[Title: B is for Broken]
[Summary: They were best friends until things fell apart. And in a state of anger, they made a deal that would end in forgetting they were ever best friends. But even in a broken friendship, is it ever really that easy to let go? "I'm leaving at the end of summer, and I wanted to see you." Percabeth. Oneshot.]

Pairing: Percy x Annabeth
Word Count: 5,900+

Cover Thanks: Burstinglight (on tumblr) for the drawings and just me and Photoshop for everything else.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO…

Author's Note: It's different from the original (Bargain) which you will see come the end.

B is for Broken

Broken (adjective) – not kept: not honored or fulfilled;

a broken promise

~.~

Annabeth smiled as the lips descended onto hers; she just wanted to be away from the stress of school, her part time job for the year, and the stress of being a tutor. While kissing him back and running her hands through the dark hair, she felt her stomach lurch as he attempted to lay on her on the couch. She wasn't ready for this: not when she knew that she couldn't ever say that she loved him. This wasn't the time for such things; there may never be a time like that for them. So pressing her hands against his chest, he quickly slowed down turning the kiss back into a make-out session. Even though he always seemed to try to take it further, she was always warmed by the fact that he would slow down for her; she had always forgotten about him pressing to go further with her at times like these. She had always forgotten how he flirted with other girls during school. Because when they were alone, he became the sweet, kind, and caring guy that she originally said 'yes' to; that was what made her smile.

Breaking away from the kiss, he grinned, "I love you, Annabeth."

She frowned, feeling torn. He had never uttered the words to her before, and she badly wanted to feel that love back; she didn't. For as long as the other dark haired, but green-eyed, boy was around, she simply couldn't. "I know," his face immediately dropped, his hand running through his hair. She winced, remembering the last time she angered him. His grip became tighter on her waist as the finger shaped bruises began to form once again. It didn't hurt as much as the other times had. It no longer really hurt her, but she still wanted to begin crying. How could she have gotten into something like this? A smile became plastered on her face; he never knew her well enough to tell when it was fake. "I love you too."

His grip on her immediately weakened.

...

Percy twirled his pen in his fingers, attempting to decipher what, exactly, the math book was asking of him to do. He knew that x came before y and z in the alphabet, but that was completely unrelated to math. Surely, the math book would not be asking him to do something so simple, right? It was beyond obvious that you only needed to sing the alphabet in order to know what came when in the "A,B,C's." But, if they only wanted that, then why would there be an array of numbers in front of all the letters? He could count to, well until he wasn't sure of the name of the numbers anymore, but that didn't help him in finding what f(x) meant. He was fairly certain that it meant something along the lines of:

"Fuck x," Percy dropped his pen, slamming the book closed. As much as he tried, he would never be able to get Algebra II. Surely, they could drop him back to simple addition, right? He was at least somewhat good at it. Plus, elementary school was the good old days even though they did lack naps.

"Percy," his tutor across from him leant back in her chair, "that's not what f(x) means; we've gone over this every single session since we started months ago. Seriously," she shook her head slightly while rolling her eyes, internal conflict evident on her face, "I think I should just tell Mrs. Dodds that you need a different tutor." Percy was fairly certain he heard the girl mutter can't believe he has driven me to quit, under her breath.

It wasn't as if he wasn't trying; he always had been trying, but he couldn't help staring at the girl when she was reading the various math problems to him. This wasn't about his ADHD acting up, but the girl sitting in front of him had always interested him. Heck, they had been best friends at one point, not that either of them truly acted like that ever happened, now. So, he couldn't simply let her slip away from his grasp again when they had finally started talking. "C'mon," he frowned, his sea green eyes milking in her appearance, "you can't quit on an old friend, Beth."

"Annabeth," her grimace darkened the stormy grey eyes, knowing that he purposefully called her Beth; he always used to do that. "My name's Annabeth, and I'm not quitting when this entire thing is completely pointless. This is just a lost cause," she winced, realizing that she had just deemed him not worth trying.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, he shrugged, "You've always had a problem with the name. Just making sure you didn't change that much." His arms crossed over his chest, leaning his chair onto its two back legs. She could practically see the aura of cockiness surrounding him.

