The drive to Oklahoma City was dull and monotonous, the only perks being an occasional decent song. Rachel sat in the passenger seat with ear phones tangling with her unruly red hair. She had on a plain white t-shirt with paint-splattered jeans. Even under the circumstances she wasn't dressed to impress, which was one of the things he loved about her.
Rachel saw things only in black-and-white, there were no in-between solutions in her book. If you want to hold something off, or wait for a solution to appear out of thin air, you'd earn yourself a mouthful. Percy had to learn of that trait the hard way.
When he realized his marriage to Annabeth was over, he was inconsolable. Everything around him was surrounded by his presence, he couldn't make a simple decision without her calculating, grey eyes appearing in his mind. He had sunken into a dangerous depression, the only relief he had found was the amber liquid residing at the bottom of a whiskey bottle.
He was going out of his mind, until he met her. They had bumped into each other the night he had filed for divorce. Rachel had made it her mission to dig him out of the black hole he was hiding in. She visited every Friday night, carrying a funny movie and plenty of junk food.
It wasn't until weeks after they met that she finally made her moves on him. Percy was shocked at first, unsure of whether he should proceed. He had developed feelings for her, that was never the issue, but he felt as though he was cheating on Annabeth. So he backed off, making a petty excuse about not being ready to move on, yet. Rachel respected his fears and agreed to wait until he was ready.
A month went by before Rachel broached the subject again. She vented about how she had fallen for him and that it was really difficult for her to hold back her feelings. Percy had sighed and finally relented, promising to take her out the next time he saw her.
He was stuck in-between a rock and a hard place at that point. His divorce had not been finalized yet, but he didn't want to be unfair to Rachel by leading her on. Annabeth had been very uncooperative with the divorce, refusing to respond with him or his lawyer. They both knew their marriage was over, but she was being stubborn and continued to string him along.
So he dated Rachel, his anger at Annabeth overruling any guilt he had once had. Percy never admitted to her that he was still technically married, she respected his privacy and never questioned him about it.
A year went by before he finally decided to suck it up and email Annabeth. He explained to her that he was planning to propose and begged her to sign the papers. Rachel accepted his proposal, not that he doubted she would, and a we later he received the divorce papers.
After he had mailed the documents to his lawyer, he confided in Rachel about his divorce. She was shocked and a little bit hurt that he hadn't told her sooner, but quickly got over it. Life seemed to be a breeze after that day, there were no secrets weighing them down and their relationship continued to blossom. Rachel made wedding plans, asking for Percy's opinion on the more major details, and set a date. It was a picture perfect world for them, until Percy got a call from his lawyer.
"I'm afraid this isn't a social visit. I have some bad news," he had told Percy, solemnly. Rachel sat next to him on the couch, offering Percy support. She held his hand and demanded answers from the lawyer before Percy could open his mouth.
"It appears as though Annabeth forgot to sign the last document. Meaning that the two of you are still married." Disbelief had clouded his mind, how could she miss the last signature? He handed Percy the papers, flipping them to the last section of the files. Percy's sloppy signature filled up the first line but the second line was blank.
He spaced out as his lawyer went over solutions to solving the dilemma, commenting that these things happen all the time. Percy knew better than to believe that, Annabeth had done this on purpose. All of the things she had to sign were accompanied with a green post-it note beside her name, Percy's were in yellow. It was fool proof. The protruding tabs were plain as day, and he knew that she had intentionally skipped over them. If it was out of spite over the engagement or because she still held onto their marriage, he didn't know, but he sure as hell was going to find out.
Which is what led him on this journey to Oklahoma City. He was going to mail them back to her and demand that she sign the last line, but Rachel wouldn't allow it. She knew that the only way to get Annabeth to swallow back her pride and sign the document was to pay her a visit.
A sigh of relief brushed past Percy's lips as the familiar headquarters appeared. Luke had called it their "Hillbilly Motel", but it really was just a large section of dirt laid out for travellers. By the looks of it, the whole gang was there. Everyone was milling about, members of the team jumping from van to van, most likely analyzing the weather forecasts. He looked a bit further and found Annabeth hunched over the hood of Grover's van.
She had a pad of paper thrown in front of her, her hand moving quickly across the sheet as she jotted down notes. An old, dinosaur of a laptop sat proudly in front of her, producing a colorful radar of today's weather conditions. She had her hair tied back in a loose bun, a few stray hairs framing her face. She had on a pair of tight-fitted capris and a blue blouse that hugged her torso. Percy swallowed back the guilt as he noticed the locket dangling from her neck. He had given it to her a year ago for their anniversary, and he was surprised that she hadn't tossed it away. He looked a bit closer and saw her engagement ring and wedding band flanking the sides of the locket. It was a beautiful symbol of their love, and it tore at his heart.
