After months of thinking it through and figuring out how I was going to put this one shot together without getting yelled at, it's finally here! Thank you morganhades666 for this wonderful, yet slow burning AU request! I hope you like it and it's what you were hoping for after our compromise. 

Whew, I still might get a tad bit of hate but whatever. 

(this is an AU)

Enjoy!

---Sophomore year (college)---

"Afternoon, Percy," the doorman to his apartment building greets, holding the door open. 

All Percy can muster up in his exhaustion is a smile and a nod before walking forward and entering the opening elevator doors. He presses the button with the '3' engraved on it, leaning his back against the wall as the doors slide closed, encasing him in the small space though he doesn't mind being locked away from the rest of the world for a few seconds. He'd had a long day of classes at NYU and all he wants to do is plop down onto his couch and allow his girlfriend to run her fingers through his hair, washing his worries about writing an essay before Monday morning. 

The doors open with a ding and he steps out into the sterile hallway that smells like a doctors office and takes his keys out of his pocket as he nears his apartment door. Placing the keys into the lock, he turns and after hearing the click, pushes it open with a swift turn of the doorknob and immediately kicks off his shoes once the door closes silently behind him. He doesn't call out he's home, knowing his girlfriend's probably just working on homework, but the moment he steps into the living room...the whole word freezes. 

His girlfriend isn't doing homework. In fact, her backpack isn't even in sigh. Instead she's pinned down on the couch by a dude he faintly recognizes from one of her group study dates she'd forced him to go to on multiple occasions, her lips attached to his. His backpack slides off his shoulders, landing on the ground with a heavy thud, and his girlfriend and the mystery dude jump apart with a gasp. 

"What the hades, Rachel?" Percy nearly shouts as she readjusts her frizzy red ponytail. 

The mystery guys grabs his bag off the floor, mutters he'll call her later, and leaves the apartment without a glance in Percy's direction, but he doesn't care because he no longer wants to see the man or Rachel ever again. 

"Percy, I was going to talk to you-" 

"Then start talking." 

With a heavy sigh, she goes into an explanation of how she's been losing feelings for Percy the past couple weeks, so instead of just talking to him about it, she went and hooked up with Matt, the mystery dude, and they'd been together ever since. Sometime during her confession, Percy's eyes began to stung and he blinks the tears away before they're able to fall. 

"So...you cheated on me instead of breaking up with me?" Percy asks. "That's messed up." 

Rachel stood from the couch and crossed her arms. "What would you have done!?" 

"Broken up with you!" he shouts back, "I never would have cheated on you!" 

"So what you're trying to tell me is nothing has ever happened between you and Annabeth during our relationship?" She shoots back, her eyebrows high on her forehead and her face is turning red from anger but Percy doesn't care, because he's the one who's anger and the only one who really deserves to feel this way.

Percy's nostrils flare. "Do not bring her into this." 

"So there is something between you two!" 

"She's my best friend, Rachel!" He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Just get out." 

"What?" The anger in Rachel's green eyes dissipates into sadness. 

"I said get out!" 

"Shouldn't we at least talk this out!?" Rachel shouts. 

Percy laughs humorlessly. "What's there to talk about? You lose feelings so obviously this relationship doesn't mean anything to you anymore, so there's no point. You're already hooking up with Matt behind my back, and you're turning this whole argument around on me and Annabeth when there's nothing that went on between us. She's my best friend and respects me, and she respected us. So, I don't really think there's anything to 'talk about' when I just laid everything right in front of you." 

Rachel's eyes are misty with tears. "You're really breaking up with me?" 

"Yes. Why the hell wouldn't I?" Percy gives her an incredulous look. "Besides, you lost feelings." 

"I didn't lose all of them!" she cries, starting to play the victim card and he lets out another dry laugh at her noticeable desperation. "I was starting to! I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a single thing for you, I do love you, Percy. I never lied when I said those words even when I couldn't understand why you would never return them." 

"I thought I might have loved you," Percy admits, "but now it's pretty clear I don't." 

"Percy-" 

"Just go! Annabeth was so right about you." 

"Oh, it's always Annabeth isn't it?" Rachel sneers. "Annabeth this, Annabeth that. She's all you ever talk about! She's all you ever want to hang around! Yeah, you're right, there is not point of this relationship and maybe there never was because you never put in any effort! You're never home, always going to camp, running around with Annabeth-" she says her name with such malice that Percy flinches before red clouds his vision because no one, he repeats, no one talks about his best friend like that. "-and you're always on quests!" 

