Chapter Six:
December 14th
New York City in December was magical. Every block had Christmas lights strung up and music playing softly in every store.
For Percy, strolling through the streets was his favorite pastime, despite the biting cold and possible snow, it was perfect. And it was even better with Annabeth holding his hand. They had been dating since his birthday in August, they were nearing 4 months together and life couldn't be better.
Since school had started back, Annabeth had been tutoring him, meaning his grades have maintained a steady B average, the swim team had started practicing a few weeks ago and Percy could feel himself continuing to improve. Their first meet was this Friday, the last day before Christmas Break. Percy's friend group had expanded to include all of Annabeth's friends and they all constantly wondered how they had spent so much time in the same school and never really interacted.
Overall, life was great, despite Gabe becoming even more aggressive and angry, Percy was happy, especially at this moment in time, as he watched Annabeth smile down at all of the skaters at Rockefeller Center. Her hair was pinned under a beanie and her nose had turned red from the cold, but the gray in her irises still shone bright and he still thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
At that moment, she turned that stunning smile on him and said, "I swear, every year this gets even better."
He chuckled, "Yeah, it never gets old, that's for sure."
She rolled her eyes, "How would you know? I don't even think I've seen you look at the tree once."
Percy quickly turned his head, spared a glance at the tree, and turned back to his girlfriend, "There. I saw it. It was great. Now I can just look at you," he paused, "which is way better."
Annabeth pushed a gloved hand into his chest, "Quit being so cheesy, Seaweed Brain."
He laughed and grabbed her hand, as they began walking towards the nearby Starbucks for a hot chocolate. While waiting in line, they discussed Percy's upcoming swim meet and the tryouts for the dance team that was coming up for Annabeth. They ordered their drinks and took a seat at an empty table while sipping on the hot chocolate.
After a few minutes, Annabeth's phone buzzed on the table, she picked it up, sent a quick response, and put it back down.
"Hey, it's almost 6:00, we should probably be headed back to the bakery to help your mom close up."
One glance at his phone confirmed this statement as he sent a quick text to his mom to let her know they were on their way back and so the couple began the walk back.
They finally made their way into the warm bakery and began helping Percy's mom clean up the shop.
"How was your day at school guys? Happy you only have 2 days left until the break?" His mom began the conversation.
Annabeth responded first, "Yeah it was good, I'm just more excited for Percy's swim meet."
His mom nodded in agreement, "Me too! It's been so amazing to watch him improve over the years. I'm excited for you to see it, Annabeth."
His girlfriend turned her warm smile towards him and simply replied, "I can't wait!"
Percy didn't realize that he had stopped sweeping to watch their exchange. Even 4 months later, it still warmed his heart to see their interactions and he knew it always would. Knowing that Annabeth didn't have the best relationship with her mom made it all the better, to think that he helped fill a small part of that hole in her life brought him indescribable joy.
He began sweeping again as they moved on to discuss applying for colleges. After they had finished cleaning, his mom invited Annabeth over for dinner, Per usual, her response was an excited, "yes!" Followed with "Let me just check with my parents." So she stepped into the kitchen to make the call while the other two waited in the front of the store.
Percy and his mom tried not to eavesdrop but it got to the point where all they could hear was Annabeth arguing with her mom. They heard snippets of the conversation, including "I don't care if you like him or not," and "I will never be with him."
Eventually, she hung up after saying, "Why does it matter if I'm there or not? You'll still continue planning my life without me!" Annabeth walked back into the room beaming with an obviously fake smile and said "Yeah, I'd love to join you guys for dinner."
Without any more discussion, they began the drive to Percy's apartment. While his mom drove her car back, Percy rode with Annabeth.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" He questioned.
She spared him a quick glance, "I just don't understand them sometimes. Actually, ever. I don't understand them ever. I mean, they act like they can control every aspect of my life. And up until this point, I've just let them. But I can't. I can't do that anymore, you know? I have to have something that's just for me."
He cleared his throat before responding, "And is that something me?"
Annabeth sent him an awkward smile and a shrug, "Yeah. My mom, she just… I don't know… Has these expectations of me and if I don't meet them, she freaks out."
