Percy was quite upset that Annabeth was ignoring him. During work he would offer her the tiniest of smiles, and if she ever caught them, which she rarely did, her facial expression would harden and she would turn her back to him. He was overall annoyed. It wasn't like he did that by himself! Annabeth was definitely there.
These things were racing through Percy's mind as he grumpily pushed a shopping cart down the aisle of the grocery store after dropping Lilly of at Annabeth's apartment for awhile. Her words to him had been clipped and short and she practically shoved him out of the door as fast as she could. It wasn't fair. Annabeth could have told Percy to stop any minute and take her home which he totally would have. But she didn't say that and he didn't take her home.
Percy reached out and tossed a few boxes of macaroni and cheese into his cart along with a gallon of milk and two boxes of princess gummies.
He just wished Annabeth would tell him what he did wrong instead of closing him off. It would certainly help.
He moved into the next aisle. It was empty except for a woman with her brown hair pulled into a bun and her fingers on her chin as she studied the chips. Percy thought she looked familiar but his phone rang and he was momentarily distracted.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Percy."
Percy smiled at the sound of his mother's voice and leaned against his shopping cart.
"Hey, Mom," he replied.
"How are you?"
"I'm good. I'm just grocery shopping." He made a point to move his cart forward a few inches as if to prove he really was shopping.
"With Lilly?"
"Nah, she's at Annabeth's," he said, his voice a little glum.
"How's everything going with that?" He could hear the concern in her voice and he wondered if his mom could read his mind. She always knew what was up with him, even when he usually never told her.
"Not good." He was getting closer to the woman and he swore he's seen her before.
"What happened?"
Percy was uninterested telling his mom about his love life, so he quickly told her he was about to check out and he'd call her later. As he hung up, the woman suddenly turned, her blue eyes sweeping across the aisle before they landed on him. Percy nearly dropped his phone in surprise.
"Percy!" she said. She stepped slowly down the aisle, her high heels clicking on the tiled floor. She looked exactly the same as Percy remembered her except for her hair was longer and she dressed more mature than her old mini skirts and low cut blouses. He would recognize Lilly's mom anywhere.
"M-Mia," Percy stammered, his eyes wide and feeling as though they were going to pop out of his skull.
"Oh my Gosh! Hi, how are you?" she asked, swooping in close to him. Percy was so uncomfortable that he glanced around and seriously thought about telling her definitely wasn't Percy Jackson, nope, nope, his name was Peter Johnson. But he'd already said her name so he knew that plan was spoiled.
"Uh, I'm good," he said nervously. He took a step back to get out of her breathing space. She was pretty, he had to admit, but he knew what she did to him and her own daughter and everything about her seemed ugly. "I thought you were at college?" he continued.
"Oh, I just graduated. Me and my husband-" Percy's eye twitched, "-moved back here after we graduated. How's the...kid?" she asked. She spoke in the same tone as someone who was wondering how their friend's new puppy was. Percy's anger flared. Mia didn't even remember her daughter's name.
"Why do you care?" Percy found himself spitting. Five years of anger seem to boil over and spill out like a garden hose the had a kink in it and it was finally loose. "What, do you actually want to be a mother or something?" he demanded aggressively.
Mia frowned and blinked as though Percy had poked her hard between the eyes. "There is no need to be rude, Percy. You're the one who wanted custody."
"Yes, and I'm glad she never had to live with you. I'd hate for her to have any of your endearing qualities," he answered roughly.
"I didn't think we'd start off on a bad foot," Mia replied, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, well, we didn't exactly end on a good foot, did we?"
"I didn't think you'd be such an asshole," Mia said. Percy could tell she was getting angry now and he felt smug about it. She's mad? Good. He wants to get so deep under her skin that she can't pull him out.
