Here is the Percy chapter! Yay!
Thank you to all those who read the first one! This is a birthday present for myself as I had so much fun writing this. Hope you enjoy reading this, too! :)
See you at the bottom!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own PJO or HoO. All belongs to the king, Rick Riordan. Woo!
Of Planning and Pretending
Outtake (because I don't know what else to call this)
Heart shattering. Hopes dropping. World stopping.
Percy wanted to glare at the stupid wedding ring that was resting on one of her fingers, but he remembered that he was pretending to be getting married, even though at this point he was pretty sure the blonde before him was the only one he was ever going to get down on one knee for.
He thought his plan was pretty smooth. Contact Annabeth with the excuse he's about to tie the knot. Casually bring up the fact that he was lying and that he only wanted to see her. Expertly dodge her incoming shove. Laugh and fall in love like nothing happened.
Perfect.
Yeah. Okay. So maybe it wasn't pretty smooth. Not to mention completely unrealistic.
He failed to remember that, fuck, Annabeth is amazing and there's no way that she's going to remain single. Heck, he wouldn't be surprised if some dude from their high school knocked on her door the second news that they weren't together anymore spread.
He hated her ring.
He hated whoever the fucking luckiest guy was.
And he absolutely hated himself for letting Annabeth go, even if he knew that she'd do anything to please her dad. He wasn't going to get in the way of things, not for her future's sake.
But he needed to be okay for now. He can't mentally breakdown in front of her. That would be embarrassing, if the fact that he was expecting her to be still in love with him wasn't already.
The crying-even-though-I'm-a-guy-before-the-moving-on part could come later when he was alone.
"So…" he decided to start. He needed to look like he was in love with somebody else and not with the beautiful woman in front of him. "Wedding planning?"
It was weird. Imagine his surprise when his college roommate Jason brought up a certain Annabeth Chase when he talked about his recently cancelled wedding. He'd been trying to hold the urge to look for her for years, and now it seemed the world was telling him to see her. It was a fucking sign. The world can't be that small.
"Yup," she replied abruptly. Percy internally groaned. One sentence in and the conversation wasn't already going the way he wanted it to go.
The waiter came by to hand them the menus, giving him enough time to think about what he was going to say next.
What came out from his mouth turned out to be bad: "I thought your dad wanted you to become an architect?"
Fuck, he thought too late. He wasn't supposed to bring up her dad, the person who decided they couldn't be together. Thankfully she didn't seem to mind. "Uh, yeah. That didn't work out."
"But wedding planning's great for you, I guess." Smooooth. "I mean, you loved drawing and designing and colors and stuff. And you were organized as hell. I remember how much you hated how messy my room was."
His stomach lurched at the memory. He was a masochist, hurting himself with every second of their conversation. He wanted to leave; he wanted to cry. The love of his life was already married to someone else.
He was too stupid and too late.
"I turned out okay enough, I guess. It's a fun job," she said. "What about you? What ever happened to your plans of being a swimmer?"
He grinned despite himself. He had to show he was okay somehow; he needed to look head over heels and ready to settle down. "I work at the aquarium now. I mean, marine biologist is different from that pro swimmer dream, but I get to swim still. I get to train some of the animals, too. Dolphins. They're cool."
And then she laughed, and some part of him was relieved that he could still make her do so. The other parts of him wanted to lurch forward and give her a big hug, even though her husband might probably kill him.
She cleared her throat after a few seconds, readjusting herself on her seat and putting on her game face. Uh oh. "So… what do you have in mind for your wedding?"
He laughed to cover his panic. Crap here we go. "You have to forgive me. I really know nothing about weddings and stuff." Except that I want you to be the one at the other end of the aisle in white, he wanted to say. Shut the hell up, Percy.
"Well… what does your fiancée say?"
"Uh…" He was already second-guessing his brilliant scheme. "Not much. Just that I won't choose bad colors. Or something."
Good job, Percy.
The waiter arrived to take their orders. Percy spoke for the both of them before he could help himself. For some reason he wanted to show her that he still cared, even if it was through the little things like remembering the small details.
He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. She had her eyebrow raised. Yikes.
"Knowing you, you'd just choose blue for everything," she said once the waiter left.
She remembers my favorite color, he thought, the butterflies returning to his stomach.
