Hey guys! Another quick chapter. Thank you all for your amazing support!

Hopeandbrownies: I'm glad you liked it. ;)

I do not own anything from Rick Riordan's Universe.

Chapter 22

"Annabeth, table six is asking for you."

"Why?"

"They said they would prefer if you were their waitress for tonight. Can you handle it even if it's not in your area?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll just tell Don, then."

"Thanks."

Eric, her supervisor, patted her shoulder before nearing his handsfree close to his mouth and giving orders through it. Annabeth sighed, placing the last dirty dishes on the serving stand, and then looking for Don, to tell him she was taking care of one table in his area. That day, in particular, had been pretty exhausting because her other boss in Arachne, Tartarus, had practically yelled at her for hours on how her design for a house in Long Island was garbage and she had had to come up with a new one in record time. So, Annabeth wasn't too excited about taking on an additional table that night…but tips were always nice, especially, when she was already one month behind on rent and hadn't found an affordable new place to live in.

After delivering some orders to her zone's tables and informing Don about table six, Annabeth headed towards it thinking why someone would ask specifically for her, but she got the answer when stood in front of six familiar faces.

"Surprise," Piper said, smiling at Annabeth's perplexed expression.

"Hope you don't mind us eating in here tonight," Hazel said.

"Yeah, Nico wanted to see you in uniform," Will said laughing, earning a deadly look from his boyfriend.

"Shut up, Solace."

"Oh, it's fine," Annabeth said shaking off her shock. "I just hope you guys leave a generous tip."

"We'll see," Piper said winking. "All depends on how well the service is."

"Careful Mclean. You don't want someone spitting in your food."

Jason chuckled and said, "I'm sure it'll be good." And then passed an arm around Piper's shoulders, making Annabeth smile. She was so happy to see things had worked out in the end for those two, even if she felt a flint of jealousy every time, they did something romantic.

"Well, it won't be if you keep me distracted," Annabeth warned and got her tablet ready. "So, may I take your order?"

Seeing her friends again, lifted her spirits a little bit, making her night easier to bare. With renewed energy, Annabeth served her tables and, from time to time, stopped by her friends to chat a bit about life.

However, when she was delivering their food, she heard something that sent her mind on a wild rampage of thoughts.

"…I heard he's doing fine." She heard Frank saying. "He's in his dream job, after all."

"Yeah, but away from his family…and all alone," Hazel commented. "It must be hard."

"Not so alone. I heard Rachel is there, doing a special project." Will said.

Nico snorted. "Special project? I bet she just wanted to see him again…"

"Your food is here!" Annabeth yelled, interrupting them. It wasn't hard to guess who they were talking about, and she didn't want to know more about the conversation. They were all under a heavy silence while she put the plates in front of them.

Finally, Frank cleared his throat and asked, "How's Thalia? She's been back in LA for how much?"

"Three months." Three long months, she thought."She's fine. Her show is getting very good reviews and her manager, Artemis, has gotten a lot of other good deals."

"It's a first that she actually likes it there," Jason said. "She hated LA so much when we were kids, she ran away to San Francisco."

"She didn't have an awesome rock band back then," Piper concluded.

"Yeah."

"Well, I need to go back to work," Annabeth said, looking at her unattended zone. "I'll see you guys, later."

"Wait," Piper said. "Do you want us to drive you back home when your turn is done?"

"Oh. Thank you, Pipes, but I close the restaurant today. I couldn't ask you to wait that long…"

Her friend waved her hand dismissively. "We'll wait. It's Friday, remember? There's no rush."

"We really don't mind, Annabeth," Jason emphasized.

She sent a grateful look to both of them. "That'd be nice. Thank you."

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"Have you found a place yet?" Piper asked from the copilot seat, as her eyes searched Annabeth's through the rearview mirror. Annabeth was falling asleep on the backseat, so she had to rub her eyes and sit up straight to properly answer her friend.

"Um, no. I'm still looking. But I have to find one fast before the landlord kicks me out."

"You can crash on our couch whenever you need to."

"That's kind of you, but I'd really love to have a stable place."

A moment of silence.

"How's the two jobs thing working out?" Jason asked as they entered Queens.

Annabeth laughed. "I don't remember what sleeping is, and my social life is practically over. But I'm learning a lot in Arachne and the tips at the restaurant really help out." She sighed. "I just need to hold on for a few months."

"You should go out with us one day." Piper offered. "Just going to a dance club and having a good time. And, maybe, even meeting someone new. Someone you could have a little bit of fun with."

