A/N: Here we go, chapter 45! So SO SO sorry to have kept you waiting this long. Oh my goodness, I don't have the vocabulary to express how sorry I am. Four years, my gods, and I am so ashamed.

I'm really not happy with this one. (Probably because I've forgotten what I've already posted, what ideas I've kept and which ones I've trashed. I'll have to do a reread.) So I might go back and fix some things. Also, my writing style has changed, and my vision for these characters has changed. I'm not going to go back and rewrite everything now, but in the future there may be a different version posted on AO3. If that happens, I'll post a note here to let you all know. If there are any character inconsistencies for this chapter, please PM me so I can attempt to fix them. There might be some formatting issues. i WILL fix those as soon as I get my laptop up and running.

I'm excited to come back to this story. I've thought about it often over the past four years, but between my mental health and real life I just haven't been able to find the voice of the story. I still haven't pinned Percy down just yet, so his POV might be missing for a while. I have a lot of the final scenes written, and we are approaching the final chapters. They just need some transitions and some rewrites, and we will be good to go. I think my writing style has changed a little- apparently you can write more than just dialogue, and I've also grown up a lot since I started writing this story.

Okay. I'll quit rambling, I'll try to have the next chapter up by the end of the year. Also! I'm on AO3 now (same username) but I haven't published anything just yet. Check around Christmas for a Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers fic for a gift exchange.

Also, bit of a warning, there's a bit of swearing in this chapter. Because Thalia.

Annabeth

In the morning, I wake feeling at peace. A sense of bliss settles in my bones, and I imagine that whatever I dreamed of must have been nice. Rolling over onto my side, I look at the clock- 9 a.m. Everyone else is probably awake, with the exception of Thalia. She'll probably roll out of bed around noon, grumbling about coffee. It would probably be good to have some ready, for persuasion purposes.

A part of me wants to see if Percy's awake yet. I don't fancy going down to breakfast by myself, or being stuck there alone, either. But I don't know his sleeping habits, and while I'm sure he's nothing like Thalia (because no one can be like Thalia), I don't want to wake him. But I'm too nervous about facing Carol to do anything alone.

So, rather than taking the chance that he'll be downstairs, I check my phone. I've got four new texts, two emails, and a half-dozen notifications from tumblr. The emails are nothing important-- one's the Word of the Day from Merriam-Webster and the other's informing me of pre-sale tickets for a band Thalia likes-- and neither are the tumblr notifications. The texts are interesting, though. One from Leo, two from Piper, one from my dad. I open it first.

Annabeth, it reads. Not sure what time it is in New York, but call me when you get this and it's a good time to talk. Love you, Dad.

"Huh." I shrug. I'll call him as soon as I open the other texts. Leo's is a picture of Percy and me in the car- I'm asleep in his lap and he's fiddling with my hair. It's a nice picture. I'll have to print it and frame it sometime.

The first text from Piper is a quick 'Bridal Shower y/n', but the second is a more lengthy freak-out.

I read it, Piper's voice echoing in my head. "Annabeth! You're not having a BRIDAL SHOWER?! How could you not? Call me!"

At the thought of a bridal shower, I groan and collapse into my pillows. And, as Jason had explained yesterday, once Piper got her mind onto something, there was no stopping her. "An unstoppable force," he'd said, dreamy look in his blue eyes. He and Thalia had very similar eyes, now that I thought about it. They didn't share any other similarities- she was dark haired and pale where he was blond and tan- but I'd never seen eyes that same electric blue before.

"I wish she were stoppable now," I muttered, setting my phone aside. I mean, really. A bridal shower? Wasn't it a little early to be thinking about weddings?

Except, of course, it wasn't. It may have even been time to start thinking about a certain wedding. Only a few days (2! Two days!) away, and they weren't enough. Friday was the deadline for everything, and I really didn't want to face it. And to think, for a single moment I thought Percy and I could be close to normal.

"But you're in an arranged marriage, in the twenty-first century." I muttered, flicking through my phone. "Normal doesn't even come close." Locating my dad's contact info, I press the 'call' button, and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I had a long day, and I needed to get started.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line is comforting, like a soft hug.

