AN: Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes. I want to thank everyone who reviewed telling me to continue.

So, thank you.

It really does mean a lot to know that people enjoy my writing and it makes me want to write more and more. Because of you guys I will be continuing this story.

Enjoy the chapter…

Two Weeks Later

Annabeth

I sip my coffee while sitting at a table at a quiet cafe, re-reading a page in my favourite architecture book for what must be the tenth time.

I just can't mind has been on him for the last two weeks and I don't know why. He's a complete stranger but at the same time a handsome and kind stranger.

We had known each other for less than a half hour and he'd taken the twins and I along with his cute daughter to the park and acted as if we had been good friends for years. I couldn't help but wish that Luke were like him.

When Luke had came home at ten o'clock in the night the same day I met the one and only Percy Jackson I had raised hell with him over disappointing the boys yet again. I wouldn't have been surprised if the whole world could've heard us.

Flashback

Luke walked into the bedroom and jumped in surprise to find that I was still awake. I had silently carried on reading my book, trying to ignore him as he stripped down to his boxers and said, "I didn't think you'd be up."

"I didn't think you'd be home this early," I snapped sarcastically, not taking my eyes off of my book.

"Early? It's 10pm," Luke replied, changing into shorts and a shirt.

"Exactly. Normally you are home much later than ten, this is the earliest you've been home in weeks. You could've come home earlier to see the kids but, no, I guess you just love your work more than us," I had said, coldly.

"Is this about me not spending time with the boys'? I promised that I'd take them out another day instead," he replied.

"Don't make a promise that you can't keep, Luke. I'm the one who has to listen to them moan about you making promises and then breaking them. How many times have you promised to hang with them this week?" I didn't wait for him to answer.

"And what about Jess? The look on her face I see every morning when I tell her you are in work is enough to know that she doesn't like you working, either. I've had enough, they've had enough."

"What can I do? I'm the only one working around here! If I hadn't got that job then we'd be in a small house with an old car and-"

"We would still be a family if you didn't take that job!" I had cut him off. "I would still love you, you'd be hanging with us like a family. And let's not forget what I did for you, Luke! Don't yell at me about you being the only one working. If I could then I'd work but I have a duty as a mom to look after my kids and you should be doing the same! All you think about is yourself and work!"

"I've had enough of you yelling at me about working! You are lucky you are my wife!" he yelled.

I snapped my book shut and glared at him. "Lucky? YOU are the lucky one, Luke! YOU are lucky that I haven't left, that I haven't taken the kids and walked away. YOU are lucky that I'M your wife because trust me when I say no other woman would stay!"

"It was your choice to marry me, Annabeth!"

"I wanted to marry you back then. I loved you. You never left my side. Now look where we are!" I yelled.

"I'm too tired to argue," Luke mumbled.

"You're too tired? What about me? All I do is run after the kids, clean up the house, cook for my family, take them out when their father has once again disappointed them!"

"Whatever. I'm going to sleep," Luke said and had got into bed next to me.

"I'm not sleeping here," I snapped, grabbing the quilt and two pillows off the bed and leaving the room.

"What am I going to sleep with?" he had yelled after me.

"You're meant to be too tired to care!" I yelled back before walking down the stairs and sleeping on the couch.

End

We haven't slept in the same bed since. As he always comes home late I leave two pillows and a thin blanket on the couch and lock the bedroom door so he can't get in- like hell am I letting him sleep in my bed.

I hope he enjoys sleeping on the hard black couch that he had bought for thousands of dollars in his expensive suit.

I close my book shut and drop my head into my hands. Every time I think about Luke not taking the boys out I think of Percy and how he'd played football with the boys when they'd only just met.

Just that one act of kindness is enough for me to know that he is a better man than Luke is.

Percy lives in New York while Lilly lives here and yet he visits every weekend. I wonder if Luke and I divorced if he would do the same and come to wherever the kids and I live to visit.

Probably not, Luke isn't a man; he's a snob that thinks money is the key to happiness.

"Annabeth?" a familiar voice speaks up and I lift my head to see the startling sea-green eyes and messy raven hair. My heart beats faster and there are butterflies in my stomach.

"Percy? It's nice to see you," I say, smiling brightly.

