I'm laughing because I'm now starting to realize that the only problem with using a plot from an extremely famous book is that almost all of you have an idea of what's going to happen. No worries though, as I'm trying to keep it as unpredictable as possible, while still following along the same general lines of the original plot. I'm not creative enough to come up with a completely new ending for this story myself, plus, Jane Austen's ending for P&P is too good not to use (somewhat, I'll have a lot of differences.)

Do me a favor. Keep your reviews coming, but maybe try not to spoil too much for those readers who may have not read the original P&P by Jane Austen, or seen any of the movie adaptations.

Love you guys!

I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick does. Nor do I own Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen does.

CHAPTER 23

The drive home from Long Island was a solemn one, but not without conversation. Instead of regaling happy memories of touring the Callisto, or dining with the Jacksons, Annabeth found herself in deep, angsty discussion on a subject that she had hoped to never speak of again.

"The more I think about it," Claire said, "The more I come to wonder how Dr. Castellan could have taken such a risk as he has done. I mean, consider this. There is no possible way he couldn't have known the hazards that came with going behind your back, Annabeth, with your sister, and then disappearing the way he did."

"Explain, honey," Malcolm said from the driver's seat.

"Well, imagine if he had been caught with Drew back when he was still talking to Annabeth. Dr. Castellan is smart man, no doubt, and I can't seem to concede that he would take such a risky move. Such a discovery at that time would have ruined his reputation, and he would have faced severe consequences both socially, and professionally. It doesn't add up with his lifestyle. I mean, the man is a doctor, and he surely didn't get to where he was now by taking such extreme, gambling measures. And then abandoning his unborn child like that could be grounds for harsh penal consequences, at least I would imagine."

"Not exactly," Annabeth spoke up from the backseat, "Under New York state law, as long as he leaves the child under the care of someone who is considered 'capable' of taking care of the child, he is under no obligation by the law to return."

Claire turned to stare back at the blonde girl, and Malcolm chuckled.

"Her dad's a lawyer, remember?"

"So… Dr. Castellan could really just up and leave the city, and we'd have no basis by which to force him to return and marry Drew?"

"Pretty much."

Claire slumped down into her seat, copying the pose that Annabeth had been in for the entire car ride. She had long since run out of tears in her body to use, and now she was just in a numb state of mind, with only the faint sound of some sort of buzzing registering in her head. The weight Annabeth felt on her shoulders could only be comparable to holding up the sky, and it didn't seem like anyone was coming to help her anytime soon.

"What I don't understand," her cousin went on with his turn to speak, "Is how Dr. Castellan could have done such a thing like this?"

Annabeth sat up in her seat a little bit straighter, as she was fully prepared for what she was about to have to do. Malcolm chatted on.

"He has always seemed to be the most good-natured sort of man, and even if his recollection of Mr. Jackson was much harsher that I believed it should be, that doesn't make him a man who is capable of doing something like this."

"You don't know what he is really like," Annabeth replied, her voice flat, and without inflection.

Malcolm brought the car to a halt at a stoplight, and both he and Claire now turned to look back at their cousin, who was staring at her lap, as her fingers played idly with one another.

"Is there something you want to tell us, Annabeth?" Malcolm asked quizzically.

"Let's just say that Luke Castellan is not who any of us thought he was. If you remember how he described his treatment at the hands of Mr. Jackson, and how he portrayed the man in such a horrendous light, well, you may have already figured out that everything he said was a lie. At least everything unpleasant he said about Perseus Jackson, and Miss Jackson as well."

She then proceeded to tell them about how the fallout between Luke and Perseus really went down, only leaving out the part regarding Miss Estelle.

"And there is more that he has done, which I'm afraid that I cannot say, as Mr. Jackson has asked me to keep silent on that particular matter. But trust me when I say that it makes this act done by Dr. Castellan to be all more easily believable."

Malcolm and Claire were both silent for a long time, the only sound coming from the car itself, as they drove on down the road.

