Hey! This is my first Percy Jackson Fanfic (definitely not my first fanfic in general) I was just having extreme difficulty finding one that was decent (no offense to all of you who maybe wrote them). I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Percy and Annabeth are 19, Annabeth is not supposed to be acting like herself, just so you all know. Sorry if it's ooc...I tried hard to make it not so, but Annabeth and Percy are kind of hard to write, I've discovered, compared to, like, Artemis Fowl. Anyway, enjoy!
Annabeth sat on the couch in the cramped apartment, staring dismally at the peeling wallpaper, no emotion in her dead gray eyes.
A man came out of a room behind her, fiddling with the sleeve of his black dress shirt. He had short, light brown hair and piercing dark brown eyes. His forehead was crinkled, like he was perpetually frowning.
"I'm leaving now Annabeth," he said, not sparing her a glance. "I don't know when I'll be back. Don't bother waiting up."
Annabeth glanced up at him desperately. "Where are you going?"
"Back to work. They called, didn't you hear?" His voice suggested that the topic was closed, that she shouldn't ask any more questions.
She sighed. "Yeah, I did." She got up, walking over to him. "Well, I'll see you later then?"
He nodded, bending down and kissing her quickly, much to Annabeth's chagrin. She had been hoping for more than that. "Yeah." He then turned away, picked up a briefcase, and left the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
Annabeth sighed again, returning to her seat on the couch. Her hair was done up beautifully and she was wearing a knee-length, strapless, midnight blue dress. She had been hoping that he would finally take her out again, that they would go to a small Italian restaurant like they used too, and that they'd walk along the river, their paths lit by wrought iron streetlamps. He hadn't even noticed the effort she had put into making herself beautiful. She had only been wrong again, and all her work had been for nothing.
Percy's POV
I walked up the street, slowly turning the map in my hands. I had never been exceptionally good with maps. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, looked around, and groaned. Where the heck was I?
I pulled a scrap of paper out of my pocket that had an address scribbled on it. I double-checked that I had the right street, then looked at the map again. I was so lost.
It was summer, it was evening, and it had been a couple years since I had been to Camp Half-Blood (hey, we demigods don't spend our entire lives there, just so you know). I hadn't seen Annabeth in just as long. Mom and I had been busy moving from that apartment we'd been living in for way too long. We now lived in a decent sized house; for New York anyway. I had been busy at school actually doing my work and studying for once, and Annabeth had been busy re-building Olympus. Good enough reason for our prolonged separation.
Anyway, now that I had found time, I had asked for the address to where she was living from her Dad, and now I was out on the busy streets of New York, trying to read a bloody map so I could find the place. Whoever said that life as a demigod was easy?
I turned the map again, then held it up, looking for the quickest route to street I was trying to get to. Finally I turned the map the right way and discovered the path. I pumped my fist in the air and yelled in triumph, earning a few looks from passersby.
I grinned, then followed the streets carefully. I finally arrived at the building designated on the slip of paper. I glanced at the paper again. Suite number 818; my birthday, coincidentally enough. I shrugged, then entered the building.
The lobby was kind of dingy; there was hardly any color and the sparse furniture looked like it had barely survived a massive war between the Titans and the Olympians, which I guess it had. Even the doorman looked like he would be visiting Charon pretty soon.
I wrinkled my nose at the smell; dust and mould. I made my way to the elevator, then changed my mind and took the stairs; I didn't want the elevator to randomly break down on me. Who knew if it was as old and decrepit as the rest of the place?
When I finally found the correct suite, I paused before I knocked. I wondered briefly if Annabeth really did live here. The Annabeth I knew wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this. But if she really was here, I wanted to see her. So I knocked.
I waited for at least a minute before I heard someone unlock the door and turn the handle. The door swung back, and there stood Annabeth, looking absolutely beautiful and just like I remembered her. Sure, she was wearing a dress, when before she wouldn't even wear anything remotely like a skirt, but she was still Annabeth. But when I looked into her eyes, I saw no emotion, no anything, and I was a bit alarmed.
She blinked a couple times, then her eyes widened. "Percy...?"
Oh gods, I missed her voice. I nodded. "Hey Annabeth."
"Percy." She frowned, as if she was forgetting something. Then she stepped aside. "Come in."
I hesitated, something in her eyes scared me, but I entered anyway, a little bit peeved that I hadn't even gotten a hug. The apartment itself looked almost like the rest of the building; unkempt and decrepit, nothing like a room Annabeth would live in. I didn't bother taking off my shoes, the carpet was a mess anyway.
Annabeth had sat down on an old, brown couch, turning her gaze to the wall and staring, blinking only once and a while. I walked over and sat down next to her.
