Chapter 21: Forgive and Forget
A/N: Hey, het! Time to learn about Malcolm and Annabeth's mom!
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.
Hope you enjoy!
Annabeth's POV
"Mom?" We said in unison.
Now I was confused. I stared at Malcolm. We continued to speak at the same time.
"Your mom? She's my mom! No, she's my mom! How can she be your mom?! MOM!"
We turned to her, completely dumbfounded. Meanwhile, our dads were looking, horrified, between each other, us, and the woman who had just come over. My dad also looked at Helen, Bobby, and Matthew, who had bewildered expressions. Helen looked a little upset at seeing Dad's ex-wife.
"Everyone, please, calm down. Take a deep breath." Mom raised her hands, trying to settle everyone down.
"What are you doing here, Athena?" Dad said. His tome was clipped and business-like.
She sighed. "I just wanted to explain." She turned to us. She had the nerve to smile. "Malcolm, Annabeth. Oh, you've grown so much. The last time I saw you…"
"Are you going to explain to me why you left or not?" Malcolm's ears were red. Clearly, he was outraged. Athena's smile faded.
"Malcolm, sweetie… I know you're especially angry… Please, just hear me out."
Malcolm crossed his arms over his chest. He straightened his spine. His expression read 'this better be good'.
Athena took a deep breath before beginning the story.
"I was born and raised in Greece. Malcolm, Annabeth, I don't know if I ever told you that. Like many others, my dream was to come see America. I made arrangements and came to New York; I studied at NYU. I made a life for myself, in New York, as an architect. I was given a project in San Francisco. I decided I would move there and remain there, even after the project was completed. There, I met your father, Malcolm." She paused to look at him.
Malcolm shifted uncomfortably.
"We had a sweet, loving relationship and planned to get married. But your father was very busy. His work really got in the way of a lot of things, but so did his other activities. I could understand that his job was keeping him occupied, but whenever he had a few moment, he would go out with his friends. I rarely saw him." She stopped again.
"You should've talked to me," Malcolm's dad said coldly, "And I didn't neglect you like that, don't lie to him. We should've talked, you didn't need to cheat on me!"
Athena patiently held up a hand.
"Anyway, our wedding was a few weeks away, but I wasn't feeling the excitement I should've been. I decided to take a little vacation, by myself. I stayed at a hotel and took a few days off work. I went to a college seminar and there, Annabeth, I met your father."
"Wait a minute!" My dad looked alarmed, "Y-you mean, when we started dating, you were engaged?! Athena! You were in a relationship already?! H-how could you – I'm so sorry!" He whipped around to face Malcolm's dad, who just shook his head; it wasn't my dad's fault. He didn't know and hadn't meant to do harm. He had nothing to apologize for.
"I'm sorry, Frederick," Athena said softly, "We'll discuss that later, if you wish. But right now, I am focusing on Malcolm and Annabeth."
First time in years.
"So, yes, I started a relationship while I was already in a relationship. Well, Malcolm, your father caught me. Your dad, Annabeth, didn't notice. Malcolm, your dad and I called off the wedding and split. I left to be with Frederick, your father stayed in our previously shared apartment. Shortly after moving in with your dad, Annabeth, who I had no intention of telling about my previous relationship, I found out I was pregnant. With you, Malcolm. I decided not to tell Frederick. I was sure it was your father's, Malcolm, but I didn't want Frederick to panic. I decided to not say anything and hopefully I could come up with a plan before I started to show.
"I was still working on my project for my architectural firm in New York. Your father, Annabeth, was also in California for a project, though his was much shorter. Two or three months into my pregnancy, when Frederick still didn't know, he was going back home to Virginia. He proposed to me, and I accepted. But I couldn't go with him, as I had to finish my project. I told him to go back and I would join him for our wedding in a year. In that time, we could plan our wedding, talking over the phone. It was also a good thing for me because I could have you, Malcolm, and not have Frederick find out. So that's what I did."
Athena took another deep breath. Her eyes were watering.