Percy hopped out of his truck and waited for Rachel to join him. He put a hand on her back, about to guide her to Annabeth when Luke popped up.
"Percy, my man" he yelled. His head snapped towards Luke, a bright smile lighting up his face despite his growing irritation. He had always looked up to Luke, he was one of his favorite members on the team. Luke was one of the most loyal guys he's ever met and it was no surprise when he sided with his sister during the divorce. He hadn't been contacted by Luke since the day he left.
"How have you been? I see you found yourself a new girl," Luke smirked, wagging his eyebrows at Rachel. There was a hint of disappointment in his tone, but Percy chose to ignore it. As much as he would love to catch up with his team, he had only shown up to get Annabeth to sign the papers. He introduced Luke to Rachel and bolted while they made small talk.
Annabeth's head snapped up before he had even reached her, shock flooding her features. She leaned away from the weather radar and eyed her soon-to-be ex-husband. He was looking as handsome as ever, his long, black hair reaching just shy of his sea-green eyes. His torso was covered in an ivory dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A pair of low-riding jeans clung to his hips, showing off a sliver of his stomach. It was his "I mean business" get-up that he only wore when he had to do something he really didn't want to do.
"What brings you back here?" Annabeth asked, barely concealing her anxiety. She returned back to the weather radar, jotting down the area's temperature, humidity, and frequent changes in air pressure. There was a good mixture of a cold front and a warm front, most likely producing a powerful tornado.
She saw Percy pull a stack of papers out of his back pocket out of her periphery. Her jaw clenched in agitation, recognition filling her mind. Of course he was only here about the divorce, he had her now. Annabeth turned back to him, a fake smile curling across her lips. She cleared her throat and motioned for him to say his peace.
"Oh right. You, uh, forgot to sign this part" he blew out, stumbling over his words. He flipped the packet to the back page, pointing to the empty space below his name. Annabeth grabbed the papers, feigning confusion even they both knew it was fake, and read through the section about the dotted line. She leaned back against the hood, looking through the words that had broken her heart.
Grover popped his head out of the van, looking from Percy to Annabeth curiously. Percy noticed him immediately, a ball forming in his throat at seeing his best friend. Tears filled his eyes as he jogged over to Grover and pulled him in for a man-hug.
"It hasn't been the same without you here, man" Grover mumbled, giving him a few pats on the back. Percy pulled away, admitting that he missed his job and the team. Grover smirked and looked behind Percy, his smile fading as his memory hit him as fast as a flash of lightning.
"Annabeth, there's a level 4 brewing about twenty minutes away from here," Grover yelled, his expression apologetic. She grumbled in frustration and threw the divorce papers on the van. She shut the laptop and tucked it under her arm along with the notebook. Her feet pounded against the ground as she ran for her truck.
"Wait!" Percy called after her. He grabbed the papers she had carelessly tossed and jogged over to where she waited for him. She had already packed her things in her truck and waited patiently for Percy to say whatever he needed to get off his chest.
"You forgot to sign the papers," he breathed. A flash of fury burned in her eyes, catching him off guard. She huffed in annoyance and mumbled something about needing to leave. She turned to get in her truck but he quickly grabbed her arm.
"Please, Annabeth. Our marriage is over. Let's just finalize it once and for all," he pleaded. Annabeth jerked her arm away from his grasp as if he had burned her, hurt erupting in her eyes. She covered it quickly, trying to hide it from his searching eyes, but it was too late. Horror filled him at the thought of hurting her, but she quickly spoke before he could apologize
"This is what I live for, Percy. We need footage to broadcast. We lost a lot of money when you vanished," she yelled. Percy flinched, his eyes widening at her words. She had never spoken about his abrupt departure before, so he had assumed that it hadn't affected her. He was stunned into silence, guilt creeping into the pit of his stomach. Annabeth didn't give him the chance to respond. She spun around and hopped into her truck, gunning the engine.
"Dammit!" he yelled in frustration. He ran over to where Luke and Rachel stood, still carrying on a conversation. Luke's walkie talkie started buzzing with commotion, the team ordering him to get his ass in gear. Luke shot them an apologetic look before taking off for his van.
"Come on. We're following them." Rachel's eyes widened, but she obediently jumped into the passenger seat. Percy started the engine and thrusted the divorce papers in the glove compartment, waiting impatiently for the rest of the team to follow behind Annabeth. He tore off down the road as soon as Grover pulled out of the lot.
"Hold on tight. She's going to be a rough one."
Don't worry, there will be eventual Percy/Annabeth. So what are your thoughts? Hit or miss? Please R&R! Thanks :)