Thanks for all the support! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please read the author's note at the end of this, it has some important info and stuff! So yeah! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Neither the names Rick nor Riordan can be associated with me. Also the words, "own Percy Jackson."
~headline: scooby dooby do, where are you?~
…
Annabeth slips on a sweatshirt and then checks the clock hanging on her wall. It reads nine forty three. Today is a chill Saturday, and when Annabeth checked the weather, it said that the forecast would be a little bit cloudy, but with no rain. Annabeth is one hundred percent thankful for that, because today, Piper and her are going to meet up at this park in downtown LA. Annabeth looked up the name on her computer, and it seems pretty quiet, not many people go there. She wonders why. It's just a little area with a couple of benches, trees surrounding it, and a couple of gazebos.
She rubs her forehead, and then stretches her arms out, bending down to touch her toes, and then getting back up to reach up. She hasn't stretched in a while, and her limbs feel kind of weak. So she rolls her shoulders back, rotates her head around, and then does one lunge.
Okay. That's good.
She goes to the bathroom and stares at herself in the mirror. She looks normal, not trendy, but just average. She could easily blend in to a crowd, without being noticed. Not that anyone would notice her (except for the drama-starved media).
Turning the sink on, she splashes some cold water in her face, just to wake herself up. Also, to kill the time. She has a pretty fair amount of time to kill before Piper picks her up, and nothing to do in that time really.
She heads back to her room, and picks up a random book to read. She gets one page in, and then closes it. Annabeth feels jittery for some reason, like she can't keep still. So she gets up and goes downstairs. Her brothers are on the couch, watching sports or something on the TV, so Annabeth cautiously sits down on one of the chairs opposite to them. They don't so much as look up, which Annabeth takes as a win. She notices that they're watching a basketball game, though she's not so familiar with the routine. Matthew and Bobby look absolutely engrossed in it, staring up at the screen with a certain level of intensity. Annabeth wonders if you have to know the rules to actually get invested in the game. Over the years, she's picked up a couple facts about basketball, though she's never been particularly interested in the game.
So she stares at the television as people throw balls into hops and run around the court, passing the ball with practice precision. Annabeth thinks that Bobby and Matthew play basketball, which is probably why their eyes are glued to the screen, not looking away.
There's a small break in the game, and an ad comes on for some type of men's deodorant. Annabeth takes this as her cue to get up and make a pop-tart for herself. She grabs one from the pantry and pops it into the toaster, grabbing a plate. At this moment, Frederick comes down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. "Good morning everyone," he says, with a cheerful smile. "How'd you all sleep?"
The boys mumble under their breath, "good," still watching the game.
Frederick turns to Annabeth. "How about you?"
Annabeth's pop-tart pops from the toaster, and she takes it out. "Okay," Annabeth says, taking a bite into the sweet, sugary goodness. "Uh, Piper's picking me up in a couple of hours. I told you about it."
Frederick is over at the coffee maker right now, a mug in hand as he filters his coffee. "Right. Are you sure you'll be okay?" He asks, moving to grab one of the sugar packets.
"I'm sure," Annabeth bites her lip. "The area we're going to is pretty secluded. I don't think anyone will recognize me either."
"You didn't think that when you went to school, and they did." Frederick inputs, and Annabeth frowns.
"You literally said it was okay!" Annabeth tells him while setting her plate down with a big clunk!
Frederick pours milk in. "I don't know, I'm just worried it's not a good idea."
"You don't get to dictate that. I'm going." Annabeth says, "and that's that." She takes another bite of her pop-tart. "It's not like I'm going to be stupid. I'll be cautious, and Piper will be there if anyone goes wrong. We're just hanging out, it's fine."
"You never know that."
"Yeah! I could literally perish anywhere I go, so why is now such a problem? Why do you even care?" She's getting a bit frustrated now. He told her it was okay when she first mentioned it, why is it becoming a problem now. "Did Helen say something to you?" Annabeth accuses.
He turns to her so quickly a bit of his coffee spills out of the top of his mug. "I care about you Annabeth. You're my daughter. I just want to make sure you're safe, and if that means saying you can't go to downtown LA, with someone who's already in the media's eyes, then I think that's reasonable."
"I think it's stupid." Annabeth tells him crossly. "Just let me do what I want to do, okay? It's none of your concern."
"Annabeth—" Frederick warns.
Annabeth shakes her head. "I'm going, whether you like it or not." That's final. He can't stop her from seeing a friend.
