PART I

Confliction

PERCY

Percy had been lying in his bed since 6pm in the evening.

It had been a week since what Percy called the "The Disaster".

It was really the most unexpected move anyone could have ever pulled on him in his entire life.(except maybe that time his mother got him the dog he wanted so bad, after teasing him so many times) Annabeth confessed to having feelings for him because of jealousy. It would've been easy to return it because he's still in love with her, despite her making him have false hope for four years and THREE months.

But it wasn't easy. There was Callie.

Callie was getting to him. He'd think of the girl every second of everyday. They chat on Facebook. They text. They send each other movie recommendations on the web. Her likes and favorites being the same as his wasn't the one that made him fall for her. He got attracted to her because of that, yes, but it wasn't that. It was the fact that she was basically Annabeth, but a bit less fun but a bit more loving.

This was what confused Percy. Who did he really like. No, scratch that. Who did he love more?

Percy cried out a small "Damn!" before proceeding to turn over his bed and face the window. He could still both conversations he had with them the day after the "Disaster". The one with Annabeth was awkward, and she did all the talking. It was not the Annabeth he knew. It was a desperate one.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said as Percy sat in front of her, inside Pizza Hut at the mall.

"Hey." Percy's was in monotone and was looking at her directly at the eyes, with no emotion showing at all.

Annabeth looked a little bit intimidated by him, and quickly blurted out words because of it. "So um, how are you?"

"It's been less than twelve hours, Annabeth."

"I know that, Perce."

"Then what is it?" Percy asked in demand. He was stomping his foot on the floor and kept checking his watch. He couldn't stand to be with her for another hour. He still liked her, and still got butterflies with her around. But you can never stay mad at Annabeth.

"Can I agree with you to a compromise?" Annabeth asked with doubt. This is the first time Percy ever saw Annabeth get scared of him. He admits, he feels sorry for her, but then again she made him feel like shit for more than three months. She was playing with him.

"What?"

"A week from now, on Friday, we, um..." Annabeth looked down at her toes, nervous to complete the sentence.

"We what?" Percy pushed.

"We go on a date." Annabeth let it out quickly, as if she had been lifting a huge weight on her shoulders and just dropped it. "We go on a date, and we'll see how that goes. You give me a chance." Annabeth was tapping her fingers slowly on the table.

"Annabeth, we go together anywhere all the time." Percy assured.

"No, I mean like a proper one. Somewhere nice and cozy and stuff. Like what you did with..." she trailed off before she continued. "...her."

Percy sighed.

"Okay."

"Okay, what?" Annabeth leaned forward, hoping.

"Okay, I'll go on a date with you. Somewhere nice and cozy. But I don't have any cash right now." As Percy said those words, Annabeth beamed up and then a thoughtful look approached her face. She stayed like that for a few minutes before she finally talked.

"I'll take care of it." Annabeth said with a serious look.

"Wise Girl..."

"What?"

"I'm not asking you to spend money for me. Besides, it's usually the guy who does the paying." he said. Percy would absolutely love to go on a date with her, but there were 2 problems. A) He thinks he's betraying Callie by doing this. B) He's letting the girl pay for the date. "No."

"The date doesn't involve money, Seaweed Brain. I'll take care of it." Annabeth said in desperation, hoping to appease him.

"Hmmm... okay. A chance. I just wanna say one thing." Percy said, preparing to confirm to her what he had been thinking.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm gonna tell Callie all about this." he said, and Annabeth quickly frowned. Seeing Annabeth destroyed because he liked another was actually pretty sad, and he felt sorry for her, but months ago she'd done the same to him, so his sympathy went completely out of the window.

"All right. Whatever." Annabeth simply said, not making any eye contact with him.

"Are we now done here?" he asked, ready to leave.

"Yes."

"Then let me take you home."

The entire car ride was quiet, but only one phrase came out of Annabeth as she got dropped at her home.

"Thank you for giving me a chance."

It wasn't his only problem either. He told Callie about it the following day, and she did not react well at all. She took it well, but it didn't seem that way. He knows both of them are in somewhat, a "half-dating, half-friends" relationship, but he felt like betraying her after agreeing to Annabeth's date. He never even expected to be in a situation like this. It was really bad, and he thought it wasn't gonna end well.

He was still lying in bed, and closing his eyes.

He refused to take it all in. It was too much.

He needed a nice distraction once in a while, and he thinks he found it through video games. He got off from bed, opened his laptop and clicked the 'Google Chrome' icon to find a good server for Call of Duty: Ghosts. He didn't notice his Facebook tab was open, and he was near playing a game when the eponymous chat "ring!" of Facebook rang.

Someone had sent him a message.

He opened the tab, curious as to who it was, and saw the chat message.

O Annabeth Chase

- Hi. Tomorrow at lunch. Meet me by Jeevers Park. See ya. :)"

Huh. Weird. Annabeth Chase sending a smiley face.

So, it was tomorrow indeed. Their date. He hopes it goes well, he did give her a chance. And he hopes that date might really decide who he really likes. Somehow, everything depended on that date. It was as if the climax of all the events happening.

A weak smile came at his face.

Somehow, he was excited and scared at the same time, yet he didn't know why.

(or maybe he did.)

Then there's the matter of Callie. He remembers what he told her after Annabeth asked him out.

"Oh." was the simple, yet effective word that came out of Callie's mouth. Percy had just explained to her the events of the previous two days, and somehow, Callie only muttered a simple "oh".

"Oh, what?" Percy edged near beside her, ready for her reaction.

They were at his house, and they have been playing video games for 3 hours. They spend a lot of time grinding in Diablo III, and Percy couldn't wait to tell her what happened the day before yesterday.

"Oh, as in, that's cool. I guess..."

"Look, about us, what are we, Callie?" Percy asked with sincerity. He wants to know the truth. It was simple. Did she like him back? Or did she consider him as a friend?

"Look... Percy. I like you. Simple as that. Call it a crush, if you will. I'll be honest. But you can't expect me to be comfortable with you and Annabeth going out. The things you've told me about her, it was obvious she likes you. Actually she kinda scares me." Callie confessed, and it made Percy blush a bit. "To be honest, she glares at me every time she sees me."

"Well, I'm still confused." Percy confessed too. He held her hand, and squeezed it. "Confused of, myself."

"Confused if you like me or Annabeth?" And just like that, Callie saw right through him. He looked at her as she dipped her head, and he really, really, hates hurting the poor girl. She was really cute when she got all emotional. Actually, she was really just cute. Period. Sigh, Percy hates it when his weakness are girls like that.

He might like two of them, but he really, really wouldn't mind having a girlfriend or wife like Callie. Gods, she was so cute.

Cute, cute, cute.

Frick.

"...Yes." Percy replied. He wasn't gonna explain further. It was embarassing. "I'm not gonna explain further 'til I sort this out, Cal. Is that alright?"

"Sure, Percy. I trust you, though." Callie gave him a weak smile, and opened the laptop again. "But I better win this fight with Annabeth." she jokingly added.

"We'll see, Cal." Percy smiled back, and let out a chuckle.

They continued playing.

It was Friday.

Percy was standing outside, wearing a simple green T-shirt with short sleeves and blue cargo pants. He was at Jeevers Park, waiting for Annabeth to arrive.

It's time.

NEXT TIME:

Part II: Aggression

Or as I like to call it, "Annabeth v. Calypso: Dawn of Justice".

REVIEW, puh-lease.

How was that for a first chapter in the epic finale?

See the next chapter on April 24! (Like I said, depends on your timezone. It's currently April 22, 7:00pm here.)

-OTPMaker22