***This story takes place during the fall of Annabeth and Percy's senior year. There will be a second chapter that will be up late next week. Also, the usual disclaimer, the characters and all don't belong to me, I'm just borrowing them for a bit.***

If forced to pinpoint when the issue arose, Annabeth probably would have said late October, when she got her acceptance letter. In retrospect, maybe she should have waited, but it never occurred to her that she would get a letter before him. Or that she would get one and he wouldn't. So when Percy opened the apartment door and she threw her arms around him and practically squealed, "It came!" she fully expected him to say, "Mine, too," not "Um, what did?"

Annabeth took a step back and held out the open envelope. "My University of New Rome acceptance letter. Didn't—didn't you get yours today, too?"

Percy's eyes widened. "Oh sweet. I don't know, I never check the mail. Hey, Mom?" He walked into the kitchen and Annabeth followed him to see Sally sliding a lasagna into the oven. "Did I get any mail today?"

"I don't think so, sweetheart. Why? Oh, hello, Annabeth." Sally greeted Annabeth with a kind smile as she closed the oven door. "What do you have there, dear?"

"Acceptance letter from the University of New Rome." Annabeth held it up again. "I figured Percy's came today, too."

Percy was flipping through a pile of mail on the counter, but came up empty. "Nothing yet."

Annabeth and Sally exchanged the slightest of fleeting glances, then Sally said, "I'm sure it'll be here soon, then."

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed. "They probably just go in alphabetical order or something and Chase comes before Jackson."

"Probably." A tiny wrinkle of worry crossed Percy's forehead, but it vanished the next second when he smiled. He stepped closer and gave her a big hug. "Congratulations, Wise Girl. One step closer, right?"

"Mmhm." Annabeth held onto Percy for as long as she dared with Sally standing right there, trying to impart some silent reassurance. When she stepped back and met his eyes, he seemed fine, and she returned his smile.

"Congratulations, Annabeth." Sally gave her a hug as well. "You're staying for dinner, right?"

"Thanks, Sally. And sure, I'd love to."

"Wonderful. The lasagna should be ready in about," she checked the oven timer, "forty-five minutes."

"Awesome. Then we have time to go over your flashcards again for tomorrow's vocab test, Seaweed Brain." Percy groaned loudly, but he let Annabeth take his hand and pull him into the living room, where the couch was partly concealed by the pile of textbooks stacked on the coffee table.

The rest of the night was fine. They'd all been sure Percy's letter would arrive later that week.

Except it didn't. It didn't arrive the next week either. Percy didn't mention it and Annabeth didn't ask. She figured when it showed up, he would tell her. She wasn't ready to consider what they would do if it never came. Although she would absolutely not be going to New Rome alone. This had all been Percy's idea. No way would she leave him behind. But she couldn't figure out the hold up. He'd been a praetor, after all, even if it was only briefly. Surely they had to let him in. Even if it was an issue with grades or attendance, well, he was a demigod. If any college was going to understand that, it had to be the University of New Rome. When her second letter arrived, explaining about New Rome's connections at UC Berkeley for certain programs, like architecture, and congratulating her on being accepted into UC Berkeley's program, Annabeth kept it to herself.

For a few days, anyway. Until the next Monday, when Percy stopped at her dorm after swim practice so she could help him with his pre-calculus homework. Patience wasn't her strong suit, but Annabeth was trying her best, especially since she could tell Percy really was working hard to understand the material. However, after a frustrating half hour, they'd only completed two problems, and Percy was clenching his jaw as he erased his mistakes on the third problem for a fifth time.

"Look," Annabeth said, fighting to keep the irritation out of her voice, "the concept is the same on this problem as the previous two. You just have to make some adjustments for—"

"I know," Percy said tightly. "You've said that three times."

"Then why do you keep—" Annabeth took a deep breath. As gently as she could, she pulled his textbook and notebook towards her, then tugged the pencil out of his hand. "Just watch me again. And pay attention."

"I've been paying attention."

"Extra attention." Using one of the practice problems from the book, Annabeth demonstrated again how to solve the equation. Halfway through the problem, she glanced over at Percy to find his brow was furrowed in concentration as he frowned intently at the paper, watching her work. He really was trying. Even though she knew how much he hated the subject. Just like that, her frustration evaporated. With a renewed burst of energy, Annabeth went back to explaining the problem, but this time trying to phrase the information in a fresh way that she hoped would resonate better with her boyfriend.

And it must have worked because when she reached the spot he'd been struggling with, Percy quietly said, "Oh," like realization had just struck. Then, taking the pencil out of her hand and pulling the notebook back over to his lap, he started scribbling, working through the rest of the problem. "So I need to do this part first, then figure out the rest of it, right?"

