Annabeth wasn't feeling well one morning and decided to go to Walgreens to get some medicine for herself. She snuck out, trying not to let Percy see her. If he knew she was sick, he probably wouldn't let her go out and he would spoil her all day.

Actually, that didn't sound so bad...No. Annabeth snapped out of it and quietly left the house, started her car, and drove to the nearest Walgreens. It was a rainy day, which made everything worse, but she just jogged to the door with her hoodie up and sucked it up.

The store was almost empty, only a few people in it as far as Annabeth could see. She took a cart just because it reminded her of Mario Kart and made sharp turns every chance she got because she was bored and sick, okay?

Vroom, she thought, laughing to herself. Yup, you're losing it. When she finally got to the medicine isle, she saw two people out of the corner of her eye. She turned and...is that Thalia? Her friend's black hair was down, but she was kissing a guy. Blonde, sandy hair and a tall, built body.

Luke.

Annabeth suddenly felt so betrayed she almost puked. She grabbed the medicine and left the cart, because there was no way in hell she was going to let their little makeout session get in the way of her getting better. She quickly paid for the drugs and exited the store in a rush, ignoring the wink the cashier gave her.

As soon as she got back to the house, Annabeth slammed the door and ran up to her room. Percy came out of his, stopping her in the hallway.

"Hey, why are you crying?" he asked, leaning his face down. Was she crying? Annabeth hadn't even noticed. She pushed past him and ran to her room. He followed her, but she didn't really care. She crawled into her bed and let the tears fall.

Percy looked shocked, and Annabeth knew he deserved an explanation. Instead, he crawled into bed with her, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back. She cried into his shirt.

"Hey," he whispered. "It's okay. We don't have to talk about whatever happened. Just let it out."

Annabeth ached as she cried and her heart felt like it was being squeezed. Percy had no reason to be here with her, he had no reason to do anything he did, but he did it anyway and without complaining.

Annabeth realized that she had fallen in love with Percy. She cried even harder.

"I saw Thalia and Luke kissing," she explained. "I mean, I suspected there was something going on, but actually seeing it-"

"Wait," Percy interrupted. "What the FUCK? Thalia with your ex who cheated? I'll be right back-" Annabeth grabbed his hand desperately.

"Please don't," she begged. "I'll talk to her."

"It's not okay that-"

"Percy, please." He looked down at her and sighed. He wrapped his arms around her protectively and kissed her cheek.

"Okay, but I'm not leaving you today." Her heart screamed to tell him how she felt.

"I can live with that."

They talked for a really long time, and by the end of it, Annabeth felt a lot better. Yeah, she was pissed and she was definitely going to give Thalia a fucking piece of her mind, but for a few moments she forgot about all of that and just focused on Percy.

They went downstairs to the couch and watched another movie, but it was interrupted halfway through when Thalia came stomping into the house, clad in her usual black leather jacket and combat boots. If Percy hadn't grabbed her hand immediately, she probably would've punched her. She stood up and approached Thalia. 

i think i'm going to double update this since i'm ahead in the writing, so expect the next chapter in a few minutes

thanks for reading:)

-reyna