Annabeth's P.O.V
The door to the interview room opened and Detective Thompson walked in.
"It's time for you to go back to your cell Luke, the doctors are going to come in-"
"No." I said. "We had a deal and I need to uphold my end. I promised not to leave until he told me what he wanted to tell me. That's what's going to happen, Detective. Could you please tell Thalia that I'll meet her back at the hospital?" I asked. I had many reasons for asking that question, the most important ones were that I didn't know how Thalia was dealing with what she'd already heard and that I needed her to be there for Percy when I couldn't.
Luke had been suspiciously quiet, watching me with a smug expression. It occurred to me that he thought he was 'controlling' me, that my choice to keep my word was his doing. He couldn't be more wrong. I stayed, yes, to keep my word, but also out of curiosity. I wanted to know what he'd done, how he felt he'd controlled my life. Detective Thompson nodded and headed out of the room once more. I knew Thalia would be mad about my decision and there was really nothing more that I wanted than to be there when they woke Percy up, but I had to know how this version of Luke felt he had mastered my life. I knew on some level she would understand that.
"Your turn" I said.
"Indeed. Didn't you ever wonder why pretty young Annabeth never had a date in High School?" He asked.
"Not particularly" I said. I'd always assumed that my crush on Luke had been obvious so everyone else had just left me to it. Was there something more to that?
"I'll admit it didn't take much to convince them all, you see you had options. We just took them all away." He said smugly.
"Why? It wasn't as if Luke or you were interested in me back then. Why did it matter to you if others were?" I asked.
"It wasn't about their interest in you. It was about your interest in Luke. You see even back then Luke had some feelings for you but he assumed his friends would tease him for his affections towards you, so he buried them. But that didn't mean he wanted anyone else to have you." He said and I could see he was taking great amusement in telling me this.
"He couldn't have me, so no-one could, is that it?" I asked trying very hard not to show how I really felt, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"Exactly. Like I said it wasn't hard to deter them from you. We told them all you found you books more interesting than boys. That all you talked about was what you read in them. Did you like sports? Forget it he told them." I felt like someone had just sucker – punched me in the stomach.
"Okay so until he left High School Luke had effectively sworn anyone off from asking me out. But I moved before my senior year." I said.
"Yes, that was unfortunate for him wasn't it. But fortune favours the brave as they say, for who should you start dating but Josh Manor, of all people."
Is it possible to feel like you're about to have the wind knocked out of you again? Even if you weren't being punched? It was getting much harder not to react to Luke and Luke two point Oh. Even though I'd met Josh the summer after my senior year we didn't start dating until my freshman year of college which was of little consequence apparently.
"You see Josh did something Luke could never forgive." He said.
"He dated me." I replied sarcastically, "The horror!"
"No," He cut in, sounding annoyed. "He deflowered you."
"Deflowered?! What century are you from?!" I spat, Luke had no right to choose who I had that moment with.
"Ah, at last some anger, I was beginning to think this was all a waste." He said.
"Annabeth," Luke said "I'm sorry" He pleaded.
"Shut up" Luke's other persona said.
It didn't matter how sorry Luke was. I wasn't sure I'd be able to forgive him when I knew everything.
"Luke was jealous, you see, he wanted to be the one, the only one." He said amused.
"I was supposed to wait forever was I?" I demanded; this was ridiculous.
"No," Luke said weakly, still fighting his other persona for some form of control.
"Shut up" His more aggressive side said again.
"Not forever, just long enough for Luke to be the one to take it." His other persona continued.
Is he serious?!
"That's very hypocritical, considering if I had have waited, Luke wouldn't have been a virgin when he 'took' mine. Tell me why I should have waited for him when he didn't wait for me?!"
I didn't know whether to be angry or just disappointed. I didn't even know if I should believe that this was true. Clearly, all this other persona of Luke wanted was to hurt me. I was also finding out that maybe I hadn't know my Luke, no not my Luke, just Luke, all that well. That was what upset me most about it all. What I had thought had been a friendship, part of a real family, had all been a lie.
"Isn't it obvious?" He spat. "Luke loves you." He said as if the very thought disgusted him.
I didn't dignify that with an answer.
