I thought I owed you guys a half-decent chapter for once, so hopefully this lives up to your quality expectations. Longer paragraphs, hopefully a bit more in character, and more detailed in their actions. I double-checked my grammar this time 'round, so any errors are NOT caused by me, but rather my spell-checker. It seems to prefer to auto-correct now... just lovely.

Also, here's a note for you... I put the POV at the top middle of the chapter. I think I might include Percy every few chapters, but I'm waiting to see your responses for this idea first. I don't have to if you guys prefer to read an all-Annabeth story, but either way I am always going to put that name in the top center of the chapter. It motivates me when writing. I look at it and think, "Man. Great FanFiction writers always write out POVs like that. Maybe I'm getting better." Oh, and for those who were wondering, this chapter is 1,893 words, not including author's note. Yay!

And one last thing. (I know, SUCH a long author's note.) I feel like I owe you guys for reviewing, so I'm holding a small contest for this story. Whomever writes the best review for this specific chapter before I upload the next chapter, gets next chapter dedicated to them. I think that's fair.

Annabeth

Being a demigod, I've seen a great deal of things in my life. Most of them I wished I hadn't. But one of the many things I have seen but I never achieved was true freedom. (That was sort of ironic considering I live in the land of the free.) Half-Bloods have more limits than most would think. You're confined into a camp and it's dangerous to leave with the possibility of death looming over your head 24/7. Sure, we have amazing powers and abilities, but with great power has great responsibility. (I know I totally ripped that off from Spiderman. It's Percy's fault – he thought forcing me to watch a marathon of the movies would help me get over my fear of spiders. Yeah, right.) Looking at the barrier that was currently hiding me from the world gave me a whole new perspective on the matter that I wasn't aware existed.

After giving one long glance at Camp Half-Blood's force field, I took a deep breath and stepped through, having the familiar buzz around my skin as I went through it. A static noise rang in my ears. I turned back around and looked at Percy through the barrier, studying his nervous gaze. He looked ready to puke, causing me to smirk a bit.

"Are you sure about this?" he questioned, coming closer. His mesmerizing sea-green eyes flickered a bit, glancing at the wall then back at me.

I cracked a half-smile, "Sounds like something I'd normally say." Well, it's true.

He raised an eyebrow and took a step back, narrowing his eyes at the wall. "You are going a bit insane. This is pretty suicidal," he said flatly, giving me a knowing look.

"Percy," I said in a dark voice. "For once in my life, I am free to do whatever I want. I can finally be free. Nothing holds me down," I looked at him daringly. "Don't you want that too?" My eyes jotted between him and the force field. "This right here," I pointed, "is the only thing holding you back from true freedom, a life without consequences. The will and power to do whatever you wish. Who would ever turn something like that down?"

"What would we even do?" he said in an irritated huff, crossing his arms. He wouldn't meet my eyes. So maybe it would take a bit of convincing, but he's Percy. He'd follow me anywhere – proved that a long time ago.

"Anything," I replied, running a hand along the boundary. It blurred around my touch and a sly smile appeared on my face. "We could do anything at all."

Percy snorted. "Like what? Rob a bank?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, let's see… What would you do if everything you did today would be undone? Go nuts, of course. Pranking people, for example, would be a wonderful idea. The possibilities are endless here."

"And?" he pressed, looking up at me. He gave me an unreadable look. That's the one thing I could never stand about this boy – he always showed his emotions well but when it came to something he didn't want you to know, he was about as obvious as a rock. A very dull rock. "You're Annabeth. Isn't that an idea?"

The moment he said it, even with his blank stare, I knew what he meant though. I studied him for a moment, my breath hitching a bit as my features softened. "Percy, just because I'm Annabeth and we can do anything we want, doesn't mean I can be with you. Not yet, anyway. You know that."

"You're Annabeth," he insisted, coming closer to the wall. I subconsciously took a step back.

I bit my lip, "But I'm not your Annabeth."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not Annabeth that's your age," I gave him a pointed look. "I know all of your future. Isn't that rather scary to you? I know everything that your destiny holds."

"Besides that," he said carefully, "give me one reason why." He looked at me with such hurt in his eyes it felt like someone was squeezing my heart. "I just want a chance to be with you, that's all I ask."

"That's a big thing to ask," I muttered, pulling on a curl in thought.

He ignored me, "I have to look at you everyday and tell myself 'she doesn't like me back'. And now that you're here and I know you do, I have to retract myself from saying anything. Every time I look at you, all I see is Annabeth. I don't see older Annabeth. Do you know how that feels?" he looked down at his shoes guiltily.

"Percy, I-"

"Annabeth, my Annabeth, is currently far off in the future and I can't even reach her," he said as anger flew into his voice. My heart melted in to a puddle at his words. Percy would never admit it for the life of him, because it isn't "manly", but he was a romantic at heart. "I can't even do anything. She could be there for forever, just because she 'finally' gets to be with me."

"Percy," I said in a stern voice. "You know that-"

"Listen," he insisted. "Just hear me out."