"So," the brunette woman finally spoke again, "Is it safe to assume that this is why you and Dr. Castellan were no longer… a thing, shall we say?"

Annabeth nodded her head.

"It was my fault that this happened, really."

"Don't say that, Annabeth," Malcolm scolded.

"But it's true!"

"There was no way you could have known."

But Annabeth had already run everything she remembered from the past half a year back through her mind over and over. She remembered how Drew suddenly defended Dr. Castellan after her birthday party, and Annabeth thought about how blind she had been, knowing what she knew about the man.

Perseus' words came back to haunt her, Prejudices can be a dangerous thing, Miss Chase.

"Perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves," Claire said, trying to be reassuring, "It may be possible that Luke does intend on marrying Drew at some point after all. It hasn't even been a day, and maybe, he'll show up sooner or later."

"Highly doubt it," Annabeth replied.

"Why?"

"Because," the blonde girl shook her head, "Just before I learned about his true character, Luke was going to ask me out."

"Okay… but wasn't that months ago? Thing could have changed since then."

Annabeth could appreciate Claire trying to make some light out of this situation, but she knew it was a hopeless cause.

"Yeah, but he was still messing around with Drew behind my back the whole time. Does that sound like the sort of man who would come back?"

Neither of her cousins said anything, and they continued on for the rest of trip in relative silence.

…..

Piper scampered out of the house as soon as they pulled into the driveway, and Annabeth flew out of the car before Malcolm had even put it in park. She embraced her sister, who looked to be in even worse shape than Annabeth, as tears filled both of their eyes again.

She did not waste a moment in asking, "Has there been any news since we last spoke?"

"None I'm afraid," Piper replied solemnly, "Dad has gone into the city to check up with any of his connections in the medical field, and see if they possibly know anything regarding Luke's whereabouts."

"And Drew," Annabeth asked warily, "How is she?"

"As far as the pregnancy goes, all is fine. As for Drew herself, she's… surprisingly calm, I daresay."

Malcolm and Claire then came up, and each greeted Piper, expressing their sorrowful regards as they did so.

"I'm so sorry you had to cut your vacation short- "

"Oh hush, dear," Claire chided, "Of course we had to leave. Even if Annabeth weren't with us, we still would have come immediately. Now… where is your mother?"

Aphrodite looked like she hadn't slept in a week, even though it hadn't even been a day since the news had broke regarding Luke's disappearance. Her hair was in a shape that Annabeth knew her stepmother would never allow it to be under normal circumstances. For once in her life, Aphrodite had no makeup on, and she apparently had not left the house at all.

Her face brightened somewhat upon seeing Annabeth, and she swept across the room to embrace her stepdaughter.

"Oh Annabeth, thank goodness you're here. Ever since your father left, I have been going completely out of my mind!"

Aphrodite then greeted Malcolm and Claire, stating how happy she was to see both of them. General inquiring was made all around as to everybody's health, and emotional state. There seemed to be a general consensus, that everybody was uncertain, astonished, and above all, frightened. Mary and Lacy sat in the living room as well, and they both looked on with little to say, but very concerned expressions on either of their faces.

"Where's Drew?" Annabeth finally asked.

Both Piper and Aphrodite looked at each other with apprehension, before the mother turned to look back at Annabeth.

"She's up in her room. But Annabeth, I think maybe you should wait- "

The blonde woman didn't listen, as she was already making her way towards the stairs, only stopping when she heard her sister call out.

"Annabeth, wait!" Piper exclaimed.

She turned back around to glance at her sister, whose face was overcome with worry.

"Go easy on her," was all Piper said, and Annabeth nodded, before proceeding on up the stairs.

Drew was laying in her bed, surrounded by pink and purple throw pillows, as she stared up at the ceiling. She didn't make any move, or any sound to acknowledge the person entering, instead choosing to continue on in her deafening calmness. As Annabeth approached the bed, she could see that even laying down, you could most definitely make out the beginnings of a baby bump starting to show. It made her shudder to think that that child was Luke's, and she tried not to imagine what was going to happen to this baby if he didn't come back.

