I do not own Percy Jackson or The Seven Year Hitch.
Seeing Grover for the first time since he went off to New York City to become a famous Lawyer was the highlight of my week. We decided to meet in the park near the house and then walk somewhere to get a bite to eat. I got there first considering it was just a hop, skip, and a jump away. So sitting there by myself surrounded by young adults in love and older married couples taking a lovely stroll, I couldn't help but think about how Annabeth was doing.
As I was sitting there, she was across the river, probably at a swanky cafe, talking and cohorting with Luke. He was probably reassuring her that nothing that happened last night actually happened. She would believe him and they would go on being the power couple this side of the Potomac.
I must have been making a face and deep in thought because Grover had snuck up on me and said, "Hey Perce, you okay? It looks like you ate a sour grape."
I blinked and stood with the biggest grin on my face. Right there in front of me was my best wingman. We stood there hugging but quickly separated before it became too awkward and sat down on the bench I had just vacated.
"Grover! How've you been man? We've missed you here."
Grover shrugged and ran a hand through his curly brown hair. "I've been good. I got a job at a firm on 118th and a nice apartment, hopefully I'll work my way through the ranks and be a partner in two years."
I clapped him on the back. "Way to go man. That's awesome."
"Yeah, I try to keep my head straight on my shoulders though. And speaking of, where was your head when I walked up?"
I tried to change the subject but Grover was having none of it. So finally I gave in.
"Annabeth is engaged, to a guy named Luke. He's a six foot 2, bronzed Adonis, with a six figure income, working in accounting."
Grover looked at me confused. "And you're jealous that Annabeth snatched up such a catch before you could realize-"
"NO!" I interrupted. Grover started laughing at my expense and I couldn't help but chuckle too. "No, I'm not jealous of anyone, especially Luke."
"I didn't say Luke-"
"I'm upset, because I had a weird vibe about him the second she told me about him. Apparently they met on the bus, they dated for SIX weeks, and now they're engaged."
Grover looked at me with wide eyes and an astonished expression.
"And that's not all. Last night, he and Annabeth went out to some work gathering for his company and he got upset with her for some reason and told her to go home. She came home but forgot her purse in his car, considering she took the subway home. So I volunteered to get it for her. I walk into the restaurant to get Luke to unlock the car when, lo and behold, I witness the very same Luke, sucking on some red-headed bimbo's face!"
"Percy, I'm sure you're exaggerating."
"Alright, so he was just tugging on her ear, but still. It was plain as day. I went to confront him, but he tried to shrug it off. I dashed off to tell Annabeth, but when I got back, Luke was already there, apologizing to Annabeth and convincing her that I was lying or delusional!"
"Wow, that's crazy."
"Yeah, we had a bit of a "spat" but we worked it out. I just don't like the fact that I know he doesn't love her as much as she deserves to be loved."
We sat there in silence, just listening to the park surrounding us, that is until Grover spoke up.
"You love her don't you?"
I hesitated, but denying it would be the biggest lie, and I wasn't willing to lie to Grover. "Yeah, I love her. Too bad it took another guy for me to realize that."
"Yeah, you really know something about timing don't you."
I rolled my eyes at him and he just chuckled. "We've been roommates for over five years, and friends even longer. And now I can't tell her without having her hate me, plus she's engaged to a guy that I absolutely abhor."
"Yeah, but what are you going to do, stop the wedding? You know what happened in "My best friend's wedding right? It didn't end well for Julia Roberts."
"I know that. But I can't stop it anymore than I can convince her that Luke is a bad guy."
Grover leaned his arm against the back of the bench and put his head on his hand. "Yeah, I mean like, it's not like there's any reason that Annabeth couldn't marry him. They're both of legal age, not related, both US citizens…" At that he turned to look at me for confirmation.
"Yes, Luke is an American born citizen."
"And neither of them are already married. So there's nothing stopping them. I mean you could try and drag the engagement on for a few more years, because then you and Annabeth would be considered married, but considering their short dating period, I doubt that would be an option.
I paused and looked at him for confirmation. "What did you just say?"
"I said, that they only dated for a short amount of time, so their likelihood of dragging out their engagement is implausible."
"No before that. Something about Annabeth and I already being married?"
"Oh yeah, you ever heard of a common law marriage?"
"No…" I sat there confused at what Grover was telling me.
"A common law marriage is when a couple have been living together for an extended amount of time. The government considers them married for tax and other purposes. The only way that it can be broken is through a legal divorce, so that means that unless she officially divorces you, she can't marry Luke."
"Grover, you're a genious!"
"I mean, I did go to law school…"
"I can tell Annabeth about our common law marriage, Luke will be upset, he'll cheat on her again. She'll see what a jerk he is, they'll break up and everything will go back to the way it was."
"Except she might hate you." Grover decided to kindly put out.
"Impossible, she'd never hate me. We're best friends after all, and I mean, no one can stay mad at me right?"
"Sure thing," Grover seemed unconvinced. "Now, I'm not positive about all of the criteria for a common law marriage since it's not legal in most states, I'll have to brush up on it."
"Okay, well when you do, let me know so I can make sure that everything is in order."
"Alright, Percy. I hope you know what you're doing."
"Don't worry about it, G-man. I have this planned out."
"If you say so." Grover was still somewhat hesitant about this whole plan, but if it helped Percy and Annabeth realize that they were perfect for each other, he would go along with it.
