Double Life? Make it Triple

Chapter 12

A/N

Hey, guys, here's chapter twelve! I don't have anything to say, so I'll just let you read it.

Enjoy!

Annabeth's POV

I stared blankly at the wall in front of me. Percy had promised to stay out of my life. My problems had significantly shrunk. So why did I have the feeling it was just about to get worse? It most likely was.

I examined the stitches in my side. I'd be able to walk in three days, probably. It wasn't like I had much of a nice life to miss out on, anyway. Being in hospital was probably safer for me. You know what? I wanted to not be Annabeth Chase and not have these stupid gangs after my ass. I wanted to be normal, for gods' sake, was that too much to ask for?

Apparently so. My ears pricked when my phone started buzzing like crazy. Considering only five people had my number (and one of them was just some random dude I danced with once, who I would probably never see again), it ringing was a pretty big deal.

"Hello?" I asked, curious to see who'd be calling me at three a.m.? None of my friends were even wake then. No one in the freaking universe would normally be awake.

"Annabeth, why did your mom just call me and ask me if you were staying at my place?" Piper. Normally she stayed up late, so she probably hadn't had much sleep before my mom must've called her.

"Well," I began sarcastically. "I was just on a mission for Percy because he knows all this stuff about..." I realized Jason might not have told Piper yet, so I changed my story. "...an old friend, and if I didn't do a favor for him he'd leak it." That was true enough. "But, uh, I ended up in hospital somehow."

"Annabeth Chase," she began slowly. "What the hell did he have you do to land you in hospital?!"

"Oh, just some delivery. I'm fine, Pipes, honestly."

"When are you back at school?"

"Probably three, four days. I'm fine, honestly," I assured her.

"Right," she answered skeptically. "See you in three days, then."

"See you." I hung up, and resumed staring at the white wall. It was going to be a long few days.

"Hey! Annie's back!" Leo yelled when he spotted me walking down the hallway towards them. Piper, Jason and Thalia glanced up.

"Oh thank gods, now I'll have someone to help me with my homework," Thalia said. I mock-scowled at her, but ending up grinning. Everyone else was returning the gesture except Jason. He looked worried, and his eye was twitching every minute or so.

After I'd gotten caught up on what I'd missed (not much, seeing as nothing ever happens at our school), Jason looked at me.

"Hey, Annabeth, can I speak to you for a second?" I nodded, and nodded down the corridor.

"Yeah, alright," I said as I followed him away from the others. He grabbed my arm.

"My gang wants their payment for them helping you. They'll probably try and ambush you sometime soon-"

"What's the gossip?" I turned to scowl at Percy.

"Did you not promise me that you'd leave me alone?"

"Ah," he said, holding up a finger. "You didn't make me swear on the Styx. Rookie move, Chase. But, believe it or not, I'm not here to talk to you." He shifted his eyes to the blonde beside me. "She's not doing a stupid mission for your gang."

I was confused as to why he'd come over here just to tell Jason that. He seemed to be just as befuddled as me. "What?"

"She's not doing your dumb mission," he repeated slowly, like he was trying to explain something to a little kid.

"Why do you care? It's my life," I retorted, but my tone didn't have it's usual sharpness. To be honest, I was trying to figure out if the surreal scene in front of me was actually happening. He looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"I didn't sav...you don't need to know my reasons," he corrected smoothly. I arched an eyebrow. I guessed he was trying to refer to when he'd technically saved me the other night, but due to our agreement, and his pride, he didn't want to spill it in front of Jason.

"I think I do," I answered. "You promised to leave me alone."

He sighed loudly, finally meeting my eyes with his own bright green ones. "I know what I promised, but his kind-" he jabbed his thumb in Jason's general direction. "-aren't good news. I have a hunch of what they'll make you do, and you aren't gonna like it. Not. One. Bit," he stated, getting in close to my face. "So sorry for caring." He held my gaze for a few seconds, before spinning and stalking away from us. Jason glanced at me with wide eyes.

"So," he started casually. "I don't suppose you'll be explaining that little scene, will you? Because him doing that is basically an oxymoron." I sighed.

"It's...I can't tell you," I said regretfully.

Jason nodded. "Right. So you've got secrets with him? Cool. It's not like you hate each other or anything."

"Just...ugh, I don't know. He should be staying away from me from now on, though."

"Right." I noticed the skepticism in his voice, and hated myself for lying. But what other choice did I have?

Percy's POV

I was just walking around town, minding my own business, when someone yanked me into a side alley. Great, I thought. Just what I needed to brighten up my day.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, brushing off my jeans.

"Shut up!" I obliged, holding my palms in the air as I glanced up. "Why'd you mess with our territory, Jackson?"

Luke Castellan was gripping my shirt collar tightly, and I had no idea what the hell was going on. Not that I ever do.

"I don't know what you're on about, Castellan," I replied calmly, prying his fingers off of my shirt. His eyes narrowed.

"Then why," he drawled. "Was the Half-Blood symbol graffitied all over Titan territory, Jackson? I don't know anyone else in your gang that'd be dumb enough to pull that off."

"It was probably another gang trying to pit us against each other. I'm not that stupid, no matter what you might think," I told him in exasperation.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're the only one cocky enough, then."

"Please," I scoffed. "I'm the big ego here? Dude, if I jumped from your ego to your IQ, I'd be falling for days before I hit the ground." I'd been wanting to use that insult for forever, so I was pretty damn pleased that I finally got to.

