw and to accept her as who she was, because I value our friendship more than anything. She knew me well, so she did her best to separate me with everything she was involved in. I was like this only clean and lawful place that she had in this universe, because her world was very different."

"How can you understand her?"

"It took me my whole high school years and even my college times, but that summer helped a lot, it enlightened me."

"I want to understand her too."

"It's worthless, Piper, there's no need to do so."

"Why?"

"Because we are her licit state of mind and she needed it, she didn't want us to be involved because she cared about us. Even if she might not admit or show it, but she cared."

"Can we see her again?"

"I don't know, Piper, I don't know."

With a deep, thoughtful sigh coming from Jason, the recording was cut to an end.

I really don't have much to say apart from reminding you to stay tuned to my profile page on updates of my status.

I am so sorry for not updating in so long, and I've apologized in the profile already. I know I'm a horrible writer on this website, and I've got no excuse for it, but on the other hand, I really don't want to give up writing, because I thoroughly enjoyed it - just writing what I want to write secretly (as in, no one knows that I write).

Antisocial Idiot (Guest): Lol, just how I liked you and your comments immediately after reading 'em. Thank you! Really! I laughed at the last part especially, because, have you ever considered something called 'time zone'? Cuz, for your information, I'm a person who values their precious sleeping time than anyone else on Earth, I wouldn't be up in an ungodly hour just to update, trust me, that wouldn't be me. I'm more interested in why are you up reading my story (not that I don't appreciate it) in that ungodly hour? I like your comment ;) Thanks for the support and the review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much, if you're still following it.