Chapter 6

"Ok. Let me get this straight: You and Annabeth are dating, and have been for almost two years?!" Jack exclaimed, "I don't believe it. I call BS!"

Percy just sighed and leaned his head farther back, to where he was just looking up at the ceiling. Even after he had explained how Annabeth and him were dating, they still couldn't believe that they actually were. Plus, they had kissed earlier, so why was it so unbelievable?

"Oh my gods, what's so hard to understand about it?" Percy asked, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well, I mean, why would you even keep it a secret?" Chloe asked in return.

Before he could answer, Annabeth rushed into the room, settling next to her boyfriend, "Because our friend said we were too dependent on each other! We took it as a challenge, ok?! Gods!"

Annabeth huffed and snuggled into Percy's side. It had gotten too hard for her to hear him struggle through convincing his friends, so she had decided to step-in. Well, in actuality, she couldn't physically contain herself. But 'decided' sounds more sane.

While Chloe and Jack were fighting the truth, Mike had kept silent. He was stuck inside his head, thinking over everything he had pushed to the back of his mind since Annabeth had come to school for the first time.

Percy and her exchanging "secretive" glances.

Percy's excitement in the days before her arrival.

Annabeth and Percy's conversation in Greek.

It all made sense. The way that they seemed to be able to communicate without even opening their mouths. They were in love with each other the entire time! How had he not realized it sooner?!

Finally bringing himself back to reality, Mike said in a soft voice, "They're telling the truth."

"What? Mike, you can't be buying into this!" Jack exclaimed.

"Think about it! Look at them! Really look at them!" Mike yelled at his friend, pointing at the young couple, "They love each other!"

Jack and Chloe, exasperated, gazed over at Percy and Annabeth, who had been sitting deathly still during Mike's entire outburst. And true enough, when they REALLY looked at the duo, their eyes widened in realization. Everything they had said was true. Percy had been lying to them for so long...

Weren't they best friends?

"Shit!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, so NOW you believe us!" Percy said.

"Face it, Perce, you have no people skills," Annabeth smirked at her boyfriend.

He just rolled his eyes, "So what are we gonna do now?"

Annabeth started to think about it, but before she could come up with something, Jack spoke up, "We'll keep your secret!"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise at that. I mean, it could work, but why would they help them? It was obvious that Leo was right–not that she would ever admit that–and she and Percy should just give up, right? Unless...

"Yes! You all keep our secret, and Percy and I don't have to tell Leo that he was ri–right," she said.

Percy was going to protest, but one look at Annabeth silenced him. She looked so desperate. He couldn't make her admit defeat. It just wasn't in her nature. Plus, it wasn't in HIS nature to hurt Annabeth.

"Ok, whatever. But if we get discovered a second time, I'm not trying to salvage it again," Percy told her.

Annabeth smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips in thanks. Her eyes seemed to almost literally light up at the prospect of a challenge.

Percy and Annabeth spent the next hour explaining their entire relationship to Chloe, Jack, and Mike (minus the godly aspects). It seemed like the trio had a never-ending supply of questions to ask. By the time that Percy had finally found a way to kick them out nicely, Annabeth looked about ready to murder someone.

However, just as they were exiting the apartment, she jumped up, "Don't forget to ignore me at school! Remember, you haven't ever met me!"

Mike mock-saluted her, "Yes, ma'am!"

Then they left. And Percy and Annabeth were alone. Finally.

"I thought they would never leave!" Percy exclaimed, walking back to his girlfriend and putting his arms around her.

"Me, too. And now I'm ready to spend some time with my boyfriend," she agreed.

"Oh? I thought we had some homework to finish?" Percy teased.

Annabeth smiled and leaned in to kiss him, "That can wait."

And they spent the next half-hour making out...

Later, when they were in bed, Percy was stuck awake. He was just staring at the ceiling, unable to escape his thoughts.

Why were they trying so hard to prove that they didn't need each other...when they did?

It was all so confusing. He wanted to make Annabeth happy, but was this really doing that? I mean, he didn't want to assume, but he was pretty sure HE made her happy. Adding fatal flaws into a relationship just makes everything more difficult, that's for sure.

Percy looked over at Annabeth, watching her sleep and playing with her golden locks. She's so beautiful, Percy thought, smiling.

But, of course, something had to ruin the moment.

Annabeth started thrashing around, screaming out at nothing. She was throwing her arms and legs around in a desperate attempt to stop whatever she was seeing. As Percy tried to calm her, he let his guard down and was too distracted to realize that her fist was coming at his face. It was a sloppy punch, but it still stung. It hit him right in the eye, and would surely cause a bruise to form later.

Nonetheless, Percy kept on trying to help her. He was able to straddle her and was trying to hold down her arms. He was forced to use more force than he wanted to, though, because she kept on struggling.

"Percy! No!" Annabeth screamed in agony, tears flowing down her cheeks.

The amount of pain in her voice made tears form in Percy's eyes, but he still pushed on, "Annabeth, calm down. We got out. We're safe. I'm ok. You're ok. I love you. We got out..."

And he kept muttering in her ear until she eventually opened her eyes, tears still streaming relentlessly.

"Seaweed Brain?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Yeah, Wise Girl?" he asked, finally releasing her.

He moved to where he was holding her, allowing her to let it all out. She told him everything that had happened in the dream. She was in Tartarus, and she was watching Percy turn Akhlys' own poison against her, but he didn't listen to her this time. It looked so real...and it felt real, too.

Nothing she could say would make him stop. It was horrible.

"It's ok, Wise Girl. It wasn't real. I love you," Percy whispered in her ear.

"I love you so much, Percy. Thank you for stopping," Annabeth said.

And that's the moment that Percy realized how bad this episode was. Usually, they could pull themselves out of it by grasping that it wasn't real, but this time, she couldn't. It was like when they had first gotten out of 'that place.' This one nightmare had probably set them BOTH back a couple steps.

"I will always stop for you," Percy assured her, "Now try to get some more sleep. I'll be here. Always."

"Always," Annabeth agreed, driving off to a finally peaceful sleep.

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