Hey, it's Rachel! Finally, this is the first one-shot I've released in, like, forever. I've been lacking both time and inspiration for these... and it makes me a little sad. :( I love writing one-shots! But I'm sure there will a ton of ideas once I read MoA on Tuesday... so you should probably expect a few more.

Anyways, this is a short one-shot about Paul being a litle fatherly and giving Percy girl advice. It's set between the Battle of the Labyrinth and the Last Olympian, before Percy and Ananbeth got together.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJATO.

- Advice on the Female Species: Paul's POV -

"Annabeth, I'm sorry! How many times do you want me to apolo—"

"You're not sorry, Percy! You never care about what I'm feeling, do you?"

Paul sighed, rubbing his temples with the heels of his hands. As he sat at the kitchen table of the small apartment that was the Jackson-Blofis residence, grading school papers for his English class, he could clearly hear his stepson and his best friend arguing via Iris Message straight through Percy's closed door. They'd been at it for a couple of minutes now, and Paul was a little frustrated, but worried for his stepson at the same time.

Paul had recently been introduced to the world of modern-day Greek mythology shortly after deciding to marry Sally—it had come as a surprise, but he had embraced it just the same. Besides, it seemed like Sally and Percy both tried to keep that side of things out of their home lives as much as possible. Paul didn't really blame them, judging by the kind of things he'd heard Percy had needed to do in the past.

But Paul hadn't missed the change in Percy's mood and temper. He'd become increasingly short-tempered, agitated, and worried over the past few months. He wasn't very happy any more, and didn't smile nearly as much. Paul knew that there were a ton of things resting on his shoulders, and even as strong-willed as he was, he was starting to crack under the pressure. That's why Paul was worried about his arguing with Annabeth, because he knew Percy needed emotional support that Paul just didn't know how to provide, and Annabeth was often times the source of that support. But if they couldn't even make it through a conversation...

"What do you mean, what you're feeling? You're yelling at me for hanging out with a friend!"

"Oh, right," Paul heard Annabeth say sarcastically. "She's just your friend."

"She is just my friend!" Percy yelled. "Why do you care who I hang out with? Why does it matter to you?"

"Because there's better things you could be doing than—"

"Than trying to relax some?" he asked. "Better things than trying to calm down for a moment?"

"This isn't the time to be relaxing, Percy! We're on the cusp of a war in case you haven't noticed. Or have you been too entranced by the mortal to see—"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Paul flinched slightly at the drastic change in Percy's volume level. The water in his water bottle began swirling rapidly in the plastic, responding to Percy's anger even if he was in another room. "YOU THINK I DON'T REMEMBER THAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DIE IN A MONTH, ANNABETH?"

"Percy—" Annabeth's voice said quietly.

"DON'T 'PERCY' ME!" he screamed. "YOU SAY I DON'T THINK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS? YOU DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT MINE!"

"Percy..." she tried again. "Listen to me—"

"Why should I listen to you?" he fumed. "Why should I care what you have to say? You clearly don't care about what I have to say. You don't care about me, you don't care how bad I'm feeling, you don't care that I'm just trying to find a way not to panic and break down... I Iris Message you hoping to talk about things and feel better, and you just scream at me and fight over stupid things!"

"Gods, Percy, I'm sorry—"

"No!" he yelled. "I don't want your apology! I don't want your sympathy, either! I don't even want to talk to you anymore!"

"Percy!" she said. "Just let me—"

Annabeth's voice stopped abruptly as Percy presumably swiped through the IM, cutting the connection. The water in Paul's bottle stopped spinning. Percy flung the door of his room open and stomped through the hallway, plopping down heavily on the couch across the room from Paul. He looked bitter and angry, but depressed at the same time. There were dark circles under his eyes, suggesting that he hadn't been sleeping well, either.

He sank back into the couch, the anger trickling out of him and just turning into sadness. Paul figured he probably hated fighting with her, but was just so angry and aggravated with her sometimes that he couldn't help it. He looked downright miserable, and it made Paul's heart clench at seeing him look so downcast. Percy had grown significantly on Paul over the past several months, and it was almost like he was his own flesh and blood.

Paul set his pen down. "You alright, Percy?"

Percy sank lower into his seat. "Not really," he mumbled.

"Girl troubles?" Paul asked gently. Percy nodded stiffly.

"I don't understand how we're ever supposed to figure them out," he said. "It's like the all expect me to read minds when in reality I have no idea what they want."

Paul turned in his chair to face him. "What's going on? You sounded pretty angry a couple minutes ago..."

He sighed. "Annabeth hates it when I talk to Rachel. She gets really mad because... well, I think she's jealous or something. But Rachel is so much easier to talk to because she doesn't scrutinize every little thing and poke fun at me all the time. It's hard to talk to Annabeth because everything is so... complicated. Last summer everything just got blown out of proportion and we're at each other's throats all the time."

"Why is it hard to talk to her?"

Percy chewed his bottom lip and flushed slightly. "I-I... I kind of like her," he mumbled. "And I think she does, too, but then there's Luke and she thinks something is happening with Rachel... It hurts to be with her, and hurts not to be. And we just end up blowing up in each other's faces because we're both stressed."

Paul nodded slowly. "You've got a little love triangle going on there, Perce."

He made a face. "More like a love web. Why can't things be simple for once?"

"Simple doesn't really happen for you, does it?"

"No. Never."

Paul sighed softly. "I wouldn't dwell on it too much, Percy. Things will work out eventually. Annabeth's a smart girl, and I'm sure she can figure out that you've got a lot on your plate. She does care about you, and I'm fairly sure she'll come to her senses a bit more once she realizes it."

He nodded. "You... you're right. Thanks, Paul. I've never really had anyone to ask about girl stuff."

Paul smiled. "I've never had anyone to share my vast knowledge of the female species with."

A rare smile crossed his face. "I think should go apologize..."

"Go for it," Paul said. "Maybe you can talk things out now."

Percy nodded and got up off the couch. "Yeah. And, um, thanks again, Paul."

"Any time, Percy," he said. "Any time."

Short, and definitely not my best, but okay. I'm writing another really long one-shot about Percy and Paul, so this isn't my only story with them if you like hearing about Paul.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you find and grammar mistakes let me know so I can fix them. Reviews are appreciated. :)