Rolling her eyes, Annabeth's fury was beginning to rise. It wasn't her that decided to change; she had never changed. "You're so ignorant." Packing up her books, she stood, ready to leave the library and ask for a new tutor. This wasn't her quitting, but it was her moving on from what was her past. She didn't need to deal with a kid who simply never got it. "Do me a favor; forget that we were ever best friends because I was never best friends with this you."

Before she could completely pass his chair, Percy's hand latched onto her arm, turning her around. "If you want me to do that, then you have to do me a favor." At first, Percy could have sworn fear passed over her face as she glanced down at his grip, but it quickly passed into a mask of nonchalance. An eyebrow raised, Annabeth's silence signaled that Percy could begin what he wanted to say. Percy, on the other hand, felt unbelievably nervous and only wanted to have more time to think. This could very well be the last time he got the chance to talk to her. While the entire time before his green orbs had been intense, they softened slightly, looking up into the grey eyes of the blond beauty. He truly missed being near her. "Dump Ethan."

...

As Percy threw the dirty towel over his shoulder, a silver, or as he liked to it though most called grey, Chevy Volt pulled up to the parking lot. He was just getting ready to go and sink into his sandwich, but as much as he wanted lunch, he knew it could wait. Standing awkwardly to the side, he hung around for the driver to finally get out. Already, he knew who the owner of the car was; who else would own a grey car that matched their eyes perfectly? Chuckling slightly, he glanced down at the license plate: Sea Owl. Surely, he understood the owl part, but he never did get how the sea had anything to do with it.

"Ehem," the owner of the car cleared her throat, waking Percy out of his stupor. For a second, their eyes met, only for Percy to glance away at anything but the blond beauty in front of him. "Is there anyone else here?" He noted the snarky tone of her voice; he imagined her eyes were a stormy dark grey now, but still his eyes roamed over the grey Chevy.

"No," scratching his head, his eyes rose to look off over Annabeth's head. Percy remembered their deal; he was still waiting for Annabeth to break up with Ethan, yet he was also dreading it. When that happened, he knew Annabeth wouldn't want to talk to him, though he could sense that there was something off about Annabeth's relationship with Ethan. Since they started dating, her appearance changed; she straightened her hair, wore tighter clothes, and always made sure that her arms were covered.

"Shame," his eyes finally met hers as she muttered that word under her breath. "Well, Beckendorf said he would change the windshield wipers for me…" She trailed off at the end, looking embarrassed. Percy simply cocked his head, confused. Couldn't she change her own windshield wipers? She was a genius. "Percy, don't give me that look," for a split second he thought he heard the warm teasing in her voice like years prior, only for it to become cold again, "I just don't want to mess up my car."

Shrugging, Percy grabbed another towel while grabbing a box of wipers with Annabeth's name on it. Under her inspecting gaze, he pulled a stool over for her before grabbing one for himself. Sitting down, he looked up to see her still standing, eyeing the stool. "It doesn't bite," his voice sounded hoarse, rougher than normal, as Annabeth practically jumped from hearing him speak a sentence, even though it was short. He hadn't spoken to her since two months before summer began, their last tutoring session.

Catching herself, she carefully sat on the pew, "I know. I was just making sure it wasn't covered in grime. Do you realize how expensive these jeans are?" Watching her, Percy saw how she cringed when talking about the price of her clothes. He knew she didn't like to shop; they used to go to the mall together yet they generally just saw a movie or perused a book store. They never went clothes shopping. Raising his eyebrows, he simply shook his head at the girl in front of him: and she said she didn't change.

"I don't care, really," his eyes dropped from hers, examining the wipers that were already on the car. As he still observed the problematic wipers, he continued to allow the silence to be prolonged. It truly didn't bother him, the silence that is; all that he wanted was to get the chance to be near Annabeth again. If talking to Annabeth meant risking her leaving, he wouldn't talk to Annabeth then. But in doing so, he became more and more nervous as Annabeth kept gazing at him. As much as the watchful gaze of anyone didn't bother him, being under Annabeth's gaze made him want to crawl from out of his skin. He hadn't been under her watch for a long time, and honestly, that was something that he still missed no matter how uncomfortable it made him.

