Okay guys! I know I haven't updated in ages and I'm really sorry about that but in my defence I was in Italy visiting family! (more like sitting there with no idea what anyone is saying) I will update my other PJO story sometime in the next two weeks (I would do it sooner but my school has exams all week and I have to study - ugh Maths…) This is a canon story - hoping everyone in the HoO survives that is - and will have different O.C.s from my other story. And as you will probably have gathered it is a reading the books story. I will probably do The Blood of Olympus when it comes out next year and I will not be able to hold in my HoH feels until then so this story is born! This has been a very long A/N so I will just get on with the story now. It's going to start with the reunion between Percy and Sally/Paul and then skip to the middle of the school year when Percy and Annabeth are seventeen. On we go! :)

Percy stepped out of the airport in New York, one of his arms wrapped around Annabeth (as had become usual since they had gotten back form Tartarus). He didn't have any luggage considering it's kind of hard to get your clothes off a giant burning ship. Leo had only just managed to get Festus' head off in time.

Thanks to Hermes, they made it through customs fairly quickly and were about to enter the arrivals bay where there were families waiting to pick up the plane's passengers when Annabeth stopped him.

'Percy.' she said, putting a hand on his arm. 'I just need to warn you, your mother may be a little surprised at first, so try not to act too distant, okay?'

Ever since the seven had defeated Gaea in Greece a few days ago, Percy and Annabeth had been only with each other and acted hostile to anyone else. They were both too stubborn to accept anyone's pity and refused to acknowledge any sympathies - no one would possibly be able to know what they had gone through done there in hell.

The couple had been informed that Sally and Paul as well as Annabeth's mortal family would be waiting for them on the other side of that gate. So, Annabeth decided to warn Percy not to be too unenthusiastic after not seeing his mother after nearly a year.

Percy smiled sadly and said, 'I know, but it's my mom - she can bring a smile out of anyone. Besides, if we don't get our there soon, she's gonna barrel through security and demand to know what's holding her little boy up.'

Annabeth chuckled and they continued their way through the throngs of excited tourists. The young couple reached the doors leading to their families and paused.

'Ready?' Percy asked. Annabeth took his hand and whispered, 'Ready.'

They pushed the doors open and were immediately assaulted with the sight of a brown-haired woman that looked like she hadn't slept in days. Sally was simply staring at Percy before they both rushed forward at the same time and he pulled his mother into a warm embrace. She pulled back after a few rib-crushing moments, looked her only son in the eyes and promptly said he needed a haircut before bursting into tears.

Paul came up behind them and wrapped an arm around his wife before grinning at Percy and Annabeth.

'You two are a sight for sore eyes.' he said, before pulling the teens into a big hug. They both new this was not true. After the war they had both come back with many new scars and bruises, and a deep haunted look in their eyes, courtesy of Tartarus.

Sally had started babbling, like she always did when she wanted to fill silences. 'When you called I was so happy, and relieved, and sad all at the same time, and when you asked if Annabeth could stay with us and you actually thought we would say no especially after what you'd just been through-' Paul cut her off.

'What she means to say is that we missed you a lot more than should be humanly possible.'

Sally had grabbed hold of Percy once again and was just in the midst of threatening him to never leave her side again when someone cleared their throat behind them. The teens to find Frederick Chase standing there with Helen (A/N is that her name? Oh well…), Matthew and Bobby.

They stared at each other for a while when Annabeth decided to just get it over with. She squared her shoulders and stepped forward, Percy keeping his hand in hers the whole time. Frederick eyed this and frowned but wisely kept his mouth shut.

'Hi, Dad.'

'Annabeth.' He breathed out. He stepped forward but Annabeth held up her hand.

'As much as it's great to see you Dad, I can't do it.' she leaned back onto Percy for support when her father had the saddest look in his eyes. 'I know that you want me to move back in with you in San Francisco, but I'm staying here,' Frederick's eyes softened with understanding and then confusion as she added, 'but not at camp. Dad, I'm staying with Percy.'

Shock registered on his features before they were quickly replaced by anger towards the boy that his only daughter loved. Helen was glaring at Percy who stood there unaffected with one arm around his mother and the other keeping him connected to Annabeth.

'But Annabeth! We haven't seen you in so long since you moved to New York, and I don't know how I'd feel about you staying in the same place as your boyfriend,' he said this word with disgust. 'I don't know what happened to you in Greece and I don't really want to know but we just want you to come home.' Frederick said desperately.

Annabeth shook her head.

'I need to stay, Dad. You don't want to know what happened to me? Fine. But unless Percy is there to calm me down, you'll hear my screaming in the night and you'll see it in my flashbacks. Right now, you are just not enough.' she sighed. 'I'm sorry Dad. I love you, but it's probably best you leave.'