Percy stares at her. "I'm a demigod, Rachel! I talked to you about this!" 

"But I bet if Annabeth were-" 

"Quit talking about her like that!" Percy yells and he can only see red as his breaths come out in heavy breaths and steam spills from his ears. 

Rachel's words die on her throat as her eyes search his. "You like her. You've liked her this whole time, haven't you!?" 

"That's not the point of this argument! You cheated on me, I'm breaking up with you! Leave!" 

Finally, she huffs and spins around on her heel, marching down the hallway and into their bedroom where he can here drawers opening and slamming shut. He stays where he is, taking deep breaths to calm himself, and when she returns moments later with two backpacks slung over her shoulder, eyes rimmed red, he's no longer angry. He's just... sad, and he doesn't say another word as Rachel tells him she'll get all her stuff tomorrow before leaving their- his apartment and slamming the door shut. 

He falls onto the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest and cries. 

----

It's been a weeks since he's got her cheating, a week since she came to collect her stuff and go to live with her new boyfriend, Matt, in New York City, while Percy was walking around like a zombie with his shirt on inside out and dark circles surrounding his eyes. The last few days had been hell, his professors were all on edge about upcoming finals in two weeks, and his apartment felt far two big and empty for one person. He hadn't told anyone about the unfortunate evens or talked to anyone in general, not even his own mother, Percy had simply shut down. 

He's dragging his feet through the door to his now pretty empty apartment after a long shift at his internship at a Marine Biology institute in downtown Manhattan, and his bag drops the moment he's in the door. As he walks into the kitchen to grab something small to eat, not anything that will cause his stomach to rebel, and his green eyes pass over the fridge that had once been so full of pictures with memories, but now the white metal stares back at him in a blank stare, but he doesn't sense any anger. 

After one week, his heart had already started to mend the wound Rachel had left behind the moment he'd caught her in an act with Matt from her group study dates. Once she had completely moved out and all her belongings were gone, he felt as though he could finally breath. Percy no longer had a clingy girlfriend who was overly jealous and didn't allow him to hang out with any girls other than Annabeth and the rest of the female population at camp because she simply couldn't stop him. He's free now. 

But why was there still a small piece of his heart that just wouldn't heal over, like a missing puzzle piece? Why did the break up absolutely ruin him if he's happier without her? How's it possible to be glad someone's out of your life, yet feel so bad about it? A tiny voice in the back of his head tried to convince him it wasn't the break up that broke him, but the fact someone he'd trusted had broken the bond they'd formed over the past few years. That they'd cheated and burned the trust away as easily as someone would burn a napkin with a lighter. 

Personal loyalty. His fatal flaw also kept messing with his head, making him feel bad for kicking her out after shouting his throat raw at her. But a more sensible part of him knew he'd done the right thing. He couldn't go on living with the toxicity of the relationship they had. The fights that occurred almost everyday, the way she'd forcefully kiss him if another girl so much as glanced in their direction, when she'd asked him to drop Annabeth as a friend the second they'd became official then got mad when he said no. 

Shaking the thoughts out of his head and blinking the tiredness away from his eyes, Percy grabs and apple out of the fridge and takes a bite out of it. He chews slowly, but the moment nausea creeps up his neck, he spits it out into the garbage can. Of course he knows the way he's been living isn't healthy, how he's continuously feeling depressed although he's overjoyed Rachel's out of the picture, and he knows he needs to talk to someone. He has too. 

His fingers clutch his phone in his pocket and he pulls it out, quickly unlocking it and pulling up the keypad and typing in a number he's had memorized the moment it was given to him. Lifting the phone to his ear, butterflies swarm in his stomach as he waits for the only person he could think of calling to pick up. 

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth greets happily. "What's up?" 

He swallows the forming lump in his throat. "It's about Rachel." 

She sighs. "Just take her out to dinner and I'm sure she'll forgive you." 

"It's not- it's not me." 

There's a pause of crackling static on the other end before, "What did she do?" 

