Never Be (Percabeth AU)✔️

>20<

Annabeth's POV

It had been a while since the whole 'Percy opens up about being abused' thing. That had happened back in September, and now, Halloween was only three days away.

Percy and I had become closer. As friends, of course. I mean I couldn't see him as anything more or less. I think.

See, that's the thing. Reyna also started hanging out with us, along with Leo. And Leo is cool, we're friends, but the problem is... Reyna.

Now, I wish I could like Reyna—she seems cool, and she's probably the only person I've met that wasn't scared of me. But, she definitely has a thing for Percy, and for whatever reason, I don't like that. It makes me feel... weird. Like, I'm angry and I want her to stop flirting with him, but I don't know why.

And it's fucking my mind up like you would not believe.

Maybe, I just feel more protective over Percy because I know what his home life is like. Yeah. That's probably it.

Speaking of Percy's home life, things haven't been been so great. Percy is still getting beaten up by his douchey ass step-father. Percy had to stay at my place a couple days ago because he was scared to go home. Of course, I welcomed him with open arms when it came to that shit. I knew it was sensitive, and that he needed help. And I was his only outlet because he hadn't told anyone else yet, obviously. But I know that everyone knows something is up. They're just not putting the pieces together, (much like I had been) because they can't see the whole picture, and because Percy's doesn't want them to.

Leo had asked me about it and I played dumb. I just told him to leave it alone, for home life can be sensitive. Leo had quickly understood. I had become good at reading people over the years, and I could tell that Leo had been through some shit. That's part of the reason why he's always cracking jokes.

I think Reyna doesn't let on about how much she really knows. It's funny, because I look at Reyna and what she does, and I can see a lot of myself in her. We're both guarded, and we have a powerful demeanor. We're intimidating individuals who don't tolerate shit. However, this can be dangerous. I know that if we clash, and have friction, it won't end well. But I can tell you one thing—I sure as hell won't be the one on the ground if worst comes to worst.

There's definitely some tension between us. With the whole 'Reyna flirting with Percy' thing, of course. She seems like the kind of person to go for what she wants, and that isn't good in my case.

But Percy hasn't reciprocated anything back to Reyna. Which, for some reason, makes me relieved. But I still don't know why. I mean, it's not like Percy is my boyfriend, that would be ridiculous. And he can date whoever he wants to. And Reyna—for as much as I don't like her, I can't deny it—is a good person. She's strong and she's smart and she's pretty, she could be perfect for Percy. But, Percy had showed no interest. And I found that interesting because, could that mean—

"Annabeth?" Percy nudged me.

"What? Sorry." I snapped back to reality.

"Want one?" He nodded to his blue cookies.

"Sure." I grabbed one and took a bite. As usual, they were delicious. Everyday, Percy always offered me a cookie, for I didn't always bring a sandwich and there was no way in hell that I was eating what the school served. A brown brick with a side of mystery sludge? No thanks.

"So Leo," I asked. "How's it going with Calypso?"

"W-What are you taking about? There's nothing—I mean, who even is Calypso? What? Pffft." He sputtered. Calypso was this girl that Leo had a major crush on. She was in a few of his classes—so was I—and he stared at her. All. The. Time.