I do not own most of the characters, nor most of the plot. I simply adapted it.

CHAPTER 18

When the party was over, and all the guests had gone home, Annabeth and Piper stayed behind to help clean up. The house was a wreck; cups and plates were scattered all over the place, bits and pieces of wrapping paper were strewn everywhere, and no one was in a cleaning mood at the moment. So instead, the family sat around in the living room, discussing any interesting matters from the party.

Lacy didn't have much to say; she seemed to be a bit off for some reason. She wasn't her usual, chipper self, and instead she was seemingly downcast. Mary was quiet as normal, as she had spent the party in the corner of the room with her book. Mr. Chase was just happy to have some semblance of peace and quiet again, even with Aphrodite and Drew being more ridiculous than usual, for whatever reason.

Annabeth and Piper just sat on the couch next to each other, watching as the youngest sister and her mother traipsed about the room, regaling the events of the party.

"Mrs. Demeter gave me the most beautiful faux fur throw blanket," Drew sang as she floated around the couch, "She got it monogrammed too."

"Oh I know my dear," Aphrodite replied, her voice lagging behind her hand motions. She had obviously had maybe one too many glasses of Moscato.

"But that Gucci wallet with the chain that Michelle gave me, ugh… tacky."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, along with most of the rest of the room.

"Did you guys see how Katie Gardiner and Travis Stoll were hanging out together?" Aphrodite ignored her daughter's complaint, moving on to more juicy gossip. "I do believe they're a thing now. It's somewhat odd, I always thought she found him annoying all this time."

Piper gave Annabeth a knowing look, before saying "Sometimes looks can be deceiving, mom."

"I'm not so sure they are together," Drew replied, "If they were, I don't see why she wouldn't be coming on the cruise with us."

Annabeth almost choked on her spit, "I'm sorry… cruise?"

"Oh, yes! I forgot to tell you about my favorite present!"

With that, Drew ran into the kitchen, and came back waving the ticket that Annabeth had seen earlier while she had been talking to Dr. Castellan.

"Travis and Connor got me this as a present," Drew explained excitedly, "They're going to the Caribbean on a cruise with a bunch of their friends, and they got me a ticket to come with them. Isn't that incredible?"

Annabeth couldn't help but think that this was a terrible idea. To send Drew, the goofiest, flirtiest girl this side of the city, on a cruise, by herself, with a bunch of other guys and girls just as silly as she is, was a recipe for disaster.

"Have our parents approved of this?" Annabeth asked pleadingly, hoping they would say they hadn't, or at least that they hadn't gotten around to discussing it yet. Then maybe she would still have time to enlighten them on her feelings towards this proposal.

"We've talked it over," Aphrodite said cheerfully, "And we think she'll have a great time."

Annabeth felt her face drop, along with her hopes of ever keeping a decent reputation for the family. She had always been extremely cautious when it came to exposing her family to certain precarious situations that might prove harmful to their goodwill. But maybe, due to recent events, she found herself wanting to be even more controlling than usual. Maybe it was all that recently discovered pride that Annabeth found she had deep within her.

She didn't have much time to worry about that for long however, as the family decided to change the subject, to something almost as frustrating.

"I say, Annabeth," Aphrodite spoke above the gleeful cheers of her youngest daughter, "How is dear Dr. Castellan doing? I noticed you only talked to him once maybe the whole night."

Drew ceased to jump about, and Annabeth could feel all the eyes on the room now on her. She shifted in her seat on the couch, switching her legs so that her left one was crossed over on top as oppose to being on bottom, and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"He's doing fine," was all she said in reply.

"Just fine?"

Annabeth nodded irritably.

"Is… is everything okay between you two?" Aphrodite asked cautiously, "I was under the impression that… you know?"

"That what?" the blonde girl asked sharply.

"That you two were kind of a thing," Drew replied for her mother. "I mean, when you invited him over for dinner that one night, I just assumed it wouldn't be long before you and he made it official." There was a tone in the stepsister's voice, and a way that she giggled while speaking, covering her mouth with her hand as if trying to hide the fact that she for some reason thought this was funny.

Annabeth turned her head to see Piper giving her a pitying look.

"Well, you assumed wrong," the blonde sister said, turning her head back towards her family.

"But what about when you two danced at Katie Gardiner's birthday party?" Aphrodite shrieked, as it became apparent the woman had been counting on the union of her eldest daughter and the doctor.

"It just didn't work out," Annabeth replied nonchalantly.

Her stepmother's mouth hung open in disbelief, and the woman began angrily pacing around the living room, as her husband watched on in amusement from his recliner.