He stood there dumbstruck for a few moments longer before Helen dragged him away, Matthew and Bobby lingering for a few seconds more, giving Annabeth a sad glance before following their parents.

Her emotional resolve crumbling, she turned in Percy's arms and leaned into his chest, bringing her still-too-thin arms around his waist. She counted to ten slowly in her head before she trusted herself to look at Sally and Paul again. Their smiles were laced with sadness but Sally tried her best to sound upbeat.

'Let's get you guys home, huh? From the looks of you, we need to get some food in you fast.' And with that the small family walked out of the airport to where the still-dented blue Prius waited for them.

'Morning, mom.' Percy said with a yawn as he came out of he and Annabeth's bedroom. (The only way to stop the nightmares was to stay together - get your mind's out of the gutters.)

'Morning, honey. Are you ready to go back to Goode? Paul managed to get you and Annabeth all the same classes.' Sally said as she slid some blue pancakes onto a plate and pushed them over to him. Annabeth came out of their room, fully dressed with a backpack over her shoulder and took Percy's plate away from him. He whined when she smirked but Annabeth only rolled her eyes and said, 'If you don't want to be late and make Paul late, then you have to get ready before you eat. And don't bother with the puppy dog eyes - they aren't going to work this time.'

Percy dragged his feet all the way back to the bedroom leaving Annabeth and Sally snickering behind him. As time had passed since they'd been back, Percy and Annabeth had gotten better at having space between each other. Though neither liked it, they had learned to live with it - as long as it was only for a short while. This and the fact they tended to have trigger reactions blackouts whenever something reminded them of Tartarus, is why they decided to wait so long before going back to school. Now Percy and Annabeth had learned how to control the flashbacks. Whenever they felt the tell-tale sign of prickling behind their eyes, they immediately sought out comfort from their partner and would slowly count down from fifty until it went away. If that didn't work kissing the other always helped with distractions.

The cover story for why Percy had disappeared and why the couple now acted this was that they had been kidnapped over winter break and now had PTSD, warning most of the student body and teachers to give them a break.

Demigodishness or PTSD, either way they would be marked as freaks as soon as they stepped foot in Goode's front doors.

Percy came back out of the room wearing a simple green t-shirt and jeans, successfully hiding his most major scars and showing off some of the muscle in his arms and chest. A few weeks after they had gotten back they had started to fill back out again and started looking less like starvation victims and more like they used to be, making Sally a very happy woman.

Percy slipped into the chair next to Annabeth's, gave her quick peck on the cheek to distract her, and stole back his plate of pancakes. He had already devoured half of the first before one she noticed and when she slapped him on the arm Percy just grinned back at her with his mouth full.

Paul chuckled at the sight of them as he walked into the kitchen and settled his brief case atop the table. He cleared his throat to get heir attention and Percy and Annabeth turned to him.

'You kids ready for school?' he asked. They both nodded and after giving a Sally a kiss on the cheek each, they made their way out to the car, with Paul trailing behind them.

The drive to Goode was quick, but Paul stopped them just before they got out of the car.

'I'm your homeroom teacher as well as your English teacher so make sure to tell me if something's about to happen. Alright?'

'We will.' Percy said. 'And Paul? Thanks.' Paul understood how much his step-son meant that and got out of the car, letting the kids prepare themselves for the purgatory they were sure to endure.

'Well, let's face the music.' Annabeth said. She opened her door and stepped into the parking lot facing the office. Percy made his way over to her side of the car and taking he hand, they made they're way up to the office.

After meeting a very surprised office lady, they found they in fact did have the exact same schedules.

After homeroom and some reassuring glances from Paul, they made their way to their first two classes - one equally as monotonous as the other. For third period, they had Gym. The coach had just made them run laps around the gym for the whole session, claiming to work on their 'stamina'. Right.

The rest of the day passed in much the same way. Everyone ignoring them but still whispering and coming up with ridiculous theories about what had really happened to them. Many people were afraid while others just sneered and called them losers. They avoided them but Percy and Annabeth just accepted it, thinking that it wasn't worth it and that no mortals could actually get to them considering what they'd been through.

The next month was one day blending into the next, with small progress on the happiness scale for Percy and Annabeth. While they still had their bad days, whenever one was in a good mood the other automatically joined them, making Sally a very happy mother.

But one day, in the week leading up to the winter break, the couple's moods were exceptionally bad. They were reminded that it was the time that Percy had been taken, and it gave them all the worst nightmares.