"Funny, Jackson." Luke shoved me, and I hit the wall. "Watch your back, because I'm not going to let this go. You're finally gonna get your karma." As he walked away, I yelled after him.

"Good luck proving it, Castellan! But I'll be waiting; I'm intrigued to see what this revenge of yours'll be!" Once he was out of sight, I sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. Then I stood up again, feeling angry. Why, the one time I didn't actually do anything, do I get blamed?

"Why is my life so s**t?" I growled, kicking a nearby can. Which then proceeded to nail a car right in the left headlight. Next thing I knew, an alarm started blaring, and people passing by were starting to notice. "Fuck." I turned tail and sprinted down the street, not wanting to get myself into any more crap today.

"Excuse me, excuse me, coming through, oh my freaking god, move!" I yelled as I pushed past people on the street. My apartment wasn't far away. I slowed down, trying to seem less suspicious, and ducked into the entrance.

The door was unlocked, which meant Paul was home. I'd told my mom to keep the apartment locked at all costs unless either him or me were home with her. She hadn't argued. I shrugged of my hoodie and was about to throw it on the couch when I heard a voice.

"Perseus Jackson, you better not throw that on the floor."

"Hi, Mom," I said, grinning as I slung the jacket over my shoulder. "What's for dinner? Smells good."

Sally Jackson came into view in the doorway to the kitchen. My smile widened. I absolutely loved my mom. She was the only person I could really count on.

"I could swear you care about my cooking more than you do for me," she joked, and I shrugged.

"Hey, it's a package deal," I said cheekily, before heading down the hallway to my room. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

She nodded, and I quickly grabbed a change of clothes from my room and closed the bathroom door behind me. I stripped off my shirt and stared at myself in the mirror. The many cuts and scars were the reason I never participated in the swimming sessions we had in PE. Not that I needed lessons. The most prominent scar was one on my hip, which I'd gotten from my initiation into the Half-Bloods. I shook my head, and tried to suppress the memory. I didn't like thinking back to that day.

Once I'd showered and changed, I took a seat at the table. I tried to have a sit-down dinner with Mom and Paul at least once a week, because normally I had missions to run.

"Hey, Paul," I greeted. I wasn't sure about him at first, but eventually I warmed up. He made my mom happy, and besides; he was a really great guy.

"Hello, Percy. What bank did you have to postpone robbing to grace us with your presence?" If anyone else had said that, I would've instantly decked them. But Paul's smile and light tone clued me in to the fact he was kidding. I'd told him I'd rather joke about it than dance around it, and he'd obliged. I could also usually con, sorry, persuade, him into letting me off with my English homework. Turned out, he had quite a presence in the staff of Goode High School.

"Don't you worry about your bank account," I cracked. "I'll be sure to avoid it next time I go."

Mom put a plate of steaming mac and cheese in front of me. "'Next time I go', does that mean you've been recently?" She asked as she sat down opposite me. I was about to say no, but remembered the events of last week. It seemed so far away now.

"Possibly," I said, heaping food into my mouth.

Paul raised an eyebrow at me. "How come we didn't hear about it?" Usually, I took some of what I'd stolen and brought it home, since we weren't exactly the richest family out there. Basically the exact opposite, really. But I hadn't got much of a profit that night.

"Well, you see..." I started, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "It didn't exactly...I may not have been the only one there."

"Someone beat you to it? I'd like to meet whoever that was," Paul chuckled. I pressed my lips together.

"Yeah, I'm not sure you'd like her," I replied, bending my head even further over my plate.

"Trouble in paradise?"

I snorted. "As if she'd ever want to get with me." The feeling was pretty mutual.

My mom tsked, concern showing clearly in her eyes. "Percy, you're an amazing person. I don't know why you act so...differently to who you are."

"It's all about the image, Mom. If I lose the rep, people will see me as a target," I explained, gesturing with my fork as I spoke. "If I get kicked out of the gang, we won't have the money-" I stopped short as a piece of pasta flung off of my fork and right into her face. I choked on a laugh.

"If that's how you treat the women in your life, no wonder you're single," Paul grinned. My mom smiled as she wiped cheese off her face.

"Now you know why I don't do girlfriends," I said, joining in with the laughter. And for that moment, my life was okay.

So, to the reviewers:

MaG - Hopefully this was soon enough for you. Thanks for liking my story

Cinder Luna - Glad you loved it. Thanks for the idea, it basically fits with what I've come up with so far. I don't want to just use straight ideas that I get from my reviewers, because I want it to be at least slightly unexpected, but I'll mix it in with the...other stuff I've got planned (that totally made me sound like I know what I'm doing. I really don't)

Sally Stevens - Expect the unexpected, right? I'm glad you think I've written Frank like book Frank, it fills me with hope that my writing doesn't completely suck. Who isn't paying attention to Apollo? ;) I hope this chapter portrays Percy as less of an asshole. I wanna show both sides consistently throughout the story, so hopefully I'm doing alright.

Guest - I've got that in chapter six for the ending, if you haven't checked that out yet (I'm not blaming you, since I was the one who forgot to put it in), and I'm glad you liked the chapter.

So, the question of the chapter: obviously this is a Percabeth story, and I'm just wondering how much you guys can take without any proper romance, or if the plot's alright enough to just keep going at the pace I am right now.

Until hopefully next week (I can dream, can't I?),

HV