I looked away, not saying anything, but nodded my head numbly.

"I'm losing her to myself. What if she never wants to come back, huh? What happens then?"

An idea popped into my mind, and I tried to shove it away because he'd blush for all eternity, but it just kept coming back to me. I had no other reasons that would be acceptable to him, and I found myself blurting it out before I could think twice. "I'm not a virgin," I said it so smoothly I might as well have added 'and I like apples as well. Isn't that just grand?'

Ooo! the love goddess squealed in my head. Things just got real! Oh, I cannot WAIT to see his reaction, hun! You're gonna make-out now, right?! The whole makeup and make-out is one of my best inventions yet, don't you agree? You do it all the time with him!

Shut up, Aphrodite! I yelled in my head.

Percy's head shot up so quick I was afraid it would have fallen off. The Poseidon boy's cheeks reddened to a point I would have never thought possible and his eyes widened as big as saucers, causing a familiar ear-aching squeal in my head. (Darn that love goddess.)

His mouth dropped a little, speechless, as he stared at me in shock. "I-Y-We, uh… You, um-"

"Yes," I said, a bit annoyed, crossing my arms. My cheeks turned a light pink, but I was by far as not as bad as he was. He looked ready to faint. I prayed to Hypnos he wouldn't as I tried not to crack up. "Don't act like it's such a big deal."

"B-B-But w-we… we…" He gulped. "I just… wait, we really-"

"It was bound to happen sometime," I interrupted.

Percy paled a little. "Are you… are you not kidding? Like… like I can't believe that… we'd actually…"

I continued, "And it was more of an accident because the Stolls had this big blow-out party to celebrate the ending of the war and-"

"I don't want to know," he answered quickly, closing his eyes, cringing a bit. "I really don't want to know."

I stifled a snort. "I'm sure you don't."

He gave me a look and I quickly shut up about it. But it didn't mean that I was going to leave the hook just sitting there on the dock. "I can contact other Annabeth," I said. "I mean, I can have Aphrodite send her a letter so that we can retrieve her once the month is up and-"

"Can we please just forget this conversation even happened?" Percy interrupted, giving me heart-shattering big sea-green eyes. Piper was right. He looked like a cute baby seal. Ack! Aphrodite, not helping!

Hehe, I heard a girly voice in my head. Sorry, dear. Old habits die hard. She didn't sound too sorry.

"Alright," I finally said, frowning a bit. I wrinkled my nose in thought, "But it doesn't mean I'm not going back. I have to, Percy."

"I know," he said, not looking at me. "And Annabeth will come back. She has to."

I looked at him sadly, "You might be Percy but you're not my Seaweed Brain. Not yet, anyway."

Percy hung his head a little, not meeting my eyes. "And you're not my Annabeth. Too late, anyway."

"Doesn't mean we can't be the butt-kicking duo again, right?" I grinned. "We're still best friends."

Percy looked up and tilted his head at me, half-smiling. But the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah," he said after a bit, his voice wavering a bit. "When have I not been your best friend, Wise Girl?" He stepped through the barrier, but his eyes looked like broken glass. Sort of like I saw when we were in-

It's even more romantic when you're in love with your best friend, Aphrodite sighed dreamily, interrupting my thoughts.

Can you please just go bug other me? I asked, irritated.

"Yeah," I smiled, but it felt so unreal that I almost wanted to cringe at myself. After mentally shaking my head, I shoulder-bumped him and let the fake smile grow a bit, "Where to, Fish Brain?"

"How about we mess with some future friends?" he offered. He didn't sound too enthusiastic. "Didn't you mention a Roman camp?"

I shook my head and started walking down the hill with him at my side, "That's across the country. There's no portal yet."

"We can do it," he insisted. "It's not like we haven't gone across the country before."

"True," I raised an eyebrow. "Alright, Seaweed Brain, let's go."

Although it hurt to say the stupid nickname I gave him when I was twelve, I felt funny. A familiar butterfly feeling formed in the bit of my stomach as the name rolled off my tongue, causing me to freak out a little. I wouldn't deny the fact I felt it, but I couldn't let it happen. He wasn't even my age, I was seventeen and he was fourteen. This Percy hadn't been through everything with me, he hadn't even been through the first Titan War with me yet. It was wrong. I couldn't like him. It would be like cheating on Percy, my Percy. I couldn't do that to him.

My heart twisted around inside my chest as I tried to fight back the thoughts. I just shouldn't think about it. I was sure to form a tiny crush on him, there was no doubt about that, he was my future boyfriend after all. It would just be a few flutter-causing smiles here and there, possibly a couple blushes. Nothing major, of course. It was just a small crush, right?

I told myself over and over again as we walked down the hill it was just a small crush. That's all it was. But gods was I ever wrong, and sadly, I knew it even from that point. It would never be just 'a tiny crush'. Percy was Percy, and there wasn't a chance in Hades a time I wouldn't fall for that boy. I was the definition of screwed. And it was only the beginning…