(I read the book, Fangirl. I may not be as dedicated as Cath is to her writing (sorry,) but I know I'm just as appreciative of my readers. Thank you all for reading!! Also, thank you so much for 21K views!! You all are insane!! 💙 Please enjoy this 3000+ words chapter as a token of my appreciation!!)*Warning some mature themes ahead*

I just kept hugging him and he didn't let go.

"Tell him I'll meet him," Percy whispers into my hair.

That sobers me up. I pull away and wipe away my tears, not to say that most of them don't currently reside in the soft fabric of Percy's sweatshirt. I don't really wear makeup, so nothing is running down my face making it look like I tried to melt my eyelashes with a blow-drier, thank the gods. "Thank you, Percy. For everything."

He smiles and bows to the ground, with one arm over his stomach and one arm raised in the air, parallel to the ground, "Anytime, madame."

He stands up and smirks. I roll my eyes, but as I walk out of the library and begin walking to work, I can't seem to wipe off the dumb, giddy smile that has decided to make itself at home on my face. I also can't seem to get this one thought out of my mind. He smelled like the ocean. 

30 minutes later...

"Annabeth!!" A voice croons the moment my foot enters the door frame. "I've been waiting for you."

It's Gabe Ugliano.

"Hello, Mr. Ugliano." I say as neutrally as possible.

"Well, my darling, have you made a decision on my offer? I'm sure your mother has spoken with you about it." He smiles.

"My stepmother, yes. She said I have until Christmas Eve to make a decision." I respond, cringing internally.

"Of course, but I though you'd have decided already. It's such a generous offer. You would make a salary the same as a full time employee and it wouldn't interfere with your school at all." He continues.

I try to refrain myself from rolling my eyes as I listen to the propaganda he throws at me. "Sir, I'm sorry, but if I take your offer as it is, I will be working 9 hours a night. Given that the average work day is only 8 hours, I would expect at least a full time salary if not more. If not, I'm quite sure you would be breaking some child labor laws."

"Smart girl," he smirks, "I will pay you a full salary and then some if that would appease you, but there is one more reward for taking my offer that I haven't discussed."

I stand there and wait for him to talk, impatient to get this over with, get to work, and get out of here. If he expects me to be hanging on his every word, dying to hear an offer that would get me into a better college, he is about 40 minutes too late. 

A slight look of anger flashes over his face. The bad things Gabe has done are only rumors to me, but in that look of a millisecond, I can see the danger and rage that can lie behind his every action. I decide to change my strategy. "Well, Annabeth. The reward you will receive is a change of scenery. If you accept my offer, you will no longer have to only work here at nights on your own cleaning up messes. You can also work in my brother's club!"

I try to mask my shock and distress. "The Lotus Clubs? What would I do there?"

"Well," Gabe smiles, "That decision is ultimately up to my brother, but..."

He looks me up and down in a way that makes my skin crawl and makes me want to run out the door immediately. "I do think you'd look quite nice in one of our server girls' outfits to start out with..."

I hold myself back from gagging and try to make my way past Gabe and towards the back room to get the cleaning supplies, but he steps in front of me, blocking my path.

"Say, Annabeth," he says, "Have you spoken to my old buddy, Percy Jackson?"

"Yes, Mr. Ugliano, I have." I state.

He lights up and a slightly malicious gleam glows in his eyes. "And...?"

"He agrees to meet with you." I say. 

"Fantastic! Why don't the two of you meet with me on Christmas Eve? Coinciding with your deadline to accept the job!"He suggests.

"Ok. I will let him know." I say. I walk past him towards the back and grab the cleaning supplies. When I come back out, he hasn't left the spot he had been standing at, so I stand there awkwardly for a second before deciding to just start cleaning a table off. Suddenly I feel an arm slither around my waist and immediately tense up, making eye contact with the security camera in the corner on the ceiling. I try to pull away, but the grip stays firm. I don't move. 

"Don't try and pull something, darling. I have connections in places you didn't even know existed. Also, I expect you to stay here extra today because you are not getting paid for standing around here talking to me." He growls.

