Hello, guys!

Well here is the chapter 2 for the version 2.0. I am leaving version 1.0 as a one shot so don't be confused. Happy Halloween everyone!

Chapter 2

Cont. of 2.0

…

A month had already passed and Annabeth was getting worse.

She had shut down, almost completely. Whenever I talked to her, she answered directly. No further comments. She woke up every morning, made breakfast for the two of us like always, but barely ate anything herself. Her coffee sat in front of her and she just stared at it. She did her chores quietly. She locked herself up in her room to do her work. Annabeth would only come out to do more chores or go to the bathroom. That was it. Apart from that, there was nothing else from her. I could barely register someone else living in the house.

The first week after it happened, I didn't go to work. Jason understood my reasons. When Annabeth got out of the hospital, she stayed in bed and did nothing. For a week, she didn't eat anything I brought her and I began to worry. She would ignore me, pretend to be asleep when she really isn't. At night I would hear her crying quietly. Sometimes I knew she was only dreaming, but then I couldn't help but cry with her whenever I heard the words coming out of her mouth. Annabeth kept saying that it was her fault. That she lost our child because she had been weak. That she didn't fight enough to protect him. I tried waking her up as quickly as I could, but there were times when it took me a few minutes to do so.

It was just so devastating.

Two weeks after the incident, I woke up in the morning to a bed without Annabeth beside me. My heart fluttered in panic. Where would she be? The bathroom door was open so she couldn't be in there. As the blood rushed to my head due to my immediate movement out of bed, I hurried outside the door and downstairs. While I was going down the kitchen, I smelled breakfast cooking. I slowed my pace and rounded the corner to see my wife quietly cooking some eggs and bacon in a pan. The coffee maker was at work as well.

When I entered the room, I observed her. I moved to the bread toaster to place some slices of bread in it. My eyes kept to my wife. Nothing. She continued working as if I wasn't there. When everything was ready, we took a seat with a plate full of meal in front of us. I started eating as casually as I could. I was hoping that things would finally fall into normalcy. But as I discerned, it still wasn't.

Annabeth kept stirring her coffee while she stared at her bacon. She didn't touch anything. For a few more moments I waited to see if she was going to eat at all. But when I finished my meal I figured that she wasn't going to take a bite. I sighed and took her hand from across the table. I called her name and she didn't look. I called once more, more firmly, and she gazed at me blankly.

"You need to eat, Annabeth," I told her solemnly. "Please. You barely ate anything since…"

She averted her gaze. The moment I gave the slightest hint of the incident she would avoid it. Annabeth pulled her hand from mine and I felt my heart constrict. It brought pain to me to see my wife denying me. I tried to understand her, but the pain was still there.

The habit continued. I was reluctant to go to work everyday. I didn't want to leave her alone in the house. The fear that I would get a call from her cellphone, but would hear a different voice was still so evident in me. But aside from that, there was a new one that set in. When I was still in the hospital, the doctor had explained to me what the experience might do to her, and I didn't like it. I didn't even want to think about it. Annabeth was strong. She wouldn't do such thing.

But I was still afraid. Before I left for work I told her that I would be calling her phone every hour. She had to answer; otherwise I would be on my way home the next second. At first she made no indication that she understood the matter. But I repeated it over and over until I heard her promised me that she would answer the phone. I left the house slightly relieved that she had given me a reaction.

So that was what happened for the rest of the second, then on the third and fourth week.

Today was Saturday, a day-off for me. I was on the living room with all my files surrounding me. We still had the same problem as a month ago, but we were progressing. On my hand was a paper with the list of people or companies that were willing to help us with the project. I needed to contact them all and plan when to start our work. As I was labeling the names, organizing the priorities from the rest, I heard a small voice from behind me.

"Percy," she called and the pencil I was holding froze in place. I turned around immediately to look at Annabeth. She was still in her pajamas and her eyes were looking at all my mess.

"Annabeth," I said. "Is something wrong?" I placed the paper and pencil I had down on the table while Annabeth walked around the couch to sit beside me. I made room for her and she kept her eyes in the mess I had.

She shook her head in reply. I waited for her to do something but I was disappointed. Annabeth sighed and leaned back on the backrest. Her knees lifted up and she tucked herself beside me. I opened my arms to accommodate her form and I hugged her close to my body. We stayed that way for a while, unmoving. The silence was so comforting. I was happy. After all those weeks, this was the first time when she approached me first. Usually, it would be me trying to make her notice me. Most of the time I failed at doing so. This. This was the progress I was waiting for.

"I'm sorry," she whispered while she snuggled deeper beside me. "I'm so sorry, Percy."

I touched her curls and stroked them. "There's nothing to be sorry for, Annabeth. Stop apologizing."

"No, but there is." She insisted. Annabeth tilted her neck to look at me. "I – I lost him, Percy. And I will never stop saying I'm sorry for that."

