So I know it may be confusing to some of you, as this story seems to clash with the period-style social statuses and traditions, but all in a modern setting. I know it doesn't really make sense, as it's not like a girl getting knocked up and abandoned is going to tear down the reputation of an entire family in today's world, or is really such a big deal. But let's just pretend, for the sake of this story, that in the high upper class, wealthy circles, reputation is everything… which may not be too crazy to imagine. At least, that's what I hope.

Love you guys! Keep up the R&R

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

CHAPTER 25

On that Saturday, Annabeth and Piper received a surprise visit from Claire, who just randomly showed up at their apartment.

"I'm supposed to be meeting Malcolm for lunch, so I thought I'd leave a bit early and check in on you girls."

"You came all the way from New Jersey," Annabeth said as she hugged the woman, "Just to have lunch with Malcolm?"

"Hey now," Claire said amusingly, "I haven't seen my husband all week, and besides, he asked me to come."

"Sorry to be keeping him from you," Piper replied, as she closed the door behind them.

The three women made their way into the living room, and Annabeth hit a button on the TV remote to pause the reruns of New Girl.

"No worries at all, Piper," Claire spoke as she crossed one of her legs over the other, "If there was ever a reason for Malcolm to be missing from the house, it would be this one."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, not saying anything, as they were all reminded of just how precarious their situation was.

"It really sucks, doesn't it?" Piper said finally, "How one person can bring down an entire family with just one mistake."

"Yeah, it does," Claire responded, "But it's the price you pay to live in such high society."

"Sometimes, I think it might not be worth it," Annabeth noted with a hint of disappointment, as she stared down at her lap.

Her cousin and sister looked at her with understanding, and pitying expressions, but they reverted back to normal when Annabeth looked up, even though she saw them trying to play it off.

"How's Drew doing?" Claire inquired of Piper abruptly.

"Still surprisingly well. Though, I think she might be starting to realize that Luke is not coming back, but just barely."

"And the baby? How's she handling that?"

"Baby seems fine, and I think Drew's accepted the fact that she's going to be a mother pretty easily." The way Piper spoke made her sound like she was almost impressed with her sister. "I don't know how, but I gotta hand it her, she hasn't freaked out about this much at all yet."

Claire nodded; her mouth set in a straight line.

"And Aphrodite?"

"She hasn't left the house all week," Annabeth chimed in.

"I figured as much."

They discussed some random topics, trying to distract themselves from the ever-so-sore subject of Drew and Dr. Castellan. Annabeth and Piper talked about work, and Claire told them about how she had taken on another DIY house project. Almost an hour passed, before Claire finally stood up, saying that she had to get going, and both of the sisters thanked her for coming to check up on them.

"I'll let you know if there's any news from Malcolm," Claire said as she strode out the door, and then, with a click of the door handle, she was gone.

…..

Annabeth and Piper were having a late breakfast next morning when they heard the news. Just as she was scooping another one of Piper's peanut butter pancake onto her plate, Annabeth heard her sister's phone ring, and Aphrodite's caller ID showed up on the screen. A few days ago, Piper would have snatched the phone up and answered in a millisecond, but now, she just stared at it, letting it continue to ring.

"Are you gonna get that?" Annabeth asked bluntly.

Her sister rolled her eyes, before shoving another bite of pancake into her mouth, and then, with her mouth still full, she picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hmm?" Was all Piper said in greeting, continuing to chew her food.

Annabeth couldn't hear from the other side of the table what her stepmother was saying, as all that she could make out was extremely fast gibberish. But she grew more anxious as she watched Piper's eyes widen slowly, and her chewing come to a complete stop.

The brunette girl then froze, and her phone dropped onto the table. Annabeth's grey eyes met her sister's kaleidoscope ones, and she could see the disbelief in them. Piper then scrambled to pick up the phone, and held it to her ear again, swallowing her food quickly.

"Are-are you sure?" she asked into the phone.

There was more inaudible gibberish, and Annabeth watched in earnest as her sister just nodded her head, making a soft grunting noise every now and then as a way to say "Yeah."

When Piper finally did hang up, she just set the phone softly down on the table, and picked up her plate.

"Finish your breakfast Annabeth, and then get dressed in something nice."

"What, why?" The blonde woman asked as she stared at her sister with a bit of defiance.

Piper carried her plate into the kitchen, setting it in the sink, before approaching Annabeth again.

"Because," she said sternly, "Luke is back."

…..

The two girls got to the Chase house in record time, considering they apparently had to get dressed in semi-formal clothes first for some reason. When they got there, Aphrodite was already out the door to greet them, and she looked ten times better than she had all week. Her hair had been fixed again, no longer looking like the rat's nest it had been for so long. And even though she was wearing makeup, you could tell that her face was shining brighter naturally, as if she finally had some reason to celebrate.