"Exactly." Annabeth patted his knee. "See, I knew you could figure it out."

"Don't get too excited yet," Percy said as he moved from the practice problem back to his actual homework. "I've still got seven more of these stupid things to go."

But they made progress through two more problems before he had to stand up to sharpen his pencil.

"I keep telling you to use mechanical pencils," Annabeth said, taking the opportunity to stretch her arms and twist the kinks out of her back. "Then you wouldn't have this problem."

"You still have to add the new lead sometimes, though," Percy pointed out. "Nothing's perfect."

Annabeth rolled her eyes as Percy dug his pencil sharpener out of his backpack. While he was working on that, she checked over the next couple of problems. "Okay, these next ones are a different type of equation, but honestly, if you got those first few, these shouldn't be too bad." When Percy didn't answer, Annabeth looked up. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she realized he was looking at her second letter from New Rome, which was lying open on her desk. "Oh, um, yeah, that came the other day."

"So you're going to be taking classes at UC Berkeley, too?"

Annabeth tucked her hair behind her ear. "I think so. They have an agreement with New Rome, so that demigods can get mortal credits and credentials, too. It gives more job opportunities."

"You told me that back in September, when we were looking into the programs," Percy said carefully. "When you were putting your portfolio together. Why didn't you tell me you got in?"

"It just came the other day, so I hadn't had a chance yet," Annabeth said, knowing it was a lame excuse.

Percy gave her a disbelieving look. "Annabeth, you said this would be your first choice program, even if it wasn't connected to New Rome. Aren't you excited?"

"I mean, yeah, of course I am."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I was going to. I just figured…" She exhaled, then admitted, "I was just waiting until you get your acceptance letter."

Percy's expression was inscrutable, which Annabeth didn't like. Usually it was easy for her to tell what he was thinking. After a couple long moments, he said quietly, "You don't have to cover stuff up to spare my feelings, Annabeth. I don't want that."

"That wasn't…" She stopped and bit her lip. "Fine. Sorry. I should have told you."

"It's okay." Percy smiled tentatively. "So…classes at UC Berkeley? Going to college to be an architect? I mean, I know redesigning Olympus was your dream job, but this is pretty great, right?"

Annabeth returned the smile. "Yeah. It'll be cool to actually learn more about different kinds of designs and techniques and everything. I'm really excited."

Percy sank back onto the bed beside her and kissed her cheek. "You've earned it. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks." She curled her fingers around his wrist. "It's going to be great when we're out there together."

"Uh-huh." He pulled his hand away to grab his math textbook again, his pencil clutched in his other hand like a sword. "Alright. Let's finish these Tartarus-cursed problems."

An hour later, his homework was done, and Percy said he thought he understood the concept well enough to pass his quiz in the morning. When Annabeth walked him down to the front door, he gave her a big hug. "Thanks for all the help. And congratulations." He kissed her temple. "You're awesome."

She smiled into his shirt, but there was definitely some tension and distance between them, and she wasn't sure what to say to make it go away. She knew he was genuinely happy for her, but there was also the increasingly uncomfortable fact of his lack of an acceptance letter hanging over them. "Everything's going to work out, Percy. I promise."

"Sure." Percy's smile looked a little forced. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "See you tomorrow."

When she got back up to her room, Annabeth sat at her desk, studying her two acceptance letters, and thinking. Then, she opened her laptop and started doing some research.

Although he'd said he was fine, Percy was unusually distant and quiet over the next few days. Finally, on Thursday, Annabeth decided that was enough. She'd stayed late at the school library to finish some homework, but instead of heading to her dorm afterwards, she took the subway to the Upper East Side. She met Paul on the street outside the apartment building.

"Hi, Annabeth." He smiled warmly at her. "I didn't know you were coming over tonight."

"I thought I'd surprise Percy," she replied. "It's been a stressful week."

"Tell me about it." Paul heaved a sigh. "I caught two separate students plagiarizing essays this week."

"Seriously?" Annabeth asked as Paul let them into the building and gestured for her to go first through the door.

"Seriously. They put off writing their papers until the last minute, then realized it takes time and effort to actually do research. Unfortunately, it happens almost every year." He shook his head, then asked, "How are your classes going?"

While they walked up the steps, Annabeth told him about the Shakespeare play her class was reading, and the project she was completing over it. Paul listened carefully, then made some really good suggestions of ways she could continue to develop the analytical part of the assignment. Annabeth thanked him as they reached the apartment and he unlocked the door.

