I changed Sarah's last name to Aguilera.

Annabeth:

I felt the hum of the engine start to relax me. Our old friends, Kierra and George, were getting married this week and wanted us to come. Percy and I had planned to just send a gift and skip it, but Kierra called us to say that she really wanted us to come. When I tried to say that we couldn't just leave our daughter back home, they just told us to let her skip school. After forever of this, we let go and said we'd come.

It was Saturday, the day before the wedding, and the car ride won't seem to go fast enough. It was edging on ten, but Sarah was already asleep in the backseat. Percy was taking his turn to drive as I felt like falling asleep like Sarah.

"She's pretty tired, huh?" Percy nodded to Sarah in the backseat. I nodded, watching the cars pass us on the highway. I didn't know how to talk to him since my date with Ryan. Honestly, I didn't know how to talk to Ryan much either.

The date was perfect, beyond perfect I guess. Everything went just right, and I really liked the guy. We hit it off well, and I was really happy…until I opened the door. There was something about going home and seeing Percy standing there that changed it all. I wanted to cry and felt helpless, but he didn't notice. He just told me Sarah was asleep. Then, he left.

Ever since then, I can't seem to think straight. I can sort of talk to Ryan, but it's impossible to speak to Percy without wanting to die. This can't go on forever. We have a daughter we need to raise, and that involves talking. I bit my lip as I stared out the window, realizing distance was being created in this conversation. I needed to say something, but I couldn't think.

"How's Malcolm doing?" Percy asked, gripping the steering wheel. I knew Malcolm hadn't been the nicest person to Percy, especially after we broke up. The two both went back to camp during college-unlike me- so I have no idea what happened during those few summers. And I don't want to know.

"He's good. Tired, but good," I told Percy. Sarah had told him about Steven being born not too long ago. I knew that the couple was so tired, but that was really all I knew. They were both so busy that I hadn't talked to them in a while.

"They named their son Steven, right?" Percy didn't take his eyes off the road for even a moment, though I wish he would look at me.

"Yeah," I smiled, looking over at him instead of the other cars like I had been doing. Percy sped up for a minute as if it would help him think, but he slowed back down soon.

I was about to say something, but Percy huffed to show that he needed to say something but really didn't want to. I waited for a moment or two to see if he would finally say it.

"So, what's up with you and the teacher?" Percy still didn't look at me but stared out at the road like it was his life line.

I couldn't breathe. I had no clue what to say. Of course he asked. I mean, I made him babysit so I could go on the date. I would ask. Anyone would, even insane Percy. Looking at him, I wish I knew just what to say.

"Uh…I don't know," I blushed and pushed back my hair to behind my ear. I felt like that fifteen year old girl who was so in love with Percy that it was pathetic again. I hated being that girl. Honestly, one of the reasons I stepped up and kissed Percy that day was because I couldn't imagine staying like how I was for any longer and I had a shot to get rid of it.

I had no shot now. What I did have was a possible relationship with my daughter's coach named Ryan, a six year old daughter who is being bounced around from living with her dad to living with every week, a demanding job, and an ex who is in just about all of my memories and who I have mixed up feelings for. I know there's a lot I can do, but I just have no clue what it is.

"What do you mean you don't know, Annabeth?" Percy looked at me for the first time, smiling, "You always know."

I hit my head on the back of the car seat, feeling like throwing up. Here goes nothing.

"Yeah, I wish. Ryan is great. Better than great…it's just….he's our daughter's swim coach. He's my daughter's teacher. And…"

"And what?"

Oh damn it.

"Uh…" I waited for a moment or two to come up with something, "My daughter refers to him as Coach Bazil?"

"Nice point," Percy shrugged.

Thank the freakin' gods!

"At least you know Sarah likes him," Percy smirked.

"I want to hit you, but you're driving," I pouted, putting my feet up on the dashboard. Percy tried to push them down, but he didn't get a very good chance.

"New rule. Feet. On. The. Ground," Percy looked at me for a brief second before averting his eyes back to the street.

"Hey, did we work out the thing with the hotel room?" I put my feet back down and watched the clock tick minute by minute.

