"Percy, come on!" Rachel whined.

I stumbled away from her, disgusted. Her breath smelled like liquor. I knew it was a bad idea coming with her to this bar. I knew it. I straightened out my jacket as I stomped outside, the cold whipping across my face like icicles. I heard the quick click-clack of Rachel's heels and walked faster. She grabbed me hand and spun me around to face her, never knew she had so much strength.

"Percy, I'm sorry." She said, crying. Her curly hair was in a ponytail. She was wearing a trench coat over a black dress.

I hate it when women cry. I really do. I felt a little sympathy. "Rachel, I forgive you." I said, hating myself.

She bit her lip, "I really didn't mean it, I was just caught up in the moment, and you look really hot, and I couldn't help but think, oh gods I need to kiss him and I really like you, I really do, but you're with Annabeth, I don't know why but you are and-"

She talking really fast, unfortunately, I understood every word. I couldn't help but let my face get a little warm as she said that. "Stop, Rachel. Annabeth's my girlfriend for a reason."

She looked like she was going to cry again, "So… All the feelings you use to have, they're gone?" she asked.

"Rachel! We're twenty-one now! Those feelings were over once I turned sixteen!" I almost yelled.

She was crying again. She was too drunk. "You never missed me?" She asked, choked up.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes, I didn't have one drop of alcohol, though the redhead had about ten cups. I don't know why she was drinking so much. I turned to her again, she was staring at me. "Rachel-" I started, but I didn't get to finish because her lips crashed into mine.

I almost fell back because of the force. I tried to pull away, but she pulled me closer. This kiss was different before. The first had been a peck, this one… Was much hungrier. I was too surprised to do anything, but slowly, I felt myself kissing back.

What the hell am I doing? I love Annabeth! I suddenly felt too much hatred towards Rachel to even think. I roughly parted myself from her and wiped my lips, I opened my mouth to yell at her, but I heard something else. A strangled yell. I spun around, there was Annabeth.

Her blonde hair was let loose, something she rarely does, and her gray eyes full of her hurt. Thalia had her arm scooped around hers, and was in shock. Annabeth's hand was covering her mouth and she looked like she was going to cry.

"Annabeth…" I said, but I couldn't think. I couldn't do anything except watch her eyes fill up with tears. I couldn't do anything but watch as she shook.

"Jackson." Thalia growled, furious.

Everything happened very slowly then. Annabeth took out the ring I gave her last night, the one no one knew about. We were going to tell everyone at dinner, which was supposed to be tomorrow. She studied it, looked back at me, and then at the ring. Thalia was screaming, I don't know what, I wasn't listening, but she was advancing on Rachel.

Annabeth asked me silently, why? I couldn't say anything. She shook her head, tears falling now, and let go of the ring. It seemed as if everything went silent and I only heard the ring hit the concrete.

Then everything was rushed. Thalia slapped Rachel, Annabeth pulled her away and practically ran down the busy New York street and disappeared through the crowd.

I felt as if I was sleepwalking.

"You liked it, didn't you?"

I never wanted to hit a girl as much as I did at that moment as Rachel touched my arm. I flinched from her touch and took off running in Annabeth's direction. I pushed several people out the way, almost got punched, but I had to get to Annabeth.

I couldn't find her. I sprinted all around town, but I couldn't find her. I was breathing heavily and sweat was going down my forehead, despite the November weather. I wiped out my phone and dialed a number. I called Annabeth 26 times already, this time I called Nico.

"What? I'm busy." He growled into the phone, although he sounded as if he was playing video games.

"I-Rachel-Kissed- Annabeth!" I said, though it came out illiterate because I was breathing too loudly.

"Rachel kissed Annabeth!" Nico yelled.

"No! Rachel kissed me, Annabeth saw!" I shouted, making the people around me winced and walk a little faster.

He cursed and made a lot of noises, "I'm heading out now." He told me to meet him at some bar.

It wasn't long before I got there, I sat on a stool and held my head; I had a huge headache. I couldn't stop thinking about Annabeth. Her dropping the ring made it clear enough, we're done. She practically tattooed it on my heart.

I ordered a coke. I finished with my first cup as Nico slid into the seat next to mine. "Vodka, with some lemon. Do you guys have food here? Like garlic bread? No? Okay, fine, sorry I asked." He grumbled to himself shortly before turning to me.

"What happened?" He asked, taking a sip out of his drink.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "I was out doing some errands. I saw Rachel. I haven't seen her in a while, so she wanted to have a drink and catch up. She was a little messed up, though. She had a bunch of drinks, I hardly took a sip. She was drunk. She kissed me, I left. I went outside; she apologized, but then kissed me again. I turn around and see Annabeth behind me."