"We've talked about this, Pipes. I'm not ready to date anyone yet."

"I know. It's just that I think it helps you move on…"

"Like Percy did?" Their eyes met through the rearview and she could feel Jason tensing up. It was a touchy topic between her friends, and they all tried not to talk about him in front of her, afraid that she would break. "I heard you talking about Rachel being there."

"We don't know if something is happening between them though."

"It's okay if it is," Annabeth said, shrugging. "I was the one who broke things up, so he has every right to move on in whatever way he decides. I'm actually happy that it's with Rachel. They are very good friends."

"That's BS," Piper called. "You still love him, Annabeth, so it's fine if you're sad about it. Don't conceal your feelings, because it will only make it worse."

The ride was silent after that.

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"So…" Michael started the meeting by slamming his fist against the common table. "Shall we start by looking at your designs?"

Everyone was quiet as they shared nervous glances with each other. They all knew how big of a project it was, and how offensive their boss could be. He was so terrifying that none had dared to report his abuses to HR, and Annabeth was not the exception. Especially, because she didn't have the luxury of losing another job, and apparently Arachne was a big deal in house architecture around the US.

She watched as several of her colleagues stepped hesitantly in front of the room and presented their designs. They all got the disapproving expression, and some got even colorful commentaries about their incompetence and lack of talent. Finally, it was her turn.

Annabeth tried to hide the tremble in her hands and expected no one in the room to say something about how pale or how tired she looked. She had a hollow feeling in her chest as she connected her laptop to the T.V HDMI port.

She had so much faith in her design. Annabeth had worked on it for weeks, only sleeping three hours a day during weekdays, and only getting back sleep on Sundays. Sometimes, due to stress, she ended up not sleeping and working on the design instead. She had been so caught up with her work, that Piper slept in Thalia's old room on some occasions to make sure she was eating and sleeping.

"You'll get sick if you keep going like this." Piper had warned her.

"I'm still young, Pipes. I can take it. Besides, there are people that have it worse than me."

Taking a deep breath, she started the presentation of her design. She repeated perfectly the words she had practiced over and over again, as her coworkers listened to her exposition. Some were focused on their phone, others were smiling at her with encouragement, and others were just sadly looking at their rejected works. But there was only one action she was worried about.

When she was done, Annabeth felt out of breath. The tension in the room was palpable as they all looked towards Tartarus, waiting for his answer. Annabeth also forced herself to look at him, even if his eyes terrorized her every time she did. He was sitting in his big chair, quietly frowning upon her design, with his fingers crossed and his jaw clenched.

Finally, Annabeth found the courage to ask, "What do you think?"

Tartarus shifted heavily in his chair and everyone in the room held their breath. Her heart was about to pop out from her chest.

"What do I think?" He laughed in a nasty way that almost made her shrink back into her seat or skedaddle out of the room. He shook his head and said, "Out of all the works I've seen today, this must be the most pathetic and mediocre one. Where did you get that idea? A children's book?"

Annabeth blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Your design is the worst thing I've seen in all my years as an architect. Moreover…" he grabbed his cup of coffee and approached her computer. "I'm gonna make sure no one has to look at that awful 3D model ever again."

Annabeth watched, frozen in place, as Tartarus turned his coffee cup and spilled its contents all over her laptop. The machine made a screeching sound as if it was screaming in pain, and then the screen turned black. The room was dead silent after that.

"You broke my computer," Annabeth muttered, still looking at the smoking device. Tartarus looked at her with disdain.

"I made you a favor, but if you have any problem with that, you can report it to HR."

He knew she wouldn't do it.

"That's it for this meeting. I am very disappointed with your designs, so I expect to see better ones by tomorrow morning. If not, let's just say that heads are gonna roll."

Tartarus placed his mug back in the table and exited the room. Five seconds later, Annabeth was standing alone looking at her destroyed computer, still shocked for what had happened. She grabbed her useless laptop and threw it in the nearest bin before running towards the closest restroom and locking herself into one of the stalls.

Her hands were shaking violently, and it took several minutes and taking deep breaths to get her body to calm down. The idiot of her boss had broken her computer. She knew he was a dick, but why had he only reacted that way with her. Was she really a bad architect? Then, why had they hired her?

When she finally felt better, Annabeth decided to step out of the restroom and start working on a new design. She considered going to HR and report her boss' behavior, but there was a rumor about people having reported it already, and the firm not doing anything about it, because Tartarus was their most important architect.

