Hey everybody!

Yes this is another chapter and I apologize for the long wait!

This summer has been hectic with school, work, and especially getting prepared for the next field season.

Speaking of which….Whose excited for DCI? And who is marching again? Tell me all about it!

Also tell me about your winter season and how did it go!

musicaddict135: Hey how did your winter season go? What circuit do you compete it? Because I know for mine, scholastic A is pretty hardcore and tough. My winter season for the three schools I am apart of were pretty successful. One school got bronze, another got gold, and the last school competed once but got first too. Yeah it was a really hectic and amazing season!

stormrunner74: Marching Irish? Dude, that sounds cool and badass.

MockingJWiseGirl: First of all, I can't honestly tell you how much your review meant to me! I'm immensely glad that you found this story again and I'm honored how much it has impacted your life. Welcome to the band geek club! I hope you've learned how crazy us bandos get and why we dedicate our summer and most of our life for band. Thanks again!

peanut-butter-mouse: You don't know how long I've waited for somebody to notice the character and their personalities with their instruments! I specifically chosen the instruments to the members for a reason when I first drafted this story 3 years ago. So thanks so much!

Disclaimer: Do not own PJO

Enjoy!

Percy's POV

I honestly have no clue on how I get myself into these types of situations. I thought it would be a normal day: ignore my mom's constant complaints about not manning up yet, go to school, go to practice, try to steal a kiss or two from Annabeth, go home, and then repeat the next day.

Of course I hadn't expected to be in a car full of 20-plus band leaders heading out to "hang out." Unfortunately, Thalia believed that her leaders weren't bonding enough and needed to focus on the goal for Champs. She basically blurted out all of that bullshit to us after practice. I didn't mind but for the fact that we are three months into the season and now Thalia thought it was an appropriate time to have a happy bonding moment. The idea was just crazy.

Plus… it was cutting into my alone time for cuddling and kisses with Annabeth. Damn it, Thalia so owes me later.

"Hey, umm, Thalia, where are we going exactly?" Nico asked her since she was the one driving and leading the other two cars behind us.

"Somewhere." A one worded and helpfully vague reply, so typical of Thalia.

I held a groan. Like I said, I wouldn't mind this so much, if I wasn't stuck in a van with seven people. The worst part was? Annabeth was sitting nowhere near me. She was sitting in the front with Thalia whereas I was in the back of the car with Nico and Grover, and Selina and the clarinet leader were in the middle of the van.

"Did we seriously have to go today though?" Nico grumbled.

"Yeah, Thalia, I had plans today after practice," Silena added.

"Trust me guys, this get together is very needed," she said in her strict tone. It was obvious that Thalia wouldn't budge. Stubborn like someone else I knew.

Nobody else tried to fight her and I didn't care anyway after half an hour in the car ride.

I was stuck to the side while Nico and Grover were talking to each other.

God I was bored.

I pulled out my phone—and of course Annabeth was first on my contacts list.

"Hey Wise Girl," I sent her.

I stared at the back of her head praying for her to check her phone, but she was too busy talking to Thalia and Silena to notice.

A few minutes later, she finally checked her phone.

"Hi, Seaweed Brain," she sent me back. I could visualize her rolling her eyes and smirking while typing this.

Just as I thought that, she turned, throwing me a glance. I gave her a quick wink before she turned back to the front so nobody would suspecting anything of us.

"I feel lonely back here," I continued.

"You have Nico and Grover…so talk to them." She had a good point, like always.

"Ugh I hate it when you're right."

I put my phone down and looked to my right to Grover and Nico. They were engrossed in their conversation about the upcoming winter season, until Nico noticed and turned to me.

"Hey, Percy, are you excited for the winter season coming up?"

"Yeah, I am, especially for the line and what Mr. D has for us this year." I actually was excited for winter. The drum line was strong and we could actually win our division at the rate we were going.

"Are you excited for WGI?" Grover asked.

"Yeah, and how about you guys? Winds can actually compete at WGI now."

"Yeah it's pretty cool, kind of weird but cool."

The three of us continued on with our conversations until we figured out where we were heading.

"Are you serious, Thalia?" Nico exclaimed.

"Did you, like, run out of places to think of?" That obviously came from Silena.

"Come on guys, this will be fun," Thalia answered once we were all out of the car.

"You and I clearly have different definitions of 'fun', drum major," Grover said, exasperated.

The reason we were all complaining was because the all mighty drum major had brought all of her leaders to a fricken bowling alley. I mean who does that?