"Why did you and Josh break up?" He asked amusement back in his voice once more. Keeping 'control', I noticed, of the conversation.
"He cheated on me." I said but I was certain, even though I hadn't told him before that Luke already knew this.
"Oh yes, he cheated, Luke made sure of it you see."
"Please no-one forced Josh to sleep with someone else while we were together. You can't put that on Luke no matter how much you want too." I said angrily, this really was getting ridiculous now. I mean really Luke had made Josh Cheat?!
Luke chuckled and a shiver went down my spine. There was something totally wrong about such a sinister chuckle coming from Luke's mouth.
"Actually he could. You see Luke and Josh go way back, even further than the two of you do. And Josh much like yourself made the mistake of trusting Luke." He said.
"Are you seriously telling me that Luke, that you, manipulated Josh into cheating on me just because you could?" I asked in disbelief.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you. Don't you see, all Luke wanted was you. And all that stood in his way was Josh. So Luke took his pal Josh to a frat party got him very drunk and all but pushed him into another girls bed. Josh did the rest that's why the break-up worked so well you see? Of course like so many others Luke was able to convince Josh later on that you were the one at fault."
REALLY?! I was the one at fault?! How on earth did he manage that?!
"Really my fault, that I was the one that was cheated on was it?!" I spat.
"As far as Josh is now concerned." He replied smugly. Well it would explain the tone of his greeting that day at lunch, I thought to myself.
"Right," I said trying to re-centre the conversation, the sooner it was over the sooner I could get back to Percy. "Say that's true, say I believe that's true, then after all that, why didn't you approach me? You wanted to date me that much, loved me that much, why didn't you do something about it?" I asked. I was sick of defining Luke's two aspects separately so I decided not to indulge him in that any longer. They were both after all, Luke.
"You weren't the same." A weaker voice said.
"Of course I wasn't I'd just had my heart broken." I spat.
"You didn't get better." The harsher voice mused. "Not until Percy came into your life."
The realisation hit me like a tonne of brinks and my heart sank into my stomach. My worse fear had just been confirmed. Luke had gone after Percy because of me. It was my fault that Percy was in the hospital, my fault that he was in a coma.
"Ah! There's the face I wanted, the look of utter devastation when you realised I've had control all along, that I'm your master." He said.
I'd had enough of this, I needed to leave. But I wasn't going to let him have this much satisfaction, not after everything he'd done.
"The only thing you've ever had control over in regard to me, is how you pushed me away. This look wasn't for you this look was for Percy. You never had, and never will have control over me." I said standing. "Goodbye Luke." I didn't look at him again or give him a chance to respond. I walked out of the door and didn't look back.
Piper was on the other side waiting for me with open arms. I didn't know why she was there, but I was beyond grateful that she was. I walked straight into her arms and finally allowed myself to burst into tears.
Thalia's P.O.V
I hated that Annabeth has essentially dismissed me to the hospital. Not because she'd done it, but because I wouldn't be there for her. I also knew that she was giving me the out that I wanted. I'd hated listening to Luke talk to her like that. That wasn't Luke, and if it was, I didn't know him anymore.
The other thing I was aware of was how much pain she must be in. She loved Percy more than I'd ever seen her love anyone. She was determined to save him. Which was why I knew staying must be killing her. I didn't want to leave her, but I knew she was asking me to go to Percy for her, until she could be there, I had to respect that. It wasn't often Annabeth asked for help, and if this was what helped her, this was what I would do.
I had been delayed in New York traffic and due to road layout and road works. The route back to the hospital hadn't been as easy as leaving it had. What should have taken me fifteen minutes took me closer to forty. The only thing that made the delay worthwhile was seeing Percy sitting up, awake and talking.
His eyes met mine when I entered but he wasn't looking for me, he was looking for Annabeth. When she didn't follow me in his face fell.
"Where is she?" He asked.
"With Luke" I replied. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Why?" Piper asked before Percy could.
"She made a deal. He'd tell her what she wanted to know if she sat and listened to how he's controlled her life. She didn't want me there to listen, told me to come back here."
Before I'd even finished speaking Percy was trying to get out of bed.
