R&R plz

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

CHAPTER 22

It was of little surprise to Annabeth at her not feeling completely welcome at Callisto, when she and Claire were led into a large drawing room, and she beheld the younger Grace sister reclining on the couch. She was now convinced of the girl having been jealous of her at some point, which Annabeth only realized when Perseus Jackson's affections for her were first revealed a little over four months ago. Whether that jealousy still permeated, she still had yet to find out.

The elder Grace sister, Mallory, and her husband were present as well, as was Mrs. Blofis, and a man whom Annabeth assumed to be the feigned 'housekeeper's' husband, Mr. Blofis. He was a friendly looking man, with dark hair sprinkled with flecks of grey, who looked almost a bit younger than Annabeth assumed he actually was.

Then of course, there was Estelle Jackson, who had greeted them at the door along with her brother and Jason Grace. Like she had promised, she also wore jeans and a plain t-shirt, and the outfit matched her hidden 'carefree' personality. Mr. Jackson and Jason had taken Malcolm to go look at the garage, while the girls, willing to give the men their time to be 'boys', made their way into the house.

As soon as Jennifer Grace made eye contact with Annabeth, her eyes narrowed, and she, adorned in her evening dress, cast glances back and forth between Annabeth and Miss Jackson. She gave no indication of wishing to greet any of the newly arrived party, and so they walked on past her. Mallory and her husband were decent enough to give a slight nod in acknowledgement at least, but nothing else.

Annabeth and Claire followed Miss Jackson over to where Mrs. Blofis and her husband had previously been sitting, but had now stood to greet the two women.

"I must say," Mrs. Blofis remarked amusingly, "I didn't expect to see either of you back so soon."

"I confess, I didn't expect to be back anytime either," Annabeth replied in the same humorous manner.

Mrs. Blofis gave her a teasing look, not unlike the one she had given yesterday.

"I believe you may be more familiar with my son than you originally let on, my dear."

Annabeth blushed slightly, but still managed to reply with, "To be fair, at the time, I didn't know he was your son."

This caused the man standing next to Mrs. Blofis to laugh abundantly, and he wrapped an arm around the shoulder of the elder lady.

"She's gotcha there honey."

"Oh hush, Paul," Mrs. Blofis said, smacking the arm of the man who was now confirmed to be her husband, while still smiling with delight.

The man now stepped forward and introduced himself, "Paul Blofis, it's nice to meet you two ladies."

After introductions were made, people began to settle back into their seats, and Annabeth tried to pass the time, as she waited for the guys to return. She had been eagerly awaiting, and also dreading this moment ever since lunch earlier that day. For hours, her mind was not able to concentrate, as it was distracted by the concerns of Annabeth's feelings towards Perseus Jackson.

She certainly did not hate him, that's for sure. Her detesting of Mr. Jackson had ended long ago, beginning with the day she first read his letter. Since then, she had felt nothing but shame for ever hating him, and she slowly, but not admittedly, gained a strong respect for his virtuous qualities. And with his newly found sense of dignity and courtesy, she had even dared to think of him in a friendly nature. And yet, there was still something more, this sense of appreciativeness that she felt towards him, for not only having once liked her, but also for liking her just enough to forgive her for having treated him with such contempt once upon a time.

He had every right to treat as harshly as she had once treated him, and Annabeth had fully expected him to do so. She should have been Mr. Jackson's ultimate foe, and yet, upon their chance meeting, with the circumstances such that her motives could have been so gravely misunderstood, he had been nothing but genteel, and kind. He had seemed almost eager to make sure that there was no bad blood between them, and he never acted oddly, such as to suggest an awkward tension between the two of them. He never spoke badly of her, at least not that she knew of, and he even went so far as to introduce Annabeth to his sister.

She could only assume that he was able to act so completely at ease with everything because his affections had long since diminished, and though she found this just so faintly disappointing, Annabeth thought little of it.

Conversation flowed quite easily between Claire, Mr. and Mrs. Blofis (who had insisted on everyone calling her 'Sally'), and Annabeth, with random interjections from the elder Miss Grace or her husband, and some small tidbits from the shy Miss Jackson. Jennifer Grace said nothing, but she watched the group with aggressively inquisitive eyes, take special notice of whenever Annabeth and Miss Jackson appeared to trade words.

