Annabeth's POV

Is it bad that I'm hoping that you're broken?
Is it bad that I'm wishing you're so broken?
That you haven't found fish in the ocean,
Is it bad,
So bad?

The next few days were spent out of school for all of us to recuperate and rest. Percy and I hadn't really left each other's sides. After we left the hospital, we came back to my house and just relaxed. We mostly just huddled together in my bed, watching shitty reality t.v. in the morning, and then movies at night (and maybe something else... when no one else was home of course). At the moment, we were just lounging on my bed, listening to music.

"Hey," Percy said, striking up a conversation.

"Hey," I replied, refocusing my eyes on his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," I answered, nodding. I was fine, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a bit frazzled still. Even though I knew Jason was fine, something still nagged in the back of my mind. A lot of things usually did, but there was just something...

"You're doing it again." Percy interrupted my thoughts.

"Doing what?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Zoning out."

"I was thinking." That wasn't a lie.

"About what, exactly?" Percy raised an eyebrow, looking at me questioningly.

"Um..."

Percy had told me countless times that Jason was fine and that I shouldn't worry; everything is fine. I tried to focus on that—I really did. But I just couldn't help it—my mind always wanders where it's not supposed to.

"Hey," Percy said, readjusting himself to face me. "What did I tell you before?"

"Not to worry."

"Exactly. This is like the one time that I really, super-duper, need you to listen. Please. I can't have you being all stressed and distracted because that will drive me absolutely crazy and you know that." Percy explained, using a few hand gestures here and there.

"I do." I said glumly.

"Alright. Stop being so mopey and get up here. 'Princess and the Frog' is on."

><•><

"It feels weird without Jason here," Piper said, glancing at the empty seat next to her. "Like the cafeteria is darker." She continued, still looking at the seat.

"Hey," Leo snapped his fingers. "Beauty Queen? Happy thoughts, okay? Jason is fine, he'll be back soon, we all just need to keep moving. We all know it's what Jason would have wan—wants," he quickly corrected himself.

"Leo is right," Hazel agreed. "We should just go on like normal."

"But keep Jason in our hearts, so his presence still lives, even in his absence," Frank added.

"Nice poetic touch," Hazel mumbled, nudging him. Frank gave a small smile and turned bright red. Calypso smiled a bit.

"You guys are really making it sound like he's dead. I'm sure that's not helping any of us," Reyna chimed in.

"She has a point," Nico spoke up from the end of the table.

"For once, I agree," said Will.

"Alright!" I said. "We all need to stop this. Let's take a deep fucking breath and forget about it," I said, my voice strong. I hadn't realized how tense I was until the touch of Percy's hand at the bottom of my spine made me relax. "Jason is fine. It's not a big deal."

"She's right." Percy gave everyone a glance. "Let's just move on—he'll be back soon."

"In other news," Leo began. "This cafeteria food tastes like shit, I mean—"

"Why don't you have some more?" Luke came up from behind him and took Leo's plate and smashed it right into his shirt. His goons behind him laughed.

"What the fuck, man!" Leo said. "This was a perfectly clea—"

"Hey!" I shouted, standing up and slamming my hands on the table. Every head in that cafeteria whipped around, every pair of eyes trained on me. "When are you gonna quit it?" I snarled. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with Luke right now.

"When are you gonna stop being such a bitch?" Luke retorted. I marched around to the other side of the table where Luke stood. I stormed right up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"You should quit while you're ahead—oh wait you're not even ahead anymore." I said.

"What if I don't? What're you gonna do? Slap me?" He mocked.

"You know what I'll do—I've done it plenty of times but you're so fucking dense that you still haven't learned your lesson." I growled.

"I'm dense? At least I'm not a whore."

"You realize you're taking to Annabeth, not Drew, right?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I know exactly who I'm taking to, slut."

My clenched and my teeth ground so hard everyone in the cafeteria probably heard it. I brought my fist back, still holding his shirt collar. For a second I hesitated. Luke looked ready to wince, or squirm away—at least that's what I saw. Everyone else probably saw him 'holding his ground' and bla bla bla. I stared him staring in the eyes.

"Will you ever give up?"

"Never," Luke snarled. I brought my fist forward, connecting it straight with his jaw, accompanied by a sickening CRACK.

I threw him to the floor and stormed out of the cafeteria. I needed to get out. I ran until I found my way to the front entrance, stopping by my locker. Once I was in the parking lot, I threw down my board and road away, vaguely aware of all my friends following me.

