A.N. This is a story that I started writing and planning out about three-four years ago. I didn't feel comfortable posting it then and I completely forgot about it until last week, when I was looking through a folder of fanfic ideas. I reworked the first chapter a bit and decided to post it. Please tell me if the story is worth continuing.

I also want to make clear from the start that this story revolves around themes of child abuse. It's a topic I take very seriously and that I want to portray respectuflly and tastefully, which is why this story won't contain any graphic or detailed descriptions of the abuse itself. I'll keep the rating at a T level for now. Don't hesitate to tell me if you believe the rating should be higher or if you believe anything scene to be potentially triggering so I can add warnings when needed.

Please enjoy and leave me some feedback!

Annabeth always started her mornings in the same way. Unlike a lot of her peers, she liked waking-up early in the mornings to have plenty of time to get dressed for school and enjoy some quiet reading time. Unfortunately, this quiet time was often cut short.

"Annabeth!" a voice called.

"What?" replied Annabeth, as she flipped the pages of her architecture textbook. When her stepmother didn't reply, the teen sighed and closed her book before walking down the stairs, annoyed. I hate it when she does that, she thought.

"What?" she said again, as she came face to face with her stepmother.

"I have to go to work early this morning to make all the preparations for my meeting. Can you make sure Bobby and Matthew get to school alright?" The older woman grabbed her purse and quickly checked the time on her watch.

"Sure, whatever," Annabeth said.

The older woman frowned a bit before shaking her head. As she left she uttered a: "Thank you, sweetheart."

Annabeth felt herself twitch. She and her father's wife didn't get along very well, and certainly not for lack of trying. Mrs. Chase tried very hard to act as motherly to her stepdaughter as she did with her born children, but most of her attempts came across as forced and insecere. In turn, Annabeth tried to be pleasant and polite, which made all their interactions stilted and awkward. Annabeth almost had an easier time dealing with the twins, who constantly interrupted her study sessions and liked to throw gum in her hair. Trying to get them to school on time, without making herself late would be a near-impossible task.

"Bobby! Matthew" she screamed. "Time to get ready for school." No replies came from upstairs. Sighing, Annabeth starting climbing up the stairs, mentally preparing herself as one would when stepping into combat.

An hour later, she had finally succeeded at dropping off the boys and she hurried to reach her best friend's house. As she was a bit late, she wasn't surprised to see him sitting on the front steps of his apartment building, all jittery, though he smiled as he recognized her car. Grabbing his backpack, he opened the passenger door and slid into the car. He opened his mouth, but Annabeth interrupted.

"I know, I know. I'm late. The twins again." She glanced at him, making sure he had put on the security belt before moving the car.

"Oh sure," Percy replied exaggeratedly. "Blame the poor little fellaws who aren't even here to defend themselves!"

"Shut up," said Annabeth whose lips twitched into a small smile.

Percy was the happiest guy Annabeth knew. His smiles were always the brightest, his laughs the loudest, and his eyes had this permanent mischievous twinkle, which made it impossible to not be happy around him. If she hadn't known better, she would've believed that he thought everything was a joke. But she had noticed the way he slightly recoiled when offered alcohol at parties and the way his body tensed up when the topic of family came up. He also could not stand bullies.

They had been friends for four years now. They had had a common friend in Grover, a kid whose legs had been permanently damaged in a car accident when he was young and had to use crutches to get around. Many kids had liked to taunt him for that. One day, some kid had taken one of Grover's crutches and dared Grover to walk and get it. Percy, who'd only been at that school for a week, had marched over through the small crowd that had gathered, grabbed the crutch and punched the guy in the face, before getting Grover back on his feet. Impressed, Annabeth had congratulated him for his intervention though she made a point of criticizing his form, stating that he shouldn't cover this thumb when throwing punches. A frail friendship had formed between the three of them, but they really got close when Percy had been accused of stealing The Lightning Bolt, a painting, which had been donated to the school by a rich alumnus. Annabeth and Grover had been one of the few to believe him innocent, and together, the three friends had undertook an investigation that eventually led to the real thief. Since then, the three had been inseparable.