"Oh, Malcolm, it was so hard. I thought that after I had you, I could stay a few months, two or three, and move to Virginia. But it was so much harder than I thought. When I had you, and held you for the first time, I thought it would be impossible to ever let you go. But I had to. So I stayed three months, and a year after Frederick left, so did I. I cried. It hurt so much. I couldn't bare it. But I forced myself to. You stayed with your father."
She dabbed at her eyes. I could see in Malcolm's eyes that he was slightly moved, but the rest of his body language was still as hard as stone. Athena didn't have to move; she could've found a different way to solve the problem. It would've been hard, but if she'd really wanted to stay with Malcolm, she could've done it.
"I got to Virginia. I married your father, almost immediately when I arrived, Annabeth. I ended up getting pregnant on our honeymoon, only three months after you were born, Malcolm. That is how you two are only a year apart. I literally had you both about as close as is humanly possible without you being twins. Annabeth, when you were born, I was a bit depressed. You reminded me of the little baby boy I left behind in California. You had blonde hair and the same gray eyes. I never forgot about you, Malcolm, but I learned to live with my reality and the consequences of my mistakes. Seven years went by. I was able to keep my emotions under control, until I came across a picture.
"I was looking through an old wallet I had brought with me when I moved. It had been forgotten at the bottom of a box. I found it while looking for something else. I opened it, and I had a picture of my baby boy. I remembered him and felt awful. I knew I couldn't fall to depression – I had another child to care for. To avoid it, I threw myself into my work, pushing myself as hard as I could, filling any open time slots in my schedule to ensure I had no free time to think about the pain. I led as many projects as I was allowed to in an attempt to dull the hurt. Because of this, your father, Annabeth, started to get suspicious. He thought it was all an excuse to see another man. We had many fights, and finally, I couldn't take any more. The stress from all the work I put myself through, the arguing, the torturous memories – I needed to get away. Your father and I divorced. When I left, I knew exactly where I was going. Malcolm, I called up your father, I remembered you, my dear, and realized how much time had gone by. I spent seven years with one child but not even one whole year with the other. I thought by going back I could fix that."
There was a break in her story. She again dried her eyes and gave us all a chance to process the information. She then continued.
"Malcolm, you were eight then. Do you remember, love? Remember what it was like for you to finally meet me? Because I remember how proud I was of you. You showed me all your awards and report cards. You showed me your trophies from chess team. I stayed three years. Then, I remembered my little Annabeth. But I didn't want to leave you, Malcolm. In the end, I didn't stay with either of you. I fled back to New York, where I hid out like a coward. In New York, I realized how unfair I was to you, Malcolm. I spent so much more time with Annabeth then with you. I wanted to go back to you, Malcolm, but…"
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and I almost felt bad.
"I couldn't reach you. The number, the address – they had changed. I had lost you. I'll admit – I could've tried harder. I moped around in New York, unsure of what to do. Before I knew it, another seven years flew by. I thought I'd never see my children again. Then, out of the blue, I happened to find you here. I couldn't resist. Forgive me for interrupting."
It seemed her story was over. I blinked a few times and tried to clear my head. Despite her tears, it was hard for me to believe her. She said so herself – she didn't try very hard to be with us. I needed her, but she wasn't there. She didn't look past her own mess long enough to think about us, and that stung.
I shook my head as my own eyes clouded.
"Annabeth?" She said gently. She reached out to stroke my cheek but I angrily pushed her away.
"No!" I stepped back. "I-I don't need you! I don't need you anymore! I'm not a little girl who relies on her mother anymore! When I did need you, you weren't there! But I'm not little any longer! I haven't needed you for a long time and I certainly don't need you now! You didn't have to come! I'm almost eighteen, I could've moved on with my life! But you had to come back and ruin it!"
"I was just trying-"
"Stop! Stop it! It's too late! I don't need you anymore! You've already screwed everything up enough, just stop trying to fix things! You only make it worse! Go away! I don't need you!"
I repeated the phrase over and over again as I turned and ran off in a general direction. I was mostly trying to convince myself that I didn't need her, because part of me still believed I did.