><•><

"Argh!" I chucked another rock across the pond. I stomped my foot and shouted into the silence surrounding me. "Fuck!" Then I crumpled to the floor. I tried my best to hold back my tears as my knees hit the old wood of the dock.

This was it.

I was having a mental breakdown.

Sobs racked my body and I couldn't help the tears that spilled from my eyes. I didn't even know why my brain chose now to do this, considering a lot worse shit had happened.

It felt like all the feelings that I had pushed down deep inside were now boiling over, and everything was just pouring out of me—in the form of tears.

I spent probably a good 15 minutes sobbing on the dock before I heard footsteps approach me.

"Annabeth?"

Percy. It felt nice to hear his voice, but at the same time I hated when he saw me like this.

"Hey, what happened?" He breathed. He sounded worried and I could practically hear the concerned look on his face. He knelt down next to me, opening his arms.

I sat up, still crying, and curled into a ball between his knees, putting my head in his chest, and feeling his arms wrap around me. The tears didn't stop, and I couldn't control it.

"Okay, alright, Wise Girl," Percy whispered, rubbing my back and kissing the top of my head. The crying finally slowed, and I took deep breaths. I felt my heart beat regulate and even out again.

"Okay, what happened?" Percy asked as I turned my head up to look at him. I shrugged miserably. "Was it Luke?" He asked. I shook my head, still not trusting myself to speak. "Was it Jason?" I shrugged again. "Can you tell me what it was, maybe?"

"Everything." I felt a sob rise in my throat the second I opened my mouth. I forced the tears away, Percy wiping them off my cheeks.

Percy sighed. "I know." His mouth pressed into a thin line. "Things are a little difficult right now. But you know that we're all right behind you and that you're never gonna have to do this alone, right?" I nodded. "You have your dad, Helen, Piper, Leo, Reyna, Hazel, Nico, even the twins," Percy chuckled. I smiled a bit. "And you have me. You're always gonna have me, Wise Girl." Percy paused, swallowing. He glanced away before returning his gaze to mine. "I love you, Annabeth, so much."

Oh my god.

Percy loves me.

I swear my eyes nearly fell out of my head. I realized that Percy meant it. He was making a commitment—to me, to my problems, to my flaws, to every single part of me. And I got all of that out of one, single sentence that he said. Percy had been there for me through so much and he's seen parts of me that I hate—like right now. And the fact that he could still say that he loves me, without a doubt—that's someone that I want to be with. I had never been great at making commitments, because they had always scared me. But this was one promise that I could make.

"I love you too,"

Tears welled in my eyes and a smile spread across my face. Percy's face broke out into the largest grin I had ever seen.

"I love you," we said it over and over again, each time the simple three words sending fireworks off in my stomach. We kissed a couple times (very passionately, might I add), before just pausing and taking a moment to take each other in.

With my hands cupping his cheeks, I took in every detail of Percy's face—his startlingly beautiful sea green eyes, his jet black hair, his perfectly white teeth, his soft lips; everything. I just soaked everything from that moment in.

"You're incredible, you know that?" Percy smiled at me.

"I know," I shrugged. We both laughed, bright smiles on our faces. "Thanks," I said finally. "You're not too bad yourself."

"Okay, Chase," Percy smirked, raising an eyebrow. "We both know what you really think of me," He said as I laughed. A few moments of silence passed while I played with the strings of Percy's hoodie.

"I was so scared," he sighed.

"Of what?"

"That fact that you could have said that you didn't love me back," he said. "Especially when you paused, like come on," He said, making me laugh.

"I was on the fence, you know," I joked.

"Shut up!" Percy laughed. "No you weren't!"

"You're right. I knew without a doubt." I smiled up at him. "I love you," I said it again, my grin getting wider.

"I love you too." Percy kissed my forehead. "Damn, that feels good."

"Right?"

•••

Authors note

Oof

This took a long ass time

I'm sorry

Never Be is also kinda going to shit and i fEeL rEaLlY bAd.

I started this story with such motivation and ambition. Idk what happened.

But you bet your pretty little ass that I am not going to discontinue this story. (Is that how that saying goes???) But yeah I'm not going to discontinue it bc that would just not sit right w me—if I start smtg I gotta finish it. And I promised myself that I would so.

Yeah.

Hope you guys liked it. This chappie wasn't as bad but

Comment, vote, etc. thanks for all the reads (20k that's LiT) But yeah love you guys
-bella💕