Thalia's P.O.V
Work had been running me ragged. So much so, that on my only days off instead of seeing if Annabeth was available for a catch up, I spent most of the day catching up on sleep.
I'd hardly seen my brother who'd practically moved in with Piper and Annabeth. It was only the unlocking of the front door that alerted me to his presence now.
"Hey Thals," he said, "good sleep?"
"Hey Jace, was alright, how was Piper and Annabeth's?" I asked.
"Good, I didn't have any classes today and I knew Tuesday was your day off this week, so I thought I'd come home and spend time with you. Y'know if you want?" He asked.
"Jason Grace this best not be a pity hang out," I threatened him teasingly.
"Of course not." He smiled.
We set down in the living room and caught up on my work, his school, basketball, him and Piper and then finally Percy and Annabeth.
"What are you and Piper doing for Valentine's Day on Sunday?" I asked him.
"I'm still not 100% sure yet." He told me.
"You do know it's in like five days and most places will be fully booked if you were planning on taking her out for dinner?" I asked.
"I am aware of when it is." He said. "But Piper's mom, sister, and well even Piper herself, they're so big on love. I feel like just taking her out for dinner wouldn't be enough." He told me.
"Okay, so what are you going to do?" I asked.
"I thought I might take her out for a walk in central park and then maybe a picnic. Then bring her back here, if that's alright with you, for what I'm calling the treasure hunt of love." He told me.
"Do I want to know what the treasure hunt of love entails or is it something a brother and sister shouldn't discuss?" I said scrunching my nose at the thought of a sexy treasure hunt happening in our home.
"What?" He asked.
"Is the treasure in the bedroom?" I asked bluntly.
"What?! No! Thalia come on!" He said and threw a cushion at me, his face the colour of a tomato. I chuckled I couldn't help it.
"Okay, I'm sorry, still think I had the right to ask, so I knew whether or not to vacate the apartment for the night." I teased.
"You don't have a date?" He asked me.
"I've not had time to date with how busy I've been." I told him.
"You always have a date, on Valentine's Day, I just assumed you would this year too. Do you need me cancel?" He asked and while I loved my brother, he was an idiot.
"If you cancel your Valentine's Day plans with Piper, I'll tell her to dump you myself." I told him, "I appreciate your concern, and yes as it happens for the past few years, I've had dates for Valentine's Day, but this year I've volunteered to work. I'll be home late maybe 11, so if it does end up in the bedroom just drop me a message so I can pick up earplugs on my way home." I teased.
The colour of his face returning to that of a tomato brought a huge smile to my face. "I hate you" he said with no malice, so I knew he didn't mean it.
"Careful Jace, I might have to leave a baby album laying around if you're going to say such hurtful things." I teased.
"I love you" he said instantly. "Please don't leave a baby album out, PJ's already spilled the beans on my spelling bee rep, I don't think I can take much more damage to my reputation."
I laughed. I loved that Percy had spilled the beans on that and clearly Piper hadn't cared because she was still with him.
"Alright I might not do, jury's still out but you have to spend more time with me, bring Piper round here every once in a while. You don't always have to be at her place you know, you're both welcome here." I told him.
"I know that" he said rolling his eyes at me. "I promise, to make it home more, and bring Piper to see you more often. I think she and Annabeth we're talking about inviting you for a girls night or something soon." He told me and I smiled.
I knew that or something meant he'd zoned out because he wasn't going to be invited to join in. I spent the rest of the afternoon teasing my brother about his girlfriend wanting to spend time with me. He didn't seem to be bothered, it actually seemed to please him that we got on. I was pretty sure my brother was in love with Piper McLean, I hoped he told her how he felt soon. Regardless of the bet we'd made before Christmas.
Percy's P.O.V
Thursday, my only free day, came around much faster than I had been expecting. I was nervous for today because I'd decided to meet my father. Annabeth had told me that he'd come by the coffee shop to ask her what had happened on Christmas Eve. I figured he was trying, even if it was almost two months after the incident. We'd agreed on meeting at Jackson's, thankfully, I felt like I needed the comfort that being there would give me.
When I got to Jackson's, Leo was on shift, he gave me a quick wave before continuing with what he was doing. I'd deliberately picked this afternoon because I knew my mom wouldn't be in and I didn't want her to worry, like I knew she would.
My father sat in the same booth as he had on Christmas Eve. I made my way over and sat down. He'd ordered a hot chocolate for me, it wasn't blue, but he'd remembered I drank hot chocolate, it was a start. And I was grateful to have something to do with my hands.
