Been in a Percy Jackson mood lately so I decided to pull out some old drafts and finish them up to start a new story. Right now it's between this story and my other new one Bonded. Let me know what you think and which one you'd rather me work on and finish first by leaving a review, liking, and or following the story. Thanks so much, be sure to review!

'Calm. Collected. Controlled. Perfect.'

Annabeth silently chanted her life's motto in her head.

Frustration and anger mounted inside of her, threatening to spill out in a stream of ferocious words, but she fought to keep them down. She needed to stay calm, collected, and in control. She needed to be perfect, logical, and practical. Getting upset and yelling at someone would do no one any good.

She was standing over their washer and dryer, ready to do several loads of laundry that she had had no time to do earlier in the week. But of course, on the only free day, she had to do laundry and when all of her clothes were dirty, the washer and dryer set were broken.

'Life sucks.' She thought to herself.

Annabeth took a deep breath and pursed her lips to keep herself from lashing out. She needed to get her emotions under control before she addressed anyone, particularly the redhead behind her. She couldn't let anyone see the emotional disaster that she was on the inside.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve the stress that seemed to just be building in her body. Her muscles were tense, jaw clenched, nostrils flared...she was wound up so tight she was starting to get a headache.

Between her job as an intern at one of the most prestigious architecture firms and school, she hardly had any time to do simple things like laundry and dishes. She cherished the rare day when she could snuggle up and do her homework while she listened to the steady rhythm of the washer and dryer or the dishwasher.

That's how she wound up here, in the basement of her townhouse that she shared with her best friends, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, Calypso Evens, and her cousin Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

It was a beautiful house, with four bedrooms, a study, a basement, a kitchen, a dining room, two living rooms, a rec room, six bathrooms, and a kitchenette. The internal structure of the house was long and thin with little to no open rooms for mingling guests. It did however have serval nooks and crannies that the girls had supplied with comfortable chairs or, where chairs didn't fit, blankets and cushions making it the perfect study house.

The outside was built out of white stone, while the walls on the inside were white with dozens of murals screaming of Rachel's personal touch. Pieces of furniture as well as decorations and pictures littering the walls spoke of the other girls' personal touches as well. Piper, ever the activist, had hung posters of protests, rallies and general "save the planet" and "vegetarianism saves lives" slogans around the house. Hazel had stashed snacks all around the house for everyone's eating pleasure. There were sweets for Rachel, low-cal health snacks for Calypso, spicey snacks for Piper, salty stuff for Annabeth, and chocolates for Hazel. Hazel had also put a touch of rich color into the house. A purple cushion here, a gold paperweight there, and the occasional tasteful jewel or two. Annabeth didn't know how leaving actual jewels like rubies and diamonds could be tasteful, but Hazel managed it. She supposed it had to do with how the jewels were never in plain sight, just kind of tucked away into the corner of a bookshelf or something like that. Calypso had covered the house in plants, both inside and out. Every room had at least one, and maybe more depending on the size of the room. Outside they had beautiful ivy that covered the house, multiple flower beds that bloomed all year long and a full herb garden in the backyard. Annabeth had supplied books, upon books, upon books. So many that they didn't all fit in the bookshelves. There were stacks of random books sitting on tables, chairs and the floor even throughout the house.

The basement had been converted into a game/hang-out room. It had been decided that since the washer and dryer were down there it would be better to keep all of the noise in the house in one room/area, so others could concentrate while they were studying. Besides the washer/dryer set and boiler, there was a large rug on the cement floor, couches, recliners, a foosball table, a pool table, a TV with a Wii, blue-ray player, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. There was also a mini fridge and snack bar, state-of-the-art stereo and surround sound system, bean bag chairs, board games, video games, DVDs, books, and records along with a fully functioning record player.

The first floor held the dining room, kitchen, and breakfast nook with a window seat in it. The second floor held both living rooms, essentially making the entire floor the living room. However, since they used the basement as the hang-out location, the living room had been converted into a part library, part studio. Piper used the library for all of her law books and notes, while Calypso used the studio for her fashion designs and sewing supplies. Hazel, upon their insistence, used both spaces as her collective study spot, using the library for her business class assignments and the studio for her jewelry designs.

