A/N: Honestly, writing canon Percabeth is harder than I imagined. I feel kind of pressured to live up to Rick Riordan's Percabeth standard (something I could never do) and so I'm not really sure if this is any good at all. Constructive criticism is always helpful, though!

I'd like to thank 'ForTheLoveOfPeanutButter' for this prompt. It's not EXACTLY the same as the prompt, but it's the same concept: Percabeth double date with Annabeth's parents.

I'd also like to thank everyone that reviewed, followed, and favourited. It really made my day! :D

P.S. I'M ACTUALLY UPDATING! :D

Disclaimer: Don't own, probably never will. :(

"Pass the potatoes," Annabeth said, trying to avoid conversation. Frederick (who insisted Annabeth should call him Dad) passed Annabeth the mashed potatoes in a little ceramic orange-and-green bowl Helen had bought from the store the other day. Annabeth thought it looked kind of stupid, with little dancing carrots and broccoli decorating the sides of the bowl, but who was Annabeth to judge a ceramic bowl?

Annabeth wasn't really sure how she'd gotten roped into a double date at her father's house (with her father and step-mother, no less), but here she was, chewing glorified roasted chicken that her father called "délicieux, le poulet juteux avec le peau croustillante" which was "delicious, juicy chicken with crispy skin" google-translated into French. But of course her father insisted they all had to call his glorified roasted chicken by its French name, which inevitably led to many failed attempts of saying this uber-long French sentence by Percy.

"DELICIOUS LE POO-LET JU-TUX A-VEK LA PEW CRUST-ZILLANT-AY" were among many of Percy's attempts.

Helen (Annabeth's step-mom) thought the chicken was absolutely lovely, of course—"best chicken I've ever tasted, honey!"—but to Annabeth it tasted rather like pre-roasted chicken from the supermarket. And, the more she thought about it, the more she thought that it was pre-roasted chicken from the local grocery store.

There hadn't been much conversation for the first five minutes of dinner, not until Frederick finally spoke up.

Turning to face Percy, he said, "Tell me about your sex life." Percy froze mid-chew and turned very red in the face. Annabeth, too, found herself going slightly pink.

"DAD." She said, very embarrassed.

"Fred…" Helen warned at the same time. Annabeth exchanged looks of gratitude with Helen. There was silence for another few minutes, where only the clinking sound of silverware and chewing sounds were heard.

"How's the weather in New York?" Frederick tried again.

"The weather's been kind of gloomy," Annabeth rushed to answer, before Frederick could change his mind and ask something else of equal or greater awkwardness than his original question.

"That's a shame," Frederick offered, cutting a slice of chicken and popping it into his mouth. He chewed slowly and quietly.

"Well, it's given us time to start decorating our apartment," Percy said, swiping a spoonful of mashed potatoes from Annabeth's plate. Annabeth, in turn, swiped a piece of chicken off of Percy's plate and Helen gave both young adults stern, you-are-adults-so-what-are-you-doing-looks.

"Apartment?" Frederick looked between his daughter and Percy, bewildered. Slow realization crept across his face and, strangely enough, Annabeth felt a trickle of guilt as his face fell. She quickly brushed aside the guilt, though, because Frederick had sprung Helen's moving-in on her when she had been quite young. He later claimed that he hadn't thought Annabeth would "understand," but it had sure been a surprise when Frederick had come home one day with a strange woman Annabeth had only seen once or twice and introduced her as his girlfriend.

There was silence for the rest of the meal. When Percy later attempted to start conversation, he was silenced by sharp looks from the three other people sitting at the dinner table. When the meal was finally over (it had been a long, torturous time for Annabeth), Annabeth attempted to be polite and thank her…parents for the meal.

"Thanks, uh, Frederick." This time Frederick didn't even insist she call him 'Dad'. Instead he just said, "Anytime, Annabeth, anytime." But he wouldn't make eye contact with Annabeth, leading her to believe she had angered him by springing the moving-in with Percy.

Percy thanked both of the hosts and the two left the Chase household.

"Well that was…" Percy began, but Annabeth shushed him.

"At least he didn't yell," Percy tried again. Annabeth just ignored Percy and focused her eyes on the road.

She was sad her family had come to this, silent dinner parties where she and her father couldn't even act as if they held a friendship together, let alone a familial bond. She sighed and watched as the Chase household disappeared behind them. She wondered if she would ever come back.

And then a lonely little tear slid down her cheek, because, deep down, she knew she wouldn't.

A/N: So I hope it lived up to all of your standards, because I'm really unsure of this one-shot. Is it too sappy? Not enough dialogue? Not enough action? I wasn't sure if I should have this big, blowout fight between Annabeth and her dad or if they should just kiss and make up, but in the end I figured that Annabeth is really just kind of uncomfortable with this double date dinner. And I figured Frederick wouldn't be one to start or add fire to an argument. At least that's my take on the Chases. As for Bobby & Matthew, I figure they're off somewhere at a friend's or something. And let's just pretend that this is in the future, after the books, where Annabeth & Percy aren't saving the world as much anymore and they're living in an apartment in New York, near Camp Half-Blood but not AT Camp Half-Blood, because due to the Gods' promise of claiming kids before they turn thirteen, there had been an influx in demigods, so there isn't enough space.

Let's just pretend all of that happened.

xx

StrawberryofLife