Percy stared down at the fridge in front of him. His eyes jumped around at the different drinks inside. Should he grab a soda? Or water? There were also some juice containers, but Estelle would be really mad if he took any of those.

"What's wrong, Percy?" Sally questioned. Percy turned to look at his mom, and a smile came to his face. He didn't have many nights off, and he would go to his mom's place for dinner on the nights they didn't go to the bar. And to see his little sister of course.

"I think I made a mistake with Annabeth," Percy began.

"Help me set the table and tell me about it," Sally said softly. Percy nodded. He grabbed drinks for everyone and brought them to the table. As his mother grabbed plates, he retrieved the silverware. "What happened with Annabeth?"

"Remember how I told you that I admitted my feelings for her, and she said that she needed time?" Percy asked. His mom nodded. "Well, I haven't pushed that any further, but we did hang out at the beach over a month ago. I asked her about her architecture."

"So, you're the one who convinced her to submit her designs," Sally said. Percy looked at his mom in surprise.

"Wait, she submitted some designs?" Percy questioned. Sally nodded. "When we talked, I asked her about it, and she said it was a childish dream. I told her that she took all these classes for it to make sure everything was perfect in her designs. And that it was her childhood dream and something she should pursue.

"Annabeth wasn't happy about it," Percy continued. "She told me that Luke didn't support her dream, so she let it fall by the wayside. I told her to stop being scared. I kept pushing it and thought I scared her away. I texted her over the month, but her responses were all short and sweet."

Percy sighed, "I talked to Nico about it, and he said to ask Annabeth. I did, and she said she would talk to me later, and we haven't."

"Have you tried talking to her in person?" Sally asked gently. Percy shook his head. "Maybe, you should try that route only if Annabeth is ready. This sounds like a deeper conversation than just Annabeth's architecture."

"What do you mean?" Percy questioned as they finished setting out the silverware. His mother seemed to be thinking about it, and a sad smile came to her face.

"Percy, who always supported Annabeth's dreams. Whether it be her becoming an architect or anyone else?" Sally wondered.

"Her friends and family," Percy answered. "Her dad was really happy for her to be an architect, and Thalia was always talking about Annabeth designing a tattoo shop for her. And then the tattoos."

"Who else supported her, Percy?" Sally asked. Percy stared at his mom. "You, Percy. You are the one who always supports her. But from the sounds of it, Luke didn't. Her long time boyfriend and fiance did not support her.

"It all probably hit Annabeth like a brick. It's hard to realize that the person you loved didn't love you back," Sally said. Her eyes grew distant for a moment. "And, Luke may have been like Gabe."

"You mean like... how he... hit you?" Percy slowly asked. Sally nodded. "No. He wouldn't. He couldn't. Right?"

"Percy," Sally began. She placed a hand to Percy's back. "He did. Once. Annabeth told me about it because she didn't think she could go to anyone else."

"Why didn't she come to me?" Percy demanded as his eyes widened. "Or Thalia!? We would have helped her!"

"Because she was scared to," Sally replied as she moved her hand to Percy's shoulder and squeezed. "She thought it was just a drunken mistake. But if you or Thalia had learned about it, you probably would have killed him on the spot."

"I would have," Percy promised. "I still might."

"Annabeth needed someone to listen to her. Not to tell her what to do or jump to her defense," Sally lectured. "One of the hardest things to do in life is to understand whether someone needs advice or just to be heard. There are a lot of problems that we can work out if we just have a sounding board."

"I just want Annabeth to be happy. Not to be abused," Percy grumbled as he felt anger in his veins. "And, the bastard had the audacity to show up to her place drunk. He said I was only there to be a shoulder to cry on, so I could have sex with her. That's when I admitted my feelings, but I didn't want sex."

"You just want her to be happy," Sally repeated. "I understand. Don't tell her that I told you."

"I won't," Percy promised. He heard running and turned to catch his little sister as she launched herself into him. Percy laughed and lifted Estelle. "Hey, cutie. Did you finish your homework?"

"Daddy and I were looking at his homework," Estelle answered with a toothy grin. "He let me mark the bad answers."

"Estelle was very happy when she got to write the grades," Paul added as he walked in. Percy gave his stepfather a quick hug with his free hand. Paul hugged him back. "How has work been?"