Inside, Percy's voice could be heard coming from the kitchen. "It's just frustrating, Mom. I swear I'm trying my best, but I'm still just barely getting by. And what if I don't ever get—"

"Honey, you're doing fine." Sally's soothing voice floated down the hall. "I know how hard you've been working. Paul sees how hard you've been working. I'm sure Annabeth does, too. The only thing that matters is that you keep trying your best. Everything else will work out."

"I guess." Percy sounded resigned, and when Annabeth followed Paul into the kitchen, she saw her boyfriend slumped against the counter, his entire posture defeated. However, he perked up when he spotted her, his shoulders straightening and a surprised but pleased smile flickering across his lips. As Paul crossed the kitchen to greet his wife, Percy walked over to Annabeth. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd surprise you." She shrugged, then took his hand, adding quietly, "I missed you."

Percy's expression softened. He quickly kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you're here."

Sally invited Annabeth to join them for dinner. Although that genuinely hadn't been Annabeth's plan (she'd intended to ask Percy to go out for pizza), she was happy to accept the invitation. Because Sally's cooking really was the best.

Percy's mood seemed to improve at dinner. Food did usually cheer him up. But he was still quieter than normal. Even when he and Annabeth were doing the dishes together afterwards, he didn't say much. Occasionally he would glance over at her and smile, but it never quite reached his eyes.

"Do you have homework?" she asked as she finished drying the last pan while Percy rinsed the soap bubbles out of the sink.

"Of course." There was a bitter note in his voice that she hadn't heard very often. His shoulders slumped again. "All I do lately is homework. Or go to tutoring. Or work on SAT prep."

"Well at least that's done," Annabeth offered as she put the pan in a cabinet. "Since you already took the test again."

"Uh-huh." Percy squeezed out the kitchen sponge, then wiped down the counter with somewhat unnecessary force. "Assuming I did any better this time."

"I'm sure you did fine, Percy," Annabeth said softly. She wished she knew what to say or do to wipe the discouraged expression off his face. But as well as she knew him, this felt like uncharted territory. She'd never really seen him this dejected. Even when things were going badly on quests, Percy somehow always managed to find a sliver of hope or determination. But now, he seemed really defeated. And it hurt to see. While he was standing at the sink rinsing out the sponge, Annabeth stepped forward and hugged him, forehead pressed against his shoulder blade. Percy stiffened briefly in surprise, then he relaxed. Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Finally, reluctantly, Annabeth said, "Homework."

She felt his sigh. "Fine. Better get it over with."

Since Sally and Paul were watching TV in the living room, Percy and Annabeth were allowed to work in Percy's room, for less distractions. Although Sally did make a point of saying, "Leave the door open." Annabeth had finished all her work for the moment, so she sat cross-legged on the bed doodling building designs in her notebook while Percy sat beside her, hunched over Paul's laptop and scowling at the screen as he worked on an essay for his English class. Annabeth had read the novel his essay was over for her own class last spring, so occasionally he asked her questions about it and she did her best to answer.

"You know what would be awesome?" Percy grumbled.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"If the frickin' letters wouldn't get all jumbled on me." He glared at his essay. "Half of the words in this essay have that stupid red squiggly 'hey, moron, you spelled this wrong' line under them."

"That's what my essays usually look like, too," she said sympathetically. "We can't help dyslexia. Paul or your mom will help you proofread it, won't they?"

"They will. I just wish they didn't have to." Percy shook his head. "Never mind. Doesn't matter. Hey, do you remember if that scene outside the jail ties into the theme I'm writing about? I still need another half a page, so I figured I could talk about that, if it fits."

Because it was a school night, Annabeth had to leave earlier than normal. Percy was actually still in the process of finishing his essay, but he took a break to walk her to the door. She said good-bye to Sally and Paul, who were still in the living room, and thanked Sally for dinner. Percy stepped into the hall with her, closing the apartment door behind him.

"I'm glad you came over tonight," he said. "Even if I wasn't much fun."

"It's okay." Annabeth wanted to say something reassuring, but she didn't know what. "At least I got to help you with your essay. Which you probably need to go finish."

"Probably." Percy kissed her cheek. "See you later, Annabeth."

It was only when she was nearly back to her dorm that she realized what was bothering her. Except for a few rare instances, mostly from when they first started dating, Percy always kissed her good night or good-bye on the lips. Unease settled over Annabeth's shoulders. She'd hoped that stopping by tonight would help to bridge the distance she was starting to feel between them, but apparently she hadn't been successful. It's just the stress, she told herself. Everything will be fine once Percy gets his acceptance letter. And if it didn't come…Annabeth was working on a plan for that, too. Which was why she stayed up a little later than she'd planned to do some more research.

***Thanks for reading! Chapter 2 will be up next week.***