A/N: I know, I know, I'm sorry!
Chapter 32
Percy
Present day
I feel content… That's what I feel. I never thought that I could ever feel content, that I could be satisfied to the point that I want nothing else, no one else. I just feel perfectly satiated.
Perfectly satiated.
Huh! If someone told me that I'd be one of those who would use such language I would have barfed. But I can't help it. For once in my life, I had no nightmares, no gunshots, no pain, no nothing. It was just one of those dreamless naps and I couldn't be happier.
I feel… I feel whole.
I looked down at Annabeth in my arms lying asleep in her hospital bed beside me. In her sleep, she had turned towards me and was lightly clenching my shirt as her face was pressed against my chest. Her hair was all over her face and her legs curled against mine.
I reached down and ran my finger across her face and tuck her hair behind her ear. For once, it didn't budge and obeyed me. As if her hair knew that it was me that touched them, that it was me who willed them to stay behind her ear. Her body acknowledged my presence and I'm pretty sure mine did as well. My arm that was under her head was stroking her shoulder, I didn't even realize that I was touching her there.
I couldn't help but smile. She was here, she was fine. Things were going to be fine.
She really had blossomed from a beautiful girl to a beautiful woman. She feels so different and yet she feels exactly the same. Yeah there are a few noticeable changes. Her hips are a little wider, I guess all her cooking and baking was finally catching up to her. But I don't mind, in fact they make her look more feminine. They make her more human to me than this woman I idealized for the past five years.
Plus, curves are good in my book. Really good!
Her hair was longer too, and it beautifully framed her face when she had it open, like right now as it obeys me and hangs out over her back, behind her ear. Her full lips that draw me in whenever she says my name, whenever she talks, whenever she… stands in front of me.
I think I'm in love with her.
I know I'm in love with her, but I can't…
I'm pulled out of my thoughts as I hear a knock on the door. I gently remove my hand that's beneath her head making sure I don't move her too much. I reach below and remove my shirt from her grasp before I quickly get to my feet and put my shoes on.
The door swings open.
There's a man standing on the other end. The man who caused all of this. The man who might have just saved her life. Sure, I carried her lifeless body from the warehouse to the hospital but it was his command that let us exit in peace.
There he was standing, Luke.
"Percy" he said as he shook my hand.
"Luke" his grasp was firm, but it didn't feel like he was trying to assert dominance, it felt like he was trying to assert… friendship? "I can step out for a while. Let you have a moment with her" I said as I moved away from the door.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you," he said shyly.
"Me?" I asked.
Why did he want to talk to me? Maybe that wasn't a handshake of friendship, maybe he was trying to threaten me. Luckily, I have dealt with many big trees like him during my time in the Mafia to not even get alarmed.
And here, I was ready to thank him for all his help.
"That was a ballsy move you tried to pull off at the docks"
"Don't you think I know that, she almost died because of me and my impulsive nature!"
"Don't yell at me Percy, I came here in peace" Luke said calmly.
If he says that he came in peace, I wasn't going to believe him, but I was ready to hear him out.
"What is it that you want to talk to me?" I asked, watching my tone.
"By causing that… scene, I hope you know you put a target on your back" he said and took a deep breath "and by association, also on hers"
I looked up at him. Luke was a good two-three inches taller than me.
"Percy, what I'm saying is. I can't always protect her. I can't be there for her, not the way you can" he said
"Annabeth's a big girl, she can take care of herself" I scoffed.
"Of course, she can look after herself, but when it comes to you…" Luke trailed off.
"She becomes a little irrational" I completed it for him.
Luke waited for a while, looking at me, waiting for a sign, any sign.
"I promise you nothing will ever happen to Piper and Jason or Nico" he said.
"Yeah right! I've heard that before" I scoffed.
"I'm on your side here Percy and I promise you nothing will happen to them, but I can only do that if I know Annie… um Annabeth will be alright"
He cared about, he actually cared about her. After Piper's description of him, I hated him. I hated him with all my being. But Luke looked at Annabeth as if she was family.
And I respected that.
"I… I will look after her"
Luke didn't say anything he smiled at me before he patted my shoulder.
"I'm sorry for… for costing the two of you these years"
"You saved her life, I guess we are even" I said as I offered my hand.
"We can never be even. When it comes to her, I owe you. I owe you everything" Luke didn't shake my hand. Instead, his hands went into the pocket of his jacket trying to find something.
I was about to drop my hand but Luke caught it and placed an object wrapped in a white cloth.
I was surprised, but I took it and unwrapped it.
It was a dagger.
It was her dagger.
"Annabeth gave it to me after she shot you. She said she was done and wanted to retire from the business. She said she couldn't hold this, after that night"
I touched the blade, it was still sharp, maybe he took care of it.
Six years ago
I know I shouldn't be thinking about anything when I'm driving but I couldn't help it. She got me to fall in love with her and for what? For a few diamonds, I would have happily given them away if she would have just asked.
God, why is dating so difficult? I thought I found the one girl who wasn't scared of me and it turns out, she was using me.
