Together; Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Prologue

The waves crashed against the shore, a rhythm Percy usually found soothing. But not today. He kicked a pebble into the water, his ADHD acting up, watching it sink. He'd been waiting for Annabeth by the canoe lake for, like, an hour it seemed.  He checked his watch, she was approximately forty five minutes late. Finally, after a long wait, she showed up, her face etched with worry. wait a minute were those tear tracks on her face. If Percy was not scared before, well... he would be terrified now.

"Hey," he said, trying to sound chill. "Everything's cool, huh?"

She sat on the dock, her shoulders slumping in a very un-Annabeth like fashion. "Not really. Percy, we gotta talk."

"Uh oh," he mumbled, picturing a rogue hippocampus attack or Poseidon being grumpy again. "What's up?"he said expecting 'the sky' remark.

She sighed, a sound that usually made him want to fight a Minotaur for her. "Look, we've been through, like, everything together, right? Saved the world, fell into a pit, dodged exploding toilets, killed a crazy grandmother and grand father, the whole shebang."

"Yeah?" he said sounding more like a question than a statement, a nervous twisted in his gut.

"So," she said, picking at a frayed strap on her backpack, "we've changed, like a lot,  you know? You're all about the ocean adventures and underwater s*** and I-I..."

"And you?"asked Percy worry laced in his voice.

She met his gaze, her eyes filled with a kind of sadness that made his heart explode with grief. "I need, like, different adventures. Stuff with maps and libraries, Athena kid stuff, you get it?"

"I-I don't think we-we would work out" she stuttered out refusing to meet his gaze instead she seemed to find her muddy shoe interesting. Oddly enough her sneakers which was a Nike was grey in colour and it had mini owls all around it.

The truth hit him like a tidal wave. "You're breaking up with me, aren't you Annabeth?"

A tear escaped her eye and she wiped it away fiercely. "Yeah. I'm so sorry, Percy."

He wanted to yell, to argue that they were practically made of demigod superglue,that they were unbreakable and inseparable but something in her expression held him back. Maybe it was the way her voice cracked on 'sorry,' or the set of her jaw that told him this wasn't easy for her either.

He stood up, a lump forming in his throat. "O-Okay," he croaked. "I-I get it."

Relief flickered in her eyes, chased away by another wave of sadness. He turned away, not wanting to see her cry. As he walked towards the cabins, a single tear escaped, tracing a salty path down his cheek. He glanced back one last time. Annabeth sat alone on the dock, a small figure dwarfed by the vastness of the sea. Their paths, once joined at the hip, were now diverging, leading them into uncharted territories, both geographically and emotionally.

Percy turned back and said in a broken voice "friends?"

She looked up, her eyes were bloodshot, but somehow she managed to smile "friends". Although her voice quivered and cracked relief was evident. As if a huge burden had been lift of her shoulders.

Percy smiled sadly. He turned around and walked away, with a new spring in his steps.