Drew was not ready to be a mother; she was still a teenager, and had the maturity of a prepubescent. She would have all the support she needed from her family, to be sure, though Annabeth didn't exactly feel inclined to help the girl who had gone behind her back with Luke, even if that girl was still her stepsister. But if Drew were going to keep this baby, it would need a father figure in its life, and a family with only daughters wasn't exactly well equipped to provide that.

Annabeth now saw that Drew had finally sat up, and was now staring at her, with an unsurprised expression.

"I figured you'd be here soon," was all she said in greeting.

"Really? How so?" Annabeth responded.

"Because, you always thought that I would be the one to ruin this family's reputation, and well, here you are, ready to bask in your being right."

"I don't think there's anything about this situation that's worth gloating over, Drew."

The younger stepsister chuckled.

"It's a shame, I was kind of hoping you would."

Drew nonchalantly laid back down on her bed, and Annabeth crossed her arms over her chest in exasperation.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I suppose there's no harm in telling you this, since you've decided for once not to be the 'proud' sister. I was hoping you would act all high and mighty in your believing that I had truly torn our reputation down. And I would just sit there and listen, biding my time, because I knew that at some point, Luke would come back. And then, I would rub it all in your face."

Annabeth chose to ignore the fact that her stepsister had literally plotted an elaborate scheme, based on her delusions regarding Luke, to humiliate her older stepsister by getting the last laugh.

"He's not coming back, Drew."

"That's what everyone has been telling me, Piper especially, as if she knows him better than I do. As if any of you know Luke better than I do."

"But you don't know him truly, just trust me-"

Drew shot out of bed, and quickly approached Annabeth in an aggressive manner. The blonde woman may have been somewhat intimidated if she wasn't quite a few inches taller than her stepsister, and if she also were not trained in basic self-defense.

"Oh, and you think you do?!" Drew spat, shoving her finger in Annabeth's face. "Just because you once cared for him? Seeing as how you then dropped him like a sack of bricks, I don't think so!"

"There was a reason I quit talking to Luke," Annabeth said, trying to keep her composure, but Drew wouldn't listen to her at this point.

"After you rejected him, I was there to comfort him. And who would have thought it would lead to something like this?"

"And what is this, Drew?"

"Love," was all the naïve girl said in reply, her voice light and melancholy.

Annabeth scoffed, "Looks to me like he knocked you up, and then left before he got stuck with child support."

Drew whipped around, her eyes glowing with wrath.

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really? Look around you Drew! He's not here, and he's not coming back! How do I know this you ask?" Annabeth stepped closer to her stepsister, who did look truly intimidated a bit, but hid it well. "Because I know that you and him were doing it behind my back! I know that he deceived me, making me think that I was possibly in love with him, all the while, he was fooling around with my own stepsister."

Annabeth hissed the last word, before taking a step away, creating some space between herself and Drew.

"That's how I know that he won't come back, because it's the kind of person he is."

And with that, she walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. As she trotted down the stairs, Annabeth thought about the words that had spilled out of her mouth almost with her even thinking about them. She thought about how Luke truly had deceived her, and how she had been too blind to see it. Too proud to even consider the possibility that she had misjudged not only his character, but that of Mr. Jackson as well.

It was then that Perseus' words from that one dreadful day on Long Island came back to her. They caused her to collapse on the stairs, and just sit there for a moment.

Your pride, though not seen by most, is a harbinger for pain to be brought not only on yourself, but also on those around you.

Those words had only rattled and unsettled her at the time, but now, they absolutely destroyed her. Annabeth was humbled even more by the thought that now, just when she thought that she and Perseus had a chance to reconcile, any possibility of that happening had been swept away by the news of this disgrace. . The weight upon her shoulders only grew, a combined burden of family scandal, the loss of relationship with the Jacksons, and the realization that she could have prevented it all, if not for her own selfish pride.

She fought back the tears however, and stood up, just managing to make it back down the stairs.

….

It's a long and angsty road ahead for our dear Annabeth…