I don't usually say anything at the beginning of chapters, but abuse trigger warning/ / /
For no particular reason, Annabeth wakes up in a good mood.
Well, that's not true. She has plenty of reasons to be in a good mood today. Instagram Immortals is doing better than any of them expected. Senior year is ticking down, only a month left, and school is easier than it's ever been for her. Luke is still in town, still happy. Things aren't weird between her and Percy anymore.
It all stacks up to make her feel better than she has in months. In years, maybe. In a long time.
She smiles at her dad and her step mother when she passes them in the kitchen to grab her lunch and a granola bar for breakfast. She smiles at her reflection in the mirror. She even manages to keep up her smile as she checks her phone. (This has to be some kind of record for her.)
When Annabeth unlocks her phone, YouTube is already opened. She waits for the view count to refresh before closing it—sixteen thousand views—and her smile kicks up a bit. Then, she checks her messages.
Luke: Taking you to school today. Be outside at 7
It's currently 7:03. "Shit," Annabeth hisses, running around her room to grab her bag, her headphones, the book she's been making solid progress through for the past month or so. Somewhere in between this and rushing out of the door to Luke's car, the smile sneaks off of her face.
"Late," He says, staring out the front windshield as she sits down, closing the door behind her. He's tapping his fingers on the steering wheel slowly.
She takes a second to breathe, putting the smile back on her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't see your message until later and I wasn't quite ready—"
"I forgive you. You know I hate it when you're late, but you're not gonna do it again. Right?"
"Right," Annabeth nods. The relief takes no less than a second to flood her, like it always does when he forgives her. (He always forgives her. It takes time, sometimes, but he does.)
"Exactly. So I forgive you."
It's always been that simple.
"Anyways, we're going out tonight." Luke says, glancing at her, his voice warming.
"We are? What's the occasion?" She asks.
"You're finally done with that stupid video. You don't have to be at Piper's house all of the time anymore, and you don't have to waste time around that Johnson kid, either."
"Percy?" Annabeth furrows her brows. It's easy to forget that Luke doesn't know everything happening in her head sometimes, that he doesn't know that Percy's not all that bad. "He's actually not—"
They stop at a red light, and he turns to stare at her, one eyebrow raised. "What, did you two fall in love during the shoot? I heard that happens to actors sometimes."
"No, of course not, don't be silly."
"I don't think I'm being silly, Annabeth. I thought it was kind of silly how seriously you all took your little project, if we're being honest. But after all of the ranting about what an idiot this guy is, how frustrating he was to be around, you're trying to say that he's the nicest, dreamiest guy you've ever met?"
Annabeth's jaw drops in protest. "That's not what I said at all, Luke!"
"It's what you meant."
"No, it's not. Idiot Jackson is still an idiot, okay? You don't need to worry."
Luke sighs as the light turns green, staring straight ahead. "Lately, it feels like I'm the only one putting effort into this relationship. You don't care anymore."
"That's not true! I haven't stopped loving you since we started dating five years ago, you know that." Annabeth hates it when this happens, when she manages to mess everything up, when she gets him upset. She hates that she can never be perfect for him.
He shakes his head. "I know, sweetie. I know. You just don't act like you love me sometimes."
"I—" She bites her lip, pretending she doesn't feel the slightest sting of tears threatening to appear. Luke hates it when she cries. "I'm sorry."
"I forgive you."
.
Annabeth's too out-of-focus from this morning to check her email once school starts. (Percy always sends them early in the morning, she's noticed.)
She's out-of-focus all day, really. It seems like only a few minutes of the day pass by before she's sitting down for lunch.
"Twenty-five thousand," Piper says as she takes her seat, grinning like usual. (She and Jason never take their problems in public; they only ever seem happy.)
"Wow, really?" Annabeth asks, trying to look more excited than she feels. Stupid video. Silly little project. "That's awesome."
"Wow, really?" Piper mimics in a small voice. "What, are you already done caring about the video? This thing is actually starting to take off!"
She shrugs. "It's really exciting, Pipes, I'm just not in the mood."
"Not in the mood for what?"
Percy sits down next to her, like he has the past few says, but it feels like he's doing something wrong today. (Maybe it's not just her, either. He seems more hesitant than usual.)
"Oh, sweet, somebody who actually gives a shit!" Piper shifts her attention to him. "Instagram Immortals hit 25,000 views, dude!"
"Awesome!"
It's more enthusiastic than Annabeth's response had been, but not by much, and much less than anybody would ever expect from him.
"Jesus, you too?" She frowns. "Did the same person piss in you guys' corn flakes this morning? That's a quarter of a hundred thousand views! And a hundred thousand views is ten percent of a million views! This is huge!"
"So this is what it takes for you to actually bother doing math," Annabeth can't help but comment, a bit of a smile rising on her lips.
"Shut up. Jason," She turns to her boyfriend, who's been very deliberately focused on his food. "Be excited about this for me."
He lets out a cheer, pumping his fist in the air. "Twenty-five thousand! That's huge!"
"Thank you!" She says, exasperation in her tone, stabbing at her macaroni. "Nice to know that somebody cares."
Even though they're going the same way, Annabeth and Percy don't walk to class together.
.