"Hi, Dad."

Thalia

It's broad daylight outside when I finally awaken. Checking my phone- it's 11:30- I hide under the covers. Annabeth's probably really pissed off, Carol's probably nagging, and the terror brothers are probably breaking something.

Rays of stinging light peek in from behind the curtains. I could probably stay in bed all day, and no one would mind. Some (Carol) might actually prefer it that way. But my stomach growls in response to that idea, and the thought of coffee is enough motivation to get up.

I stumble out of bed and into the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth. My hair's sticking up in a thousand different directions, but it can be dealt with later. It's just hair.

In bare feet and pajama pants, I dash down to the kitchen, where- sweet heaven in a bucket!- a pot of coffee sits, waiting. I pour a mug, add a generous amount of cream, and take a long sip. It is like breaking through a wall of ice: sharp and stinging, yet it leaves me feeling alive.

I frown at the coffee. "God, you bitter, disgusting excuse of a beverage. Why are so addictive?" I muse, but then lean against the counter and take another sip.

The house is unusually quiet. Before Bobby and Matthew, Annabeth and I were the life of the house, and Percy's friends made enough racket to wake the dead. But today there aren't even any sounds in the kitchen- everyone's gone somewhere else, which is odd; it's nearly lunchtime.

Silena's probably got the boys outside, Mr. Jackson's probably in his office, and it doesn't matter where Carol is as long as she's nowhere near me.

I think of the hair dye in my room- intended for her shampoo and conditioner- and grin into my mug. It's only one part in my plan for revenge; she won't get all of what's coming to her, but this will be a start.

Maybe it does matter where she is, so she doesn't catch me in the act. I grimace, imagining the drama that would follow if she did. There's going to be drama, anyway. Might as well do something fun to deserve it.

Once I finish my coffee, I head back to my room to grab the bag of dye and enact my plan for revenge. The room is a mess- a really nice shoe rests in the middle of the floor, and clothes are draped over every piece of furniture. Maybe I should clean in here. But it won't matter; I can put up with the mess for a few more days. Annabeth and I will be gone soon, and the messy room will be the least of my problems.

I'm hurrying down the hallway towards the other guest rooms when I hear voices. The Wal-Mart bag of hair dye dangles from my wrist. It crinkles with every movement I make, and I mentally curse myself for not putting it in a quieter- and more discreet- bag.

"-know about the contract?" Contract? My ears perk up, and I creep back towards the door. What contract? I lean back, trying to see beyond the doorframe.

Carol and Poseidon sit on either side of a coffee table, a briefcase and various post office-yellow folders spread between them. Teacups rest in saucers on an end table. The light is dim, only coming from the mid-morning sun outside.

"Of course not. Annabeth's too naïve to ask, and it's better if Thalia's kept in the dark. She's too impulsive, and she'd have Annabeth out of the country in an instant." Damn right, I would.

"That sounds like loyalty to me. It's very admirable, the bond they share." Point for Percy's dad (my uncle? That's a mess I don't even want to consider.)

Carol scoffs. "Hardly. And it doesn't matter; Thalia will be going back with us to California after the wedding." My eyebrows raise at that. Carol wouldn't want me to go with her to California, unless she was trying to get to Annabeth.

"Oh?" Poseidon muses.

"Oh my god," I breathe, barely a whisper. "Can they do that?" Can she take me back to California? I'm so lost in shock and my own thoughts that I drown out Mr. Jackson's and Carol's voices.

"How are the plans coming? Everything's ready?"

"I don't really know," Poseidon says, picking up a teacup and taking a sip.

"You don't know?" Carol nearly hisses, as if Mr. Jackson had just said he'd let us experiment with crystal meth all summer. "How could you not-"

"A bride traditionally wants to plan the wedding her way. She and Percy have everything taken care of, they didn't need me to interrupt."

"It's going to be a disaster! God only knows..."

"You don't trust them?"

I don't need to hear Carol's answer. It's blatantly clear that she doesn't trust Annabeth, or myself. And that's okay- we won't have to deal with her for much longer.