"Good," Percy answered. "The other managers helped a lot when I was running solo, and I didn't really mess anything up. The sales reports are still hard to do because there are so many numbers."

"Do you have games on your phone?" Estelle asked.

"Not until after dinner," Sally said. Percy smiled and sat Estelle down. She climbed into her seat as Sally and Percy started to bring the food to the table. Percy helped Estelle make a plate since she liked to make her plate on the table instead of the actual plate.

Percy's phone buzzed, and he grabbed the phone out of his pocket. Estelle pointed at him, "He's playing on his phone."

"I'm just answering a text," Percy said as he looked down at the text from Annabeth. It asked if he was home. Percy fired off a response and put his phone back into his pocket. "We can play actual games after dinner."

"Mario Kart?" Estelle asked.

"If Sally doesn't cheat again," Paul commented. Sally glared at him.

"You do like to cheat mom, and you don't like it when we throw a blue shell at you," Percy commented.

"I'll ground you," Sally promised. Percy laughed. They all sat down and started to eat. Estelle excitedly told Percy all about her friends and school, and he always had issues with keeping track of her friends because she had a lot of them. The girl knew the whole school.

It made Percy's chest swell with pride. He didn't have a lot of friends in school, so it was great to see that Estelle was the opposite of him. Sally told them ideas about her latest novel, and Paul told them about some of his wilder students. Percy also gave him tips on how to catch cheaters because he wanted Paul to be fully prepared.

When they were halfway through the meal, Percy heard a knock on the door. A frown came to his face as he turned his head before looking back at his mom. Percy spoke, "Expecting someone."

"No," Sally answered as she started to stand. Percy beat her to it.

"I got it," Percy promised as he jumped to his feet. He walked to the front door and opened it. A look of surprise came to his face. "Annabeth?"

Annabeth was wearing sweatpants and a sweater. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. A notebook was in her left hand, and her right hand was tapping against her thigh. Annabeth spoke, "Percy."

"Hey," Percy said. "We're having dinner. I'm sure we could save you some."

"I wanted to talk to you," Annabeth began. She looked back at the notebook and then showed it to Percy. He squinted because there were all kinds of writing that had been crossed out and then written again.

"Yeah. Sure. What's up?" Percy asked as he felt his heart skip a beat. Annabeth met his eyes.

"I have spent the last month thinking about what you said," Annabeth began.

"Yeah. My mom mentioned you submitted your designs. That's so cool," Percy said with a grin. "I meant to ask her more, but we got distracted. How did it go?"

"I'm still waiting to hear," Annabeth answered. A sigh left her as she looked back at the notebook again. "Other than submitting my designs, I spent the last month thinking of a pros and cons list about taking a risk. I keep writing things down and crossing them out."

"I'm glad you decided to take the chance and submit the design," Percy stated.

"I planned it out. Tore up the plan. Planned it again. Went back to the list. But, fuck it," Annabeth said. She grabbed Percy's shoulder and pulled him into a deep kiss. Percy's eyes widened, but he slowly kissed Annabeth back.

Annabeth was the first to pull away, and she stared at Percy. All he could do was stare back. Annabeth slowly spoke, "I have been wanting to do that all month and have been trying to talk myself out of it. I'm glad I didn't."

"I um... me too," Percy said after a few moments. "Does that mean we're-"

The ringing of a phone caused Percy to jump. Annabeth reached into her pocket and answered her phone. A frown quickly came to her face. Annabeth spoke, "We'll be right there."

Annabeth hung up her phone and looked at Percy, "Thalia got arrested."

"For what?" Percy asked as his brain was still trying to reboot from the fact that Annabeth Chase had just kissed him. And was glad she did. And it was amazing. And she tasted like-

"Thalia didn't say. She just sounded really upset," Annabeth answered.

"We should go then," Percy replied.

"And talk about this later," Annabeth promised. Percy nodded.

"I need to tell my mom, but I'll um go with you if you want," Percy said.

"I'll wait in the car," Annabeth replied. Percy nodded and rushed back inside with his mind rushing a hundred miles a minute. He needed time to think this over and figure out what it meant for the two of them.