But then again…
Who wouldn't remember his favorite color? He was the only weirdo in the world who drank blue coke and ate blue cookies.
"No offense, Percy," she added. "But why would she let you do this all on your own?"
"She's just busy right now, that's all," he defended his non-existent fiancée. She's going to help after she's done with all of her…" Quick! Last minutely think of job for your pretend soon-to-be wifey! Shit crap fuck what the—"…whatevers."
Mental face palm.
"Whatevers," she repeated, reminding him of his failure. For the first time in his life he wished to drown right then and there.
"Yes, whatevers." Just go die, Percy. "She's…uh… busy. Not even sure what she's working on anymore."
"Sounds like you guys talk a lot."
"Ish." Lies lies lies lies lies. He wanted to change the subject to more important things, especially since he had no clue about his imaginary fiancée. "I'm going to need a little help here, since, you know. I'm clueless. What were your colors?"
It would hurt to know, but it was probably best if he did. It might help him move on, even if the task seemed a little bit impossible. He hated to think of what he was going to do after this meeting.
"Huh?" She looked confused.
He moved his gaze to her wedding ring, silently cursing the item in his head. "Your wedding. What were your colors?"
"Oh." Realization dawned on her, probably reminiscing the event with a man other than himself. "My, uh, colors."
"Yeah. Did you choose green?" He couldn't help himself. "Like your favorite color?"
Annabeth shook her head. "My husband wasn't in agreement with the color. And my favorite color is blue."
His heart dropped for the millionth time that day, because, yes, getting her favorite color wrong is a big deal. "I always thought it was green."
"Blue is his eye color," she explained. "We chose that one."
"Oh." Lucky lucky guy. Insert mental sad face. "Well, uh, do I know who he is?"
"No," she replied much to his disappointment. "I met him in college."
"How come nobody ever told me you were married?"
It was when she glared at him that he realized he made a mistake asking the wrong question. "We're exes, Percy."
But, no, he wanted to know who managed to steal Annabeth's heart; he needed to, if he was planning on moving on fully. "I'm telling you that I'm getting married," he argued.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm your wedding planner. Who recommended you to me, anyway? I don't know anyone named Jason."
"He was my roommate in college," he explained. "He and Reyna hired you as their wedding planner, and not too long ago they cancelled their wedding, so I guess you haven't met Jason yet."
"Miss Reyna With-The-Very-Long-Last-Name?"
"Yup."
She frowned, the concern evident in her eyes. Percy wanted to hug her. "What happened?"
"Jason decided that he was still in love with his ex, his high school girlfriend." Does that sound familiar to you, Percy? "Some girl named Piper. I don't know. He sounded happy the last time I talked to him. Not sure I can say the same about Reyna, though."
There was a pause, before she finally uttered, "Poor Reyna."
"She's a tough chick," he said to comfort her. "She knows Jason's happy. Knowing her, that's already enough to get her by."
Now, if he could only be as strong as Reyna…
Annabeth sighed. "Nothing we can do now. Let's get back to your wedding."
"I'm curious about yours," Percy dodged. "Who's the guy? What does he do?"
She looked annoyed. "You're going to be paying me to do your wedding, Percy. I suggest we not talk about—"
But he was adamant in knowing. "Where'd you meet him? In college? Are you sure I don't know him? Because I've met—"
"Percy."
"I've met a lot of people at the aquarium. Hey, you guys might've been there without me knowing—"
"Percy, please."
He was desperate but he didn't care. "Does your dad like him?"
Silence.
And then: "What my dad thinks—"
Oh no. He was having none of that. "Don't tell me that what you're dad thinks doesn't matter, Annabeth."
Otherwise, what was the point of six years of agony without her? Percy remembered the day Frederick Chase approached him one day out of blue, voicing his complaints about his daughter not studying as much as she used to and going out more than he wished she did.
She's turning irresponsible, he had said. Percy was ruining her future.
He didn't like Percy for Annabeth. Stay away, his words were clear and adamant.
It's best for her, were the words that gave Percy the guts to do what he did. What even added more to his courage was the fact that Annabeth would never do anything to disappoint her father. She loved her dad more than anything, even if he was a grumpy old man.
"I know you love him," he continued. Percy could feel his voice breaking. He was mad and heartbroken at the same time.