"So," Annabeth held out the 'o' for longer than necessary. Percy hid his smirk, remembering how she would always do that when she was contemplating anything and everything. "Why didn't you try out for the swim team?" She bit her lip after trying to start the conversation.

Clearing his throat, Percy didn't even meet her gaze to answer. "It's not my thing." Lie, he could practically hear Annabeth think. Of all the people, she knew how important swimming was to him; he had always loved the water more than anything.

"What happened to AP Marine Bio?" She pressed, picking at the bottom of her shirt. It had been years back when Percy announced to her that he was going to become a marine biologist. That summer, many summers ago, he had gone to work for his father's aquarium every single day, learning what it would be like for him.

"Life." Annabeth frowned, not liking the short responses she was receiving from him. She was really trying this time to make conversation with him, but he just didn't seem to want to try as well. Whether or not she would ever admit it to him, it really hurt her to know he was done trying. Normally, she was the one who blew him off, but now she understood how hurtful her actions could truly be.

Pausing for a second, she sighed, "Percy, why'd you stop swimming every Sunday at the beach?" She mumbled, looking out of the open garage where the blue sky met the dense set of trees. It had always been a joke between them that the sky was just a second ocean which leads you to space. And one day, Percy was going to swim in it until he could swim no longer. Smiling slightly, Annabeth watched the expressions that passed over the boy's face: hurt, anger, disappointment, to name a few, but in the end, he settled on surprise.

"How would you know?" He set the last wiper down on the window, pushing the stool away as he stood up. Internally, he felt weak but knew it didn't transpire into his voice as Annabeth winced from the harshness of his tone. While standing, Percy watched her stare at him blankly, having never seen Annabeth look like a deer in the headlights before, "Your car's done."

Joining Percy standing, Annabeth opened her mouth to say something but closed it quickly. Walking towards Percy, she passed the driver's side door, opening it as he held it open for her. Her eyes lingered on where his hand met the silver of her car door, letting them flicker up onto Percy's face. Allowing herself to scan over him for the first time in months, she noted how his hair was sticking out in all directions like normal, only a tad bit shorter than at their tutoring session months before; a small amount of grease covered the top of his forehead under the curtain of dark hair. "Thanks," her eyes dropped as she sat in the car.

Before Percy closed the door to her car, he gazed down at her, as she buckled her seatbelt. Waiting expectantly, Annabeth watched as Percy regarded her before shaking his head, a slight chuckle emitting from his throat, nodding a you're welcome.

It was his light laughter that always made her smile.

...

Jogging down the beach, Annabeth smiled as the scent of salt water filled her nostrils. Subconsciously scanning the beach, she felt her heart beat just a tad bit faster each time her eyes settled on a dark haired boy. But upon a second's further inspection, she realized the heads didn't belong to the boy that she had been desperately looking for. After a few weeks of summer continued, Annabeth found herself attempting to find problems with her car so that she could show up at the auto shop where he worked. Though every time, disappointment filled her insides as only Grover or Beckendorf would always attempt to fix her car that had no problems. Before long, the boys had begun to question her great number of appearances until they finally told her one day, with a smirk, that Percy had quit months before.

Running down towards the rocks, she froze, seeing a body cut through the water and place itself on the beach. The person lay back in the sand, their chest heaving up and down. It couldn't be; she felt her heart beat racing one again as her eyes made out a great mop of black hair. She knew she couldn't allow herself to be excited by this boy who she had practically avoided for many years. But for some reason, it was a feeling that she greatly enjoyed because only he could make her heart race like that.

Ambling down the shoreline, she placed herself next to the body, laying less than half a foot away; it was the closest they had been in a while. Not wanting to say anything, she just took in his existence; it was enough for her.

