Hey! Here's the next chapter! Sorry! I meant to have this up a few days ago, but I was BURIED in homework this week, and literally had no time, but here it is now.
R&R.
Disclaimer: As always, Rick Riordan owns all PJO characters!
Enjoy!
Paul stared longingly around him one last time. Today was the official last day of their vacation. They were leaving in just a few minutes, and it was obvious that not one of them wanted to.
Paul, Sally, Percy, and Annabeth had had breakfast with the Chases about an hour ago, and now they were in the driveway, loading their things into the rental car to drive to the docks, where their transportation home awaited.
Percy lifted the last suitcase into the trunk, and Paul shut the lid, exchanging melancholy smiles with his stepson. They turned and joined Sally and Annabeth, who stood with the latter's family, saying goodbye.
Paul shook Fredrick's hand. "It was good to meet you, Paul," Fredrick said with a smile.
"You too," Paul replied with a matching smile, "Take care." He turned to say goodbye to Theresa. After he did this, he noticed Percy shaking hands with Fredrick, though it was in a much more comfortable manor than the first time he'd done so.
"Take care of her," Fredrick told him quietly, almost too quietly for Paul to hear, and certainly too quiet for anyone else to, as they were all farther away.
"Absolutely," Percy answered sincerely.
The twins both gave Sally a hug goodbye, waved to Paul, and high fived Percy. Then, they turned to their sister, and they looked almost sad to see her go. They both ran to her at the same time, enveloping her in a hug.
"Bye Annie," they said quietly, but this time, Paul realized that they weren't trying to annoy their sister. Annabeth hated that nickname, and the boys probably knew it, but they called her it because she was their big sister and they loved her. This time, when they used the nickname, it was out of love and sadness, rather than obnoxious ambition, and Annabeth must have known this too.
"Bye, guys," she replied in the same tone, and Paul wondered if she'd grown closer to her little brothers during the time spent with them, and it made leaving harder this time.
A few minutes later, everyone was in the car, and Paul was pulling out of the driveway, away from the Chase family-minus Annabeth- who stood waving goodbye.
As Paul pulled away, he noticed something glistening down Annabeth's cheek, and Percy pulling her close and holding her, as she rested her head against his chest. His suspicions were confirmed, and part of him wondered if it would be better if she stayed here with her family, but then he realized he was being stupid. As close as Annabeth had grown to her family recently and as hard as it had been to leave them, leaving Percy was harder, impossible even. Paul knew that, someday, she might be able to leave Percy for a while to stay with her family for longer periods of time, but right now, Percy needed her, just as she needed him, and separation was simply not an option.
He also knew that, as long as she had Percy, Annabeth would be okay without her family. Sure she would miss them, but in all actuality, she wasn't all that close with them, being they were her family. Her relationship with them was more like that of good friends. Paul knew that he and Sally were more like parents to her, than hers ever were, be that good or otherwise.
At the docks, Paul and Percy loaded everything onto the boat, and Paul went to return the car to the rental dealership, which was conveniently across the street.
By the time he got back, Percy had the boat ready and waiting. Paul climbed in, and they were off, sailing away from the beautiful city and into open water.
They got back home a little after five o'clock that night, Pacific Standard Time, but in New York, it was actually 8pm. They carried their luggage up to the apartment. Upon entering however, the suitcases and bags were left in the hallway, because no one felt like unloading them.
The four of them ended up in the kitchen, slouching around the table. All of them were tired from the day of packing and travel, but Percy looked especially exhausted. They had run into a storm along the east coast, and he'd had to put forth extra energy to give them a relatively smooth ride. Paul had to admit, Percy had done a good job, because those waves had been pounding against the hull pretty badly for at least four hours, but he had hardly felt the boat move at all. He was impressed, as usual, with his stepson's totally awesome ability to control water, and he again wondered when he would cease to be amazed, but he was very grateful to Percy for the smooth ride, even if it had left said demigod looking ready to fall asleep right there.