"You mean, I don't meet those expectations." He said while looking out the window.
She quickly grabbed his arm, "No, Percy. This has nothing to do with you. The only reason she wants me to date Luke is for thei-" She stopped short as if her brain had caught up to her mouth.
"Wait, what? She wants you to date Luke?" Percy questioned angrily.
Annabeth pulled into a parking spot in his apartment complex and turned to look at him after turning off the car. With a sigh, she said, "I wasn't going to tell you. I knew it would only make you mad."
He opened his mouth to begin letting his anger out and prove just how right that statement was, but then Annabeth began to speak again.
"But, Perce, it doesn't matter what my parents want or what they expect me to do, because I'm not gonna do it. I have let them control my life for so long, but I will not give them the power over my decisions anymore, especially not this one. Because you are the only person I want to be with. The only person I have ever met who makes me as happy as you do and if my parents actually cared about me, that would be all that mattered to them, but they only want to make sure they produce the image of the perfect daughter."
She took a deep breath and continued, "Look, I don't want you to worry about this whole thing with my parents and Luke, okay? I'm gonna deal with it. I just need to make sure that you won't do that stupid thing that guys do in movies and think that I deserve better than you or some shit like that, and then try to break up with me, okay? Cause that's not gonna work with me. Got it?"
They both let out a small chuckle and Percy sent a small nod and smile in her direction.
She sighed with relief and started to climb out of the car as she said "Great! Now that we've cleared up that I love you and nothing is gonna change that, let's go eat. I'm dying for your mom's mac and cheese."
Percy had begun to make his ascent from the car until he heard those three little words come from her lips. When Annabeth realized that he wasn't following her, she turned and he heard her say through his open car door, "What are you doing, Seaweed Brain? Let's go!"
Her voice jarred out of his haze and he slowly climbed out of his seat, slinging his backpack on his shoulder, and closing the car door. "S-say it again," he choked out.
Her eyebrows knitted in confusion, "Say what again?"
"The thing, the thing you said. I just want to make sure I heard you correctly."
Annabeth's eyes flitted around as she tried to think through their conversation. And then her face lit up with the warmest smile, "Oh. Right, right. Okay." She shifted on her feet and cleared her throat. "I love you."
And there they were. The most perfect words in the English language. In any language. And they were spoken by the most beautiful human being on Earth. And she was saying it to him.
Percy felt the weight of her words settle on his heart and wrap it up like a warm blanket. Up until this point in his life, Percy had never really had someone besides his mom tell him she loved him and he didn't realize the importance of those words coming from someone else until Annabeth said them. To think, she chose him, she didn't love him out of obligation, it was simply because she could.
Annabeth Chase could have anyone on this planet and probably on any other planets that may exist, but she picked him, Percy Jackson, to love. And that has got to be the craziest thing to ever happen to him.
"Well, are you gonna say something?" She asked.
Percy was snapped back into reality and he looked back up at her. He walked over to Annabeth and grabbed her face. "You love me?"
She nodded enthusiastically and opened her mouth to answer, but Percy couldn't wait any longer, he pressed his lips to hers.
Kissing Annabeth always felt like the first time, like euphoria, but this time felt even better like they had broken down this last remaining barrier and had finally opened themselves completely to each other.
Percy pulled away from the kiss, "I love you."
She chuckled and said, "Good," before leaning in for another kiss.
The pair eventually made their way into his apartment and sat down at the table with his mom. They hadn't been eating long before Gabe stumbled into the kitchen. "Ugh," he began, looking at Annabeth, "you're here again? Do you ever go home, girl?"
"Gabe!" His mom chastised.
Percy watched Annabeth's smile slip away and she looked down at her plate. His fist clenched, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Gabe grunted as he grabbed another beer out of the fridge, "Watch your mouth, you dumbass."
"Gabe!" His mom said again, "Honey, why don't you go sit on the couch and I'll bring you a plate of food? Okay?"
The man just stormed off to the living room and a minute later the sound of the TV came on. His mom sighed, "Annabeth, dear, I am so sorry. It's just been a rough week for him."
She just sent her a sympathetic smile, "It's alright, Sally. I completely understand."