Thankfully, the arm leaves my waist and I can finally let out a breath that I have been holding in. I sit there, staring at that security camera for a few minutes before remembering that I will now have to stay late to make up for all of the wasted time. 

I pull out my phone, planning to start my audiobook when I think about calling Percy and telling him about what just happened. After considering for a time, while simultaneously lazily twisting a wash cloth in circles on the table in front of me, I decide against it and begin to put my phone pocket. 

Before I can do that though, the phone starts buzzing in my hand. I turn it back towards myself and read the Caller ID. 

I look down for a second a smile slightly in shock. "Hi Percy," I answer.

"Annabeth. I'm glad you answered. Sorry for calling you at work. I hope Gabe isn't around. I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay. Is everything okay?" Percy rambles.

I smile to myself. Maybe these next few hours won't be quite as bad as I was expecting.

The Next Day: December 16th

 I have a thing about being on time so naturally I arrive 5 minutes early to Piper's house. 

"Annabeth!" She greets me warmly, "I figured you'd be the first one here. How are you?"

I smile back, seeing my friends is the perfect de-stressor, "I'm fine. Do you need help with anything?"

"You know me so well. Would you go up to my room and grab some incense to bring to the massage room?" She asks.

"Lavender?" I ask.

"Of course." She responds and I make my way through her giant house to her room. 

When I come back downstairs, I meet up with Piper again. "Who do you think will come next?" She asks.

"Who all did you invite?" I question.

"I invited Juniper, Hazel, Thalia, Reyna, and..." At that moment, the doorbell rings.

Piper goes to open the door, "Calypso!! How are you doing?"

The door opens further to reveal none other than Calypso. I plaster on a smile. Gosh. It's that weird hunger feeling again. Hmm... I should ask Piper if she has any snacks.

"Hey." I say, "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot the other day."

"No, it's totally alright. I'm sure Mr. Blofis was very glad to see you... and Percy." She sends me a knowing smirk and my cheeks flush slightly. Her smile is kind, though and I realize that there was never really any hostility between us other than what my brain made up.

Piper smirks too, "Yeah. The way Perce went after you once you left the lunch room, I'm sure he really wanted to help you ask Mr. Blofis a question."

My cheeks redden further and I avoid eye contact with the two girls. Luckily, I am saved by the door bell as both Juniper and Hazel appear in the doorframe. 

A few minutes later, Reyna shows up. Some time later, Thalia makes her appearance: late as always and as always, we tease her and give her some crap about her tardiness.

After a while, our group falls into easy chatter as we make our way to Piper's massage room.

One massage each (she hired an actual masseuse), mani pedis, and a cucumber facial later, we head to her kitchen to eat pizzas. Once we finish devouring those, we make our way to Piper's in-home movie theater and watch Avenger's Endgame. 

A ton of tears and several bags of popcorn later, it's only ten which means we decide to play several rounds of Uno and one game of Life, then watch try not to laugh challenges on youtube for another while. Needless to say, we all lost. Even Reyna.

Finally, at 1:00am we are all pretty tired and decide it's time to head to Piper's room and go to bed. 

Those of you who have been to a girl's sleepover before know that that is not what happened. At least right away...

Naturally, the conversation navigated itself to none other than... boys. "So, Pipes..." Thalia asks, raising an eyebrow. "How's my brother treating you? Because I will not hesitate to beat him up if he is being a jerk."

Piper flushes crimson, "No. He's great!" She subconsciously rubs her arm where her tattoo is situated. "He's the sweetest guy in the world. I am so happy we found each other. He is so cute and chivalrous. I've been in love with him since forever and I can't believe that the fates allowed our futures to be intertwined." She's beaming by now and we all look at her insane electrified sword on her arm, her final tattoo of fully realized soulmates. "I can't believe we've already been together for 3 years."

All of us aww besides Thalia, who rolls her eyes and gags. Even she can't keep a smile from creeping onto her face, though. We are all so glad that Piper and Jason found each other and they are just so cute together.

"Well," Piper changes the victim to Juniper, "How is it going with Grover, Juniper?"

