A/N: so this is basically my take on how i imagined the scene where Luke asked Annabeth to runaway with him went. Sorry if it sucks, this is my first time posting and feedback would be very much appreciated~
Walking down the streets of San Francisco, Luke wondered whether the street lights or night stars were brighter. Though he knew he shouldn't bother with such questions, he was lost, and he needed to find her house soon if not now. He continued wandering up and down the concrete covered hills.
Luke didn't know her address, but he was close. He felt it. But he could only be away from Kronos so long, the Titan Lord was known for his viscous ways of tormenting people through their thoughts. Luke knew the risks of leaving; he knew Kronos would plague his dreams with venomous nightmares whether or not this worked. Because no matter how far Luke ran, he could never outrun the Titan of Time.
Luke passed a street that gave him a familiar feeling. He was close; he knew it, he felt it. If he thought hard enough he could picture exactly which house was hers. With a short set of stone steps, and a painted white door, the two story house was just a street away. Luke had these presumptions; it seemed they were enhanced when he agreed to join the Titan Lord, just one of the perks of being the vessel of one of the most evil beings in existence.
Luke came to the house he knew was hers and he knocked on the door three times. In a pattern that Annabeth came up with herself. Tap, pause, tap, tap. Annabeth would always drum that at night when she was awake and scared, either he or Thalia would return the knock to assure her that we were there. Annabeth knew that Thalia and him were the only people in the world who knew it. Luke could hear her running down the stairs through the door; he could almost see her, see the shock and curiosity in those wide grey eyes.
She swung the door open, and Luke let out a breath he was unconsciously holding in.
"Annabeth," he didn't mean to sound desperate and on the verge of breaking but he did. She looked taken back, her hair tied in a messy bun, wearing simple, loose, house clothes.
"Luke…" she sounded so torn, as if she wanted to run into his arms and ram a knife into his chest at the same time. Her eyebrows scrunched up like she had a headache, and her eyes filled with sorrow and she looked hard at him to make sure it was really Luke in front of her. Ever since Luke left that first summer, he had always seemed so far away, even when he was in front of her, even now.
He couldn't blame her for her tone, after all the shit he put her through, he couldn't just expect her to look up to him like she used too. "Luke." She repeated, now it sounded threatening, like she finally picked what to feel. "What are you doing here?" She spat, and Luke sighed, he would pray to the gods for help, but him and the gods weren't really on the same side now.
"Nice to see you too kid," Luke smiled weakly, this was such a long shot, but it was his only shot.
"I asked what you were doing here Luke. Back to kill me? To finish what holding the Sky didn't do?" Annabeth spoke through gritted teeth, the anger and pain very evident in her words. Maybe it was best if he just left now, he didn't want to be rejected by her, and at this point the only way to avoid rejection was to just walk away. But Luke looked longingly into her pallid eyes, and he saw, he saw the love she was hiding behind her words, somewhere deep down in there, she still loved him. There was hope.
"I just want to talk Annabeth; I swear on the River Styx I'm not here to hurt you." Luke said carefully. Annabeth searched his face for any sign of dishonesty, and when she found none she let out a small sigh and opened the door wider for him to come in. Luke held back a breath of relief, and walked into the house.
Annabeth lead him to the living room and sat on the sofa and stared at him with crossed arms. "You said you wanted to talk. So talk." She sounded like she wanted to get this over with.
Luke sat on the rocking chair across from her.
"So, how are you Annabeth?" Luke thought he'd start easy, to let her lower her guards a bit, so she didn't kick him out the second he asked what he came here too.
"Does it really matter?" She retorted, but when she met his blue eyes again, and saw the way they pleaded with her to just bear with him, she sighed and continued. "I'm fine Luke, weak, from last winter, but fine."
"Did you miss me?" He didn't even bother to listen to how he sounded. He was speaking his mind here, the gods knew the next time he could really talk with Annabeth again.
Annabeth seemed to be trying to be honest with her answers, since according to Luke, all he wanted was to talk. "Of course I did Luke." Her eyes soften a bit as she said this, a warm smile played at the corner of her lips, she sounded as sincere as possible. Luke gave her a small smile back, he missed her too. Then she looked at him, slowly anticipating his next question.
"And what's it like living with your 'family' again?"
Annabeth looked down, finding a sudden interest in the beige carpet. He waited for her reply silently; he knew he hit a sore spot. But that's what he wanted. But he wished she would look up, he wanted to watch her face, see if she had any plans on running away again.
