"Mykie" was the only word that Percy let out before he dashed after her, leaving Annabeth alone as if she never existed.
Percy ran as fast as his still weak legs could carry him. He weaved through the pack of people on the busy streets of Manhattan while holding on to the hope of finding the one person that's real in his life. Or at least the one person he remembers. The girl he was chasing passed the intersection on the last second of the red light and when Percy was about to cross, cars zoomed past him and he was shunted again to the opposite side where the girl went. When the traffic lights told the pedestrians they could cross, Percy then broke into a run, hoping to catch a glimpse of her again, but unfortunately, she's gone.
Percy retraced his steps back to the UCC where he almost forgot about the fact that he went there with Annabeth. He saw her through the café windows, talking to an old man who seemed to make her smile. He saw her eyes rimmed red and Percy knew it was probably his fault why she cried and it was all thanks to the old man that she was smiling, even though it's just a weak one. He entered the café and the old man bid Annabeth goodbye as Percy approached them. He saw a glimpse of the man and his heart started racing. He doesn't know why but it just seem strange that this man gave him a squirmish feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Good day" was all that the old man told him.
Annabeth acted as if Percy wasn't there.
"Hey" Percy told her softly. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Outside?"
Annabeth just nodded and the two went outside. Percy saw the merest hint of Annabeth looking at the old man and giving him a sad smile.
"You notice me now?" Annabeth told coldly at Percy the moment they were outside.
"Annabeth, you have to understand. Mykie is the one person in my life right now that I'm certain of." Percy told her pleadingly.
"Is she here now?" Annabeth challenged. "Percy, I'm making an effort here. Can you see that? I know this is hard for you but this is hard for me, too!"
"I know, Annabeth. I know. It's just-I love you, Annabeth. So much. I know. I can feel it. But . . . I just don't . . . like you anymore. Maybe I changed. I'm not the same Percy anymore" Percy told her as Annabeth's eyes showed fear of breaking something that can never be fixed again.
"No, Percy. Don't. Please" Annabeth whispered, tears falling from her eyes.
"I'm sorry" Percy replied. Annabeth felt something break in her heart that day. Something beyond repair.
"You're running away from yourself, Percy" Annabeth said.
"I wish I was. Because I'd let me get away"
Annabeth looked so heartbroken that Percy almost backed out from breaking up with her. But if he doesn't want her to hurt anymore, he needs to do this.
"You broke your promise. You told me you'd do it again, that you'd choose me every time. That you'd never stop loving me." Annabeth fingered the green rose necklace on her neck that fascinated Percy ever since he woke up from the hospital. He got a sneaking suspicion that he's the one who gave it to her. "You lied"
That was the last words Annabeth uttered before she ran away on the opposite direction. What happened was so fast that all Percy could do was pick up the necklace she threw away before she ran. The green rose pendant hung limply on Percy's palm. He felt like standing there for hours before he heard thunder rumbling. Worried, he tried calling Thalia to ask if Annabeth reached her apartment already.
"Hello, Thalia? Hi. It's Percy. Have you any idea if Annabeth's home already?" Percy asked politely because he's still awkward talking to them.
"Why? What happened? I'm at her apartment and she's not here." Thalia said.
"We uh, we had this pretty big fight . . ." Percy trailed.
"You guys broke up?" Thalia asked.
"Yeah" Percy answered.
"Ok." Thalia said calmly. There were silence for about one minute and then suddenly, Thalia was shouting. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HELL ANNABETH WENT THROUGH FOR YOU? SHE CAN'T EAT, SHE CAN'T SLEEP, ALL SHE COULD DO WAS STARE AT YOU AND TALK TO YOU, HOPING YOU WOULD FREAKING WAKE UP! SHE'S EVEN THE REASON YOU'RE ALIVE RIGHT NOW! ALL OF US THOUGHT YOU'RE DEAD BUT SHE DIDN'T GIVE UP. IF SOMETHING BAD HAPPEN TO HER I SWEAR WILL KILL YOU, PERCY JACKSON!"
Honestly, Percy was a tad bit scared but he didn't let Thalia intimidate him, "I'm sorry, Thalia. I'm gonna go find her. It's raining so hard now she'll hurt herself if she's not home"
"No. Don't you go anywhere near her. Luke and I will find her. Just . . . just go home Percy. It's better if you leave her alone for sometime"
Thalia hung up after saying that and Percy never felt more awful. He looked sadly at the necklace he was now clutching.
"Please let her be safe"
Annabeth walked aimlessly around Manhattan. It was raining so hard now that it's difficult for her to see. She brought out her phone and looked at the many messages from Luke and Thalia. She was so miserable that moment that she threw away her phone at a random garbage can and continued walking.
She was so absorbed in her fairy tale with Percy that she didn't expect something like this to happen. It seemed so unreal that this is happening. She even thought that maybe she was dreaming and she'll wake up finding that Percy never been on an accident. But what happened the last few months was so hard and tiring that there was no doubt it wasn't a dream.
She had been unconsciously walking in the rain for who knows how long that when Annabeth finally focused on her surroundings she saw that her feet brought her to Riverside Park. She was dripping with rainwater and the cold sipped through her bones, and it was very noticeable when someone walked up behind her, offering her the shade of an umbrella. It was the old man who Annabeth thought she was supposed to know but she couldn't tell who that man was. But she couldn't care less. All she could care is somehow in the face of this planet, there is someone fatherly that could comfort her. Without thinking, she hugged the old man and started crying her heart out.