"I haven't seen you in a while," she said quietly, not looking at me.
I looked at the floor, frowning. "Yeah...I've been really busy, what with school and moving...hey, did I tell you that we moved?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Well," I said quickly, wanting to talk to fill the strange silence that threatened to engulf the room, "we found this little house, it's white and it has two bedroom and two bathrooms and a kitchen and stuff, and so I still have my own room, but it's quite a bit bigger."
"Hmm," she said, still not looking at me.
"Oh, and you'll be happy about this, I think. I got a couple scholarships for college. Thanks to you I really got my act together. I'm going to college in September."
"Good for you, Percy." But she didn't sound happy at all, not like I'd expected her to.
"Annabeth," I said, leaning forward so I could see her face better. "What's wrong? I talked to your dad and he said you had a boyfriend and stuff..." I paused, still unable to really accept this fact. "But he didn't tell me that you...well, you don't look so good."
To my shock, she burst into tears. "Even you don't think I look good? I put so much effort into looking nice tonight. Tyler told me he'd be taking me out, but he didn't. He didn't even notice how hard I'd tried to look nice..." she trailed off, putting her head in her hands and crying.
I blinked. "Annabeth, that's not what I'm talking about. You look...well...you look beautiful." I could feel a slight blush creeping into my cheeks. "Of course I noticed. It's your eyes. You just don't look...like you used to."
She lifted her head from her hands. Her makeup hadn't even smudged. It must have been insanely waterproof. "What do you mean?"
Now I saw emotion in her eyes. Confusion, sadness. I could read her like a book. I'd known her long enough anyway.
"I mean, your eyes just look sort of dead...I guess." I shrugged, not really sure how to put my thoughts into words.
She turned to look at me, looking absolutely bewildered. "I don't understand."
I exhaled, then got up, taking her arm and pulling her up too. "You wanted to go out, let's go out, alright? I don't think I can spend much more time in here anyway." I wrinkled my nose. "Get your shoes and let's go."
She blinked, then ran into a room, returning moments later with a pair of silver flats. She dropped them by the door, slipped them on, then grabbed a key off the counter. Once we were both out of the apartment, she locked it then slipped the key down the top of her dress. I raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
I followed her out of the apartment, we didn't speak the whole way. Once we were out of the building, she turned left and I didn't know the place nearly as well as her, so I followed.
"Where are we going, Annabeth?"
She shrugged. "Anywhere. Away from there." She glanced back at me, her gray eyes once again penetrating, as if she had been revived by the fresh air, and I could believe that.
I picked up my pace until I was walking beside her. "Why do you want to get away so bad?" I asked. "I mean, aside from the terrible smell and decor of course."
She smirked a little. "What do you know about decor, Perseus Jackson?"
"More than the person who designed that apartment building at least," I suggested.
She nodded. "Yeah, you're right about that." Her smirk faded.
"So, what? Are you going to tell me what's wrong? I've always helped you before, haven't I?"
"If you can call the advice you've given me 'help', sure, I guess so." Annabeth turned a corner onto a different street.
"Yeah, I guess I'll tell you...you're my best friend anyway," she said, glancing at me. I couldn't understand the emotion in her eyes. But at that point, I was just glad that it was back.
"I don't know. I met Tyler after we left Camp Half-Blood. He came to San Francisco for a vacation or something. We hung out a lot, then we started dating..." she paused, noticing the uncomfortable look on my face. I struggled to replace it with something like interest.
"Anyway," she said, continuing, "I moved in with him about half a year ago. At the time he was really interested in me and we barely spent a moment apart except for when he was at work. But then he started staying late a work, and saying that he had to return only an hour or so after he got home. I'm not sure, but I think he's been seeing other people. He always has an excuse though, he never trips up on a story or anything." She sighed. "I could be dreadfully wrong though, you never know."
When she stopped speaking, I noticed that I was clenching my fists. If anyone was cheating on my Annabeth...I blinked, then glanced at her. I didn't really know what to say. Then the thought crossed my mind that they may have slept together, and I felt my temper rising even more. I could hear the river two blocks down begin to splash harder against the concrete that encased it.
"Percy," Annabeth's voice broke through my anger. She laid a hand on my arm and I could feel my anger receding like the waves.
"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked.
I shook my head. "Nothing," I muttered. I cast my gaze around the street, spotting a small coffee shop. "Let's go there," I said, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards it.
She blinked. "Alright..."
Alright, so let me know. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I'm going to Phoenix for the rest of the break, so I won't be posting any more until after that. But if I get home and find lots of review, I will post. Reviews are good, flames are fine. Just critique...try not to make it evil sounding though :) Merry Christmas!