"Father" I said in greeting.
"Percy, how are you?" He asked me.
"I'm okay, how are you?" I asked. Our conversation was stiff and awkward as always.
"I'm okay" he said. "I'm still trying to work out what happened at Christmas." He stated rather than asked. He was letting me decide whether I wanted to tell him. I did. It had, after all, been the whole reason for the gift. I'd spoken to Annabeth a lot about how to tell him. She'd offered to come with me this afternoon to talk to him, but I knew I had to do this myself. I loved her for offering, though.
"I figured" I said. I wasn't trying to be difficult. This was just a hard thing for me to talk about. I went with the route Annabeth had suggested.
"I didn't give you the story so you could publish it. I don't ever want that story published." I said, trying really hard not to break eye contact with him.
"Then why did you give it to me?" He asked. I took a sip of hot chocolate to calm myself before answering.
"I wanted you to understand." I said.
"Understand what?" He asked.
"Why I've been so angry with you." I replied.
"I'm still not really following." He said to me. And I had cottoned on to that before he'd told me.
"I know. This," I paused "this is hard for me." I admitted and he nodded.
"Take your time." He said, in a voice that he rarely used with me, it was almost soft.
"The story, I wrote it." I said feeling really pathetic at my explanation so far. I sighed and tried a different route.
"When Estelle was born, I used to tell her stories that I'd made up to get her to sleep. I started to write them down as she got older, and I found that writing helped." I said.
"Helped what?" My father asked.
"Helped me process things." I said.
"Process things" he repeated, and I nodded. My father was an intelligent man, but I could tell he still hadn't made the connection.
"I was upset, because you thought it was fiction." I said before taking another sip of my hot chocolate. "I understand why you thought that. But-" I took a deep breath, "I was trying to tell you why we struggled to connect. Why I was angry and-"
"And I thought it was fiction." He said recognition flickering in his eyes. I nodded and I saw an emotion akin to horror flash through his face before he controlled it back to his normal expression.
"The story is about you." He didn't ask he just stated it. I nodded once again. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. An action I'd only ever seen him do when he was stressed. Which when I had been around in the past, was often.
"Why didn't your mom call me? I could have helped, I could have-"
"Helped out your fling and son that at the time you didn't know about." I snapped bluntly.
He opened his mouth to say something and then thought better of it. We sat in silence for a few moments.
"Sorry, that was uncalled for." I said I hadn't meant to snap at him, but I was still angry that he'd not been around to protect us from him, no matter how hard I tried to let it go. The scar was always a constant reminder, it was hard to forget.
"It's okay. I understand more now." He said and I nodded. "I'm sorry you went through that, that you both went through that." He told me and I nodded again. "Please understand though Percy your mom wasn't just a fling. I did love her."
"Then why did you leave her?" I asked. He sighed like he knew we'd always have this conversation but that he had always hoped to avoid it. I was happy for the change in direction of our conversation, the less I had to speak about him, the better.
"Percy, my family, your family, have a very set idea about how things should be done." He told me. I frowned; I didn't understand what he meant. "My father believed, 20 years ago, that it was time for me to marry. He didn't know about my relationship with your mom and if he had he wouldn't have cared. My marriage was arranged Percy, and don't get me wrong, I love my wife and our son very much, but it wasn't a choice I made, leaving your mom. That had been made for me long before we'd even got together. I am sorry that it meant I wasn't around and that it meant your life played out the way it has." He told me.
"An arranged marriage? Doesn't that seem a bit archaic?" I asked and he chuckled, I don't think I'd ever heard him chuckle before.
"Yes, it is, and was then when it was brought upon me. A thought you and your cousin have in common." He told me and my heart dropped into my stomach.
"Which one?" I asked.
"Thalia" He responded, anger rose within me, on her behalf and I knew it wasn't my father's fault that my 'Uncle' was an inconsiderate archaic moron, but it angered me, nonetheless.
"I hope she told her father to shove it." I told him, barely containing my anger on the subject.
"I think her response was a bit more colourful than that." He told me and I heard amusement in his voice. Knowing Thalia it was a lot more colourful than that.
"She won't do it." I told him, "And she shouldn't have too. Are you going to try and make me?" I asked, the thought of having to leave Annabeth for someone of his choosing broke not just my heart, but my soul.
"No." He said, "I don't think your mother would take to kindly to me, if I tried." I tried not to be angry about the fact that the only reason he wasn't trying to put me into an arranged marriage was because of my mom and not because of how I felt about it. I had also never been more grateful for my mom than I was in that moment.
