I'm back!

Disclaimer: I don't own the images you see above ^, the books or songs mentioned in this chapter
I don't own Ricks characters or Kiera's plot

Song is at the end on the chapter, but can be played whilst reading from the start

You know that feeling where you remember something great, but that something great leads to something bad?

Imagine waking up, yesterday you went on a date with your 5 year crush and had the best time ever. Then that memory brings back the worse one. The one where you found out that your family was in a car accident and your little brother's in a coma

I wasn't dreaming about it, it actually happened

I woke with a face full of Hazel's bushy hair and the smell of fresh dirt and grass. I never knew why Hazel always smelt like the earth, I guess it the same as Percy always smelling like the sea

I gently removed my face from Hazel's hair and rubbed the top of her hair

"Annie stop it" She mumbled and turned around, face stuffed in the pillow

I chuckled quietly to myself and yawned, stretching my arms and back

Noticing that neither Justine or Alicia were here I quietly got up, not wanting to wake Hazel and moved over to my walk in robe

I held back a scream and nearly jumped 6 feet

"I'm so sorry my lady" Justine rushed over to check on me

She must have been really quiet picking a dress, I didn't notice her till I was in there

"I'm all good Justine, you just scared me!" I put a hand on my heart, hoping to slow it down

"Alicia's setting up a shower for you today miss"

A gave her a small smile and went into the bathroom. As I walked passed the mirror, I had to stop

Looking back at me was a messed up girl. Her grey eyes were clouded, despair swirling around them. Her eyes were puffy and red, tear streak marks down her cheeks. Her lips were in desperate need of lip balm and her hair for a brush.

I stared at myself, reality crashing back to me

Matthew, my little brother Matthew, in another Provence, in a hospital, with the rest of my family, unconscious; in a coma

Tears started to prickle my eyes and I imagined Matthew lying in bed, monitors and staff surrounding him, my dad and step mum holding hands and crying. Bobby, his twin brother silently crying as he looked at his other half, completely in another world

"Miss?" Alicia's voice was quiet as she gently tapped my shoulder

"Mmm?"

"Showers ready"

I nodded my head and started to take my clothes of absent-minded

The cold of the morning stung my bare skin as I slid open the glass shower door

Alicia had set up a shampoo and conditioner bottle for me, I noticed as I turned on the shower

I jumped a little as freezing water splashed towards me, but I relaxed as it got hotter

Breathing out a breath I stood under the water, letting the warm, soothing liquid flow down my naked body, flowing down the drain into the gutters, finding itself in the ocean

I decided I didn't want to go to breakfast, acting if nothing happened in front of everything was something I couldn't handle

I squeezed some lemon scented shampoo onto my hand and massaged my scalp with my hands

It felt good to do it myself, I haven't had a maid since I was 10 years old. I claimed that 'No daughter of Athena needs help to bathe and clothe herself'

And it was true, even though I had a maid to clean up my room, bathroom and etc.

As the shampoo left my hair and washed down the drain, the smell of lemons filled the small cage I was in

I smiled, ever since I had read somewhere that it was proven that the scent of lemons ward of spiders, I had been using lemon-scented shampoo.

If you couldn't guess, I have a huge fear of spiders. They were out for my mother for all her life, and now me too. Whenever I walked past a spider, they would pick something up from me, a scent maybe, and crawl after me

And who likes that many hairy legs and all those eyes?

There just freaky

I shivered in the warm water thinking about my biggest fear

I squeezed a small amount of conditioner onto the palm of my hand and rubbed it into the tips of my blonde hair

My thoughts kept drifting back to Matthew

I felt as if the dam wall was braking, cracking down the sides. If it kept breaking it would let out all of the dam's water, flowing out, destroying everything in its path, a rushing wave.

Dam Dam

And I broke

I rested my forehead on the cold shower glass as my body shook with sobs. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the hot water, falling down my cheeks and splashing on the tile floor

My hands curled into fist on my temples

I didn't stop, I just let the rushing wave out, until the dam let its last drop of water drop out

I wasn't sure how long I sob my heart out in the warm shower, but when I got out the girls had a dress ready and gave me sympathetic looks

I didn't meet their eyes, knowing they heard every heartbreaking sob that had come out

The dress was a dark blood red with a sweetheart neckline. One the top was a pattern made out of gold beads and for shoes they had picked out black flat shoes, seeing as the dress was floor length.