Piper didn't have enough information to tell Annabeth other than that Dr. Castellan had apparently come out of hiding, and that they needed to get over to the Chase house as quickly as possible. So Annabeth was hoping to get some more information out of the rest of her family soon. She didn't get much of a chance at first though, as Aphrodite immediately herded them into the house, chattering about their dresses and makeup as she did.

"Oh Annabeth, sweetie, straighten your skirt out a little bit."

"Piper, go to the bathroom and fix your makeup. It's smudged a little bit on the bottom of your cheek."

As they entered the house, they found Lacy and Mary running around getting themselves ready. Well, Lacy was running, but Mary was content to do no more than a brisk walk.

"Mary, girl, get a move on!" Aphrodite exclaimed, as she slammed the front door shut behind her.

Annabeth now turned to face her stepmother, determined to get some answers.

"Tell me now, what is going on?!"

"Didn't you sister tell you? Dr. Castellan is back!" Aphrodite shrieked with joy, as she clapped her hands together like a little schoolgirl.

"Okay… and?" Annabeth asked, her voice full of annoyance.

"Oh, it's just so exciting," Aphrodite practically ignored her, as the woman pranced around the room, "To think, one daughter married, and the youngest one no less, to a doctor no less!"

Annabeth felt her jaw drop, and she sensed Piper tense abruptly beside her.

"M-married?" Piper's voice was shrill, and confused.

"Yes, my dear… married." her mother replied, like it should have been obvious. "Malcolm came to pick up Drew early this morning."

Annabeth shook her face in confusion, before grabbing her stepmother by the shoulders, and forcing her to hold still.

"Back up," She demanded, "Tell us everything."

"Okay, okay, calm yourselves," Aphrodite sighed deeply before continuing, "Malcolm received a call early this morning from Dr. Castellan, who told him he was sorry for disappearing like he did, saying that he had some urgent business to get settled before he could proceed."

"Proceed with what?!" Annabeth interrupted.

"With marrying Drew, duh. Anyways, he asked your cousin to bring Drew to the courthouse so that he could marry her as soon as possible, in order to avoid any potential further damage to the family's reputation."

"Why didn't any of you go with her?" Piper spoke up.

"He said he wished for this to just between him and Drew… to make it more intimate."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes; she didn't believe that for one second. But then again, she hadn't believed Dr. Castellan would ever have shown up again, and yet, here he was apparently.

"So," her voice was quiet, and full of skepticism, "He really said he wants to marry her?"

"Yes!" Aphrodite broke into exclamations again, "It's incredible isn't it? To think that we all thought he had abandoned her for good, but here he is, back to save us! Oh, I can't wait to tell Mrs. Gardiner, after her telling me she knew he was a scoundrel all along. This will show her!"

With that, Mrs. Chase turned to look at the two sisters, their shock more than apparent on either of their faces.

"Malcolm said they are heading this way now, so you two should be prepared to receive them graciously."

The overjoyed woman then bounded away into another room, leaving Annabeth and Piper alone, trying to process their feelings and thoughts.

"Could he- could he possibly have actually cared for her this whole time?" Piper said softly.

Annabeth shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

"I don't buy it," she remarked, "It doesn't make sense. What sort of business requires him to disappear for a week before he can show back up to marry Drew?"

"Honestly," Piper's voice was full of relief, "As long as he wasn't doing anything illegal, I couldn't care less. He's back now, and hopefully, the rumors about our family will disappear. Maybe our repute might not end up in the dumps after all."

"I sure hope so," Annabeth replied.

She still had her doubts though, mainly as to whether Luke actually cared for Drew. She didn't really have any reason to suspect he was, and yet, at the same time, she felt she had all the reasons in the world. But he was back, and for once, things were starting to look up a little bit.

"I can't believe I'm going to have Luke Castellan as a brother-in-law," Annabeth said out loud on accident.

Piper laughed next to her, "Well, if you didn't have enough reasons for Mr. Jackson to hate you already, you definitely do now."

Annabeth's face went blanch, as she hadn't even thought about the fact that her relation with Dr. Castellan would most definitely not bode well for her in the eyes of the Jackson family. What would Miss Jackson think, seeing the man who had once seduced her, marrying into Annabeth's family? How could Mr. Jackson even stand to look at her now?