"Wait, you didn't fix it," Percy stared back at me.

"What do you mean? I told you to! You…you mean we have two beds and three people?" I sat up straighter on the verge of screaming.

XXXXXX

Sarah had been kicking me in her sleep all night. When we got here, Percy got the bed to himself-lucky SOB- and I got bunked with Sarah. I was fine with it in the beginning. She's had nightmares before and slept in my room with me, but she didn't kick. As it turns out, when Sarah is sleeping in a new place, she kicks like hell. I tried to put up with it for a while, but I definitely couldn't handle it anymore.

I got up and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. Once I could see without running into something, I went to the closet and picked up a blanket. I thought about sleeping on the floor. It was a way better option than bunking with Percy.

But I wasn't in the mood for sleeping on a hard carpet when I put up with being kicked a million times by Sarah for the last few hours.

I bit my tongue, wishing this wasn't happening, but I laid down on the soft white duvet. I pulled the blanket over me and waited for Percy to notice. He didn't though.

And I fell asleep…

The Next Morning:

The sun peered into my eyes, waking me up. I stirred about to get up when I realized something was holding me back. I opened my eyes at looked around.

Percy's tan arm was the first thing I saw. It was wrapped around my waist like a human belt, and his beautiful green eyes were closed in slumber. As I felt his bare chest against my cheek (I was using him as a pillow), I blushed to the shade of a raspberry and felt like a giddy little girl.

I thought about wriggling out of his grasp like I should have. I wasn't going to when I closed my eyes again and set my head back down on his chest.

The alarm blaring in my ear made me wake up, even though I wanted to go back to sleep. I pulled the blanket up closer over me and Percy, and I began to hope that Percy hadn't heard the alarm clock. Percy stirred in his sleep, and I knew he was awake.

Damn it.

Percy's green eyes fluttered open as he took in his surroundings.

Percy smiled and kissed the top of my head. It was our freshman year and I drove up to New York to see him. It was hard not seeing him every day like I used to, but it was harder to imagine driving home without him this morning.

"Good morning," Percy's smile grew, reminding me just how hard it was going to be to leave.

"Good morning, Percy," I blinked my eyes open, hoping it was all a dream.

"What time do you have to leave?" Percy asked solemnly, and I looked up at him, wanting to throw up.

"I have to be on the road in about an hour," I found myself unable to look away from his sea green eyes. I didn't want to leave New York. Honestly, it'd be a miracle to get me out of this bed, but I knew it was going to have to happen. I was going to leave, and we weren't going to see each other for a long time.

"I love you and everything, but this arrangement sucks," Percy sighed, and I nodded.

It really did suck.

A sharp pain hit my heart. It hurt way more than it did that day. I couldn't stay in his arms. I couldn't handle it any longer. Somehow, I managed to get out of his grasp and looked back at the two beds. Sarah was completely passed out as it was only five-forty-five, and Percy was exactly the same.

I grabbed some clothes to change into and went into the bathroom to do so, and I planned to go outside and get some air. But I couldn't make it. So, I pushed my back to the wooden door of the bathroom and fell to the ground. My lungs seemed to forget how to breathe until I was shaking like I was having a seizure. Tears were pouring down my face until my cheeks couldn't be any more stained.

As I realized I still couldn't breathe, I began to imagine the headline of my death. Woman suffocates when she woke up in the arms of her ex and started crying in the bathroom of a hotel room, where her daughter and the father of her child were staying in before a friend's wedding. That'll sell some newspapers, huh?

I sat up a little straighter and wiped away the tears. I reached up for the phone I had left charging on the bathroom countertop. By now, it had been thirty minutes since I came in here, but I didn't feel any better about anything. I was still scared, but I looked just as bad as I felt on the inside.

Somehow, I managed to get up from the floor even though I felt as weak as if I had been punched in the stomach repeatedly. When I broke up with Percy, I thought that would be the worst pain I would go through. But, now, I felt too sick to move. Being in Percy's arms when I know I can't have him is like sticking super man in a hot tub of liquid kryptonite.

Wait a minute.

Ryan.