Even his name was pure evil.

On her way to her desk, someone stopped her in the hallway.

"Oh, hi, Bob." Annabeth greeted after he had gently grabbed her forearm. Bob grabbed a box of tissues from his cleaning cart and handed one to her. She hadn't realized she had been crying until he did that. "Thanks." She said, accepting it and wiping her cheeks.

Bob looked at her with his almost silver eyes and his gray her. He had always been kind to her and even showed her pictures of his cat from time to time.

"It's not true," Bob said.

"What?"

"What he said about your design…I know nothing about architecture, but I think you're very talented. He's just jealous and scared that you're better than him."

Annabeth smiled sadly. "You always know what to say, Bob."

"Here." The janitor fetched the now sticky laptop from his cart and gave it to her. "Maybe you can salvage something from it…Also, Damasen has a spare one. I'm sure he'd lend it to you for a period of time if you need a laptop to design."

"You're the best."

Bob smiled and said, "And, another piece of advice, you don't belong here Annabeth. Your talent is wasting away in this junkyard. Look for a better place to work."

She sighed. "Sadly, Bob, all the good places have turned me away. I just had to hold on a little longer."

The janitor shook his head and pushed his cart, "If you say so."

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Annabeth didn't know when the drinking had started.

Well, that wasn't exactly true.

It had started when she discovered it was the only way for her to calm down and lower her stress. Well, not the only way, but the quickest one.

So, in the last few months, she headed towards the liquor store on the weekends to drink and just forget how much she had screwed up. She tried drinking away her regrets, like never looking for her biological mother and asked her why was she so messed up and why had she transferred those genes to her; like having focused so much on her studies she never live fully the party life in college; like letting Luke hang with bad people because she was too busy with her own life to prevent it; like losing the job of her dreams for being an emotional hurricane; or, finally, like being so obsessed about being the best architect in the world that she had jeopardized every other aspect of her life, ignoring the fact that she wasn't really happy.

But she drank mostly to forget her worst mistake.

Percy Jackson.

The guy that had come unannounced into her life, making her feel all kinds of things, making her question her life plan, and making her change her priorities so she could be happy in the short term. And then, he had made her break up with him, so they both could have a future again, instead of only living in the present.

And, that's how it started.

Annabeth was walking through the halls of the liquor store, looking for something a little stronger than wine to drink that night when she heard someone calling her. A chilling sensation spread through her body when she recognized the voice.

She turned on her heels to watch Luke Castellan walking swiftly towards her, his pearly smile and his beach-blond hair reminding her of how life used to be when they were in high school.

She smiled nostalgically. "Hey, Luke."

"Hey, Beth. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. What about you?"

"Good, good." He noticed the bottle of Vodka in her hands and grimaced. "Rough day?"

She laughed, humorlessly. "Rough couple of months actually. Why do you ask?"

"You only like wine and beer and take stronger liquors only when you're stressed or sad." He said, smiling understandingly. He knew her too well. Guess, neither of them hadn't changed much. "So, why have they been rough?"

"It's a long story."

"I have time." He said quickly, looking at his watch. Annabeth must have had a doubtful look because he added, "You don't have to tell, of course. It's just that I'm all by myself tonight and I wouldn't mind having some company. And, since, I haven't seen you in a long time…" he smiled again. "You look so beautiful."

Annabeth frowned. "Don't lie. I look horrible. I haven't slept well in a long time."

"Still, beautiful to me. So, what do you say? Should we buy that bottle of Vodka and drink the night away?"

She should have said no. But she was feeling so sad lately, that seeing him smile and be kind to her, warmed her and transported her back to easier times. When she was blissfully ignorant and confident.

"Okay."

They paid for the bottle and headed towards Luke's apartment who was only a few streets away. They didn't go inside his house but instead went towards the terrace on the roof to admire a beautiful summer night. They drank and talked. Annabeth laughed like she hadn't in a long time, and they shared stories from when they were kids.

"Remember how our old teacher Chiron made us do eternal essays about sword fighting and stuff?" Luke asked laughing as he poured another shot of Vodka.

She laughed too. "You loved those essays."

"I loved the topics, not the writing. You were the one who loved writing them."

"Remember when Thalia decided to act one instead of writing it? She was such a Drama Queen. I wasn't there, but you told me it was epic."

"It was. You should have seen Chiron's face." Luke tried to replicate Chiron's expression and she almost spits the vodka as she exploded in laughter.