The third floor held the master bedroom and bathroom and the study. Annabeth and Piper shared the master bedroom and bathroom since Annabeth didn't have a boyfriend and Piper's boyfriend was too much of a gentleman to spend the night (plus he had his own place). The study, upon everyone else's agreement and Annabeth's protests, was Annabeth's. The others would use it occasionally if they felt cramped somewhere else in the house, but for the most part Annabeth was the only one who used it.

The fourth floor held Hazel and Calypso's rooms and the bathroom they shared. The fifth and top floor held Rachel's bedroom and the rec room which had been converted into her studio. They had originally planned to make the basement her studio, but she had said that she would rather sleep on the same floor as her studio and she didn't need that much room.

They were able to afford such a luxurious place due to Rachel and Piper's fathers paying for the rent, Annabeth's parents taking care of the upkeep bill, and Hazel and Calypso's fathers contributing to the utilities. All on the agreement that they all make good grades and graduate college.

Annabeth had spent the afternoon scouring the house for all of her dirty laundry that had accumulated over the past week and had finished in the basement, a full two days' worth of dirty laundry spread out in baskets before her. As she began to dig through the piles of laundry to be done, Rachel stood by the stairs, watching in amusement.

"Annabeth…"

"No Rachel, I HAVE to do laundry today. I have absolutely NO clean clothes." Annabeth huffed. She was in a bad mood. Her week had not gone well. Her boss was mad at her at work (for what she had no clue) she had gotten a less-than-perfect grade on one of her assignments which had her mom calling her every five minutes to lecture her on her "lack of perfection" and her ex was giving her problems. Not to mention that her cousin was about to walk out the door to go on a date with her arch nemesis, rival, and all-around life-altering annoyance, Percy Jackson.

Rachel had had a hard-core crush on Percy since the day they met him back in middle school. Annabeth had had a hard-core hatred for him since that day instead. He was a loose cannon, a troublemaker, and that was the last thing she needed in her life.

Rachel had finally gotten up the courage to tell him how she felt and ask him out at the beginning of the semester. And so far it was going well, although their relationship bothered Annabeth. And she wasn't the only one. Their resident matchmaker Piper had commented that Rachel and Percy just didn't seem right to her. Which of course made Annabeth feel all warm and fuzzy inside (insert eyeroll here).

"Annabeth…."

"No clothes Rachel."

"Annabeth….."

"NO CLOTHES!"

In hindsight, she wasn't doing that well in staying calm and in control. At this moment it didn't bother her so much because Rachel didn't seem to be taking her seriously. Sometimes it bothered Annabeth to always be in control. It kept people, even her cousin, from knowing when things truly bothered her. But she didn't have a choice. She needed to stay focused and stay in control. Stay perfect.

She took a step back and took another deep breath.

"How was the washer broken?" She asked her tone even.

Rachel looked sheepish.

"Percy used it the other day and accidentally left a pen in his pants pocket."

Annabeth blinked slowly, quiet rage enveloping her.

"A…..pen? In…..his…pocket?" Annabeth could feel her eye twitching out of stress.

Rachel grimaced.

"I told him to check all of his pockets before he started it but….."

"Why was he using our washer in the first place?" Annabeth asked quietly.

"The water's been turned off in his building all week. All the guys have been using ours this week." Rachel explained.

Annabeth growled.

"Annabeth?" Rachel asked, concerned. For the first time, she seemed to realize that Annabeth was, perhaps, not okay with the situation.

'Calm. Collected. Controlled. Perfect.'

Another deep breath.

"It's fine."

It wasn't fine.

"Okay, so long as you're not mad."

"I'm fine Rachel," Annabeth replied, once again calm.

"Great! I was kind of worried for a second!"

'Gee, I wonder why...' Annabeth thought sarcastically.

"I've got to run, enjoy your day off!" With that, Rachel ran up the stairs and out the door. Only when Annabeth heard the distant sound of the front door slamming closed did she release all of her anger in one dramatic scream.

"JACKSON!"

"Remind me why you hate Percy so much?"

With the loud clanging and banging coming from the washer/dryer area Annabeth almost didn't hear Calypso's question.

