Hello my wonderful fans!

I'm sorry you had to wait this long to get this chapter or for me to write at all, I've just been busy the last month or so with Christmas, New Years, going back to school, church, and other personal things I had to do.

But now I'M BACK!

Now, let's get down to business. Things will begin to happen in this chapter and so on, and so on... you get the picture :) Enjoy!

Beckendorf sighed and leaned back into his chair, taking a drink from his cup. Silena sat next to him, talking with Annabeth who was sitting next to me. The girls started to burst out laughing, but quickly covered their mouths.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Yeah, we would like to be in the conversation," Beckendorf wrapped an arm around Silena's

shoulders.

"They're not gonna let us, dude. We're not special enough," I smirked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "We were talking about a patient that came in today."

"Yeah, and that's all your getting!" Silena stuck her tongue out.

I laughed, glancing over at Annabeth's plate. I stole a fry, quickly devouring it before she noticed. She turned around with a look on her face.

I tried to hide my grin, but failed. "I'm sorry. It was sitting there all alone!"

Beckendorf patted me on the shoulder, standing up. "Nice save. Ok, we're gonna go to the dance club across the street. You guys in?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I rather not. I hate dancing and I'm not really good at it."

"Yeah, no thanks, man. Maybe next time," I said.

He gave me the two-finger salute, walking out talking with his girlfriend. Annabeth and I sat in silence, thanking our waitress after grabbing our empty plates. She was checking her phone as I tapped my fingers impatiently on the table. I wanted to do something with her. Something that would knock her socks off. The gears started clicking in my head and I turned around in my seat, looking at her. Annabeth glanced over at me.

"Do you like rooftops?" I asked, a grin on my face.

LINNNEEEBREAAAKKK

I grabbed her hand, helping her get her footing. She let go of my hand and grasped the handles, pulling herself up onto the concrete. Annabeth gasped, taking in the view. The stars glinted in the dark sky with the moon taking the place of the sun. I walked over to where the chairs were sitting and sat down in one of them. She hestitated before sitting down.

"I like coming to this place to think, to clear my head," I told her.

Annabeth smiled at the sky. "It's so beautiful. I wish I had a place like this."

"You can use it if you like. I don't care. Just don't tell anyone else. You have to be a genius to find this place," I chuckled.

She laughed. "Well, it is insanely beautiful. You can see all the stars. I've never seen these many stars in my entire life."

"Yeah. I found this place when I first moved here."

"You're not from here?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. I lived in a small apartment in Manhattan with my mom for the longest time. When I decided to become a pilot, I moved here to be with the real deal. Years of training just wasn't going to be lost. My mom was sad that I was leaving her, but I write her a lot. It's better than nothing," I answered. I looked over at the beautiful girl next to me. "What about you? Are you from here?"

"No. I lived in California with my dad, my step-mom, my three brothers," Annabeth laughed. "It was kind of crazy house-hold. Bobby and Matthew are the youngest and they're twins. Malcolm is my older brother by a few years."

I looked down at the ground for a minute then looked back at her. "You said, your step-mom? What happened to your real mom?"

I must have hit a senstitive spot because I saw a few tears drop from her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"N-no, it's ok," Annabeth insisted. She sniffled and wiped her hand. "I'm such a wuss."

"No, you're not. It's ok to cry."

She glanced over at me and gave me a small smile. "My mom died while giving birth to me. My dad didn't know how to handle it. Every day to have look at me and see her. Malcolm was more like him, but I had more of my mom's genes than his. He married my step-mom, had the twins, and gave them more attention. When I was about sixteen, he yelled at me, telling me that it was my fault that my mom died."

I was shocked for two reasons. One, WHO THE HECK would do that to their daughter? Tell them that it's their fault that their wife died? And two, that she trusted me enough to tell me this. It seemed really personal, like she only told a few people.

"I'm really sorry. He shouldn't have told you that," I didn't know what to say.

Annabeth shrugged. "Malcolm cheered me up. He took me out to dinner and stayed up all night with me, just in case I tried to sneak off or run away or something like that."

An awkward silence came between us. I licked my dry lips, realizing that there was a radio sitting next to the chair. I turned it on and music softly played. I walked over to her and grabbed her hand, without even asking her. She tried to stop me as I pulled her out into the middle of the rooftop.

I put a hand on her waist and held my other hand out. Annabeth slid her hand in mine.

"I don't dance," she tried to protest.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up and just dance."

She laughed and moved with the music.

"Can I ask you something?" Annabeth asked. "And be honest with me?" I nodded. Her eyes met mine. "How come you were attracted to me? Why not any other nurse?"

I sighed and shook my head. "So many reasons. You're beautiful, smart, funny, sarcastic, nice, has one of the best smiles I've ever seen, and... so many other reasons."

"But there are so many other nurses you could have chosen from. Why me?" she asked.

"I don't know," I answered.

Annabeth looked down at the ground. "That's not an answer. Why me out of all these nurses that have so much more than I can give you?"

"I don't want them. I want you," I said.

She met my eyes again. Her hand started to slide out of mine and she began to walk away. I can't let her go. I ran over and grabbed her hand, turning her around.

"Annabeth!"

"What?" she yelled. "You can't even give me a straight answer to why you even like me! Or to why you even asked me out! Is it some kind of game you pilots like to play?"

"No!"

"Then why?" Annabeth insisted.

"Because when I saw you, I knew I didn't want to be with anyone else but you!" I shouted. She looked at me with an incredulous expression. I licked my lips and the words just came out of my mouth. "Because when I laid my eyes on you, I knew there was no one I could possibly ever be with besides you."

Her grey eyes locked with mine. I couldn't see if she was honored, shocked, or hurt. Annabeth wasn't the kind of girl who easily didn't let her feelings be exposed. I could learn that by just being with her a few times. She glanced at the ground, tugging a piece of hair behind her ear.

I bit my lip and grabbed her face with my hands. Her eyes met mine again as I pressed my forehead against hers. Her breath blew against my face. "I don't ever want to lose you."

She smiled after a while. "Before I agree on us beginning a relationship, there's one thing I have to tell you."

"What?" I asked, starting to grin.

"That I'm never, ever, going to make things easy on you, Perseus Jackson," Annabeth said.

I smiled. "I'm okay with that as long as I have you."

I placed my hand on the side of her face; pressing my palm against her cheek. Her stormy grey eyes locked with mine and I rested my forehead on hers. Her eyes closed as she licked her lips, then opened them again, making me think she was even more beautiful than I could ever imagine.

This chapter is done, but no, no, no, the story is not over yet.

First things first, how was your Christmas and New Years? Get any good gifts?

Second, I'm sorry if Percy or Annabeth was OOC in this chapter, but the story is an AU and now you know why Annabeth has a soft relationship with her dad.

And third, I should be updating The Stranger Within and Green Eyes by the end of the week or beginning of next week, somewhere in between.

Ok, since that's all done... I bid you good-bye :)

-HunterofArtemis32