Oh, it is so good to be back! Part 2 is finally here! Thank you to all those coming back and welcome to all the new folks!

FantasyReads: Thank you very much! Yes, I love little Easter eggs to PJO (and other stuff I like) in this story. At the risk of sounding egotistical, I'm very proud of incorporating the "You're not gonna make this easy on me" bit.

Lolo: Appreciate it. Hope the rest of the chapters made you feel better for waiting.

PercabethShipper: Ah, that's great. My Grade 11 English teacher was that kind of chill as well. As far as the working out thing, I would say yes... he's a student athlete in a sport which requires gym training.

As always, Uncle Rick and Disney own the rights to PJO, not me.

Chapter 11

We Take The Plunge

Annabeth's POV

"So, Annabeth… you wanna walk me through what happened?"

I sighed, staring at the man sitting across from me.

"Fine. I guess. What do you want to know?"

"Well, I suppose let's start from the beginning."

"When's the beginning to you?"

He straightened his glasses, staring directly into my eyes. It felt like he was going to steal my soul for a moment.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you think of what the beginning was for you?"

Well, that sucks… apparently, I gotta do this guy's job for him.

"I suppose if we have to start somewhere, the last day of summer break is probably as good a time as any."

He smiled at me reassuringly. "Alright, why don't you tell me about it?"

ΑΟΣ

Percy was the only thing keeping us from falling. I could see his grip was loosening though.

"Percy, let me go," I croaked. "You can't pull me up."

His face was white with effort. I could see it in his eyes… he knew it was hopeless.

"Never," he said. He looked to Nico, fifteen feet away. "The other side, Nico! We'll meet you there. Understand?"

Nico's eyes widened. "But…"

"Promise me!" Percy shouted.

"I…I will."

Percy tightened his grip on my wrist. His face looked beet red from the effort and was making a weird expression, but when he locked eyes with me, I don't think he had ever looked more handsome.

"We're staying together," he promised. "Wherever you go, I will follow."

It was only at that moment that I was certain what was about to happen. One very hard fall.

"As long as we're together," I said with a grimace.

It was at this moment that I offered a silent prayer to whoever was out there.

Then Percy let go, and together, holding hands, gravity took us into her arms and we fell.

SPLASH!

As we landed in the deep end of the pool, the cold water hit like an electric shock. Looking up at the rope swing we had just been hanging from as it swayed back and forth fifteen feet above, I realized we may have been a little foolish in thinking the both of us hanging off it would lessen the impact.

Percy's head bobbed out of the water and he shook his head like a wet dog before turning to me and beaming.

"Again?"

"Not a chance, Seaweed Brain. Besides," I said, gesturing to the shallow end. "I think we have someone waiting for us."

Standing there dressed in jeans, a T-shirt with a skull on it, and aviator jacket direct from Hot Topic and with a mildly exasperated look was our resident goth, Nico di Angelo.

Swimming over to him, Percy grinned in his direction.

"You know that visiting the pool on the last day before the new school year was meant to be, y'know, a swimming event."

"Percy, you do enough swimming for all of us," Nico replied with an exhausted shake of the head. "Besides, I can't exactly go swimming in this outfit."

Just then, someone ran up behind Nico and tackled him into the pool.

"Huh, would you look at that? Looks like you can go swimming in that outfit," said the boy who had tackled him. For his part, he was scrawny and had the look and grin of a gleeful arsonist.

"LEO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WE NEED THEM TO LIKE US!"

The shout came from the entrance to the pool area as two more people rushed over.

The first was pretty, with choppy brown hair and a look of concern on her face. Rightly so, since it took all of her considerable powers of persuasion in tandem with my own to convince Thalia to let the three join our gang. One reason for that was Leo Valdez, the flirtatious prankster currently having his head held underwater by Nico.

The second reason was the figure striding towards them alongside Piper. Tall for a guy his age, with pale blond hair, and an easy smile on his face, you would never guess that he was related to Thalia.

Piper McLean had helped me with my own dating problem last year, so I thought she would be a valuable contributor to our friend group. The problem was she is something of a package deal, and with her came Jason Grace and Leo Valdez. Needless to say, convincing Thalia to let her baby brother and his absolute menace of a best friend join our inner circle was… a challenge. Eventually, we got her to agree to a pilot program where they could be judged by the group as a whole after a month. And this was meant to be our first hangout.

I suppose it's time for me to be mother… again.

"Nico, I'm going to need you to stop drowning Leo."

"But, Annabeth…"

"Now, Nico!"

He looked a little perturbed, but he let Leo rise to surface. As Leo shot up, he began gasping for air.

"Leo, do you have something you'd like to say?" I asked in an impatient voice.

"What's the record for the longest amount of time underwater without drowning?" Leo asked in a slightly breathless voice.

"Leo…" I began.

"Like, we could get the people from Guinness…"

"Like an apology, Leo! To Nico! NOW!"

