A/N: life's busy.

Annabeth's POV

I open my eyes to sunlight streaming in through my windows and glance at the clock.

11:23 AM. Figures.

I can't remember the last time I've cried myself to sleep, but I do know that I hate the way I feel afterwards.

I lazily trudge to the bathroom and look at my reflection. My hair is all tangled, my eyes a bloodshot mess, and my makeup from yesterday not-so-beautifully smudged. I'm too angry and depressed to care, so I grab a towel and take a shower.

I can usually push everything to the back of my head and deal with whatever life throws at me by ignoring it, but for once in my life, I'm feeling nothing but loss.

Who was Rachel?, I thought. What does she want from Percy?

Then it hits me. Rachel. Rachel Dare. I quickly finish my shower and run to my table, a towel wrapped around my chest. After a lot of searching, I come up with a yearbook from two years ago. As I scroll through it, I see it.

Rachel Dare, 10.

So she was a sophomore at Goode High School. Huh.

I remember seeing her around with Percy and his crowd, but I never really was able to put a name to the face. Everything happened so suddenly; she was there for a few months and then she just vanished. I heard she was in some finishing school somewhere, because of her filthy rich parents, but I never really cared much about any rumors. There were definitely more, nastier rumors surrounding their breakup, but over time, they died down.

Now, however, I am curious as hell to know the truth.

Percy's POV

"Bro, you okay? You're clutching that knife like you want to kill someone," Leo jokes, smirking at me. "If you do, I volunteer Beck. I'm too easy."

Beck gives him a look. "You can say that again," he deadpans.

He shakes his head as Leo grins and goes back to eating, but soon turns to me with a strange look on his face, silently ask me what's up.

I sigh, staring at my plate of pancakes like they are the reason for the weight in my chest. Then I decide, fuck it.

"Rachel's back." I look up to see Leo's jaw on the floor and a flinch from Beck. Leo immediately stops eating and turns serious.

"What? When?" He looks angry, almost as if she personally offended him when she left. "What does that bitch want now?"

"Leo." I reprimand him, not disagreeing with him, but simply wanting to calm him down before he says things he regrets.

Leo sighs and picks up his soda. "I know, I know. It's just- man, she really messed up."

Beck looks at me intensely. "What are you going to do about the...?" He trails off, but I know exactly what he's talking about.

"I don't know, man." I say. "I just- I'm going to lose it if I don't talk to her. Annabeth told me that she came over during my-"

"Annabeth?" Leo exclaims, his eyes wide in surprise. "Shit! Does she know?"

I bite back a pang of sadness and guilt.

"No... she-" I take a deep breath. "I didn't tell her. Plus, we kind of decided to take a break."

"Percy." Beck gives me a long look and then shakes his head slowly. "Listen, man, I know youtook the fall with Rachel, and honestly, I don't blame you for wanting a break with Annabeth. But, Annabeth is not Rachel. You can't let Rachel mess up something good. "

"Good?" Leo shakes his head vigorously. He narrows his eyes at me. "You better fix this whole mess up after you deal with Rachel because what you two had wasn't just good. It was amazing, and even a dumb-ass like you should know that."

As much as I want to tell Leo to mind his own shit, a large part of me knows that he's right. Hell, Annabeth and I were not perfect, but we had gotten through a lot more than I thought. We knew smallest of things about each other, whether that was a product of hate or love, and we were finally making amends for the rocky start.

I finish eating and heave a large sigh. "I guess it's settled, then. I'll go talk to her. If she showed up at my house, obviously she was prepared to be less than five feet away from me, let alone one hundred. Looks like the restraining order was lifted."

I honestly have no idea where Rachel lives anymore, but I take a wild guess and drive to her parents' mansion, which is not-so-conveniently a thirty minute drive from my place. I sit in the car for a few minutes, taking deep breaths, wondering if I am really ready to see her again.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Red.