"But seriously, if you continue to be late like this I might just have to..." He shuddered. "...take the bus!"

Annabeth gasped in a melodramatic fashion. "No, not the bus! Percy, no! I could never forgive myself!"

They both laughed, though Percy did have a point about her lateness and Annabeth resented having had to drop her brothers off. Since Annabeth had gotten her driving licence, her dad and stepmom had starting to rely on her more and more to run errands, and to drive her little brothers around, whether it was to drop them off at school or at a friend's house, or to pick up from one of the gazillion extracurricular activities they had signed up for. Her licence no longer represented freedom or independence, but rather responsibilities and family obligations. She almost envied Percy whose birthday was in the summer, which meant he'd have to wait a few more months before being able to take the test.

When they finally arrived, Annabeth parked the car and she and Percy ran inside, before heading off to their respective classes.

At lunch time, she sat at her usual table and was soon joined by her friends. Despite his crutches, Grover had managed to snatch the first batch of enchiladas, the entire batch in fact. Annabeth shook her head, amused.

"Got enough to eat there, G-Man?" said Jason as he sat down beside him, his girlfriend, Piper, soon following.

"Hey, don't judge now. I'm a growing boy, and I need all the energy I can get!" replied Grover.

"If you say so, bro."

The group were soon joined by Leo, Hazel and Frank, who by accident, seemed to share all the same classes. Annabeth, who shared almost no classes with any of their group due to being enrolled in many AP classes, envied their luck.

"Hey Jason," said Annabeth. "Where's Percy? You had Ancient Greek history before lunch together, right?"

"Oh, Mr Brunner wanted to speak with him after class. Hey Grover, are you really going to eat all that?"

"Hum, maybe."

They all rolled their eyes at Grover's answer. The boy could eat a surprising amount of food, but he did have a tendency to order so much food even he couldn't eat it all. He usually ended up giving his leftovers to Percy, who almost always forgot to bring his lunch money.

Speaking of the wolf…

"Hey guys!"

"Hey!" they all replied, nodding or waving at Percy as he grabbed an enchilada out of Grover's plate and sat down. Leo tried to take one as well, but one look from Grover made it known that to do so would be a fatal mistake. Leo gulped.

"You'd think that by now, you'd know that only Percy can pull that off," said Hazel.

"Yeah, why is that?" Asked Frank.

Percy smiled mischievously. "Maybe I'm just that awesome," he suggested.

They all snorted, except Annabeth who looked at Percy intently. His cheeks had coloured a bit and he'd hunched his shoulders, almost as if he was embarrassed.

"You wish," said Grover. "Nah, I'm just taking pity on you. I mean, with that seaweed brain of yours, you need all the help you can get!"

"Perce, what did Mr. Brunner want to talk to you about?" Jason asked once the laughter had died down.

"Oh, not much. Just some new info regarding the next swim meet."

Annabeth frowned, noticing that Percy's shoulder had tensed ever so subtly, but before she could ask anymore information, Leo banged his hands against the table.

"Aw, come on you guys! That's gross!" he exclaimed.

Hazel and Frank had started kissing. Ever since they had gotten together last month, they couldn't seem to take their hands off each other. It was sweet at first, but it did start to get annoying.

"Let them be, Leo! They're cute!" said Piper.

"Like you can talk! Jason and you are almost just as bad!"

"Are not!" protested Jason.

"Are too!" replied Leo.

Annabeth and Percy shared a look, both grinning despite themselves.

"Looks like we didn't miss anything after all, Nico! For the record, Leo's right, you're both equally as bad," said a new comer.

"You don't even know what we're talking about Thalia," said Jason.

"We don't need to," snorted Nico, who had arrived with Thalia. "With you guys, it's always the same thing."

Nico was the youngest of the group, but he liked to think of himself as the most mature. Which, to be fair, thought Annabeth, was mostly true. The group chatted on for a while and too soon lunchtime was over. Though she usually liked to be the first to arrive in class, she took her time to pick up her things, wanting to talk a bit more with Percy.

"So, what's up with the next meet?" she asked.