"Oh. Ohhhhhh, okay," Leo began, turning to a soaked and fully dressed Nico. "Sorry, man. Won't happen again. Scout's honour." He put his hand in the air as if to emphasize the point.

Nico just glared at him.

"Nico, he just apologized to you. What do we say now?"

Nico, for his part, looked down and grumbled an offer of forgiveness under his breath before stepping out of the pool and shaking himself dry.

Percy was standing alongside me now, watching with a smirk on his face.

"What, Seaweed Brain?"

"It's just… you're really cute when you go Mama Bear mode."

That got a smile from me at least.

"You should see me at my place. Mom gone and Dad out lecturing every other day… I practically raise the twins on my own."

His smile disappeared and he looked sheepishly at the pool water beneath him. Great going, Annabeth! You made your boyfriend uncomfortable with the talk about your personal troubles. Again. I've got to learn to stop talking to people about stuff like this.

"Soooo… are you ready for swim tryouts yet?" I asked, looking to shift the subject to literally anything else.

His expression brightened instantly at that as he began to go on a mini-rant about how he was going to dominate and be the absolute best at the butterfly and backstroke and a whole bunch of other swimmer jargon I didn't understand. I wonder if this is what others hear when I talk about architecture.

Goode had finally relented to the pressure from the student body and expanded their extra-curricular programs. That included having, for the first time ever, a swimming team. This fact meant that any time that she had a free moment to spend with Percy this summer, it had been at the public pool.

Not that I mind too much. After all, there was always something new happening here. Just last week, an albino crocodile from the zoo had broken lose and ended up paying the pool a visit. Almost everyone had freaked out, but the crocodile (who was apparently called Philip of Macedonia) just seemed content to chill by the poolside until the zookeepers had shown up to take him home, using nice, crispy bacon to coax him away.

Not to mention, my cute boyfriend was constantly shirtless. Now I try my best not to objectify people, but I can't deny it's a perk of the pool.

All that being said, I just… I wish we could go somewhere quiet to unwind. A place where I'm not forced to look after other people. Somewhere I can have relaxing fun. But something like visiting the library is not what you do when you come to the last day of summer, I guess.

Not to mention Percy's happy, so I guess I'm happy too.

"… so that's why it was so important that the school expand their programs. It's not just for me, but it's for all the people who come after us. It's about…"

As if by impulse, I dunked my head under the water. If it wasn't for the whole unable-to-breath-underwater thing, this would have been perfect. A serene peace that was only interrupted by Percy dunking his head and gesturing up like he wanted me to surface. I take an extra second before rising above the water.

"Sorry. Was I rambling again?"

"Yeah, but it's fine," I replied, putting on a smile. "I enjoy that you are so passionate about this. Just needed half a second. But don't worry, Seaweed Brain, I still care about you."

"I mean, if you want, I have more to say about it if you really wanted to hear it."

"No, it's alright," I replied, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

My goodness, the lengths you need to go to in order to silence your boyfriend are astounding at times.

And then I heard the low whistle behind me.

"Hey there, cutie. If this is your idea of a hang out, mind if I cut in?"

I turned to see a guy floating right behind us. He was tall with sandy blond hair, looked a couple years older, and was built like an athlete. He also had an unnerving smirk on his face and his eyes were wandering far more than was appropriate of a gentleman.

"I've actually already got the man I want to hang with, in case you couldn't tell. Now get lost, scumbag."

"No, you're right, where did my manners go? My name's Dylan," he said, offering his hand. "And you are…"

"Leaving," I replied curtly, turning and making to float away when I felt my hand get wrenched back.

"Hey, I just want to know what to call ya, babe," Dylan said, offering a smile that must have been meant to be charming.

"Get your hands off her," growled my boyfriend in a voice I hardly ever hear. The one that he uses before he attacks someone.

"You gonna make me?"

"Yes."

This Dylan guy must have been stunned that Percy had the guts to stand up to him because his grip loosened just a bit. That bit was all I needed.

I wrenched my hand from Dylan's grip before backhanding him so hard that the sound of the slap echoed throughout the pool. The loud noise caused me to wince as the voice in my brain whispered, "Your fault".

The look he gave me was ferocious, but then he seemed to sense that the eyes of everyone at the pool were on us.

"Guess I'll have to wait till next time for that name," he said with a wicked glint in his eyes before getting out of the pool and headed out the exit.

My gallant boyfriend was glaring in fury at the exit, but Piper waded over.

"Hey, Annie, you wanna get out of here?"

"Yes please."

As I walked away, I could feel the eyes of everyone on me. I could feel the shame of what had happened. I could feel my fingers trembling. I could feel my lungs struggling to breathe. I could feel my brain struggling to function.

"Just keep walking. Don't look back."

And there's our first chapter. Just to reiterate (since my announcement/PSA chapter will be deleted), this story is about to get a little bit darker. You can expect a few chapters like this one and darker in the future.

Please let me know what you're thinking via reviews and PM's if you feel so inclined.

Additionally, next week's chapter will arrive on Thursday at about 5pm instead of Friday, so you get your new chapter sooner!