I know it's not his birthday but I just had to put it there.

Annabeth's POV

Percy's eyes went blank the second his slip of paper dropped into the Goblet of Fire. He grimaced in pain, as if he was being sliced up. Again. The next thing I knew, his eyes had rolled back in his head and he was on the floor in front of me. I kneeled next to him, fighting back tears and cradling his head. The trio was standing behind me, completely unsure of what to do. Hermione was about to race off. I could tell. She took a couple steps before shouting, "I'll go and get Madam Pomfrey!" I shook my head. I was just going to give him some ambrosia and he'll be back to normal in no time. I stuffed a chunk of the stuff into his mouth and forced him to swallow. I felt a hand on my shoulder. A stocky-looking guy was standing behind me. He reminded me of Frank. He smiled the much the same as Frank would, shy, but showing the potential to be quite outspoken when required. Although, his black hair and emerald green eyes caused me to look back and forth between him and Harry for a second. His chin jutted towards my unconscious boyfriend. "What's up with him?" His voice was deep and quiet, like he didn't use his voice a lot. I shook my head, "Nothing. Keep moving." His eyes hardened, "There's an unconscious boy on the ground and nothing's up?" I nodded. The grip on my shoulder became like an iron clamp. He knelt, expertly checking his pulse. I rolled my eyes. Percy would be wide awake in a couple of seconds. His robes proved him to be a Durmstrang student.

Percy shot up, his head knocking against the boy's. His hand flew to his temple. "Oww!" he whined, "Is there like, a boulder floating over me?" His eyes opened. "Oh, sorry, kid," he apologized, "Why are you floating over me?" I tackled him with a hug. Percy was such a Seaweed Brain. The Durmstrang boy held his hand out. "Raydon Jesome. Durmstrang," he said, introducing himself, "Why were you on the floor unconscious?" Percy shook the proffered hand and grinned, "Percy Jackson. Hogwarts. I'm on the floor unconscious a lot. You'll get used to it." I smacked him upside the head, glaring. I took his hand and pulled him up. Smiling at the rest of the group, I said, "I'm going to take Percy for a walk. Catch ya later." My eyes shifted to the rugged face of Raydon one last time, "Annabeth Chase, by the way." I marched off, Percy in tow.

I could feel Percy staring at the back of my head. "Yes, Seaweed Brain?" I called over my shoulder. I pulled him into the Room of Requirement, making sure no one was looking. He tilted his head, "Why are we here, Wise Girl?" I narrowed my eyes at him, "Tell me why you fainted." He shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed, "I don't really know. My paper dropped into the cup and suddenly, a shrill whistle. Like a dog whistle, but one that humans can hear. It was painful." He smiled ruefully, "Besides, it's not like I don't faint all the time. This isn't anything new." He said it like a joke. But I didn't find it humorous at all. My boyfriend was in life or death situations no matter what we did. The Fates always found some way to pull me into the mix as well, and I was just supposed to be okay with it? Percy must've seen the fiery anger in my eyes, because he asked, "Is something wrong, Wise Girl?" I shook my head, the unshed tears returning to the corners of my eyes. "No, Percy." He gently took my hand. "You're lying. What's wrong?" That's just like Percy. So painfully oblivious it made me want to scream. I removed my hand from his, standing up.

"You disappeared. You came back, only to disappear again. I found you, and not even a month later, you fall unconscious for no reason in front of me. I hate that. I hate not knowing where you are, not knowing why you're hurt," I stared him dead in the eyes, "I don't want to go through that!" He spread out his hands diplomatically, but I was too angry to be consoled by anything he could say. "We've gotten through it before. We can do it again." I stomped off a couple steps. "No, Percy. I've gotten through it before. You were the one kidnapped. I was the one who had to handle it. You were gone for eight months, Percy! You were asleep, you lost your memory. You had nothing to miss. I was searching every minute of every day for you. I couldn't find you. You have no idea what I've been through!" I was screaming at this point, not even bothering to fight back my tears. Percy stood up, "I understand-" I cut him off with yelling. "You don't understand a thing I've gone through when it came to you. I never disappeared on you, Percy! You were always the one doing the disappearing." He tried to reach out to me, "You know it wasn't my fault-" I cut him off yet again, "And that's what I hate the most about this whole situation. We have no control over anything that happens to us. The Fates. Hera. These random death eaters on the hunt for you. They all tear you away from me, and I'm just supposed to be okay with that! I don't want to live like this. I want to have a steady relationship. I don't need drama. I love you, Percy. I want to live with you the rest of my life. But right now, I don't know if I can handle this." I marched out of the room, furiously wiping away my tears.

Percy's POV

Uhh... Uhh... Okay. I'm just going to come right out and tell you that I have no idea what's happening. Me and Annabeth got into a fight. It's not like we don't fight all the time, but this was like, 'I seriously want to kill everyone'. I don't understand why she's so mad. She knows I never wanted to be separated from her. And I came back. That's really all that matters. Right?