One thing I was nervous about when I got out of the shower as if they were going to pick out a black dress, signalling that someone had died

Matt's in a coma

Just a coma

No ones dead

These words had become a chant, going over and over in my head as the girls dressed me and did my hair and makeup

Matt's in a coma

Hazel applied light gloss to my lips

Just a coma

Justine gently curled a lock of my hair

No one has died

There was a knock at the door and I said the dreaded word

Yet

I shook my head, I can't think negative thoughts. I have to stay positive for Matthew

Alicia exited the bathroom and opened the door. I couldn't hear anything but soon she returned with Percy trailing behind her

"Hey Wise Girl" His voice was soft and familiar, something I needed

Tears burned in my eyes as I tried to keep them at bay

"Hey" My voice cracked and Percy's faces morphed into even more concern

He walked up behind me and placed his hand on one of my shoulders, the closest he could get with Hazel and Justine working on my face and hair

"How are you feeling?"

I sighed and fiddled with my dress in my hands. I swept my gaze up to meet his eyes "Like I've been running in the Labyrinth for days"

He gave me an apologetic smile "Your dad called Paul this morning"

My shoulders tensed and my hands curled into fists

"And?" My voice was weak

"Matt's doing better" I visually relaxed, but I was still tense. Until I could see both of my little brothers running around the garden again, laughing and smiling, I guessed I would be on edge all the time. Waiting for the unforgivable phone call from my father telling me I had lost my baby brother

"I'll wait in your room until your done" Percy gave my shoulder one last squeeze and walked out of the bathroom

"He's so sweet" Justine commented staring at the spot where Percy was standing moments before

I closed my eyes "Yeah, he is"

After another 10 minutes of Justine curling my hair and Hazel adding more makeup than usual, due to my blotchy skin and dark circles under my eyes, I was sitting on the bed next to Percy

He had his arm around my shoulders, rubbing comforting circles on my bare shoulder whilst I rested my head on his shoulder

"Is there anything you need?" He asked

I thought for a moment "This is good"

We stayed in the relaxing position in comfortable silence

"Perce?"

"Mmm?"

"Thank you" I took his other hand that wasn't on my shoulders

He opened one eye and looked at me "For?"

"For just being there," I gestured around me. "Here, with me. Comforting me and being the best friend I need"

He kissed my forehead "I wouldn't be anywhere else"

I was a bit out of it as I made my way to the library

It was so good to get some peaceful sleep next to Percy and when we woke up I decided that I wanted to go to the library

Percy had offered me food but I declined. I don't think I could stomach anything with the feeling of despair in my system

I pushed open the heavy grand doors of the library and was greeted with what I need most

Books

Books took me into this world, a world that was stuffed up, but would eventually end in a happy ending. They took me away from reality

And that's what I needed the most

Chiron wasn't at his desk like usual so I made my way straight over to the comedy section

I picked up a new book that I hadn't seen before, *Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green, and placed my butt in my favourite chair

I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of the library through my nose

Even though my family was on the other side of the country, miles away, damaged and broken, I felt peace

After a good few hours of reading my stomach started to grumble. I looked out the window of the library and to my surprise, it was a burst of orange and pink, meaning that the sun was beginning to set. Dinner

I placed a bookmark into my book and walked out the library, I'll come back and officially borrow it later

As I walked down the corridor I heard the distant noise of talking from the dining room. I assumed dinner must have already started

I questioned whether I should go or not. I didn't want to walk in halfway through dinner and get sympathetic looks and sad smiles. I didn't need them, I was handling this on my own. But then again, I wanted to show the other girls, the press and Percy that I was strong. I can handle eating and socialising with others for less than an hour, right?

Right?

I made up my mind and started to head to the dining room

Before walking into the dining room I stood in front of the mirror, just next to the open doors

Hazel did a pretty good job at covering my blotchy skin and red puffy eyes. I tried to smile at myself, emphasis on tried. It looked fake, a cover-up of what really was going on inside me. A disguise, a copy, a bluff to hide the fact that I was cracking inside

I repeated the words one last time

Matt's in a coma

Just a coma

No ones dead

And I walked into the dining room

As I suspected dinner had already started, the girls were busy talking and Percy and his family already sat. Dinner was in front of them and I caught a whiff of dinner

I was surprised and grateful when I realised what dinner was. My favourite

Pizza covered with olives

As people started to notice me as I made my way to my seat next to Piper, conversations hushed and people looked over

Percy noticed and looked over at me "Glad you could make it Annabeth"

I nodded and smiled back at him, not sure if my voice would give away how I was really feeling

It was silent as I kept walking to my seat and I kept my head down. I could feel the pitying looks on my back

My chair made a screeching sound as I pulled it out for me to sit. I cringed at how awkward it was

"Uh, Can someone please give her a plate of dinner?" Percy asked

After a few more awkward moments a butler rushed up and placed a plate of pizza in front of me

I mumbled my thanks

Sally broke the silence as she started up her conversation again with Paul and the others followed suit

I gave Sally a small smile as my thanks, to which she winked back

"How are you feeling Annabeth?"

