While I re-edit Born to Quit I offer this preview of a new story I work on. Enjoy.

Need You Now

Percy POV

Prologue

Friendships are relationships without sex. Think about it. I mean, think about it hard. In a friendship you give the mental support your beloved friend needs. The warm caresses when they need comfort. The soft heartwarming whispers of encouragement that only cause frowns to melt away and smiles to blossom.

It's hard to say that there's nothing relatable between friendships and ligament relationships. When you're a friend though with someone you're in love with—well then…my friend, you have been just put in the friend zone. Don't worry about it too much. You can always try to come out of it and win your friend's heart but with this decision you risk your friendship.

It's not like you can tell your friend you're in love with them and have it not be awkward between the both of you after it. This isn't something clique movie. If it was then I wouldn't be here giving you some piece of shit advice, written in some old journal I had when I had was ten years old, which I never put to good use. And before you say something idiotic and cruel I will tell you a little thing or two.

Guys can have journals, okay? Have you ever read 'Vampire Dairies' because Stefan Salvatore had a diary—I-I mean journal that he wrote in. Yeah, 'manly' vampires with 'hard' lives can have diaries too. I mean journals! Fuck. Let's just get back to my horrific love story. Hope you enjoy my terribly sad experiences in love and learn a few things from it.

My friendship with Luke Castellan was nothing too magically at first. We were just two guys hanging out. After a few years we became best friends. It took time for him to be able to feel comfortable with me. Luke didn't have many friends when he was young. He was extremely quiet and shy. It was I who got him to speak up for himself. I was the one that helped him escape the shyness, which had been slowly swallowing him whole. After a few years though, all his shyness was gone. He started smiling and became charming to everyone, giving them his 'special' smile. To be honest, I didn't think that smile was too special anyways, not when he was passing it to anyone who wanted it. I've seen his real special smile. It rarely comes out but when it did, I always felt my heart swell. It was impossible for someone to not be affected by it.

Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. Let's just go on.

Luke and I became inseparable after I helped him out. Nothing could come between us. A few years pasted without much changing. Luke and I were still best friends but as became older our lives took different turns. He was slowly heading left while I steady went right. We couldn't seem to relate anymore. Our friendship seemed to be falling apart. I began to focus in school more as I tried to get a scholarship. Luke became popular and our high school's number one football player. He was the opposite of what he had been years ago. The first few years of high school were bland because I no longer hung out with Luke. Of course I found new friends with the same ideals as me but all I wanted was the best friend I had when I was younger but it didn't seem like it was ever going to happen. I missed Luke until our last year in high school. We were brought together by Calculus-which is the hardest math class to pass. He needed helped on his homework and the teacher had him sit with me since I was one of his best students. After that moment we became best friends again.

When all the popular kids saw look hang out with me they were shocked. They all gave me sneers and ignored me whenever I was around. I felt bad for a while, making up excuses as to why I couldn't join Luke out when he asked. He quickly noticed what was happening and changed it, ignoring the people who ignored me. I was so damn happy when he did that. I couldn't believe that he would ditch the most beautiful girls in school for me. A nerd.

We graduated high school with good grades, mostly because I tutored Luke all the time. Not wanting to lose touch again we applied for the same college. Once we both got accepted into the college we moved into our own place, with the help of our family. Luke and I didn't know how much shit would fall apart once we started. The fact that we both wanted different careers wasn't what ruined things. We hung out when we could.

A few months later and I had discovered Luke starting seeing a girl name Annabeth Chase. She was gorgeous and smart, with big grey eye and strawberry blonde hair. Her skin was golden and her lips were the healthiest pink color. The girl was just magnificent in looks. Too bad her personality was the opposite of it. The blonde-haired girl had a tangency to talk down to others, as if it a privilege to even have a moment with her. I did not like her but Luke was happy and so I let my watch down. What a bad move that was. Just a few months into the relationship and they had starting fighting. Luke always came back to our apartment with teary eyes. It hurt to watch him get that way but whenever I tried to help him he would back away. He avoided me for days when I told him to leave her. So I stopped telling him what to do, hoping he would make the right decisions in the end.

