How You Changed Me (Demigods In High School AU)

Chapter 23 || Breaking the Ice

ANNABETH CHASE

Annabeth took Percy's hand and he flinched slightly before staring at her, curious.

"Please, Percy," she whispered, "Tell us."

"How... How do I know I can trust you?" he whispered hoarsely.

Ignoring any thoughts in her mind, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Percy froze in shock for a moment and Annabeth was scared she did the wrong thing, but the moment she put her arm around him, he relaxed and kissed back. After the kiss, she pulled away to all her friends, who had their mouths open in little grins, Piper looking like she was going to burst. A little hint of light appeared in Percy's dull, sea-green eyes.

"Do you think that's enough to make me trust you, Wise Girl?" Percy asked, a small smirk appearing on his face. "I'm dating."

Annabeth shrugged.

"If you don't wanna trust me, that's okay," she said, "Because I'm not in need of any information. Just the fact that you're okay is good enough for me."

"If I hooked you up to a lie detector test, would you be telling the truth?"

"You can go get one right now," she said confidently.

A little more light came in and Percy smiled.

"Fine," he said, his gaze getting darker for a second. "What's your first question?"

"Who's Jackie?"

He stiffened and stared at his mattress.

"Percy?" Annabeth shook him slightly and he snapped out of his thoughts.

He took a deep breath and shakily answered.

"My ex-girlfriend."

Silence.

"We went out for a year and she just... betrayed me. I have PTSD from that day when she locked me in her closet because another guy she was seeing came in. I had to watch as they made love on that bed. It was disgusting. Because that used to be our spot and she just... broke it. So I got out, she confronted me, telling me she never loved me and it was all a game and that no one would ever love me. Then, she revealed she only dated me to get revenge for me taking her father's place on the billboard and she... stabbed me."

They all stared at him in shock.

"All I see now when I think about love is Jackie and Neil on that bed, acting as if I didn't exist. Worse, the stabbing. So now, Renee's proven to me that she loves me. She picked me up when I was down after Jackie and she hasn't quit. So maybe she's changed me. Maybe she's hurt me a couple times, but she didn't give up. She still loves me." He shivered. "And I can't trust anyone else."

"Percy," Annabeth whispered.

"I got stabbed by a person I loved to pieces!" Percy said, a tear dripping down from his eye to his chin, and finally, to her hand.

But she didn't wipe it off. She waited for him to continue.

"That's why I can't love anyone else," he continued, looking straight at Annabeth, "Not even you. No matter how much I feel."

She felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. He literally just told her that he couldn't love her. But she held herself together and just nodded sympathetically, because she knew if she ran out of the room, he'd feel bad and Annabeth didn't want him to feel that way. It wasn't his fault. It was Jackie's.

"What about... Gabe?" Piper asked and panic filled Hazel and Jason's faces.

"Hazel? Jason?" Annabeth frowned, looking at them.

"We're sorry," they apologized.

"For what?" Frank frowned.

"We knew who he was and we didn't tell you..." Hazel buried her face in her hands.

"Gabe..." Percy's eyes flashed with fear, "He's gone now. I killed him with Medusa's head. But... he abused me. He's my old stepfather, the one who my mom only put up with to keep me safe. And... I still can't get over the old man," he chuckled bitterly, "I'm just so weak that I can't forget about a man who I probably shouldn't care about anymore."

He threw his head back and stared at the ceiling before turning back to Annabeth.

"There's something I didn't want to tell you," he looked at her, then back to everyone else, "And now it's out. Happy?"

Everyone stood, shocked.

"I guess you are," he said, throwing the covers off of himself and grabbing the crutches off of the wall, "I'm going."

The rest of the demigods all stared after him, shell shocked. Pretty soon, Percy signed the release papers and out of the hospital he went, crutching all the way.

"Do you wanna--"

"No," he replied, "I don't wanna talk."

He got in the passenger seat, staring at the road straight ahead. Annabeth was surprised to see a few tears slip out of his eyes but he blinked them away as Leo pulled up at the apartment building they all stayed at.

"Well," he said, helping Percy out of the car, "See ya."

Percy didn't say a word as Leo and Percy both got to their floor and they stood in the lobby, not sure what to do.

"Look," Jason said, "We only knew about Gabe... We didn't know about... Jackie."

"We were out of town when it happened," Hazel said, "And Percy didn't tell us when we got back so... yeah."

Annabeth nodded, still processing everything. By the time she and Piper had gotten back to their apartment, she was still staring off at nothing.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" Piper asked, frowning.

"He said he'd never love me," she whispered, "All the effort... It's no use, Pipes."

"No, it is," Piper said, "The only reason why Percy can't love anyone else but Renee is because of his trust issues. And if we can break those trust issues, we can at least try to--"

"No! I'm done trying!" Annabeth shouted, anger coursing through her veins, "I've tried everything, Piper. And he's not gonna give up with Renee for eternity. They're gonna get married and I'll be there watching a person I cared about--a person I've kissed--walk down the aisle with a bitch I hate."

"You're not--"

"No, Piper. I am. And it's just Fate's doing. Now that I think about it, I never loved Percy. I wanted to help him get out of his dark place but I didn't love him. It's all just a game, Piper."

Piper stared at Annabeth in shock before Annabeth raced up the stairs, furious at herself, at Percy, at Renee, and at Jackie.