Alone Again

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I Don't Own the Percy Jackson Series or Any of the Characters. All the rights go to Rick Riordian for creating this Extraordinary Adventure!

Disclaimer: I Also Don't Own "Alone Again (Naturally)". All the rights go to Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Author's Note:

* Hello and welcome to this Percy Jackson one-shot!

* I got this idea a couple days ago, while I listened to a song. Said song will be heavily featured in this one-shot. This will most likely be a two chapter one-shot, as there may be a few readers who would want a follow up this chapter.

* Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this story. If you do, feel free to follow/favorite the story and if it's not too much trouble, leave a review! Anyway, enough of me talking, let's get right down into the story!

Percy

Percy and Annabeth's Apartment, New York City

I sat on the couch in the small living room of my apartment, crying for probably the fiftieth time that day. Today was supposed to be the day. Today was the day that Annabeth and I were going to get married. We had been dating since my Sophomore year of high school. Six years had passed, since the day we kissed at Camp Half-Blood and I thought that it was right time.

I thought we were ready to get married. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe we weren't meant for each other after all. I mean, she never showed up at the church, so you know, what else was I supposed to think? I had been stood up by my fiancé. As if being a Half Blood was hard enough. We only read about these things or we saw them happen on T.V., we never expect that these things would happen to us, however.

To be fair, maybe I deserved this? I mean, we are only twenty two years old. Was it to early to ask her to marry me? Did I bring this on myself? I sighed. Eventually, everyone had to go home. After waiting for several hours to show up, which she never did, everyone decided to go home. The worst part is that I had to go home alone.

I was one of the last people to leave, at around six in the evening. We were all supposed to be at the church at eleven thirty in the morning and Annabeth was scheduled to walk down the aisle at one o'clock. Well, she never did walk down the aisle, obviously. So, when she never did show up, Annabeth's father, Mr. Chase, drove home with me.

Once we got home, to the apartment that she and I lived in, he insisted that he'd wait outside for her to arrive. Insisted otherwise and I remember how that conversation went.

"You go ahead up, Percy." He had told me. "I'll wait out here for Annabeth to show up."

I had shaken my head no.

"Forget about it, Sir." I had said to him. "You should just go home. Annabeth didn't show up to the wedding, so why would she come to our apartment?"

"Please, don't call me Sir, Percy. Call me Mr. Chase." He had responded. "And besides, I know my daughter. If she cares at all, which she does mind you, she must know how much of an impact this is having on you. She'll come around. It'll take guts not to come here anyway."

"I think that it would take guts to just show up here alone after what she did." I had said.

"You go upstairs now, Percy." He said at last. "I'll wait out here for her. You cannot change my mind."

He was right. Mr. Chase was persistent. So, I had given up after that and had gone inside. I had been sitting up here for a couple hours now, as I had said before. And to put it plain and simple, crying wasn't going to cut in anymore. I felt as though I needed to sing my feelings at this point. And that's what I was going to do.

I got up from the couch, walked across the small living room and picked up a guitar case, inside there was (obviously) a guitar. The guitar was an engagement present from the Greek God, Apollo himself. He originally wanted to get me a lyre for a present, but when I explained to him that the lyre had most likely been out of style for the past few centuries and I asked for a guitar instead.

He obliged. I think he just wanted me to awake my musical side, quote end quote. It was fine with me at this point. I couldn't have known at the time that I would need it on this day. I opened the guitar case and pulled the instrument out. I grabbed one of the picks from the case and walked back over to the couch.

The way I felt, I had only felt it once before. My first summer at Camp Half-Blood, when Luke had stolen Zeus's Master Bolt from the Olympus throne room. This was also the same summer I had found out what I really was: a son of Poseidon. The lack of attention. Everyone avoided me. Even when I took Ancient Greek with Annabeth, she'd be difficult with me. She'd leave our sessions frustrated about me, among other things.

Annabeth wasn't the problem at that point, I'd just rather get bullied and get into fights rather than being ignored by everyone. And now, it was that first summer all over again. But now, instead of being ignored by everyone, I was being ignored by Annabeth. And it was one thousand times worse than it was last time.