Annabeth paused her rapidly tapping pen as she moved it between her fingers. Looking up from her homework, she swallowed the orange slice she had just popped into her mouth. She looked over at her beautiful young roommate as she (of all things) folded clothes next to the couch. Calypso had decided to use traditional clothes-washing methods to do laundry, even going to the extent of stringing up a clothesline in their small backyard. Annabeth however didn't have the luxury of time to go to such lengths, so she had called Leo.

Leo was their go-to mechanic/handyman. Not only was he Calypso's boyfriend and their friend since elementary school (so they got great rates from him), but he was incredibly smart and talented when it came to fixing things. He already had a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and a certification as a mechanic for every vehicle known to man, cars, boats, planes, trains, etc. He also had several patents pending on inventions he had created and was currently working on getting his masters in electrical engineering. Plus he had been insulted the first time they had needed something fixed in the house, both at the job that, as he said, the "so-called professional" had done, and that they hadn't called him.

So yeah, he was the first call Annabeth made when Rachel told her that the washer was broken (After she was done cursing Percy's name of course).

"He's a loose cannon. Never considering how his actions affect other people," she gestured to the washer for reference. "He's wild, out of control. He doesn't care how the rest of the world perceives him. He's careless, annoying, obnoxious, stubborn, a grade-A idiot, mischievous, and a troublemaker. Why wouldn't I hate him?"

Thinking the conversation over, Annabeth turned back to her homework.

She was studying for a particularly hard test and she needed to concentrate. The only reason she wasn't up in her study right now was because she wanted to know the moment Leo was done so she could start her laundry as soon as possible. As it was she would probably be pulling another all-nighter to get it all done.

"Okay….but, and pardon my bluntness, none of that seems particularly hateworthy. Besides, he didn't break the washer on purpose Annabeth." Calypso reminded her gently.

Annabeth huffed, blowing a strand of stray hair out of her face.

"No, but he didn't listen when Rachel told him to check his pockets. And he was stupid enough to leave the pen in there in the first place."

"Well maybe-"

Annabeth sighed, put down her pen, and turned to fully face Calypso.

"Look, he gets on my nerves. I hate him, he hates me, it's mutual. Plus he's dangerous. His life is..." Annabeth paused, looking for the right word.

"Dangerous?" Calypso supplied.

"Yes." Annabeth sighed at the lack of eloquence the word brought to the conversation, but she couldn't for the life of her think of another one. "So long as he doesn't hurt Rachel, I can live with the fact that they're dating. If he can put up with me to date her, then I can deal with him for the same reason, okay?"

Annabeth knew she sounded lame. She knew it. But the main reason why she hated Percy Jackson was because of the way he made her feel. Ever since she had met him in middle school, he had this way of making her loosen up, pushing her buttons until she became so overwhelmed with emotion that she wanted to explode. He made her lose control. And what was worse, a part of her enjoyed it. A small part really, but a part big enough to scare Annabeth.

"Does he though?"

Calypso's voice brought Annabeth out of her train of thought. Calypso had said it so quietly that Annabeth almost didn't hear her.

"What?"

"Does he hate you? Really? Or are you just so blinded by your preconceived notions of him that you can't see the truth?"

Annabeth blinked at her in surprise and shock for almost a full 30 seconds.

"Calypso…" Leo's muffled voice came out from behind the washer, a rare seriousness in his voice. If Annabeth didn't know any better she would have thought that it was a warning of some kind.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth finally rasped.

Calypso shrugged as though what she had just said didn't change the way Annabeth looked at the past ten years of her life.

"Think about it. Does he act like he hates you because he hates you or does he act like he hates you because you treat him like you hate him first?"

"Calypso!" Leo's voice was clearer now. He had come out from behind the washer, dirt smudged on his face, his curly brown hair sticking up in odd places, and a deep frown of disapproval on his face.

"That's absurd, of course, he hates me. Why wouldn't he?" Annabeth shrugged, acting nonchalant. On the inside, however, she was panicking. Did he not hate her for all these years like she had thought? She reviewed all of his barbed insults, cruel verbal jabs, and harsh button-pushing over the years.

"Why would he?" Calypso reasoned, interrupting her thought process.

"Because we're complete opposites, and we hate each other." Annabeth grasped for the same old straw, not understanding why she stopped there. She had plenty of reasons why she thought he hated her, and none of them sounded as stupid as the one she kept repeating.

"You can be the complete opposite of someone and not hate them," Calypso responded gently.