I honestly thought I loved her at one point. I'd like to say the feeling was mutual, but I sure as hell wouldn't have gone through the shit I did if it was. I slowly make my way through the street and to the gate, stopped by the security detail there.

"State your name and reason of visit, please." His gruff, no-nonsense tone stops me right where I am, and to be honest, makes me sweat a little.

"Um.." I ponder about lying, but decide there's really no point. If Rachel had wanted to talk to me so badly, she would've taken the necessary precautions. "Percy Jackson, sir."

He looks up from his clipboard and stares me down with a hard glare. "You have visitation rights, young man, but with your history, don't expect to go in there without supervision. The girl may trust you enough, but I don't play nice with bastards like you."

Anger surges through me and I let out a dry laugh. "Trust me, you don't know my fucking history, and you sure as hell don't know me." He shakes his head, as if to say, you don't even have the decency to admit your mistakes.

I bite back the urge to sock him in the face and remain expressionless, wishing someone told him the real story. Not that it would really make a difference. People only see what's easiest for them to see, and when it comes to what is really supposed to be seen, people look away.

The gate opens and I walk towards the door, now more angry than nervous. Rachel took away more than a year of my life, and hell if I'm going to let her do it again.

I walk through the garden and to a large, mahogany door, designed with stained glass. Pillars frame the door and support an almost Greek-styled balcony, which serve to give the white house a sense of aristocratic wealth and beauty that can't be seen in modern houses. Seeing the house reminds me of Annabeth, and her obsession with foreign architecture, which only makes the small knot in my chest grow larger.

Shaking her out of my head, I knock on the door twice and wait. The door opens, and I'm whipped back down memory lane. There is so much I want to say, so many times I've waited for this very moment.

However, nothing comes out of my mouth.

"Hi." Her face is cautious, like she has no idea what I'm about to do, and if I'm being 100% honest here, I don't either. I get a good look at Rachel, who has only grown more beautiful with time. Her previously frizzy, red curls are now smooth and controlled with product and other expensive means, I'm sure, and her sharp freckles are dimmed by the layer of foundation covering her pale skin. Her nose looks somewhat sharper, no doubt the makeup, and her lips shine with gloss. The only thing that remains the same are her sparkling green eyes, which never failed to grab my attention.

All in all, she looks more sophisticated and mature, but that doesn't change any of my feelings towards her. It only makes me more angry that she looks so damn mature but still did such immature things when she was in my life.

Not knowing where to begin, I clear my throat. "Hey." I say quietly. I try to stay expressionless because the last thing I need is to let her know how much she affects me and how much she's cost me.

She remains quiet for some time, looking at me with a subtle sadness that lingers at the back of her eyes. I try not to let that irk me. She has no right to be sad, not after what she did.

She then awkwardly opens the door and gestures me to come inside, tripping over her feet as she steps back. I bite back a smirk, knowing that Rachel went to finishing school and yet hasn't changed a bit from her clumsy ways. Rachel was always an awkward, quirky girl, but that carefree, innocent nature was what pulled me in the first place.

I step inside, first noticing the glaringly obvious display of wealth covering the walls and the interior of the room. Sometimes, I would forget how rich Rachel's family really was, but there were always reminders that made it simply impossible to pretend she wasn't on a completely different level than I was.

She sits down on an expensive couch, gesturing over a housekeeper. "Would you like anything to drink?" She asks, looking over at me.

I clear my throat again. "Water would be great, thanks."

The maid nods and walks towards the kitchen, leaving Rachel and I alone. I look around, but pause, a thought suddenly striking me. "Are you parents home?"

She looks uneasy, but nods. "I'm sorry, I should've let you know earlier. My father's in his office, in a meeting or something, so you don't have to worry about him. My mother is at some charity event that the Dare Foundation is hosting, though, so she's gone for the week. I just tagged along with my father because I was on break."

I nod. "That's good. He seemed like he wanted to order someone to kill my ass last time I saw him." I shake my head at the memory, looking up to see discomfort etched on her features. The maid comes by with two waters, sets them on the coffee table, and then swiftly departs.