"Just because of mom?" I asked, "You'd make me if it wasn't for mom?" I had to know. If the answer was yes, then there was no point me even trying to mend my relationship with my father. It would end here.
"Not just because of your mom, no. Unlike my father and my brother, I recognise that the choice to get married should be your own. Unfortunately for your cousin if she doesn't give in to your uncle's demands, he'll probably cut her off." He told me.
"You say that like she takes his money now." I told him and my father scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Have you ever actually met Thalia? Spoken to her at all?" I asked.
"I- no- I suppose I haven't" he said to me, and I rolled my eyes. This was why mom took so much interest in her nieces and nephews on my father's side. She knew how useless they all were.
Annabeth's P.O.V
Piper was out at her class, Percy as out talking with his dad and Jason had Basketball practice. Which meant I had four hours of time, I used most of it to study, but I'd also invited Thalia round.
I'd not seen her in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to check in make sure she was okay. I'd cleared all of my work, so I had nothing I needed to do before I returned from my trip with Percy this weekend. I was looking forward to catching up for a few hours with Thalia before everyone came home.
Thalia arrived with pizza and beers. The beers were my first tip off that things were not hunky-dory. Thalia hardly ever drank in the week, especially if she had to work the following day. We settled on the sofa and tucked into the pizza, she offered me a beer which I declined, and I waited. Eventually the silence was too much for Thalia and she started to talk.
"I hate it when you pull an Aunt Sally on me." She grumbled before setting down her beer and continuing. I wasn't sure what she meant but I would ask her later, for now I wanted to know what was wrong. "My father has given me an ultimatum, get married to a man of his choosing or be cut off." She told me.
"That seems antiquated and extremely unnecessary. How can he actually cut you off it's not like you spend any of his money?" I asked.
"It is out-dated and completely preposterous that I should be expected to go through with it all. He can't cut me off money wise he means family. He's going to cut me off from Jason somehow." She told me and there were tears briming her eyes. I knew how important Jason was to her. When Piper and Jason had started dating, we'd discussed why she hadn't told me about him in great length. I'd seen her angry at her father before but that wasn't what this was. Thalia was almost depressed, resided to the fact that she would, in fact, go through with the out-dated notion of an arranged marriage just to be able to keep Jason in her life.
"Have you spoken to Jason about this at all?" I asked.
"No, he's been so happy and mostly here with Piper. I didn't want to upset him. It only really hit me on Tuesday how hard it would be not to see him again." She told me and I remembered Jason saying something about heading home to see her on Tuesday.
"I really think you should." I told her. "Jason isn't about to let you marry so stranger just to keep him in your life. But, at the same time he's not going to let your father just cut him out of it either." I told her pulling her in for a hug. The fact that she let me do that was just another sign of how upset she was. Thalia wasn't normally a hugger. But before Percy, I wasn't either.
"What am I going to do?" She sobbed. And the question seemed absolutely absurd.
"Right," I said. "First, we're going to poor the rest of that beer away. Then you're going to have a shower and freshen up. And once you've done that, I want to hear your solution to that question. Because the Thalia Grace that I know, the Thalia Grace that I love, has never needed anyone to tell her what to do and I'll be damned if you start now." I said.
Thalia went to the bathroom, while I got her a spare set of clothes to wear and put them out for her. I poured all the beer she'd brought with her down the sink so she wouldn't be tempted to open another one and I made her a black coffee.
Twenty minutes and two black coffees later, Thalia had a plan.
"I'm going to talk to Jason when he gets back from practise, we'll work something out so dad can't separate us again and then I'll tell he once again to shove his arrange marriage where the sun doesn't shine." She told me.
"Welcome back" I said teasingly, and she punched me in the shoulder which was how I knew she was glad I was teasing her.
Percy was first to return and upon seeing Thalia told her to tell her father to shove his arranged marriage up his arse.
"How did you know?" She asked him.
"My father told me." He told her and she nodded but I could see Percy was just as angry that she'd been put in this situation as I was.
Piper was next to return, and she looked exhausted. She placed her laptop down by her bedroom door and greeted everyone. She looked a silent question at me about the tension but before I could answer Jason returned.
Sensing that something was wrong, and that Thalia was at the heart of it. Jason decided to ask, Thalia, if it was about what their father had said at the meal, they'd had with him. He didn't know we all knew except for Piper. I knew Piper was going to lose it when she found out. She has always been a big advocate of women's rights, she'd see what Thalia had been asked to do as a step back to the dark ages and I didn't disagree with her.
Thalia and Jason discussed the real options she'd been given, and as expected Piper was angry. I could see it bubbling behind her eyes, but she held her tongue as much for Thalia as she did for Jason's sake. She didn't want to upset either of them. Jason now realising what his father had meant was very upset.
"He's going to use me to get you to do what he wants." Jason said miserably.
"The hell he is." Percy said angrily.
"PJ, we love you, but you don't know our father." Jason said.
"I don't need to know him, to know I'm not going to let him separate you two, just because Thalia won't marry some random dude, that he wants her to. And, not to tell you what to do Pinecone Face, but you are not marrying some randomer, not happening Capeesh?" He said and Piper laughed.
"I'm sorry," she said composing herself. "Percy did you really just say Capeesh?" She asked and soon we were all laughing, it was a nice tension breaker.
"It's Italian" he said, "Nico uses it a lot." Thalia smiled at him and nodded so I knew he'd said it for her benefit.
"I'm not getting married." Thalia said. "But I'm not losing my brother either."
"So let's look at the most obvious way he could separate you." I said, "Obviously he can't make you quit your job and leave New York, but he could transfer Jason for his last semester." I said. Jason paled at the thought as did Piper. I hadn't meant to upset anyone, but I'd been thinking over the possibilities, and this seemed like the most logical one.
"I hate to admit it but, Annie's right. Father won't hesitate to pull you from your last semester just because he can." Thalia said. I let her have the 'Annie' because of how serious the situation was turning out to be.
Frank's P.O.V
Hazel and I arrived at Annabeth and Piper's apartment a little after 9pm. Percy had called and said he needed a favour. What greeted us was a very tense room, and I didn't understand why.
"Thanks for coming Frank, sorry if I interrupted your night." Percy said.
"No problem, what did you need me help with?" I asked.
Percy filled me in on the current situation, Thalia's ultimatum, Jason's possible transfer for the last semester to force her hand and my blood boiled. I closed my eyes and counted to ten to try and control my anger. I cared about these people, they were my girlfriend's family, and they were my friends. No-one got to push them around like their lives don't matter, that wasn't how you were supposed to treat people.
"If it's money, I'll give it" I said, and Percy chuckled.
"It's actually your knowledge of law, I was thinking emancipation?" Percy said.
"You want to have Thalia and Jason emancipated from their father?" I asked looking at each person in turn as I mentioned them. "Isn't that a little extreme?" I asked.
"No more extreme than an arranged marriage." Percy said.
"I'm no lawyer, or law student," Annabeth said, "But aren't Thalia and Jason a little old to be emancipating themselves from their dad?"
"Not in the eyes of the law, especially with Jason still being in education." I said.
"I hate this." Jason said.
"Look, how about we just make sure that all the financial moves are yours to make, so that your dad can't force your hand that way. Then we can look more into emancipation if that's what you really want." I said.
"Frank, I can't take your money" Jason said to me.
"Look, I'm not using it. It's sitting there amounting interest, it may as well go towards helping my friends. If it makes you feel better, you can pay it back, but you absolutely don't have too." I said feeling glad to be useful.
He didn't like it and neither did Thalia. I could see that by the look on their faces, but they did agree. At least this way that there would be no messy legal actions between them and their dad and at the very least their dad couldn't control where Jason lived or studied for the remained of the year. Once the atmosphere settled a little and the plan was put into action Jason claimed he needed a beer and Thalia agreed.
"Let's lighten the mood a little, drinking game?" Piper asked.
"I can't I have swim practice first thing, and I wasn't a fan of vodka last time we played." Percy said.
"Well you can be boring and go to bed" Piper said teasingly.
While the others debated out whether or not to part take in Piper's drinking game, Hazel kissed my cheek.
"What was that for?" I asked.
"Brownie points" she told me.
I smiled at her, I loved knowing I'd earned brownie points with my girlfriend. It meant I'd done something right. I hoped to earn a lot of brownie points this weekend too.
"Do you want to play?" I asked her.
"We don't have any classes tomorrow." She told me.
"And my shift at Jackson's isn't until six." I said.
"Count us in" Hazel said as a way of re-joining the conversation, though we had no idea what game we were playing.
Piper's P.O.V
I seriously needed to unwind after the last hour and a bit of problem solving to insure my boyfriend wasn't forced to a different college for our last semester. I knew it was selfish, but I couldn't bear the thought of him not being here. It was hard enough being apart for a few days over Christmas, a whole semester, I wasn't sure I could manage that. But I hoped I'd be able to if the need had arisen.
