Chapter One: Only One

Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan's
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
and the Heroes of Olympus Series, and I do not
own the songs I put into this book either.
I only own my fan made characters and of course
the plot line.

Added Songs – In Order of Appearance
No songs added in this chapter

~Author's Note~

Well guys, here we are with the sequel that I have spent almost an entire year planning. I am super excited about it so I'm gonna keep it short and say hope you enjoy this first chapter and I'll see you at the end.

In life, nothing was every what it was expected to be.

There are so many phrases used to describe life.

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

You make your own bed, you lie in it.

What do you do when everything you've ever done, ever cared for... ever loved is ruined by one mistake, one thought... one decision that made everything crumble like a tower of cards knocked down by a simple breeze blowing against it. A single choice that made everything around fall into ruin and then dissipates it into nothingness; turned into a central focus for the gossip tabloids and spoken about out in the open, for all the world to judge the story, but not the full one.

No one knew the full story except those involved in it.

Hazel Levesque honestly didn't enjoy this one aspect of the industry today; she found love in making music and understood the risks that came with the industry and she chose to do. She still chose to be a part of this industry and she knew what she was getting into when she chose to date a rising musician who had a prejudicial and prideful family who had an intense dislike for those who dated their family member and did not match their criteria or match their standards.

She honestly wanted the opportunity to prove herself but in their relationship Frank never once introduced her properly. They were told about her and she thought she had a chance if Frank took her to meet them but he never gave her that opportunity, instead he lied to them and she was oblivious to the whole thing until she listened to the message left for him by his family.

It honestly hurt her to learn that Frank lied to them, hid her from them and made them believe that he was as prejudiced as them and it kind of ruined her. She's already made a mistake when he left for a trip to visit her family. They had already been fighting and it just overwhelmed her and he had half broken up with her. It was because she wanted to meet his family and he didn't want that. It just killed them and when he had left to go see his family without so much as saying good bye to her, she just broke down in a fit of tears.

Over the course of time she had been employed at Apollo records she had formed a close friendship with Leo Valdez since they were both foster children. When she was little her mom just dropped her at a house, promising to be back but she never came back and Leo, his mom died in a horrible fire in their house and left his father disfigured and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He was mentally broken and unfit to care for his son so he was fostered.

They had bonded over that, formed a close friendship and shared things that no one knew in the beginning about themselves (that they later shared with friends) and formed a bond. That night Leo was their comforting her, whilst her boyfriend was away with his family. He took care of her, comforted her, was her shoulder to cry on, the one who was kind to her and telling her that everything was going to fucking be alright and she knew it would be alright...

...but them something happened. The air shifted and before she could comprehend what was happening that night, Leo kissed. It was brief, chaste and sweet, a sort of comfort. He didn't push her, he pulled away and apologized and in that moment the tension changed to something more intense and she leaned in and kissed him and then they kissed intensely. When she came to her senses it was because her phone which started ringing and it wasn't just anyone's ringtone.

It was Frank's.

When it rang she was pressed against the wall with her shirt off and Leo had his off, pressed flushed against her. The moment she saw it was Frank she stopped and they stood frozen until it stopped and then she went over and listened to the message left for her and she instantly felt guilty. She and Leo swore that no one would ever know and then she was forced to make a deal with the Devil and his name was Luke Castellan.

Everything was going fine, until the guilt grew too much, until Luke's lust for revenge terrified her to the point where she was afraid of her own safety around him. But the guilt grew, the fear of the impending consequences of both choices she had to make until she came to the realisation that Luke was going to ruin both anyway so she had a choice to make. It cost her everything but cleared her conscious but she would forever remain guilty.

She sighed as she pressed her hand flat against her rounded, heavily pregnant belly.

It was still a reality she was trying to process that six months ago she was a mere ten weeks pregnant and now a little over six months had passes since that day. She was going for eight and a half month check up, and felt like she was about to explode but she was happy, so incredibly happy. Her pregnancy had been made easy with the help of a close friend who loved and adored but was going through a rough patch of his own but they were doing okay you could say.

Hazel was hidden from the world, protecting herself from the gossip and criticism and judgement of strangers and the stress of reality but hiding out, only venturing out to go to her check-ups. It was a difficult life but it was one she had to live and she was grateful that Leo hadn't shunned her away, or tossed her aside when she needed him most. She was scared when she called him all that time ago; praying that she wouldn't have to do this on her own and she didn't which she would forever be grateful for.

She looked over at Leo who looked so different from the one she knew from months ago. He'd lost his sparkle, was a mature, adult who held nothing but stoic expression on his face in reality but only gained a little expression when recording a music video for his YouTube channel. She helped him, because no matter what he still had a bit of love for music. But his main job was his shop which had been growing in success. She was glad that he had something to fall back on but she could see that he wasn't happy anymore.

He'd been so kind and understanding towards her, he held judgment for her choices but at the same time understood when she explained and that is what she was grateful for. He looked over at her am let out a smile but it was empty, void of happiness, just a mask he wore to hide the pain inside he felt but it wasn't her fault for it. It's just how he wore himself now and she couldn't help but be grateful for all that he had done for her even though he was miserable.

She reached over and touched his hand in a soothing manor, smiling tenderly... giving off an aura of comfort that made his returned smile more genuine. "How is little one doing?" He asked, his eyes flickered to her stomach in the briefest of glances before being laser focused on the road in front of them.

Hazel smiled as she felt the baby growing within her kick against her hand, shooting fluttering butterflies of love and adoration in her heart, warming and filling her with love and undiluted happiness that helped her remember why she has kept in the dark for so long. The love a mother has for a child was more intense than she had ever believed and she fell in love with her and Frank's baby from the first moment she learnt she was pregnant. Even though it happened after a shit storm that was still growing and she even though she realised she was alone it didn't stop that love.

"Baby is doing great. Can't stop kicking or dancing on my bladder." She answered with a quiet chuckle as she caressed her belly, still telling herself that she really was going to be a mother because it still to this day hadn't really sunk in.

It had been a few days since she had gotten to see Leo properly. He was always so busy and even though she lived with him since she had lost her apartment because she was unable to pay her rent because she was jobless after everything that happened. Leo took her in, provided for her and her daughter, and helped her prepare for the baby's arrival which was drawing closer and closer as the minutes and hours went by.

She owed him a lot and he did it without hesitation, without so much as asking for anything in return except that she takes care of herself and her baby. She barely saw any of him anymore and since she was the size of a blue whale that swallowed a hot air balloon, she couldn't drive herself and she had no money for a cab. Even though the shop was insanely busy this particular Friday of the late October month, the 20th to be exact, he still without hesitation, said he would take her for her appointment.

Leo smiled without taking his eyes off the road, "I am glad. With the arrival date getting so close and all, I've been worried that the stress and the loneliness was getting to you since I haven't been around as much as of late." She knew Leo had a good heart and the concern was welcome but she didn't need. The beginning months of her pregnancy were terrifying and rough for her but she had grown into her pregnancy and she found the glow they talked about but she was alone.

Yeah she had Leo but it wasn't the same. She was well and truly alone. The minute she stepped outside and if someone recognized her, like in the early weeks before she started to show, they threw disdain and hateful words at her. Hissed at her and threw things at her like she was a piece of trash. She had no family, no friends, no job, con colleagues, no home... all she had was Leo and her pregnant self and she was to blame for it all.

She had to learn how to survive on her own but how can one do that when the hold world who knows nothing about her hates her because of how she was portrayed as a two timing slut who jumped between best friends. It was one thing that she had come to believe that she would never be able to get passed. She hadn't spoken her side. She hadn't atoned to her sins and spoke the truth, neither had Frank or Leo. She had seen photos of him all around on television.

Leo had said he'd seen Frank with a girl or two; that broke her on the inside but she understood. Life goes on so he was moving on but he didn't know about his own child, his own flesh and blood that over the last eight months had been piecing itself together within her womb. He didn't know about the soul within her that was half his and half hers in DNA and everything else in between. It was an empty feeling, the emptiness that filled with guilt because she hadn't told him about the baby.

It's not that she didn't want to. She had tried; honest to God she had tried to tell him. She used Leo's landline to call his number to make sure he still had the same number and her heart leapt out of her chest when she heard the soothing, deep yet haunting baritone of his voice. The way he said a simple 'hello' had everything within her melt, and she quickly put the phone when she felt the fear within her grow when she tried to gather the courage to tell him.

She would tell him but for now she had to get through the last few weeks left of her pregnancy and she wanted to be as stress free as possible and she loved this baby unconditionally and didn't want anything to happen to her beautiful little one.

Hazel opened her mouth to respond when the world started spinning… literally. She heard the sound of metal crashing into metal, the sound of glass shattering into a million pieces. She heard screaming… her own screaming ringing in her ears as time slowed down around her, as if everything was in slow motion.

Leo had somehow thrown himself over her, shielding her baby and body as she closed her eyes and prayed to whatever God was out there, begged for her baby's life to be safe as time seemed to move again and her body was violently thrown against the side of the car. She hit it with a heavy whack as her body collided into it. Moments before her seat belt had tightened around her as it locked in place and stopped her partially but did nothing to lessen the impact.

She felt pain rip through her, as if she was being electrocuted; the feeling of something thick running down the side of her neck. She could feel the muscles of neck tightening to the point where it felt like someone was strangling her as she tried to breathe. Her head felt light, she bodily presence felt faint as she tried to move, the metallic scent of blood filling her nose as her stomach clenched tightly. She whined it pain as a stabbing sensation started in her lower back, as if someone was trying to hack her spine out her body. The distinct feeling of wetness running down and between her legs as pain hit her harder than she had believed it would.

She cried out, feeling like her breath had been punched out of her lungs as she tried to move but was unable to. She heard voices, sirens, shouting and unidentifiable noises that made her dizzier. "P-Plea-se... my-my b-b-bay-bee... my baby, s-sa-ve my ba-by." She begged as she heard someone trying to talk to her but the voice grew fainter, the noises dissipating into nothing but the sound of silence as the darkness claimed her...

Well everyone, there we are. The very first chapter of Trading Yesterday for Another, the sequel to Lies of the Wandering Soul. For any new readers, I suggest you go read that story first to understand what this one is all about. I am excited about the sequel, I have been planning this for an entire year since the finale of Lies and I hope all the previous fans who are reading this are as excited as I am about this. Anyway, thank you for the read and I hope you enjoyed it enough to leave a review, favourite and follow my story if you liked it. The next chapter will be up soon and it will be longer, I promise. Anyway, I will catch you later. See you all again soon guys.

~Michaela~