Annabeth's pov

We were all sitting on the couches when we heard a major ripping sound, then Clarisse comes downstairs. She walks over to Leo and shoves her finger in his face.

"Valdez, I swear, if you lock that door again, I will ring your puny neck and then feed it to my father." She then sits down and starts talking to Piper.

I turn to Percy to see what he thinks, but he is already in a conversation with Gee-Gee, both of them laughing and smiling so much it makes me uncomfortable. Hazel asks me to hold Lily, and so I concentrate on her instead of the amused sounds coming from the man and woman beside me.

Three hours later, and Percy hasn't said a word to me. Suddenly, I can't take being in this bus with them, and I grab Juli's hand and walk up to Leo.

"Rest stop."

"But we have bathrooms and..." he trails off, seeing the look on my face.

"You havin' boy problems?"

"Yep."

"Me to," he replies glumly, and I remember that Leo and Gee-Gee are in a relationship, but he's been as ignored as I have. We pull into a small parking lot, and I quickly get off and step over a puddle, gulping fresh air and fighting tears. I hear the door open and I heard Percy say, "Annabeth? What's the matter?" The dam breaks, and tears flow, making hot, wet tracks down my face.

"Go away. Why don't you go talk to Gee-Gee, since you were having such a good time?" I snap.

He grabs my shoulders and whirls me around. He seems to tall and I realize he is standing on the top off the puddle.

"Annabeth, we were just talking—"

"For three hours? Completely ignoring me? I actually would prefer that right now, so go away."

"I'm sorry, Annabeth."

"Could you take the hint and LEAVE ME ALONE?" I yell at him.

"No."

"Why? Do you think Gee-Gee wouldn't like it?"

"Because I love you."

"Yeah, well, you aren't getting loved back right now!"

I can see the shock in his face and feel my own shock, because it was a nasty thing to say. I expect him to turn around and get in the bus instead of following me, but he surprises me by grabbing my hand and wrapping his arms around me.

"Go away."

"Nope not going anywhere."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Kiss me."

I look him right in the eyes, and I can see his love, and everything he feels right now, and I can't help myself, I lean forward, and he closes the gap, and then I lose myself.

When he finally disappoints me by pulling away, I murmur softly, "I'm sorry. I really do love you, and I always will."

"I know," he replies simply.

He wipes away my tears with his thumbs and gives me another kiss.

"Are you done? Because that was gross, honestly. You kissed for like fifty hundred hours!" I hear, and I see Juli, her hands on her hips, ogling us like we're some zoo exhibit.

"No, it's your turn!" I chase her around until Percy can scoop her up. She giggles as we cover her in kisses. Then she announces, "Mommy and Daddy, look what I can do!"

Percy sets her down and she runs over to a puddle. Before I can tell her not to get her pants wet, she steps on top off the puddle, like Percy was doing earlier.

"Finally," Percy exclaimed, and I felt like doing the same. We've been waiting for years to see if she has any powers, and they finally showed. I pick her up and turn to the bus, only to see a giant wall of water in the way.

"I had to make sure this conversation was private," He says with a wink. He grabs a ball of water, then the water evaporates. We see all our friend faces in the windows, watching us, except Leo, who looks like he is trying to put up curtains. We board, and Gee-Gee immediately comes up to me and apologizes, then runs over to Leo and kisses him. They start talking, and when it becomes obvious they aren't going to stop any time soon, I sit in the drivers seat and ask Jarvis where we are headed, then drive away from the rest stop, Percy talking to me about meaningless stuff and Juli bouncing her water ball.

I feel calm, until we hit a bump so big we fly up and crash down , the bus rolling , coming to a stop at the edge of a large lake—that is 500 feet below us. And advancing toward us on the other side is an army of monsters.

AN/      Mwahahahahaha! I feel so cruel. CLIFFHANGER! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I kind of had a hard time with it, though.