Hi, Innoverse here! This is a one-shot that's been in the back of my mind for a while. It's set during the Son of Neptune—Chapter XXXVIII (38) to be exact. It's really sad (I cried a lot while writing it), but it's sweet, too. Percy and Annabeth might be a little OOC, but just a smidge because they're both emotional about being apart for eight months. If you're an easy crier, I recommend having some tissues handy.

Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes of Olympus.

- I Don't Want to Hang Up: Percy's POV -

Percy sunk back into his seat as the train settled into a comfortable speed. Frank and Hazel sat next to him, looking over a map of the area and trying to devise some kind of plan for when they got off the train—at least, if they got off the train at the proper location. With Percy's luck, he seriously doubted that anything would work his way.

Glancing around the train, the memory of riding one previously in his life surfaced in his head. He'd been getting random little glimpses of memory back recently—little things that might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but made Percy feel a lot more comfortable knowing that he could remember who he actually was. Still, everything felt frustratingly foggy, and it was irritating to see something, but not know what it meant. He wanted to strangle Juno for taking his memories, for making him have to struggle to even remember what his gods forsaken middle name was.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get himself to relax a little and take a deep breath. They'll come back, he assured himself. But what if he died before then? If he couldn't even remember the people he was leaving behind... and then they didn't even know he was dead? No, they'd know. He had a fleeting memory of Nico di Angelo telling him once that when people close to him died, he got a sort of buzzing in his ears. Oh man, Percy wanted to slap that kid.

He opened his eyes and glanced around the train again. For some reason, his eyes lingered on a payphone booth that had been tucked into the corner at the back of the train where nobody was sitting. His eyebrows scrunched in confusion, but then two memories slammed into his gut like fastballs. Phone numbers.

He had a mother... Sally Jackson. And Paul Blofis, his stepdad. They were probably really worried about him. He remembered his home number—an apartment in New York. He lived in New York. And then another number... a cell phone number. Annabeth. Oh gods, he knew Annabeth's number.

His heart hammered in his chest just at the thought of hearing her voice. He fumbled around in his pocket and found a fistful of change, nearly jumping for joy. It had to be late there... but at least he could tell her was alive. He stood up in his seat.

"Uh... guys," he murmured. "'Scuse me..."

He hopped over their seats, ignoring Hazel's question of where he was going, only focusing on the payphone. He knew he was asking for trouble—it seemed to find him without asking, anyways—but he didn't really care. He walked into the phone booth and slid the door closed behind him. His hands fumbled over the change as he slid a quarter into the machine, dialing the number of his mother's apartment.

Voicemail. He heard Paul's voice ask him to leave a message. He took a deep breath. "Mom," he said. "Hey, I'm alive. Hera put me asleep for a while, and then she took my memory, and..." How was he supposed to explain this entire mess in so little time? "Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I'm on a quest—" Mistake. Now his mother would worry. "I'll make it home. I promise. Love you."

He put the receiver down. He noticed that his hands were trembling a little. He fed another quarter into the machine, and carefully dialed Annabeth's number. He waited, one ring, hoping to the gods that she would answer, two rings, and that her phone was on, three rings, and that she was okay. In the middle of the fourth ring, someone picked up the phone.

There was a groggy voice on the other line. "Listen, buddy, it's one in the morning. I don't care what you're selling, but nobody has the right to call random numbers at one in the morning so if you'd kindly take me off your freaking list—"

Percy smiled to himself, knowing that it was definitely her voice. Relief flushed through him. "Yeah, Annabeth," he interrupted. "That's why I disappeared eight months ago—to chase my dream of becoming a telemarketer."

There was silence on the other line. Then a breathless, "Percy?"

"Hey, Wise Girl," he murmured. "It's nice to hear your voice."

"Oh gods!" she exclaimed. "Y-you're okay... oh man... Percy, where have you been? You don't know how much I missed you..."

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," he apologized, the words tumbling out of his mouth. "I'm so sorry for leaving like that. I-I didn't plan that. I'm on a quest, and the giants, and—"

"Percy," she interrupted. Her voice was weak, and kind of desperate. "I don't want to talk about that, okay baby?"

He remembered that they only used those kinds of names when they were teasing each other, or when something was really, really wrong. "Okay," he said softly. "No demigod stuff."

"No demigod stuff," she echoed, and then sighed.

Percy leaned his head against the side of the phone booth. "Are you okay, Annabeth? I mean... emotionally..."

She sucked in a deep breath. "No, Percy. I-I'm not okay. I... I'm lost without you, you know? I didn't realize how much you really meant to me until... you know, you were gone."

Percy closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth. I wish I didn't have to put you through that kind of stress... really. I'm lost without you, too." He paused for a second, and rubbed his temple with his free hand. "When I woke up... you were the only thing I remembered. I spent two months alone, with nothing but your memory and some wolves... and I'm pretty sure that I'd have given up if I didn't know that there was someone out there who was probably worrying and looking for me."

She sniffled. "You remembered me from the start..."

"Of course," he said, feeding two coins into the machine. "I could never forget you."

"Percy..." she trailed off, almost as if she was saying his name just to reassure herself that he was on the other end of the line. They sat in silence for a couple of seconds, just listening to each other breathe, until Percy interrupted the silence.

"You look beautiful, Annabeth."

"You can't see me, Seaweed Brain," she said. The nickname revived a few good memories, and he felt a little warm.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "I still know you're beautiful."

She sighed contentedly. "You're sweet, Percy. You really are."

His gut wrenched a little. Somehow, that statement managed to stir his emotions. "I miss you, Wise Girl. I really do." His voice was cracking, and he was swiping the tears out of the corners of his eyes. "I-I mean, I was alone for so long..." Percy hardly ever cried. But, for some reason, he was pretty darn close to breaking down right now.

"Shh..." she murmured.

Percy sniffled. "Sorry... it's just... with everything..." The phone beeped. He pulled out his last quarter, and something inside him died a little. He fed it in slowly. "This is my last quarter, Annabeth. I don't want to hang up. I-I don't..."

"That's okay," she choked out. "You have a quest to finish, baby. And you're going to kill some monsters for me, and when you come back, I'm going to be there to give you a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Okay?"

"Okay," he whispered hoarsely. A single tear dribbled out of his eye and onto his left cheek.

She breathed in slowly. "Okay."

A small smile graced Percy's face. "Okay."

"Just make sure you do come back, alright?" she murmured.

"I will," he said. "I-I promise." He tried not to think about the incomplete prophecy Frank had told him about back in Canada. No. He would make it back to Annabeth.

The phone beeped, telling him he only had a few seconds. "I love you," Annabeth said.

"I-I love you too," he whispered.

The line went dead.

So heartbreaking... but we all knew he'd run out of quarters eventually.

By the way, if you catch the 'The Fault in Our Stars' reference, kudos to you. You have good taste in books. ("Oh, I wouldn't mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you.")

Anyways, thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated. :) (Did anyone else cry?)