She wished now, more than ever, that Perseus had not stumbled upon her in her initial moment of distress. And also that she had not informed him of her stepsister's blunders, not because she feared his spreading the news, on the contrary, she was firm in the belief that he would not tell a soul. Rather, she regretted that he should know, because there was no one else whose opinion Annabeth now treasured quite like Mr. Jackson's.

But she figured he was probably rejoicing at having avoided such a connection now, and probably grateful for the fact that she had spurned him a little over four months ago. Annabeth didn't know how to explain it, but she found herself thinking that maybe… possibly, if she could go back in time, knowing what she now knows, feeling what she now feels, Annabeth could have said "yes."

"Hey," Piper said, nudging her shoulder, "Are you alright?"

The blonde girl shook her head to try and remove the crazy thoughts, before nodding. She tried avoiding eye contact with her sister, lest her true feelings be seen, but it was no use.

"What's up?" Piper asked firmly.

"Nothing."

Annabeth felt her sister grab her chin, and pull it so that they were facing each other.

"You're lying," Piper said smugly, letting a know smirk grace her lips.

Annabeth sighed, as she knew there was no point in hiding anything from her sister.

"I was just thinking… I just wish I had never said anything about all of this to Mr. Jackson."

"Annabeth, you know that even Mr. Jackson would not dare betray your trust, right?" Piper's voice was soft, and comforting.

"I know, trust me, I know," Annabeth replied irritably.

Piper raised her eyebrows, "Then what's the problem?"

"I-I don't know… I can't seem to stop thinking about how he must despise me now."

"But Annabeth, you've never cared for his opinion of you, so why should you now?"

"I don't know that either!" Her voice was shrill, betraying her confusion and heightened temper. "I just… I can't explain it. What I'm feeling… it's killing me to know that I'll probably never see him again, and that he's out there, somewhere, thinking nothing but ill-will towards me."

Piper looked like she was about to reply, but then a shout came from the other room.

"They're here!"

…

Annabeth was prepared for Drew to be incredibly smug about the whole thing, but it still made her seethe a little bit. She did manage to hide it however, as she was overwhelmed with relief more than anything.

When Aphrodite flung the door open to reveal her youngest daughter and Dr. Castellan, the older lady squealed with delight. Annabeth watched, along with Piper, as the newlyweds were pulled through the door, and into the foyer. Mrs. Chase was hugging Drew excitedly, and both of them were giggling without end, and then the mother was kissing the cheek of her new son-in-law, who simply smiled back politely.

Annabeth felt her lungs intake deeply when she saw that Drew had made eye contact with her, and after greeting her stepfather and ignoring her other sisters, the girl made her way towards the two standing off to the side. Drew was still in her wedding dress, if you could call it that. It was actually just one of her best summer dresses that she must have grabbed out of her closet before rushing out the door.

"Hello, Piper," she said kindly enough to the brunette, who gave her a soft smile in return.

"Hey Drew, congrats on the wedding."

"Oh, I wouldn't call it a wedding, you know, since it was in a courthouse and all. Quite unfortunate, since I was hoping to have a grand wedding with like… a thousand people, but hey, the sacrifices we make for love."

Annabeth was a bit taken aback, as that was probably the most mature thing she had ever heard Drew say. The last part, that is. Everything else was pretty typical for her.

"My dear stepsister," Drew was standing in front of her now, and she spoke with feigned pleasantry, though her voice was cold, and cutting. "I seem to remember you saying something regarding a certain person…" Drew tapped her chin with her finger like she was thinking deeply, making sure to subtly flash the ring on her hand as she did so.

Annabeth knew that when she didn't swallow her pride, it tended to come back to bite her, so that's what she did, albeit painfully.

"I'd like to appologize, Drew. I was wrong about Lu- Dr. Castellan."

Drew may have been appeased somewhat by her admission, but that didn't stop her from parading around and rubbing her newly married status in both Annabeth and Piper's faces. Granted, Annabeth was not jealous of her stepsister's status at all, seeing as how it was not gained without scandalous issue.

"How does it make you two feel," Drew asked loosely, "To know that I, the youngest daughter, was both married and pregnant before either of you?"

Neither Annabeth nor Piper offered her a reply.

"Oh, how good does Mrs. Drew Castellan sound? Every time I say it to myself, I find that my heart skips a little."

Drew then ran off to join her husband again, leaving the two older sisters alone for the time being.

Annabeth watched her youngest stepsister, and Dr. Castellan, with an observant eye that entire day. As it went on, she became more and more convinced that her convictions had not been incorrect after all. While Drew may have been madly in love with Luke, he regarded her with nothing more than vague interest. He was indifferent to her, at best, and it was this that caused Annabeth to be even more suspicious of him.