And even though I still had people around me, I still felt alone. And so, here I was with a guitar in my hands. Crying was not doing me any good anymore and for some reason, I thought about giving the whole "singing my feelings" thing a go.

I thought about what to sing, what to play on the guitar. I began to think to myself.

That song that I occasionally heard as a kid? Hmm, what was it?

I racked my brain to remember, when the title of the song and the tune hit me. I looked down at the guitar strings and began play, and a pretty depressing tune began to play. I played the same tune for a few seconds or so, before I began to sing:

"In a little while from now, if I'm not feeling any less sour, I promise myself to treat myself and visit a nearby tower, and climbing to the top, will throw myself off in an effort to make it clear to whoever what it's like when you're shattered, left standing in the lurch at a church, where people saying: "My God, that's tough, she's stood him up."

"No point in us remaining, we may as well go home, as I did on my own. Alone again, naturally. To think that only yesterday, I was cheerful, bright and gay, looking forward to well wouldn't do, the role I was about to play. But as if to knock me down, the allergy came around and without so much, as a mere touch, cut me into little pieces."

"Leaving me to doubt, talk about God and his mercy, or if he really does exist, why did he desert me in my hour of need, I truly am indeed alone again, naturally. It seems to me that there are more hearts broken in the world, that can't be mended, left unattended. What do we do? What do we do?"

I stopped singing and began playing the same depressing tune for about a minute, before I went back to singing.

"Alone again, naturally. Now looking back over the years, and whatever else that appears, I remember I cried when my father died, never wishing to hide the tears. And at sixty-five years old my mother, God rest her soul, couldn't understand why the only man she had ever loved had been taken."

"Leaving her to start with a heart, so badly broken despite encouragement from me, no words were ever spoken. And when she passed away, I cried and cried all day, alone again, naturally. Alone again, naturally."

I stopped singing this time and stopped playing the guitar as well. I had come to a realization. I had heard the door to the apartment open as I had started playing. I knew that she was here. I turned to my left, to see Annabeth standing in the doorway to the entry hall of the apartment. She was just wearing casual clothes: denim blue jeans, an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and tennis shoes.

Her eyes were red and puffy, so I determined that she must have been crying. Neither of us said a word. I took a breath as she continued standing there.

Annabeth

Five Minutes Earlier

I walked down the sidewalk toward Percy and I's apartment. As I got closer, I saw my father sitting on the stairs up to the door of the complex.

Oh, great, I thought, as I saw him.

I continued walking and came to a stop once I reached the stairs. He stared up at me with a look of disapproval. And then the scolding happened.

"You owe Percy an apology." He said. "Big time!"

I let out a sigh of sadness but didn't answer.

"Where have you been all day?" he asked.

I sighed once again and decided to try to break the tension with humor.

"Do you want to hear the long version or the-" I began speaking, but he interrupted.

"I want to hear the version where you explain yourself!" he scolded me.

"-Short version." I finished my sentence in a low tone of voice.

Well, so much for humor!

"Well, where were you?" he asked.

I stood there, thinking to myself. I had no idea what to say.

"I decided to not show up at the church." I said at last. "I just… I just don't want to marry him, Daddy."

"So, you don't love him?" he asked.

"No, it's not that!" I said as I rubbed my temples from irritation.

"Then what is it then?" he asked.

I let out a sigh.

"Annabeth?" he said my name with worry.

I looked up at him once more.

"I just don't feel like we're ready to get married, Daddy." I said at last.

He regarded me with a strange look.

"You are both twenty two years old, Annabeth." He said. "What's the problem?"

I sighed once more.

"Neither of us have finished college." I said in a glum tone. "And we live in a crappy one bedroom apartment."

He gave me the same strange look as before.

"Well, does that change the fact that you love him?" he asked me.

I looked down at the ground out of sadness.

"No." I whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"So, you still love him, then?" he asked.

I looked back up at him.

"No." I said. "I love him. More than words can express, Daddy."

"Okay, then." He said with a sure look on his face.

