Part 7

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Annabeth didn't place at regionals, and neither did her team. It wasn't a surprise. She was honestly impressed with how well she did at conference. Now, her focus was on finals, and then she'd start planning. Her mind was already conjuring up possible jobs for during the summer. She could get a decent amount saved up, and Piper already said she didn't mind the baby living in their apartment, so she'd have help for when she had to go to classes. The only problem came to their morning workouts. Most medical redshirts, which was what Lupa said she'd be for the year. She'd deliver around the end of January, so there was no chance of her being able to swim that either season.

Lupa said if she stayed here for graduate school and had time she could swim her fourth year then, but Annabeth hadn't had the heart to tell her there was no way she'd continue with her plans to attend their architecture master's program. She'd get her bachelor's of architecture, but that wasn't enough to become a true architecture. Hopefully, she could become an architecture's assistant. At least then these four years in school would mean something.

Annabeth stared at her books, struggling to find motivation. Before, all she could think about was passing her finals. Now, it didn't seem as important, not when she needed to find a job and figure out how the hell she would raise this baby.

Before she thought herself into a deep depression, her phone rang. It was Percy. She wanted to ignore him, but then she remembered the crushed look on his face when she told him to leave her and the baby.

"Hello," she said tiredly, glancing at the clock. It was only ten at night.

"Annabeth! Hey!" Percy sounded much too energetic.

"Hi," she sighed. "I've already said this. Do you need something, Percy?"

"Um. No," he sounded like he was frowning. "Well, yeah. I just – we're having a party to celebrate going to nationals this weekend. You should come."

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose. This weekend was the last weekend before finals. She'd already promised Percy she would go, and she also made a deal to split a room with Piper and Thalia, both going to support Jason. Nevertheless, every bone in her body told her to stay for two reasons. Primarily, she knew she needed to study. However, the more prominent reason was that she was terrified she'd start to feel like his girlfriend. Annabeth never wanted to get reattached to him again. The pain of trying to get over Percy Jackson was more than she could have ever imagined. She was a smart girl, and any smart girl would know to avoid that at all costs.

"I have to study, Percy," Annabeth sighed.

"Please. For just an hour to clear your head," Percy said. She could practically see his lower lip jutting out. "Come on. I'll come walk you here and back."

Annabeth huffed. "Why? All I get when I go anywhere now is people asking about the baby and who the dad is and what horrible luck I have."

Percy stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. "Well, fuck people. Come for me."

In that moment, Annabeth felt two completely opposite emotions. Her heart soared. She used to spend nights praying to hear those words from him. All she wanted was for Percy to want her around. But she also felt fiery hatred for him in that moment. Why would he say things like that? Why would he purposefully make her feel like he wanted her when he didn't? Why would he lead her on only to break her heart again? Granted, he never knew how much he'd affected her before, but he had to have guessed his effect on women.

"Percy…"

"Please, Annabeth," Percy whispered, voice low and serious all of a sudden. "I miss you."

She snorted half-heartedly. "We spent two nights together just two days ago," she said, but her walls were already down. He made a whiny sound, and that did it for her. "Fine. Just an hour."

"Yes! I'm running over there now."

"You don't have to run-,"

"See you in a minute."

Annabeth sighed, pulling up a second window of baby things. While avoiding her finals, she'd managed to find a list of baby items Percy and she would have to share. Currently, she found a baby car seat, binkies, bottles, and a few outfits she liked. Annabeth figured they could split these items. She didn't even want to look at the number of items she had to buy herself for when the baby stayed with her. She had some savings, but not nearly enough.

A knock at the door made her jump. He really must have ran over here. She glanced down at herself, grimacing at his sweatshirt she was still wearing. She threw it into her closet and worked on pulling on a bra while also making her way to the door to let Percy in. "Hey," she said, annoyed that she sounded more breathless than he did. His smile slipped of his eyes fell to her chest. "Sorry. I'm changing. I think I've worn your sweatshirt for three days straight, so I figured I'd change. I can wash it and get it back to you soon."

Percy followed her into her room and sat on her bed as she sifted through her shirts. "I don't care. I like it on you. Keep it."

She turned, frowning. "You don't want your senior year sweatshirt?"

He shrugged. "Not really. Once I get sponsored, I'll have too much gear to keep everything in one closet, you know?"

