I groaned as I sat up; during the night, my head had fallen to the side, so now I had a kink in my neck. I groaned again as I tried cracking it. Giving up on it, I stood and stretched. I felt like I had slept forever, one of the best sleeps I've ever had probably, well besides my neck feeling like shit.

I stumbled over to the stairs. Just before opening the door, I heard the pounding of feet. There were shouts and crashes. Why they were up so early running around the house, I had no idea. I opened the door and stepped out, closing it softly. Suddenly there were footsteps and shouts of "I heard a door close!" I debated going back into the attic but decided against it. I walked out of the small room where the attic door was and almost ran headlong into Piper.

She screeched and jumped away just before we collided. I blinked in surprise. How could someone move so fast so early? Why was she so loud?? I yawned as she stared at me.

"Morning, what's up?" I asked sleepily. Her stare turned into a glare as the rest of the friend group came running in. Will was pulling Nico as they entered like he didn't want this much physical activity. Honestly, same. Why were they running marathons around the house at 6 am?

"Morning?? What's up?" Piper screeched. I blinked in confusion.

"Um, yeah, that's what I said?" It came out as a question as I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away from the group. They had a mixture of glares, looks of surprise, and confusion. I saw Annabeth, and I immediately felt my mood shoot up. But then I saw the angry and worried look on her face, and my mood plummeted.

They stayed silent as I stood there. Rocking on the balls of my feet, I awkwardly tried walking to the kitchen. With all of them up, they must've already started breakfast.

Rachel stopped me as I got to the front. I looked at her, confused.

"Percy," her voice deathly calm, but her arm was rigid, making sure I got the message she wasn't done.

"Um, yea?" I was super confused; everyone was just staring. I had no idea what was going on or what I should do.

"You do realize it's 3 pm, right?" I froze. My hand stopped rubbing the back of my neck as I stood there. I immediately started feeling panic in my chest. I don't know why it's not like I had anything planned, right? Oh shit, school. I missed school.

"What?" my voice barely came out. It was a whisper as I stood there flabbergasted.

"It's exactly 3:08 pm," she clarified. I whipped out my phone and saw the time, precisely as she said.

"Holy shit," I whispered out, still surprised. Then it hit me.

"Wait, why didn't you guys wake me up?" All my previous surprise was gone as confusion filled me again. I tilted my head towards the group as I asked the question.

"He's not joking, right?" Jason leaned down to Leo as he whispered in the silence that followed.

"No, I don't think he's joking," Leo said, eyes wide.

"He's got to be! I mean, it was probably just to skip, right?" Thalia asked, eyes sparkling at the opportunity to skip.

"No, didn't you see how surprised he was when Rachel told him that it was 3 pm?" Calypso hissed back at her, shutting her down.

"Um, wait, so why didn't you wake me up again?" I asked, tired of the whispering I could hear.

Annabeth sighed as she looked at me. Pushing through her friends, she placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at me seriously. Like that scene from Into the Spiderverse.

"Percy, we couldn't find you," she said, looking right into my eyes. Her voice laced with worry. My breath caught. They couldn't find me?

"What do you mean?" my voice shook. I didn't want to worry them. I especially didn't want Annabeth to worry.

"Last night, Leo said he saw you head to the room to sleep, so we left you alone. But then we looked for you this morning but couldn't find you. So we thought that you went to school early. It was weird, but I thought that maybe you just forgot to text me you were leaving. But as we went through school, no one saw you. It hit us hard when you didn't show up for the library. So we rushed back here and have been looking for you since we all got out." Annabeth finished telling me what happened, and I felt guilt clutch my heart. Making it hard to breathe normally.

I didn't even know I could sleep for so long, and when I do, I freak everyone out. I took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Where were you?" her voice broke as she whispered it out. I felt another pang of guilt as I looked at her.

"Um, I was sleeping in the attic. Or what I assume is the attic," I explained. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, and I saw Rachel tilt her head in confusion.

"Attic? I didn't think we had one," she said, crossing her arms, thinking.

"Show us!" I heard Leo exclaim. I sighed a bit to myself as the tense atmosphere faded out a bit at the thought of adventure.

I went to turn and show them when Annabeth grabbed my forearm in a vice-like grip. I turned towards her.

Then she hissed out, "Don't think this is over" I gulped as I pulled her along, her throng of friends following behind me as I led them into the small room.

Annabeth looked at me confused as Reyna pointed out," We all checked this room already. Where's the door?"

I chuckled to myself and led them over to the far wall. Reaching down to where a door handle would typically be, I grasped the hidden handle. Twisting it, I opened the door. I heard oohs behind me as I walked up the dusty stairs.

I let them all file in after me. Looking around the smallish room with a couch and a coffee table.

"How did you find that handle?" Will asked. I felt my ears turn pink as I rubbed the back of my neck again.

Turning away, I mumbled, "I tripped and hit my head on it." Even though I said it quietly, everyone heard. They laughed as I flushed with embarrassment.