'Curse her for being so level-headed and logical about this...' Annabeth thought. If only she could respond with the same logic and practical reasoning.

"Okay, all done!" Leo shouted overly loud.

With a start Annabeth looked at him, almost desperate to regain her control by reaffirming her original analysis of her and Percy's relationship.

"Percy does hate me…doesn't he?" She cursed herself for the almost hopeful tone in her voice.

Leo shot Calypso a glare and then looked at Annabeth sympathetically.

"To be honest if you want to know how Percy feels, you'll have to talk to Percy. Calypso is just thinking out loud." He shot Calypso another warning look. "Aren't you Cal?"

Cal shrugged.

"I suppose…" she hummed.

Annabeth looked at them skeptically, relief rushing into her like a breath of fresh air. She didn't know why it bothered her so much that Percy might not hate her, and she had no desire to give it any further thought. The last thing she needed was a huge perspective change.

"Anyway…your washer's fixed Annabeth, you can go ahead and start the laundry." Leo shot her a cheeky grin.

"Thanks, Leo," Annabeth muttered absentmindedly. She was still lost in thought over the thing she didn't want to think about.

"No problemo senorietta! Cal, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Annabeth heard and saw the edge to his tone and in his eyes.

Calypso rolled her eyes but allowed her boyfriend to usher her upstairs.

Whether she wanted to admit it or not, it was clear to Annabeth that Calypso had, in some way, just revealed some very privileged information. Information that was so important that Leo of all people was taking it more seriously than Calypso.

Annabeth frowned down at her homework. Maybe she should give Calypso's words more thought.

Later that night Annabeth was sitting up with her laundry, keeping tabs so she could switch it as soon as a cycle was over.

Tapping her pen against her notebook, she huffed in frustration. She had been stuck on the same problem for nearly 20 minutes. And it wasn't a hard problem either. It was simple and easy and one Annabeth had known the answer to since she could remember. But for some reason, she couldn't focus. All she could do was think about Calypso's words from earlier as they were stuck like a broken record on an infinite loop in her head.

A noise upstairs, the front door opening and closing, startled her out of her thoughts.

Annabeth checked her watch to see what time it was. The hands on her old-fashioned wristwatch indicated that it was well past one in the morning.

It was common knowledge to not be out on the streets at night. Not only was it extremely dangerous with current gang tensions, but it was incredibly stupid. Only criminals, gang members, and stupid idiots asking to get killed were out on the streets after ten o'clock at night.

Damn, Rachel….. Annabeth mentally cursed. Rachel was always the one who forgot to lock the door when she came and went. This meant that any old gang member could just waltz right in and do as they pleased. Yeah, they lived in an upscale neighborhood, but no street was safe at night, not with the gangs ruling the streets.

Annabeth quickly ran through her head where everyone was. Calypso and Leo had had a fight earlier (yes related to what she had told Annabeth) so she was home and he was at his place. It was Hazel's night to stay over at Frank's (something that took the two of them years of dating and extreme awkwardness to get comfortable with). Piper should be at Jason's by now, which left Rachel who wasn't due back this late at night. If any of them were out past 10:30 pm they just slept where they were or got to the closest safe place and spent the night.

Which meant that whoever was walking into her house was not supposed to be there.

Highly alert and listening to every movement made upstairs, Annabeth reached down under the couch, making sure that the gun she had taped under there was still in place. Hearing footsteps on the stairs coming down into the basement, Annabeth's heart lept into her throat, her blood pounding in her ears.

Deciding against the gun she slipped her hand down her side and pulled the dagger that she always kept strapped to her person. She preferred the dagger to a gun, it required more skill and strategy. Plus it allowed her to fully size up her opponent and make a plan without presenting a threat to them.

The stairs creaked under the weight of the person coming down the stairs.

Dun, dun, dunk…

Annabeth mentally made a face. Whoever it was was not trying to be stealthy at all. It was as though they wanted her to know that they were coming. Still trying to come up with a plan on how to approach the situation, Annabeth pretended to still be focused on her homework.

Every step, every creak caused a new set of heart palpitations in her chest.

She closed her eyes, praying to every god out there that she could think of that might exist that she be able to handle whatever happened next without waking her sleeping roommate.

The footsteps suddenly stopped.

"Annabeth?"

