CHAPTER 7
Hi there! I'm proud to announce I wrote a full new chapter today and here it is! Chapter 7! At first I wasn't satisfied with how it was going but in the end, I liked the result and I can only hope you guys like it too… like I said last time… here's some Steve and Annabeth brother and sister moment even though she doesn't know Steve's her brother yet… Let's see how it goes…
When they went back to Steve's house, Annabeth said something he thought he would never hear coming from her.
- I need a drink – he was so astonished by that comment that he missed her going over to the kitchen and opening the fridge. When he focused on her again, she was already carrying two bottles of beer and offering one to him – want one?
- Yeah – he answered reluctantly while grabbing the offered bottle and following her out to the lanai. He watched as she adjusted her jacket and sat down crossed legged near the two chairs that had occupied that spot of the private beach since as long as he could remember. He waited a minute before heading her direction as he watched her take a long drink from her bottle. She swallowed three or four times and by the time he made it all the way to her and sat down on the sand as well, she was shaking her head as if she had gotten chills and made a sour face.
- Argh! God, I hate beer! – she exclaimed before taking another sip and then putting the bottle down in the sand in front of her. Steve studied her while she stared at the ocean, also taking a sip from his bottle.
- Are you okay? Wanna tell me what's bothering you? – Annabeth looked at him with an amused smile on her face.
- What makes you think something's bothering me? – he eyed her incredulously.
- Come on... You're drinking – he answered as if it was obvious, pointing at the bottle placed in front of her – you never drink – she laughed.
- True... – she went quiet then and brought the bottle up to take a few more drinks. The bottle was almost empty now and not even five minutes had passed since she had opened it. Something was definitely wrong, Steve thought, but instead of pressuring her to tell him, because he didn't think the tactic would work on her, he started a conversation that had nothing to do with the case they were working on.
- Why do you always sit on the sand? – he asked.
- What do you mean? – he signaled to the place they were both occupying right now.
- I have never seen you using the chairs. Every time you're out here, you just sit on the sand. Why? – she seemed like she was reflecting on the matter, as if she hadn't noticed that fact. She also considered brushing off the matter as an unimportant picked up habit, but she decided against it. She had already let him know that there was something bothering her, hence the whole 'I need a drink' thing, so she might as well just be honest. She figured that after almost three years of living together, she could confide in him about what was bothering her.
- Well... I've always felt that using one of the chairs would be like trespassing something – she let out a blow of breath when she saw Steve's confused look – this was your father's place, where he sat down to share beers with his friends. You've told me so...
- Yeah but that doesn't mean you can't use them. Everybody uses them – Steve told her, intrigued by where this conversation was headed. Annabeth emptied her bottle and placed it in the sand again before turning around and looking at him.
- I guess I just feel like I have no right to use them – Steve frowned and thought that if anyone had any right to use those chairs, it was her. This was her house too after all... John had been her father too. But, of course, he didn't tell her that. He still didn't have the courage to tell her that.
- You know that's not true. Where is this coming from? – instead of answering his question though, she made one of her own.
- Do you know what I had to do tonight? I had to sit down with one of our victim's girlfriend and comfort her about the fact she had just lost the love of her life. I manipulated her to remember her last day with him and tell me about it. I played on her desperation to be with him again and made her tell me about the last conversation she had with him. It wasn't a very pleasant thing to do... – Steve waited a few seconds to answer, not sure how to do it or why she would be so affected by it.
- I'm sorry it was hard on you. Must have Been difficult – he settled with that.
- That's the thing right there. It wasn't difficult. I didn't even hesitate to do it and I didn't hesitate to use him to do it – okay, now Steve was confused. Usually Annabeth was a very straight forward girl, no beating around the bushes to tell anyone anything, but somehow she didn't seem to be trying too hard to organize her thoughts, and that told him one thing: either the beer had already taken effect, or she was trying to deal with her emotions and, if that was the case, he didn't know if he was the right person to help her. After all, he wasn't very good at dealing with emotional stuff either.