"So you jog here every Sunday?" Her head turned to see his, and she noticed that his eyes were still closed. While watching, she did her best to focus on his face so that she wouldn't go through the embarrassment of him seeing her take interest in his body. Sure, his eyes were closed, but it worried her nonetheless. "Is that how you knew?"

Turning on her side, Annabeth sighed, "I thought you might show up so we could tal-"

"We saw each other every day, Annabeth," his eyes snapped open, no anger speckled about them but sadness. "There was no need to come here every day if you wanted to talk to me." Though his eyes were opened, he continued to focus on the deep blues of the sky above him.

"I," she bit her lip, knowing that she never really had a reason to go jogging there every day, "I know. I just thought that, if we talked here, I don't know. We could work it all out." Pausing, she felt his gaze flicker onto her for only a split second before they met the sky again. She knew he was sizing her up; he was wondering whether she was lying or not. "I just wanted to know that you hadn't changed like I thought you had."

Coughing, Percy let out a sarcastic laugh, "You were always a wise girl." While the laugh was filled with sarcasm, the statement was laced with great care. While they may not have talked to each other, it didn't mean the feelings subsided. For Annabeth, she had taken a long time to realize that the distance between them didn't affect how she felt about him. For Percy, he had learned that sometimes, you can't hold onto the past; he knew that he had needed to move on. "When my father died, I pushed you away. It was dumb, but hey, that's all I seem to be able to do." Another laugh erupted from his throat, this one seeming more maniacle than anything.

"You're not dumb, Percy," Annabeth stated, wishing she could meet the sea green eyes of her once best friend. She knew that the boy from five years ago was still there somewhere. During the time that she tutored him, she had seen it show through when he was caught off guard. But as soon as he let it show, he would make an arrogant comment at her expense. Then, Annabeth would start to shut down from him, and the whole cycle simply continued.

"You're right," no cockiness was present in the response, "I'm not dumb at everything. You should know, I figured it out," he finally turned on his side toward Annabeth. Extending his hand, Percy let it fall to her hip where a long shirt covered the bone. Lifting it slightly, his eyes met the yellow marks that still lingered from the last time Ethan had gripped her too hard. Slowly, his fingers stroked the tender skin latching his eyes onto the multiple different marks. While the warmth from his touch spread throughout Annabeth, he dropped his hand away from her waist, averting his eyes from her. "But sometimes, you just weren't wise, especially not with Ethan," the disdain was evident in his voice as he stood up.

Not wanting him to go, Annabeth blurted out the one thing she had wanted to tell him, "I broke up with him." Her eyes pleaded to Percy's back for him to turn around. She had come to learn that Ethan and Percy had gotten into a number of fights about her and how Ethan treated her. It wasn't until the day that she cut Ethan loose that he told her with distaste how all the fights weren't worth it. In the end, Percy had always been there while Annabeth just wasn't there for him in his time of great need.

His back remained to her, "That's great." While he didn't start to move away, he also didn't make any movement to turn towards her. He was, quite simply, still.

"Percy," Annabeth clamored to get up, putting a hand on his shoulder; he shrugged it off.

"You know what this means," he paused, clenching his fists and then releasing them, "we were never best friends." Willing himself to move forward, Percy walked away from what had been his past. While he originally had just wanted to get it back, he came to realize that sometimes he just needed to let the ones he loved go. As much as he cared for Annabeth, he had always been one to keep his word; she had done her part, and it was time for him to do his. Although he felt the insides of him tumbling downward into a dark abyss, he held onto the inkling of hope that Annabeth would come after him. He held onto the inkling of hope that his Wise Girl was wise enough to realize that this time he walked slow enough for Annabeth to catch up to him. To hold onto their history. Again, he waited for her to come to his time of need.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five –

She never came.

…

Annabeth watched the stripped with orange, white, and black fish cut through the water; the vibrant blue water must have been something due to the lighting, her mind reasoned. Still, it reminded her of him and the blue food that he just loved oh so much. It had been a year, leaving them in the summer before college. She had seen him, but she hadn't talked to him since that time on the beach where he walked away; she didn't go after him. It seemed that every night that moment was either replayed in her mind or through her dreams; she regretted it, wishing that she had broken the deal and simply told him that she needed him there because she did. She truly did. Annabeth needed Percy there for her, but her pride was going to be the death of her. It would have meant sucking up her pride to go after him and follow him there. So she didn't but if only she had.

