Safe At Last

A Start

This chapter is dedicated to 2000097270pjo.

Enjoy!

Percy pov

I was confused. The statement of the century.

First, Annabeth says she'll hang out with us. Then she walks away? I will never fully understand women.

I walked up to her when the bell rang.

"Why'd you switch seats?"

"Because."

"That's not really an answer."

"Why do you even care?" Oof, that hurt.

"I'm sorry Percy, but I said ease into it. I hate attention. Maybe eventually, it'll work. But not right now, ok?"

I nodded softly. "Ok."

She smiled in thanks and shouldered her backpack. "Catch ya later Perce."

I smiled back, "See ya later Wise Girl."

She raised an eyebrow but raced off anyway.

I sighed as I watched Annabeth run down the steps.

"You got it bad, man."

I whirled around to face Jason.

"Hey Jase, what do you mean?"

"You like Annabeth." He replied with a smirk.

I blinked in surprise, "No."

Jason rolled his eyes, "It's incredibly obvious bro, but whatever."

Shrugging his comment off, I lifted up my bag and turned towards him. "Are we..."

"Huh? Oh, yeah let's go." He was staring at Piper, his girlfriend, unsurprisingly.

"Pipes!" He called, "You coming?"

"Yeah, let me just find Repair Boy real quick."

"K."

A couple minutes later she came back with our Latino Elf- like friend, Leo Valdez.

We walked to the car, about to ride to our normal hangout, Culvers. Famous for it's amazing custard and butter burgers.

(A/N:I do not own Culvers, unfortunately ☹ )

"Did you ask Annabeth to come?" Piper questioned.

"No, she had stuff to do."

"Stuff?" Piper pressed.

"I don't know! She just . . . Couldn't come."

Signing, Piper walked away.

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We were sitting at the biggest table in Culvers, drinks and custard on the table, when I got a phone call. That's not the thing that was strange, I get phone calls all the time. But this was from Annabeth. I forgot I gave her my number at lunch.

I walked away and answered the phone.

(Annabeth Underlined, Percy Italics.)

Hello?

Percy?

Yeah, what's up?

Can you pick me up please?

Um, yeah. . . Are you ok?

Please, Percy, questions later please just pick me up

I'll be there in 5

That was weird, she sounded so distraught.

"Bye guys I gotta go."

Piper raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

I raced out the door and practically dived into the car.

What was going on?

I arrived at Annabeth's doorstep 5 minutes later, my head pounding. She was on the front steps, and shot up the second she saw me. 10 seconds later, she as sitting next to me.

She only said one word. "Drive."

I obliged, stepping on the gas pedal. When we were at least 2 minutes away I spoke.

"What happened? Are you ok?"

She replied quickly, "Pull over."

I stopped at the closest gas station.

She faced me, and I sucked in a breath. Her nose was twisted at a funny angle, and she had a black eye. Her lip was busted, her breathing unsteady. There were several gashes along her face, but the one on her forehead worried me. It looked deep, and was a sickening color.

"Oh my gosh! Annabeth what happened!"

"I was jumped again, on my way back from school. My Dad is still at work."

I could tell she was lying, but said nothing.

"Ok, what now?"

She glanced at me, "Your house?"

I nodded and helped her up. We walked to the car and I headed towards my house.

"I'm not sure if anyone is home, but my Mom will be here at 6."

Annabeth just nodded, clearly distracted by something.

When we got there I unlocked the door, and we both headed in.

"Sit on the couch." I ordered, walking to the bathroom. Grabbing the med. kit we always kept in there, I walked back to Annabeth.

"Hold still."

She nodded and sat up strait.

I started by dabbing at her lip with a cloth. Then moved towards her eye, applying some type of cream that would help. I think. Then I unwrapped some bandages and put them over her gashes, as gently as possible. I gave her some ibuprofen for the pain, and sat next to her.

She closed her eyes several minutes later, now fast asleep.

I sighed, Mom would be here in an hour, but I was already hungry. Ordering a pizza would have to suffice.

A few minutes after it got here, Annabeth woke up, "Please tell me that's pizza."

I chuckled, and handed her a piece.

Soon, it was 5:45, and Annabeth had to go, "Bye Percy, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye! I replied as she headed out the door.

Annabeth was still a mystery to me, but at least I had something. A start.