As she watched them, she wondered why he had truly decided to come back. What were his motives? He had nothing to gain from marrying Drew, except responsibility for his child, which Annabeth knew was probably not good enough for him.

Even if he was indifferent to Drew, she took no notice, as she was so 'blindly in love' as she put it, but it was only obvious to Annabeth, Piper, and maybe Mr. Chase. If Mr. Chase did notice, he did nothing about it, for why should he? Aphrodite was unaware of the unrequited feelings in the couple, as she was still overcome with her own jubilant celebrations, and she chattered on endlessly.

Annabeth felt content to remain off to the side for most of the day, and though the family have had different understandings of her reasonings for doing so, none of them said anything to her about it. Piper came and joined her often, whenever she needed a break from the mass excitement. Dr. Castellan never purposefully tried to make eye contact with Annabeth, nor she with him, but sometimes it happened on accident, in which case, she would narrow her eyes at him, as if trying to let him know that she knew something was up. He wouldn't hold the stare long enough for her to get a reading though, and for the most part, they avoided each other's gazes.

When they reached the cool part of the evening, Drew began to get antsy, saying she wished to go walk about or get out of the house for a bit. Aphrodite suggested that they make their way over to the park, as it was but a five-minute drive, or a ten-minute walk, if you cut through the woods along the jogging path. Annabeth was horrified when it was suggested by her stepmother, that all the sisters accompany them, as was Piper. Drew seemed pleased by the idea of not only getting to show off her husband to her sisters even more, but in public as well.

Annabeth was going to argue, but one look from her father, and she realized that he wished for her to go as well, probably because he did not trust either of the newlyweds to not make a scene, or run away. So she reluctantly agreed.

Drew tapped excitedly on her husband's shoulder, "What do you say, honey?"

Dr. Castellan let a polite, albeit apathetic, smile form on his face.

"I wouldn't mind shooting some hoops."

…..

The girls sat scattered around a couple benches, watching as Luke messed around on the basketball court, seemingly content for the first time that day, at least, in Annabeth's mind. She was grateful that the park was inexplicably empty that day, as she wasn't sure how eager she would be to be seen with Dr. Castellan and Drew right now. She sat next to Piper on one bench, while Drew and Lacy sat on the other, giggling about who knows what, and tossing brief glances towards Dr. Castellan's general direction. Mary sat alone on her bench, paying no mind to anything but her book, per usual.

The sound of a ball hitting nothing but the net was heard, and Drew swooned.

"Isn't my husband a fine ball player, sisters?" She turned to look pointedly at Annabeth and Piper, neither of whom obliged her with an answer.

Drew scowled a little bit when she didn't receive a reply, but she then regained her mischievous expression.

"What do you think of my husband, Annabeth? Do you approve of him? I should hope so, seeing as how he was once a favorite of yours."

Annabeth was hit with a wave of shame at the memory, and it must have shown on her face, because her stepsister chuckled slightly, probably mistaking the expression for envy, or possibly even regret, which may have been true, but for an entirely different reason.

"It's a shame you all couldn't have come with me on the cruise," Drew remarked absurdly, "As I might have been able to find you all husbands."

"I'm not sure I approve of your way of finding a husband," Annabeth replied in a snarky tone.

Her comment was ignored by the youngest stepsister, who had then decided to change the subject to that of her wedding, or lack thereof, rather.

"I was hoping we would have a least few people there, but the ceremony was such a sudden thing, that we didn't have time to tell anyone. In the end, the only people there besides Luke and me, were the Paces… and the minister, but he doesn't count."

Drew then sighed deeply, before adding on, "I figured Luke would have wanted Travis or Connor to be his best man, but neither of them could make it, so he had to settle for Mr. Jackson, which still wasn't fair, because I didn't even get a bridesmaid- "

Annabeth's eyes shot up at the mention of Mr. Jackson, and she almost jumped out of the bench.

"What did you say?" She asked harshly.

Drew was caught off guard by her tone, and replied shakily, "I was saying that it wasn't fair that Luke got a best man while- "

"No, not that! Why did you say 'Mr. Jackson'?"

"Oh… because he was also at the ceremony, and he- "Drew then slapped her hand over her mouth, and her face contorted into a humorous expression. "Oh my god, I wasn't suppose to say anything about him," She whispered, while simultaneously giggling a little bit, "It was supposed to be a secret."

"Well, then don't say anything else!" Piper chided.

Nothing more was said on the matter, and it was getting dark, so the party decided to head back to the house. As they walked, Annabeth could not bring herself to engage in conversation with anybody not even Piper, as she pondered the recently revealed secret.

Perseus Jackson was at Luke and Drew's wedding, and he probably had something to do with it.