"I never understood why you've decided to stop and watch these fish out of all the ones here," she heard a voice say that was pulling at a memory to remember. It was so familiar yet different, more tired, more sullen, more something. For the past year, her mind had been playing tricks on her, making each voice she heard sound something like his. So maybe, this time it was the same thing—the same trick of the mind. She just hoped it wasn't this time. "You always complained whenever I picked Finding Nemo as the movie, anyways," the footsteps came closer, echoing through the empty aquarium.

She turned on her heel towards the footsteps, noticing how his once unruly hair was actually sitting cleanly on his head. "It's a kid's movie," was all she could muster as she watched a teasing smile develop on his lips. It wasn't something smug or cocky or arrogant like she had been come accustomed to in the past years. It was the lopsided smile of the Seaweed Brain she had known for most of her life but was missing in the last few years of it.

"Maybe I liked those years," he grinned, slowing his footsteps down, making the distance between the two of them seem painfully far apart, much too far for Annabeth's liking. His sea green eyes lazily took in her appearance, remaining fixed on each section of her body, staying the longest on her face, "You have the princess curls back." He was in front of her now, the tired lines clear on his face, but the crinkles at the corners of his eyes spoke wonders to his current mood. Pausing a few seconds, he reached his hand out to pull one of the curls before removing his arm back to his side as it bounced back into place as each curl always did.

A small smile formed on her face; it felt good, natural, "Your hair's actually neat." It's not that she didn't like it, but she was used to seeing the multiple strands sticking every which way for the longest amount of time. It was weird to her to have the image of her an unruly Percy be juxtaposed with the one that was neat and almost tidy.

He shrugged, leaning back on the heels of his feet and rocking forward again; it was a sign of his ADHD. He never could stand still, "I guess that's what AP classes do to you."

Her gasp was almost audible, "You mean AP Ma—"

"Marine Bio," he finished for her, an amused expression showing on his face before he shook his head. "You reminded me of what I wanted to be for all those years. I guess I just decided that I couldn't let my dad's death change who I wanted to be." Percy ran a hand through his hair, making the now shorter locks sit somewhat messily. If you asked Annabeth, it suited him a lot nicer than the neat look, "I see you've changed too. Or, maybe I should say gone back to how you used to be again, at least looks wise." She nodded, toying with the ends of her shorts, not certain whether or not Percy liked the way she looked. She knew it shouldn't matter, but for some reason, it meant a lot to her, more than it should have. "It's nice," he replied as if reading her mind, "but I just don't get what you're doing here."

His expression was serious, only causing Annabeth to toy uncomfortably with a loose string that frayed off the cut-off jean shorts. She had waited a year for this moment, to see him again, to talk to him again, yet her tongue felt bound in multiple knots, disabling her from speaking any coherent words. "I—," she paused to clear her throat, removing the rasp from it, "I was hoping you would be here."

"We were never best friends," he replied stonily, chilling Annabeth to the bone. Her grey eyes searched his green for any hint of joking or teasing, but it was gone from them as quickly as it had been there earlier. "We made the deal, in case you forgot. You initiated it and made your term first." His voice was deeper, more serious, lacking the upbeat tone that he once had before.

"I'm going to Stanford," she blurted out as an explanation, his eyebrows rising as a response. Annabeth backtracked, realizing that her response did nothing to explain why she spent so many days over the summer and during the school year in the aquarium, "I'm leaving at the end of summer, and I wanted to see you."