Annabeth grinned, pulling a shirt over her body and finally freeing Percy's gaze. "Yeah. You'll just be set." It was amazing that he was good enough to be assured a sponsor. It blew her mind sometimes that she was so close to someone who'd eventually be an Olympian. "Hey, check out my laptop. I found a few baby things we'll need to share. The reviews are pretty good. Of course, I'd love to get the premium car seat, so maybe that one would be okay to splurge on, but in general-,"

"Wow, you're really prepared," Percy said, and as he browsed the page a small frown formed. "Um, won't we need like, a diaper genie and a swing? Oh! We should get a little rocker thingy. My sister loved that when she was little!" Annabeth had almost forgotten he had a little sister. That must have been where Sally's husband was during conference. "Can I help pick out his crib? It has to match the theme for his room. Stella's was pink fairyland, but I think we can do better."

Finally dressed, Annabeth looked at him skeptically. "I'm ready," she huffed, grabbing a bottle of water and motioning for him to follow. The air was brisk outside, clearing her head to let his words hit her fully. She took a breath, unsure how to go about this. "Um, you can do all that for your house on your own. I mean, I could help, if you want, but…in general, we're both going to need a crib and diaper genie and swing." Percy was silent for so long Annabeth risked a glance at him only to find a very deep frown. "What?"

He laughed in a self-depreciating way, picking up the pace and leading her in the direction of the guy's swim house he lived in with four other swimmers. "Sorry. I forgot I hadn't mentioned my, er, proposal to you. Never mind."

Annabeth nodded, and they continued walking in silence until her curiosity finally got the best of her. "Alright, what was the proposal?" Percy blushed, running a hand through his hair, so Annabeth laughed, running into him as they walked. "Tell me."

He groaned. "Well, it still stands, by the way." They'd made it to the party now, so Percy stopped before walking inside. He sat down on the cement lining the steps, motioning for Annabeth to do the same. She sat down, feeling her stomach flutter. "Um, so I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but Nike gave me an offer. Off the record, obviously, but…it's a lot. Like 'the baby won't be a problem' a lot."

Annabeth blinked, completely stunned. "Oh my gods, Percy! That's amazing! Shit!"

He smiled lightly, blushing. "Thanks, Wise Girl. Um, anyways, I just thought that it might be easier to raise the little guy-,"

"Or girl," she interjected purely to keep the mood light because she was worried about where this conversation was going.

"It might be easier to raise our baby together. In one house. As a team. I was hoping as something more, but if not, then that's okay. You could finish school. You're too damn smart not to lead your own architecture projects. I'll have more money than I can imagine, and the least I can do is offer my kid and his mother a nice home. And I know. I know you're going to say, 'I don't need your help,' but the thing is, I need your help. I don't want to do this alone. You could have your own room and everything. I just don't want you throwing away your future for this. You're going to be super mom, but you don't have to be dead super mom." He paused. "And if it's the money stopping you, then just know that when you're done with school, you'll have more than enough to pay me back. I don't want you to. Seriously, but I know you. So…"

Percy's eyes were so bright, like speaking about it alone was so exciting to him. Annabeth regarded him hesitantly. It was weird, hearing his proposal. She felt a little embarrassed. Clearly, he had caught on to how tight she was going to be with money…and general support.

"I don't know, Percy," Annabeth rubbed at her arms. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea-,"

Percy reached forward, hand resting on her knee, sending sparks straight through her body that had her cheeks flushing with heat. "Just think about it, okay?"

Reluctantly, she nodded. "Yeah. I'll think about it."

Percy's smile made her light up inside. "Thanks, Wise Girl. Now! Let's go party!"

The party was on the larger scale, which shouldn't have surprised her considering it was the Thursday before the end of the year. It was just shocking Percy was willing to skip part of this just to come walk her only a block and a half to the party. Once inside, Annabeth was overwhelmed with familiar faces. She was heading towards where there seemed to be a few of her teammates, but Percy wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in another direction. "Come on. I want you to see something."

Annabeth follow him without protest deeper into the party. It would have been more efficient to weave around people by taking his arm off her shoulders, but he didn't. Instead, he brushed people off and parted the crowd until he got to the back of the house where there was a bear pong table set up.

On one end were Leo and Calypso, which was shocking in itself, but the even more astounding pair was Nico and Will. When they both made it in a cup and got the balls back, Will celebrated by slinging his arm around Nico and pulling him tightly against him in an odd hug.