"Annabeth—" Frederick repeats.
She shakes her head and puts her hand up. "Just stop. I'm going to my room." Her one escape.
For every step forward, it feels, there's a little step back. And Annabeth knows, she knows, she should try to hear him out, but this isn't a big deal. She's not going to get in any type of trouble, and Frederick knows this. He's just being overprotective because of some type of paternal instinct. And yeah, Annabeth thinks that's a good thing, but for these types of situations, it really isn't relevant.
She stays in her room and opens her computer, going to youtube. She's logged off because her email account is deactivated, but that doesn't mean she can't watch videos. Soon, she finds herself browsing Percy Jackson's youtube channel, pressing on some of his later song recordings, and scrolling through the comments. Some are old, some are new, but the majority of them are appreciative. Everyone really does love him.
There's still so many questions she has, some many things that she'd really like to know, preferably directly from Percy.
For the next couple of hours, until around one o'clock, she goes through almost all of his videos, and then to some of his interviews and press runs. Frederick doesn't bother her again, and for a moment she feels bad about it all. More than a moment. There's still so many conflicting thoughts about it, about him. Annabeth doesn't know if she'll ever truly feel like they're family. Things are getting better, but Annabeth doubts it's going to last that long. Once she's off to college and able to sustain herself, she worries she'll have no one, no family.
Then again, family isn't always given to you. It's chosen. Annabeth has people, or she thinks. Piper, Thalia, maybe even with more talking, Hazel, the girl in her history class she has gotten friendly with. Pylos— Percy— used to be one of those people, but Annabeth still finds herself doubting that. There's no telling if she'll even see him again.
Even so, Annabeth doesn't know if Frederick will stay in that circle . They'll lose connection over the years, or at least she thinks. It'll partially be Annabeth's fault and partially his. The thing is, Annabeth shouldn't have to be the one to make the first step to have the conversation they've been stalling for months, years even. He should be the one to approach her with honesty, even with Helen. Annabeth shouldn't have to force something out of him that never should have happened. It's disappointing.
…
Annabeth goes downstairs at around one o'clock. Her father is in his office, and Helen is on her computer. Annabeth gets a glimpse of a photo. She thinks Helen might be editing it. This confirms yet again how little she knows about the woman.
"I'm leaving." Annabeth says gruffly, and then grabs her jacket. Helen looks up, and nods slowly, her lips pursed. Annabeth takes this as a "yeah, you can go," so she opens the door. It's not a terribly cold day, there's a little bit of a breeze, but not much except for that. Annabeth squints, hoping to pick out a long black car in the distance, but instead lands on a much smaller light blue one that has swerved to a stop in the front of her house. The side door is open, and Piper pops out of it, with a smile on her face.
Annabeth walks down, "hey Piper," she says, getting into the car. Piper slides back in smoothly, and shuts her door.
"What's up?" She says, putting her seatbelt on, and then starting the car. The engine burrs to life, and Annabeth finds herself looking around at the car in awe. It's completely normal.
"Pretty good. How many cars does Tristian Mclean have?" She asks. Probably a lot. It's not any secret Piper's rich. Annabeth's joked about it several times, much to Piper's dismay, though she sometimes joins along. Nothing offensive though, she just pokes fun.
Piper shrugs. "One for each movie. Blockbuster hits, you know?" Annabeth's still not sure if Piper's joking or not. Sometimes she sounds so serious Annabeth can't tell, and that worries her just a bit.
"Oh, I know." Annabeth says. She's had multiple blog posts about his movies. Tristan Mclean isn't a bad actor, he's just an average one. Action movies with fast cars, body builder body guards and big bombs. King of Sparta, was this movie based in Greece that he did, and it's the one that's most well known, though all of his stuff is popular. Annabeth did a couple posts on the King of Sparta saga, because you know, Greece. It was the kind of thing where she fact-checked it all for accuray. She and Pylos— Percy, she keeps forgetting, keeps mixing it up— had an hour long discussion about it all. "How far away?" She asks.
Piper looks down at her phone. "Fifteen minutes," she says, turning the car around. They head in the opposite direction. "I think someone is going to meet up with us there."
"What do you mean?" Annabeth frowns, "like Hazel?"
Piper shrugs, as if she invited a stranger. "You'll see, I guess."
Well that isn't ominous at all.
"Has anything new about Percy Jackson come up?" Annabeth tries, knowing Piper won't give her a straight response. She still asks the girl every time she sees her, because every single time, at least one tid-bit of information comes out.
