PART III

Decision

PERCY

Percy drove and drove on, around the highway of Jeevers Park, still angry, confused and annoyed because of what happened. He was so focused on the road, that he honked his car horn a lot times, and was over the speeding limit. Luckily, there were no cops around to see him do this, but by this point, he didn't even care anymore.

Why?

Why was Annabeth so different now?

Annabeth and Callie's answer to his question was good. Both were really good answers. If Percy dated Annabeth, he would've been more than willing to let her go to college for a long-distance relationship. Annabeth's answer was good. He knew that, and he respected it.

But Callie, in the end of the day, had the better answer. He would still do it, and he'd be more than willing to also let her go to college that's far from home. But the mere fact that she would also be willing to fend off college to be with him, he really liked the idea. He smiled at the thought.

That was the only smile that left his lips. His anger overwhelmed him. Annabeth had changed, and he liked that 20%, because she changed to please him. But he would do anything, absolutely anything, to get back the old Annabeth. The Annabeth Chase that was a little bit mean, that teased her closest friends, and took shit from nobody. What he saw during the date only had snippets of that, and the rest was a mere puppy.

He knew that that attitude may be just side-effects of love, or jealousy, but he was still angry at her nonetheless, after all, Anakin Skywalker didn't get any special treatment when he turned into Darth Vader. Percy chuckled at that thought, remembering watching Star Wars with Callie.

Callie.

Percy remembered, he was going to tell her all about what happened during his date with Annabeth. He grabbed his phone from the front seat, and immediately dialed her number. She immediately answered.

"Hi, Perce. How was it?" Percy couldn't tell if her voice was relieved or worried.

"Bad." Percy simply replied.

"How bad?" Callie asked.

"Just plain bad. Didn't end well. Can I come over? I wanna talk about this and I feel like exploding if I don't tell anyone." Percy said, as he continued to drive.

"Sure, Percy. I'm actually in my pajamas, so I gotta chan-" Callie's voice disappeared for a quick second.

"What's wrong, Cal?" Percy asked.

"Percy, is this you? Someone's at my door." Callie asked with worry and Percy could hear footsteps.

"I'm still driving. Just answer the door. Be careful though." Percy warned, and he continued in the direction of Callie's house.

"Hang on Percy, I'm gonna answer the door. I hear a bit of crying outside. Be right back in a sec. Call you later, bye." Callie said as she finally hung up on him.

Percy was confused. She lived alone with a few workers in her huge house, so who could be at her door at this time of night, and crying? Percy almost put his phone beside him again when he heard a ringtone and felt it vibrate. He opened his phone again while driving. Callie had sent him a message.

Percy i checked the peephole of the door. Its Annabeth. Shes here.

It only took a few seconds for Percy to register what he read, and before he knew it, he realized he was distracted and almost hit a car. Surprised, he swerved his car to the right, to avoid the car. He managed too avoid the car, but he was nearing a tree and,

WHAM!

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was his car hitting a tree, and an airbag in front of him.

His car had crashed.

CALYPSO

Callie was surprised Annabeth would accuse her for 'losing him' when she knew the simple answer was because it was Annabeth's fault, not hers. And what did she say to Percy? Nothing. Annabeth was now blaming her instead of herself, but deep down, Callie felt a little bad for the poor girl.

"I didn't do anything, Chase." Callie stated, and she closed the door behind her and went to talk to Annabeth upfront.

"He called you!" Annabeth shouted, and she was still pouring tears. "He told me it was a mistake, that, that... that he said, that you said something that changed his mind!" Annabeth burst, and continued to cry.

"He only asked me a question. And I answered that question truthfully. That's it." Callie confessed and kept her composure. She's wondering if... yes. It was possible. But she wanted to hear it from Annabeth herself. She was curious.

"What was it?" Annabeth asked, with a low voice, while wiping tears.

"He asked me if, hypothetically, would I choose my career over him." Callie said. "I answered him. I'd go to college with him. Because a job is a job, and I'd rather spend what time I have with a guy I love, not for a fancy school."

Annabeth was silent, and she covered her face, and choked even more tears, and was now crying again, only quietly. "Oh gods, I was so stupid... so damn stupid..."

Callie realized what had happened. She knew Annabeth was a star-achiever, and a really ambitious girl. She'd heard from all around school that she wanted to be architect, and that she was going to be valedictorian. It was a 100% assurance that she would become somebody someday, and to do achieve that, you need to get into a school with a lot of promises. She understood now. Percy had asked her the same question, and she choose her career over him.

"He asked you the same question, didn't he? And you answered-" before Callie could finish, Annabeth immediately shouted again.