"Whoa, PJ, No. What are you doing? Sit back down" Jason said pushing Percy back into the bed.
"I have to go to her, he's going to break her heart, she needs me. Let me go." Percy pleaded desperately.
"I'll go," Piper said. "Please Percy, she's doing this for you, to help you recover. So stay and recover, I'll go to Annabeth. Whatever he has to tell her, I'll help her through it. We'll be back here before you know it." She promised and Percy did relent, but only because he wouldn't have got out of his bed before one of us pushed him back into it.
"Piper, it's about Josh, what he wants to tell her. He somehow forced Josh to break up with her." He said and Piper's face fell, probably about as far as my heart which felt like it was now in my stomach.
Josh had been Annabeth's first serious boyfriend. Their break-up had broken something inside of Annabeth something that only Percy had been able to mend. To know that Luke was involved in that somehow, made bile rise in my throat.
The last thing I saw was Piper nodding before I grabbed the waste paper basket, which thankfully had a liner in it, and threw up the contents of my stomach. Which wasn't a lot so it wasn't long before I was dry heaving. There was a hand on my back rubbing it soothingly. When I finally looked up I found it was Jason.
"You okay?" Jason asked me.
"No," I said. "But it's not about me." I told him, but I didn't want to talk about it. I'd failed Annabeth in so many ways, not protecting her from Luke was the worst one.
Sally came to my rescue and asked Percy how he was feeling.
"Okay," he said "but I'm now very worried about Annabeth." We all knew he wasn't okay; he still had a few broken ribs and probably was still struggling with whatever Luke had done to him. But as always he was putting on a brave face for us. He was yet to figure out most of us could see through it.
"She'll be okay sweetheart. Piper will take good care of her if she needs it. And Annabeth is a strong young woman. Whatever happens she'll be okay." Aunt Sally said and I could see Percy clinging to her words hoping it was true. He wasn't the only one either. I was also clinging to that hope, because I knew that Luke was the one person that had always had the power to floor Annabeth, if she let him. I really hoped she didn't let him today.
Piper's P.O.V
After hearing Percy's mom ask Thalia if she needed any water, I kissed Jason's cheek and headed out to the police station. I knew this end was being taken care of, Annabeth on the other had needed my help. If Luke was responsible for Josh cheating on her, she was going to be devastated. It just added to the list of things that I was mad about at the moment, but I couldn't concentrate on that right now.
Thalia had said traffic was awful and it'd be best to walk it. I was always planning to walk it because most of the time, here in New York it was actually quicker to walk than it was to drive.
When I got to the police station Annabeth was still talking to Luke.
"She's still in there, it's got very heated, I'm debating interrupting her again" Detective Thompson said to me when he met me to take me through to wait for her.
"Heated how?" I asked.
"Well before she got the information, she needed she wasn't afraid to yell at him and he yelled back just as much. But since she decided to 'honour' her agreement she seems to have closed herself off a little her words have been angry, cold and aggressively delivered sometimes. And his have not been much better." I swallowed and nodded. "Do you want to watch the interview or wait for her to come out?" He asked.
"I'll wait thank you" I said taking a seat on one of the plastic chairs outside the interview room he told me they were in. In order to help Annabeth I needed to be in a level headspace, I knew I wouldn't have that if I sat and watched what she was going through. No, it was better to wait and let her tell me and react to it then, than already be riled up to a point that I was too angry to help.
I didn't have to wait long. The door opened about ten minutes after I sat down, a very fragile looking Annabeth storming out of it. I stood and opened my arms to offer her a hug and she rushed into them and immediately started to cry. As I hugged Annabeth, I noticed Detective Thompson and someone else enter the room Annabeth had just been in. I figured it wouldn't be long before Luke came out and I didn't think it would be a great idea for Annabeth to be in his line of vision when he did.
"Come on Annabeth, lets go get a coffee and we'll talk it out." I said, I felt her nod on my shoulder, which was now very damp. I didn't mind though, my best friend needed me I wasn't about to let her down.
We weren't far from Jackson's, so we decided to make the trip there. When we got there, Annabeth went and sat in the booth at the back, which thankfully was free, and I went to the counter to order. Leo was on shift to day, he'd been covering a lot of shifts at the shop, he must be exhausted.