- Who are you talking about? – before answering, she started playing with her empty bottle and filling it with sand.
- Alex... I... I never talk about him and I've never told anyone about what happened and tonight I brought him up to get a complete stranger to open up to me – a pause – somehow it feels like I've trespassed a boundary; just like with your father's chairs – she kept filling the bottle with sand without saying another word because her throat had constricted uncomfortably and she didn't trust herself to keep talking at the moment. Steve sensed her apprehension and just sat there, thinking about what she had just said. It had been almost five years now since that rescue mission when he had met her for the first time and when Alex had been killed and, still, he could see the pain reflected on her eyes. A pain that not only just hadn't left, but it held the same intensity it did all those years ago. How could a girl so young at that moment be able to love a boy the way Annabeth loved Alex? They were just kids, not even old enough to understand the depths of love, yet, somehow, her pain was as deep as the love itself.
- Have you ever talked about what happened with anyone? I mean like... a professional? – he asked, a little timidly because he didn't want to upset her with his suggestion.
- I don't think there's a shrink in the world with enough clearance to hear half of the stuff I would tell – she said bitterly and sarcastically at the same time.
- But you've talked to me – he stated, remembering the only other time Alex's name had come up during a conversation between them while they were both in his office. It hadn't been long and she hadn't said much, but it was as much as she had said about him since the day they met. Annabeth then stopped playing with the bottle, given that it was already full with sand and looked at him straight in the eyes.
- Yeah... But I trust you – she said – I don't trust shrinks.
Steve was only able to hold her gaze for a total of five seconds and then he used the excuse of taking a sip from his drink to break the eye contact. A terrible feeling was settling deep inside of him and it was actually making him blush with embarrassment: guilt.
Here she was, a very well trained and experience spy with obvious trust issues telling him that she trusted him enough to talk about the only subject that affected her and rattled her to the core and he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he was lying to her. Every day since he had found her on that club and she later joined the task force, he had been lying to her by not telling who she really was, what they really were.
He almost, for a second, let it all out right there. It would be so simple, to just say "hey! Guess what! I'm your brother!" only it actually wasn't that simple. The moment she found out he hadn't told her the truth, she wouldn't forgive him and he didn't know if he could handle her hating him forever. He'd rather keep her in the dark forever than risking her leaving out of anger.
Annabeth also studied him after she had finished talking and couldn't help but notice the change in him. Something dark had crossed his face but she didn't understand what it was. Maybe it hadn't been anything and the beer was getting to her head already.
- And that's why don't like to drink – she exclaimed, getting up and brushing the sand from her pants – I get too sensitive and talk too much – Steve laughed and got up as well.
- Maybe that's not such a bad thing – he said – Danny always says is good to share your feelings once in a while.
- Yeah, well, let's hope this 'once' doesn't happen in a while. I'm heading up. Good night – she said and then headed inside. When she was about to go up the stairs, Steve called for her.
- If you ever feel like there's too much on your mind... Well... I'm here for you, okay?
- Roger that.
He watched her disappear up the stairs and then sat down on the couch to finish his own beer.
He couldn't lose her. He refused to lose her, and that's why he had made a decision about it: he wouldn't tell her the truth. He'd rather live with the guilt of having to lie to her every day than risking not having her around at all because she was too mad at him to stay.
Well! What did you think? I think it was a sweet moment between them and the starting of a brother and sister relationship that will involve the kind of trust you've all read on my previous stories (stories that happen after this one… I know that my way of posting the stories is a little confusing, even for me. But hopefully it has made the whole Annabeth world interesting to read). And what is that about Steve deciding not to tell Annabeth the truth? What will compel him to tell her later? Or will she find out another way? Guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out! I'm still working on the details because I want that chapter to be great!
Well… I hope to see you on the next chapter! Until then!