"WRONG! Yes! I answered wrong, okay?!" Annabeth was still crying, and was now wiping her face with a handkerchief. "Gods, I was so stupid... to think material things like jobs were important..." before Annabeth could finish, her eyes glared toward Callie.

Annabeth ranted again. "I don't even know if what you told him was true, or if you were just sucking up to him to-"

"I stand by what I said, Annabeth. I'd choose the man I love over my career and my job." Callie's voice was now comforting, and she now felt truly sorry for Annabeth. She felt like a thief, stealing Percy from her, then again, she wouldn't realize she liked Percy if he and Callie never had something.

"Heh." Annabeth smiled a bit, but still crying. "Easy for you to say. You're Calypso Samantha Atlas. College or not, your dad could get you a job. You'd probably be the next CEO of your dad's company even if you did zero on school.

"I may be smart, Calypso, but I'm not rich. I need to work hard to get what I want to achieve." Annabeth now stood up, smiling weakly at her. "That's what I hate about you. You're everything I'm not. But I still can't hate you that much, because you're still too damn nice."

Callie smiled at her for once. "Look, can we solve this with Percy here? Can we at least pretend we're not enemies or that we're at least, I don't know, acquaintances?" Callie asked with honesty.

"Yeah." Annabeth wiped her one last tear, though her eyes are still wet. "I guess we can do that." She smiled back at her. "Truce?" Annabeth held out her hand.

"Sure." And Callie shook it.

"Look, Percy said he's coming here, don't worry. You can stay inside..." Callie grabbed her phone and dialed Percy's number "...and we can wait for him together. Okay?"

"Okay." was Annabeth's simple answer. "I'll be inside in a while... someone's calling."

Callie nodded, and proceeded to call Percy inside the house. Percy wasn't answering... weird. She tried calling him for another three times, and she still didn't get an answer. With no other options, she tried going out, wondering if the signal was-

"Callie... oh my gods, oh my gods..." Annabeth was covering her mouth, as if she received the worst news of all time. "Sally just called..."

This didn't look good.

"What is it?!" Callie asked in an instant. The next words that came from Annabeth's mouth was enough to put Callie in shock.

"Percy's been in a car crash."

PERCY

Percy woke up in a daze, seeing bright white lights and some green. What had happened? He remembers seeing brown, long hair and a comfortable voice he knew immediately. His mother. He could hear voices around him too. He couldn't really see clearly, so he just listened and listened.

It was both comfortable and agonizing.

"Can we see him, Mrs. Jackson?"

"Yes you can, dear. You too, Annabeth."

"What happened?"

"Crash. Percy drives too fast whenever he's angry."

"Oh gods, this is all my fault..."

"Is he gonna be okay, Mrs. Jackson? I can't help but worry if-"

"He's gonna be fine, Callie. Why don't you and Annabeth take a seat beside him."

"Mrs. J! I heard about the news, but oh shit."

"Stop swearing, Grover."

"The other guys will visit in the morning. In the meantime..."

"He has the four of us. We should stay and wait for the doctor."

"You're right, Callie. My son is stronger than he looks. He'll pull through."

He knew those voices. Annabeth Chase, Callie Atlas, Grover Underwood and his mother, Sally Jackson. Then he remembered everything. He realized he was in a hospital.

His car had crashed because of the overwhelming emotions he felt when Annabeth countered him again, and he was leaving from the date and on his way to Callie's house. Gods, he was reckless whenever he was emotional. He remembered a time when he kicked a teacher in the balls out of anger because he failed his math quiz. Granted it was in third grade but still.

This was probably the worst one where he was too emotional.

He tried to open his eyes, but he didn't have enough strength. It was a little while before he fell asleep again.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised of the scene in front of him. His mother was nowhere to be found, Annabeth was asleep in a chair beside him to his left with a book in her hands, Callie was asleep beside him to his right, using his bed while crossing her arm, and Grover was watching TV quietly while eating chips, with an episode of Batman: The Animated Series playing.

Percy got up, and sat on his bed, groaning and yawning. He was on a hospital gown and a tube with blood was injected into his hand. Sighing as he saw the tube in his hand, he said one word. "Typical."

That was enough to alert the three people in the room of his talking, and in an instant, they all diverted their attention to him.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey." They all said unison as a reply, not knowing anything to say anymore. "Where's Mom?" he asked.

"She went home, got you some supplies and food. She'll back though, man." Grover told him and he smiled. Percy smiled back.

"That's good to know." Percy replied, and he noticed the two girls beside him were about to say something but he managed to interrupt them.