And just to make it better the school had seemed to be extra hostile towards the couple. Students were openly taunting them, girls were making fun of Annabeth's scars in the changing rooms and telling her what they'd want to do with Percy if they ever managed to get him alone, and Percy was forced to hear all the vile thoughts that the boys in his class thought about Annabeth. Paul had offered in homeroom for them to go home, but they had refused. It's not like this was the worst they'd gone through. So Percy and Annabeth suffered.

Then they saw Paul again in fourth period for English. They sat down and waited for the class to begin when a small girl with wavy brown hair walked up to them.

'Hi. I'm Abigail.' she said in a quiet voice. Shy, Annabeth thought. 'I was wondering if you would like to sit with me and my friends at lunch? It's just, I know how hard it can be to have everyone making fun of you and you seem really down, so I thought I might try and help? We could talk about it if you'd like..' Abigail said, ending her sentence with a question.

Percy looked at Annabeth, shrugged, and said, 'Sure. Why not. And sorry, but we'd rather not talk about it.'

Abigail smiled and waved her friends over to sit in the seats surrounding Percy and Annabeth.

'This is Kerri, Hannah, James, Ryan and Liam.' she said pointing to the group in turn. Kerri, a short red-head, smiled and started yabbering away at something until everyone had arrived and Paul started the lesson. He smiled at Percy and Annabeth before talking about the book they had been reading for that semester. He had just gotten up to the part where he reads the first chapter as a sort of preview for the classes test, when a bright light engulfed the room.

There were screams from the mortals and Percy and Annabeth were at once on edge, weapons drawn and pointed at the source of the strange light. A jerk named John Gerard sniggered when he saw them wielding a pen and a ruler as weapons of defence.

Percy and Annabeth soon dropped their respective weapons in shock though, as the light faded and revealed three, old ladies standing there as if they had been the whole time. A familiar blond guy was standing behind them, grinning cheekily.

'Perseus Jackson. Annabeth Chase. Many mortals in this room have been whispering and wondering where you have been in the past months. Many of them do not believe you were where you say you were and are currently making up stories to please themselves.' the Fates said in unison. 'As a gift from the Gods we have granted for them to put in their place and to learn about where you actually have been. We have invited Apollo to read with you and make sure things don't get out of control. Because we are sorry, as we will have to make live through your most terrible ordeals in order for this to be accomplished.' Another bright light, and the Fates zapped away. Most everyone in the room was in shock, excepting Apollo, Paul, Percy and Annabeth.

As Apollo looked around and realised the mortals would not be waking up soon, he snapped his fingers and revealed the truth in everyone's minds, showing them everything they thought to be 'myths' were actually real.

After the slideshow of images had passed, everyone gaped at the Sun God standing in the front of the room. He smiled with his blinding teeth and placed a book upon Paul's desk, who saw the title and paled.

'Hello, everyone. My name is Apollo, and as you probably heard the Fates say, I am here to read a book with you. A book that not only explains what happened to Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, but also demands my presence because of that very reason.' He smiled again and gestured for Annabeth and Percy to come to the front of the room.

Wordlessly, they did, their eyes following Apollo's every movements. He seemed not to notice. 'May I introduce to you Percy Jackson, saviour of Olympus and son of Poseidon. And Annabeth Chase, saviour of Olympus and daughter of Athena.' If possible, the mortal's mouths dropped open even wider.

'Now for the purpose of this, I think we might need to bring a few guests in.' Apollo said, smile gleaming.

There was yet another flash of light and when it faded, five more people were standing at the front of the room.

Hazel, Frank, Leo, Jason and Piper all looked around in confusion until they were brought up to speed by Apollo. They all grimaced when they learned that they would be hearing about the war but stood up straight and gave their introductions to the dumbfounded mortals.

The seven each hugged in turn and went to sit at the back of the room, looking at Percy and Annabeth sympathetically when John mumbled 'frauds.' under his breath.

'Let's get a few things straight first. Time has been frozen in this classroom and it has been built to accommodate all of you, doors will appear and disappear depending on the occupants needs and the Mist has been lifted temporarily so make sure you don't frighten the mortals with your swords.' Apollo directed this last bit at the demigods in the room, who smiled sheepishly.

Apollo then turned to Paul, who was staring at the god awe before clearing his throat and picking up the book, as Apollo had instructed him to do so.

'The House of Hades.' he began, and noticed the wince of the demigods in the room.

Hazel I…

So there it is! Was anyone OOC? If they were, write a review! Was there any confusion? Write a review! Craving a donut? Write a review. I just want to get feedback and know if I should continue this or not. Constructive criticism appreciated, haters not. 7 reviews before I update.

MissJackson798 :)