She wants to take me back to California.

Like hell she will. And, yet, she can. I'm still underage, and Annabeth's dad is my legal guardian. Somehow, soon, I have to get ahold of that contract and figure out what the hell is going on. Annabeth and I can't let Carol control our lives anymore. Tightening my grip on the Wal-Mart bag, not caring about the crinkling sound it makes, I hurry down the hallway to Carol's room. If she wants to marry Annabeth off and take me back to California, she'd better have another thought coming.

I need to get ahold of that contract.

I peer into the room, checking for other people. You could never be sure if a maid was in or not, and I didn't want to take the chance. That would be difficult to explain, even for me. Then again, I think everyone else in the house dislikes Carol, too, so maybe no one would say anything. I don't think they would, but I can't take that chance. (And then I consider security cameras. She wouldn't have those up- right? Because who puts security cameras in their temporary bedroom? Okay, Thalia, focus. You've seen way to many crime shows with Annabeth.)

No one's around, so I quickly slip inside and close the door behind me.

I can practically taste the revenge. It's almost sickly sweet in the back of my throat.

I tiptoe into the bathroom, and immediately notice a fluffy, spotless white rug- that has to be moved. I can't afford to leave any sign behind.

I push the shower curtain aside. My eyes land on the bottles of shampoo and conditioner on the side of the tub. Opaque bottles, thank the gods. Even better, this brand already has a blue-ish tint to it. Ripping open the package of liquid hair dye- oh, the glorious blue- I can't help but check over my shoulder. Call me paranoid, but I can't help but feel like something is going to go wrong. My hands shake as I clutch the bottle.

I squeeze half of the dye into the shampoo, and then screw on the lid and shake the bottle, so it mixes in. I do the same to the conditioner, and then put the bottles back in their rightful place. The empty dye bottle, and the box it came in, go back into the Wal-Mart bag, while the rug goes back where it was.

I'm leaving the bedroom, just a few steps from the doorway, when I pause. I can't help but think of the contract She wants to take me back to California and if she has a copy hidden here, it's the perfect opportunity- maybe my only chance- to find it.

Think of what this could mean for Annabeth. Think of what this could mean for you. You'd both be safe...

But I've been here too long already. The best plan would be to tell Annabeth, and go from there. But maybe...

Luke. Luke was good at acquiring things, even though it seemed impossible. If there was any way to get ahold of that contract, Luke could find it.

Annabeth

Later that afternoon, I'm reading in my room when Thalia bursts in. She's short of breath, and her normally wild hair is an even greater state of disarray. Her eyes dart around the room, pause at the window, and then she slams the door shut.

I place a bookmark in between the pages of my book- a visual guide to the history of the Hubble space telescope- and set it aside, just as she flops down into my bed, face first.

"You okay, Thalia?" I'm beginning to worry about her. She's starting to lose it, and I don't know why.

The words come so fast and muffled that I only pick out a few. "Carol... talking... contract... Send me back." She inhales and lets her limbs go limp, her feet just dangling over the edge of the bed.

"Thals, slow down a second. What do you mean, contract?"

She tells me of an overheard conversation, a rumored contract, every single detail she's learned about this mess we've gotten into.

I'm stuck on the whole contract thing- someone, whether my dad or Carol, signed away my life and my choices. Is that even legal?

"Aren't dowries a little old fashioned?" I muse, trying to make sense of everything I've just been told.

"Aren't arranged marriages?" she countered back.

"Touché."

Thalia rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows. "I'm telling you, Annabeth, there's a contract. And with every contract, there's a loophole."

With a sigh, I continue. "I don't know, Thals. I mean, what if we get caught?" It couldn't possibly work.

"What can they do? The wedding's in two days, Annabeth. Besides, I thought we were leaving."

"About that..." I begin picking at my nails, waiting for the outburst. Thalia says nothing, so I take a breath (Silly Annabeth, there's no reason to be afraid of Thalia) and continue. "I'm starting to think that we could stay." Mentally, I am cheering myself on. You go, Annabeth! Get that off your chest! Physically, though, I remain as still as stone.