"Remember that we are here to bond, so stop complaining and whining like a bunch of babies," she threatened us. She always knew how to straighten us out sometimes.

Luckily for me, Annabeth and I stayed behind the group, giving me time to talk to her.

"Hey, you seem quiet," I asked her. I took her wrist so that we would fall behind the group a little.

"No, I'm just trying to think what Thalia wants from us; you know, her ulterior motive." She smirked.

"Does she need a motive for all of us to be at an old bowling alley?"

She gave me that look like I should shut up before I get hurt. God, I love it when she threatens me like that. I laughed even harder but subsided the second Annabeth and I caught up with the rest of the group inside.

This bowling alley hadn't changed one bit since the last time I was here, a long, long time ago.

It's now distant memory. I guess.

The place looked nearly empty besides some middle school kids hanging out in the last lane.

"Okay so, let's make this interesting. Split into teams and the losing team will have to paint the field?"

That instantly got my attention. Painting that damn field was horrible and I refused to paint it ever again. Losing was definitely not an option and maybe I wouldn't if Annabeth was on my team.

"How about we split into girls versus boys," Thalia declared.

Crap. You've got to be kidding me. Once again, my plans were foiled.

I looked at the guys. I've known more than half of them since middle school, so I shouldn't be so worried.

"Are you guys ready to beat those girls?" Grover howled.

Us guys huddled up together in our own lane to think of a strategy.

"I must admit that I haven't played this shit in a few years. I'm not saying that I was a pro, but I'm alright at bowling and I'm sure Percy can say the same thing," he pointed me out and they all looked to me. Shit.

"Dude, don't look at me, I haven't been here in years, too, but I know how to bowl a strike or two."

They continued talking as I glanced over to Annabeth. She stood out to me the most from the group. And honestly, if I had to, I could spot her blond curly locks from a mile away.

She noticed me staring at her and turned my way. That infamous smirk she always wore when she was up to something was prominent on her face. Well you know what, I had something up my sleeve too.

I sent her my own smirk before turning back to the guys.

Before the game could start, the owner of the shabby bowling alley came over to us to find out where the big crowd was from. Mr. Wilkerson had always been cool with Thalia, Nico, Grover and I hanging out here after school during middle school, but since it'd been so long he was surprised to discover that we were back. He gave us all a big hug and discount for playing.

The game finally began with Thalia against Grover.

To be honest, I didn't pay even half attention to the game. I played when it was my turn, but there was someone on the girl's team that intrigued me and distracted me the entire time.

"What the hell!" Grover exclaimed.

I turned to him. "What?"

"How the hell are we losing?" What?

I checked the scores and it was clear in the screen that we were. God damn it. How the hell did that happen? Well maybe if I had actually paid attention in the beginning then this probably wouldn't have happened.

"Okay, look guys, I'm positive that each and every one of you don't want to paint that stupid field for the rest of the season, so we need to think of a better plan," Grover said. He was rarely serious but when he was serious about something, he meant it.

"Percy is our best bowler so we should bet: one match and the losing team paints the field," Nico suggested.

I couldn't even say anything before they all agreed about it.

"Wait, guys, I don't know about this," I started to protest.

"Come on, Percy, you've been striking ever since we started, and it's just one match or more." Grover patted my shoulder for reassurance. It felt like old times.

"You better be right about this G-man," I gave in.

"Don't worry Perce, we got this."

Grover told Thalia of the new bet and she looked surprised of our new wage. She went back to tell her team and we waited to see who they would choose.

I just stood there. I didn't know if I felt anxious or nervous or just crap altogether.

"No worries Percy, we got this." They all said in the back. I just rolled my eyes and chuckled.

Thalia stepped forward to me. She had that smirk and I had that feeling in my gut that something was up. Her bright blue eyes were full of mischief. My hands started jittering from the anxiety.

"Alright, since you guys changed things up, we'll have Annabeth play for us."

What. She couldn't be serious.

My jaw dropped as I stood there, witnessing Annabeth walk up to the front of her lane.

Yeah, Thalia was serious.

Crap.

I'm pretty sure I faintly heard some of the guys gasp a little. Really encouraging guys, thanks.

"Okay, Seaweed Brain, why don't you bowl first?"

She thrusted towards me the bowling ball she had in her hand. I fell back a little, which surprised me, though it made sense I'd be scared.

I exhaled a heavy breath and thought to myself screw it.

I lined up to my lane and started.

I trudged along to practice. However, where everybody else was going to sectionals, I was headed in the opposite direction.