"Okay, then, what?" I asked.

"Okay, then, now you're going to go up there and tell Percy everything you just told me." He said. "Every word."

I stared at him.

"You think that I wasn't going to do that?" I asked. "I planned on coming back here. But, what if he's not home?"

"Oh, he's home." He said. "I drove him home. He's still up there, all by himself. So, you go now, and you apologize to him."

My father got up from the steps and walked towards his car. He eventually stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me.

"Daddy?" I asked with a nervous tone of voice.

He walked forward and hugged me. I was taken back by this, but I hugged him back, nonetheless.

"You're my daughter, Annabeth, and I love you." He whispered to me, before pulling away. "But this is something I'm not sure you can make up for."

He finally walked to his car without another word to me.

I sighed and walked up the stairs, through the doors and towards the flight of stairs up to our floor. Once I was on the floor we lived on, I walked until I reached our door. I took out my key, unlocked the door and walking in, shutting the door behind me.

I walked through the entry hall and to the doorway to our small living room and kitchen. He had the guitar in his hands, the one that Apollo had given him as an engagement present. He didn't seem to notice me. That's when he began playing a depressing tune on the guitar. And it surprised me when he began to sing.

Percy had a beautiful singing voice. I couldn't believe that I'd never heard him sing before. I'd be more impressed than I really was, if it weren't for the given depressing situation. I continued to listen to him sing:

"In a little while from now, if I'm not feeling any less sour, I promise myself to treat myself and visit a nearby tower, and climbing to the top, will throw myself off in an effort to make it clear to whoever what it's like when you're shattered, left standing in the lurch at a church, where people saying: "My God, that's tough, she's stood him up."

"No point in us remaining, we may as well go home, as I did on my own. Alone again, naturally. To think that only yesterday, I was cheerful, bright and gay, looking forward to well wouldn't do, the role I was about to play. But as if to knock me down, the allergy came around and without so much, as a mere touch, cut me into little pieces."

"Leaving me to doubt, talk about God and his mercy, or if he really does exist, why did he desert me in my hour of need, I truly am indeed alone again, naturally. It seems to me that there are more hearts broken in the world, that can't be mended, left unattended. What do we do? What do we do?"

Percy stopped singing, while he kept playing the same depressing tune. I could hear the sadness in his tone as he sang. I must have really hurt him, more than I thought I had. I mean, I knew that I had hurt Percy's feelings. I should have known that it would be worse, it made sense that way.

Who wouldn't be mentally and physically upset if your bride-to-be never showed up to your wedding? I wanted to cry, and I hadn't even noticed that tears were running down my cheeks. I sniffled a little, but Percy still didn't notice me. Eventually, he started singing again:

"Alone again, naturally. Now looking back over the years, and whatever else appears, I remember I cried when my father died, never wishing to hide the tears. And at sixty-five years old my mother, God rest her soul, couldn't understand why the only man she had ever loved had been taken."

"Leaving her to start with a heart, so badly broken despite encouragement from me, no words were spoken. And when she passed away, I cried and cried all day, alone again, naturally. Alone again, naturally."

He stopped singing and this time stopped playing the guitar as well. And then, he did something at surprised me. He ever so slowly turned to his left and looked at me, with red eyes, so he had obviously been crying.

Now that I had thought about it, my eyes were probably red and puffy as well, as I had been tearing up, with tears rolling down my cheeks the entire time he had been singing. Neither of us were able to speak. He finally responded. All he did was take a breath as we continued to stare at one another. But still, neither of us said a word.

You can cry, you can yell, I thought to myself as we continued to stare at each other. You can scream if you have to, but please, Percy. Talk to me.

And then he did something that surprised me, something that I hadn't seen coming from him. He dropped the guitar and stood up, still looking at me. And then, he ran over to me and hugged me, and began to cry. He cried into the shoulder of my shirt as we hugged one another.

"I'm sorry." I finally said.

Percy didn't say anything, he just kept clinging onto me. I sighed once more, as I pulled him closer and tried to savor the hug. As I began to cry again myself, I closed my eyes as he hugged me tighter. I was happy to be in his arms again. I only hoped that we could go back to normal after all this, but that would take a while.