I guess it's time for the real talk now.

"Percy..." She takes a deep breath, but an overwhelming amount of regret and sadness soon cloud her features. What seems like an eternity passes before the next words fall out of her mouth. "I'm- I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." A lone tear drips down her cheek, and for a moment, I feel like she felt the same sadness that I did when we broke up. But my sympathy soon fades when the reality of the situation comes back to my mind.

"I am too. But not for the same reason." I let her see the hurt and anger swirling in my eyes. "I'm sorry I trusted you as much as I did. I-" I stop short, preparing to say what I wanted to say to her since the day she left.

"I loved you." The tension in the air thickens, and she opens her mouth to say something but I cut her off. It's my time to let it out. "I loved you, and you still cheated on me. And, the funny thing is, I'm not even mad at you for that, Rachel. I was hurt, ashamed, fucking sad as hell, but even that I would've forgiven. We were young, stupid, selfish- that list goes on, but point is, we all make mistakes. I'm not saying I was perfect. I sure as hell didn't cheat, but I know I wasn't committed enough to ease your doubts, and for that, I truly was sorry. But you threw any good thing we had to goddamn hell when you let Luke do what he did."

Tears are freely flowing down her face, but I'm on a roll. I'm too angry to stop. "You fucking made me pay for his goddamn mistakes! Rachel, you let a man get away with assault, all for what? For your image? For money?" My voice takes on a dangerously sharp tone, and I take a deep breath, urging myself to stop.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see the security guard prepared to intervene, but he is quickly dismissed by Rachel herself. "Percy-"

"You ruined us, Rachel!" I let her see all the hurt, betrayal, and flat out pain her actions had caused. My voice is barely a whisper. "You ruined me."

Annabeth's POV

I'm pretty surprised I even decide to go out, because the knot in my chest is making everything seem harder.

Stay strong, I tell myself. I walk into the small sandwich shop, tucked in at the edge of the street, make my order, and then find a seat near the window, at the back corner of the restaurant. I pull out a classic, Sense and Sensibility, and start reading as I wait for my sandwich to arrive.

I'm thoroughly engrossed in my book when I hear the chair scrape in front of me, and a strangely familiar voice.

"Annabeth!" I look up to see Luke smiling smugly as he sits in the seat in front of me, as if pleased to have found me here. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

Something about Luke makes me uneasy, but sometimes I feel like it's just Percy's distaste toward him that makes me feel that way. Percy sure changed a whole lot of things that I felt.

Why should I care about what he thinks, I think, angry that he still has this control over me. Still cautious, but feeling rather rebellious, I give Luke a smile that surely doesn't reach my eyes.

"Not the best, but I'm coping." He gives me a curious look, as if I know something he doesn't.

"Coping?" He asks. "I wouldn't know why a beautiful girl like you should be 'coping' on any day, actually."

I ignore the compliment and shrug. "Life happens." I sigh, looking into the street through the window.

Luke gives me a once-over and leans back, a new expression on his face. "Does this, by any chance, have to do with Jackson?" The way he says Jackson doesn't slip by my mind, for it seems like Luke hates Percy as much as the latter does the former.

I don't say anything, but a smirk crosses his face, as if my non-answer was answer enough. "Jackson is a fool." He scowls. "He's not worth your time. The guy doesn't treat any girl right."

I tense, thinking about one girl in particular who Luke might be implying Percy didn't treat right.

Suddenly, it hits me. Luke must know what happened between Percy and Rachel, or at the very least, what most people believed. Maybe if I could...

I clear my throat and look at Luke. "Speaking of Percy..." I swallow, knowing I might regret my next words but saying them anyway.

"Would you by any chance happen to know who Rachel Dare is?"

R&R, the whole backstory will be clear next chapter, and I know it doesn't make too much sense now, but it will later. (It's still pretty unrealistic though, my apologies.)

next chapter will be up as soon as possible.

thanks for all the support. (: