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Chapter 5 – Houston, We Have a Problem

Annabeth's POV

I woke up later that evening. I tried to go back to sleep but I was very wide awake. I got out of bed and cleaned myself. I peeled off my dress and put on some pajamas. I tied my hair into a ponytail and washed my face.

"Hey, Onion! Oh, are you hungry?" I said as I patted his head.

I went to his food bowl and realized that Percy already did that for me. I smiled and then went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. I got my satchel, brought out the files, and set them on top of my table so I can study them. Once my coffee was ready, I poured myself a cup and put it on top of the table, waiting for it to cool.

A couple hours later, I just finished my second cup of coffee. I went over my client's files once again and then called it a night. I washed my cup and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"Good night, Onion." I said then crouched down to kiss his head.

I went to my room and dove under the blankets of my king sized bed. I stared at the ceiling with my hand behind my head. I bet Thalia and Nico would be laughing their butts off when they will find out about what happened tonight. I could just imagine them clutching their stomachs, laughing on the floor, and telling me, "I told you so."

I smiled and sighed. I closed my eyes and soon enough, I was asleep.

I heard grunting and some squeaking but I chose to ignore it. As I tried to go back to sleep, the grunting and squeaking got louder. I covered my ears and let out an irritated growl.

"Onion! No! Stop that!" I scolded.

He whimpered but stopped anyway. I turned around in bed and tried to go back to sleep.

When I was about to fall asleep, my alarm clock went off. I begrudgingly got out of bed and killed it. I went to the bathroom, tied my hair into a ponytail, and wore my jogging attire. After I got ready, I got Onion's leash and left the building to take him out for a walk.

When we finally got to Central Park, I put on my earphones and started walking Onion around. We were probably walking around for an hour and as we were about to call it a day, somebody tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw my stalker best friend.

"Percy, what are you doing here?" I asked as I removed my earphones.

"Am I not allowed to go jogging?" He smiled at me.

"You are...but your apartment isn't anywhere near Central Park."

What I said made him think and then he said, "I wanted to see Onion."

"Only Onion?" I pouted at him.

"And you, of course." He gave me a wink.

I laughed at him, "So, what really brought you here?"

"Just wanted to go jogging with you."

I eyed him suspiciously and shrugged it off.

"So, I was thinking about having a sleepover." Percy started.

"You can never really be away from me, can you?" I gave him a flirty smile.

"Come on! I thought that we haven't had a sleepover for a few days now. Chips, soda, movies, board games. I know you want to say yes." He chided.

It really has been a while since we had a sleepover. I always enjoyed having sleepovers especially if it was with Percy. Ever since we were kids, we had sleepovers almost every week. This tradition is being carried on until now. We usually had our sleepovers on Saturdays and we would stay at either's house for the whole day. So we go home the evening of Sunday. But today was Tuesday, not Saturday.

"But it's not Saturday and we have work the next day."

"We didn't have a sleepover last Saturday because of the announcement of my engagement. Come on. Sleepover at my house. Tonight. I'll even fetch you after the doctor's convention."

"Okay okay, fine." I laughed.

He smiled widely at me and then crouched down to play with Onion.

"Well, I might as well enjoy the sleepovers we have left before you're married to Rachel."

He looked up at me but was still crouching down, "What?"

"We should have as much sleepovers as possible before you get married."

"What? Why?"

"Having a sleepover with your wife just in the other side of the bed or in the other room is just…awkward and wrong."

"Then we'll have the sleepover at your loft."

"Having your wife wait for you while you're sleeping over at my loft. Eh, still wrong."

He pouted, "We'll find a way."

"We can't, Percy, it's just wrong. When you're married you just have to give some things up. Like our sleepovers."

He stood up and hugged me, "We'll find a way." He repeated.

I rolled my eyes but he couldn't see it because I had my face to his chest. He kissed the top of my head and then let me go.

"You should be heading home." I said.

"No, we should be heading home."

I just shook my head, laughed at him, and then started walking home with Onion and Percy tagging along. We went up to my loft and I unclipped Onion's leash from his collar. He immediately ran towards his water bowl.

"You take a bath first." Percy said as he sat down and played with my dog.

I smiled and then went to my room. After grabbing my robe, I took a shower. I went back to my room and wore my usual clothes: black high waist pencil skirt and a white sleeveless button down blouse. I sprayed on a bit of perfume and then left my hair down to dry. I walked out of my room, barefooted, went to the kitchen, and saw Percy lying down on the floor along with Onion.

"What are you doing, Seaweed Brain?" I asked him as I looked down at him.

"I'm playing with Onion." He stuck his tongue out.

I laughed at him and held out a hand. He took it and pulled himself up. But, no doubt, he was heavier than me so I ended up falling on him. I laughed and so did he. He was hugging me tightly to his chest and whenever I would try to get up, he would hug me tighter and roll us around, placing me under him.

"Percy, you're sweaty." I whined.

"You can always take a bath again."

"And that's from the person who wants to Go Green."

"Then let's take a bath together." He gave me a knowing look.

I laughed and threw my head back, "No, Percy, take a bath now."

"What if I want you to accompany me?"

"Then I'll wait outside the door of my bathroom."

"Oh, let me correct myself. What if I want you to accompany me in the shower?"

"Oh dear." I laughed as I felt myself blush.

"Is that a yes?" He kissed my neck causing me to flutter my eyes close, "Or a no?" Another kiss on my neck.

I opened my eyes and looked at Onion as if signalling him to help me, "Onion, attack!"

Percy laughed loudly and said, "Nah, he won't do that. You know that he loves me."

I laughed and then stopped resisting. We stayed like that for a few minutes and just enjoyed the moment. There was a knock that interrupted. Percy sighed and then reluctantly let me go. I stood up and answered the door.

"Good morning, darling." Mrs. Solace, my neighbour who lived downstairs, greeted me and smiled.

"Oh, good morning Mrs. Solace."

She got a look of what was happening in my loft and said, "Oh, I can come back another time if I'm interrupting you."

I looked for what she might have seen to make her think that I was busy and saw Percy sitting down on the floor. I laughed, told Mrs. Solace that it was nothing, and asked her what she needed.

"My husband forgot to buy sugar." She started.

"Oh, sure." I said, walked towards my kitchen, and grabbed the container filled with sugar. "Here you go."

"Thank you so much, dear." She smiled at me.

"You're very welcome." I smiled back and closed the door.

I looked at Percy once again with my hands on my hips, "Get up, Percy."

He held out his hand, expecting me to help him but I just shook my head. He pouted and sighed but got up anyway.

"I'll be waiting for you in the shower." He winked at me and walked towards the bathroom, swaying his hips.

"Swaying your hips won't help and you know that." I called out to him.

He just laughed. I made coffee for Percy and me while I watched the morning news. I looked at the clock.

And in three, two, one.

My cell phone rang and I answered it.

"Annabeth Chase."

"Good morning, my supposedly future cousin-in-law." Nico greeted me in a happy and cheery tone.

"Hit me with your best shot."

"Hmm, let me see. Percy called me last night and confessed that he was truly, deeply, and madly in love with you. Having you in his life is one of the best things that ever happened to him and he was drunk when he decided to ask Rachel to marry him. He really wanted to ask you, not Rachel."

"Annabeth, I'm waiting." Percy called.

I turned around and saw Percy with a towel wrapped around his waist and bubbles on his hair. The moment he saw me holding my phone to my ear, his eyes immediately widened, mouthed sorry, and went back in the bathroom.

"Was that my cousin I heard?" Nico said smugly.

I laughed loudly and said, "Yeah, he came over after I walked Onion."

"Tell him that I called him a chicken, a big fat chicken. Everyone can see that he is so in love with you. I bet Aunt Sally would be so thrilled if her son asked you for your hand in marriage."

"Yeah, about that…"

"Oh, don't tell me…" He trailed off.

"Uhm, yeah. We had dinner with his mom and stepdad last night."

"I'm going to call Thalia." He urgently said.

"Hey, Annabeth, what kind of coffee are you making?" Percy called from my bedroom.

"It's brewed coffee." I called back and then told Nico, "Hey, Nico, I can't talk about it now. Percy would be out in a few minutes. I'll tell you later…or never."

I hung up and then poured coffee in our mugs. I put my mug on the counter and waited for it to cool. In a few minutes, Percy went out of my room, wearing his long sleeve, button down polo and slacks. He had his tie in his hand.

Percy and I have our things at each other's houses. I have some of my things at Percy's apartment and he had his things at my loft. Office, casual, and formal clothes, pajamas, shoes, toothbrush. You name it!

"Hey, can you tie it for me?"

I looked at him incredulously, "You wear a tie to work every day and you tell me that you don't know how."

"Maybe I just want you near me." He suggested.

I laughed and said, "Come here."

I tied his necktie for him and then gave him his cup of coffee. He sipped it and then coughed. Percy was never a fan of black coffee.

"There's creamer and sugar in the cupboard if you need any."

I went to my couch and sat down. Percy followed me and then changed the channel to those detective forensics shows. It was about random girls who get raped, assaulted, or beaten up by men when they were all by themselves.

Percy had his arm on my shoulder when we were watching and as the narrator described what the men did to each girl; his arm would tighten and bring me closer to him. In the end of the show, the investigators proved that that it was the same man who assaulted all the girls.

"Creep." I muttered as the credits filled the screen.

"You will never be alone. Not on my watch."

I looked at him and said, "Ever notice that we can never be away from each other for twenty four hours?"

He had a thoughtful expression, "Yeah, I guess there was never a time."

"Now I don't think I'll ever be assaulted in those hours that I'll be away from you."

I stood up and washed my mug. Percy did the same. I brushed my teeth and then went to my room to fix my hair into my every day tight bun. I was just applying lip balm when Percy was leaning against the door frame of my room.

"Why do you fix your hair like that?" He asked me.

"Why? You don't like it?"

"There are other hair styles that I like better." He shrugged.

"It's because I look more professional if I fixed it like this. How about you? Why do you wear a necktie?"

"Why? You don't like it when I wear a necktie?" He said then slowly loosened his tie.

"No. No, stop." I laughed. "It's because you look more professional when you do."

He considered this and then let the subject drop. We fixed ourselves one last time and then headed out. Percy hailed the taxi and told the driver the address of my office and the hospital.

"Don't forget about the sleepover later. I'll fetch you around nine, if it's okay with you." He said as I opened the door of the taxi.

"Nah, I'll just go there to your apartment. So you don't have to stress over fetching me."

"Okay, okay. You have the set of keys to my apartment, right?"

"Yeah. I'll see you tonight." I said, kissed his cheek, and got out of the taxi.

"Tonight it is." He smiled and waved goodbye.

I smiled and gently shook my head. I went up to the office, greeted the assistants, and entered my office. Of course, the diner already delivered my breakfast. I dropped my satchel on my desk and plopped down on my chair. While I ate my breakfast, I got a text message.

I got my cell phone from my satchel and read the message. It was from Nico, telling me that we're having lunch at In-N-Out Burger. I sighed because I knew that he would be asking me a lot of questions about last night.

I finished my breakfast, got myself a glass of water, and chugged it down. I popped a mint in my mouth and sat back down on my seat. I turned my laptop on and scanned my schedule. I had a couple appointments with some clients before going to court and then I'm free.

"Miss Chase, your first appointment is here." Drew's voice came from the intercom on top of my desk.

"Send her in."

A few seconds later, a girl with a huge black eye went in my office. She greeted me and I made her sit down. I asked her what urged her to get a lawyer.

"I told my husband that I wanted to file for a divorce and he didn't like the idea that much. I assume you know what happened after that."

We spent an hour talking about how we were going to approach the problem. It was as if we were planning a battle plan. A couple hours of talking to different clients, I was finally free to go out for lunch. I brought my satchel and went out. I hailed a cab and told the driver which In-N-Out Burger branch I was going to.

I had stopped by the diner where I usually buy my smoothie and muffins from before meeting up with Nico for lunch. I already finished them when I got to the restaurant.

I went in the restaurant and saw Nico and Thalia, of course, eating burgers and fries.

"You just couldn't wait for me to arrive." I said, announcing my presence.

"Well, what do you expect?" Nico said.

I sat down and told them that I already ate lunch.

"So, I heard my cousin told his mom about the engagement." Thalia started.

"Yeah, how did that go?" Nico butted in.

"Well, at first, your cousin asked me to dinner with his mom and stepdad. Then he told me that he was going to tell them that he's engaged."

"Why not go with Rachel?" Nico asked me.

"She was busy hiding because she knows how much Aunt Sally doesn't like her." Thalia laughed.

I gave her a look and continued, "He got me to promise I'll go with him before telling me that we were having dinner with his family and he was going to talk about his engagement."

"Where's Rachel?" Nico asked once again.

"She was at an art exhibit in Brooklyn. Percy has a doctor's convention tonight. So he thought that he would tell his family that he's engaged last night with me tagging along."

They were quietly munching on their burgers and fries so I continued, "Anyway, when Percy told his mom, she just hugged him and hugged me too. Same goes with Paul. At first I thought that they were just driven with emotions but no. We continued eating; Percy's mom was beaming, and was asking questions about the wedding. She asked me how my parents felt about the engagement. I told her that Mom was happy for Percy and then Percy's mom was taken aback."

They looked at me for a couple seconds and started laughing.

"I bet Aunt Sally was crushed when you told her that it was Rachel." Nico said.

"Percy started laughing and Paul and I joined in. She thought that her son asked me to marry him. Throughout the dinner, her smile wasn't as big when she thought it was me. After the dinner, when we were saying good bye, she hugged me and whispered that she thought she was finally going to have me as her daughter, legally.

"I playfully told her that someone already won Percy's heart before I can then she gave a pitiful look. She told me that I'll always have his heart."

"I bet that night made Percy think over his decision again." Thalia said then sipped in her soda.

"Percy brought me home and then before he left he might have said something about thinking he made a mistake by asking-"

"Hell yeah, he did!" Nico said loudly.

I gave him a look and he just smiled at me.

"Wait, might have?" Thalia asked me.

"Well, I was sleepy and it might have been sleep messing with my mind."

Nico pouted at me now.

"Nico told me that you had my cousin over a while ago." Thalia smiled at me.

"We went jogging together." I simply said.

"But his house isn't near Central Park." She said.

"He wanted to talk about having a sleepover."

"Cherish those moments, my friend." Nico said and lifted his drink towards me as if in a mock toast. "Cherish those moments."

"You won't be having those sleepovers anymore once he gets married to her." Thalia agreed.

"I told that to him earlier but it seems like he doesn't want to let go of the sleepovers. He told me that we'll find a way."

"Of course. Why would anyone pick sleeping with her over sleeping beside you?" Thalia teased.

I laughed and teased both of them, "Well, both of you should suppress your protests, complains, whines, and things alike because you'll be having her as your cousin-in-law in a few months."

"Oh gods no!" They both said at the same time.

"Then you better knock some sense into your cousin if you don't want to be with her for the rest of your lives."

"Maybe they'd get a divorce or what." Thalia said dismissively.

I raised an eyebrow at her and laughed.

My phone beeped, signalling that I had an hour left before the trial, "Well, I better get going. I'm going to court in an hour."

"Good luck!" They said and continued eating.

I got up and went back to the office. I studied the case one last time for thirty minutes and then went to court. My client was there, he looked really nervous. Well, I can't blame him; he was going to defend himself today.

The clerk of court called us in a few minutes. We went up there and prepared everything. The other's lawyer called my client to the stand. I looked at my client and told him to just calm down.

He went to the stand and sat down. I could tell that he was sweating bullets as the lawyer asked him questions. I listened and the questions were nonthreatening and really normal questions. I looked at my client and if only I could send him a telepathic message, I would've already told him to just calm down.

A couple more questions later, my client did something I never expected. He confessed that he was guilty. He confessed that he committed the crime. And now he was crying as the judge found him guilty.

I was shocked. I looked at his family members, who just sat behind me, and saw that they were shocked as well.

I packed my files in my satchel and immediately left the court. I only had one thought in my mind. I just lost a case. It kept repeating in my head as if to taunt me. I hailed a cab and went back to the office.

"Mom, I… I-I just lost." I confessed as I sat down in her office.

"What?"

"I just lost a case."

Then that was when all hell broke loose. Mom started telling me how much she sacrificed to make me successful and to lose a case was unacceptable. I defended myself and told her that my client confessed and it was just out of the blue.

"Well, it's not my fault, Mom. He confessed! What do you want me to do? Tell the judge that he was lying or maybe he was on drugs or he was drunk? Did you want me to run over to him and cover his mouth with my hand?" I said loudly at her and then left her office.

I went back in mine and looked at my schedule for tomorrow. Just a couple appointments, nothing major. I grabbed my bag and left the office. I didn't care if it wasn't time to leave yet. I just had to leave.

I went to my loft and just sat down on my couch while staring angrily out the window. It was a couple hours before my head really cooled down. I did nothing wrong. It was the client's fault. He confessed and I couldn't do anything.

I looked at the clock and noticed that it was already late. The convention might be done by now. I got up from the couch and changed into something more casual. I wore a shirt, denim shorts, and flats. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I removed my hair from the tight bun it had been in and applied some lip balm before leaving my loft.

I arrived at Percy's building and greeted the doorman. I went up to his apartment and realized that he wasn't home yet. I unlocked the door and went in. It's been a while since I've been here. I looked around and nothing really has changed. I plopped down on the couch and watched TV.

It was already ten and he wasn't home yet. Maybe the hospital had an emergency and needed Percy. I didn't mind and then changed into my pajamas because I had a feeling that we wouldn't be leaving the apartment anymore.

"Percy?" I called out as I heard the door open.

"Yeah?" He called back.

I turned around on the couch and saw him there. He looked defeated and frustrated.

"I'm sorry I'm late but the hospital was just busy and all."

"Come here." I said.

He didn't object and sat down on the couch. I motioned him to sit on the floor, between my legs with his back to the couch. He wordlessly followed and sat on the floor.

I started giving him a massage, "You seem disappointed. What happened?"

"I couldn't save a patient's life today."

That made me stop massaging for a while but then I continued massaging, "Oh, that's a first. You could tell me if you want. Sometimes telling others help."

"Everyone kept saying that he couldn't make it. He couldn't make it due to the major blood loss." Percy started doing hand gestures. "If only they just put enough effort to it then we could've saved his life."

I kept quiet, letting him continue.

"We needed to replace his puncture organ but they already given up and said no."

"Aren't there some organs that you can remove without actually replacing it?"

"Well, you have to replace a punctured stomach, Annabeth."

"Oh, doesn't the hospital have ready organs just waiting to be implanted on someone?"

"It doesn't go like that." He simply said.

"I mean, I just thought it would be like that because it seems legit if hospitals just had ready organs."

"Well, that's stupid, don't you think? For a smart girl, you say and ask a lot of stupid things." He shrugged out of my touch, turned around, and looked at me.

"You don't have to insult me, Percy." My eyebrows scrunched up.

"You asked me to talk about it, didn't you?"

"So you're saying that I'm stupid?"

"Sometimes I even wonder why I call you 'Wise Girl'. And you would never experience what I'm going through because everything around you is perfect that you don't even have to lift a finger. You're pretty much a princess. You even have your hair to prove it."

What he just said would have made me crack up but how he said it erased any traces of laughter in my system and changed it to rage and anger, "Maybe you're not the only one who had a rotten day. Well, maybe it might have occurred to you that I lost a case."

Percy's face softened a bit but the anger and annoyance is still there.

"The world doesn't revolve around you. Get that through your thick head, Percy." I loudly said.

I got up from the couch and left his apartment with a loud bang of the door. I walked down the hall when I heard a loud thud as if Percy had punched the door. I walked faster towards the elevator while wiping the angry tears that seeped from my eyes.

Where did it all go wrong?

A/N: Thanks for reading! :)

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Question of the Chapter: What do you and your best friend often fight about? :)