Juniper smiles and goes a little green (it's a rare skin condition where her blush looks green rather than red), "He's so cute. I'm completely in love with him. I think we are about to get our final tattoos. It's just a feeling, but we have already had 3 tattoos each and as far as I know, the fourth tattoo is the final one."

Piper nods and I look towards my arm. The raindrops are my third tattoo. Somehow I don't even know who my soulmate really is and I'm only 1 tattoo away from being fully realized soulmates with them. As the girls are talking, I notice Calypso looking a bit uncomfortable. I remember Percy's story about the two of them losing their tattoos and I am about to speak up, but Thalia beats me to it.

"Hey Calypso, do you have any tattoos?" Thalia asks.

"Not anym...No." Calypso responds. 

Thalia beams, "No tattoo club!!"

Her and Reyna beam at each other, giving each other high fives. They reach over to Calypso and double high five her as well. Calypso brightens up. 

"Hazel's turn!" Reyna cheers and we all direct our attention to her. 

Hazel runs a hand through her hair and smiles. "Frank and I, we're good. We're taking it slow, but as long as we're together I don't care. When I'm with him, it feels like I have all the time in the world and can forget about all of my worries."

Everyone awws once again. "You guys are so adorable!" Piper squeals.

"Well, Calypso," Piper continues, "Has anyone at Goode High caught your eye?"

Calypso looks to contemplate whether to tell us something or not and part of me clenches thinking it might be about a certain someone. Stupid hunger. 

"Well," she starts.

"Girl!" Thalia interrupts, "We know you like Leo, just give us the deets!!"

With that, Calypso's eyes widen to the size of saucers and she gapes at Thalia. "What? I?"

"Please. Leo has been in love with you since he first saw you come into our school. He's a good guy. It's okay to like him." Piper adds.

Calypso is red as a tomato now, "I... Okay." She mumbles, "I may have a teeny tiny crush on Leo."

"What was that?" Reyna asks, smirking.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." Thalia joins in, cupping her hand around the back of her ear.

"I LIKE LEO VALDEZ!" Calypso says loudly, then immediately covers her mouth, turning an even darker shade of red.

All of the sudden a piercing squeal emanates from Piper's mouth. We all whip our heads towards her to see her beaming with her finger pointed at Calypso's arm. Shrieks, Awws, and Cheers erupt around the room. A tattoo of a wrench had just appearedon Calypso's arm. Leo Valdez is her soulmate. 

"Aww!!" Piper squeals, "Admiting your feelings for him made you get your first tattoo!! That is so cute!!"

After quite some time of jumping around the room and cheering for our friend who had just officially gotten a soulmate, (luckily Piper's dad was sleeping in the other side of the mansion), we finally settle down. 

Thalia smiles and looks at Reyna, "We lost another member of the no tattoo club."

"It's okay," Reyna responds, still smiling from the excitement, "We've still got each other's backs. No tattoo club forever!"

They send fist bumps flying at each other and we all laugh.

Before my tired brain can even register what is happening, all 6 pairs of eyes in the room rest on me. "Don't think we forgot about you, Ms. Annabeth." Thalia smirks.

"Me? Please. My love life is literally so boring. I live off of your stories." I say.

Piper gently smack my arm. "Shut up, Annabeth. You have the most interesting love life out of all of us! It's like the gods are trying to mess with you! Plus, that's Thalia's line. Now tell us, what's up with you and Percy?"

"Ummm..." My pause is met with several impatient stares.

"Annie! Spill! Now!" Thalia demands.

"Nothing has happened, I mean, we kissed like a long time ago, but you guys already knew that, right?" I say.

The six girls stare at me in shock.

"I never told you guys that?!" I ask, genuinely surprised at myself.

Piper makes eye contact with Thalia and the goofiest grins light up on their faces. "So," Piper asks, "Are you two officially soulmates?"

"I...what? I don't think so, I mean.." I start.

"Ugh!! Annabeth, you and Percy have the worst cases of denial!" Thalia groans.

"Pe-percy? Denial? What are you talking about? He doesn't like me like that!! Percy and I are never going to happen." 

Reyna shakes her head and whispers under her breath, "Denial🎶," in a singsong voice.