He didn't say anything for a whole minute. "Did you do anything to make Annabeth believe the kiss was your fault?" He leaned in and asked me in a whisper, "Did you kiss her back?"

I didn't say anything. I did kiss back, I realized. Not only did I kiss back, I was into it. "I'm such a fucking moron!" I yelled and slammed my head on the wooden table. I groaned loudly, "Yes, I kissed her back."

"What the hell did you do it then? What the hell do you think was going to happen after you kissed her? Everything would go back to normal? You need to think these things, Percy! Were you not going to tell Annabeth? Were you going to kiss her, and then dump Annabeth for her?"

"No, no! Nico! I gave Annabeth a ring! I love her! I don't know why I did it, alright? She… seduced me." I said, disgusted with her, and myself.

"You shouldn't have kissed her back. I'm sure if it was Rachel that kissed you, and then you pushed her away, Annabeth would have forgiven you and beat the shit out of Rachel, but you kissed her back. I'm sorry, Perce, but you asked for it." He said, finishing up his drink.

I know he was telling the brutal truth, but I was angry. Angry at him, me, Rachel, Annabeth, and even Thalia. I took a deep, shaky breath. "What if I can change her mind? What if-"

"Percy, let her think right now. She just saw you kiss another girl, how do you think she feels? Give her some space." I must've looked pretty miserable, because her took a sharp breath and turned to the bartender. "One cup of your strongest drink, please."

In a matter of seconds a clear drink sat in front of me. "This for me?" I asked.

He nodded, "Drink. It'll help her forget about Annabeth for a while. Come on, you're better without her." He said, and then ordered another cup of Vodka.

I mixed the drink a little. I pretended that maybe this wasn't so bad, and maybe I wasn't so depressed. I couldn't even fool myself.

My phone vibrated. I took it out; it was a text from my mom. I caught sight of my background. It was Annabeth and me, drinking out of the same smoothie. My heart dropped. I looked at the drink and drank the whole thing in one shot.

I winced, man that is strong. I shivered a little and shook my head. "What the hell was that?" I asked, getting a bit of a headache. He shrugged. "A Corona, please?" I asked.

An hour later, I was drunk. I had about ten Coronas. A few other mixes, too. The world spun a bit. "I thought you said I would forget about her. Now I can't stop thinking about her!" I said, my words slow and jumbled.

I stood, with a little help of Nico. I paid for my drinks, well, more like I threw a large amount of money on the table. I grabbed a bottle and I left the bar, Nico trailing behind me. I walked down the street, talking nonsense about Annabeth, I don't even remember.

"Percy, where are you going?" Nico asked. I was walking pretty fast.

I shrugged. I suddenly had an idea. I put the bottle down and leaned against the wall for support. I couldn't think. I wasn't thinking. I took out my phone and started dialing Annabeth's number.

"Percy, you probably shouldn't do that…" Nico started.

"No, I know that-that if I talk some sense into her, she'll change her mind." I said, at least, what I thought I said. Nico didn't seem understand. "We'll forget all of this and get married and have babies and everything."

"You're crazy." He said, slipping his hands into his pockets.

After I finally put the right number, I put the phone to my ear, stumbling a little as the street started to angle downwards. "Not crazy, in love." I said, dizzily.

"Percy, stop calling me!" Annabeth screamed into the phone.

"Annabeth, please! I love you!" I said, my words slurred.

"You obviously don't if you out kissing Rachel, that stupid, dumb-"

"Annabeth! Please, please! I'm s-sorry! Take me back, I regret kissing her! I wish I never did." My words were slurred.

I heard nothing but silence on the other line.

Someone finally said something. "Percy, don't call her again." Thalia growled.

"Thalia? I love her!" I argued lamely, my brain slowly processing everything. I swear there was three different Nico's in front of me.

"Thalia?" He perked up a little.

The phone line went dead. Anger burst inside of me and I threw the phone to the ground. I took another large gulp out of the bottle and slid on my back onto the floor. "Percy, get up! Get a hold of yourself!" He said.

He lifted me up. God I was drunk. I couldn't walk straight. Thankfully I still had the bottle; I was surprised I still had it with me. I took another drink.

Nico was telling me something, I don't know. He was telling me to forget about her, but the mere thought of that almost brought tears to my eyes. I've known Annabeth almost all my life, we had so many memories. I couldn't imagine life without her.

I started yelling, about Annabeth. I was saying I couldn't forget her, and I won't. Nico tried to calm me down, that hardly worked.

