C: thank you
Three weeks after Annabeth moved to New York, she finally went in search for an apartment. She was tired of people's conversations through the paper thin walls, and the bed was kind of hard and it hurt her back. Her bruises had almost completely faded to the point where she didn't have to pack on her makeup. In fact, she decided to not wear any makeup that day because she wanted her skin to be able to take a break and breathe.
Annabeth walked into work, her hair tangled by the wind and pieces of it stuck in her mouth. She brushed her hair away from her face and nearly trampled Lillian who was standing by the door, a phone clutched in her hand and earphones in her ears.
"Sorry!" Annabeth said quickly, making sure she didn't step on Lilly. Lilly seemed fine though and when she looked up at Annabeth, she smiled. Today she was wearing a cute little summer dress that was yellow and had daisies on them. And of course she paired it with bright pink rain boots even though there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.
"Annabeth!" she said, pulling her earphones out.
"What are you listening to?" Annabeth asked, pulling Lilly out of the front of the door so they wouldn't block any incoming customers.
"I'm watching a movie," she replied, wrinkling her nose.
"You don't like it?"
"There's a lot of blood...and I don't know what's going on!"
Annabeth moved close to Lilly and peered over her shoulder. On the iPhone screen was a battle scene-a really gory battle scene where someone got shot, blown up, or caught on fire in every shot. There was blood everywhere and people screaming. Annabeth blinked in surprise.
"Why are you watching this?" she asked, pulling the phone away from her.
"Daddy gave me his phone and told me to watch a movie so I picked this one." She wrinkled her nose again and shook her head, her short black hair whipping around dramatically. "I don't like it."
"Well, I can see why," Annabeth said. "Here." She walked over to behind the counter and pulled out the stash of blank printer paper and a big box of crayons. She led Lilly to a small table set up to the side for her and set the paper and crayons down.
"Why don't you draw something instead?"
"What should I draw?"
"Hmmm...Why don't you draw your favorite animal...in your favorite color," Annabeth suggested, glancing around for Percy. She supposed she had to give him his phone back and scold him for letting a five year-old girl watch a war movie.
"A blue turtle?" Lilly asked curiously. Then she giggled. "That's silly."
Annabeth smiled. "It is, isn't it? But it'll be cool."
Lilly thought about it for a moment before she nodded seriously. "Okay. I'll draw it, but only for you! You'll have to take it home and put it up on your fridge."
Annabeth smiled again, not having the heart to tell Lilly she didn't exactly have a refrigerator, but she nodded anyway. "Of course. Have fun. I have to go to work now."
Lilly smiled and turned her attention to her table where she picked up three different blue crayons and began to work.
Annabeth found Percy in the back making sure tickets and orders were matching. Annabeth stood behind him, waiting for him to turn around, and when he did he ran straight into Annabeth, nearly knocking her over.
"Sorry," Percy said, catching Annabeth's upper arms to keep her from falling into the fryers behind her.
"It's okay," she replied, brushing his hands off of her. She pulled his phone from her back pocket and held it out, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked. Then he noticed the fish on the phone case and realized it was his. "My phone?"
"Lilly had it," Annabeth said as he pulled it from her fingers.
"Yeah, I was letting her watch a movie," he replied, looking at her like she was slightly insane.
"She was watching a war movie."
Percy blinked. "Oh shit, was she really?" he asked. He unlocked his phone and looked at the movie titles he had. "I guess she was watching Saving Private Ryan. Shit."
"What? Why do you even have that movie on there?"
Percy frowned and moved forward because one of the chefs, Travis or Connor, had to shuffle by. "What do you mean? That movie is amazing. Haven't you ever seen it?"
Annabeth scoffed. "No, and I don't plan on it. I highly doubt the director got anywhere near depicting what really happened during World War II," she said, rolling her eyes. She was a history fanatic. When she was in high school, she would read her history book for fun. She loved everything about history-the tragedy, the revolutions, the wars. They interested her. And she knew World War II backward and forward. It was one of her favorite wars to learn about.
"How do you know if you haven't even seen it?"
Annabeth waved her hand. "Believe me, I know. I have to get back to work," she said even though she hadn't even really started work yet. Percy didn't say anything as she left and she definitely didn't feel his eyes on her, staring at her in disbelief.
Percy couldn't believe Annabeth had never seen Saving Private Ryan and wasn't even going to give it a chance. It was one of Percy's favorite movies simply because of how real it was. Percy obviously never went to war during World War II (or actually at all), but he knew that was as close as you could get to real. People in the movie weren't spared because they were main characters. Percy loved it. And he couldn't believe Annabeth hadn't seen it. When Percy was in high school and they were learning about World War II, they watched Saving Private Ryan. His teacher said when it came out in theaters, a bunch of him and his friends went to see it and there were Veterans that were crying because it reminded them of the war.
Percy shook the thoughts as he went to check on Lilly, making sure she wasn't traumatized. When he gave her his phone, he assumed she was going to pick one of the Disney movies he kept on there (mainly The Little Mermaid since it was both of their favorites and Lilly had to watch it weekly to survive), but she obviously wasn't in the mood for Disney.
"Hey, baby," Percy said as he squatted down next to Lilly. He could see her drawing something in all blue but he couldn't quite make it out yet.
"Hi," she answered, switching her light blue crayon for a dark one.
"How did you like your, uh, movie?"