"Classic Rusticitas," I heard Annabeth mutter.

As everyone looked around the room, she led me down the stairs, telling everyone that I should eat something.

When we got to the kitchen, she warmed up some pancakes they made earlier. With her back turned to me, I barely heard her whisper, "You scared me."

I felt the guilt clutch at me again. I struggled to find an answer, something that would reassure her that I didn't mean it. But no words would come out.

"I didn't know what happened, and as you kept failing to show up. I just-" Annabeth stopped as her voice started angry and then ended in a sad tone. I clutched the counter behind me, knuckles growing white.

It was silent for a few minutes. Definitely, an awkward, extremely tense silence as I once again struggled to find the words I needed to say.

"Listen, I know that I should've texted you. I'm sorry, I completely forgot. But at the party, I just wanted to get away for a bit and hang out by myself. I didn't want to ruin your celebration because I knew that you needed it." I paused as she turned to look at me. The microwave beeped, but she paid no attention to it. This conversation just got three times harder.

"I-I didn't expect to be gone for so long. I thought that at least... Rachel knew about the room, and it seemed like a good idea.... at the time." I paused again as I saw her grip the countertop."I-I just, I knew that I knew that I wanted you to be happy. But I realized that with how mopey I was being, that it would just bring you down to my mood. I didn't want that to happen, especially since-" I felt the words catch in my throat as I saw her eyes tear up.

I stood up onto my feet, no longer leaning on the counter. I moved my arms a bit, unsure if I should hug her or if I was even allowed to. Or if it was just me being clingy. So I stood there gaping as tears started to run down her cheeks. Annabeth stood up off the counter and tackled me into a hug.

Surprised as I felt her cry into my hoodie, I slowly brought my arms around her. As she cried, I slowly petted her hair and whispered sweet nothings to her. I realized she had on my hoodie as the microwave beeps for the sixth time.

That just broke me again.

I can't believe I was so stupid. It hadn't been long since anything really, meeting Annabeth, Gabe, the hospital, the debt collectors, and her becoming my girlfriend. Not long had passed at all. She must've been so scared that I ran off or, I have no idea what she thought, but it scared her.

I gulped, feeling guilt rise through me again as it hit me; I scared her.

She must've felt me tense up because she looked up at me with tear-stained cheeks. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at my face. I knew that I was a burden; I know it. Maybe the best thing I can do for her now is to leave and never see anyone again. She wouldn't get hurt ever again. Suddenly I felt myself being pulled down.

I felt Annabeth kiss me, and to say I was surprised would be an understatement. I just caused her a heart attack by being too self-absorbed to text her, and she was kissing me. Hesitantly I kissed her back. I melted into her as she kept her arms wrapped around my neck.

I pulled away slowly, and she smiled at me, eyes twinkling. Then her face grew serious.

"Percy, I know that look. I saw it before in the hospital, and it's back. Please, please, please don't leave me or force me away again. You promised you wouldn't, and" Annabeth paused as she looked in my eyes. She placed her forehead on mine and whispered," I don't know what I would do if you did."

I felt a lump in my throat. I was confused as I felt tears prick my eyes. But I wouldn't allow them to fall. Not here and not now, tears wouldn't help me. I took a shuddery breath as Annabeth tried holding my gaze. I cast my eyes downward.

"Promise me," my eyes shot up at her.

"What?" I croaked out, trying not to let my emotions out. I had to beat them down into a box to keep them away.

"'Promise me, you won't leave me," she whispered out. Annabeth leaned away and moved her hands to my cheeks, holding my face. She looked right into my eyes, her gray ones swirling with emotion I had yet to figure out.

I felt the lump in my throat as my breath caught. I took a deep breath, committing myself.

"I promise I won't leave you," her face erupted in a huge smile as she pulled me down again and kissed me. More passionate than the one a few minutes ago, this one was happy, and I could feel her relief roll off of her in waves.

The microwave beeped. I lost track of how many times, but now I wanted to make sure it never beeped again.

Annabeth broke off the kiss, still smiling as she handed over my pancakes. I pouted a bit at her as I accepted my food.

She laughed. "Nuh-uh, you basically force-fed me the last week or so, now I'm returning the favor. No kisses till you eat," I gasped playfully and grabbed a pancake, eating it. She giggled and jumped up on the counter.

After a few minutes, I had finished my pancakes and looked up to see Annabeth watching me. Smiling, I teased her, "Like what you see?"

She growled at me as her face changed to a tomato red. I placed the plate in the trash and walked over to Annabeth. Grabbing her hands, I looked at her, waiting.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head. I huffed in annoyance as she continued to play dumb.

As if coming to a revelation, she gave me a look of realization and then grinned deviously at me. "Not until you brush your teeth." I gave her a look of shock, and she giggled. She took her hands from mine, jumped off the counter, and kissed me on the cheek.

Groaning, I followed her out of the kitchen.