"Uh?" Percy narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"The info Mr Brunner wanted to give you that couldn't wait till swimming practice?"

"Oh right. Well, there's this guy coming to our next meet, scouting for candidates for sponsorships and stuff and… well, Mr Brunner said that if I keep on training the way I do, I might have a chance at it," he said, in an extremely casual sort of tone for a guy who lived for swimming.

"Percy, that's great!" exclaimed Annabeth. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a quick hug. "I'm so proud of you! I mean… I know it hasn't happened yet, but you're definitely the best swimmer on the team!"

"Yeah…" said Percy, without enthusiasm. "We better hurry to class or we'll be late. See you later!" He hurried off, leaving Annabeth behind. She frowned, but hurried her step when she heard the warning bell, resolving to talk with her friend properly at the end of the day.

Percy had swimming practice after school, which usually meant that he'd grabbed the city bus to get home since Annabeth preferred to get home early to get on with her chores. On weekdays she was often expected to help with dinner, sometimes preparing it herself if her dad and stepmother were too busy. That night, however, the twins had a soccer practice and her parents usually liked to tag-along and had dinner together. Annabeth was sometimes hurt when her family shared moments like these together without her. It seemed to highlight the obvious - Annabeth did not belong with them. That night however, she was thankful for the reprieve as it enabled her to sit in on the swim team practice.

It was always a pleasure to see Percy in the water. He seemed at ease in a way he never was on land, his movement fluid and graceful, like he was made of water himself. He seemed to encounter no resistance as he zoomed from one end of the pool to the other. Mr. Brunner seemed to be frowning a bit however as he looked at the chronometer. He beckoned him over and they talked, too low and too far for Annabeth to get a sense of what they were talking about. She did notice that after their talk, Percy had squared his shoulders and returned to his laps with renewed vigour. He was the last once to exit the water when Mr. Brunner declared the end of practice.

"Hey Percy," called Annabeth when he exited the changing room. "Nice job in there! Are you sure you aren't half fish? I swear, you seem to get faster every time I see you in the water."

Percy smiled lightly, before frowning. "That's not what coach is saying. He says I still need to shave off 1.8 seconds off my time to have a shot at the championship and to impress the sponsorship guy. I haven't done any progress on my time in a while."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough. You work so hard, Percy. Just continue like that and I'm sure you'll get to where you want in time for the competition." Annabeth truly believed it too, but Percy's eyes refused to meet hers. His head was laying low and his next words were close to whispers.

"It's just… I've other things on my mind right now."

"Like what?"

"I...I kinda lied earlier. Mr. Brunner didn't just want to talk to me about the sponsorship," he signed. "I guess I haven't been doing that well in his class and he's worried."

"But I thought Greek history was your best class."

"It was… I guess I stopped seeing the point of it."

"Percy…"

"It's fine. I'll have to study extra hard for the next test that's all."

"I can help you study if you want! I could go over to your place after class tomorrow and…"

"No," Percy interrupted quickly. "I mean, I really appreciate the offer, but you're taking like five AP classes and you have to help your brothers… I wouldn't like to put you out."

"Put me out? Percy, if I say I want to help, then I really don't mind."

"Well, I mind," he said harshly. "Can we go now? I have homework to do."

Annabeth was taken aback by Percy's tone and didn't say anything more. She headed towards the car and got in. She slammed her door and didn't say a word as she drove Percy home. The entire ride was tense and quiet, the opposite of the easy banter they had enjoyed that morning. She arrived at Percy's apartment and he stepped out of the car, but only turned to look at him when she sensed his hesitation. He was holding the passenger door but had yet to close it.

"Look, Annabeth, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine." He smiled hesitantly, as if to prove there wasn't anything wrong. Annabeth repressed a snort. She was far from convinced.

"I can be worried when you're snapping at me for no reason."

Percy lowered his head. "Sorry. Hum, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

Percy met her eye and grinned. "Don't be late!"

"Oh shut up," replied Annabeth, laughing.

Percy finally closed the door and Annabeth drove back home, quickly made herself a sandwich and resolved to get as much work as possible before the return of the two terrors, though she could not quiet the thought that something was going on with her friend.