A/N: This one was a little rough for me and I debated taking it out of the story entirely, because it's not super relevant to the overall plot. But, I've mentioned before that I'm using this story to help process some things that have happened to me in real life, and I decided to keep it in just because of that. So a bit of a self insert here but hopefully still enjoyable.

Annabeth

Percy and I walked down the street toward my house, talking and laughing as we went. It was late, but he'd driven me back from camp after spending the whole day there. We'd eaten dinner with the campers and left shortly after that.

Contributing my offering to the gods at dinner had been strange. I hadn't prayed to Athena in years, and I didn't feel super comfortable doing it again. I'd even thought about skipping out on that at dinner, but I knew that wasn't really an option. My relationship with my mom had always been complicated, probably the most so when I was younger, but at this point I wondered if she even remembered who I was. When it was my turn to scrape my plate, I thought about what I wanted to offer. I used to send up these long winded prayers, essentially dumping out everything that was going on in my head, but I chose to simply ask for some clarity and a resolution to this whole situation.

The back of my hand brushed against Percy's as we walked, and it felt like a jolt of electricity shot through me. I wondered if he was feeling the same thing, or if he even noticed. When I looked up quickly after it happened, I thought I noticed a slight color to his cheeks.

As we approached my house, I was considering asking him in for a drink. Unfortunately, I was dragged feet first into fight or flight mode when I saw Grayson standing on my steps.

"Annabeth!" he yelled, pounding a fist on my front door. I'd told Kennedy to ask Elliot to get my key back from him, so he had no way to get inside. He hadn't noticed us approaching, but I went flying up the stairs as he kept yelling my name.

"Are you insane?" I hissed as I grabbed his wrist to interrupt the pounding on the door. "I have neighbors!"

This was a quiet street, which was half the reason I'd chosen it. On one side, there was a retired couple. And on the other, a couple with a few young children. Neither would tolerate someone outside yelling for long.

"You have some of my stuff," he said, his voice elevated. He swayed, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Are you drunk?" I asked, but his drifting eyes confirmed it. "Go inside," I commanded as I unlocked the door and pushed him in, pulling it shut behind him as I turned around to face Percy.

Percy had followed me up the stairs and was shadowing me. His eyes had darkened and he wore a violent expression.

"Sorry about this. It's really embarrassing," I stumbled over my words as I blushed for a more unfortunate reason than earlier. "I have to go take care of that, but thanks for today. I had a lot of fun. I'll call you in the morning?" I said the last part tentatively, waiting to gauge his reaction.

"If it's okay with you, I want to stick around for a bit. Just to make sure you're safe. I'll stay out of your way," he said, and I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle on my steps.

I agreed, and he followed me into the house after I shot off a quick text message to Kennedy. It was quiet, and my heart rate picked up. Grayson wasn't in the entryway.

I found him in the kitchen, riffling around in my fridge. This had evolved from being an annoyance to becoming absolutely infuriating.

"What are you doing?" I asked, flying into the room and slamming the refrigerator door shut. He stumbled back a few steps, and looked at me like I had just insulted him. Percy was hanging out on the periphery of the room, and I glanced at him for a short moment. His fists were balled up at his sides, and I knew I needed to de-escalate this situation quickly.

"Get your stuff and leave," I said to Grayson, who ambled off toward my bedroom. Percy stayed in the kitchen, but I followed Grayson into the room.

Once inside, he opened the drawer to the bedside table that he used and cursed.

"Did you move my shit?" He asked, and I snorted an exasperated laugh.

"You don't even keep anything here. How many times did I try and get you to move in, or at least keep a few drawers of things here? You wouldn't even leave a phone charger here, Grayson," I realized right then that this might have been a ploy to get me to talk to him. "Listen," I added, "if you want to talk, we can talk tomorrow when you're sober."

"Annabeth…" he started, still swaying but walking towards me. "This is ridiculous. Last night got really intense. My mom told me that you two had a talk that didn't go well. I think we just need to reset, okay? We just need to go back a few years and remember why we like each other so much, you know? You're the prettiest, smartest woman I know," he reached out a hand for me, and I stepped back. The rose colored glasses that tinted our relationship for the past few years were finally gone, and everything about him repulsed me.

"And I don't even mind that you've been hanging out with that Perry guy," he said, almost as a drunk afterthought.

"Percy," I said through gritted teeth. It was a huge mistake letting him into my house. My mother would be disappointed by my lack of critical thinking alone. I didn't want to drag Percy into this any further, but I glanced at my phone, and luckily Kennedy had responded.

"Let me ask you something, did you even notice that I came home multiple times lately looking like I'd been attacked or in an accident? I know you did, because I saw you looking at the random pair of shoes I was wearing when I came home after Kennedy's engagement party. Did you even care to ask if there might be something wrong?"

He winced. "I did notice, I just have a lot going on right now and whatever was happening with you seemed like it might be really complicated. I knew you'd figure it out. You're so capable, that's my favorite thing about you."

"I don't want that, though. I can handle myself, but I want a partnership, and I don't want it with you anymore."

"Come on, you're being ridiculous," he sighed and brought his hand over his face. I didn't know how I was going to get him out of here, and my heart rate was starting to pick up. I needed to remind myself to breathe.

When he removed his hand from rubbing his eyes, I saw him zero in on my nightstand. The photo of the two of us lay face down, and the photo of me, Percy, and Grover was propped up behind it.

I lunged for the photo at the same time as he did, but he was closer. He grabbed the framed photo in one hand and the unframed photo in the other.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked, waving the photo of my friends in my face. "Are you into this guy, or what?"