"No. I don't think that's the case. Besides, I think my soulmate may be someone else." I object.

This makes all the girls perk up again, "Who?" They ask.

"She better not say Luke," Thalia mutters, ever the protective older sister figure.

"The Savior," I mumble.

"The Savior of Olympus?" Calypso asks, incredulously. "You know who he is?"

"Well, no. I don't know who he is, but we've been hanging out quite a bit lately." I say, "And we kissed."

Everyone gasps. "Annabeth!! How could you not tell us?!"

"It just happened yesterday?" I state, almost questioning.

Piper huffs, "Ugh! How come the hot guys always get the girls! Percy doesn't even stand a chance against the Savior."

"No offense, Percy," She adds as an afterthought. 

"Well," Reyna asks, "Do you like the Savior?"

"I don't know. I'm just really confused." I say.

Thalia perks up and raises an eyebrow, "Because of Percy?"

"I don't know? Maybe?" I respond weakly.

"EEK!" Piper, Juniper, and Hazel squeal. Calypso smiles and Thalia and Reyna give each other a knowing look.

"You sooooo like Percy!! That's so cute!!" Piper continues squealing.

"Stop it, guys. I don't even know how I feel or who I like." I blush.

"Don't worry Annabeth, I'm sure in the end, things will turn out how they're supposed to." Juniper adds.

"Thanks, Juniper." I respond, still heavily embarrassed by my friends.

"Oh my gods!! I just got the best idea!! My family owns this mini bus sort of thing that can fit 14 people in it and it would be perfect of all of us and the boys took a winter vacation to a beach in Ogygia for a few days!" Piper suggests.

"Ogygia?" Calypso asks, perking up.

"Yes!" Piper nods enthusiastically, "Oh yeah! You're from there, right?"

"Yeah. I haven't been back there in a long time. I've been traveling for the past several months. I would love to go back!" Calypso responds.

"Then it's settled. Let me look for hotel prices." Piper say, immediately getting on her phone.

The rest of us look at each other and check our phones to make sure we can make room in our schedules since we know there is no changing Piper's mind. One problem for me, I have to work. Possibly even more than usual if I end up taking the job offer Gabe is giving.

"Do you think you guys are free to leave at night on Christmas Day? I know that it's a family time, but that is when the hotel costs at Ogygia are the cheapest." Piper says.

Everyone agrees that that will work, but me.

"I will have to check with my boss. I will try to figure out a way to make it." I say.

"Annabeth?! You have a job?!" Thalia questions, "You are way too busy. You need to take everything down a notch."

"It's not a great job," I say, "but it will help me with college." I avoid lying to them.

"Ok, Annabeth. But don't forget to get some rest and pace yourself." Thalia says, dotingly.

"I will. Thanks, mom." I smile at her, rolling my eyes.

She slugs my shoulder and with that, our group decides to call it a day and watch movies on Netflix to fall asleep.

Our discussions have stirred something in my mind, though which coincidentally happens to help keep my nightmares at bay.

Do I like The Savior of Olympus, whose identity I don't even know, but who I feel comfortable and easy around even so? Or do I like Percy Jackson, a kid from my school, who literally ran into me by chance and has now become a major source of support and comfort in my life? Maybe a vacation will be the perfect way to relax and figure out where my head and my heart are at, but first...

I need to deal with Gabe Ugliano.

(Hello everyone!! We are in the endgame now 😭. Believe it or not, it looks like there will only be about 3 more chapters of this story and an epilogue. This has been such a long journey and thank you all for sticking with me and my awfully unregular updating schedule. I am in total awe that I started this story over two years ago (which says something about my updating.) (Also, I said in the last chapter that it has been almost a year and a half, what I meant was it's almost been two and a half years, but I can't change it because Wattpad will delete the comments from that section, so to the future readers, it hasn't been that long since I've updated 😊.) I love all of you guys who are reading and especially the people who are posting the nicest comments encouraging me to update (you know who you are 😉.) Thank you again for reading my story and I hope you all are enjoying it. As always...

Love 💙and Blue Cookies, 🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵

~Leah

Uploaded 08/05/2020