"Before any of you say anything, I have to say something first." he said, and both Annabeth and Callie closed their mouths.

"I, uh, I'm gonna go over to the vending machine. Gonna eat something. Be back in an hour or so, or maybe forever. See ya." And like that, Grover bolted out the door.

Percy faced in front of Annabeth. "What were you doing at Callie's?"

"We talked, Percy, that's all." Annabeth said truthfully, and Callie backed her up.

"We talked about... this." By 'this', she meant the 'love triangle', of course, it's too awkward to mention that stuff in front of everybody. "And we think we should talk. With you. About... all of it." Callie finally said, with calm.

So this was it, huh? Perseus Jackson decides who he likes better. Annabeth Chase or Calypso Atlas? He thought this was some sick cruel joke all the gods from whatever mythology brought upon him, but no, it was impossible. He was never that lucky. Nope.

"I think I should talk to each of you separately. Is that okay?" Percy asked.

Callie and Annabeth looked at each other, seeming to have an agreement, and nodded at him. Wow. He never thought he'd see the day that these two would be friends. Well maybe not as friends, maybe, as, acquaintances?

"I wanna start with you, Wise Girl."

Annabeth looked up, and he nodded at her. "Callie, could you wait outside with Grover? I'll talk to you in a minute."

He wanted to finish this. Now. And this hospital was the perfect place to talk about things. He wants to finally be honest about each of them, about where they stand, and how the future is gonna play out from now. He's already made the decision, and he thinks he's chosen it right.

Callie simply said "Okay." Then she got up and got out.

ANNABETH

For some reason, Annabeth was nervous. As she saw Callie walking out, she became nervous. It was just her and Percy now, and gods, even if he had numerous scars and wounds, he still looked handsome and definitely hot. But the scars made her remember, it was her fault this happened. No matter how you look at it, Annabeth had a part to play in Percy's accident.

She proceeded to hold his hand, and he returned the gesture and squeezed hers. He smiled at her, a weak one, but she smiled back. He sat up, facing her, with seriousness in his face. Seriousness that was both a sincere, but stern Percy.

"Look, you know we'll always be best friends, right?" Percy asked her, and she confirmed it by nodding. "I want us to be honest with each other, Wise Girl."

"I want that, too. And about earlier, I now know why you got mad earlier. It's because of what I said, about leaving you here while I go to some fancy college, and, oh gods, you must think I'm such an ambitious bitch that I don't care about who I leave..."

She began to sulk, put Percy kept squeezing her hand. "No, no, no! It's not that... because I know, that's the right thing to do." Percy said, and cleared his throat. "Education comes first, I understand that. But if there was an alternative... a chance to be with the one I wanna be with, I would like that too.

"What got me a little bit shaken up, was not if we would ever do that, the long-distance, I mean, but the answer itself. She was willing, Annabeth. You weren't."

Annabeth looked away, knowing full well she fucked up. All her life, she wanted to be an architect, to build something that lasts. She felt ashamed of herself. She wanted to build a building that lasts, yet she can't even build something with Percy.

"I'm sorry." was her simple answer. She controlled her tears from coming out, and she was successful.

"Don't be, Annabeth. It's not your fault. Or maybe it was. I don't know. But the blame isn't yours alone. I was an asshole for handling it like that." Percy breathed out a huge sigh, and continued to look at her. "I just want one thing from you."

Annabeth looked up, hopeful and curious.

"Become the real Annabeth Chase again. The one I fell in love with, the one I hung out with, and the one who always annoyed me." Percy said the final word with a smirk, and kept looking straight at her. "Don't be this other girl I barely knew, who suck up to me and tried to please me. Because to me, that's not Annabeth." The finality in his tone was toxic.

Annabeth realized it. She was trying so hard to appease Percy. That's what was wrong with her. She was scared he would leave her, because of Callie. Because Callie was the only one who managed to capture his attention, and Annabeth was so used to capturing his. That scared Annabeth, and that was why she changed. But it lead Percy from ignoring her, to hating her. She knew she should've just played it simple.

Her tears dropped from her face, but only mild ones, and she smiled at him. "I can do that, Seaweed Brain."

"Really? Then that's good." Percy then grabbed her head gently, and kissed her forehead. That sent a lot of tingly feelings in Annabeth's mind.

"But I've decided, Wise Girl." Percy said again, and Annabeth knew it was the climax of the conversation. "I'm not gonna be with anyone for a while."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means, that I've had enough of this stupid love triangle." Percy chuckled. Annabeth laughed back. As soon as Annabeth knew things were going to be alright, Percy added a few words, and by then, she knew he had decided.