Her reaction was a mere reflex. She knew that later she would never hear the end of it, but she couldn't help it. He had scared the shit out of her.

Instinctively and faster than she could think her body reacted. She whipped out the dagger and threw it, barely missing the intruder's left eye. The only reason she didn't get his eye was because his reflexes were equally as fast. The dagger flew right past his face, just grazing his cheek and embedding itself into the wall behind him with a dull thunk.

Surprised and slightly fearful sea green eyes met her grey stormy ones.

"Percy?!"

"Sup Wise Girl."

That smirk. She hated that easy-going, devil may care, laid back, "I'm cool" smirk of his.

She glowered at him.

"What in gods name are you doing here at this fucking time of night?!"

"Good to see you too." He replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He pried her dagger from the wall and thudded the rest of the way down the basement stairs.

Annabeth leaped over the back of the couch, meeting him halfway and yanking the weapon out of his hand.

"What are you doing here you Seaweed Brain?" She hissed, full of venom. All of her anger from earlier was once again building and this time she couldn't keep it contained. It slowly leaked out of her eyes as she willed him to burst into flames.

She couldn't explain why, but something about Percy just made her lose her composure, her precious control. She could never be perfect in front of him. For instance, her current attire, instead of a perfectly clean and respectable outfit, consisted of a pair of tan shorts that were way too short, and a white tank top that people could see her bra through. Her ratty, old, grandma bra that she only wore on laundry day. And her hair (which was never perfect anyway, always at least one curl was out of place) was atrocious. It was thrown up into a messy bun, which was now falling and half her hair was spilling out over her shoulders.

Percy smirked down at her, standing several inches taller than her without her heels. He reached up and played with one of her stray curls, twisting it around his fingers. For a moment, they stood there like that in silence. Toe to toe, Percy played with one of her out-of-place curls, considering her quietly, almost endearingly. Suddenly self-conscious, Annabeth squirmed in place and crossed her arms over her chest. A blush accumulated on her cheeks and she looked down so that he wouldn't see it. She blamed the blasting heater for her heated cheeks.

"Nice hair." His deep voice mocked. Annabeth snapped her head up, cheeks burning crimson from her out-of-control heartbeat. She glared at him and gave him a mighty shove backward, yanking her hair out of his hand. He hit the stair banister with an "oomph" but she was too mad to care.

With a sniff, she turned and flipped her loosed hair back over her shoulder. The washer beeped and she made her way over to it to switch the laundry.

"Why the fuck are you here Jackson?" She spit accusingly. She honestly didn't know what made her angrier, him just being him and mocking her, him being stupid by waltzing into her house at all hours of the night, or the fact that he could for some reason make butterflies swarm in her stomach with a simple cheesy look.

"Geez, take it easy. What's got your granny panties all in a twist? Bad day at work Wise Girl?"

"No you nitwit, I have strangers who just waltz into my home after one o'clock in the morning without warning or invitation, scarring me shitless." She threw her clothes violently from one machine to the next, slammed the door closed, and started the dryer. "I nearly killed you and you have the gall to act like nothing's wrong and mock me about my hair." She went through the motions of putting the next load into the washer, adding detergent and fabric softener, and programmed the settings. When she was done she slammed the lid shut hit the start button and turned around to face the intruder, eyes burning with malice.

"Okay, for starters I am not a stranger. Secondly, yes you nearly killed me, but you didn't so nothing did happen, and third, I was not mocking you, I was teasing you. There's a difference." Percy straightened his shirt which had shifted out of place when he hit the banister.

Annabeth re-crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, not impressed with his responses.

"I'm waiting."

"For?"

"The answer to the first question that I asked you. You know, the same question I asked you three times since this conversation started?"

"Ah." He paused. "What question?"

Annabeth growled. She could kill him with her bare hands right now.

"What. Are. You. FUCKING. Doing. Here?" Words could not describe the anger and malice that dripped from her words.

"Sorry, what was that?" He turned his ear to her, a sly smirk on his face. He was messing with her, and enjoying it.

"I'm not repeating it."

"Perhaps if you asked a little more nicely I'd tell you."

"Perhaps if you behaved in a more gentlemen-like manner I wouldn't have to ask at all, let alone harshly."

He blinked, thrown off by the unfamiliar statement.