"Hey Leo, can I have mine and Annabeth's usuals please?" I asked.
"Sure, how's Percy doing?" He asked.
"He's awake, properly this time" I said.
"Good, then why isn't Annabeth there?" He asked.
"She will be, but visiting hours are almost over and she needs a chat." I said vaguely.
"I see. I hope she's okay then. Do you want me to bring them over?" He asked. Normally that would have been ideal, but I was conscious that any interruption would make Annabeth clam up.
"No it's okay Leo, I'll wait, thank you." I said.
I returned to our table, coffee in hand, and sat next to Annabeth as opposed to opposite from her. I placed a mug in front of her and waited. It didn't take long for her to start talking, fortunately.
"He's a monster." She said.
"Thalia said he's sick?" I asked tentatively, I didn't want to make it worse.
"Yeah, I don't know when it started, I'm not sure I want to know. But both sides are still him." She said her tears silently still flowing down her cheeks.
"What happened to Percy, is my fault, he would have been safe, if he hadn't have met me."
"It wasn't your fault Annabeth, you didn't make Luke kidnap Percy, you didn't give him whatever it was that the doctors couldn't detect, Luke did."
"But Luke did all of that because of me, because he wanted me." She whispered.
"That doesn't make it your fault Annabeth." I said gently taking her hand. "I don't know what was said in that room. What I do know is that it got very heated and very personal. I understand why you're blaming yourself to an extent Annabeth. But you really need to take a breath and do what you do best. Which is to think logically about this."
That elicited a small chuckle out of her.
"And here I thought you were encouraging me to think more emotionally." She said.
Okay I did laugh at that, I had too, because it was true normally, I was giving her that advice which was the opposite of what I was telling her to do now. It was a little ironic that it was coming from me I suppose.
"Not today." I said gently, and managed to get another smile from her, albeit a small one.
"Do you want to know what the most frustrating thing is?" She asked me.
"Go on" I encouraged her.
"I didn't even get to ask everything I wanted to. I let him get under my skin too much to be able to ask all the things I wanted answers for." She said and my heart broke when I heard those words.
"What do you still want to ask him?" I asked, hoping to gage what she had asked him based on our previous talks about Luke.
"About Thalia, if it really had been an accident, why he'd tried to knock me out over Christmas break, what he thought kidnapping me would achieve. I got an answer to the others, I'm just not too sure how much of it I believe." She said.
Oh Annabeth! I thought pulling her into a hug. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that visiting hours were over.
"Why don't we go home and stock up on junk food on the way and we'll really get into it all?" I asked and felt her nod in response. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night, we were going to need ice-cream, tissues, hot chocolate, and lots of hugs. Come hell or high water we were going to work through it all, there was no way I was going to let Annabeth pull away from Percy because she blamed herself for what Luke had done. Because given half the chance, I knew that's exactly what she would do.
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~Author's Note~
Hi All, thank you for reading this chapter I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it answered some of your questions?! I have gone through the entire story and picked out 16 questions or lose ends that I feel I need to explain or close our before the end of this story. If something has come up that you feel hasn't been closed out, please let me know!
Going Dark – Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and this one! Please let me know!
WiseGrl14 – Thank you for your review! I hope what Luke told Annabeth was along the lines you were thinking of?! Hope the time difference on updates is ok for you then! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and this one please let me know!
Sranupama2005 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Yes, the failsafe – more on that to come! I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!
SarcasmRocks – Thank you for your review! Things certainly were heating up! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter please let me know if you enjoyed this one too!
QueenAnnabeth18 – Thank you for your review! What did she agree to indeed. Hope you enjoyed it please let me know!
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Merendinoemiliano – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one too please let me know!
Astra2111 – Thank you for your review! I have a Nico POV planned it depends on how it reads once I've written it though as to whether I'll include it, but it's possible! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one too! Please let me know!
Insanedreamer7905 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Apologies for all the cliffs but they've been necessary, hopefully the end of this one wasn't too bad?! I did send you a DM I believe on your review too, so I'll leave it here with I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know!
Happy reading all and stay safe! :)