"Can I join you?" he asks and I nod. He sits down in the seat opposite me. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. What about you?" I ask back.

"I'm perfect. I just dropped Lilly back home and I walked past and thought that it was you. I thought I'd come in and say hi. So, hi," he replies and I chuckle.

"Hi. The boys are hanging at their friends house and Jessica is probably with her 'crew'," I say.

"Something tells me that you don't like her 'crew'," Percy says.

"I don't even know if it is a 'crew' or a boy or whatever. She doesn't tell me anything. She thinks she can do whatever she wants when she wants. Whoever she's started hanging with is making her attitude bad and I hate it. Every time I ask her something she replies with a sarcastic comment," I moan.

"How old is she?" Percy questions.

"Fifteen," I reply.

"A lot if kids her age get moody and snappy," Percy says.

"How do you know?" I question.

"I'm a high school teacher," he explains.

"Really? What subject?" I ask, curious. I want to know everything about him.

"History."

"I'm a sucker for architecture myself but I loved History back in high school," I reply. "I used to love going to museums and on trips to ancient castles. Once we even went to Greece."

"I love Greece. I went with my ex-wife, Rachel, when we were in high school. The beaches were gorgeous and it was sunny. I'd love to go back."

"Me too," I sigh, daydreaming about the hot beaches and historical buildings in Greece. "When do you go back to New York?"

"Tomorrow. I always leave early Sunday so I can get some work done back home," he explains. I nod.

"I'd love to go back to work."

"Why don't you?" Percy asks.

"Because I need to look after the twins and Jess and clean the house and do all sorts."

"Work when the kids are in school and have the weekends off," Percy says. It is a good idea but I doubt I would end up doing it though I really want to.

"I'll think about it," I reply. We sit in a comfortable silence for a few seconds before Percy breaks it.

"How's your husband?"

"Luke is… well Luke. He's in love with his job and when he gets home he'll be too tired to hang around with his kids," I reply. I don't know why I'm telling him this. I never tell anyone anything.

"It sounds like you need a holiday," Percy smiles. I roll my eyes.

"I wish."

"Have you ever been to New York?" he asks.

"I was born there but moved here with Luke when I was eighteen," I explain.

"That's young," Percy says and I nod.

"I loved him." I don't care that I used past tense.

"But you don't anymore?" Percy asks.

I shrug. "I love him because he gave me kids and they are the best thing that ever happened to me but I'm not in love with him anymore. We're always arguing."

"Why don't you get a divorce?"

"One, because it will supposedly ruin Luke's reputation or whatever. Two, I don't want to put the kids through that. And three, his lawyer friends would expect him to fight for the kids and the house and everything and I know that without them I am screwed," I say.

"Oh," is all Percy says.

I laugh and I wonder if I'm going crazy. The look on Percy's face tells me he's thinking the same thing.

"I'm sorry. I'm telling you my life story and it isn't exactly a nice fluffy fairytale, it's far from it actually. I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I barely know you."

"I know but I feel like I've known you forever," Percy says, his voice soft. My laughing stops, our eyes meet and I feel like time is frozen. Why do I have to be married?

"Me too."

"I could sit here all day and listen to you but we both have things to do," he says. I blush and bite my lip. "So, how about we swap numbers and when you need to chat then all you have to do is call."

I feel like a teenager and my crush is asking for my number.

I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and swap with his. I type my number and name into his before handing it back over. He gives me mine back before standing up.

"I better get going."

"Yeah, me too," I reply, standing up.

We walk outside together and then turn to face each other. "I have to go that way," Percy says, pointing in the opposite direction I need to go.

"I need to go this way. I guess this is goodbye, then," I say. I don't want him to go.

"Yeah. I'll see you soon?" he asks. I smile and nod.

"We can do this again if you want?"

"That's a good idea. How about next week?" he suggests.

I try not to nod to eagerly. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"Great. Then it's a date," he says and then blushes. I laugh as he stutters, "I-I mean… Never mind."

"Bye, Percy."

"Bye, Annabeth. Make sure you call," he says. He then turns around and leaves.

I walk home with a large smile on my face and a spring in my step. I haven't felt like this in years but the feeling is always welcome…

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