Estelle was anxious to ask Annabeth more about her drawing, specifically when it came to architecture, and she went so far as to go and grab some pictures out of her special room given to her by her brother, bringing back some attempts she had undertaken at drawing buildings. The two girls paired off on their own, as no one else found real interest in the subject, and Annabeth was more than happy to give pointers to the younger girl on certain elements of her drawings. She also made sure to take ample opportunity to praise Miss Jackson's artistic ability, as while the girl may have needed a confidence boost, she was hardly lacking in raw talent.

This served to distract Annabeth from the tension in the room, one that seemed to buzz more with the impending arrival of Perseus Jackson. When the man himself did finally arrive, followed closely by Malcolm and Jason, there didn't seem to be any lessening or relief from the atmospheric friction. It was as if all eyes, especially those of Jennifer Grace, froze on one of two people, with one of the recipients of those gazes being Annabeth.

The men mingled their way around the room, with Malcolm moving to join his wife, Jason taking respite on one of the couches, and Mr. Jackson joining his friend, but only after glancing briefly at Annabeth and his sister. As she looked up to meet his gaze, Annabeth saw the obvious signs of pleasure and gratitude in his eyes, before he swiftly took his seat next to Jason.

As Jennifer Grace began her attempts to garner Mr. Jackson's attention, it was announced by Mrs. Blofis that dinner would be served shortly, and kindly woman moved from her spot on the couch to go prepare the table. Annabeth, attempting to be a civil guest, got up and offered to help her set the dishes out, but as she moved across the room to join Mrs. Blofis, she felt a hand grasping her arm ever so slightly, and she looked down to see Jennifer Grace staring back up at her, her eyes gleaming with disruption.

"Dear Miss Chase, tell me, I seem to recall that you were holding the fancy of a certain Dr. Castellan not too long ago, am I correct?"

The blonde woman stiffened immediately at the mention of him, as did most of the room. Annabeth glanced up briefly to take in the look of the raven-haired man still sitting on the couch. His face was one of a blank expression, having suddenly shifted from his calm demeanor, and now, his eyes were the only thing that truly betrayed his emotions. They were the same swirling, green whirlpools of fury that Annabeth had seen when he had first beheld Luke and her talking at the park. A brief peek at Miss Jackson, and she saw that the poor girl was staring at her brother with a look of confusion, which then led to Estelle hanging her head with a guilty expression.

Annabeth tried to defuse the situation as best she could.

"Perhaps once," she replied meekly.

"Really? So it is no longer going steady for you two? I must say I'm surprised, as I heard you held such a high regard for him."

Surely, Jennifer couldn't have known just how much pain she was causing not only Annabeth, but also the entire Jackson family as a whole. At least, Annabeth assumed she couldn't know, otherwise Miss Grace would have kept her mouth shut regarding the matter, as she no doubt meant to degrade only Annabeth in Mr. Jackson's eyes, not herself as well.

"I've been enlightened since then, now if you will excuse me," Annabeth subtly wrenched her wrist out of the assertive sister's grasp, "I'm going to help set the table."

With that, she walked over to join Mrs. Blofis, who had been watching the exchange with a shocked, but also awed, expression. As the two women turned to leave the room, Annabeth stopped just before exiting, and glanced back at the room momentarily, and she managed to catch a glimpse of Perseus Jackson's face. The storm in his eyes had abated, and he had regained his relaxed countenance, but there was also a hint of gratitude in his complexion.

They held each other's gazes for a moment, before Annabeth fully disappeared around the corner.

…..

Dinner was a lot less uneventful, which everyone was thankful for in some sense. Mrs. Blofis had prepared an extravagant meal of Chicken Tikka Masala, and it wasn't long before most of the attendees were too caught up in their eating to discuss much. Malcolm and Claire both made pleasant conversation with the Mr. Blofis, while Annabeth was being probed about her job by Mrs. Blofis, who seemed to have taken a unique interest in her. This did not go unnoticed by anyone, especially Mr. Jackson, and also Jennifer Grace, who continued to glare at Annabeth hatefully.

Estelle Jackson had not spoken since the incident in the drawing room, and she merely contented herself with playing with her dinner using her fork. Annabeth noticed that while Miss Jackson had sat in the seat next to Jason, it did not seem to be by design or by some standard, but merely a coincidence. Nor did the two engage in much conversation, as Miss Jackson did not speak at all, and Jason seemed much more interested in the ongoing dialogue between Annabeth and Mrs. Blofis.

This pretty much confirmed Annabeth's suspicions about the man, and she now only had to decide how to proceed with this information in regards to her sister.