"Gentlemen like...manner?" He seemed confused.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and leaned up against the washer. She placed her hands on top of the washer on either side of her waist and sighed.

"Less like a mindless neanderthal." She translated.

"Oh."

She drummed her fingers on the washer, again waiting impatiently. The hem of her tank top (which was a size too small) had risen and settled on her waist, exposing her stomach to the room. Percy's eye flitted briefly down to her bare skin but quickly returned to her face. For a moment he looked strained, but seemed to quickly regain his composure. She raised a brow at him, partially scolding and partially amused.

Testing a theory, she inched just a little farther back onto the washer, pushing her hips and bare midriff forward. Just as she thought, the movement caught Percy's attention immediately, his eyes darting quickly from her face to her hips, then back to her face. A faint dusting of pink appeared across his cheeks, and he visibly gulped.

Bingo.

A wicked grin crept onto Annabeth's face.

'Oh goody, a new toy...' She thought evilly.

"Why are you here Jackson?" She hadn't meant to drop her voice and sound so sultry. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and almost started to backtrack but Percy reacted instantly. He shuffled his feet and moved his gaze to the wall, floor, ceiling, anywhere really but Annabeth. He rubbed the back of his neck vigorously, and his light blush quickly turned to dark red.

'Who knew I could push Jackson's buttons just like he pushed mine?'

Percy cleared his throat.

"I'm here because I'm dropping off Rachel. From our date." He supplied weakly. He still wasn't looking at her.

A cold rush of air hit Annabeth like a train. His date. With Rachel. No wonder he was so uncomfortable. What she was doing was unfair, to both of them. And if a guy had been doing this sort of thing to her she would have cut off his balls.

"Right. Your date with Rachel." She didn't know why, but she felt the need to emphasize the date part. She straightened her posture and pulled down the hem of her tank top. For good measure, she also tugged on the hem of her shorts, not that they would go far.

After another moment of awkward silence, something else about his statement other than the word "date" caught her attention.

"Wait, you're dropping her off? This late?"

"Yeah, why? Is there a problem?"

"Yes there is a problem, it's dangerous outside at night! We have a house rule that if you're anywhere after 10:30 pm then you sleep there or the nearest safe bed."

"What? You don't think she's safe with me out on the streets at night? You think I can't protect her?" He asked it casually, but there was a slight look in his eyes that made her squirm.

"No, I just don't think that anyone's safe out this late at night, what with the freaking turf war going on right now and all." Annabeth retorted.

Percy rolled his eyes as though he couldn't be bothered with the responsibility for his gang's actions.

"It's not that bad..."

"Percy, last week a homeless shelter in your territory got set on fire. The week before that you lost two members of your crew and the Sidex building burned to the ground."

"The homeless shelter was in our territory, and so were those two gang members. Those weren't my fault, it was the Titans." Percy shot back.

"No, but it was in retaliation for the Sidex building."

"Sidex is a crook and you know it. He deserved it." Percy snarled.

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose. She did not feel like getting into an argument with Percy over semantics at 2 a.m.

"Fine. It's none of my business anyway." She said tiredly.

"No, it's not." Percy agreed darkly.

"Why didn't you just stay put?" Annabeth pressed the original question, feeling that was safer territory.

"We were in the art district," Percy grumbled as she grabbed a laundry basket full of clean clothes.

"What, don't you like art?" Annabeth teased as she made her way upstairs.

"I do, but this is our third date in a row. You would think Rachel would get bored and want to do something else." He whined following her.

"She likes art, you knew that going in." She replied simply.

"Yeah but still..."

"Perseus Jackson," Annabeth whirled around to stick her pointer finger in his nose. "If you hurt her I will use your head for target practice and this time I won't miss. Understand?"

Percy nodded, crossed-eyed from trying to see her finger. Satisfied she turned back around and continued her trip up the stairs.

"So why didn't you just get a motel room?" Annabeth asked.

"The closest motel was over 14 blocks away. We might as well have come back here, so we did."

She frowned.

"There's no way that's true. Surely there's a motel or something between here and the art district."

"Well..."

She turned to face him again. He was rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the floor sheepishly.

"You didn't want to get a motel room." She concluded on her own. "And not because it would have made Rachel uncomfortable, or because you're "just that decent of a guy". I've heard your locker room talk." She studied him for a moment putting puzzle pieces together in her head.