As if reading Paul's mind, Sally took one look at her son and said, "You should go to bed, Percy."
Percy looked at her. "It's only eight-thirty," he told his mother.
"You're exhausted," she pointed out.
Annabeth was looking at him, concerned, and Percy met her eyes. They seemed to have a silent conversation, but Paul had a pretty good idea what the issue was. Not once, had either one of them willingly went to bed without the other, and Annabeth was obviously concerned about Percy doing so. Paul knew Percy wasn't about to force Annabeth to go to sleep, just because he was, whether she was willing to or not. He also knew that Percy would force himself to stay awake until the rest of them went to bed, just so Annabeth wouldn't worry.
"It's fine," Percy mouthed to Annabeth, before looking back to Sally.
"Are you sure you don't need me to help unpack?" he asked.
Sally smiled lovingly at her much too loyal son. "Percy," she said, "I'm sure, between the three of us, we can get the important things done. Go to sleep."
Percy glanced at Annabeth again and back to his mother, before he sighed slightly and nodded, standing up.
"Come get me if you need help," he told the rest of his family, though he was looking at Sally.
"Go, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth told him. Paul noticed a look of uncertainty, maybe even fear, cross Percy's face for a split second, before it vanished behind a mask of tired calm. Annabeth noticed though. She gave him a look that clearly said: Come get me if you need help. Percy gave her a nod so small, it was barely noticeable, before walking out of the kitchen.
As soon as he was gone, Annabeth looked a bit on the concerned side, which had Paul worried. He knew Percy was strong, and had been through and overcome a lot, but, since Tartarus, sleep was a delicate situation. At first, Paul had assumed Percy would be okay, but said demigod's hesitation and Annabeth's obvious unease had him a bit worried by now. If Annabeth was concerned, Paul probably had a good reason to be too. It wasn't so much the fear that nightmares would come, because that was probably inevitable; but he was concerned that Percy wasn't quite at the point where he could sleep, at least somewhat peacefully, alone, and neither was Annabeth, for that matter. The two had come so far over the past week alone, that to be set back would be a complete tragedy.
"How worried should I be?" Sally asked Annabeth softly, obviously thinking along the same lines that Paul was. Annabeth looked at her before apparently realizing that she was giving herself away by her expression. Immediately, her look of worry morphed into a mask of calm, the same mask of calm that Percy had worn just a minute ago; the mask of calm the two had perfected over the past eight months.
Annabeth sighed, her façade wavering for just a second and shrugged. "He's braver than I am," she answered, studying the tabletop, "or just stupider. But he's always been stronger than me when it comes to these things, so maybe he'll be fine."
"So you're saying there's a possibility he won't?" Paul asked, growing in concern.
Annabeth hesitated, as if deciding whether to be honest or not. It was pretty obvious she was wishing she'd just kept quiet. She apparently decided to tell the truth, because she said, "I don't know, but I've learned to trust Percy's judgment over the last few years. If he says he'll be okay, he probably will be. I have to believe that." Paul wasn't sure what to make of that answer. It wasn't exactly what he'd wanted to hear, but he couldn't argue with it. He found he agreed with every word Annabeth had said, and believed it himself, though he wasn't sure if he was happy about that or not.
Of those Paul trusted the most, Percy was at the very top, along with Sally and Annabeth, and Paul knew he had to trust his stepson now, no matter how disconcerting it may or may not have been. He's just taking a nap, Paul told himself, Get a grip. He'll be fine. But as always, the little voice in the back of Paul's mind replied, But what if he isn't? And as always, Paul tried to push that thought aside. Of course Percy would be okay. After all he'd been through; a silly little nightmare couldn't ruin everything. Could it?
Paul knew it was stupid of him to worry this much over something that may or may not happen, but, as he always did recently, he did worry. Percy was his son, and it was his job to worry, to keep him safe, even if, in reality, it was the other way around.