"I didn't like it at all," she said, frowning.
"Well, I'm sorry. How about we watch The Little Mermaid tonight?" he asked.
"Okay! But you have to promise to sing along. It's only fun when you sing!" Lilly insisted. She held up her drawing and inspected it before putting it back down and picking up a purple crayon. She held it poised over the paper, thinking.
"I always sing," Percy replied. Lilly turned to him.
"How do you spell Annabeth?" she asked.
"Annabeth?"
"Yes. I drew this picture for her."
"Oh," Percy said. He didn't try to decipher what the drawing was simply because Lilly's drawing always differed. She could draw a blob one day, tell Percy it's a butterfly, draw the exact same blob the next day and act offended when Percy asked if it's a butterfly. "Okay. A-N-N-A-B-E-T-H."
"That's long," Lilly said as she scribbled the last letter and switched to a pink crayon. Then she began to draw hearts around Annabeth's name.
"It is."
"Percy, this woman's check is screwed up and the register is messing up so we can't figure it out," Kalle, a waitress, said. Percy nodded and pulled himself up, ruffling Lilly's hair who scowled.
"I'll be right back."
Annabeth followed the lady up a flight of stairs to view an apartment. She had enough money to move into one when she first got to New York, but she was just nervous of settling down. She felt safer in a motel where she could get up and leave quickly. But if she moved into an apartment, if she rooted down and began to feel comfortable, it would be so much harder to leave.
But then again Annabeth was tired of carrying her bags around and staying in a cramped room. Maybe she needed to settle down, to calm her nerves. She had no ties to New York, her dad lived in Virginia and she had no idea where her mother lived. There was no way he could somehow assume she was there. No way. That's what Annabeth had been telling herself since she got there.
Annabeth pushed her hair behind her ear and the woman opened up a door on the second floor.
"Now this is a one bedroom, two bath," the woman said as she stepped in and Annabeth followed. The front door led straight into the living room. The kitchen branched off to the right along with the dining room and down the hall to a left there was a bathroom and a bedroom. The bedroom had a bathroom attached to it and Annabeth loved it. Now she had a refrigerator she could put Lilly's picture on. She wrote Annabeth's name and put hearts around it and it was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen. It made her wish she had a child. She almost did, once. But he fixed that...
Annabeth brought her attention back to the apartment. The whole place was painted light beige, which really wasn't Annabeth's thing, but the woman noticed and smiled. "You can paint the rooms any color you'd like. You can hang pictures, too."
Annabeth smiled. "I love it."
Percy came into work the next day, holding Lilly's hand as she skipped high in the parking lot.
"Daddy?" she asked, kicking a rock across the concrete.
"Yes?"
"Do you like Annabeth?"
"Of course." Percy unlocked the door to the restaurant and flicked the lights on. The workers would be coming in in about an hour. "She's a very nice lady."
"Not like that," she giggled. "I mean like...do you like her enough for her to be my...mommy?"
Percy froze, his keys dangling on his fingers. He swallowed hard and squatted down in front his daughter, taking her hands. His chest tightened considerably and he tried to find his voice. Lilly hadn't said anything about a mother since she was three.
"Lilly...Annabeth is just a friend," he said slowly, not sure how to confront this.
"But why does that mean she can't be my mommy?" she asked, confused.
Percy just smiled. "It doesn't," he replied, hoping his response doesn't give her false hope.
"Okay" is all she said and she shook Percy's hand loose and skipped to an empty table. Even though she didn't show it, and never has, Percy knows she wants a mom. She needs a woman in her life that will love her unconditionally and be there when she hits her teenage years and needs help with girl things Percy doesn't understand. Her grandmother, Percy's mother Sally, loves her but she's not her mom. Lilly pretends she's happy without a mom, but sometimes Percy can see it in her eyes. No five year-old girl should be missing a parent. And it breaks his heart.
When Annabeth walks in, Percy is working at the counter, handing out milkshakes and taking orders. She walks in, her hair curly and messy around her face. Instead of her usual khakis, she's wearing blue jean shorts which surprised Percy because the khakis are uniform. Annabeth noticed his look and she blushed furiously. She quickly crossed the dining area and went behind the counter to speak with him.
"I'm sorry, Percy. This morning I was making coffee and I spilled the pot on my pants and I only have one pair and all my jeans were dirty. I'm sorry," she blurted quickly, tugging at her shorts in an attempt to make them longer. Percy took a moment to stare. Annabeth's thighs were red and he tried not to think about how hot that coffee was. But Annabeth had amazing legs. Long, tan, shapely le-
"Percy?"
Percy blinked hard and raised his eyes to meet Annabeth's grey ones. He cleared his throat, suddenly embarrassed.
"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it," he managed, flashing her a smile. Her shoulders relaxed and she sighed in relief.
"Good. Thank you," she said. Percy said nothing because he couldn't really, and she walked away, smiling at him. Percy's throat felt dry and he decided he's never had feelings for a girl this quick. Not to mention a girl he's only known for three weeks. But he couldn't help it.
Thank you for reading :) please review!
ps Saving Private Ryan is one of my favorite movies and it will come in later bc how could someone not like it
and also later you will learn more about Lilly's mom (haven't decided if I'm going to make her up or pick one of Percy's many lovers) and Percy's past plus Annabeth's past and her (now ex) husband 3 okay thanks!