"But I want us to be best friends. We're more compatible that way, not as lovers."

Annabeth let her head down, and gods, she didn't know rejection hurt like this. In the end, Percy would rather be best friends with her than girlfriend-and-boyfriend. It hurts like Tartarus, Annabeth thinks, and a few tears escape her face. Annabeth let out a chuckle, a dark-humor kind of chuckle and she shook her head. "No matter who's gonna be yours, it's never gonna be me, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, Wise Girl. I still love you, though. Don't ever forget that." Percy said, as he wiped her tears with his hands, holding her cheek.

"Platonically?" Annabeth asked with composure and confidence this time. She found herself not worrying, that anything that would happen between them wouldn't matter, as long as she had him.

"Yeah. I hope that's fine with you?" Percy asked, worried that he might've upset her.

"Of course, Seaweed Brain." she said, and she smiled at him, wide this time. "I do have one request though. Before I call Callie to talk here, I mean."

"And what's that?" Percy asked.

"Kiss me." Annabeth simply said, hoping for one last chance, one last taste (came out wrong), and one last promise, of a life she could've lived with Percy.

Percy was taken aback by the question, and pondered for a moment, thinking if what he should do is right or wrong. Then he turned to her, and grimaced. "Sure, Wise Girl. Why not?" he smiled at her, and that simple smile, gave Ananbeth energy.

She got up, and sat on his hospital bed. She held his face and leaned in for the kiss.

This time, Percy's lips weren't unresponsive, but kissing her back as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

His lips tasted good, like cookies and pizza, and a little bit of blood from the accident, but still, kissing Percy was amazing. He kissed her back with a lot of strength, and Annabeth started to wonder when did he get so good at this. The feeling of kissing him was remarkable, and she feels like she could stay in this position forever.

CALYPSO

Sitting with Grover wasn't actually fun, Callie realizes as he rarely talks and spends his time munching whatever food he could, and playing his PSP.

It was almost an hour with Percy and Annabeth talking, and she was surprised Annabeth came out, looking calm and cool. That worried her a bit.

"He wants to talk to you." Annabeth told her, and she proceeded to go inside Percy's room.

Callie entered, and she earned a smile from Percy. "Hey, Cal."

"Hey, Perce. So... how was it?" she asked, eager to know what happened between his talk with Ananbeth.

"Not much, actually." Percy replied with a laugh. "I told her though, that we should stay best friends, because we work better that way."

Somehow, this comment made Callie have a lot of hope. "So... I'm guessing you've made a decision?" she asked him hopefully.

"Yeah, I have. And I choose the decision with no drama. I choose not to be with someone..." Percy drifted off and added "...yet." Percy smirked at her.

Callie was actually smiling like a madman, and she was playing with Percy's arm by pushing fingers in his arm like a button. "So... does that mean I have a chance?" Callie was teasing him now.

"A little. Maybe a lot more." He smirked at her again, and he laughed.

She'd done it. He chose her. Callie herself could not contain herself much longer, and her feelings were like fireworks right now, threatening to burst out. She understood now that Annabeth and him just fit together like best friends, and that Percy belonged to someone else. Callie was excited.

"So, speaking of chances. Would you like to go out on another date with me?" Percy asked her. Callie's smile grew larger than ever with that, and like that, she kissed Percy's cheek with force, and Percy was now blushing like hell, too. "So, I'll take that as a yes, then?"

Callie squeezed his cheek. "You bet, Perseus Jackson."

Seven Years Later

It had been 7 years after that, and stuff in Percy's life definitely took a turn.

Four months after the crash, he was dating Calypso Samantha Atlas; finally his girlfriend. She'd been enrolled at M.I.T. by her father. Percy stayed to in the city and went to E.S.U., Empire State University. Of course, she had a long-distance relationship with Percy. Percy understood that, but still liked that her answer years ago.

He and Annabeth remained best friends, as Annabeth herself studied at Harvard. He kept Skyping and talking to both his best friend and girlfriend, until a misunderstanding and things turning out differently, led to him breaking up with Callie mutually after a 3-year relationship. They remained friends and in contact.

Right now, he reunited with Annabeth after she returned in New York for an architecture job there, and he was an intern coach at a New York swimming team. It had been seven years, and he reminisced these memories as he sat on the bench at Jeevers Park with Annabeth, drinking coffee.

"Hey, remember when seven years ago the fight we had in this damn park?" Percy asked as he drank coffee, and accidentally spilling it in his "Manhattan Mambas" t-shirt. "Shit." He wore casual clothes compared to Annabeth, who was in a pantsuit.