"You're kidding me, right?"

Thalia

"You're kidding me, right?" She's not.

Part of me wants to tell Annabeth she can do whatever she damn well pleases (especially if she loves him), but another part wants to go through with the plan we had at the beginning of the summer. After all, Annabeth was so determined to leave, to go to her architecture school. We have a plan, shouldn't she be committed to it? That was the logical thing to do, and if there was a word to sum up Annabeth, logical would be it.

"Not really."

"Do you know how much time and money and planning has gone into this?" That came out harsher than I meant it. "Annabeth, you can always come back! It's not like Percy's going anywhere. He'd probably like to go to college or something, too." Though I couldn't see Pansy as the college type. He was more like me than Annabeth- careless, prone to being a disappointment (judging by the seemingly strained-and-or-awkward relationship between him and his father). Still, he might have something he would like to do without a wife in tow.

Annabeth keeps picking at her nails, leaving chips of ice-blue polish on the bed covers. "I know, but-"

"She wants to send me back to California, Annabeth. We have to go."

Annabeth

I am silent, because I truly have no idea what to say. Thalia is also silent, but probably because she is waiting for me to respond to her previous words, because that is how conversation works.

We are silent for so long. We've been doing that a lot recently, and it's beginning to worry me. Nothing can be negotiated, no problem resolved, if two parties remain in silence. Carol wants to take her away. This whole thing isn't just about me choosing to get married or not- if I choose to stay with Percy, I'm going to lose Thalia, at least for a little while. Thalia, who has been there for me for over a decade, and who I trust. I've always had Thalia, even now, and isn't it only fair for Thalia to have me?

Thalia speaks first, her tone lighter and the subject matter entirely different. "Aren't dowries like livestock or something the groom's family receives from the bride's family as payment? For taking her off their hands?"

"Yeah, sorta. It's more of a way to make up for the lost work in the household, In some cultures it's vice-versa, I think."

"If it helps, you're probably worth, like, a cow, two goats, and maybe a chicken."

I can't help it- a smile forms on my face. Leave it to Thalia to turn a serious, heavy situation into something silly. "Maybe a chicken?" I feign offense. "You know I'm worth at least a prized alligator."

"Who has prized alligators anymore? This year's fad is giraffes."

"Whatever." I wave my hand dismissively, and roll my eyes. I've missed this, this carefree banter. It's the way we were before the arrangement, before we came to New York. No, I amend, it's the way things have been until Carol got here. And then reality came knocking, and it was ready to collect whatever we owed it for the months prior.

There's a pause, and the air seems to lighten and settle, despite my heavy thoughts. "So are we good? No repressed, bitter feelings?" I ask, double checking, just to make sure.

"We're good, Annabeth. Now, shut up and get comfortable, because I'm about to tell you about my trip to the Witch's lair."

Near the end of her story, told in a typical Thalia fashion ("It was fucking scary, Annabeth, oh my god. I thought I was going to die.") she pauses. "So," she says, eyes crossed to examine a piece of her hair, "What are we going to do?"

Over the years, I've been asked more than my fair share of questions from Thalia, ranging from "Why is the ocean blue but water from the sink is clear?" to "Why are humans so fucking awful?" And yet, somehow, this one seems to carry the most weight to it. It's the question that's most important.

"Well... Thals, I don't know about the contract." I say truthfully. "Doesn't Luke have some sort of training for this?" I could swear I'd heard her mention him having the upper hand in problem solving. You don't get good at that by wishing on stars.

Thalia shrugs. "He was in law school for like a semester. That maybe helps with finding the loophole to the contract, but not with everything else."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "Okay. That's- that's better than nothing." It's certainly more training in the legal department than either of us has got.

"And what about leaving?" Thals asks solemnly.

I take her hand and smile lightly. "You have put my best interests first for a long time. It's time for me to do what's best for you. We have to go, Thalia. Carol won't be taking you across the country. I will," I say with a grin. "But only if you want to go. If you want to go somewhere else, we'll look for somewhere else."

"Thanks, Annabeth."

"Love you, you dork."

"Love you too, nerd."