I moaned as I gripped the countertop, wishing I could get this damn day over with. Going to a wedding with my ex while still having feelings for him and another guy was definitely not on the top of my to-do list. I had been dreading the thought of doing this for weeks, but it was happening.

Actually, it was happening in six hours.

"Knock, knock," somebody yelled from the hotel door. Tired and drenched in my own tears, I wiped at my face and opened the front door.

"Annabeth," Kierra smiled warmly as she looked at me. She had that bridal glow that must have made me look like a total loser compared to her.

"Kierra," I smiled.

"Come on. I need your help with the wedding. Tony's sister got food poisoning and can't be in the wedding, and I always wanted you to be in the wedding. Please, please," Kierra did the 'puppy-dog-eyes' thing as she looked at me.

It was hard to say no to her. It always had been. She was my half-sister, and her dad died when she was seven. She had no family except for her dad's best friend, Bailey. Bailey was a half-blood and knew about Athena being her mom, and she took her in. Bailey's job involved spending her summers working all the time. So, when Kierra was eight, Bailey started sending her to camp, and I helped her with the transition. Looking into her brown puppy dogs eyes makes it hard to not give in.

She looked nothing like the rest of the Athena kids. Her coco-brown skin shone in the sun, making you think of an Egyptian goddess. The way her chocolate brown eyes look at everything with ingenuity and careful detail definitely shows you she's a daughter of Aphrodite. Her kinky brown curls had been forced into a ponytail, and her Mickey Mouse pajama bottoms made it even harder for me to see her as anything other than that little girl, giggling as she chased her friends around camp.

I looked back at the room behind me where Percy and Sarah were still asleep.

Percy.

I needed to get away from him. What better excuse could I have than preparing my sister for her wedding?

"Alright, Kierra."

After the Wedding:

I sipped at the flute of Champaign as I tried to ignore how I looked like a cupcake in this stupid dress. I don't think I've ever felt so uncomfortable in a dress as I did that night, and, even though I knew it was made for someone else, it still would have hurt her.

Percy had been watching Sarah all day, and, so far, I hadn't had to say anything to him.

Sarah continued to run around the room with Bailey's son, Sam. He was about three years older than Sarah and a late-in-life baby. They seem to be getting along. Well, no one's dead yet and neither has a new scar or anything. That's better than some of the meet-ups I had with Luke around her age.

"Is Annabeth Chase actually wearing pink?"

I felt my heart stop and my head bang.

Definitely Percy.

"This not the first time you've seen me in pink, Perseus," I turned around to look at him. His lips formed a smile, making my stomach churn. Percy sipped at his glass of Champaign and shrugged as if to say Touché.

"So, a bridesmaid? When did that happen?" Percy asked.

I wonder what he'd say if he if I told him why I accepted…

"Tony's sister couldn't make it, and I was a size six just like her. So, in the dress I go," I shrugged.

"Well, congratulations then," Percy toasted the flute of Champaign. I did the same and pretended I was fine though I felt like dying. I hated this, and, if anything, I wanted to get away from him. But I felt bad when I was away from him, too. It was awful on so many levels. It's like Aphrodite just loves to torture me.

"You know, I always wanted to be in somebody's wedding, but…this dress is like an evil cupcake that loves to hurt me," I looked down at the pink monstrosity. It made me a little sick just to look at. The bottom was puffy and scratchy against my legs. The top was meant for a girl with an a-cup chest and made it hard for me to breathe. The middle band was supposed to make Tony's sister look smaller, but it made me look more like a size eight than six.

And don't get me started on the four inch-high heels.

"An evil cupcake that likes to hurt you?" Percy cocked an eyebrow as if to say 'You are insane, Annabeth'

"Yes, Percy, I am calling this dress 'An evil cupcake that likes to hurt me' because it is," I tried not to smile when I looked into his eyes, but it was pretty hard. It had always been hard for me not to smile when I'm around him. Even with what was going on right now, that didn't change.

"You realize what you just said, right?"

"Shut up," I playfully pushed him.

"Hey, I thought we had a rule. No violence when Sarah is in a mile radius."