Paul knew he had a tendency to overestimate his stepson. He was really good at forgetting, especially with Percy's amazing skills and powers, that the seventeen year old was, indeed, still half human, and, like anyone, he had a breaking point. Even after having heard of the absolute horrors Percy'd had to face down in Tartarus, Paul still found it hard sometimes, to believe that the former had actually reached that point. He knew it was stupid and selfish, hypocritical even, to believe that, especially after Paul had very nearly reached his own breaking point simply hearing the horrifying story of Percy and Annabeth's trip through hell, but he still found himself doing it.
Paul was broken out of his reverie of worry, when Annabeth spoke up. "I should go in there." She said, mostly to herself.
Sally reached out and placed her hand over the demigod's. "No," she said, though her eyes were screaming, YES! Yes! Go in there and make sure my baby's okay! "This had to be done," she continued quietly, gently, "You'll never know how much he can handle if you don't do this."
Annabeth took her eyes away from the tabletop for the first time, and met Sally's. The demigod bit her lip, but nodded.
At about nine-thirty pm, Eastern Standard Time, Paul sat down on the couch, next to his wife, who had her laptop before her. Annabeth sat on the other couch, reading a book. A little while earlier, the three of them had unpacked the necessities for the night, and cleared away the pile of luggage blocking the path to the front door.
Paul laid his head against the back of the couch, struggling to keep his eyes open. They were all, quite obviously, tired, but were trying to stay up until a normal bedtime. In California, it was only six-thirty at night, and they were still adjusted to that time zone, but it had been a long day, and it was catching up with all of them.
Just then, Percy walked in, still looking exhausted, and sat down next to Annabeth, who immediately put her book down and repositioned herself to face her boyfriend. "Sleep well?" she asked cautiously, though, by the looks of him, he hadn't slept at all.
Percy shook his head, but turned and looked at her. "I am never going to sleep without you again," he told her, dead serious, but cracked a smile at the end, which relieved Paul greatly.
"Did you sleep at all?" Sally asked.
"No. Not really," Percy replied.
"Why didn't you come get me?" Annabeth demanded.
"Percy shrugged nonchalantly, though his eyes were closing. "I didn't want to force you to go to bed if you weren't tired."
Annabeth just shook her head at her boyfriend, but he had closed his eyes, and looked on the verge of unconsciousness. Annabeth stood up, leaving her book on the side table, and grabbed Percy's hand, pulling on him.
"C'mon, Seaweed Brain, let's go to bed," she said, trying to pull him off the couch. Paul had to admit, she was stronger than she looked, but Percy wasn't exactly small, and Annabeth wasn't having much luck. Finally, she let go, and Percy flopped back into the couch cushions. "Okay, fine. I'm going to bed, Percy, you can stay here and sleep on the couch. I'll be in your bed," she said, and turned to head to the hallway, though she was smirking a little.
Percy's eyes opened, and he stood tiredly. "I'm coming," he said, without hesitation. He gave Sally a kiss on the cheek and called goodnight to both, before grabbing Annabeth's hand and leaving Paul's view.
Despite himself, Paul had to smile. Annabeth always knew what to say to get Percy to comply with her wishes. He was putty in her hands. Paul had seen Percy take down monsters left and right, fighting like the deadly war machine he was, and yet he was so different around her. Paul seriously loved it.
He remembered his thoughts from earlier that day, that no matter how hard things would be for Annabeth having left her family, as long as she had Percy, she was, and always would be, okay.
And the same went for him.
Only as Paul was laying bed a few minutes later, did he realize what he should have realized first. He had been so concerned that Percy would be set back by some nightmare or flashback that he would experience, and yet, Paul hadn't even realized that that wasn't the case. Percy had still been Percy, tired, but Percy. Again, Paul wondered when he'd begun worrying so much about things that he should have known would never happen anyway. As always the answer was the same.
Since he'd become a father.
And honestly, he could live with that.
I know, it wasn't my best, but it was still good right? Right? Let me know what you think!
ALSO: since I forgot to put this above, the next chapter is underway, and will hopefully be up by tomorrow night (Cause I just love you all so much)! :)
REVIEW and THANK YOU!