That Night

Several hours later that night, past midnight to be exact, we were asleep in bed together. Well, that was a lie, actually. I was wide awake, while Percy was asleep, with his head resting on my chest and the top of his head just gently touching my chin, which was usually the other way around you know, with the girl resting her head on his chest?

We hadn't said any words to one another. In fact, while we were snuggling, which barely passed for snuggling, he had cried himself to sleep. The front of my T-shirt was still wet from his tears. I lightly ran my fingers through his black hair as he let out gentle breaths in his sleep.

Sleep softly, Percy, I thought. Sweet dreams.

I let out another sigh as I turned my head to the right to look at the electronic alarm clock that sat on our nightstand. It was barely past one o'clock in the morning. I let out a sigh of frustration as I turned my head back, so I was staring at the ceiling again, and tried to get to sleep.

You drool when you sleep, my first words to him ten years ago flashed into my mind.

I looked down at Percy's sleeping form, to see that he was drooling as he slept. Twenty two years old and he still drooled when he slept. However, I expected this, and I really didn't mind it anymore. The fact that he looked cute when he slept, even now, made up well enough for that.

I rubbed his back as he continued to sleep. As I did that, he shifted in his sleep, but he didn't wake up. I continued to lightly run my fingers through his hair as I closed my eyes.

Get your sleep Percy. I know I hurt you really bad, but I can make it up to you. I don't know how, but I will make it up to you. I promise.

I don't know how I managed to do it, but eventually, I managed to get to sleep that night.

Percy

The Next Morning

I woke up the next morning, lying on my side. I let out a groan as I looked over at the alarm clock. It was nine thirty in the morning. I let out a sigh as I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. I let out another sigh, before I looked over to my right.

"Good morning, Anna-" I stopped talking once I realized that I was alone in bed. "-Beth."

I sat up in disappointment.

Did she leave before I woke up?

I let out a sigh as I got out of bed. I walked by the mirror above the dresser and saw that I had a massive case of bedhead. I walked past the mirror, as I grumbled myself. I walked out of the bedroom and back into the living room/kitchen.

"Why do bad things always happen to-" I stopped speaking once I saw Annabeth sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. "-Me?"

We both stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Good morning." She finally said.

"Hey." I said in a glum tone, as I walked up to the kitchen table.

I sat down at the table, across from where she sat. We both just sat there in silence, neither of us having the courage to say anything. But, eventually one of us had to speak, so I finally did.

"Um, we should talk about yesterday." I said at last.

"You know what?" she asked as she looked up to face me. "You're absolutely right."

We both sat there in silence once more.

"So, what are we going to do about this, Annabeth?" I asked as I looked up at her. "Are we going to break up, get divorced? Well, I guess we can't get divorced, seeing as we didn't get married."

Annabeth said nothing and so, neither did I. I looked up to her, to see that tears had come to her eyes.

"Annabeth, if you want to leave me, I'm okay with that." I said as I looked down. "If you think that we should see other people, then I wish you all the best. So long as you're happy."

She said nothing. I looked back up at her. Tears were trailing down her cheeks as she looked at me.

"Percy, there's something you should know." She said.

I didn't hesitate, I let her speak.

"I love you, Percy." She said. "More than words alone can express. I can't imagine a life without you. It's just that, I don't think we're ready to get married yet."

I just stared at her.

"You don't think we're ready to get married?" I asked.

She nodded, as the tears kept rolling down her cheeks.

"Then why didn't you just come and talk to me, rather than having stood me up?" I asked. "We could have worked something out."

She looked at me with surprise.

Was she expecting me to be angry with her?

I got up from my chair and walked to sit down next to her, opposed to across from her.

"I tried, Percy. Believe me, I wanted to talk to you about it." She said. "But I just kept putting it off and putting it off and eventually, the wedding day was here before I knew it."

"It's okay." I said.

She began to cry at this point.