Annabeth turned to Percy, mouth falling open. "You're telling me…no."

Percy grinned as he nodded. "Yep. We knew they'd stopped fighting, but we never knew why. Then yesterday Nico and Will showed up to practice with hickeys all over their necks. Neither of them would give an answer, but they definitely looked at each other after we asked."

Annabeth giggled, stepping closer and pressing a hand to Percy's bicep. "Looks like I'm not the only one caught with a hickey any-,"

"Annabeth Chase! Are you drinking pregnant?" Drew Tanaka was debatably Annabeth's least favorite person on the swim team. She acted like she was better than everyone else on the team, which was a silly thought. Nobody was best at every event in a division one school, even Percy.

She sighed, glancing briefly at Percy before saying, "No, Drew. This is water."

Drew's gaze flickered to Percy, as if unsure why he didn't seem so confused. The girl shook her black locks anyways and stepped into Annabeth's space, running a hand down her hair. "You're absolutely glowing. Don't you think so, Percy? You know, the pregnancy glow and all?"

Annabeth knew what she was doing. Drew wanted to make it clear to Percy that she was pregnant. It wasn't a surprise. There were a number of girls that had sent Annabeth looks back when she and Percy were at their closest, hanging out nearly every day. That was so long ago, back when he and Rachel were still together, that she couldn't remember it.

"I know. She's absolutely beautiful," Percy said earnestly, hand trailing down Annabeth's back, making her straighten with surprise.

Drew seemed dejected by the lack of response, but she nodded nevertheless. "So. Are you going to keep swimming?"

Annabeth knew the answer to that, but she didn't feel the need to justify it with Drew, so she shrugged. "Not sure yet. Are you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Drew gasped angrily, but Annabeth only smirked and sipped on her water. "Ugh." Finally, she stormed off and Annabeth let out a breath of air.

Percy coughed. "Are you okay?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I didn't expect anything less from Drew."

He bit his lip, not too convinced, but then Will and Nico beat Leo and Calypso. "Come on. Let's play beer pong!" Before she could react, he dragged her to the open side of the table. "Alright, boys, let us show you how it's done!"

Nico only smirked, quickly placing the cups in the right formation. Will cheered enthusiastically, shaking Nico's shoulder once they were ready. It was all very odd compared to what Annabeth was used to with those two around – excessive yelling.

"You're drinking for Annabeth, as well, Percy," Nico pointed out with a sly grin. Annabeth began to feel bad, but Percy slung his arm around her shoulders and beamed.

"Of course," he said, even going as far as to kiss her head.

The game started out well for them. It made Will and Nico sweat a little bit. Annabeth…was a competitive person, so every time they made a cup, she jumped up and cheered, and Percy only saw it fit to join her as well. This behavior brought on a crowd of drunk on watchers, which quickly got on her nerves. First, one guy stood so close when she jumped she hit his beer and caused it to spill on her shirt. Then, one girl kept pushed them over too much.

When she looked at Percy's side, where the pushing was coming from, she finally figured out why. The girl was pretty and tall and very thin, and she was talking more with her hands than her mouth. "Percy, scoot over. I need to be in the middle," she said shortly, now just wanting the round to be over.

"Sorry," he said, stepping to the side instantly. The girl took her hand off his arm, a little dazed from being shoved, and Annabeth had to admit it didn't make her feel bad one bit. "Alright, Wise Girl. Last cup for the win!"

Annabeth glanced at Percy, and the way he kept shooting the girl to his side looks. Annabeth couldn't tell if he was trying to speak to her while also showing attention to the game or what, but it felt like it. If she made this, they were going to play another game. And keeping Percy distracted from a girl was the last thing she wanted to do, no matter how nasally her voice sounded. So, she missed the cup by a mile, cursing loudly, hopefully in a convincing manner. However, Nico frowned at her, like he didn't understand. Then, he took the ping pong ball and easily tossed it into the last cup on their side, only to be followed by Will, effectively ending the game.

"Damn," Annabeth huffed, searching the room for somewhere else she could go when she finally found dirty-brown hair that looked very close to Piper's. Without saying goodbye to Percy, not wanting to get in the way more, Annabeth started moving in the crowd, only to be pulled to the side by her wrist. "Hey! What – oh. Sorry."

Percy looked down at her, frowning. "Are you okay?" he asked, eyes searching her body for any signs of harm.