Meanwhile . . . Luke and Thalia were going out of their minds looking for Annabeth when suddenly, Luke called his wife.
"Thalia! Come look here!" Luke said as he bend over to a garbage can reaching for something.
"Ew, hon. Stop that, it's disgu-" Thalia was cut off by a sight of a battered blackberry.
"Annabeth's phone" Thalia said as realization hit her.
"Where the hell are you, Annabeth?" Luke asked no one.
Thalia seemed deep in thought as she looked at the various trees surrounding them. Then suddenly an idea hit her.
"I know where she is, Luke" Thalia said as she dragged Luke to the car.
"Where?" Luke asked,
"Riverside Park" Thalia answered simply.
After ten minutes, Luke pulled over to the parking lot and not long after a sight of a familiar blonde greeted them. Thalia ran over to her best friend and engulfed her in a comforting hug while Luke patted Annabeth's back.
When all of them had calmed down, Luke and Thalia brought Annabeth to the car and gave her a towel to dry herself. Luke gave Annabeth her phone back where she saw a picture of her and Percy.
"I love photos" Annabeth blurted out. "Because the best thing about it is that it never changes. Even when the person in it does"
Luke and Thalia exchanged worried looks but they just let her talk.
"Do you ever do this? You think back on all the times you've had with someone and you just replay it in your head over and over again and you look for those first signs of trouble." Annabeth mumbled.
This time, Luke can't refrain himself from talking, "Annabeth, no one knew this would happen. Don't be too hard on yourself"
"It's just . . . he's the first one to make me feel like anything's possible, or like life's worth it." Annabeth cried once again as she buried her head on Luke's chest. "I thought, I thought I found my fairy tale with him. My own happy ending"
"Girls are taught a lot of stuff growing up, Annabeth." Thalia said while she patted her back. "We're all programmed to believe happy endings. But sometimes we're so focused on finding our happy ending we don't learn how to read the signs. How to tell from the ones who want us and the ones who don't the ones who will stay and the ones who will leave. And maybe a happy ending doesn't include a guy, maybe . . . it's you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself up for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending is . . . just . . . moving on. Or maybe the happy ending is this, knowing after all the broken hearts, through the blunders and misread signs, through all the pain and embarrassment you never gave up hope. Annabeth, you will never be alone. I'm here. Luke's here. We're you're best friends. We will never leave you alone. Whatever happens we love you. Whatever storm we'll be with you, you know that. We love you Annabeth.
"You may be the best friends I ever had" Annabeth smiled weakly.
The next morning, Thalia woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Percy calling her. True, she was still very pissed at him but he's still their best friend and they don't abandon their best friends.
"Hello?"
"Thals? I know you're still pissed at me but I really need your help. I-It's my first day of therapy today and I really need someone to be with me. Just like, for support or something. Annabeth's supposed to be with me but . . . given the circumstances . . ."
"You called me Thals" Thalia pointed out. "You remember"
"What? I didn't know how I did that. It just seems like the natural thing to do. Like, there's something in the back of my mind told me to call you Thals"
Thalia knew that really, if Percy would just go back to the way he's living before he will truly remember. Him calling her thals is proof.
Thalia heaved a sigh, "As much as I want to rip your throat out right now, you're still my best friend so . . . pick me up here."
"Thank you so much"
A few minutes later, Thalia and Percy were at Dr. Solace's office.
"So, how are you feeling?" Dr. Solace asked Percy.
"I feel fine" Percy answered.
"Yeah? No dizziness, disorientation, sleepiness?" Dr. Solace asked once again.
"Nope" Percy answered.
"Great. You're CT scan looks excellent, too. What a relief. So, your memory recall, anything?"
"Not really" Percy frustratedly said.
"No huh?" Dr. Solace troubledly asked.
"That's not normal, is it?" Thalia asked.
"When it comes to the brain, nothing is normal" Dr. Solace explained. "Because no two brain injuries are the same. Thalia, could I talk to Percy alone for a second please?"
"Sure" Thalia said as she went out of the office and waited for Percy in the lobby.
"Percy, do you want o regain your memory?" Dr. Solace asked seriously.
"Yes" Percy answered.
"Because some patients fear that when their memory comes back, so will the memory of the trauma, but mercifully, that's rarely the case"
"Oh no, that's not it. I'm . . . I'm . . . I'm not afraid of the accident" Percy muttered.
"Then what are you afraid of?"
"I guess I just . . . I don't know. It's . . . I mean, what if I don't like the life that I had? Or what if I like it too much? I . . . I just don't know." Percy nervously asked.
Dr. Solace sighed, "I only did one psych rotation so this may be a terrible advice. But I think you have to try and fill the holes. You can still decide you want a different life, but if you don't at least open yourself up to remembering, I'm afraid you're gonna leave in fear of your own past."
Percy dropped Thalia off to where she works as producer for a TV company. It was the least Percy could do after what she did.
"Thalia, I'm really sorry for what I did to Annabeth" Percy told as she was about to get out of the car. "Is Luke mad at me, too?"
Thalia just sighed, "Annabeth made you decent, Percy. And in return you made her so happy . . . so happy, and I will always be grateful to you for that. But I think this is better instead of making her believe in false hope. I promise we'll do everything to make her happy again"