Piper shakes her head. "Uh," she says, "just the usual." Okay, so this time she isn't spilling anything. How irritating.
"Unfortunately, since I don't have my phone, I don't know what the usual is." Anymore. She doesn't know what the usual is anymore.
Okay, so she probably could have searched it on google herself, but… every time she goes to type his name in on her computer, she can never bring herself to tap the search bar. So she doesn't really have a right to complain. Though it would be nice if Piper, knowing what she was going through, could give her a little tid-bit of facts. Or rumors. Annabeth would be fine with anything frankly.
Piper looks over to her. "You haven't gotten a new phone yet?" The weird part of this is she sounds kind of relieved. "Still holding out hope to get it back?"
Annabeth nods slowly, and then picks at the side of the seat. "I guess so. I'm hesitant I guess. I don't really want to talk to Frederick and Helen about it." She pauses, and then decides to change the subject completely. "So I figure we'll meet up with this person and then head out to the main street?"
"Sure," Piper says, "if you want that."
Annabeth stares at her. "Why do I feel like you're hiding something?" She says.
"Because I am." Piper grins at her, and then turns a corner.
Annabeth frowns. "It's not funny if I can't tell if you're lying or not."
"I'm a good actor, I inherited it from my father. You'll just never know."
"Well," Annabeth replies, "I guess I'll know when we get there."
Piper smiles. "You will."
"Still feel like you're plotting my demise." Annabeth says to her.
Piper turns another corner, this time swerving a bit. She's not a great driver, as Annabeth notices. "Maybe I am. Or maybe the opposite."
Annabeth groans. "Stop being so ominous!"
"Never."
Annabeth frowns, and then turns away from the seat, looking out at the streets they pass. The windows are tinted, so no one can see in, and Annabeth finds that really nice. It's like the car companies know they're either on a late night heist or a midday people watching exposition. Annabeth sees a middle aged woman with dark hair twisted into braids walking with her child side-by-side, a blonde girl chattering on her phone who wears sunglasses shaped like stars, a man with short straight black hair and pale skin walking around with his family, and two girls holding hands as they begin to cross the street.
"You seem to be enjoying that window of yours." Piper interupts her thoughts.
"It's actually your window."
"My fathers," Piper corrects.
Annabeth rolls her eyes. "If we're going to get all specific."
"Do you spy on people frequently?" Piper asks.
"It isn't spying on people. More just…" she pauses, searching for the right phrase to use, "peacefully observing. And it's not like I'm targeting a specific person, just like seeing what they're doing. Trying to get as much information on them just by their appearances."
"So you're judging them."
Annabeth rolls her eyes again. "Piper, you can't talk. You judge every single person you see."
"But I don't spy on them," Piper stops at a red light.
"Didn't I tell you it's not spying?"
"That's what a spy would say."
Annabeth shakes her head. "If I was a spy, then this mission would already be compromised, and I'd be sent home."
"The fact that you're overthinking it is making me question things."
Annabeth leans her head backward against the chair, "If anyone was a spy, it'd be you."
"And why is that?"
"Because you're hiding something from me," Annabeth states simply.
This time, it's Piper who rolls her eyes. "Annabeth, I'm not hiding anything from you." Annabeth notices how she doesn't promise.
"Then who's the person that we're meeting?"
"It's a surprise. I'm not trying to like expose you or anything."
"What would I have to be exposed for?" Annabeth perks up, raising her eyebrow.
Piper rolls her eyes. "Nothing Annabeth. You're overthinking this all."
"Wrong." Annabeth says, but doesn't elaborate. Around ten minutes later, after more people-watching (and more of Piper's annoying commentary), they arrive at the park. It's just as Annabeth imagined it, with two little gazebos on opposite sides. Piper parks across the street from it, and once they find a break in the traffic, they walk to the otherside. Annabeth follows Piper to the gazebo, and they sit down together.
Once they're both fully situated, Piper pulls out her phone, and types something into it, before setting it down on the table. "Can you tell me who we're waiting for now?" Annabeth prods, leaning against the picnic table that resides inside the gazebo.
Piper shakes her head. "Nope." She pops the p.
"Okay, so I guess I'll just be in the dark forever." She pauses. "Is this like a blind date? Because I'm not into that kind of stuff. I'd rather know the person." She pauses again. "Wait, please don't tell me you created a profile on a dating app for me. Piper, I'm underaged until July."