Percy smiles at the protectiveness evident in her tone of voice, the nervous butterflies increasing, and he's starting to believe they have nothing to do with how anxious he is to get this situation off his chest. Rachel's voice plays out in his mind. 'you like her. You've liked her this whole time, haven't you!?' but he pushes it away. 

"She, um- she cheated on me," he answers, though his voice doesn't waver like he thought it would. 

"...WHAT!?" 

"Yeah." He presses his lips together as he waits for her to speak. 

He hears shuffling on the other end then a huff. "Well, you're so lucky that I just flew in this morning and have been staying at Camp Half-Blood. I'm coming right now." And then she hangs up and he can't help the way his heart does summer saults as her words finally process in his slow brain full of seaweed. 

---

A knock sounds at his door and Percy stands from his pot on the couch where he was watching a ocean documentary to base his essay off of. There's another knock, more urgent, and he laughs, already knowing who it is. His hand hovers over the silver doorknob for a second before he gets his act together and pulls it open, revealing none other than Annabeth Chase standing on the brown carpet of the hallway. 

She's smiling, though it doesn't reach her ears, and her sparkling grey eyes have a saddened tint to them, defeating the purpose of the grin. His eyes graze over her strong frame absentmindedly, taking in her white mock neck T-shirt tucked into light blue skinny jeans, blue converse adorning her feet. Her hair is as curly as ever, cut just below her shoulders, but he thinks it looks better than that. 

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth says and lets go of her suitcase and plastic bag of contents he doesn't know of so she can hug him properly and his arms wrap around her waist as his face buries itself in her curls and he's just breathing in her lemon scent when she pulls back. "I missed you." 

"I missed you too. Like a lot," Percy says and takes a step back so she can walk into his apartment before closing the door. They walk into the living in a comfortable silence and he grabs the remote to turn the TV off before sitting down on the couch, patting the space beside him but instead of sitting down, she heads into the kitchen much to his confusion, but leaves her suitcase in the entry way. 

She reappears seconds later with two spoons and a tub of his favorite ice cream he doesn't remember ever buying, and when she notices the look on his face, she explains, "I bought it on my way over. You know, in the movies, whenever a girl goes through a break up and they always have ice cream?" He nods as she sits beside him, kicking her feet up on the coffee table as she pops open the lid. "Thought the same goes for boys, too." 

Percy accepts the spoon she hands over to him with a smile. "You're amazing." 

"I know." Annabeth takes a huge spoonful of Blue Moon into her mouth. 

They sit in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the comfort of each other's presence and Percy allows himself to fully relax as she rests her head on his shoulder. Ignoring the way his heart's thumping wildly, Percy rests his head on top of hers as they continue to share the pint of Blue Moon ice cream. 

Eventually, she speaks up, "So, do you wanna tell me what happened?" 

He knows he should, and strangely his head isn't holding him back as the words slip of his tongue and spill through his lips, making their way into Annabeth's lips. She listens intently, eating the ice cream slowly, as he explains how he'd gotten home from a long day at school to find her on the couch beneath some dude from one of her study sessions, and how she'd explained once the guy had left she'd been losing feelings and instead of just ending it with him, she went ahead and cheated. 

Annabeth lets her spoon fall into the container as she whispers, "Percy, I'm so sorry." 

Brushing the apology off, he says, "and then she started bringing you into it and I got so-" 

"Wait, what?" she interrupts, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

"Yeah." Percy lowers the spoon from his mouth. "She kept bringing you into the argument, saying something how I never put effort into our relationship because I was always with you- but I don't care about that- and that it's always about you and never her? I don't know." 

"I'm sorry," she says again.

Percy frowns. "Why? There's nothing you have to apologize for?" 

"Percy, I'm the reason this all happens," Annabeth tells him and by the way her words waver and her eyes well up with unshed tears, he knows she's about to start crying. But to his shock, she blinks them away and clears her throat. "If I would have just left you two alone and-" 

"No," he says sternly, green eyes meeting grey and his heart does a flip. 

"No?" The skin between her eyebrows pinch. 

"Annabeth, she's the one that tried to make me cut you off when we started dating and-" 

"What!?" 

Percy grabs her hand, ignoring the electric jolt that travels up his arm at her touch and he gives her what he's hoping is a comforting smile but her frown only deepens. "But I never even gave it a second thought after I said no. Why would I cut you off? You're my best friend besides Grover and I'd be dead by now if I didn't have you by my side." 

