We continued laughing for the rest of the meal, occasionally laughing at a few jokes. I started cracking up at one thing Michael said when I heard a very familiar voice shout, "Percy?!" I turned to look and lo and behold, it was Annabeth Chase with Thalia, Piper, and Grover behind her. She had an incredulous expression, and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

"Oh, shit."

"Um, hi?" I asked weakly.

"What the hell, Percy?" Annabeth yelled. She glared at me, her stormy gray eyes practically swirling. Although her tone implied that she was angry, her eyes indicated surprise, frustration and a small hint of... Wonder, maybe?

"Dude, that was sick!" I heard Grover say. He was grinning at me, staring at me as if I'd suddenly turned into Superman and lifted a bench with 10 people on it only with my pinkie.

"Oi, Perce! Who is this?" Michael asked looking at Annabeth and Piper with lust, "where are my manners? Name's Michael but you can call me Hotstuff."
The band looked at Michael disapprovingly while Leo had a notepad out scribbling down what I assume were word for word what "Hotstuff" just said.

Annabeth and Piper ignored Michael, the former rolling her eyes at him and the other with a stiff "I have a boyfriend," while Beck pushed Michael away, the latter chuckling.

"Yeah." I heard Thalia grumble, continuing what Grover said. She had a more grudging expression on her face like someone had told her to eat an entire pineapple pizza or admit a secret. "You're good." She very very reluctantly said.

I grinned and before I got the chance to tease Thalia, Annabeth rushed out, "Why didn't you tell anybody?"

I paused, thinking how I could phrase this sentence. "'Cause I didn't want to." I shrugged. It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't a lie either.

She stared at me as if she were going to slam a beer bottle into my face. It's happened to me before, and all I can say about the experience is ouch. She then rolled her eyes, not believing me. "I understand how this can be a little intruding, but I don't exactly believe that's the sole reason."

"Fine." I sighed. I knew how stubborn Annabeth could get. After all, she does tutor me, and she's not exactly going to let an 'I can't do this' slide. "One, I didn't believe that you guys would ever believe me if I say I was in a band, two, you guys know me as the loner kid at school, so I didn't think you'd care, and three, I didn't think most of you deserved to know that music is my passion." I counted off the reasons with my fingers, bending each one after each reason.

I saw her eyes soften. "Percy of course, we'd care-

"Yeah right," I scoffed. She raised an eyebrow. "none of you give a shit. You guys tease me all the time, none of you speak to me and- and I'm just a charity case to you!" I snarled.

"Is that what you really think?" Annabeth replied, glaring at me harder than ever. I gritted my teeth and stared her down.

"Yes," My voice sounded more confident and steadier than what I really felt.

She huffed. "Fine then." She turned around and left. The whole table was quiet, as well as Thalia, Piper and Grover. I sighed, running my hand through my hair. I shouldn't have said that.

"Dude," Beck said. "Go after her. You're gonna regret it if you don't."

I looked back at him and realized that everyone else was thinking the same thing. I looked at Silena, who had a look of understanding on her face. She nodded at me and I groaned. "Fine." I stood up, sighing and grabbed my guitar.

Piper grabbed my shoulder before I could go. "You aren't a charity case to her." She said. Once I didn't say anything back, she continued. "You know that, right?" I remained tightlipped and shook her off. I'm a charity case to everyone.

"Annabeth!" I shouted the moment I saw her. She was outside of the bar and I'd caught her just as she was turning a corner. I'd been trying to find her inside of the bar, but a horde of people ambushed me, congratulating me and taking photos with me. It wasn't unpleasant, not at all, but I needed to find Annabeth in that moment.

"Annabeth!" I shouted again as she disappeared from view. I ran towards her, calling her name once more before she finally heard me and turned around. She was rubbing her arms and shivering, but she was trying to conceal it.

"What." She demanded.

I wheezed. "Give me a moment. Just because I swim a lot doesn't mean that I have a lot of stamina running." I took a deep breath, putting my hands on my knees before coming back up. "Look," I started, but I lost all my courage once I looked at Annabeth, who was currently glaring at me. "Um," I shuffled my feet and played with my fingers, looking down. I glanced back at her and she was staring at me expectedly one eyebrow raised. I sighed and glanced at my feet. "I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"What did you say?" She asked, her tone holding false innocence.

I glanced back at her. She was hiding a smirk. I glared at her. "You know what I said." Silence fell through and sheathed us like a blanket. I was very aware of the cars passing by and the honks in the distance.

"Percy," She began. I kicked at a pebble. "Look at me." I glanced at her, stuffing my hands in my pockets. Her eyes had softened. "You know that you're not a charity case to me, right?"

I didn't say anything. "Percy," She said in a softer tone.

I sighed. "Annabeth, leave it."

"Percy." She insisted.

"Annabeth," I said in the same tone.

"You aren't a charity case to me, or to anyone. You should know that."

I sighed again. "Annabeth-"

"Listen to me." She interrupted. "I'm not your friend because I pity you, Percy. I'm your friend because I genuinely like you and you're a good person." She stepped closer to me. "And your friends, or whoever they are, also care about you and just from being with them for 5 seconds I could tell that they like you too." I glanced back down. She grabbed my chin and made sure that I was looking at her. Her eyes were analyzing mine and I felt oddly vulnerable as if I had just stripped naked in front of her. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She stated firmly. She then sighed, still looking into my eyes and hugged me.

Surprised, I didn't return the hug and kept my arms at my side. I felt her tense up, and that's when I decided to hug her. I buried my face in her hair and felt her relax. If I was aware of the cars speeding by before, then I was hyper aware of everything now. I could felt the smoothness of her tank top, her cold hands on my shoulders. the lemon scent of her hair, her breath, the sound of the insects at night. I took a shaky breath and felt her hug me tighter and start rubbing my back.

I didn't think anyone could care about me. I didn't exactly grow up receiving praise and care, since the only person who showed that was my mom. All Gabe would do was slam me down and shout the opposite things my mother said. I hadn't even realized I believed him.

We stayed like that for a couple minutes. She pulled away from me first. "Thanks to you, I'm warm now." She said, smiling tenderly.

I gasped. "Is that the reason why you hugged me?" I pointed a finger at her dramatically. "You traitor!"

She laughed and pushed my shoulder, "I regret nothing." I flipped my hair dramatically and pouted. "Uh uh, that isn't gonna work on me." She retorted chuckling.

I broke character and started laughing lightly with her. The chuckles died out and I spoke., pointing behind me. "Do you wanna go back? It's a little cold outside."

"Sure."

I know it's only a little bit, but writers block and school is currently killing me and I couldn't keep you guys waiting any longer. Underlined segment belongs to Stanly3011, so go check him out!