"Percy, violence with us is slitting someone's throat with a dagger in their sleep, not pushing someone," I smirked, and Percy smiled with a bit of sadness. I hadn't meant to bring up old times, but I always seemed to. I knew it hurt me, but I didn't know it hurt him, too.

"Annabeth, Kierra's going to throw the bouquet," another bridesmaid's, Jessie, voice scared the hell out of me when I suddenly heard it. I turned around and saw her smiling, which I thought was impossible since she was wearing the same dress as me.

"Go catch it for Ryan," Percy smirked, making me frown. There was something in his eyes, like he wanted to kill Ryan for god knows why. All I knew was that I wanted to say something like 'I love you, Percy', but I didn't get the chance before Jessie pulled me off.

The Drive Home:

It was a dark Sunday night, and I began to dread waking up Sarah the next morning for school. I even began to consider letting her play hooky and doing my work from home as I stared out the dark night.

I was right back at square one. I had hoped that this trip might help me, but it didn't. It left me in the same spot.

I had a great guy, who I really liked, waiting back home for me. A daughter who was sound asleep in the backseat, probably dreaming about winning an Olympic medal or something. A thriving business where my co-owner is currently not working as his son requires a lot of attention. A mother who believes that my life will be miserable until I get as far away as I possibly can from Percy even though it seems to be the other way around. A miserable pain in my stomach taunting me whenever Percy crosses my mind for any reason that I could never have him again because he would never truly forgive me.

I tried to let the faint sound of 'Better With the Lights Off' relax me. It wasn't a surprise to me that it didn't work, but I listened anyway. I felt the warmth of the seat warmer try to seep into my tense mussels. Closing my eyes for a minute, I let my mind wander.

An image of Ryan was the first thing to come to mind.

I had gone to the date with a smile on my face, not knowing I was going to cry afterwards. Even an uncomfortable pair of heels and a tight dress couldn't ruin my night. That's when I walked through the door to my apartment, the buzz off a kiss still fresh on my lips. I unlocked my door, forgetting Percy was there for a moment. Then I saw him and remembered. The way my heels clacked on the hardwood floors made the moment feel dramatic. He looked at me, motionless for a moment or two. I couldn't tell if he was just being polite or if he was actually smiling. His green eyes made my knees weak, and I almost toppled onto the hard floor. I set my purse down on the countertop with a face I didn't usually make. I thought about explaining, but I wouldn't know what to say anyway. He let me know that Sarah was asleep, and our conversation went on like that. When he left, I had completely lost my just-finished-a-date happiness and felt like dying.

He seemed to always do that to me. Percy changed everything I knew, which was like killing an Athena kid, but I couldn't get enough of it. Every time I saw him, I got a glimpse into the world of Percy, a world I used to have full access to, and I wanted to see more. For the first time in my life, I agreed with Ke$ha. Loving Percy was my drug.

"Hmm," I looked out at the cold night, thankful for the seat warmers-and the presence of Percy- to warm me up. Sarah snored lightly in the background, ruining what could have been a romantic moment.

"Hmm," Percy stared out at the road, tense. I had offered to take the wheel an hour ago, but he said that wasn't it. He would tell me what was it, but I guess I never asked either.

I don't know what it was about that moment, but I felt the same thing I had felt years ago, on his sixteenth birthday.

It took all of my willpower not to reach over and kiss him, but I couldn't help myself from telling him how I felt. For once, I wanted to, and times like that rarely come to me.

"Percy-" I started.

"Listen, I'm sorry for giving you problems about Ryan," Percy cut me off, "I know you really like him, and I'm happy for you. It's just odd to see you dating."

Percy smiled at me.

"I'm so glad that you found someone who makes you happy," Percy told me, ruining how I felt.

My face had dropped by now, and I didn't know what to say.

He was happy?

It was at that moment that I saw something. I loved him more than anything, but I had been right all along. It wasn't going to work. But it could work with Ryan. Screw him being my daughter's teacher. It's not like he's my teacher or anything. These kinds of things happen all the time.

"Thanks, Percy," I told him, sounding less than thrilled. He smiled politely back at me before averting his gaze back to the road.

I didn't know what to do. So, I looked out the window, watching as the moment to tell him how I felt disappeared in the rearview.