"Now make sure to not screw up the field. If any line is crooked, we all know who to blame." The band president was giving us instructions for the field because guess what happened? We had lost the bowling match! Which also meant that I lost against Annabeth. I just didn't know if I should be upset and pissed off that my manhood and pride got annihilated or proud that my girl could do anything, even the most random shit like bowling.

The band president finished and left, leaving the guys to finished the work. We gave each other a look and just knew that we couldn't back out on this.

"Let's go guys," Grover gave a half smile.

"Yeah, the faster we get done, the faster we get to marching," the band treasurer piped up.

On the bright side, none of the guys gave me any bullshit for making us lose. I guess we kind of all understood that the second we saw that my Wise Girl was playing, we all knew that we weren't going to win.

Nearly an hour later, we were three quarters finished when suddenly Grover and Nico stopped.

"Hey, what gives?" I asked.

"Dude, we are almost out of paint." Nico explained.

"How?"

"Don't know man."

"Hey guys do you have any more paint left?" Grover shouted to some of the guys on the other side of the field.

"No, we were just about to ask you that."

"Damn it, we have to go back to the trailer to see if there's any more paint and go talk to Mr. D that we ran out." Grover wasn't smiling when he said this, which was a very odd thing to see.

"I guess I could go," I volunteered.

"Yeah, me too," Nico said.

We both headed out and agreed that he would go to Mr. D and I would check the trailer.

This was weird. It's been too long since I've been alone with my cousin.

We talked about our first time walking through this school for orientation for band before our freshman year. I honestly can't believe it's been that long.

"Come on you guys or we are going to be late!" Thalia screamed at the top of her lungs as she sprinted down the halls to get to the band room.

"Wait up, Thalia, we're exhausted! And plus we are already late." Nico huffed. I was following behind him with Grover and Rachel on my tail. He was puffing with his hands on his knees like he was about to die.

"Come on dude, no more breaks," I urged him.

"Shut up Perce, this is all your fault anyway," Nico accused and started running with me. I scoffed and put a hand over my heart as if I was hurt.

"Yeah, Percy, we wouldn't have been lost if it wasn't for you," Grover agreed.

"G-man, you too?"

"Sorry Perce, but I must always tell the truth and in this case you did get us lost and now we are thoroughly late because of you."

I laughed and turned to the side of me to the one person I knew that would always have my back.

"Rachel, do you think this is my fault?" I pouted my lips and glistened my eyes just so I could get her on my side.

She smiled. "Well…"

"No, not you, too!"

"Ha, we even got your girlfriend on our side!" Grover glated.

I glared at him, "We aren't dating!" Surprisingly, Rachel and I both said it. I was genuinely hurt that she said it however, I was hoping that we would be more than friends soon.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Before I could say anything, Thalia called us to hurry up.

I grabbed Rachel's hand and we rushed to the band room.

To say that Mr. D was mad was an understatement. It didn't matter if one of us ran in late, but five was a stretch to him.

That day we learned the valuable lesson that being on time was being early, being on time was being late, and being late meant you were dead.

We also learned that the color guard instructor quit and that was when everything just rolled downhill.

That memory was a good memory. It wasn't the fact that it was when I first noticed my feelings for Rachel. Hell no.

But it was good because I got to spend a very valuable moment with Grover, Nico, and Thalia.

Nico calling me jerked me from my train of thoughts. "I'm gonna head to talk to Mr. D and you go check if there's any more, ok?"

"Yeah, on it," I nodded as he walked away.

The band's trailer was fortunately not that far from the band room. Unfortunately though, it was always a mess even when all the equipment was out being used.

"God how am I going to find the paint in this mess?"

I rummaged through the stacks of cases and boxes, but still nothing.

"Try looking on top of the shelf."

What?

I craned my head upwards to see a box of paint with three new cans. Awesome.

I turned around to see Thalia standing outside of the trailer with her hands on her hips. Uh oh, this couldn't be good.

"Thanks for the help."

"No problem."

I grabbed the box and stepped outside to close the trailer door, but a foot got in the way and prevented me from doing so.

"What are you—"

"Listen here Percy, and listen good." Thalia walked forward with an expression full of hatred and disgust.

"What? What did I do?" I backed up.

She glowered even more. "I know what's been going on between you and Annabeth."

Oh shit.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," I tried to play dumb.

"Don't give me that bull crap, ok? I've been suspicious about you guys for a week now and it finally came to me when we went bowling. You couldn't stop staring at her the entire time, and you screwing up when you went against her for the final match just proved everything more to me."