"You didn't want to spend the night with her." Annabeth deduced a few short minutes later.

"Still going to use my head as target practice?" He confirmed finally looking up at her.

Annabeth sighed.

"Only if you hurt her." She regripped her laundry basket and started carrying it up the stairs to the second floor.

"That still doesn't explain why you were in my basement." She called down over her shoulder.

She heard his heavy-footed stomps following her up the stairs two at a time.

"Well, like you so kindly pointed out, the streets are dangerous at night. I figured I'd crash on your basement couch till the nighttime baddies went away."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and dumped her basket on a couch.

"Oh please, you are one of the nighttime baddies. What's the real reason?" She passed him bumping his shoulder.

"Okay fine, Maybe not for that reason, but I was going to crash here."

She turned and raised a brow at him, silently demanding him to explain.

"Leo called," he sighed. "He told me about his and Calypso's fight and that he wouldn't be here tonight, so I said that I would crash here."

Annabeth's cheeks burned at the thought of Calypso's words.

"He told you about their whole fight?"

"Not every little detail, but enough." He eyed her as though he expected her to say something. Something important. She didn't. She just turned and finished making her way downstairs.

"So it wasn't that you didn't want to spend the night with Rachel, you just thought you needed to be here to guard the rest of us." Cheeks burning she fled into the kitchen hoping to put enough distance between her and Percy. She didn't know why, but suddenly there wasn't enough space in between them.

She heard him thudding down the stairs to follow after her, his footsteps hurried to catch up.

"Not exactly-"

He came up behind her, cornering her, but she went around him feeling like she was playing some sort of weird game of cat and mouse. She walked back to the bottom of the stairs.

"Well, you know where Rachel's room is, so just go on up." She gestured up the stairs.

She couldn't look him in the eye.

"Well like I said, I was just going to sleep on the couch in the basement. That is where the other guys sleep when they stay over, isn't it?"

She balked.

"How would I know? Jason doesn't usually sleep over and on the rare occasion he does then yes, that's where he sleeps. Leo sleeps in Calypso's room and I don't know where Frank sleeps when he stays over, so-"

"So you do know," Percy smirked at her like she was a mouse in a trap and he was the cat about to eat her. He began inching closer to her.

"You don't have to stay here you know, we are perfectly capable of protecting ourselves." She moved toward the door, hoping to usher him out without him noticing. He was a seaweed brain after all.

"I can see that." He smirked holding up her dagger.

She glared at him and tried to snatch it out of his hands, but he held it up and back out of her reach. Before she could try and get it back a knock sounded on the door.

"Who the hell..." She went to the door, but Percy grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What are you doing, let go of me." She yanked her arm away from him and went to unlock the door.

"Let me answer it. You don't know who's there! What kind of lunatic knocks on your door at two in the morning?"

He moved to where he was in front of her and blocked her path to the door.

She glared at him.

"I don't know, what kind of lunatic walks into someone's house at one in the morning?"

"Fair but-"

"Good gods Percy, just move and let me answer the door already." She pushed him behind the door and held him there with one hand. With the other, she unlocked the front door and opened it. She threw him one last glare before she looked to see who had knocked.

She froze.

For the first time she could remember Annabeth cursed living in a house in the neutral zone between the two gang territories.

They had a schedule, every one of them, of when which guys were supposed to be in the house. All of the guys had insisted on having at least one of them in the house overnight, every night to ensure that the girls were safe, even though the girls lived in the neutral zone. On the random nights when none of the guys slept over Annabeth took the hit and stayed up all night just in case. They had a schedule, and they all made the guys strictly stick to it.

They had a schedule so that this exact situation did not happen.

Blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin, a long scar down the side of his face, and a cold, ruthless smile. He stood before her holding a bouquet of white lilies, smiling as though showing up on her doorstep at two in the morning was normal behavior.

Her eyes wide, Annabeth moved her hand from Percy's arm to his mouth to keep him silent. She never took her eyes off of the man before her, heart pounding with fear.

Because hidden just behind her front door was Perseus Jackson, one of the heirs of the Olympians gang, and just on the other side of it, standing before her, was Luke Castellan, the head enforcer of the Titans gang, the Olympians' deadly enemy.