After dinner was finished, and the visiting party prepared to leave, they were accompanied by the whole of the Jackson/Blofis family, as well as Jason, to their car. Send-offs were given all around, and Annabeth was even surprised by a timid, but genuine hug from Miss Jackson, who then stepped back next to her brother. Perseus Jackson was shaking the hand of her cousin, and after Malcolm had moved on towards the car, he turned to give Annabeth his regards.

"We would love to have all of you out one last time before your vacation is over," he remarked. "Perhaps we can count on you joining us again tomorrow night?"

Sea-green eyes met stormy grey ones, and Annabeth's lips turned up with no small sense of delight.

"I would… we would love to."

Mr. Jackson was about to respond, but he was cutoff suddenly by his mother, who called out from behind him, "Ask her if she wants to come by every night!"

There was a collective eye roll from the Jackson siblings, as well as Mr. Blofis, who chided his wife for her enthused embarrassment of her son. Annabeth chuckled softly, before she waved to the group, and stepped into the car.

…..

The sendoff party returned to the drawing room after the guests had left, and while his mother and her husband retired to their bedroom for the night, Percy stayed up a little while longer, along with Jason, Estelle, and the Grace sisters, while Mallory's husband lay conked out on one of the couches.

Jennifer was ranting on about the faults of Miss Chase's appearance and manners, and it seemed she was trying to get Estelle to join her in her accusations, but the young girl would not give her the satisfaction. Thanks to Percy's approvals that he had voiced repeatedly to Miss Jackson regarding the eldest Chase daughter, she was already inclined to find Annabeth to be nothing but lovely and amiable. If her brother's recommendations had not already done so, though she had learned to never doubt her brother's judgement, then Estelle's time spent in person with the blonde genius would have won her over eventually.

So Miss Jackson remained completely silent, as she and the rest of the room listened with either irritation or indifference as Jennifer ranted on about the ineptitudes of Miss Chase.

"I swear, Perseus, if Miss Chase gets any more tan, I think she'll end up with skin cancer."

Percy was not in any mood to hear the girl's tirades.

"Highly unlikely; the only risk factor she possesses is her blonde hair."

"Ah yes, her hair," Jennifer rose from her seat and haughtily strode about the room, "Such an extraordinary characteristic of hers, is it not, Mallory?"

Her sister giggled with glee.

"And," Jennifer continued, "I do recall when we were first getting settled at Alambria, that she was considered a stunning beauty in the eyes of the local businessmen. Maybe not on the same level as her dear stepsister, but still. I have to confess however, that I never saw what the fuss was all about. There is nothing truly elegant about her; her face, her complexion, her features, none of them are anything worth discussing in my opinion."

Percy just sat there listening, but not really giving any heed to what the woman was saying, as nothing, especially not the words of a jealous female, could sway him from his convictions now.

Miss Grace, unaware of how little her words were helping her cause, did not stop.

"And her eyes, which I often was told, were said to be incredible sights, and to be calculating and almost frightening… well, I found them rather dull, and nothing more than a boring shade of grey."

She then turned to give Percy a bemused look, and sauntered towards him until she stood not a few feet before him.

"But what do you think, good sir? I do recall, Perseus, that on the night of the very first gala hosted by Mrs. Gardiner, that you yourself, told our dear Jason that, and I quote, 'She's nothing special', and then you said you were not a big fan of blondes, correct?"

Jennifer did not notice the way Percy's head dropped a little lower, as he twisted the college ring on his finger.

"I cannot deny that," was all the dark-haired man said.

Seemingly pleased with this reaction, the younger Grace sister made her way back over to where she had previously been sitting on the couch. But the triumphant smirk on her face did not last long, as Percy then rose from his seat, his mind full of resolve as he spoke.

"I most certainly did not care for her at the time, but trust me when I say that it has been many months since I have thought that Annabeth Chase was the most intelligent, and magnificent girl I have ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on."

He ignored the shocked looks from everyone present, including those of Jason and Estelle, and strode out of the room. Jennifer Grace could only watch as he stormed off, leaving her to reflect on the words that he had spoken, words that brought anguish to her, and her only.

…..

Annabeth had not been expecting to hear from Piper all weekend, but she came back from the beach to find her phone flooded with missed calls, and several texts from her sister begging her to call as soon as possible. Malcolm and Claire had gone for a walk on the beach, and so Annabeth was left alone in the lodge, as she, after changing clothes, with her hair still dripping, finally got around to calling Piper back.