He nodded as if understanding a lesson the teacher was saying, not having heard some heartfelt reply from his once best friend; for that reply, for Annabeth, it took a lot for her to say it, to say that she truly missed him. Or well, that was what it meant coming from Annabeth if you read between the lines. But for Percy, it wouldn't be enough; he wanted to hear her truly say it, "You saw me at least three days a week in school." It reminded her of before, on the beach, where he said she had the chance to talk to him in school. She didn't have to run along the beach to see him or talk to him again. She didn't have to go to the aquarium to find him, and yet, she did. He wanted to know why. He wanted her to admit why she chose the aquarium when he was always there all along.

She bit the inside of her lip, contemplating how to reply logically to a situation like this. Only, she couldn't find the logic or reason in this. Maybe that was what Percy wanted—for her to reply not because her brain reasoned that was the best response but because her heart told her that it was the right thing to do or say, "I've—" Could she really say it? Could she really just put everything on the line and explain it? "I've missed you, Seaweed Brain." His eyes lit up at the nickname, the green sparkling like before when they were kids when he saw her after a long summer apart. But now that she said it, it all came tumbling out, "I regret it. I regret the deal and Ethan and quitting as your tutor and everything that I said to you then, and I regret…" Her grey eyes dropped from his to the way her body cast a shadow on the luminescent floor near her old, converse sneakers, "I regret not following you on the beach and telling you that I needed you. That I need you."

"Can't change it now," she looked up to see him shrug, a joking undertone to his words. And for the first time, in a long time, they both echoed the other's smile, "But hey, we have the whole rest of the summer ahead of us to make things right."

…

And they did. They spent the last remaining summer days as they dwindled away together. It wasn't uncommon that one of them would fall asleep at the other's house, having stayed much too late into the night to drive home safely. Percy would be going to Rhode Island in the fall to become a marine biologist and Annabeth across the states at Stanford. They would be apart again, only this time they hoped it to be different than the last—it had to be different than the last.

"You'll talk to me every day?" She asked, watching him pack her suitcase into the back of her father's truck through the rearview mirror. As he circled around, she leaned her arms against the rolled down passenger's window, waiting for him to stand in front of her. Although she might not say it aloud, they both knew that she would miss him.

Percy, of course, wanted her to put away her pride for a second and voice that fact, "Until you get tired of me." His grin spread across his face, holding a package behind his back that he had especially picked out for Annabeth.

"I don't think that could ever happen," she mumbled, hearing her front door slam, meaning that her father would be coming soon, and they would be driving to the airport soon enough. She wished that Percy could come as well, but she had rejected his offer, knowing that seeing him at the airport would only make it that much harder. At that moment, she was wishing that she hadn't rejected his offer because any seconds longer with him would have been nicer. "I'll miss you, Seaweed Brain," she mumbled, breaking the pause and looking away from his face but knowing that an even wider grin must have been covering it.

He rested his head against the passenger door, becoming level with Annabeth, "I'll miss you too, Wise Girl." She turned her head to meet his gaze, noticing how close their faces were. "If I talk to you every day, do you promise to never forget that I'm your best friend when you meet some Stanford college guy that's twenty times better than me?" His voice was sincere with only a hint of teasing at the end; he meant it and was worried that she might possibly forget him in their time apart.

"You know we didn't keep the deal last time we made one," she teased, but the sadness in her eyes gave away that she was truly being serious. She was nervous and didn't want this one to end up like the last time where it was a broken promise. This time, she actually wanted to keep the deal they were making. Besides, they were on much better terms.

He shrugged, the weight of the package behind his back feeling heavy, "I know I won't break this one. I didn't the break the last." He joked earnestly, wanting anything to remove the sadness behind her eyes, yet it only increased it at the last words he said.

"I won't break this one," she urged quietly, hearing the driver's side door open and close and a presence next to her. It was all too soon. She didn't want to go yet; she didn't want to leave him so soon.

He pulled the gift from behind his back, thrusting it into her lap, "Here, I got you this, but don't open it until you can't see me any longer, alright?" His eyes were soft as he watched her reaction to the sloppily wrapped gift in the blue and green wrapping paper. "The gift is a lot better than the wrapping job," he added honestly, watching as Annabeth smiled back at him. Her father cleared his throat, reminding them that it was time to part once again; because Annabeth was going across the country, she truly wouldn't be traveling back to New York every weekend, maybe not even every month. Unlike Percy, it wouldn't be that short of a drive.