Please understand, Annabeth, he wanted to say. I never would have left if it were up to me.
"And I know you'd do anything to impress him and gain his attention. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
"I'm glad you think you know me, Percy—"
"You said you'd do anything to make your dad proud. Your dad didn't like me, Annabeth. You knew that."
I love you I love you I love you
"Yes, well, he didn't like me, either," she rebutted. "And I wish I realized that sooner. I wish I didn't do all those things he wanted me to do. I've been a good girl all my life; you were the only thing that wasn't written in his whole perfect daughter plan. I wish he gave me the same respect, knowing I did everything just to make him happy."
They fell back into silence again. She wasn't staring at him, and he could swear there were hints of tears at the corner of her eyes.
"Is that why…" he started to break the stillness. "Is that why you decided to become a wedding planner?"
There was a pause before she chuckled. "Yeah. It was random. I needed something to throw him off. But I turned out okay. I learned to love the job."
"And your dad." He couldn't help wondering. "How is he?"
She shrugged, like she's already dealt with this part of her life and wouldn't like to bring it back up again. "He's had years to get used to the fact that I'm not going to do everything he wants me to do." She shook her head. "Not anymore."
"So…" his words wanted to die out in his throat. "You guys are okay?"
"To a point, yeah," she said before clearing her throat. "Meanwhile, we should really talk about your wedding, Percy. Your fiancée might get angry at our lack of progress."
"No, we're catching up," he insisted. "This is more fun."
"You're going to be paying—"
He needed to know. Why can't she see that? "Who'd you marry, Annabeth? Who's the lucky guy?"
It wasn't that he was going to hunt him down and bury him somewhere.
Not reallyyyy.
"Wedding talk, Percy. Not this."
Ah, but she forgot he was stubborn. "Then we'll talk about your wedding. I might, you know, be able to get some ideas."
"No, Percy." Apparently so was she.
So he used something that he knew Annabeth couldn't resist.
Cue puppy dog eyes and whine.
"Pleeeaaassseeee, Annabeth."
And it worked.
"Percy." She sounded annoyed but at this point he didn't care. He gave himself a pat on the back. "I'm not married, okay?"
…
It took his brain a few minutes to register what she just said.
…
His heart was racing. What was going on?
Her next words were muffled, but she was taking off her ring and slamming it on the table.
It took a while before his brain came out from mush. "Wait, what?"
"I'm not saying it again," she huffed. "Do you have a theme in mind? Or colors, maybe?"
Why was she still talking about "his wedding" when this was a more important issue? "You're not married?" Was it a sin to sound too excited?
But then he remembered: "Do you have a boyfriend? Or something? A friend for bene—"
"No." She glared at him, but to Percy she looked even more beautiful than she already was.
He wanted to stop smiling and keep himself from looking like an ugly idiot but he couldn't help it.
Annabeth wasn't married.
Nor did she have a boyfriend. Or something.
"Percy. Wedding. Colors. Please," she demanded, but he couldn't bear to listen to any more wedding talk.
"How serious are you right now, Annabeth?"
"A hundred percent. Now can we—"
He took a deep breath before grinning. "Annabeth. Will you go out with me tonight? For dinner?"
She raised a perfect eyebrow. "Are you insane?"
"Yes, because I listened to your father when I knew full well that the thought of you would haunt me for years." He couldn't prevent his hands from shaking as he reached out to grab hers, squeezing them and letting her know how sorry he was. "And now I'm correcting my mistake from six years ago. Please let me make things right again. Please let me take you out to dinner."
He didn't care if he sounded like he was begging. He needed her to say yes. He neeed Annabeth in his life again.
She shook her head and he felt his disappointment trickling back in. "Percy, this is wrong. So incredibly extremely wrong. I mean, I still love you and everything—"
"You do?" That caught him by surprise. He didn't think she still loved him after all that.
"…but you're getting married!"
Oh.
Oh.
Whoops. "Annabeth, you're not the only one who's good at pretending."
Her confused face was too adorable that he wanted to kiss her then and there. "What?"
"There's no fiancée. There's not going to be a wedding. I only wanted to see you. Now will you please go out with me tonight?"
He could feel the world making sense again.
End
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Thank you for reading! May you have a happy time celebrating the coming of 2015! :)
-YJ