I was dumbstruck, appalled, mortified, and any other words that matched the expression I had on right now.

She knew, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Yeah, you're right, ok? I care about her." She looked even more pissed after I said that. "I have feelings for her, Thalia. She makes me happy and something else that I can't describe. I don't know what it is about her, but she's all I've been thinking about possibly since she first came here," I told her with all the earnestness I could muster.

She stared at me, possibly looking for any hints of foul, but there was none. Her stance fell a little and now she just looked like a concerned friend, though if it was for me or for Annabeth I wasn't sure.

"I believe you." I breathed a sigh of relief. "I just don't know if I can trust you again. After what happened with Rachel, you shut all of us out and we didn't know what to do to get our friend back. It's been hell the last three years, and I just don't want a second episode with Annabeth when you break her heart," she stated gravely.

I never realized how much I affected them, not until now.

Wishing I could erase those three years, I answered back just as seriously, "I won't let a juvenile mistake like what happened between me and Rachel happen to Annabeth and I. I refuse to let it happen. She means something to me, more than what Rachel ever meant and I promise I won't break her heart. Hell, if anything it'll be her breaking my body parts, since I can't say no to her."

Thalia laughed in agreement; a little bit of comic relief was my forte.

This was the first time I vocally expressed my feelings for Annabeth and it was absolutely exhilarating. I just wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Of course, only if Annabeth wasn't there.

"Good. I'm actually happy for the both of you." She gave me a half smile which, in her defense, was an actual smile.

"Thanks Thalia."

She shook a finger at me as she warned, "Just don't be a chicken in telling her your feelings and asking her out and don't even think about breaking my best friend's heart. Got it?"

"Got it," I promised.

We both headed back to practice with a sense of liberation.

Practice ended that day even though it would have ended half an hour earlier if Mr. D hadn't spent a good chunk of time mocking the guy leaders on our job painting the field. I refuse to paint the field ever again. I'd honestly rather run laps.

"Hey, Perce, Nico and I were planning on going out to eat, want to join?" It was Grover and Nico who asked me.

Wow, I never thought that after everything that happened they would invite me to anything ever again, but I'm glad they did. It's been so long that I forgot what it felt like to just hang and joke around with them. It's just that...

I smiled and said, "Thanks guys ,but I have plans tonight but for sure next time, okay?"

Grover's smile dropped a little and I instantly felt guilty for rejecting them. "Yeah, of course. There's always next time."

I nodded them good bye and went inside to the band room. Thalia was there in the middle of the room when I walked past her. She caught my eye and sent me a smirk, as if sending me permission to continue with the plans I had in mind tonight.

Travis spotted me while I was putting away my snare. I held a groan. He was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.

He came to me and, of course, started talking. "Rest of the guys and I were planning on going to dinner and back to Jimmy's house. You in?"

"No, I got plans, but have a nice time."

"Okay then, see you tomorrow," he said.

Turning away so that he didn't see my relief, I quickly replied, "See you!"

I was silently praying that there would be no more interruptions. My plans were already set for the night and I fully intended to complete them.

There weren't many people left in the band room, thankfully.

I usually found her at the guard locker, either folding flags, looking at the rifles, or just being her usual self sometimes, and today was no different.

Stealthily, I rushed to her side. It was hard though because I almost blew my cover from just staring at her—she always seemed to notice that, but my luck held.

Once I got close enough, my arms instantly wrapped around her waist as my head settled on her shoulder.

She laughed, "Hey, Seaweed Brain." God her laugh was cute.

"What do you say about you and I going out tonight?" I asked, sauve as I could be.

It'd been weeks since I'd had the opportunity to kiss her and I refused to wait any longer.

"That sounds tempting." I could feel her smiling as she thought about my offer.

I cajoled, "Come on, I'm going to drop you off home anyway, so why not just take a detour? A nice, long detour entailing some hopefully fun-filled things…."

I'd been picking her up from school and dropping her off home this week since her car was being repaired.

That morning after our first date on Friday, I picked her up from her house and took her to school where her car was at. We called a tow truck and brought it to the nearest auto mechanic shop. Apparently, it overheated and it also needed a new battery, which explained why it hadn't ignited the night before. However, her parents were skeptical about the extent of the damages on her car so they ordered the mechanic to do more tests and fix what was needed. Of course, like the Wise Girl she sometimes was, Annabeth was reluctant at first to give up her car for so long, but the second I volunteered to be her temporary chauffeur, she agreed instantly.