"Give me that!" I reached for the photo, and he tried to move it backwards but wasn't fast enough in his drunken state. I snatched it out of his hand. The momentum sent him stumbling back a few steps, and he dropped the framed photo of us. The glass shattered as it hit the floor.

Percy materialized in the doorway, probably responding to the sound of the glass breaking. His eyes were still dark, and he looked like he was ready to fight.

"It's okay. We're fine," I said, running over to him and putting my hand on his arm.

"This is done," he said, stepping toward Grayson, who was looking at the way I was clutching Percy's arm. "You need to leave."

Grayson laughed and took a drunken step towards Percy, who could take him down without a second thought, but Grayson didn't know that. I was starting to cry because I was so stressed. I hated that he was in my house right now, and I hated seeing Percy like this. I guess I should be thankful that my bathroom hadn't exploded. That would definitely put an end to this.

"No, no, no," I was repeating as I tried to put myself between them. Percy wordlessly put his arm out to gently direct me behind him.

"You can't just walk in here and take my girl," Grayson said, and I thought Percy was going to lose it right then.

"She doesn't belong to anyone, but she's definitely not yours," Percy said in an eerily calm tone. "And maybe if you'd prioritized her a little more she wouldn't have left you."

I knew he added that last part as a jab. Percy wasn't a vindictive or mean person, but I knew him well enough to know that he could be when he thought the situation called for it.

"You don't even know what you're talking about," I could tell Grayson was starting to get more agitated than he already was, and when he said that he reached for me and grabbed my wrist. Percy lost it, pushing him back up against my bedroom wall, his forearm at Grayson's neck and one hand grasping his shirt.

"Do not touch her," he said, and I was starting to panic. My breaths were coming in shallow bursts, and the tears were falling more freely now. I loved Percy for defending me, but I needed Grayson out of my house. I couldn't have these two in the same room any longer and have this get any more out of control.

Just then, as if a gift sent from Aphrodite herself, there was pounding on my front door. I sprinted out of the room, throwing the door open without even checking the peephole.

Elliot quickly moved around me and into the house as I opened the door.

"Are you okay?" He asked urgently.

"I'm fine, just please get him out of here." We ran back to my bedroom where Percy still had Grayson pushed up against the wall. Percy dropped Grayson's shirt and stepped back as Elliot approached, and Grayson stumbled forward.

Elliot grabbed the back of Grayson's shirt collar and started hauling him toward the door. "What are you doing, man?" he asked. "You can't be acting like this."

Grayson shot back an unintelligible response but didn't fight Elliot as they walked out the front door.

"I'm sorry about this, both of you," he said to Percy and I as they were leaving. "Text Kenn and let her know you're okay, she was upset when I left."

I agreed and shut the door, sinking to the ground in the entryway as I started to sob as the stress of the last half hour crashed over me. Percy was there instantly, crouching in front of me and gathering me up in his arms. "It's okay," he whispered into my hair and I sobbed into his shirt. He ran his hand up and down my back, trying to get me to calm my breathing down.

Eventually, he picked me up and carried me to the couch. I didn't fight him, and I eagerly curled into him after he set me down in his lap. My breathing had steadied a bit, and I was trying to get my hands to stop tingling.

"I'm not letting that guy anywhere near you again," Percy said after a few moments.

"He didn't use to be like that," I gulped. "I'm such an idiot."

"It's not your fault," he said quietly as he stroked my hair, and I let the repetitive touch soothe my racing mind. I couldn't believe that Percy was so willing to be there for me and comfort me like this so effortlessly, especially after everything we'd put each other through.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, and he stiffened, and then I clarified. It was a bit childish, especially after our afternoon at the beach, but everything was changing so fast and I felt a bit insecure. "Why are you being so nice to me? You should hate me, after everything I did to you."

"You didn't do anything to me, Annabeth. The gods did. Big surprise. You were taken from me, there's a difference." This made me start crying again, and I clutched his shirt, like if I held on tight enough it would stop us from being separated ever again.

Sensing that I needed a distraction, Percy started telling me stories. He told me about his current life in New York, a few stories about his students, and when he first decided to go back to camp.

Apparently, a few years back, there had been a young girl in one of his classes that always had to be the smartest one in the room. He said some of the kids called her bossy behind her back, but she had the class completely under her thumb. He said that all year, he couldn't look at her without thinking of me. He suspected she was different for a majority of the year, but when a monster showed up one day at lunch, it was confirmation that she was a half-blood. She was the first demigod he ever had in one of his classes, and when he got her to camp she was claimed pretty quickly by Athena.

"You Athena kids are all the same. I can spot it a mile away," he joked, and I let out a small laugh—the first one of the night since we'd gotten back to my house. "I couldn't leave camp after that, because I realized it was the only place where I still felt connected to you."

In a repeat of last night, I snuggled closer into him and let out a sigh. If this was going to be my new normal, I knew I was going to get through this.

"I think that's what I've been feeling at camp, too, and why it freaked me out so badly last weekend. It felt like something had snapped back into place—like you and I had snapped back into place."

I looked up at him after I finished speaking, and the intensity in his eyes could have leveled a whole city block. Despite the look, his features were soft, and I wondered for a moment if he was going to kiss me.

Instead, he set his chin down on the top of my head.

"You're going to be okay," he said. "We're going to be okay."

A/N: "do not touch her" is seriously my favorite trope in all of media (endlessly grateful for that bit in TLO) and I basically wrote this whole chapter so I could include that. Have a great week everyone!