"What happened to our lives, Luke?" she asked, dizzy from drinking.

"We grew up." He answered. "We started to comprehend how complicated life really is, and sometimes is just too overwhelming."

"Look at you! So, philosophical."

He smiled. "Thalia would have punch if she had heard that…How is she, by the way?"

"She's fine. She got a job in LA four months ago."

"Really?"

"Yep. The Hunters are finally taking off as a serious rock band."

"I'm happy for her." He said, his smile vanishing and a sad expression replacing it.

"I'm sure she still cares for you, Luke. She was just very mad, but she'll get over it sooner or later."

"Thanks for trying to comfort me, Beth. But we both know how she is." He grimaced. "And I wouldn't blame her if she never does. What I did to you was unspeakable. I still don't know how you forgave me."

She took another shot and stared at the dark sky, "We all have low points, Luke. The important thing is to admit we did something wrong, and not make the same mistake again."

He smiled sadly and looked at the sky too. "I hope you're right." They stayed in silence for a few minutes. "Are you living with someone else now that Thalia is gone?"

"Um, no. I'm actually looking for a new place right now. The apartment is too big for just me."

Luke finished another shot and started fidgeting with his now empty glass. "You know…I have an empty bedroom. I know you don't trust me now, but I promise my intentions are not bad. Maybe you can help me pay rent, move in and we can try and build our friendship back up."

Annabeth took a deep breath, not taking her eyes away from the sky. "We'll see."

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"I don't think this is a good idea," Piper muttered as she was helping her get her stuff out from the moving boxes.

Her new room was bigger than the old one and had a beautiful view of a small park. She could now fit a double bed if she wanted to, not that she had the money for that though. But she was surely getting a new desk to design her blueprints if she could. Plus, she was living in Manhattan. She could save so much travel time now.

"You've already said that," Annabeth told her, getting a few pictures out and debating if she should make a new collage with them like the one in her room back at San Francisco.

"I'm serious, Annabeth. You're sharing an apartment with the guy who drugged you. I know you've been having self-destructing behaviors lately. But this is just crazy."

"He used to be my boyfriend too, and he never hurt me while we were together. He knows me better than anyone, Pipes. It's gonna be fine."

"Thalia knows you better than anyone, I know you better than anyone…Percy knows you better than anyone…my point is…Luke used to know you better than anyone, but now you're practically strangers. You don't know what he has been up to lately."

"Sharing an apartment with him is better than sharing one with a stranger. I'm staying, Piper. But don't worry, I have you on speed dial. If someone is killing me, I'll be sure to call you first."

"This is not funny, Annabeth."

Annabeth sighed. "Let's just give him a chance. I promise to text you immediately if I notice something weird. Okay?"

Piper finished getting her clothes out from the boxes and said, "Okay. But you better get me a full report every day or I'm telling Thalia that you're moving in with a psycho."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, let's finish this quickly so you can go to sleep. You're looking worse than the zombies in The Walking Dead."

Annabeth laughed. "Thanks, Mclean."

"It's true…you know what? scratch that. Let's finish this quick, so we can go to eat something very caloric and then you can sleep. I miss your curves."

Annabeth sighed looking at a picture where Percy and she were standing with Estelle in front of the Lego store on the Rockefeller center, last fall. She smiled remembering how Stella had seen the pirate ship on the window and had instantly fallen in love with it, and how Percy had ended up buying it for her. Annabeth had looked so healthy that day that she was even glimmering in the picture. The face that was currently staring at her, was not the same face she was now seeing in the mirror each morning. "Yeah. I miss them too."

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Turns out, Piper didn't have to worry about anything, since Luke and Annabeth were barely in the apartment at the same time. They were both too busy with their respective works, and from time to time they got to share breakfast. On the weekends, Annabeth had to make some designing on the computer that Damasen had lent her and catch up on some sleep, while Luke was always out with his friends.

On one Saturday, however, after two weeks of living together, Annabeth woke up earlier than she usually did, even before Luke, and she decided to make some breakfast for both of them before she started working or Luke left with his friends. She was preparing the mix for the omelets when her phone rang. She cleaned her hands and fetched the small device before frowning at the screen. Unknown number. Who was calling her at 10:00 in the morning on a Saturday with an unknown ID? She ignored it before going back to her omelets.

It rang a second time.

It rang a third time.

At the fourth time, Annabeth answered.

"Hello?"

