Chapter Three

Percy was quiet for most of the walk back to Annabeth's apartment. And unless he'd changed drastically since she'd been gone, Annabeth thought that this was too weird. Percy wasn't a chatterbox, but he did talk to people well. Not having him talk to her was just not right. After a few minutes, she broke the silence.

"So you wanted to talk to me about something?" asked Annabeth.

"A little bit, yeah," said Percy. "You've missed a lot. I mean, Hermes kept us posted on what you were doing, if he knew, but I don't know what he's told you about us."

"Nothing," said Annabeth. "I asked him not to."

"Anyway, so you know about Chris and Clarisse," said Percy. "The Hunters have a few new members, one of which is a mortal – was a mortal, sorry. Camp is still Camp, and Chiron's okay. He misses you, but he's okay. Juniper and Grover are starting to talk about spending forever together."

"And you and Nico?" said Annabeth. "When are you two getting married?"/p

"We're not," said Percy. "Lord Zeus has made it clear that there will be no uniting Poseidon and Hades. He's given us six months to separate. And it took Aphrodite everything she had to get us that."

"Of course," said Annabeth softly. "He wouldn't want them to form an alliance against him."

"He doesn't," said Percy. "And yeah, I'll probably always love Nico. It won't be as strong, but I'll still always love him."

"Well, whoever you get together with next will have to be pretty special," said Annabeth.

"Yeah, they will," said Percy, kicking at a stone on the pavement. "Olympus is beautiful. You did a really good job on it."

"I thought it wasn't finished," said Annabeth./p

"It's not," Percy said. "But the general layout is done, and there's the foundations for all the different temples laid out. Tyson's overseeing Dad's place, so I go up every so often to see him and meet my other siblings. Thanks for looking out for Pedro, by the way."

"I'm not going to let him get hurt just because I'm angry with you," snapped Annabeth.

Percy put his hands up in a placating gesture. "I know. Just, the city's network thinks you're pretty cool, and I thought maybe you'd like to know."

"Oh," said Annabeth. "The city's network?"

"There are a lot of Cyclops in New York City," said Percy. "And they all know and talk to each other, passing on information about where to get jobs and who they can trust. And Nico and I go see them, to spend time with them and add info to the network."

"That's really cool," said Annabeth. "I didn't know about that."

"It's relatively recent," said Percy. "It started up just after the Battle of Olympus. Lots of Cyclops answered when Tyson sent out a call for help. And then they just decided to stay in touch."

"That's cool, I guess," said Annabeth.

"So, what have you been doing?" asked Percy.

"Finishing school and designing buildings," said Annabeth. "I'm good – very, very good – but to advance my career, I'm going to need more school. So I'm doing that three nights a week."

"I'm impressed," said Percy. "I knew that you'd do well at school and in designing, but I also know how frustrating school can be."

"I would explore more of the city," said Annabeth, "but I just don't have time. It's a bit easier in the summer, since there's no school, but still. I'm working full time and I love my days off, when I can work on pet projects."

"I'm in between assignments at the moment," said Percy. "I went for ER nurse. Laugh if you want, but I like my job. It's never boring, and no one thinks twice about fast reflexes."

"Not a doctor?" said Annabeth./p

"Not something I'm interested in," said Percy with a shrug. "I've had just about enough of school. I still do training, but nothing in a classroom."

"You never did like the monsters that tied to kill you," said Annabeth with a laugh.

"Yeah," said Percy. They arrived at Annabeth's apartment building and stopped outside the doors. "I – Annabeth, I'm so sorry. So sorry for hurting you."

"Then why?" asked Annabeth. "Why did you do it?"

"Because you were never there," said Percy. "I felt like I was holding on to a relationship that didn't exist anymore. I wanted to talk to you about it, but you were never there to talk to. I tried so many times to talk to you, and you brushed me off."

"And Nico was always there," said Annabeth bitterly. "Nico just stepped in where I was supposed to be."

"Not exactly," said Percy. "And that was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about at the three year celebration. I wanted to ask about opening up our relationship. I know that there were other people you liked and didn't pursue because of me. I thought that maybe it would be an idea to have other relationships besides our own, with each other's knowledge and consent."

