"What happened out there?" Thalia said, running into the Apollo cabin.
I looked up through my tears and said, "I'm not quite sure. He... He started yelling and he got really mad."
Annabeth stormed in. "That jerk!" She screamed.
"He'll come around eventually," Thalia assured me. "He will come around, won't he?" She asked Annabeth in a whisper.
The door shot open again. Percy stepped into the cabin, looking confused. "Luke said that you're..." Percy tripped over his words, "But, you can't be... It's not... What?!" He shouted.
Thalia glared at me as Annabeth grabbed Percy by the arm and dragged him outside. There was a load of shouting on the other side of the door as I silently paced the length of the cabin. Suddenly, the door opened and the pair walked back in. "So..." Percy sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"So..." Was right. None of us knew what to say or do. I was aware that I was asking a lot of Luke but, he was asking a lot of me. Essentially, he wanted me- at the age of twenty-three, without a proper job or education- to raise his child all by myself.
All of my fears were put aside when I walked past the Poseidon cabin later that week. I could hear a group of people talking in low voices. "How could he just do that to her? He knows that she can't do it all alone when she can barely make ends meet as it is!" It was Percy's voice.
"But, guys! She's not alone at all! She has us, right?" Annabeth insisted, "And, this is Jacinda Winsted we are talking about. She can get through anything!"
I smiled at Annabeth's vote of confidence and kept walking.
Although, I was later to learn that even without them, I wasn't alone. I was sitting on the edge of the dock over the lake when someone tapped on my shoulder. I looked up to see Luke standing over me.
Well, this was weird... Luke and I hadn't spoken since our fight on the beach. Now, looking back, we wouldn't even set eyes on one another. What did he want now?
"Hey," He said, "Can we talk?"
"I guess," I nodded. "As long as it isn't like the last time that you suggested that we talk." I said bitterly.
Luke pursed his lips and sat down next to me. "So, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this whole baby thing." He played with one of his rubber wristbands and wouldn't meet my eyes as he spoke. "I don't know what was wrong with me the other day. I never should have reacted like that. I've decided that I want to be there for you." I sat for a minute, repeating his words in my head. When I realized what he was saying, I immediately flung my arms around his neck, hugging him.
"Thank you!" I said excitedly.
He smiled to me and stood up.
Slowly, he knelt and kissed my cheek. "I'll see you at dinner." I watched as he walked across the valley and out of sight, smiling to myself.