One morning, Thalia burst into Annabeth's room, announcing that they needed to have a day together.

"We barely hangout," she claimed.

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed, hopping off her bed. "You've been gone so much lately going God knows where." Thalia narrowed her eyes like she wanted to say something, but she straightened up and dropped it.

"We're going to the mall in twenty," she said. "And no, Percy's not allowed to come." Annabeth wanted to say that she wasn't going to invite him, but Thalia walked out of her room, leaving her to get changed. She could tell that her friend wanted to get something off her chest, so Annabeth got ready quickly and left her room in a rush with only her phone in her hand. She ran straight into Percy.

"Jesus, in a rush?" he asked. She blushed and looked up, realizing that he was holding her pretty close. He froze, the smile melting off of his face. They stared at each other. For the past few days, they'd been having some awkwardness in their friendship. Whenever Percy came near her, Annabeth wasn't sure if he was going to kiss her. Not to mention the fact that Thalia was always giving them disapproving glares, even when they were just having a conversation.

"Guys?"

Annabeth shoved Percy away from her and straightened at the sound of Thalia's voice.

"Yeah?" she asked. Thalia rolled her eyes angrily.

"I'll be in the car."

Annabeth watched her go down the stairs and sighed. She would definitely be hearing about that today.

"I'm sorry," Percy said. She turned around and smiled weakly.

"It's okay, idiot." Before she could leave, though, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, causing Annabeth to blush instantly. It wasn't a fast kiss either. His lips lingered on her face, leaving little tingles that sprouted from the place to where his lips touched all the way down to her toes. Annabeth felt her knees buckle, but she refused to fall.

"Have fun, Princess," he whispered. Just because he'd gotten her so worked up, Annabeth stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek, too, messing up his hair a little. She smirked right before heading down the stairs, but didn't leave until she looked up to find Percy looking straight ahead at a wall, holding his cheek with a dreamy expression on his face.

The car ride to the mall wasn't very talkative, and Annabeth ended up spending a lot of time looking out the window. She missed the rides with Percy and his horrible singing.

Finally, they got to the mall. They started off at Urban Outfitters, even though they both had no money (Thalia had left her dad's credit card at home, and he'd taken the other one with him on the business trip) and no intention of buying anything. Thalia started fidgeting until Annabeth couldn't take it anymore and told her to spill it.

"Who have you been hanging out with?" she asked. "And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about..."

"Relax. I've just been...hanging out with myself lately, you know? Just a little me time-"

"Bullshit." Annabeth got in front of Thalia. "Who is it? Why won't you just tell me?"

"Annabeth, it's not that easy. You'll freak, even though me and him are just friends...it's just a weird situation, okay?"

"You don't have to-" Thalia's phone started to ring, and with some hesitation, she took it out of her back pocket. Annabeth barely got a glimpse of the contact before she answered it. But what she saw was clear. She finally understood why Thalia had been so secretive.

Annabeth's eyes widened and she started to back away, turning to leave the store. She accidentally crashed into a rack of clothes, but she kept heading out. 

"I can't talk right now," Thalia said hastily, hanging up the phone. "Annabeth, wait!"

She ran to her, finally getting in front of her best friend with worried eyes.

"Thalia-"

"No, just-hear me out. Please. He's just a friend, and it just happened. He apologized and I talked to him about my insecurities about you and Percy and he helped, but..." Annabeth shook her head, the name Luke illuminated on Thalia's phone replaying in her mind.

"Are you two together?" she asked.

"No! I wouldn't do that to you, Ann." But the doubt in her voice was so clearly visible that Annabeth winced. She thought about her options. She could be mad at Thalia, but she didn't really see a point. As long as they stayed only friends...And as long as Luke never showed his face at Thalia's house, Annabeth didn't have a problem. She was kind of glad that her friend had finally gotten over that hate, but the other part of her was angry that she'd forgiven the guy who'd cheated on her.

"Okay," Annabeth said after a few seconds. "I just don't want to see him."

"Understood." There was an awkward silence, a tense feeling in the air that wouldn't go away. She looked around the store, her eyes darting from the racks of clothes to the floor and occasionally Annabeth, who was too confused to do or think anything.

They ended up going home after, since they couldn't even have a simple conversation without feeling weird. Annabeth got a tight feeling in her chest because she felt like she didn't even know her best friend anymore, and also out of guilt for wishing that it had actually been Percy she'd come with.

She ended the night by going in her room, flopping down her bed in exhaustion from the whole situation. Annabeth couldn't deny her feelings for Percy anymore, but she didn't think it was okay for her to act on them, either. Thalia had asked her not to. Then again, she was the one going around sneaking off with Luke. Not they were together or anything, but there was something off. Annabeth could feel it. She refused to believe that Thalia would do that to her, though.

***

Percy had done nothing all day, just waiting for Annabeth to get back. He realized that that sounded pathetic, even in his own mind, but he couldn't help it.

Have fun, his mom had told him right before he left. Maybe meet some new friends, a few girls. Remember, we'll be moving close to there after the summer...

Percy was embarrassed at the fact that he was actually hung up on one girl, but there was also no chance in hell he would go out and flirt with someone else. He had all he needed whenever he saw Annabeth.

If only his goddamn cousin wasn't so stubborn.

When they did finally get home, Thalia rushed to the stairs, jogging up to her room in silence. Annabeth closed the door tiredly and smiled weakly at Percy as she passed him. He wondered what was wrong, but she went upstairs before he could ask.

Half an hour later, he was on his phone when Thalia came rushing down the stairs. She ran to the living room and sat down on the couch, texting away anxiously. Five minutes after that, Annabeth came down the stairs with a blanket around her shoulders and fuzzy socks on her feet. Her hair was down past her shoulders, and her face reddened when she noticed Percy watching her.

"Thals?" Annabeth asked, looking past the kitchen and seeing her in the living room. Thalia stood up, almost running to the door and turned to say "bye guys, I'll see you later," before slamming the door.

Percy watched as Annabeth pulled the blanket closer to herself and walked over to him.

"Did she tell you who she's been hanging out with?"

"Yup." He waited.

"And...?"

"Luke." Percy recalled the name from one of his talks with Thalia a few years back, but...

"Didn't you two used to date?" he asked. Annabeth nodded bitterly.

"He cheated on me, so we didn't last."

"Then why the fuck is Thalia dating him?" Percy pulled out his phone, ready to call her, but Annabeth put her hand on his to stop him.

"Hey, it's okay. She said they're just friends, so-"

"That still doesn't justify it. She shouldn't be friends with a dude who-"

"Percy, can we just drop it, please?"

"No, Annabeth, it's not right-" He looked down at her face and saw her gray eyes were red-rimmed. Fuck. The last person he would ever expect to see crying was Annabeth Chase, but a tear fell down her cheek. He leaned down and swiped the tear off her face with his thumb. She wouldn't meet his gaze, so he wrapped his arms around her and rested his hand on the back of her head. She wrapped her arms tightly around his torso, her breathing slightly uneven.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn't have-"

"It's fine," she assured. "It just hurts that my fucking best friend is...it seems like she..." Percy kissed the top of her head, holding her closer. He wished they could stay like that forever. She was too precious for the rest of the world.

Percy lost track of time, but he faintly remembered Annabeth holding onto his hand for quite sometime before heading back upstairs. He very clearly remembered the kiss on the cheek he received from her and the little smile she had on her face right before going back to her room. 

i like thalia in real life but...not really liking this bitchy version of her :/

as always, thank for reading:)

-reyna