I heard running behind me. I was afraid it was Athena – I didn't even want to call her my mom anymore – but it was Malcolm. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. We felt the same and we both knew it. He just wrapped his arms around me.
We held each other and sobbed together.
When our crying ceased, we silently agreed to go back to our families. We were both too tired to talk about everything now, so we'd discuss it later.
The adults, however, did not feel the same.
We arrived to a scene on which all Hades had broken loose.
Both our dads were arguing with Athena. They yelled and accused, waving their arms at her. She yelled back with excuses and tears. Helen flitted around them nervously, trying to silence them, every now and then getting angry at Athena's justifications and jumping into the fight herself.
My brothers were sitting at the picnic table, with blank faces and nervous eyes. I ran over to them.
I pulled the boys into a tight hug. I comforted them and they comforted me as Malcolm took care of our parents.
"HEY!"
The noise stopped. All eyes turned to Malcolm. He inhaled deeply, trying to control his own anger.
"This is a terribly difficult day for all of us, but fighting isn't going to help. Dad, Mr. Chase, I'm sorry you went through what you did. Annabeth and I want you to know we're thankful for you guys staying with us and raising us by yourselves, despite everything."
Malcolm and I hadn't talked about anything, but we knew each other well. He knew I was thinking that, so he said it.
"Mom…" He said it with a bitterness in his voice, "You made a lot of mistakes."
Athena winced.
"Because you're our mother, and you're human, Annabeth and I forgive you. But you still really messed up. Not once, but twice you have jumped into our lives at inappropriate times and then just left us. I was right, Mom," his voice trembled, "You came, and it was the happiest day of my life. But then you left. You said you remember all the fun times we had, and yet, they weren't very special to you then, where they? Well, they were to me. You left. You abandoned me, for a second time, only that time, it was worse. I had met you, bonded with you, let myself believe that you cared and would stay, and then one morning you just weren't there. I learned to live with that. I learned to deal with the pain. But now… now you've gone too far. You've come back, again. And I know you're not staying long. So instead of trying to fix this huge problem, just go. Before I get a chance to meet you again – because let's face it, I may as well be meeting you for the first time – and make myself believe you love me enough to stay, go. Stop toying with me and messing up the life I have managed to put together without you. Before we can be close again, just leave now. Please."
I nodded my agreement. Athena saw.
"Malcolm, Annabeth… I have ruined your lives enough. I only wanted to explain. I intend to leave and never disturb you again. So… just know that I love you, that I'm sorry, and that I'll never bother you again." She stood and left. Malcolm and I clung to each other, emotionally drained, and watched her go.
The only good thing that came from the encounter was knowing that Malcolm was my brother.
…
"Hello?"
"Hey, Annabeth. How are you feeling?"
After I got home yesterday from the park, I went straight to my room and called Thalia to tell her everything that had happened. Having had a bad experience with her own mother, Thalia comforted me. She called to check on Malcolm, too.
My dad was really shaken up by the whole thing. He wasn't talking much; most of the time, he seemed deep in thought, lost in his own memories of the past. Helen was trying to tend to him, watch out for me, and care for the boys as well as keep them busy all at the same time. The situation was distressing us all.
"I'm okay, I guess. I mean… Wow. I didn't know all of that. It's definitely going to take me time to recover."
"Oh, definitely. And we're all going to be here for you and Malcolm when you need us."
"Thanks, Thalia."
"Of course. Listen, I have an idea. It might make you feel better, or at least keep your head clear for a few hours."
"What's up? I am all for a break right now."
"Well, Jason's birthday is coming yp and my dad and I rented out a place to throw him a little surprise party. You should come. I think it'll help."
"When is it?"
"Friday at seven. It'll probably go until around eleven."
I didn't have plans for Friday. I really did need something like this to distract myself, so I decided to agree.
…
"Hey, Annabeth. How's it going?"
"Hey, Pipes. Well, I guess."
I hadn't had the energy to explain it again, so I asked Thalia to tell Piper about my mom for me. Her question was vague, but I knew Piper was asking me how I felt.