I kept walking. Nico walked alongside with me, saying something that happened the other day, trying to get my mind off Annabeth. I finished the bottle now, and left it on the street. I slid my hands in my pockets, trying to get rid of my raging migraine; my drunken steps almost making me trip every now and then. We started going over a bridge that went above a large river. I stopped walking when I reached the middle. Nico kept on, not knowing I stopped.

I looked over the edge, my mind still jumbled into pieces. I set my hands on the railing and clenched them, looking down at the water below. Nothing. I'm nothing with Annabeth. She's my life; she's a part of me. Without her, I'm incomplete, with her, I'm nothing.

I swung my legs over the railing, sitting down. I looked down at the water. "Percy!" I heard Nico yell. "Are you fucking crazy?" He yelled, walking back towards me.

I shook my head, the water below blurring and un-blurring. I couldn't concentrate. I stood and felt weightless, only for a few seconds, and then I crashed into the water. The cold water put me into shock and I started freaking out. I was deep. I didn't have the energy to go up. My drunken mind wasn't up for it.

I felt my lungs tightened and struggled to hold my breath. I slowly felt like slipping into unconsciousness. Then I saw Annabeth. I looked curiously through the water. There she was, glowing, looking at me, a blank expression on her face. I reached out to her, but then I was abruptly pulled up up up and to the surface of the water.

I took a deep breath and choked trying to get more air into my lungs. I looked around surprised. Nico was dragging me back to the rocky shore. I collapsed on a large rock. Nico was shaking his head.

"That water is freezing! You are damn lucky I'm your best friend or you would've been dead right now! What were you thinking? You need to let her go, it's over! Hurting yourself isn't going to do anything!"

I was shaking from the cold. At least, I thought I was. I stumbled to stand, and then leaned over and vomited, the a bit of the alcohol leaving my body the hard way. We stayed there for a few minutes. I washed out my mouth with the river water and stood with Nico's help.

"I can't. Nico, she was everything to me." I said to him as he helped me get back on the sidewalk.

I felt a little better now that I didn't have all the liquor in my system. He didn't say anything. I realized I was dripping wet. "Percy, what we need to do now is get somewhere warm. I don't want to catch pneumonia." He said, talking to me like someone would to a little child that didn't know any better.

"Maybe…" I started, "If I go to her place… she'll see I'm mean it when I say I love her. She'll realize she made a mistake. If she sees how much I regret it, she'll take me back. Definitely." I said.

"No, Percy-"

"You're not going to stop me!" I yelled and walked away from him.

He didn't stop me.

I found myself on her street. I grabbed the railing of her stairs and with each step I had more and more doubts. My eyes were blurred, I struggled to find her doorbell, but I finally did and rang it three times. I knocked on her door until she opened.

She was wearing sweats. Her face was tear-streaked. She looked shocked that I was there. I put an arm on the door, trying not to fall.

I grabbed my hair with my hands, "AnnbetImsorry." I said, my swords slurred. I cursed, "I am sorry." I tried again, getting dizzy as I tried to focus on her.

"Have… Have you been drinking?" She asked, looking disgusted.

I nodded, "Yes, I have. Annabeth, I love you, I didn't mean what I did. Imanidiotyouansaidat." My words got more jumbled and harder to make sense of as I felt nauseated again and dazed.

Finally, I could see her clearly. "Save, Percy. I don't give second chances. For all I know it could happen again-"

"It won't though!" I yelled, my voice cracking. "I promise it won't, I promise. Please." I said, more softly now.

I grabbed the railing, my eyes sight turning black for a second. "You show up at my doorstep, drunk and you expect me believe anything you're saying?" She was trembling.

She studied me; she finally realized I was wet. "I tried drowning myself." I muttered.

"What?" She snapped.

"Why would you care, if you don't love me?" I said, not really understanding what I was saying.

"Get off my property." She growled, her eyes filling up with tears.

That damn near cried seeing her like that, knowing I caused that. "Annabeth, I'm in love with you. Tell me you feel the same way." I pleaded, dropping down to my knees.

She started at me. It felt like hours.

My knees hurt. I dropped rather hard.

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

She said nothing as she shut the door on my face.

Nothing.

The tears came out now.

I tripped over my own feet getting off her stairs and walking down the street, rubbing my eyes and trying not to pass out.

I approached a busy intersection. Although it was about one in the morning, plenty of cars were still out.

I stumbled onto the street, my black dots appearing everywhere, my vision blurring.

I jumped as I heard loud irritating beeping noises. "Percy!" I heard a yell. I spun around and saw Nico waving his arms like a mad man and running towards me. I turned around; a car was heading straight towards me, its headlights blinding me and making me stumble back a few feet. My knees buckled under me. The car connected and then I felt pain everywhere. I heard myself scream, but it sounded miles away. Then, nothing. The pain left as quick as it came. I felt nothing.