Just then I saw Annabeth's car in front, a couple of cars away. That was it. I was going to give her a piece of my mind. I was done sulking. I sped up my car while dodging the cars around me. Annabeth started driving faster too. But I was a better driver.
"Annabeth stop the car!" I rolled my window down and yelled at her.
Annabeth looked surprised, but I wasn't falling for the 'I'm just an innocent girl' gambit, not anymore. Annabeth drove into a parking lot.
My instincts told me that she knows that she can't outrun me so she's going to face me, head on.
I parked in the first spot I saw and pulled out my gun as I cautiously approached her. She had her gun out too.
"Have you been following me?" she yelled as she moved closer to me as we pointed out guns at each other.
"What did you think? You stole from me. I won't just let you get away with it" I yelled back.
"The diamonds are gone Percy" she said.
"I'm not here for the diamonds, I'm here for you" I yelled back.
What Annabeth did next thoroughly surprised me. She dropped her gun and challenged me for a fist fight.
This girl, I still had my gun out pointing at her what is to say that I wouldn't just shoot her. But I too dropped my gun. I wasn't going to shoot at an unarmed person, I wasn't trained that way.
Maybe she knew that, maybe her research on me told her that I wouldn't hurt her if she was unarmed. This just angered me even more.
"Wrong choice Annabeth"
This should be interesting. I'm not sure about her combat skills. I'm the best fighter my gang has got, let's see how skilled she was.
We circle around each other.
I waited for her to throw the first punch. She kept looking into my eyes, for god knows what. I was done with her and I won't think twice about swinging a punch at her. She broke my trust, she tried to kill me and yet, why did I still feel unsure.
I saw her attention flicker for a moment and that's when I took my first swing at her. She managed to block it but I could see it caused her pain. But she was trying to be strong. That's when I took another swing at her and got her stomach.
That would definitely leave a bruise.
She recovered and hit me in my jaw, it hurt but not a lot. I was pretty sure her hand felt it a lot more. She tried to get to my stomach but I blocked it and pushed her back. This was it. I could knock her down before she took any more punches at me.
I started charging towards her and pinned her down on the floor. She tried to free herself which only made me want to strengthen my hold on her.
"Why did you play with me Annabeth?" I asked.
"You and your father have caused a huge loss to my dad's business, I couldn't-"
"Why did you play with my heart?" I asked, I was hurting and I wanted answers.
"I…"
"Why did you get me to fall in love with you? All you had to do was steal the diamonds from me, not my heart"
I didn't mean to tell her that I love her. But I did, I was in love with her.
I could see her struggling to breath against me, so I loosened my grip on her. I wanted answers and choking her was not the way to get them. Just then I saw her leaping towards her pocket as she got out her knife.
But I was fast, I took the knife out of her hands and tightened my grip on her. I put the knife on her throat.
The knife was truly a work of art. I swear I haven't seen something so delicate yet so powerful. It radiated power. But, I focused all of my attention on her and not her knife.
I made sure the knife lightly scraped her neck. If she moved towards me, she would end up slicing her throat and by the look in her eyes, she knew it too.
"Oh Annabeth, why do you always play dirty?" I asked "If you ever show your face to me again, I swear to god. I'll kill you"
I got up from her and threw the knife out of her reach and got into my car.
A knife! she brought a knife in a fist fight!
A fist fight that she proposed.
I should have shot her when I had the chance, even though I know that I possibly couldn't pull the trigger with her standing on the other end of the barrel. But I should have shot her.
God! She made me behave irrationally! Me? Irrational? I have to get her out of my head.
Present Day
I can recognize this blade anywhere. It had become a part of her identity and she gave it up, for me.
I quickly wrapped it up and placed it in my pocket.
"I hope you or Annabeth never get to use it" Luke said as he turned and walked away without saying another word.
I walked back in and saw Annabeth rubbing her eyes as they focused on me.
"Where did you go?" she asked. I noticed the panic in her voice.
Honestly, if I had woken up without her in my arms, I would have felt the same too.
"I just… I went to the restroom" I replied.
"Oh, you could have used the one in here" she said as she pointed at the door beside her.
But Annabeth didn't dwell, she just pulled her covers back and waited for me to come back to her.
Right when I was about to take off my shoes, everything came rushing back to me.
Everything.
I saw her lying there on the floor in the pool of her own flood as the color started draining from her face. Her hand that was clutching her stomach was lying beside her limp. There was a pained expression on her face as she closed her eyes.
I can't face her. I can't do it. I can't… I can't breathe.
"Actually, I need to make some phone calls" I said as calmly as I could and walked out of her room.
I closed the door behind me and leaned against the wall beside the door.
It's a strange feeling, It's strange to have her engagement ring in one pocket, her dagger in the other and the memories of her dying in my mind.
A/N: I felt that this chapter was intense, like really intense. Anyway, thoughts? Also, I'm sorry to say this but the next chapter will take more time because I don't know where to take this series, creatively. Rather I forgot. Anyway, suggestions are always welcomed.