"That's good. Well, hopefully the party will help."
It was Friday night and I had arrived at the location promptly at seen o'clock. I set Jason's gift on the designated table, grabbed a drink, and found a seat next to Piper. We chatted along with Katie, who had come over in an attempt to fend off Travis, who was still hitting on her.
"Hide! Everyone, hide! Jason's coming!"
I scrambled to get behind the gift table. I forgot about my family problems and decided to just have fun for the night. Jason had been told that it was Malcolm's surprise party and that it started at seven thirty. I thought that was rather clever. Thalia had convinced Jason that she was going to go out and buy a gift from each of them, since she knew him better, so Jason had handed over a twenty-dollar bill. This was to ensure that Jason wouldn't end up going out and buying something, then have to return it. I heard Thalia go out to the hallway to meet Jason, as they had agreed.
"Thalia, did you get Malcolm's present?"
"Huh? Oh, shoot! I got my present but not yours! I'm so sorry!"
"Thalia! Now what? Well, if you have the money, maybe I can go get him a gift card real quick."
"Yeah, that would be god. But you have time; do it in a moment. Right now, I need your help setting up decorations. You're taller than me."
"So is Percy. Why can't he do it? I really need to-"
"Just come help me!"
Jason huffed. Light flooded through the now open doors, framing Jason and Thalia.
"Why are the lights o-"
"SURPRISE!"
Jason's mouth fell open. The lights turned on. The strobe lights flashed. A spotlight fell on Jason (when your daddy owns a big electric company, you can afford to buy cool stuff like that). The music started playing.
Jason started at all of us, pausing on Malcolm.
"So it's not your birthday?"
Malcolm grinned. "My birthday was eight months ago."
Slowly, Jason started to grin. It widened especially when he saw the present table, loaded up and each gift labeled with his name.
"Then let's get this party started!"
Everyone cheered and hit the dance floor. Will Solace, a guy from the club whose dad was Apollo, was our makeshift DJ, and he was pretty good.
The girls and I found some snacks and drinks and sat down to catch up. We were talking and laughing, when someone interrupted us.
"Hey, girls."
I knew that voice.
"Hey, Percy."
"Oh, hey Annabeth. Wow, you clean up nicely. Didn't think you owned a dress."
I blushed. Piper had put me in a blue party dress, simple but fun.
"I don't own this, actually. I borrowed it."
"To be honest, I didn't think you knew what a dress was."
I stuck my tongue out, but I couldn't suppress my blush. He cleaned up nicely, too, to say the least.
Percy had gone party-casual. Dark jeans, green Converse, and a black-and-green horizontal-striped button-down. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His hair wasn't perfectly in place, but it was gelled into a style that looked almost tame. His eyes popped. His cologne was intoxicating. So was his smile…
Stop it.
He flashed me a crooked grin. He opened his mouth, no doubt to tease me, but someone came up behind him and spoke first.
"These your friends?"
It was a girl. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, frizzy red curls that looked like they were about to pop the elastic that barely managed to contain them. Her bright green eyes flicked around from one of us to the other. Her purple dress was a little tighter, a little shorter, and a little lower at the neckline than mine.
Fantastic. He made a friend.
"Yeah, these are my friends Thalia, Piper, Katie, and Annabeth."
Oh, so I get mentioned last.
"Ladies, this is my friend Rachel."
My friends each introduced themselves, repeating their names. When Rachel stuck her hand out to me, I shook it a little harder than I meant to. I said my name a little harsher than I intended.
"Annabeth." It came out through gritted teeth.
She nodded, a little taken aback by my tone.
'Nice to meet you."
I simply nodded.
"So, Percy, I think we've met everyone. Oh! This is my favorite song! We should go dance!" She took his hand. Percy blushed. As Rachel led Percy away by the hand, I could feel myself getting mad. I wasn't sure why it bothered me so much, but for some reason, I got a bitter taste in my mouth, watching them. They disappeared into the crowd.
"Okay, Annabeth, spill. What is your problem?"
"Nothing, Katie. Why do you ask?"