Annabeth smiles and he does a silent cheer in his head. "I told you she was a bitch." 

"That became pretty clear when she accused me of having 'something' with you during out relationship," he admits, placing another spoonful of cold sugar in his mouth. 

Her smile fades and she drops her spoon into the container as she wrings her hands in her lap, teeth gnawing on her bottom lip, and does she look almost nervous? Percy's about to ask her what's wrong when she beats him to the chase, "Can I be honest with you?"

"Always," is his immediate answer. 

"Don't be weirded out about it, okay?" 

"Okay..."

Her shoulders are tense, he notices, and she lets out a huff of breath, causing a strand of hair in front of her face to blow upwards before falling back down. Annabeth's twiddling her thumbs in her lap and her cheeks are flushed a rosy pink as she said, "When you first came to camp, I thought you were an idiot and that we had to hate each other, but you proved me wrong by becoming my friend and eventually my best friend." She swallows thickly and he fights the urge to reach out and wrap his arms around her. "There was a feeling that I felt every time the mere thought of you crossed my mind and it only grew stronger as we got older." 

"What do you mean-?" 

"Don't interrupt me!" 

"Sorry!" 

She lets out a small laugh and his lips pull into a grin. "Anyways, but then Rachel came around and I got jealous, really jealous. The feelings were stronger than ever and I thought she was going to take you from me... and eventually she did. I mean, yeah I was still your friend and got to see you all summer and during winter breaks but I- but I..." 

"Go on." He nudged her, his heart thumping so hard he could hear the blood in his ears.

Sending him a glare through the corner of her eye, Annabeth continues, "I really, really liked you," she admits and lets out a breath as she does so, relieved she finally could share the secret she'd been carrying with her for the past ten years. "And I wanted someone to pick me. I wanted you to pick me, but you didn't, and that's fine because if I wasn't who you wanted to be with, I wasn't going to force you, so I let you go." 

"Annabeth-" 

"What did I just say?" she snaps but the tone of her voice didn't match the tears in her eyes. 

"Fine. Continue." He rolls his eyes. 

She wipes away a stray tear and turns to face him on the couch. "This is going to sound so bitchy but when you told me you and Rachel were official, I went back to my cabin and cried. I was happy for you, don't get me wrong. If you're happy, I'm happy. But it didn't make it any less painful that the boy I fell for, didn't return the feelings." 

"Can you let me talk now?" Percy was sure she could hear his heart beat from where she's sitting, and his face is red as a realization dawns on him. One thing he's certain about Rachel is that she was right when she said he liked Annabeth. It's simple really, and it explains almost everything about his relationship he'd once had with Rachel. Everything he disliked about his ex-girlfriend, Annabeth didn't have those qualities. Sure, she got jealous and protective, but she'd never tell him to ditch a friend or cancel plans to hang out. Besides, Rachel could never fully grasp the idea of him being a demigod and being needed more in that world than the mortal world, but Annabeth, daughter of Athena, did. Annabeth was by his side through thick and through thin, and had he really thought the way his heart beat went crazy when someone mentioned her or the way her name slipped off her tongue made him practically melt was normal? 

"No," she mutters. "I was happy you had found someone who made you so happy and I could see it in your eyes when you'd look at her. They'd light up and I'd get so angry because I wanted you to look at me like that, but you didn't." Letting out a humorless laugh and shaking her head, she says, "I sound so selfish." 

"Annabeth-" 

"Percy, I'm sorry," she whispers brokenly, lifting her eyes to meet his. The grey irises he'd come to believe were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen since the moment they'd met were rimmed with red and he really wants to give her a hug, but he keeps his distance so she can get everything she needs out. "I'm sorry. I just sprung this all on you and that's not cool because you just got over a break up but gods I liked you. I still like you! The feeling never went away and though I acted like I was fine with it, I was breaking inside! Yes, I dated around but I never stayed with a guy because I couldn't get my mind off of you and this is so stupid because of course you don't return the feelings and I'm just making a fool out of myself and-" 

He doesn't care anymore. Surging forward he wraps his arms around her small frame, holding on tight as she trembles in his arms and she feels a couple tears leak into his T-shirt but he doesn't care one bit. He hasn't even admitted his feelings and he already feels that one piece of his heart that just wouldn't stitch back together closing. "Annabeth," Percy says and pulls away slightly, wiping a tear off her cheek with his thumb swiftly. "You're not making a fool out of yourself, I promise." 