Girls. I will never understand them. I'm surrounded by girls all day, every day, and I couldn't understand them even if I tried. What Annabeth doesn't know is that I felt the exact same way when she was kidnapped for a week. I mean, a week is nothing compared to eight months and a night, but I still have some sort of understanding of what she's felt. I walked out of the Room of Requirement and tried to find Annabeth. But in my heart, I knew that if she didn't want to be found, I wouldn't find her. Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Harry, Luna, and even that Durmstrang kid, Raydon, tried to talk to me. I brushed them all away. What I really needed was to be alone right now.

I walked to the lake. I didn't want to dive in right now, where the fish would try to talk to me and that squid would want to hang out. So I dangled my feet into the Black Lake and thought. Annabeth's fatal flaw, hubris, wouldn't let her keep on dealing with me disappearing and getting hurt. I knew she loved me. She didn't have to tell me for me to know. But her pride made her stubborn, territorial, and even temperamental at times, the same way my loyalty made me stubborn and reckless. I never wanted to feel what I felt after the manticore took Annabeth, but at least I had a lead. I had a lead the day she disappeared. She went months before she even found out that I was probably all the way across the country trying to gain acceptance from the Romans. And even then she couldn't find me. Her Athena mentality made her want to have answers. She couldn't bear living in the dark. At times, I respected that. But sometimes the best plan is no plan.

I must've been really deep in thought, because I was jolted back to reality with a kick to the leg. I looked up. It was a girl. She had straight brown hair, cut at the shoulder. Her baby blue eyes didn't have the crackling electricity of a Zeus kid, or even the startling bright blue of an Apollo kid. More like, baby blue. Her face was flushed, like she couldn't believe she kicked a random stranger on the beach. I looked up at her, "Would you like something?" She rolled her eyes, her words drowned with sarcasm, "No. I kicked you for the fun of it because you look like a kid who needs more problems." Sassing Persassy, I see. Her hands were quick to clamp over her mouth. "I'm sorry," she squeaked. I shook my head, smirking, "No big deal. I'm sassy, too." She sat down next to me, "I'm Sophia-Grace Lander. Beauxbatons. People just call me Sophia." I grinned, "Percy Jackson. But when I'm sarcastic like that, they call me Persassy." She raised an eyebrow, "Persassy, huh? Yeah, that's not gonna work for me. Anyways, are you okay?" I considered my options. One, I spill my heart out to a random girl who kicked me. Two, I brush her off completely. Three, I tell her the half-truth. You know what? Three is the magical Greek number. Let's go with that.

"My girlfriend and I got into a fight," I admitted, "It was pretty bad." She tilted her head, "What's she like?" I smile, "She's amazing. Beautiful, smart, athletic, not afraid to beat me up if I'm stupid. Everything you'd want in a girl." Sophia laughed. "She does sound amazing. So what'd you fight about? I take it you're the one that messed up?" I rolled my eyes. This girl is just like Luna. Something goes wrong. Love Annabeth! Hate on Percy. That is the Luna code of conduct. I swear if this girl starts talking about Nargles, I'm running away. I scratched the back of my head, "I guess you could say that. I faint a lot. Sometimes for more than a couple of days at a time. Annabeth was tired of it. Tired of not knowing if I was okay or not. Maybe one day I'll tell you more, but it's really not my fault. I would stop it if I could." Sophia smiled, "Then go and tell her." I shook my head, "I tried! But Annabeth doesn't even want to see me. Let alone listen to me." She rolled her eyes, "Then don't let her leave. Don't take no for an answer." I groaned, "I can't do that, either. She'll probably judo-flip me." Sophia shrugged, "Okay, be a chicken. Just know that you could lose her forever. You'll probably never talk to her again. It's your fault. She's not going to come crawling back to you." My eyes widened. No Annabeth? I don't have to be good at math to know that my life minus Annabeth will end up with a dead Percy. I stood up frantically, "I've got to go say sorry to Annabeth. See ya." I took one step before turning back around. I sat back down and hugged her tightly. "Thanks," I said, smiling, "I mean it."

She slapped me in the chest, "Are you going or what? Go get her, Tiger." So I ran. I knew she wasn't at the lake. She probably wouldn't go to the common room. She was crying and she wouldn't want anyone to see that. She wouldn't be in the Room of Requirement. Definitely not the library because that's where I would go to look for her first. And, well, she was avoiding me. She might be with Luna. She could've called Piper for a consult. Hades, she might even be with Nico! I decided to go and visit Nico. The last place I would look. Well, I'd look there before I'd go to the girls' bathroom and I prayed she wasn't in there.

