A/N: Would like to point out that I'm not opposed to Percabeth, if it can be done correctly. Nine out of ten times though, Percabeth is written with Annabeth as a sappy Valley girl and Percy as some heroic sex-god. That's all.
The Percabeth Revolution: Encounters
A dozen white roses.
Those were the first things I noticed the morning of my wedding day; a bouquet of white roses next to me on my bed, with a silver note. I brought my hands and read the note, smiling as I recognized the perfect calligraphy.
It's bad luck to see your bride on your wedding day before you walk down the aisle. I guess I'll see you there then.
Love you.
-L
Wedding Day. Did it really come that quickly? I brought my hand to my engagement ring, and pressed my fingers against the cool platinum with the embedded sapphire. No, not a diamond, but a Sapphire instead.
"Thought I would do something new," Lance had said when he had slipped the ring on my finder, only a mere month before. Lance had seen no reason to do everything traditionally; he'd known me only three weeks, and then he'd proposed. He didn't tell anyone about our wedding besides our parents, and didn't see any reason that anyone else should be there. In truth, the though of having six bridesmaids trail behind me in a chapel—and obviously, I'm not Christian—filled with hundreds of people didn't appeal to me. I'd never really even fantasized about weddings that much, seeing to the fact that I would have to follow the annoying stereotype. Big, happy, and traditional.
I didn't hire a makeup artist to completely destroy my face. I wore what I would to a business meeting or a job interview; just enough so I wouldn't look like a thirty-year-old hag. That's right, thirty. The big three-zero took me somewhat by surprise. One minute, I'd been a college graduate looking for a job. The next, I was an architect for Perkins Eastman, and was had finally ended my house hunt and settled into a duplex in Westchester. And, now I was a woman that had just celebrated her thirtieth birthday and would soon be tying the knot to her boyfriend.
Faces; I was walking down the street, and for the first time, I took a really close look into the faces around me. Why? To be honest…I wasn't entirely sure. I just had an itch that I would regret it if I didn't. I looked into the eyes of a variety of different people; a woman with a baby in her arms, an older man talking on the phone with someone who I thought was his wife from the sounds of it, a grungy teenager with a beer bottle in his hand (where the hell did he get that, anyway?), a twelve-year old that looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks…everyone. And, despite the dirty looks they'd give me and the profanities they'd shout at me, I couldn't help but just smile. I even waved to a few people, considering the fact they were part of the minority that hadn't sworn me off.
I continued walking; I was headed towards the jeweler's. My stepmother had come-through and had given me a present; a family heirloom, she'd told me.
"Wear it well."
She pressed the necklace into my palm, and managed a weak smile. The sad reality was that I couldn't bring myself to hate her anymore. Despite how much I wanted my real mother to come back for my father, I'd come to somehow respect my step-mom. When you really took a close look, there was more to her than just her surface. She didn't believe in swearing. She made brownies every Sunday. She visited my half-brothers Bobby and Matt in college every weekend. She gave me a beautiful necklace that had been in her family for generations.
Either that, or maybe I just felt bad for her and my father. They were both so old.
I kept walking on the sun-drenched sidewalk. I was getting married, for Hades' sake. Excuse me if I was an absolute Valley Girl.
I continued to look into the faces of more people; an old man with a cigar and rotting teeth, a gorgeous Indian woman with a very bright smile, a man with jet black hair and vaguely familiar sea-green eyes …
I stopped. I'd seen that man before; I was sure.
I guess he recognized me too, because he stopped in his tracks, and very clearly said my name.
"Annabeth." There wasn't a tinge of regret behind his voice, or anything sour for that matter. He only wore a shocked expression on his face.
I just stared, not knowing if what I was seeing was real.
His surprise wore off quicker than mine had. I hadn't realized he'd been talking on his phone until I heard him say, "I have to go. Love you." He abruptly hung up and took me aback by giving me a genuine smile, like I was some unexpected birthday present arriving a week early.
Weirdly enough, he didn't psych me out as much as thought he would. "Percy!" I didn't mean to sound excited, but it came off that way. I walked forward to greet him, and without hesitation, gave him a friendly hug. He seemed a bit shocked by my gesture, but he again just took it as a nice, unexpected gift.
"Annabeth Chase, back from the dead," he said casually, with a laugh.
I hadn't seen Percy in nearly three years, and only then did I realize that I had missed him more than I'd thought. "It's been too long, Jackson. How are you?"
He gave me a small, somewhat guilty smile. "Everything's okay for me. How about you?"
I didn't even hesitate. "Well, I'm getting married today."
