Hello, my wonderful readers! It's been way too long since I posted a Percy/Annabeth oneshot, so here it is! I'm not too proud of how this one was resolved, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that :)

So anyway, this takes place during The Last Olympian. You remember that scene with Annabeth landing the Dare helicopter and then walking away? Well, the next time she appears, her eyes are 'reed and puffy' and, I don't know, I simply adore this part. It has so much potential for a fic, right?

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. If I did, I wouldn't be going out of my head thinking about what the heck is going to happen in Son of Neptune.

Circumstantial
'Just because I didn't get my happily ever after...'

"Annabeth! Are you okay?" Thalia yelled as she ran down Fifth Avenue towards her best friend. She had witnessed how the daughter of Athena had made that insane jump from a few hundred feet in the air , safely landed the helicopter, and then walked away like it was no big deal. Personally, the daughter of Zeus had never been this close to a heart attack before.

"I'm fine." Annabeth replied in a clipped tone, checking her injured shoulder.

"What were you thinking? You could've gotten killed!"

The blonde snorted. "Don't go mother hen on me, Thals. In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a war. The possibility of getting killed is sort of a given."

"Well, sorry for caring." Thalia said sarcastically. It was silent for a moment, and then she added: "Nice flying, by the way."

They both grinned and Annabeth laughingly said: "Thanks."

They started heading towards the Plaza, helping out some of their fellow demigods on the way. Thalia tried to make small talk as they walked.

"So, where's Kelp Face? He was with you, right?" At that, Annabeth's smile darkened.

"He's with his mortal friend." She said bitterly. Thalia's eyebrows furrowed, wondering what Rachel had to do with any of this. A few seconds later, her eyes widened in understanding.

"You mean… that helicopter… She was inside?" Annabeth nodded. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"She said she needed to see Percy." An air of resentment surrounded the blonde, something that the Hunter didn't fail to notice.

"Are you… jealous of that Dare girl?" Annabeth looked affronted at the accusation.

"What? No!"

"Annabeth, don't keep your emotions bottled up."

"I'm not." The daughter of Athena assured her curtly, picking up her pace and striding towards the Plaza. Thalia followed insistently, obviously not done.

"Yes, you are. I know you. You're keeping all your feelings locked up because you think they're not worth it. You used to do the same thing back when we were on the run."

"I'm not the same kid you picked up from the streets." Annabeth said, irritated. Why couldn't Thalia just leave her alone?

"Annabeth Chase, listen to me!" Thalia yelled, attracting the attention of the demigods around them. Annabeth spun on her heel and faced the dark-haired girl defiantly.

"Why should I? I'm older now; I can make my own decisions!" She shot back.

"You may be older but you're certainly none the wiser!"

"Oh yeah? Then how would a Hunter know what I'm going through right now, huh?"

"You forget, kiddo: Luke meant as much to me as Percy does to you!"

Silence. The other demigods awkwardly shuffled away until it was only the two of them left.

Thalia's eyes darted downwards as she spoke.

"I became a Hunter because I didn't want the Great Prophecy to be mine. I changed the future so that I wouldn't have to face Luke. You know that. If I had to be the one to go up against him," Her hands fisted, electric blue eyes staring intently at the other girl as she whispered: "I'm not sure I'd be able to get the job done."

Annabeth sighed heavily and plopped herself onto the concrete sidewalk.

"I'm so sorry, Thals. What I said was out of line. It's just..." She took a shaky breath before laughing thickly. "Damn, I'm pretty messed up.

"I know I shouldn't be thinking about this right now." She added hastily. "I mean, there's a freaking war going on; what the hell am I doing, worrying about meaningless things like love at a time like this?"

"Love isn't meaningless." Thalia said softly, moving to sit beside her best friend.

"Yeah, but I can't help but think. I mean, what if… What if he doesn't feel the same way?"

For a moment, the daughter of Zeus just stared. When you were a demigod, you had to either force yourself to grow up quickly, or get yourself killed. Because of that, she sometimes forgot that Annabeth was a sixteen-year-old girl and that, on top of dealing with the usual demigod stuff, she had all the problems a normal sixteen-year-old girl would have.