"What?" Her eyes are full of confusion but the corners of her lips twitch up. 

"Just listen to me okay?" Percy stares at her for a second and when she nods, he continues, "If I'm being entirely honest, during my relationship with Rachel, something didn't feel right. There was always something that felt off and I couldn't figure out what it was. I liked her, but the feeling was never strong enough to use the L-word and every time she said it, I couldn't say them back because deep down I knew those words weren't meant for her." 

"I'm confused," Annabeth admits quietly. 

Percy chuckles. "Some daughter of Athena." She punches her shoulder jokingly and he laughs again, a real genuine laugh he hasn't had since the last time he'd seen her. "As I was saying, I finally opened my eyes and realized how clingy and needy she was, and how toxic our relationship was becoming. When we broke up, I felt different. Better, somehow. Maybe even a bit happier. The reason why I've been moping around is because... how could someone just betray someone's trust like it's nothing?" 

Annabeth's eyes soften. "Percy..." 

Grabbing both her hands, he gives them a squeeze. "Just listen to me," his voice is soft as he utters without hesitation, "But there was a part of me that was missing, even before the breakup and during our relationship. Part of me just wasn't there, like a missing piece of a puzzle and I couldn't find it anymore. That is, until you walked in the door."

She smiles. "Yeah?" 

"Yeah," Percy confirms with a matching grin. "It took my a while to understand, but when Rachel made a comment during our fight that I've liked you throughout our whole relationship, it was like another part of my brain finally caught up with my heart. And I realize, oh my gods, I have liked Annabeth this whole time without even realizing it. So just a few hours ago, when the piece was still missing, I decided maybe it's because of the loneliness so I called the first person that came to mind. You. And the piece of me that wasn't there before, already started filling in when I heard your voice." 

"That was... a very nice speech, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth says, biting her lip to keep from laughing. 

"You're laughing at me!" Percy complains. 

"Am not!" 

"You're so not making this easy." 

Annabeth laughs. "Fine, continue on. But just know that I'll never make things easy for you." 

"Ha-ha," he mock laughs before growing serious. "Annabeth, I- I like you. A lot." 

"But.. I thought-?" Her face contorts into one of confusion. 

Shrugging, he says, "I don't know why...I liked her for a little while but the feelings started to slip away a couple months ago when you surprised me for Christmas and you just looked so beautiful in that dress and gods, you drive me crazy without me even realizing it!" She laughs and he can't help but growing in. "I don't know why I stayed with her...she was honestly terrible,  I won't lie." 

"I could have told you that," Annabeth mutters. 

"The point is, I've liked you for as long as I can remember," Percy softly speaks, "It just took a while for my obliviousness to catch up with me." 

Annabeth lets out a laugh. "You are oblivious, but are you sure-?" 

"I don't just fall into Tartarus for anyone, you know," Percy says, placing his hands on either side of her head and she doesn't object so he lets his finger tangle in her blonde curls and he can't help but think how soft and natural they feel between his fingers, unlike Rachel's. She sets the tub of ice cream that's been sitting between them to the coffee table so she can scoot forwards, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm one hundred percent sure about this. About us." 

"Gods, Percy Jackson, just kiss me!" 

Laughing, he brings her kiss to his and he has the feeling his brain is melting straight through his body but it's the best feeling in the world. Her lips are soft and taste like blue moon ice cream and they feel so right against hers, he never wants to stop kissing her. Sparks ignite in his stomach every time her lips press against his, and he smiles into the kiss because this is his person, his soulmate. 

Annabeth's his missing piece. 

I really hope you liked it! It's a bit on the shorter side but I didn't want to drawl it out anymore than it needed to be. I liked how it turned out, and my heart visibly hurt when Percy walked in to find Rachel, you know, and then.. yeah. I had many feelings throughout this book but one thing is very clear and it's Percabeth is forever. 

Anyways, I'm thinking of a part two? A few years later, Annabeth and Percy are just walking around New York City and run into Rachel somewhere? She finds out they're married and she's a bit upset about it because, you know, she was right. I like the sound of that... a lot of drama is brewing. 

What do you think?