By the time Luke knocks on the door to pick her up, she's already ready. (Standing by the door, if we're being honest.)
"Look at you, all dressed up," He smiles down on her as he walks inside. "I've always liked that sweater."
Annabeth glances at it, the bright red fibers, and smiles a bit. "I know."
"It makes your eyes look blue; it's nice."
Even when she was little, Annabeth had never wanted blue eyes. She thought they were overrated. "Thanks. So what are we doing tonight?"
"Staying in, I think. The weather's not too good. Humid."
She'd noticed that. It's been one of those heavy days, where the pressure is off and it feels like the sky could open up at any second. These sorts of days always make her feel dizzy.
"Are we gonna hang out in my room, then?"
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"No, sounds like fun." Annabeth hadn't really been in the mood to go out, anyways. "My family isn't home, though."
"It's okay. I know they trust me."
They definitely trust Luke. (Whether or not they trust her, that's what's up in the air.)
In Annabeth's room, they end up watching Netflix on her bed. She's sitting in his lap, sort of. In between his legs, leaning back against his chest, his arms wrapped around her. It's got that same comfortable familiarity that's found in everything they do.
The movie they'd been watching—Beauty and the Beast, the animated version—ends, and she turns her face to look at Luke. He kisses her before she can speak.
"What do we want to watch next?" She asks when he's done.
"You know what would be funny, actually?" Luke starts, smirking. There's a glint in his eyes that Annabeth has seen a thousand times but has never been able to categorize; it makes her feel happy and uneasy at the same time, and it gives her absolutely no read on how he's feeling. "If we watched your little video."
She furrows her brow. "Really? You want to?"
He nods. Annabeth almost wants to describe him as benevolent for a strange moment.
"Okay."
The entire time the video's playing, she forces herself not to look back at Luke. It's about as difficult as she expects it to be, but she manages. She can't keep herself from checking the views count again. Fifty thousand. (It really is doing well.)
The moment where Annabeth and Percy kiss makes her heart stop for a moment, and Luke's grip tightens around her, but he doesn't say anything. The air gets uncomfortably tense.
When the video ends, the room is overtaken by a frosty silence. Annabeth's throat gets tight, her palms begin to sweat, and her heart pounds like it wants to bruise her ribs.
"That was, somehow, worse than I expected it to be," Luke says coldly.
She can't bring herself to say anything. All she can do is swallow tightly.
He shifts behind her, his arms moving back, and she moves away from him, turning around so she can look him in the eye. The expression on his face makes Annabeth panic.
"Was it his idea to have you two kiss? Not that it matters, seeing how much you clearly fucking enjoyed it."
"I didn't—I didn't enjoy it at all! It was the worst part of filming the whole thing, it was Piper's idea, I didn't want to at all—"
"I don't understand why you think lying to me will make this any better, Annabeth."
Annabeth shakes her head desperately, furiously, like there's water stuck in her ears. "I'm not lying, Luke, why would I want to kiss—"
"Stop talking, Annabeth."
She wants to, but she can't help herself; something inside of her is frantic to defend herself. "No, Luke, you just don't understand, it isn't anything, Percy isn't—"
Maybe saying his name was the wrong idea.
"Stop fucking talking, Annabeth!" He says, raising his voice. Yelling.
But she can't stop everything that's coming out. "I love you, Luke, not anybody else, it was just a stupid video—"
He slaps her so quickly that she doesn't even see him raise his hand before her vision goes dark.
Annabeth stops talking. Stops thinking, really. A few tears stream down her face immediately, like they've been pushed out by the force, and her hand raises to her face instinctively. She scrambles off the bed—to get away from him?—and Luke follows. He's so much taller than her that it's frightening.
"Listen to me." Luke says, his tone as biting as a palm against her cheek. "I've been really fucking nice about your stupid little video project, Annabeth. Too nice, probably, because it's been a while since I've seen you and it seemed like it made you happy."
She stares at him. Her eyes are wide. (Is she processing anything he says? Anything past the ringing in her ears?)
"That piece of shit you just showed me? It wasn't worth the fucking time to watch, you know that? Much less the time you took to make it." He looks away from her, his eyes narrowing with what can only be described as disgust. "If I had known your video was some shitty twelve-year-old's excuse to make out with some fucking nobody, I wouldn't have let you make it. I'm too fucking nice to you, you know that?"
Luke's yelling—full out now—and his voice bounces off of the walls, making the room feel smaller. Annabeth should be crying. She can feel it behind her eyes, she knows she's ready to, but the fear she feels right now is overwhelming anything else.
"Jesus Christ. When did you turn into a fucking slut, Annabeth? And why did you try to hide it from me like this? Why are you always fucking lying to me?"
She wants to say something, anything, to make him forgive her, to prove that she's sorry, but there's nothing there. Maybe she's lost her voice.
"Sometimes I wonder why I bother with you." He says coldly.
"I'm sorry," Annabeth manages finally. It's a shaky whisper that she's only ever heard from herself a few times. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
Luke pushes past her and leaves the room.
She flinches when the front door slams behind him. It takes an hour for her to stop shaking.
This one was really hard for me to write. Like, genuinely. I got a headache after I finished. Thoughts?