All three had lost their appetites after that show, so Annabeth and Percy headed to his room, where they laid in bed watching a movie on Percy's laptop.
Eventually, Annabeth got up to use the restroom and when she came back a few minutes later, Percy could tell something was wrong.
She looked pale and shaken, he immediately sat up, "Wise Girl, what's wrong?"
"Hmm," she hummed absentmindedly, "Oh, nothing… I'm fine."
He stood up from the bed and walked over to her and grabbed her hand, "Don't lie to me. What happened?"
She sighed, "Really, Percy, it's nothing… I just ran into Gabe when I was coming back from the bathroom."
"WHat? What did he do to you? Did- did he touch you?" Percy could barely get the words out, the mere thought making his anger rise to the surface.
"No, no, nothing like that. Seriously, don't worry about it, please. It's alright, he didn't do anything."
He watched her skeptically as she moved to his nightstand to grab her phone. After she had looked at it, she said, "I should probably be headed home." Annabeth looked back up at him and sighed at his worried expression. "Please stop worrying, Perce. I'm fine, okay?"
He hesitantly nodded while she packed up her stuff and they walked towards the front door. She turned to him before she opened the door and pressed a swift kiss to his lips. "I'll call you later after I get home. I love you."
Even in his angry state, his lips lifted at those words, "Sounds good. I love you too."
After the door shut, Percy took a couple of deep breaths, which is why his mom found him pressing his head against their front door a few minutes later.
"Perce, honey, are you alright?" She asked.
He turned, "Mom, you have to leave him."
Her shoulders sagged, "We've talked about this. You know, I can't."
Percy immediately regretted saying it as the words left his mouth, he knew it didn't do any good, only made her feel even guiltier than she already did. He sighed, "I know, Mom. I'm sorry."
She tilted her head at him, "What happened?"
He threw his hands up in frustration, "That's the problem! I don't even know because Annabeth wouldn't tell me what he did, but I know something happened. Because she came back from the bathroom looking anxious and she seemed really shaken up. All she told me was that she ran into Gabe."
His mom looked troubled as she listened on, "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. I just don't know what to tell you. I can't do anything." Percy could see the tears welling up in her eyes and he quickly pulled her into a hug.
"No, Mom, I know. It's alright. Don't cry." They both stood there for a few minutes, hugging each other for a few minutes before Percy excused himself so he could finish some homework.
He walked towards Gabe's "office," if it could really be called that, it was never used for anything more than storage, Gabe's online gambling on the desktop, and homework when he needed it. Percy walked through the doorway and sat at the desk to finish his assignments.
When the computer woke up, Gabe's email was open. Percy went to close out of it before the subject of an email caught his eye. It read Membership, payment, and future investments. Considering he actually knew Gabe, he knew that he wasn't joining a gym or that he had any money to invest anywhere, so he immediately became curious
Percy quickly clicked on the email and began to read:
Hello User7487,
Glad to know you are interested in joining our organization. We have a lot of exciting opportunities coming your way, but in order to be accepted into the organization, we do expect a down payment. We expect half in money and a half in a… another form. Please let us know what, or who, you could offer as part of your membership fees.
Attached below, we have provided future products up for bid. Please join the online chat room at 7:00 p.m. sharp on Saturday to begin bidding. We will send the password exactly 24 hours before the bidding begins. If you purchase a product, you will not receive the package until after you have completed your payment. Please let us know if you have any further questions.
We look forward to working with you,
The Organization
Percy scrolled down to look at the attachments in the email and was shocked at what he found. There were close to 30 images of different girls. They were all clothed in small shirts and short shorts, but they all had the same scared look in their eyes and they were all cowering from the photographer.
He felt sick just looking at these images. Just what is my stepdad involved in? He wondered as he shut down the computer and walked into his bedroom. He spent a lot of time tossing and turning in his bed that night with those images replaying through his mind.
A/N: Soooo, it's been a while. Sorry about that :/ I hope you guys like this chapter, things are just beginning to get interesting, so I hope you'll stick around to see what happens. Please leave a review, let me know what I can work on and what you want to see happen! Thanks, guys!