When I found him, he was behind his desk fiddling with a figurine. Mythomagic. He wouldn't shut up about it when we first found him. "Nico!" I called from the doorway, "Can I talk to you?" He glanced up and walked toward me nonchalantly. As I opened my mouth, he slapped me. Hard. I held my stinging cheek. "What was that for, di Angelo?" His dark eyes narrowed at me, "What did you do to Annabeth?" My mouth fell open. So she was here. Maybe not now, but she'd been here. I shook my head, my mouth opening and closing like a fish. "N-Nothing!" I stuttered, "I fainted when I put my name into the Goblet of Fire and that's it, I swear. She got mad because she was tired of me disappearing and getting hurt." Nico raised an eyebrow, "If you're lying, Kelp Head, I'm going to make your life miserable." I gave him a pointed look, "Please. I would never purposely hurt Annabeth. You know that." I looked around the classroom and glanced over my shoulder, "So, do you know where she is?" Nico turned around, "No. All I know is that she ran past here crying around ten minutes ago and that it was probably your fault. Annabeth doesn't cry." I shoved my face into my hands, groaning. This is way harder than it needs to be. It's almost as if the Fates don't want me to say sorry to Annabeth. No matter what they think, it's going to happen.

I ran to the astronomy tower next. Annabeth likes looking at the constellations and it's not curfew yet. I heard whispers. Two voices. I peeked through the door and saw Piper and Annabeth. "Just let him talk to you," Piper was saying, "If he has nothing good to say, I don't know. You guys have been through too much to break up just because he's got a hero's kind of luck. You know it's not his fault." Annabeth shoved her face into her hands, "I know he wouldn't want to be separated from me. I know he doesn't want to hurt me. But it just stings, you know? Not being in control. And then he had the audacity to joke about it and tell me that he understands! I would never leave him and I love him. It's just hard." I've had enough. I need to talk to her right now. I rapped lightly on the door frame. Both girls started and whipped around, hands on their daggers. I smiled sheepishly, "Hey, Annabeth. Can we talk?" Piper stood off and brushed off her Hello Kitty t-shirt. "I'm just gonna go," she said. As she walked up to me, she gave me a death glare and muttered between her teeth, "Don't mess this up, Jackson." That might be a problem. I'm very well known for messing up.

I sat down next to Annabeth. "Hey," I said awkwardly. "Hi," she replied, "Why are you here, Percy?" I looked straight into her eyes. Stormy gray, calculating, and bold, just like I remembered them. I brought my knees up to my chest and loosely wrapped my arms around them, "I couldn't let this silence last any longer. We haven't had a fight this bad since we were like, fifteen." Annabeth allowed herself a terse smile, "Ah, yes. The Rachel incident. That was pretty bad." I nodded.

"Anyways, I came here to talk to you. You know I'd never intentionally hurt you. I knew my disappearances shook you, and you're right to be mad at me. I don't completely understand how you felt, but it was like that for me when you disappeared across the country with that manticore. I was freaking out, and I didn't even know I had feelings for you yet," I conceded, "I know that's nowhere near what you've been feeling lately, but it's something. You don't think I worried about you when you had to do that solo quest? And remember that when I finally woke up after eight months, all I remembered was your name. Your face. Your smile. The way you would kiss me. That's what kept me going. And I missed you." Annabeth already had tears streaming down her cheeks. I took her in my arms and slowly brushed them away. "We're together now, and that's all that counts." She leaned her head against my chest. "I guess I was overreacting. I just get so worried when you're gone and I don't know where or why." I smirked, "Aww, Wise Girl. I never knew you cared!" She laughed. I looked at her. "So we're good?" I asked nervously. She nodded, "Yeah. We're good."

She turned around and cupped my cheeks with her hands. I couldn't wait any longer. I leaned in and kissed her.

And that, my friends, is the proper way to end a fight.

It's Time Skip Time! You know you love time skip time. Admit it. Time Skip says it's the next day during dinner. You have to listen to the time skip because it is the overruling power in the universe.

Dumbledore tapped his spoon against his cup for silence. The immediate silence made me think that glass sounds were some kind of magical way to zip people's mouths closed. This would've never happened in mortal school. They were so loud you wouldn't even be able to hear the spoon tapping.

"Alright, children," he called, "The Goblet of Fire has made its decision." A spark of fire shot out of the cup and into Dumbledore's hand, now a piece of paper. "From Durmstrang," Dumbledore said, "Raydon Jesome!" The Durmstrang students yelled and cheered for him. I remember that dude. Mr. Boulder. His head was as hard as one of Hazel's jewels. Dumbledore's eyes sparkled as he continued. "From Beauxbatons, Sophia-Grace Lander." The Beauxbatons students clapped politely for their champion. So. Raydon and Sophia. I only met them today, but Raydon had already come off as caring and strong, while Sophia was smart, funny and sassy. I feel sorry for the sucker who has to compete against them.

"And from Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued, "Percy Jackson."

Of course. I'm the sucker.