"What is with you and these gentlemen, Annabeth?" Aphrodite's voice was scolding and full of exasperation, "First, Mr. Collins, who was a very fine prospect indeed, and now, Dr. Castellan, who could only be topped by Jason Grace himself when it came to charisma and pleasantry. And yet, you threw them both away! And for what? So that I may sit here and watch my family rot because one of my eldest daughters has been thrown under the bus by her fancy, and the other has no desire to find a man and keep him!"

"Mother!" Piper spoke up.

"Hush now, Piper!" Aphrodite shut down her daughter's interjection.

"You do not know everything," Annabeth spoke again, "You have no idea what Dr. Castellan is really like."

"Dr. Castellan?! You mean the man who came here and was perfectly delightful to every single person in this house? The man who literally saves people's lives for a living?"

Annabeth knew it was useless to try to argue any further on the subject, since all of her family other than Piper were still blinded by Luke's charming guiles, much like she had once been. So she remained in her seat, with her arms crossed, glaring at nothing in particular.

Drew now decided to run her big mouth again.

"Really, Annabeth? I don't see how you can speak of him so, especially since you know what he endured at the hands of Mr. Jackson."

That got the blonde girl's blood boiling, and she whipped her head around to scowl at her stepsister. But Annabeth couldn't say anything; she couldn't rush to the defense of Mr. Jackson like she found herself wanting to, which was something Annabeth never would have believed she would find herself wanting to do. But her she was, unable to tell the truth because he had asked her to keep it a secret. Not like her family would believe her if she told them anyways, so she just continued to say nothing.

Mr. Chase now rose from his recliner, and announced to the family that he was retiring to his office for a bit, and then promptly left. Annabeth got up from the couch to follow him, ignoring the gazes of her siblings and stepmother.

"Annabeth?" her father said puzzlingly, as she closed the sliding doors behind her, and walked into his home office. "What is it, my dear?"

"I need to talk to you about Drew."

Her dad nodded his head, and sat down again in his chair, and motioned for her to do the same in the other chair.

"I suppose this is about the cruise, am I correct?"

"It's a foolish idea, and you know it," Annabeth replied as she sat in the cushioned seat.

"I don't see how, but I will hear your case nonetheless."

His daughter took a deep breath, and clasped both of her hands together on top of her knee.

"You know that Drew is somewhat silly… actually, I take that back. She's very silly, dad. She flirts with anything that breathes and has a wallet, and not to mention, she also has no self-control, and no filter when it comes to what she says. And I just think that it would be a very, very poor decision to let her go on this cruise by herself, with no one to reign her in. She'll be surrounded by girls just as silly as she is, and that's not even considering the guys she will be hanging out with. "

Mr. Chase nodded attentively as he listened to what she said, and once Annabeth was finished speaking, he placed both of his hands on the desk in front of him, and spoke in a controlled manner.

"I know you think that Drew will be the undoing of us all, my dear, but maybe you should consider the fact that she is not a little girl anymore, and while, yes, she may still live in this house, I can't keep forbidding her from doing what she wants forever."

"But think about what I could mean for the family if something were to happen. You know she's perfectly capable of doing something that would reflect horrifically on all of us."

"Sweetheart listen to me," her father reached across the desk and clasped one of her own hands in his, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, in the way that he always knew would calm her down. "No matter what your younger sisters do to ruin their own reputation, you should rest easy knowing that, despite the ridiculousness that may overrun this family, you and Piper will always be known as respectable, level-headed, intelligent girls, who any man would consider himself lucky to have."

Annabeth's eyes widened, and her eyebrows rose on her forehead, in response to last part. Mr. Chase noticed her reaction, and chuckled slightly.

"That's what this is about isn't it?" he said amusingly.

"What-what do you mean?" Annabeth sounded like she was a little short of breath.

"Well, I'm guessing you're telling me all this, because some of your sister's actions, and possibly even your stepmother's, have scared off a number of your suitors… am I wrong?"

The daughter was dumbstruck, and she proceeded to hotly deny any such reasonings for her bringing up this subject.

"So," her father looked at her curiously, "this had nothing to do with the reason you and Dr. Castellan aren't talking anymore? He wasn't scared off by Drew or Lacy's antics, was he?"

"No," Annabeth replied adamantly, "That has nothing to do with it, I- "

She wanted to believe that it had nothing to do with it. That she was genuinely concerned about the family's reputation for the family's sake, not because she cared about outside opinions. Certainly not because some guy had ill views on her family, enough to make him believe that any union with them was a mistake. This is what Annabeth told herself over and over again, until she believed it completely… mostly.

Mr. Chase let go of her hand, and leaned back in his chair, "Whatever you say, my dear."

I know this was a shorter chapter than normal, but hopefully you can forgive me.