I turned to Piper, she had a small reassuring smile on her face as she put down her slice of pizza

I took a bit of mine "Good I guess" I shrugged whilst I chewed "I'm doing okay?"

It came out more of a question than a statement

"I heard what happened, sucks doesn't it?" Reyna put in

"Yeah" I nodded and sighed "It does"

Dinner wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Piper and Reyna both acted like nothing was wrong, but Riley, who sits across from me, made comments here and there

It felt like Percy didn't take his eyes off me the whole night

Recently when I see him staring at me he blushes or scratches his neck and looks away

He didn't tonight, but just kept looking at me. I was the one that shifted in my seat and looked away

I guess it was just best friend intuition to make sure I was doing okay. I knew that every time I laughed or smiled he could tell that it was all a facade, but I wasn't trying to convince him, I was trying to convince the Selected Girls that something like this wouldn't and couldn't break me

That I was strong competition

I left dinner early, after only eating one and a half slices of pizza, because I wanted to beat the rush of people leaving

As I walked to my room, I must have spaced out, because I didn't remember walking into Jason

"Annabeth!" He gripped my shoulder to keep me from falling over and losing my balance

I looked up at him "Oh, hey Sparky"

His eyebrows noted together in confusion before he must have remembered why I would be spaced out

"Are you doing okay?" He asked

I nodded absentmindedly "Me? Yeah fine"

"Fine?" He narrowed his eyes "Let me walk you to your room"

Before I could protest he had an arm around my waist and was guiding me to my room

"Percy told me what happened. I know you don't like people feeling sorry for you but it's hard"

I closed my eyes to try and steady my breathing

"I guess you've gotten this from everyone today, but if you need anything I'm here"

"Thanks, Jason" I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek "Night"

"Night Annabeth"

I opened my door to my bedroom. Hazel and Alicia were sitting on the couch quietly talking. Justine, however, was walking around dusting the room like usual

"How was dinner Annabeth?" Hazel asked

"Depressing"

She nodded and she and Alicia walked over

"Want to go to bed now?" Alicia guided me over to the bathroom

I nodded as I sat down

The girls worked on my hair and makeup as Alicia started to hum

Hazel seemed to recognise the song too as she started to sing the lyrics

When the days are cold

And the cards all fold

And the saints we see

Are all made of gold

They were both terrible singers, but that was beside the point

When your dreams all fail

And the ones we hail

Are the worst of all

And the blood's run stale

I recognised the song too so I started humming along

I wanna hide the truth

I wanna shelter you

But with the beast inside

There's nowhere we can hide

We continued singing one of my favourite songs and I closed my eyes

I listened to their awful singing mixed with Justine's laughter from the room

I smiled. This is the distraction I needed and I was glad that I was spending a hard time with a friend and two new friends. People who care for me and know that I'm not okay at the moment. But they know that I'll get out of it at the end

When you feel my heat

Look into my eyes

It's where my demons hide

It's where my demons hide

Don't get too close

It's dark inside

It's where my demons hide

It's where my demons hide

Ah

Love that song and thought it kind of (?) fit in with it. Not my best work and I apologise for it

Thanks for the heaps and heaps and heaps of support you guys gave me when I told you I wouldn't update until the end of June. I was so happy and you guys helped me through my exams. (I've gotten really good marks on them btw)

How did you like the chappy? What did you guys think? What do you guys want?!?!?

If you haven't heard Demons, by Imagine Dragons first: How? It's the best! And second: Listen to more of their music. New album comes out Friday the 23rd and I'm so dying. ITS AMAZING AND I LOVE IT SOOOOO MUCH

In other news, I've actually been taking a writing masterclass after schools on Wednesdays. So hopefully my writing will improve, after all that's what I'm here to do

I've heard that the Wattys are here, and I'm pretty sure that I won't be entering this into it.

5k reads!!!!!!! I just can't believe it! Thanks for reading, voting, commenting and sticking with my story guys. I love you!

*Actual book by John Green. Amazing and hilarious read. I would recommended for people aged 13/14+ to read. Bit inappropriate for younger readers

*looks you directly in the eyes* Thank you

-Squirrel