"I love you," Annabeth stated, smiling lightly at the green eyed boy across from her. It was the first time she said it, that wasn't to a family member, that she truly meant it. It wasn't like the times she had said it to Ethan after he proclaimed his love to her; she meant the words like no other words ever said out of her mouth. She loved him with her entire heart, more than any best friend had ever loved their counterpart. Because if she was honest, she loved him more than just as friends, even if the best of them; she loved him as more than a best friend, not that she had ever said it.

He grinned, his sea green eyes becoming bright, "I love you too." Before he could pull his head off the window to allow Mr. Chase to drive, Annabeth pressed her lips to his, enjoying the warmth the seemed to resonate from them. It wasn't some passion filled kiss that you saw in the movies, but a sad, sweet one that symbolized a goodbye and an I'll miss you.

They pulled away, and he took a few steps back, a blush appearing on his face as the car moved away. It wasn't until his waving hand and form was out of sight that Annabeth remembered the package resting in her lap. She lifted it up, carefully unwrapping the sloppy blue and green wrapping paper, not able to hide the smile off her face. The first thing she noticed was the scribbled, blue handwriting on the white paper that was taped to whatever the present was; it could only be Percy's. It read:

Wise Girl,

I wanted to tell you this in case I forgot before you left:
I love you. A lot. And, I'll miss you. A lot.
I know the last deal/promise we made ended up being broken, but…
I'll always be here as long as you need me.
So, promise me that you'll keep needing me.
Because I'll always need you.

Percy xx.

She smiled, her eyes falling on the picture of the two of them in front of the aquarium tank that held the clownfish. Whenever they visited Percy's father's aquarium, which was quite often since Annabeth always went to see Percy there on his job breaks, they ended each walkthrough looking into that tank. It was one of the last times that they had visited; they convinced someone to take a picture. Well actually, they took over five because Percy decided that it would be better to take more in case they couldn't agree on which one was the best. In the last picture, he had pressed his lips to her cheek, causing a silly grin to spread across Annabeth's face. Of course, that picture was Percy's favorite. And although she may have protested it, it was Annabeth's favorite as well though she would never admit why. Then her eyes fell upon the last line, the words after the picture:

P.S. I know you love this picture as much as you love the movie.

Confused, she pulled the paper off the gift to reveal the DVD of Finding Nemo, something that truly didn't surprise Annabeth at all. She laughed: the sound tumbling out of her mouth as the gift tickled her to the core. It was definitely a Percy gift. And when she finally regained her composure, of course that was after her father sent her a concerned look, she said to the cover but really to her Seaweed Brain for a best friend,

"I promise, this time, I won't break it."

And she was certain that she wouldn't.

xx

AN: I decided that I couldn't leave the Percabeth story with a sad ending… Plus, it was just going to come up later on in my original story "An Era of Affection of Bonds" (the series of one shots) but then I scrapped that story. So, this one shot no longer ends at where Annabeth decided not to follow Percy. I also think, at a time like this, we could all use a little bit of happiness.

This is the first time that I have said anything regarding the Newtown shooting on here. I don't think I could say anything that could truly explain just how my heart broke hearing about it. I remember hearing a quote that said there's triumph after tragedy. But truly, I think that there was some triumph during that tragedy when Victoria Soto sacrificed herself to save her kids, and the principal and school psychologist went to try to stop the gunman. Things do have to change, one way or another because it cannot keep happening. Those twenty little, perfect children and their six teachers must be remembered. So, I ask of you something simple yet so meaningful. Do 26 random acts of kindness in their memory, and hold your loved ones even tighter this holiday season.

And for those of you who have been looking for an update to Only Thirty Days, there will be one. However, I have been working on this special, hm, project of sorts to post tomorrow, so I have yet to finish the aforementioned story's chapter.

~ Jam. 26 RAK.

xx

Reformatted {6.29.12}

Revised {12.12.12}

A/N {12.24.12}