Her blazing eyes shot up at his, as if hearing his thoughts. "Why does it matter?" She accused bitterly. She was getting defensive, building her walls up again.
"It matters, Annabeth." He assured her keeping his voice earnest and calm. But she was losing her composure here.
"Get to the fucking point Luke. There's a reason you're here and it's not just a friendly visit." Annabeth tensed up, she stiffly held her arms by her sides, clenching her hands into fists. She was getting mad, and he decided it was better if he did get to the point.
"Annabeth," He started slowly, "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to run away with me. It can be like the old days, just us against the world." Luke looked just as he sounded, desperate, hoping, pleading.
Annabeth stared at him, "You're right Luke. I have no reason to trust you. How can I be sure that you won't hurt me again?" Annabeth was breaking down now, her protective walls came crumbling down, her eyes started to water.
"Annabeth, you just have to trust me, you know I'll never hurt you again. Never like that, I promise—" Luke was cut off, Annabeth shot to her feet, balling her fists.
"Prove it Luke! I need some kind of evidence that you will never betray me the way you did! That this isn't just another trick!" She paused looking down, and continued as she stared at the beige carpet again "I need more than a promise Luke you've already broken too many." Annabeth murmured before her knees gave in, Luke jumped up to catch her before she crashed to the ground.
Annabeth didn't push him away like he expected; instead she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and soiled his shoulder with tears. Luke rubbed her back in an act of comfort, and muttered reassuring things words like 'it's ok,' 'I'm here' 'don't worry' he mumbled the sweetest things as Annabeth continuously cried her eyes out.
"Luke," she uttered through the tears, "I want to leave with you, but I can't. I don't trust you like I used to, I…" She pulled her head away from his ruined shirt, and Luke wiped her eyes away with his thumb.
"It's okay Annabeth" He lied with a small, sad smile. "I understand."
"But why now? Why did you wait so long to realize…?" She looked up at him, like she did before, a glint of adoration in her ashen eyes.
Luke took a sharp intake of breath "Annabeth are you sure about this? Kronos is going to use me as a stepping stone if you say no. He has big plans, and they're horrible. This is my last hope. You're all I have left." He looked into Annabeth's eyes, they looked more silver than grey now, they shone with sadness. She shook her head.
"No, Luke, I can't." and Luke expected those words, he looked down, he was doomed. Her words echoed in his head, he wanted to curl up into a ball and just die. Kronos was going to kill him and so many others, and he couldn't do a thing about it.
And then it hit him.
This was probably the last time Luke would ever see Annabeth. That hurt the most of all, he would never hear her quick remarks, or see her adorning gaze ever again. Luke would have cried if he was weaker, but he was burdened with strength, he'd known that for a while now.
He brought his gaze to meet hers. He took in all of her features, every curl in her hair, all the emotions her eyes gave away at this moment. If this was really the last time he saw her, he wanted to remember her as she was now, showing the smallest bit a love towards him.
"Luke I'm sorry…" She trailed off; Luke shook his head with a pathetic smile, as if to say 'its fine' because he knew the words would sound unconvincing if he said them aloud. She frowned because she knew it wasn't fine, and she didn't know what to do. She closed her eyes, she was a daughter of Athena she could think of something, she could figure this out. Luke seemed to know what she was doing, but he knew there was no other way.
Luke had to do one more thing before he left, before her "family" came back. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in to him; he would never get another chance like this again…
Their lips met and Annabeth's eyes shot open, but she didn't pull back. Luke's lips were soft and warm and desperate and begging for Annabeth to return the kiss. And slowly she began to, her lips moved against his. The kiss was sweet and Annabeth knew that this would probably never happen again, so she let it linger, she tried to prolong the kiss as long as she could.
Just like before, Annabeth thought to herself, his big warm arms protecting her from the world. He smelt of chestnuts, and tasted of cherries. Their lips moved in time and Annabeth's had butterfly's doing flips inside of her.
But Luke pulled away all too soon, and he stared Annabeth in her dazed, silver eyes.
"I love you." He said lowly. Annabeth froze in shock. Luke didn't wait for her reply because he knew what she would say; he knew that if he stayed any longer all that awaited him was more disappointment and rejection. So as she processed everything that just happened and opened her mouth to speak, Luke loosened his grip on her, got up, and walked away. He opened the front door and closed it as swiftly as possible, neither the sky nor the street lights looked bright anymore.
Luke knew that whatever it was Annabeth was going to say, it was better left unsaid.