"Annabeth, thank gods!" Her sister's voice was shrill and unsettling.

"Piper, what's going on? What's the matter? Is everyone alright?"

Piper took a deep breath to calm herself, giving Annabeth's heart just enough time to escalate its beating.

"We're all fine Annabeth, well, everyone except Drew."

"What happened? Is she alright?"

"She's not hurt or anything, it's just that…" Piper's voice trailed off.

"What?! It's just what?"

"She's pregnant, Annabeth."

…

The phone almost slipped out of the blonde girl's hand, and she was pretty sure her heart stopped beating altogether for a split second.

"How… how could she possibly- "

Annabeth answered her own question in her head.

The cruise.

Piper, as if reading her mind, said, "She's been on the cruise for two months, and when she arrived at the airport earlier today, she was just starting to show. I got her a pregnancy test on the way home, and it came back positive."

Annabeth said nothing, her mind still trying process the fact that her youngest stepsister was pregnant. Then, just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, Piper spoke timidly again.

"There's something else you should know, Annabeth… We- we think we know who the father is."

At first, the suspense was killing Annabeth, as she was anxious to discover the identity of the man who had impregnated her stepsister, but as soon as Piper spoke, Annabeth wished she could have stayed in that suspenseful limbo forever instead.

"It's Luke."

The words stabbed her like a jagged knife.

"L-Luke?"

"Yeah," was all her sister could reply with.

There was silence for a few minutes, as Annabeth had to come to terms with what she had just been told.

"But how? I didn't even think he was going on the cruise?"

"Neither did any of us, but it would explain why he seemingly disappeared after Drew left."

"Has Drew said anything?" Annabeth asked pleadingly.

"You're not gonna like what I have to say, Annabeth."

"It can't be much worse than what you've already said."

She soon learned that, in fact, it can get worse. Much, much worse.

"According to Drew, she and Luke have been messing around ever since… ever since we first met Luke at the park."

The reality of what Piper had said set in very quickly for Annabeth. Not only had she been deceived by Luke in more ways than one, he had used her own stepsister as one of his means for going behind her back.

"Apparently, they got carried away on the cruise," Piper continued, "And she thinks they conceived within the very first week of being on the ship. And Annabeth, it doesn't get any better, because Drew seems to believe that she's in love. But Luke, ever since the cruise got back, he's been missing, and no one seems to know of his whereabouts. Not even Travis and Connor, who swear that they had no idea what he had been doing this whole time. Drew doesn't know where he's gone; either that or she won't betray him, since she thinks they're in love. We've already talked to the police, and they have been asking around at the hospital, but it seems he hasn't shown up or spoken to anyone there. And they can't track his cell, saying he probably turned it off, or even got a new one."

Piper had been talking about a mile a minute, but she suddenly stopped, and Annabeth could hear faint whimpering coming from her sister on the other end of the line.

"Annabeth, I'm scared. Do you know what this will do to our family if Luke doesn't come back and marry Drew? We'll all be known as sluts; a sisterhood of whores who mess around with any man willing to throw a penny at us."

Annabeth could feel her own tears starting to pool, as she realized that Piper was right, that their reputation as a family would be ruined. Luke held all of the power now; their future as a family was in his hands, and as circumstances would have it, Annabeth could see no reason for Luke wanting to come back, marry Drew, and take care of his baby.

"Annabeth, we need you here… can you come home as soon as possible?"

"Yes," the blonde girl sniffled, "I'll find Malcolm and Claire, and we'll leave as soon as we can."

After she hung up, Annabeth felt that she could hold it no longer, and she burst into sobs. It wasn't the sweet, pretty sort of crying either. It was full blown sobbing that made her eyes red, and her cheeks puffy, and caused the neck of her shirt to become soaked from the tears dripping down her cheeks.

After about ten minutes of uncontrolled crying, Annabeth tried to regain her composure, and to focus on the task at hand, which was finding her cousins. She knew they had been walking along the beach, but couldn't have gone far, and so she ran for the front door, swinging it open, only to reveal Perseus Jackson, looking like he was about to knock on the door himself.

They stared at each other with astonished expressions, until Annabeth finally broke down, and collapsed into him unexpectedly, weeping into his shoulder. Mr. Jackson was frozen for a couple seconds, but he quickly recovered, and wrapped his arms warily around her. Annabeth barely processed the fact that this was the closest she had ever been to the man, and that he still smelled deeply like the ocean.