"And when I had sex with you I didn't think you'd be such a bitch. If you'll excuse me, I have to go pick up my daughter." He wheeled past her, fuming. How dare she call him an asshole? His apologies for being a little angry that she completely ignored the existence of Lilly for five years. He wasn't asking her to watch her three days a week or things like that. He had just wanted her to maybe say hi once in awhile it write a letter or call or something. Lilly didn't deserve to have a mother who didn't care about her.
Percy was so taken aback by his ex-girlfriend's sudden appearance that he swiped his credit card wrong four times in a row until the cashier had to swipe it for him. He gave the old lady an apologetic smile.
"Sorry," he said as he picked up the pen to sign.
"It's quite all right, dear. Bad day?" she asked kindly, her hand poised over the printer as the receipt came out.
"More like a bad week," he mumbled. "Thank you, have a nice day."
He loaded up his car and began the drive to Annabeth's apartment. When he arrived, Annabeth was wearing her hair in pigtails and red lipstick that was a little smeared. She blushed slightly when she opened the door. Percy was a little happy to see that she cared how she looked when she was around him-it meant she didn't exactly hate him.
"Lilly wanted to do make overs," she mumbled as she slid the ponytail holders from her hair.
"No!" Lilly cried from somewhere behind her. "I just got it perfect! Daddy, you ruined it!" Lilly came into view with her black hair pulled into two plaits that Percy knew was Annabeth's work because he definitely couldn't braid that well.
"I'm sorry, Lilly, but I did bring you princess gummies so..." Percy trailed off and lifted his hands. Lilly jumped up and down and squealed. She flew into Percy and he lifted her up.
"Why don't you go grab your things and I'll talk to Annabeth," Percy suggested. Annabeth's eyes narrowed at him, but he ignored the look and set Lilly down who ran off down the hall. She had packed a lot of toys and a lot of princess dresses for just a few hours. She'd begged him to go to Annabeth's and when he asked her, she agreed quickly. It was the first text she'd sent to him since he asked her for her address before their first date.
"I need to talk to you about something. I can't talk to anyone else about it." That was a lie. Percy could totally tell his mom but he wanted to tell Annabeth.
Annabeth gave him a worried look but she nodded. "Come in," she said. She disappeared into the kitchen for a moment before she came back into the living room minus her smudged red lipstick.
"So I went to the grocery store and I met someone I've had kind of a history with," Percy started. His heart was beating heavily as a late reaction to what he experienced earlier. He was shaken up.
"Who?" Annabeth asked.
"Lilly's mom."
Annabeth's eyebrows pulled together. "But I thought you said she was at college?"
"She was-until she graduated and then she and her husband moved back here," he scoffed.
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said.
He waved his hand. "No, it's fine. She called me an asshole though so I may or may not have called her a bitch," he admitted sheepishly. He didn't really like to call people names but it seemed to just slip out.
"Percy..."
"Well she hasn't called or written or visited just to say hi to Lilly. I wasn't asking for child support or anything. I just wanted Lilly to know her mother. I don't want this to affect her later in life when she...when she doesn't have a mom."
Annabeth's mouth turned down slightly at her words and as she opened her mouth to reply, Lilly skipped into the room and launched herself into Annabeth's arms.
"Bye Annabeth!" she said and she squeezed her in a hug.
"Bye Lilly."
Lilly slid from Annabeth's arms and reached up to Percy who immediately lifted her into his arms.
"Bye Annabeth," Percy said, taking Lilly's bag from her hands.
"Good bye Percy." Annabeth had a strange look on her face that Percy couldn't exactly read. He stepped outside and turned back, desperate to continue their conversation because he knew she would have good advice for him.
"I'll see you later," he said, a little desperation in his eyes.
Annabeth grabbed a hold of the door, her grey eyes reflection the sky above them. "Yeah, maybe." And she shut the door firmly.

hi! thanks for all the reviews! Please continue to tell me what you think! And for those who think Annabeth and Percy's relationship is going too fast...that's part of the plot! Okay, thank you!