"I don't want to marry you yet, but I don't want to break up with you either." She said through her tears. "I kept thinking, what if marrying so early, while we were still in college, caused stress and lack of income for us, that way we wouldn't stay financially afloat?"

I said nothing as I gave her a sympathetic look.

"But what if it's already too late?" she asked.

"It's not, Annabeth!" I said, as I reached for her hand.

She looked up at me as I took her hand in mine.

"I don't to split up with you!" I said. "You're like, my favorite person in the entire world, Annabeth!"

She just stared at me, maybe being in a little bit of shock after all of the torment we both had been put through.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes, really!" I said. "I love you, Annabeth!"

She just continued staring at me, before she sighed and began shaking her head.

"But I hurt your feelings, Percy." She said. "I heard the pain you were going through just in your singing alone."

"Yeah, you may have hurt my feelings." I said. "But it doesn't matter. You told me the truth, I appreciate it and I don't hold it against you. I just wish that you had come to me. I still love you. There aren't any hard feelings between us."

She stared at me, before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Percy." She said as she stared down at the table. "You deserve someone better than me. I hurt you in such a terrible way and you deserve better."

I was shocked that she'd even say that.

"No, Annabeth! I don't want anyone else, I want you!" I said. "There is no one better than you!"

She continued to stare down at the table, as she began to tear up. I got up, pulling her up with me as I did and pulled her into a hug. She accepted the hug and embraced me, practically melting into my arms.

"It's okay." I said as I rubbed her back. "It may have been a bad night, but we can make this work. No splitting up."

She looked up at me with teary eyes.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really." I said. "We can make this work."

She just looked up at me, before resting her head back against my chest. I continued to rub her back and eventually I could feel her heartbeat begin to relax. I let out a sigh, as I realized that the bad of this may have been over. Now I just had to hope that it stayed that way.

Sometime Later

Annabeth and I now laid on the couch, still hugging as we snuggled against one another. As we laid there, I continued to rub her back. I think that we were okay.

"So, uh, what should we do?" I asked.

Annabeth moved her head to look up at me.

"Well, if we had gotten married last night, we'd be packing right now to go on our honeymoon." She said. "To Greece."

The mention of the wedding made me want to tear up. But I didn't. I felt like Annabeth and I were squared away at this point. I ran my finger's through her curly, blonde hair and it made her smile up at me.

"Is it bad that I still want to go?" she asked. "I want to see the Parthenon, I want to see so much!"

I shook my head.

"It shouldn't be bad." I said. "You should want to go."

She then shook her head.

"But I hurt you. And our intentions for the trip were to honeymoon." She said. "Since it was going to be our honeymoon, I feel like we shouldn't go. It might feel awkward."

She laid her head back down onto my chest. I laid there as well, rubbing her back with one hand and using my other one to lightly run my fingers through her hair. Eventually, after several minutes, I broke the silence.

"We should go." I said at last.

She looked up at me once again.

"What?" she asked.

"We should go to Greece." I said as I looked down at her. "We could spend a whole week there as planned, we can use the time to strengthen our relationship. I don't want this to be the end of us, Annabeth."

She stared up at me, before she smiled once again.

"I think we both know that this isn't the end for us, Percy." She said.

I returned her smile. She sighed as she continued staring up at me.

"I love you, Seaweed Brain." She said.

I chuckled.

"You're never going to get me to stop calling you Seaweed Brain." She said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Wise Girl." I said, chuckling as I put my hands on her cheeks. "Come here."

I pulled her into a kiss and she gladly accepted. She put her arms around my neck and I put my arms around her waist. It was the first kiss that we had shared since she had stood me up yesterday. We both needed this: a passionate, but gentle kiss.

Yeah, I think we were gonna be alright.

Author's Note:

* So, what do my readers think? It's a little hurt/discomfort and a little romance.

* I had been listening to Alone Again (Naturally) recently and I came up with an idea that evolved into this story. So, there will eventually be a second chapter for this, where we'll actually see them get married.

* For any readers that read my other two Percy Jackson stories, Ogygia Is My Home and Percy Jackson and Friends, those two stories will start up again at some point.

* I'm going to go though, so have a great day and bye.