"My word, Annabeth, are you okay?" He asked concerningly. "What is going on?"

Annabeth, coming to her sense a little bit, removed herself from his arms, and in between sniffles, she managed to say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson, but I need to find Malcolm and Claire now. It's urgent."

"Where are they? And have you tried calling them?"

Annabeth confessed that in her disarray, she had not thought of doing that.

"Hand me your phone," Mr. Jackson demanded, "What should I tell them is the matter?"

"Just tell them that they need to get back here as quickly as possible."

After he had gotten a hold of Malcolm, and informed them of Annabeth's request, he set down her phone, and guided her back into the living room, sitting her down on a couch, before pulling up a chair of his own.

"Now," Mr. Jackson said calmly, "Tell me what's wrong. Are you sick? Is your family alright?"

"I'm fine," she replied sharply, before berating herself for her unkind tone. "Forgive me, Mr. Jackson, it's just that I'm very upset right now, as you can see obviously. I… I just got off the phone with my sister, Piper, and she told me some very distressing news."

Annabeth wiped the cheeks from her eyes, even though they were soon replaced by new ones running down her cheeks.

"My youngest stepsister, Drew, has just gotten back from her two-month cruise, and it is has been discovered that she is pregnant, by none other than Luke Castellan, no less."

As she revealed this information, Mr. Jackson did not move, nor did he even shift slightly. Instead, he just listened intently as Annabeth gave him all of the details that she herself knew, about how Drew and Luke had been going behind her back the entire time, and about how Luke was now seemingly missing.

"This is why I need to leave as soon as possible, so that I can be there for my family. Even though I'm afraid it will not matter, as Luke will no doubt not come back to marry Drew, and our reputation as a family will be ruined. And what's worse still, is that I knew what he was like, and I should have known something like this would have happened. I could have prevented it…"

Annabeth took a deep breath, trying not to break down in front of Mr. Jackson again. The man sat there still, and he made no move to comfort her, to pity her, to show his compassion towards her. She was grateful for this, as stupid as it was; she felt that she could at least somewhat retain some of her dignity. Perseus Jackson then rose from his chair, and paced about the room.

"Are you certain he is the father?"

Annabeth nodded, "Drew confirmed it herself. She did not sleep with anyone else."

"Can anyone confirm that he is still in the city?"

"The police assume so, since he has no connections or family outside of New York. But he can't stay here for long, lest he risk being found, and they suspect he'll probably try to leave the city within the month, at which point, it will be over for us."

Perseus Jackson continued pacing back and forth, his mind seeming to be in deep deliberation. As Annabeth watched him, her heart sank, for she knew that if he hadn't already, he would soon realize that her family's disgrace would bring her down as well. Everyone knew that she, herself, had once been close with Dr. Castellan, and when the news eventually gets out about Drew, the rumors would start flying. And there was no way that Perseus Jackson would be seen in company with a girl who was the subject of rumors concerning herself and Luke Castellan.

Finally, Mr. Jackson stopped pacing, and he turned to look at Annabeth with a look of strange resolve on his face.

"I guess this means that I should inform Estelle of your not being able to make it to dinner tonight?"

"I'm afraid so," Annabeth replied between sniffles, "Please tell her I'm extremely sorry, but a family emergency requires my leaving Long Island."

The man nodded, and as he turned to leave, Annabeth got up, and called to him as he was headed towards the door.

"Please, for as long as you can, conceal the truth of what really happened. I know it won't be long before the truth gets out, but until then, I'm begging you…"

"You have my word," he then moved to open the door, but was stopped once again by Annabeth placing her hand on his arm.

She knew that it was very likely that after this moment, she would never see him again, and there was something that Annabeth did not want to leave unsaid.

"I'm sorry for everything," She hoped he got the overall idea of just how grateful she was. "Thank you… Perseus."

He smiled just slightly at the use of his name, before replying, "I wish you the best, Miss Chase."

He left after that, and Annabeth just stood there in the hallway, where she, for the first time, realized what he had called her earlier.

Annabeth.

It didn't matter though, as she had just as quickly gone back to being Miss Chase, and now, she knew she was never going to see Perseus Jackson again.

….

Well, we got a little bit of everything this chapter. A little bit of fluff, a little bit of angst… and a whole lotta deep 'ish' being discovered.

If you enjoyed, please leave a review! If you did not enjoy, still leave a review with some CC. Thanks!