"Look, kiddo," Thalia began. "Percy's lucky to have you beside him – as his second-in-command, as his best friend, as something more, whatever. You're a smart, beautiful, independent girl. Not to mention a kickass demigod." Annabeth flinched, and Thalia had to wonder what she said wrong.

"That's just it, Thals."

"…I'm sorry, what?"

Annabeth stared at a crack in the pavement. "Tell me: what do you do when you're faced with a problem?"

"Fix it." The other girl answered hesitantly. She still didn't see where Annabeth was going with this.

Annabeth nodded. "Correct. So, if I weren't pretty enough, and I mean this hypothetically," She emphasized when she saw the Hunter open her mouth to retort. "Then I could put some more effort in fixing my appearance. Similarly, if I lacked power, I could train and work hard until I'm strong enough.

"But," The daughter of Athena let out a hollow laugh. "Being a demigod? I can't change that, no matter how hard I try."

Oh. It made sense now. "Annabeth…"

The blonde bitterly scuffed her sneakers against the asphalt. "If he wants a mortal, then I can't do anything about that, can I?"

Thalia pulled her best friend close, letting the other girl's head rest on her shoulder. She heard the daughter of Athena sniffle, but chose not to say anything. A few seconds later, Annabeth spoke up again.

"I think… I think I'm in love with him." The blonde's throat was closing up, and her voice was barely above a whisper. When she looked up at the Hunter, her eyes were red and puffy. "And I'm scared… I'm afraid of getting hurt like you did."

They remained that way for a moment, with Thalia staring out into the distance, trying to find something to say. She couldn't exactly tell Annabeth that Percy didn't like Rachel. (To be honest, she had no idea what her cousin felt for the mortal redhead.) Still, she couldn't leave her in this state, especially with the war going on. Despite her stubborn will to lock her feelings away, Annabeth was still obviously hurting, and Thalia was worried it would impair the blonde's judgement. She could get hurt (the Hunter refused to think about 'or worse'), and what would happen to her? And, oh gods, what would happen to Percy? So, no, Thalia couldn't leave things open-ended like this.

If she couldn't honestly speak about Percy's feelings for Rachel, then the daughter of Zeus would speak about something that she was absolutely sure of: Percy's feelings for Annabeth.

"Do you remember the solstice about two years ago, when I became a Hunter?" She began, choosing her words carefully. Beside her, Annabeth nodded. "Percy thought you were going to be one, too. I saw his face, Ann. He looked so scared, like he was about to lose his whole world."

"He was probably just sad that he was losing his friend." The daughter of Athena justified glumly. "Any boy would feel the same way."

Thalia lips twitched upwards. "Should you really be thinking of Percy as just 'any boy'? Not many boys would trek across the country to save you, you know. Not many boys would be willing to hold up the sky for you, either. Heck, as far as I know, Kelp Face is the only one stupid and loyal enough to do both." She sent the blonde a sideways glance. "And he did both of those things for you. Just you."

Annabeth couldn't help but smile fondly, her cheeks coloring slightly. Thalia did have a point there.

"Kiddo," The daughter of Zeus continued. "Just because I… didn't get my happy ending, doesn't mean you won't get yours, alright? Percy's a good guy, and he obviously cares about you." And he won't ever let you down.

It was silent for a moment, and Annabeth hesitantly said: "Do you really think so?"

Thalia scoffed, turning to give her a look. "Please. That boy cares about you so much, it's ridiculous." Annabeth giggled and gave the older demigod (to her, Thalia would always be the older one) a hug.

"Thank you." The blonde whispered. When she pulled away, she added in a normal voice: "You know, I don't think I've ever had a heart-to-heart like this with you. Not even when we were on the run."

The daughter of Zeus chuckled. "Well, I couldn't exactly talk about boys to a seven-year-old, could I?"

Annabeth laughed as well. The two of them stood up and continued on their way back to the Plaza.

"Hey, Annabeth," Thalia said moments later, stopping in her tracks. Annabeth turned around.

"Yeah?"

Thalia's electric blue eyes were looking at her intently as she said: "Promise me you won't give up. On anything. Okay?"

The daughter of Athena smiled and nodded. "Okay."

Review, alright? That way, I'd have some ideas on how to improve my writing :)