The Truth About Love (A Pipabeth One Shot)

The Truth About Love

For Annabeth Chase, loving had never really been a choice. Her father had always told her to believe what her heart told her, and not to get overwhelmed by the power of her brain. He had always told her, "You love who you love, you love what you love, and it isn't a choice so the brain won't know what to do but the heart will."

Annabeth was a very logical person. She didn't really think of herself that way, but she simply was. It was in no dramatic or awfully obvious way, but her brain tended to take the lead over her heart, which made her fathers words all the more important.

To a certain extent Annabeth's heart was telling her many things. Be afraid of spiders, even though she knew they couldn't hurt her. She loved stories and fairytales and she knew that from her heart because her brain thought they were foolish.

Annabeth was ten years old when she met Percy Jackson. He was a strange boy with a knack of getting into trouble. Percy and Annabeth somewhat became quick though unexpected friends. (It didn't hurt that at the time Annabeth's only friends were Luke and Thalia who were five and seven years older than she was.)

It was in sixth grade when Annabeth and Percy first met Grover. He had started school late and had been held back a year so he was in sixth grade at fourteen instead of eleven or twelve. Percy had immediately approached him, and became friends with Grover in a few short days, but it took Annabeth months to properly befriend him.

The three of them made an unlikely trio, but they realized that they were better with each other than without. Some force balanced them all out, and they couldn't have cared less if it had been for the worse or better.

When Annabeth was half way through sixth grade she thought she loved Percy. But she only did when she thought about it, what her classmates said, what seemed to work logically. But when Annabeth stoped thinking she discovered that in her heart she loved Percy, yes, but simply as a friend.

Grover had sighed a breath of relief at that, grateful that he didn't have to be a third wheel. Percy looked like he wanted to laugh or maybe cry, Annabeth wasn't sure and she didn't dwell on it either.

In seventh grade Annabeth decided to participate in a stupid game of spin the bottle. It was a game that both Percy and Grover decided not to play in because they believed they were protecting their own dignity, but Annabeth saw it was a challenge and decided to participate. What Annabeth was really hoping for was that the empty soy sauce bottle wouldn't point to her.

Unfortunately for Annabeth, the bottle pointed toward her when a boy named Conner Stoll spun. They shared an awkward peck like all the other kids who had played did. Annabeth felt nothing, but was happy when Conner high-fived her and laughed when he said "Now we never have to kiss anyone else in our lives! One bucket list item down!"

When Annabeth was fourteen, a girl named Rachel Elizabeth Dare moved to town. She was a rich girl who renounced all she came from in the name of art. Her fiery red hair, paint splattered jeans, and strong willingness made Annabeth curious about her. Percy became friends with Rachel and Annabeth coincidently did too. A few months later Rachel and Percy went on a few dates, and while they were never official, they were a thing for a month or so. Annabeth was happy for them, of course, logically, but in her heart she felt a flaming pit of jealousy. In her heart Annabeth felt that she liked Rachel Elizabeth Dare as more than a friend.

Annabeth never told anyone at the time. She would come to tell Percy and Rachel a year and half later when she was well over Rachel and pinning over a certain Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano.

During that time Percy, Rachel, and Grover poked and prodded at Annabeth to do something other than pine. But nothing happened with Reyna, Annabeth was far to shy in this case to confront her crush. Later, Annabeth figured she would have if she had known Reyna better.