"Well whatever plans you may have, it's still a school night and my parents wouldn't like me being out late," she side smirked at me.

I grabbed her hand and bag and we walked outside to my car. Now since I knew that the band and some people would question me and Annabeth getting out and in the same car together, I'd been parking in the back parking lot near the tennis courts, which was far away and nowhere near the band room.

"Come on, your parents know that you're with me and they trust me, right?"

God, meeting them that first time on Monday morning was some scary shit. I completely forgot that her parents were back and Annabeth hadn't even bothered to tell me either. Mr. Chase gave me some empty threats in the beginning but warmed up afterwards since he knew that I was part of the band. We basically ended up talking about our favorite shows from the drum corps season that had just ended.

Then her mom stepped out to introduce herself. I was struck back at how obvious it was where Annabeth got her beauty from. Everything from the long blonde locks that I'd grown to love to twirl in my hands to the tantalizing grey eyes were apparent between her and her mother. Unfortunately, it was even harder to get her mother to like me, but I think that she warmed up to me in the end.I think.

She scoffed at that, saying, "I don't know if they trust you yet but you can keep working on it."

"Don't worry, I plan on it." I let go of her hand and brought my arm over her shoulder.

She laughed a little and let me tell you, hearing her laugh was the highlight of the night.

By the end of the week, things seemed to calm down.

It was now lunchtime and for the first time in years I was eating with Nico and Grover.

For the past three years I'd been in the band room with the drum line but this time it was different. Grover invited me to eat lunch with him and Nico and there was no way that I was refusing this time. The best part was Thalia and Annabeth joined too.

"Hey, won't your boys wonder where their captain is?" Grover pondered. I thought of his questions. He was right. What would they think when they found out that I ditched them to sit with Grover, Nico, Thalia, and Annabeth.

"I don't know, but I guess I will find out today during practice," I answered.

Around us, students were eating in packs either sitting on the benches or on the grass. They were joking and laughing and some were even tossing food around. So this is what the average teenager did during lunch time. It was odd and so new to me. I was so used to the band room and the quietness of it during this time of the day. But being with the guys here made it worthwhile.

Some of the athletes from the sports were going around, asking the other students to go support them at their game this week. I realized that the band competed every other weekend yet we never went around advertising it for the school to go watch us.

"Gosh they never stop, do they?" Thalia commented. It was obvious who she was talking about. It's not like we have a problem with them, but being in the band gives you a different outlook on high school.

"Speaking of them," Nico nodded his head up a direction that was behind me.

We all turned in that direction.

There was the cheerleading squad with some of the football players. More specifically, there was Rachel practically glued to Luke's side.

I honestly did not know why I was even staring. I expected myself to feel something from staring at them but I didn't.

For a second, Rachel turned to me and sent me a dirty look before giving her attention back to Luke.

Disgusted, I turned back around to my lunch.

I just stared at the table, looking down, not wanting to look up, because I knew that Nico, Grover, and Thalia were looking pitiful at me. They all knew about the past and knew how important she was to the team. More importantly, that jerk Luke messed and broke Thalia's heart too. So he was already considered dead on my list.

I managed to breathe a heavy sigh and finally looked up. The first person I saw wasn't those three but the one that has changed everything in my life in the past months: Annabeth. Only she didn't know about what happened three years ago. And I'm praying and hoping that it will stay that way a little bit longer.

Now, I felt something, something that could be lifelong.

Leaning forward, Thalia asked, "You ok, Perce?"

"Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" And it was true. I smiled, reassuring them of my answer.

They believed me. Maybe it was apparent to them now that I'd finally moved on.

Only Annabeth kept a skeptical look on her face. I just wanted to kiss it away, but we were at school. To reassure her, I propped my hand on hers. Her expression and shoulders softened.

She managed to let it go but I knew that Wise Girl just wouldn't forget about it.

She was going to hunt me down for the answer.

But I didn't know if I was ready to tell her, yet.

Aren't Percy and Annabeth so cute together? But, there are secrets and affairs that might separate them! (Hint, hint)

Anyway...we are almost near the end of this story, can you guys believe it?

Also, Happy 3 Year Anniversary of this story! My beta and I both can't believe that its been that long. We both had ambitions to write this story in the end of our 2nd year of high school and now we are both going into our 2nd year of college. So thank you to those who have stayed with this story ever since!

Please review! Semi finals are coming up and Annabeth is about to find out the truth soon! Stay tuned!