A/N: It appears that I've become predictable. A few people guessed my evil plans for this chapter, but read for yourself and see… Don't forget to review:)
Annabeth snuck out of Percy's loft early the next morning, leaving a note on the side table by his watch, explaining that she couldn't be late to work that she would call him later. Her visit to Percy's place had been, at first, to tell him about Luke, but then she chickened out. He had looked so happy to see her. He complimented her outfit, her hair, and her earrings, taken her out to dinner, and then invited her home with him. Why she had let herself say yes when she was so obviously upset about what Luke had told her earlier, she didn't know.
Was she really in love with Percy?
But she knew the answer the second she rolled over and saw him lying there. And then he had wrapped an arm around her in his sleep and her heart felt like it would burst. Yes. Yes, she did love him.
She shook those thoughts from her head as she made calls to building contractors and called in favors from a few friends. Her day was not going to be easy with all of these thoughts weighing heavy on her mind.
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Percy knew his life had turned upside down when he rolled over to find his bed empty. The clothes were gone from the floor and there was a note on the side table. It had happened before of course, with other women. They had jobs, lives, and so he normally rolled back over and returned to his sleep, but this time, Percy sat up and frowned at the note.
She'd left. And it felt like his heart had gone with her.
He had never before felt this kind of longing. He had made love to her last night; he had held her, kissed her. And she was gone in the morning. It felt like she had used him.
It was ridiculous to assume that that was the case, however. She was obviously just busy, but… But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was really, really wrong.
He tried not to think about it, and managed it for most of the morning, but it started all over again when Grover called him a few minutes after he'd ordered his lunch from the Chinese place down the street.
"Yeah, what's up, G-man?"
"Juniper told me something interesting this morning."
"Hmm, let me guess. She wants to get married and have tons of tiny Grover Juniors?"
"Perce, I'm serious."
"Alright, well you'd better tell her you don't want kids, unless you actually—"
"Percy! Listen."
Now worried, Percy sat down on his couch, waiting for Grover to continue.
"You know your dad's new assistant? Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Well he had a chat with Annabeth when she came into the office yesterday and Juniper overheard it." Grover hesitated a moment. "You might wanna hear what he said."
"Go ahead."
"Apparently they used to date. He said that you were bad for her and that he misses her and did she remember…a certain night…"
Percy ran a hand through his hair. "And?"
"And she told him to burn in hell and slapped him."
He smirked. That's my girl. But was she? The sudden doubtful thought sent shocks through his system. "Okay, well, thanks for letting me know."
"Percy, I'm just warning you. Juniper said that Luke didn't seem like the type of guy to take no for an answer."
"I can handle him."
"But can you handle it if she chooses him?"
He wanted to be able to say yes. He really did. But…
"Perce?"
"I'll talk to later, man."
"Sorry, dude."
Percy hung up and stared at his phone. He should call her. He should ask about Luke. He should…
The doorbell rang in the middle of his thought. He shuffled to the door, mind caught up in other things. When he opened it, all he saw was a mess of blonde hair before she launched herself at him and into his arms.
"Well, hi there."
She buried her face in his chest. "We need to talk."
"Yeah, we do."
Annabeth looked up. "Okay… You wanna go first?"
"No, you go ahead."
She took his hand and pulled him down the hallway, into his bedroom. Despite his surprise, he didn't speak when she sat on the bed with him. "Something happened yesterday."
Percy put an arm around her, needing to be close to her. His heart felt like it might stop if he wasn't. "Okay."
She took a deep breath. "Your dad's new assistant, Luke, is my ex." She didn't look at him.
He didn't say anything, but grabbed her chin to force her to meet his eyes. He arched an eyebrow when they were face-to-face, silently urging her to continue.
"Um, he was a while ago, of course, but… Well, h-he's saying some stuff and I just want you to know that whatever he may say to you—"
He silenced her with his lips over hers. "I promise not to believe him," he muttered as his mouth trailed down her jaw to her neck.
Her fingers twisted into his shirt as he pressed her down against the mattress and continued his exploration. She sighed contentedly, but the sound seemed to wake up her senses. "Wait, Percy, wait." He lifted his mouth from its current position at the soft skin of her tummy—she hadn't even noticed that he had taken out her tucked-in blouse from her skirt and lifted it—and looked up.
"Something wrong?"
She raised herself onto her elbows. "I didn't come here to do this. I came here to tell you about Luke."
"What if I don't wanna hear about him?"
"Okay," she muttered, running her fingers through his hair. "But…also…I…"
He arched an eyebrow.
"Well, there was something that I've been thinking about lately, and it's kind of funny that what Luke said made me think of it, but then again I could've been thinking it already and then didn't really realize it and I suppose that I was, given what happened, and—"
"Annabeth."
"Yes?"
"Spit it out."
She turned slightly pink and opened her mouth, fully empowered to say the little words, but just as she managed to say "I," the doorbell rang. She sighed.
"Is there no end to interruptions today?" Percy muttered under his breath, helping Annabeth up. He kissed her forehead and walked back towards the front hallway and the door.
He paid the delivery guy at the door for his lunch and thanked him half-heartedly before wandering into his kitchen where he'd heard Annabeth go while he was at the door. She was sitting at the counter, watching him.
When he walked in, she stood. "I'd better go."
"No, stay. I always order too much anyway so I don't have to order the next day."
She gave a sad smile. "I have to get back to work."
"The world isn't going to fall apart if you take an hour to have Chinese food."
"It's gonna take an hour to eat?"
He grinned devilishly and set the food on the counter before pulling her close. "20 minutes to eat, 40 minutes for something else," he whispered huskily.
"But what will we do with the leftover half hour?"
He scowled. "Oh, we'll just see about that!" And with that he picked her up bridal style and walked towards the bedroom, all thoughts of Luke gone from his mind.
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Travis Stoll glanced at his brother. "Why exactly are we doing this?"
"Cuz we're thieves," Connor muttered. "And Luke is paying us."
"I don't see what the point is, though."
Connor glared at his older brother as if his moral compass had started pointing north, which was a ridiculous thought to entertain. "Um, how's 500 bucks?"
Travis shrugged, deciding to give up the argument for now and pulled his ski mask over his head.
The brothers made their way into the office building and exited with a file folder. Once in the car, Travis turned to his brother again and said, "But did he say why he wanted us to steal Athena and Co.'s recent ideas from Athena's office?"
A/N: I just had to put in some Travis and Connor. I admittedly felt bad that they're basically bad guys, because I don't think of them like that, but they are sons of Hermes and are thieves and Luke couldn't risk going in himself in case he got caught! Or at least that's how I'm thinking of it. A lot of people have asked me about Raico action and I can say that if I see an opportunity, I will be putting it in, but otherwise, I can't promise that it's going to happen, although I do think that they're cute together.
Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews. BTW, the reason I'm updating so fast is because I'm on break and I have nothing better to do but write:)
Love,
E. M. Zeray