"What are you saying?" demanded Annabeth. "You wanted some kind of freedom to cheat?"

"That's not what I said at all," said Percy heatedly. "What I said was that we would both know who and what and when, and talk about it so that we were both okay."

Annabeth looked at the ground. "You really are like your father."

"Maybe I am," said Percy, still angry. "But at least I'm trying to be honest about what I'm doing and not go behind anyone's back."

"And what, Nico just happened?" said Annabeth, the beginnings of tears choking her.

"What you saw," said Percy, "isn't what you thought you saw."

"Then what did I see, Percy?" shouted Annabeth through tears. "What do you think I saw that didn't happen?"

"I think you saw me kissing Nico," said Percy evenly. "I think you saw what you were afraid of, and panicked. Because you've always been afraid that I would be my father."

"And what did I actually see?"

"You saw Nico trying to calm me down when you didn't show. You saw him trying to get my breaths synched with his so that I wouldn't break down completely. And I understand what it looked like."

"So when did you actually get together then?"

"Three months later."

Abruptly, Annabeth stopped crying. She stared at Percy, almost disbelieving. He had never lied to her; she had always been able to catch him at it. Unless he had gotten better, he was telling the truth. And that changed everything.

"Ask Hermes," continued Percy. "Ask Talia. Gods, ask Clarisse if you have to. Everyone knows that I wanted that night to be special for us, because I asked pretty much everyone for ideas because I thought that mine weren't good enough."

"Your ideas were always good enough," said Annabeth. "Even when we went on quests, your ideas were good enough to keep us alive. You made me happy. Really, really happy."

"You did too," said Percy. "I uh, just wanted to clear that up. My side of things, I mean. So that things don't get awkward around wedding planning."

"You're not trying to get us back together?" said Annabeth.

"It would be nice," admitted Percy, "but not where either of us are at right now."

Annabeth nodded. "You've got that right. Goodnight, Percy. I'll see you at the wedding planning meeting, whenever that is."

"See you then," said Percy with a wave of his hand. "Have a good night, Annabeth." And with that, he turned and walked away from her, hands in pockets and warm wind ruffling his hair. Annabeth shook herself, went into the building and up to her apartment. She peeled off the nice dress and shook out her hair, pulling on pajamas and slipping into bed. Quietly, she prayed to her mother that it hadn't been a mistake letting Percy Jackson back into her life.

Athena's voice resounded in her head, "Only you can know that, my dear daughter."

"I'm so scared, Mom," said Annabeth aloud, staring at her ceiling and clutching a pillow.

A moment later, Athena appeared in her room. Her white shirt and jeans mirrored the ones that Annabeth wore to work nearly every day. Athena's long hair was braided over her shoulder, and her sharp eyes were unusually soft. Annabeth sat up.

"Annabeth," said Athena gently, "mistakes are meant to be made. That is how we learn. Success means nothing without failure preceding it, leading up to that moment of inspiration when all the pieces come together."

"This is my life though," said Annabeth. "I'm risking so much more."

"And already, you've had some reward," countered Athena, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Your siblings have missed you. I have missed you. And now here we are, talking to each other."

"I missed everyone," said Annabeth. "I missed so many of my siblings growing up and finding their own paths because I was so focused on mine."

"For what it's worth, I am proud of your achievements," said Athena. "I was at your graduation, you know. I'm sorry now that I didn't speak to you then, but I knew that you weren't ready to come back."

"I don't know if I can do this," said Annabeth.

"But you must face it anyway," said Athena. "You are brave, Annabeth, and this is part of who you are. Percy is not the sum and whole of the demigods. This cannot be about you and him alone."

Was he telling the truth?" asked Annabeth. "About Nico?"

"I know that they started dating three months after Percy turned nineteen, and that they moved in together one Nico turned eighteen," said Athena. "I also know that they weren't romantically involved before that. But I don't know what happened that specific night, no."

"I'm so confused," said Annabeth.

"Then sleep on it, and turn it over in your mind in the morning," advised Athena. "You need to rest."

"Thank you, Mom," said Annabeth. Athena smiled and vanished. Annabeth lay back down, and curled around her pillow. Putting Percy and Nico from her mind, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.