She made Luke happy and I was good with that. But then things got bad. They were fighting and Annabeth started cheating. That's what broke Luke the most. The cheating was what made him become an alcoholic. He kept drinking and drinking, washing his emotions away with alcohol. I didn't know him anymore. I told him to stop and think of his family. He told me to fuck off. It was me though that convinced him to stop. It was me that helped him. It was me that made him strong again. Once he was strong enough to resist the temptation for alcohol he broke up with Annabeth. I was glad. She didn't deserve him. He only focused on school after that. We both graduated after a few years. Everything was good for a while. But Annabeth came back into Luke's life. She still cheated and Luke refusing to turn to the bottle called me one night. He called me and begged me to go over. I went over as fast as I could. I knew that he needed me. When I was finally at his place I was broken. I was broken because there Luke was crying like he never cried before. He wrapped his arms around me and didn't let go. I held him, with tears in my eyes. Never had I seen Luke so sad. My hatred for Annabeth was fueled by this.

"You can't be with her. You can't let her hurt you." I told Luke, rubbing his back softly.

He sobbed into my neck, his tears running down my neck to my shirt. His warm breath touched my skin, making goose bumps form. My heart was slowly breaking. It was painful to watch him go through so much pain for her.

"I-I-I know but I love her." He said, his voice cracking lightly at the end.

I don't know why but at that time my heart broke completely. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I swallowed the sob that wanted to come out of me. I had to be strong for Luke. I couldn't let him see me break, not when he was starting to crumble.

"You don't love her, Luke. You're just scared to be alone."

"I don't know, Percy."

"Break up with her. Break up with her or I'm leaving. I can't watch you like this, not anymore." I tell him, not knowing where exactly I got the courage from.

"Percy, you're my best friend. We've been best friends since we were kids. You can't leave me. I need you." Luke said, his lips trembling as he pulled away to look him in the face.

I shake my head, ignoring my mind which screamed for me to stay. I stood up and started walking to the door, a weak sigh leaving my lips. I couldn't do this. Before I could reach the doorknob a strong hand wrapped around my wrist. I don't turn around because I know that if I do I will go back to Luke. I will go back and silently watch him suffer. It's almost impossible for me to deny him, to deny those magnificent sapphire eyes he had.

"Hello, Annabeth. We're fucking done. Don't ever see me again. I hate you." Luke hisses from behind me.

I hear a phone close after that. I turn my head and look at Luke, my eyes surely wider than normal. The smile he gives me tells me more than I needed to know. His smile always does. In that moment I knew I could never truly love anyone but Luke. It would be crazy of me to lie to myself and try to believe that Luke was nothing special. He was special. He had always been special to me...

"I rather lose a girl than my best friend. I lost you once. I won't lose you again."

I knew right then that Luke Castellan had my heart. That he always had it. I turn my whole body to face him and I smile as well. Luke walks towards me and hugs me close. I feel his chest rise and fall. I feel his heart pound against his chest. I take in Luke's scent with greed. I lightly have my lips touch his neck but Luke doesn't notice. My lips tingle as I pull away from the hug. Luke stops me though. He holds me by the shoulders. I stare into his blue eyes, into the eyes that I've grown to love. He pulls me slowly towards him until there's a small amount of space between us. Our breaths come together and without any notice our lips touch. The kiss brings a gasp out me but I kiss him back. I close my eyes and kiss Luke with all my might. Luke moans into the kiss and has his tongue swipe my bottom lip. I open my mouth and my mouth is soon invaded with Luke's tongue. After a while of kiss we pull away. I take in a deep breath of air and look closely at Luke, trying to make sure he wasn't regretting the kiss. I don't see anything in his eyes though. There was no visible emotion. It was then in that moment I had lost my Luke. I had lost Luke Castellan.

Due to my sudden departure I will not request a requirement of reviews for any of my past stories until they are close to the ending. I apologize for the long wait.

P.S. I could care less if some of you find me 'disrespectful' or whatever the hell else some of you want to say. I have a right to speak my mind when a person wants to ask a stupid question. Stupid questions get nasty, sarcastic answers; especially when they disrespect the author/person first.

- Tatiana