No one spoke immediately, but she heard what sounded like electronic music and people chatting on the background. Someone took a sharp breath. Annabeth frowned.

"Hello?" she tried again. "Who is this?"

This time they answered.

"Rachel and I kissed."

Annabeth froze in the small kitchen. She hadn't heard his voice in a long time, but apparently it still had the same effect on her. She checked again the ID. How was it unknown?

"Percy?" she asked. "What…"

"We got carried away…and I didn't mean to, but I leaned first."

Something on his voice was weird. As if he had difficulty speaking.

"Percy, are you okay?"

He chuckled. "That's a very subjenctive thing to say."

"You mean subjective?"

"Oh, yeah. That thing…"

He started rambling nonsense about how he liked more the word subjenctive and how English was a very weird language when it hit her. The music, the people his slurring…Her eyes widened in alarm.

"Are you drunk?" she asked slowly.

Silence.

"No…I mean…maybe? I just tried one shot of whiskey. And then they kept shoving things in my hands…Don't change the subject, Golden Locks…Haven't called you that in a long time."

"Oh, Percy. Why? You hate alcohol."

"It was the only way."

"To what?"

Suddenly, she heard someone in the background saying "Percy, man, give me the phone before you do something you regret." Then, Percy muttered something she couldn't understand, and the music and chatter slowly started to fade away and were replaced by the sound of the wind and the ocean waves.

She waited for him to speak first.

"I kissed Rachel." He repeated.

Her chest ached. "I know. You've already told me," She whispered. Silence. "It's okay Percy. You can kiss her if you want."

"No. It felt wrong. I-I pushed her away almost immediately, but I needed to tell you…I'm sorry. I just…It was hurting, and I thought that if I kissed her, I would be able to move on. But it only made it worse. They weren't your lips, it's wasn't your hair, it wasn't your laugh…"

"Stop." She winced. "Please."

He grunted.

"Why do you refuse to be happy with me, Annabeth?"

She wanted to speak but her words got stuck in her throat.

"You could have moved in here with me. You would be part of a great firm and we would have a beautiful house, designed by you. We could get married and have three beautiful children…"

"Three?"

"Or two, or four, or none…whatever you want. We would be happy."

Annabeth breathed, painfully. "How do you know?"

"Huh?"

"That we would be happy? For all I know, I could wake up one day and be unhappy. And then, I would abandon you and our children so I could have my career without distractions, just like my mom did."

"You won't"

She laughed. "You don't know that."

"Nobody knows, Annabeth. So, what? We take risks and we learn to be happy with the choices we make."

Her eyes welled up. "It would be risking too much. Our children would never forgive me, just like I didn't forgive my mom."

He sighed.

"Then let me go to New York. You can build your career there, and I'll be a stay-in-home dad…"

"The same thing happens. How would you know if you won't wake up one day hating your life?"

"You're freaking impossible. Annabeth, there has to be a way…"

"Morning."

Annabeth looked towards a groggy-looking Luke heading towards her.

"Who is that?" Percy asked, slowly.

She sighed. "Luke."

Silence.

Luke stopped midway realizing she was in the middle of a conversation and signed to her that he was going to the bathroom.

"Percy?" she asked.

She heard him inhale sharply. "Please tell me you're not back with the guy who drugged you."

"We are not dating."

"So, what is he doing at your apartment?"

"Technically, is his." He started cursing, and Annabeth decided to explain before things got out of hand. "We're living together. We are roommates since I didn't have enough money to keep paying rent on my own." Silence. "Thalia moved back to LA with her band, in case you didn't know."

"You can live in my apartment."

"Your rent is too expensive. Plus, it would just be weird sleeping in your bed without you."

"Expensive? I thought you were an architect in Arachne. Aren't they paying you enough?"

"Percy, I really don't want to have this conversation now."

He sighed. "Annabeth, I want to be with you, and I know you feel the same way. Just tell me what you want me to do."

She took a deep breath. "We need time, Percy, so each can figure out what in Hades wants. If after that we still want to be with each other, then we'll think about it."

"How much time?"

"I don't know."

"We can't wait forever."

"I know."

He sighed.

"Okay."

She wanted to say she loved him, but she needed to remain cool for their sake.

"Whose this phone, by the way?" she asked, intrigued.

"Mine. It's my new number."

She reminded herself of saving the new number...just in case she felt like calling him one day.

"Bye, Percy. And, please, don't get drunk again."

She felt him smile. "Bye, Annabeth."