I Love My Best Friend

When We Were Fourteen

Chapter 3- When We Were Fourteen

Percy's POV

"Annie, are you being serious?" I asked my best friend for the hundredth time. I was in shock and disbelief.
"Yes, my mom wants me to go to San Francisco to visit my dad for the week. And don't call me Annie!" she replied a bit angrily towards the last part. I was shocked, furious. I couldn't believe Athena would send Annabeth away. There was an awkward silence. I quickly said a goodbye and hung up. I couldn't believe I wouldn't see Annabeth for a whole week.

Annabeth's POV

"Mom! I'm packed!" I yelled to my mother. She didn't respond. I ran around the house, frantically calling her. I didn't realize that I ran straight into one of my mother's largest competition, Ares. He had a gun with him as well as a sword. I saw my mother tied up, cuts all over her body. Ares was about to kill her. I felt anger boil in my blood. I grabbed my little dagger, the one my mom gave me when I first wanted to learn how to fight. I had wanted to learn a new skill when I was younger, I now realized how important those lessons were. I started to charge, but he expected it. He pulled out his own sword, and we sparred. Eventually, he knocked me out cold and the last thing I could remember was being picked up and being held while the person ran.

~1 Week Later~

Percy's POV

I was desperately awaiting for when Annabeth would come home from her father's house. It's been hours since when she was supposed to call me, and I was getting nervous. In a final attempt to talk to her, I called her mother.
"Annabeth, is that you? Where are you, baby? Where did that man take you?" Athena asked quickly, with a lot of fear in her voice.
"Ma'am this is Percy, Percy Jackson. Where is Annabeth? I thought she was visiting her dad." I asked, unable to hide the worry and concern in my voice.
"Percy. I don't want to talk about it. She's just gone-" she began but broke down and cried. She told Percy everything that happened with Ares. Athena ended saying that she was gone, and it's unknown where she is.
"Why didn't you call a search party or something?" I asked.
"I did. They found nothing. I'm worried. What is he doing right now to my baby?" she said, with worry, sadness, and depression in her voice.
"We'll look for her and find her. I'll call a few of Annabeth's friends and we'll look. I promise we'll find her." I said too quickly. Athena thanked me a thousand times before hanging up. I called Thalia and Luke. Once informing them of what was happened, they had horrible reactions. The two were at my front door, ready to go and look in under 10 minutes. I grabbed my stuff, said goodbye to my parents and left.

~A Few Days Later~

We found Annabeth holding up the foundation of Ares' mansion, since the foundation itself was broken and wouldn't hold. Annabeth herself was pale and extremely thin. I quickly ran to her, while Thalia and Luke were going after to give Ares a piece of their minds. I took the weight from her and held it myself. She instantly collapsed on the floor. I noticed she had a grey streak in her hair, from holding so much weight for so long. I looked around the room and saw some tools that could be used to fix the foundation. Luke and Thalia came running to me. Thalia bent down to Annabeth and rocked her in her arms. She tucked her hair behind her ears and checked that she was breathing. I got Luke to get the supplies, and he fixed it with my guidance. I instantly collapsed on the floor and the last thing I remember was seeing a streak of grey in my own hair.

Thalia's POV

By the time we got to the hospital, I began to suspect it was too late. I called Annabeth's mother and she quickly came. She impatiently waited, constantly pacing. Soon enough, Annabeth and Percy were awake and in their beds. They were in different rooms, and all of us went to check on Annie first. She talked for a bit, recounting the horror and pain. Soon enough, she had drifted off to sleep in the middle of talking. Her mom firmly decided to stay. She didn't want her daughter out of her sight for a minute. Luke and I went to check on Percy. He talked, mostly asking about Annabeth. It was then when a strange thought came into my head. I asked Luke to leave so I could privately talk to Percy. He seemed more than happy to as he ran back to Annabeth's room.
"Percy, do you have a crush on Annabeth? I mean, you looked nonstop for her and you held a building for her when you found her." I asked and eyed Percy suspiciously. He wouldn't look me in the eye until he slowly nodded.
"Please don't tell her. I don't want things getting weird between us." Percy quickly said. I nodded and I could barely contain my excitement. The girl who was basically my little sister was the crush of my cousin. I was thrilled. If they got married, we'd actually be family and- Woah. I needed to relax it was just a crush. Right?