The fact that Thalia had brought beer and Annabeth had poured them all down the sink made the drinking game a spirit drinking game, vodka or whiskey was all we had. We opted for shots rather than mixers. Percy and Annabeth both retired to bed rather than played which I suspected, on Annabeth's part, had more to do with wanting time together than not wanting to participate.
We decided on truth or drink, which was apparently one of Thalia's favourites. As her eyes danced with a renewed excitement, I saw panic flash in both Jason's and Hazel's. I wandered just what kind of truth, my boyfriend's sister, could extract from them to elicit such a response.
"I'll go first" Jason volunteered. "Frank first thought when you met Hazel?" He asked.
"Tame for you Sparky" I noted, but I was only teasing.
"He's not PJ" Jason chuckled in response to me and gestured for Frank to answer or drink.
"That I had to know her." Frank said looking at Hazel who smiled and blushed. They were so cute. Thalia rolled her eyes but seemed happy for them.
"Your go Frank" I said.
"Oh right" he said "Jason, scariest thing Thalia's threatened to do?"
"Leave baby albums out for Piper to stumble upon" he responded, and Thalia cackled with laughter.
"Oh I would absolutely love to stumble across such a prize, please Thalia do leave them 'around'" I teased my boyfriend who blushed a dark crimson, it was adorable.
"Terrifying" Frank agreed, and Hazel laughed. "Sorry does that mean it's Jason to go again? That was silly of me."
"I'll go, seeing as it was also about me." Thalia said. I nodded.
"Piper, now you've met all the cousins-"
"I don't think she's met Estelle" Jason interrupted.
"I've not been introduced but I've seen her in passing in Jackson's." I said and Thalia nodded.
"A tragedy really, PJ should correct that." Jason said and it was clear he adored Estelle.
"Anyway," Thalia said playfully rolling her eyes at her brothers clear affection for the youngest cousin in the group. "Other than Jason who's your favourite?"
"I won't count Estelle, as I've not spent any time with her, but she seems lovely from what I've heard. Normally I wouldn't hesitate, and I'd say Hazel, we've been friends for years but –"
"But you're going to say Percy." Hazel finished for me, and I nodded.
"Sorry" I said to her, but she smiled and shook her head.
"Don't be, I think there's a mutual, at least unspoken, agreement between Thalia, Jason, Nico and myself that he's the favourite." Hazel said.
"Really?" I asked and the three of them nodded. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to why each valued Percy so much. But I at least knew why I did.
"Hazel, seeing as you've not had one yet," I said and smiled at my friend before continuing.
Ψ
~ Author's Note ~
Hi all! Thanks so much for reading this chapter could have continued truth or drink until that was all this chapter became but I didn't want that so apologies for cutting the game short and leaving Piper's question for Hazel to your imaginations but I'm sure what ever you all come up with would be much better than what I would have come up with for sure. Perhaps if you leave a review, you could let me know what you think Piper might have asked?
Dawn. Justice – Thank you for your review! Your outrage is clear, and I love that my story has elicited such a response from you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know!
WiseGrl14 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you loved the chapter! Your theories have been noted, I do enjoy hearing them :). I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know!
SAS7ROCKS – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Luke certainly is plotting as you say! I'm glad you're falling in love with the story I hope this chapter lived up to expectations, please let me know!
Going Dark – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! You know Luke's plan for sure, whether he can pull it off, is the question, no? I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!
Sranupama2005 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I love Estelle and Annabeth's dynamic, so I'm thrilled you liked that part! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!
SarcasmRocks – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you loved the chapter! Estelle really is precious, I'm glad you didn't see the mute-ness coming, and so glad you enjoyed it! Luke cliff hanger is of course still in play, but you'll get an update on that soon! :) Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!
Harmionepercabethparker – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I know how you feel about Luke and Josh, but I'll let you read how it plays out I don't want to spoil anything for you! Let me know what you thought of this chapter!
Insanedreamer7905 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! No worries on the keyboard glitch I assure you I have them too! I'm glad you loved the Estelle and Oliver moment it was a favourite to write! The affects of Annabeth Chase are certainly powerful I'll give you that! Valentines is on its way! Please let me know your favourite parts from this chapter!
Merendinoemiliano – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Sally and Annabeth do interact more later in the story. Please let me know what you thought about this one!
Anz2KFfire – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know what you thought of this one!
Aweesh ganegoda – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! All theories are noted but I won't confirm or deny anything I don't want to spoil anything! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!
Happy reading all and stay safe!