I knew where this conversation was heading and I was getting tired of it, truth be told. For numerous times, I already told her that it wasn't her fault, but she wouldn't accept that. For her, it would always be her fault. She was the one to be blamed, no one else. I opened my mouth to interject her, but she stopped me with a squeeze in the hand and a shake of the head.

"No, listen first, please." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry. I was weak. I will never forgive myself for that. I could have protected him better. I could have been better. If I were, I would have saved him, both of us. If I hadn't been so we – weak…"

"Shh, Annabeth. Stop." My hand held her head and I pulled her close to me. Tears started to flow from her eyes and I hated seeing her that way. I never wanted to see her cry again. It was destroying me. "This will be the last time I want to hear that from you, okay? No more."

"But, Percy…"

"No, but's." I said firmly. "It's not your fault, Annabeth. It was never your fault, you hear? Like I said: he protected you. That's the way I see it. Our child is an angel because he protected you. If he didn't, I could have lost you as well. I know how you feel… losing him. I mean, you just told me that I was going to be a dad and the next hour I learned that the chance was gone.

"Annabeth, it hurts. A lot. I understand the pain and it will forever be in my heart. It will never heal. I will always know that I lost someone I could have had. Someone that could have made me happy… us happy. But we can't bring him back. He's an angel and I'm thanking him forever for keeping his mother safe. You understand?"

Annabeth only nodded her head while she cried in my arms. I could feel her tears wetting my shirt, but I didn't mind. That was the least of my worries. The very least. She kept crying and crying and I just rocked as back and forth. I tried to make her stop, but it wasn't working. I let her. She needed this. She needed to release everything, maybe not once and for all, but this was a big step already.

"I know that." She said when she could talk again. "I know that, Percy. Gods… I just can't… I can't help but think of all the possibilities."

And I thought of that, too.

What if my child survived? Annabeth would have been showing by now, right? My wife and I would be visiting the doctor, our friend William Solace, for check-ups. I would be seeing some blurry image in the ultrasound machine. I could have heard the most wonderful heartbeat. There were so many things I could have experienced. After a few more months, I would be changing diapers. No matter how tired I was, I would wake up at night to the sound of a crying baby in the next room and I would get up to check on my child. In a few years, I could have had a naughty little boy running around the kitchen. He would leave all his toys everywhere and Annabeth would get mad for the mess. I could teach him all the stuff he needed to know. I would teach him to swim, of course.

I could imagine a little boy right now. Someone with raven black hair like mine, gray eyes like my wife's. I can see a child with the same troublemaker smile as the man I see in the mirror. People would say how alike we are, except for the eyes, which was his mother's.

Or if it was a little girl… I see Annabeth's blonde curls in her and my sea green eyes. She would be so beautiful, like her mother.

Girl or boy, I would have loved the child so much.

But the time was passed.

"I think of them, too." I told Annabeth. "I think of them, too, trust me. But, Annabeth, listen to me. You need to stop. I understand how difficult this is for you. It is for me as well, but it's not good for you. You need to let go. Not everything. Not even I could forget about it, but you need to control it. Annabeth look at you. It's been a month and you… you've changed. You don't eat. You don't get out of the house. You're like a walking dead.

"Please, Annabeth. I want you back. I want my wife back. Let's go through this together. Don't shut me out. I want to help you. We can do this together. Please, just… stop." I begged her.

Her gray eyes were focused on me. Throughout my speech, Annabeth kept her gaze on me and I could almost see the gears in her head twist and turn as she thought of what I just said. I hoped that I got through her. I was tired of her walking dead state and I wanted her back. I hated seeing her like this. If only I could change everything…

"I love you," were the words that escaped from her lips. "I love you so much, Percy. I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I returned the gesture. I wrapped my own arms around her tightly and didn't want to let go. For the second time that day, Annabeth cried. But I knew from the way she did so that she was letting go. It was difficult, like I said, but I knew that we'll manage. We always do.

"I'm sorry I put you through hell. I'm so sorry, Percy. I love you so much." She told me over and over again. Her lips would graze the side of my head and I kissed her temple.

I pulled back to see tears flowing once more. I felt my cheeks got wet as well as the tears freely flowed. My hands held her head from both sides and I stared at her in the eyes before saying, "I love you. And I'm sorry, too. But we will get through this, Annabeth, as long as we're together. I promise. I love you and I will never leave you."

"As long as we're together," Annabeth agreed with a smile before she leaned forward and captured my lips in an ardent kiss.

I knew right then that things were going to be okay.

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I have an idea as to what happens next but I don't know how to start with it. Like everything else with this story, I am winging it, okay? No posting date to be announced so simply stay tuned.

Thank you for reading. Have a lovely day!

Love always,

Greek Wise Girl