"Yeah. I was just looking for Piper."

Percy's frown only increased. "She and Jason already went to his room. Why did you throw the game?"

"I didn't." Percy raised an eyebrow. He tossed her hands up, refusing to look into his eyes. Sighing, Percy took her towards the entrance, where there were less people and they could easily hear the other.

"You did. You threw it right of Will…like so far." Percy pointed out, stepping closer and running his hands down her side, which only made her feel like shit. "Are you feeling bad? We can go back, or there's my room. Just…tell me what you need."

And his caring tone alone made her kick herself. She groaned, sitting on the stairs and glaring at Percy for being such a nice person. "Gods, Jackson, I'm fine! I just didn't want to get in the way of you and that girl, alright?"

As Percy's concerned expression slowly shifted into a rueful smile, Annabeth felt like banging her head back on the steps. He moved closer, so close that he was sitting beside her in a crouch. "Or you were jealous."

"No," she rolled her eyes forcefully. She hated him right now, very much. "I knew if I stuck around, you'd feel the need to walk me home, and no girl is going to wait around for you to take some other girl home."

Percy barked out in laughter, "Annabeth, I don't even know what girl you're talking about!"

"The skinny brunette shoving up all on you!" Annabeth shouted suddenly, surprising herself along with a few other nearby people. Percy's smirk wasn't helping her annoyance. "The one running her nails on your bicep. You know who I'm talking about."

Percy laughed, shaking his head. "Not really. Was it the one with the annoying voice?" She nodded. "Ohh, yeah, she kept talking. I didn't realize it was to me, though. Oops."

If he hadn't had such a serious expression on his face, she wouldn't have burst out laughing, but he was utterly serious, and now she was clutching her stomach as she fell into Percy's side laughing. Percy chuckled slightly along with her, rubbing her back in a soothing way that helped her finally sober up.

"I'm sorry," she breathed. "Well, I thought I was helping you out."

But then Percy frowned. "I brought you here, Annabeth. I wasn't going to ditch you after begging you to come."

She rolled her eyes. "Your desire can change in seconds, Percy."

He shrugged. "I was having fun with you. I didn't want to be somewhere else." She pursed her lips, unsure how to take that. "Why would you think I'd just abandon you?"

Annabeth shrugged, trying to ignore the feeling of her throat clogging. She did not want to talk about this, but it just came spilling out. "I'm just used to it, okay?" His eyes were impossibly wide. "The entire time when we were fucking you'd basically ignore me at parties. You'd talk to me for a little bit, maybe even play a drinking game, but you were always distracted and talking to other girls, alright? So, I wasn't really expecting full attention tonight either just because I'm carrying your child." Annabeth never understood why he talked to so many girls because he never ended up sleeping with them, but the point still stood.

"Oh," Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't realize how much of an ass I was to you."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "You weren't. We weren't together, so it wasn't a big deal. We still aren't. That's why it's kind of surprising."

Percy looked up with a pain on his face. "I was, Annabeth. I'm sorry. Just because we weren't together didn't mean I was allowed to push you aside."

And maybe he had a point. Maybe Piper was right in saying Percy was a dick to her at times. Maybe she constantly made excuses for his behavior before. She didn't know.

"It's okay," Annabeth's hand rested on his. "I'm just going to go, okay? Seriously, go have fun. I'm tired."

Percy pouted out his lower lip. "Babe, nooo. I am having fun."

Annabeth sighed, giving up on the notion of correcting him for a pet name again. "Let me walk you back. We could hang out."

Annabeth laughed, feeling her cheeks heat up. "No. Thanks, Percy. I'll see you later."

And that was that.

A/N: you guys are the best! I swear your compliments really keep me going at times. I am healthy once again and have started my summer classes! Thanks for the well wishes, btw! I'm working on finishing up the last parts of this, and guys, I really like where this is ending, which doesn't happen often.

Also, I feel the need to point out the whole 'subspace' I mentioned in the first chapter and such? I have not done any research on that outside of reading one direction fanfiction stories between Harry and Louis, lol. I believe it's a real thing, but I'm notttt too sure. Anyways, I like it, and I think it really describes how good the sex is in this story, which plays into Annabeth's infatuation in the beginning for Percy. Just wanted to give an FYI :)

Please let me know what you guys think! Sorry for the late update. I hope it was worth it, though!