Piper rolls her eyes. "Annabeth, where do you get these ideas?"
"Despite being a realist, I have a fantastic imagination and an even bigger anxiety build-up system. I'd rather not be surprised." Being completely honest, Annabeth's imagination is a weird mix up of fantastic and realistic. It's not entirely inaccurate, and all thoughts stay in the realm of possibility, but like any other mind, they can get other-wordly sometimes.
"You won't be surprised." Piper says, but then switches it up. "Well, you might, but like. I don't know. It's unpredictable."
"Did you ship one of my New York friends over?" Annabeth continues to ask. She wouldn't mind it, it would be thoughtful. One of the nicer surprises she's experienced, a pleasant one. Though she still doesn't like surprises, she wouldn't be mad if that was one.
Piper doesn't respond, and instead looks at her phone. In this moment, she decides that her New York friends aren't here, because Piper just seems disinterested in her ponderings, not struck at all. Then, she bounces her leg on the ground, jittering it up and down. Annabeth notices she looks a bit anxious, checking her phone timer. "Are they late?"
"Maybe a little bit." Piper says, checking her phone again, although it's only been a couple seconds since she did it the last time.
Annabeth looks out the entrance of the gazebo, and nothing is there. "Uh Piper?" Piper looks up. "Time isn't going to go by faster just because you check your phone frequently."
"I know that," Piper snaps. She mumble something under her breath, and Annabeth can only hear two words from her mouth, "this late."
They wait five more minutes. Then another five.
She looks at the girl solemnly. "I'm sorry Piper, but whoever they are, I think they bailed on you."
"They didn't bail," Piper snaps, though she chooses her words carefully and slowly. Annabeth notices this, and raises an eyebrow at it. Piper looks away. "He's coming."
Annabeth smiles, triumphantly. "I knew this was a blind date!" She gets up from her seat. "Sorry Pipes, but this really isn't my thing."
"Annabeth, I did not set you up." Piper sounds actually irritated now, which just adds to Annabeth's belief that she figured it out. If she was wrong, then Piper would brush it away, instead of acting especially struck at this comment.
She shakes her head. "Come on, it's practically confirmed now. You can chill, I figured it out, and now I'm leaving." She turns away, and then leaves the gazebo, but before she can exit, Piper grabs her arm.
"Wait, Annabeth!" Piper says, and Annabeth turns around, resolved.
She shakes her head. "I'm fine Piper. I know that you feel bad, but seriously. I'm good. I have you, and I have Thalia and I have—" my family.
What? Where did that come from? She's never said that, let alone thought about it. Though she kept that to herself. Does she really consider them family? Bobby and Matthew, well she guesses they earned that when they defended her. Frederick, he's there, although he has a lot to explain. Helen— she… Annabeth doesn't know what to say to her. She doesn't know what to think. But if the rest are a part of her family, maybe Helen can.
She tries to erase the thought, because as much as she knows this is what her mother would have wanted Annabeth to move on, she also just— can't. Not yet. She still needs explanation. From both of them. And then maybe, maybe, she'll be able to declare the family thing out loud. There's still a lot of healing to be done, so yeah. Annabeth doesn't know.
"Thanks for caring, Piper," she smiles at the girl who had (fine, reluctantly) become her friend so quickly. The girl she knew had her back, despite the fact that this entire "set-up" idea was incredibly faulty. "But I'm good."
She turns around, not knowing how she's going to get back to her house, but knowing the last thing she wants is to be set up. Annabeth doesn't need a guy, and as much as she wishes for something with Pylos, Percy, she knows that it's unrealistic. So she turns away, knowing that whoever Piper set her up with isn't going to come up to her standards. Knowing that even if somehow they do, she won't be able to do it. Because she likes— loves— the guy who she's been talking to for over a year straight. The guy she trusted is the one guy she wants yet she can't have.
And then, she sees messy raven-black hair. Tanned skin. Toned muscles. Sea green eyes, eyes she wants to delve deep into, right in front of her. Walking toward her. Threading his fingers through his hair. Stopping. Looking. Smiling.
It's him.
…
~taking time to move on is normal, not selfish~
Teehee. Gotchu again! Also: please note that like I said in chapter twenty-three, next week there will be inconsistent updates, though I'll try my best to post on my update days. I'm a person, imperfect, so I can't say that they'll be right on time. Tysm for reading! Leave a review, lmk what you think! Stay safe and healthy! Until the next chapter!
TheLil'Lion