Thalia rolled her eyes, "You obviously have a problem with Rachel. Why?"
"I don't have a problem with her, she seems… nice."
"Oh my gods," Piper looked at me funnily. I stared back. "Oh my gods."
My eyes widened as I realized what she was implying. "No!"
"Oh my gods! You like him!"
"No!"
"Yes! I mean, when I asked you about it, I was teasing and I thought maybe it wasn't true but you so do!"
"I do not!"
"You do to! You're jealous!"
"That's why you don't like that he's noticing Rachel!" Thalia added.
"I do not like him!"
"Aww, it's okay Annabeth," Katie reassured me, "He'll come around."
"I huffed. "You guys are awful. I told you – I do not like him and I don't care if he wants to date Rachel."
"Uh-huh."
"Sure."
"Whatever, Annabeth."
…
Luke's POV
The Styrofoam cup in my hand cracked as I squeezed it. If it had had anything in it, I would have punch all over me.
I watched Annabeth from across the room. I was planning on going over there when Percy approached. I was going to go anyway, since that didn't bother me, until I saw Annabeth blush because of something Percy said to her. When I saw the girl behind him, Rachel, I realized he was introducing her to the girls. That was when I saw Annabeth's jaw tighten and I realized she was jealous. Why would she be jealous, though?
Then it hit me – she must like him.
It shouldn't have bothered me. She had the right to be with whoever she wanted to be with. But I thought we had worked it out. I thought she liked me. I was only waiting for the right time to ask her out. Apparently, I'd waited too long.
But maybe Annabeth still liked me. Maybe she had been waiting for me to ask her out and thought I didn't like her, so she moved on. If I could make her jealous, though… I could probably fix this.
I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Silena smiling at me and batting her perfectly mascara-coated eyelashes.
"Hey, Luke. What's up?"
"Hey, Silena. Not much – how 'bout you?"
"Oh, just enjoying the party. I'm kinda lonely, though. Hey, wanna dance?"
I wasn't sure, but then I looked over at Annabeth. She and the girls had stopped talking to watch the dance floor and the people on it.
"Sure, Silena. Let's go over there - there aren't many people there."
I led her to an area near Annabeth. I glanced at her. She hadn't noticed me yet, but iFI stayed there long enough, she would. I turned my back towards her and focused on Silena. We had a light conversation, just some small talk, and every now and then I would turn us in a circle, just to make sure Annabeth saw that it was me, but I didn't break eye contact. At the end of the song, I glanced at where Annabeth was and saw that she wasn't there.
I scanned the room. There she was.
On the dance floor, dancing with her friends.
She hadn't been watching me. She hadn't seen me at all.
That's when I felt bad. I hadn't danced with Silena for fun, I had danced with her to try and make Annabeth jealous. I shouldn't try to use her. And I should let Annabeth be with whomever she leased.
"So, Luke, wanna dance some more or grab a snack?"
"Actually, Silena," I took a deep breath, "Look, I like you a lot, but as a friend. I just… I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but-"
"Annabeth?"
"Huh?"
"I can tell, Luke. Don't worry about it. Annabeth is a great girl and if you wanna be with her – go for it." She smiled sincerely.
"Thanks, Silena."
Of course! If you need any help, come to me. I am a love whisperer, I swear." She started to walk away.
"Oh, and Luke?"
"Yeah?"
She winked. "Invite me to the wedding."
…
A/N: Okay! Whoo! That was a long chapter! So, just so we're clear:
Athena was a little bit of a b-word. She is also very OOC in this chapter. Sorry, I try to stick to the books, but it had to be done to make this work as I wanted it to. On the bright side, Malcolm and Annabeth can have an even tighter bond now.
Annabeth is jealous that Percy notices Rachel and not her, but she isn't ready to outwardly admit it.
Luke is jealous that Annabeth likes Percy. He wanted to try and make her jealous, but that didn't work as Annabeth wasn't paying attention. He decides to do the right thing and not use Silena – I he wants to win over Annabeth, it'll have to be by his own terms.
So that's all for this chapter. Until next time!
R&R!
- Promise