A/N: Thanks for the reviews! :) Enjoy Chapter 4...
Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO.
Chapter 4-
"Thalia, I need help," I say to my best friend as we walk the streets of San Francisco. It's a real beautiful city and I never get tired of wandering its many streets. It's a cold, sunny Tuesday and I'm taking a lunch break from work to talk to my best friend.
"What's wrong?" Thalia says, hands in her pockets. She's wearing her usual black attire complete with large black shades.
I hesitate before I begin talking. I know that talking about my romantic complications with Thalia will help but I don't know how to start.
"You've found someone else, haven't you?" Thalia asks, getting straight to the point.
"No-no," I start to stutter but then realize that she said the exact truth. "Maybe." I hang my head in shame.
"What's he like?" she questions.
So I tell her everything about Percy that I know. "His name is Percy and he is a professional swimmer. He is tall and muscular with bright green eyes and freckles. He's so nice to everybody but can be a bit of a slob."
"Wow, wow, stop right there," Thalia interrupts before I can continue describing the man who I have fallen head-over-heels for. "Is this the same Percy from college? 'Cause it sure sounds like it!"
"Yeah it is," I admit. "He's in town because he's training for the summer Olympics."
She's silent for a while. I start to get worried. This is when Thalia chastises me for cheating on Luke. Speaking of Luke, I need to call him and tell him…what exactly? What am I going to tell Luke? What am I going to tell Percy? What am I going to tell Carter?
I start to panic. Look what I've gotten myself into. If I had only ignored my feelings for Percy I might be living happily with Luke and Carter. But no! I have to go falling in love with my ex from five years ago and turn everybody's worlds upside down.
"Annabeth," Thalia begins, her voice a little lower than normal.
"Yes?" I'm scared by the way that she said my name. I've got to brace myself for the scolding.
"This is going to sound crazy but doesn't Carter seem too little like Luke and too much like Percy?" I stop walking and my mouth falls open.
"What?" is all I can say. Thalia grabs my arm and drags me to sit down on a park bench. Her eyes show concern and I hate myself for making her worry about me all the time.
She doesn't say anything else; just lets her words sink in. And the more times I repeat her words over and over in my head, the more I find them to be true. Now to think about it, Carter and Percy are so much alike. At dinner the other night, they got along perfectly, as compared to dinner at home where Luke has to try and get Carter to say something other than one-word answers.
And the way that Carter loves to swim and is so kind to strangers. Whenever we pass a homeless person on the street, Carter wants to drop everything and help the poor soul. Percy's like that too. Heck, they even look like each other! How could I be as stupid as to not realize the truth?
'Because you didn't want to believe it,' a voice in the back of my mind says. That's totally true. I've had the feeling for years that Carter doesn't belong to Luke and I've just been trying to ignore it.
"Beth, am I right?" Thalia asks gently. She's basically asking me if I ever slept with Percy and if there's any chance that Carter doesn't belong to Luke.
I slowly nod my head and Thalia covers her mouth with her hands.
"But we can't tell anyone!" I say harshly, grabbing her hands and pulling them back down to her side.
"The truth is going to come out some time or another," Thalia muses. "What are you going to say to everybody when the truth comes out? Plus, wouldn't you rather tell Luke and Percy about this… situation, than having them figure it out themselves?
"I don't think I can do it, Thals. I can't tell Luke that; I can't break his heart. And Percy! What would Percy think?"
I feel the tell-tale signs of tears burning in the back of my eyes but I ignore them. I haven't cried in years and I'm not going to start now.
"It's all going to be okay," Thalia says, leaning back against the bench and watching people walk past us. "For now, how about you start by going back to work and try and get your mind off of this conversation. If you want, you and I can go see a movie tonight. Let's just try and forget about this conversation until tomorrow. Okay?"
"Yeah, that's good," I say, standing up. Thalia and I hug, and I thank her for being such an amazing friend.
But, when I get back into the office and start staring at blueprints, all I can think about it Percy and Luke. Whenever I look at the papers on my desk, they seem all blurry so I just lean back in my chair and think, ignoring Thalia's advice.
The one main question that's bugging me is 'what am I going to tell everyone?' Percy and I broke up and not soon after that did I find Luke. So, when I got pregnant a few months later, I just assumed it was Luke's kid. I don't think Luke even knows who Percy is!
Maybe I should start by introducing them to each other. I can say that Percy is an old friend and just invite him out to dinner with my family. If everything goes well, I'll break the news a few weeks later. Let's hope this all goes well.
A/N: So, Annabeth's accepted the truth but how will Luke and Percy take it? What about Carter?
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