Something in the back of my mind reminded me that Percy and I had once had a thing, and that we'd both fallen for each other. Still, if what I had said had in any way annoyed Percy, he did a fairly damn good job of hiding it.
"Congratulations, Annabeth," he told me, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "But…you're getting married just now?"
I rolled my eyes and playfully punched him in the shoulder, like I would have done nearly half a lifetime ago.
"Kidding," he said defensively. He hadn't stopped smiling since I'd first bumped into him. "Like I said, congratulations."
"Thanks."
"Besides tying the knot, how have things been going for you?"
I beamed, and started telling Percy of how I was designing a new wing for a school that had recently been set on fire. I told him all about my plans; how there would be floor to ceiling windows on the eastern part of the wing, so the students would be able to watch the sunrise. I didn't ever figure out how long I'd talked to Percy about my architectural plans. He didn't seem to mind the fact he hadn't gotten to say two words during my monologue, and if anything, he seemed genuinely interested. It was someone else that had interrupted us.
"Percy!"
I turned to my left, hearing where the voice had come from. Walking towards us was a brunette woman around our age. Her jeans were a few sizes too big, she wore a simple white World Wildlife Fund tee-shirt, and her hair was strewn across her face. She had wild, ice-blue eyes and a smile that lit her entire face up. I guess you could say she was pretty, in a bit of a wild way. She reminded me vaguely of someone trying to turn back time and look like they were sixteen.
She gave Percy a blinding smile. "There you are! Our canoe reservations are at twelve, we can't miss them."
I found it odd that she had canoe reservations, but before I had a chance to mention anything she turned to me. "Who's this, Percy?"
I got the feeling that despite the way her words could have sounded, she meant her phrase in a perfectly friendly way. Her bright expression hadn't faltered.
"Liza, this is Annabeth. She's an old friend of mine."
Liza's face lit up with recognition. "Oh, so you're Annabeth Chase! It's so nice to finally meet you." She shook my hand enthusiastically, pumping my arm a bit too hard. "I'm Liza, Percy's wife."
Now, seeing to the fact that I'd been completely in love with Percy nearly fourteen years before, hearing that Percy had a wife should have brought me to tears. I should have stepped on the girl's foot and broken her toe; though, I didn't. In no way did I feel offended that Percy had gotten married, or jealous.
"It's nice to meet you," I said warmly, turning back to Percy, and then looking back at Liza. "You're a lucky girl," I told her.
She laughed, elbowing me like we'd been friends for years rather than having just met. "Not taking a minute of it for granted, I'm telling you." She turned back to Percy. "I was serious about the canoes though; we'll miss them if we don't hurry!"
I got the impression that this Liza was a bit more impulsive than Percy. He didn't seem to mind, though.
"Right." He turned back to me, giving me one last brief embrace. I gave his arm a squeeze. "Best wishes today, Annabeth."
"Thanks. Hey, is your phone number still the same?"
He nodded. "As three years ago? Yeah, it should be."
I smiled at both him and Liza. "Maybe we could meet up on a double date then."
Liza beamed. "That would be great! I'd love to get to know you better, Annabeth. Percy says you're into architecture; have you done anything recently?"
Before I could open my mouth, Percy quickly said. "Don't get her started. Then, I can guarantee you we won't go canoeing."
"Okay, okay. We'll talk it over coffee then." Without asking, she whipped out a pen and grabbed my arm, writing down what looked like her phone number. "We'll plan something, alright?"
"Sounds great." I probably should have yelled at her for writing on my arm the way she had, but to be honest, I wasn't bothered by it.
Percy started walking off, as did I. "It was great to see you, Annabeth."
"Same here, Seaweed Brain."
Liza laughed, and jabbed Percy in the shoulder. "Seaweed Brain! So that's where that comes from!" Liza started saying something about how his head was most indeed made of seaweed, but to be honest, I didn't catch much of their conversation. They were walking off, getting ready to canoe.
I continued walking down the street, remembering that I still had a jeweler to see. I needed to get my necklace back, since I was going to get married to a man I was deeply in love with. And, despite the fact that I'd just seen Percy with his spontaneous wife, I couldn't help but not feel the least bit of regret for what I was doing. I was in love with Lance, and I wasn't going to let Percy Jackson stand in the way.
I'd never forget Percy; he would always be an old friend of mine.
Now, more than ever, I knew I was ready to walk down the aisle and say "I do."
For those of you that are going to go reporting me for plagarism, I would just like to add that I moved this story from another account onto here. PM me before you report me. Reese