"Clumsy as ever, Seaweed Brain. And yes, I do remember. I got friendzoned by a guy I liked that day, too." Annabeth said, and crossed her arms. "Ah, I'm still hung up on him after seven years."

"Oh, really?" Percy smirked beside her. "Is he that hot?" Percy teased.

"Oh, yeah, sure. He was fucking the wrong girl for about three years, though. Shame." Annabeth pretended to check her nails. "I would've been a better match for him."

"Wow, Wise Girl. Wow. Just wow." Percy eased back, with fake amazement. "It's not my fault I wanted to have sex during the summer. It was my teenager hormones." Percy reasoned.

"Well, I actually have self-control. And I still have my virginity intact which makes me clean." Annabeth exclaimed. "You're just like any other dirty male."

"Hey, hey, hey, now. If you wanna impress the guy you like, you shouldn't insult him." Percy said, and he tickled her sides, her coffee spilling on her skirt too.

"Hey!"

"That's what you get for interfering with my sex life. Now that I think of it, maybe you're just jealous. Hmmm..." Percy teases and Annabeth immediately fires back.

"So maybe I am? So what? Doesn't change the fact you're a dirty man."

"Again with this dirty man, bullshit. When is this nightmare gonna end?!" Percy shouted, feigning horror. Annabeth proceeded to ruffle his messy hair and land him a kiss on the cheek. It got Percy blushing and his stomach enabled butterflies to enter.

He's been feeling a bit like that ever since he broke up with Callie though. He knows she still has feelings for him, and hey, maybe he still has feelings for her too. Maybe he is falling in love with his best friend again every single day they spend together, and it's making his brain crazy. But he's scared that if he confesses, Annabeth will call him a hypocrite or might get mad at him, just like what happened years ago.

"The nightmare will end when I make you my slave." Annabeth said.

"Slave, huh? You know you could just ask me out, it's that simple." Percy teased again.

Annabeth laughed at that, thought, but Percy knew she didn't enjoy that joke. Annabeth's tone became serious now. "I would, you know. But then again, I'm supposed to stay as a best friend. Because I work that way, right?" Annabeth was now visibly angry.

Percy decides then to do the right move.

"You know about that... that promise seven years ago... about us staying best friends? I was thinking..." Percy drifted off, embarrassed of what he was about to say next.

"Thinking what?" Annabeth asked with a hopeful look.

"I was thinking of breaking that promise actually. Since you know, my best friend is actually kind of the girl I like right now." Percy said that with both a joking tone and seriousness, but Annabeth immediately knew he was really serious.

"Do you really mean that?" Annabeth asked, wondering if what she was thinking was what she was hoping.

"I think I do." Percy said, and grimaced, hoping she understood.

They stayed there, looking at each other endearingly, and it was not before Annabeth immediately forced her mouth onto his. They were kissing again on the lips, for the first time in seven years, and by gods, Percy enjoyed her lips like last time. It was amazing, and there wasn't enough words to describe what he felt. He could get used to this. But the next kisses that were coming, he thought they would never match up to this.

They pulled back and Annabeth put her arms around him. "Gods, Jackson. I love you. I love you so fucking much."

Percy smiled back at her, face completely red and replied. "Um, Ditto."

"Piece of shit." she said, and she laughed at him and continued to kiss him again, and she didn't even care if people were looking.

Percy was wrong. He thought that kiss at the park wouldn't match any other kiss from Annabeth he felt at the future. There were two instances he found himself wrong.

One on his wedding day.

The other, when his and Annabeth's baby boy was born.

The tables did turn again. This time, for him.

Final tally of votes from reviews:

Annabeth - 107

Calypso - 104

And uploaded a day early in April 27!

-LEAVE A REVIEW, I wanna know your thoughts!-

Gotta say, I didn't expect this outcome. People voted for Calypso left and right and was annihilating Annabeth by 30-40 votes, until the Percabeth shippers prevailed and came up with lots of good reasons why it should be Percabeth. Annabeth quickly overtook Calypso during the final few reviews.

I know a few reviewers whose reviews on Annabeth were so damn good they managed to get some Perlypso shippers to their side.

AND THAT'S A WRAP for my story.

Thank you, fans, for waiting on my for two years for this story, and I hope you liked the ending. In the end, Percabeth prevailed.

AND as for my writing, I'm currently working on another Percabeth story, AU, due out next week, probably Wednesday, May 3, and I hope you'll check it out, too.

THANKS, EVERYONE!

OTPMaker22 out.