Annabeth

Later that night, after a very stressful day and an awkward conversation with the kids about how I don't hate Percy I'm just very upset with him, Max and Ella Claire are in bed when Malcolm and Maryanne pull into the driveway. Despite the cold I wait outside for them, not wanting to wake up the kids.

"Hey, Annabeth. How was your day?" Malcolm says as he gets out of the car.

"You asshole!" I shout as I march up to him. I wasn't planning to but I throw a punch. He dodges it and catches my wrist, pinning my arm behind me and pushing me down on the hood of the car.

"Calm?" He asks. I struggle for a second, but Malcolm has always been a physically better fighter. By a hair.

"Yes." I say and he lets me go. I glare at him and Maryanne.

"You knew too." I say to her. "How could Y'all do this to me? I thought if anyone would take my side in everything, it would at least be my siblings!"

"Annabeth you still don't know everything! And you won't let us tell you! You'd rather fight and run than listen! I was hoping this would at least force you to confront the situation."

"I'm not living there."

"You have to. Our company is in the press's limelight right now. What would it look like if one of the owners won't live in a complex we designed for more than a couple of days?"

"Percy's a fireman. And they work a 24 on 48 off schedule. I'll stay there when he's on shift, and other than that I'll move a futon into my office and sleep there."

"I can't stop you from doing that. But you'll still be seeing him if you want to be around your niece and nephew. That's not an ultimatum, by the way. It's a fact. Percy is around a lot with Luke." He tells me and I grit my teeth.

"Fine. I'll play nice for Max and Ella Claire when he's here. But you're still an asshole." I say. "Kids are in bed. Goodnight." I say and go get in the cab waiting by the corner.

…………

I wake up the next morning and immediately get dressed and call a cab to go into town and look for a futon. I was hoping it would be early enough that I wouldn't see Percy, but as soon as I head outside I hear an adorable 2 year old call my name.

"Annabeth!" Luke says and runs from his yard to mine. Despite the anger I feel seeing Percy in the corner of my eye, I bend down and let the little boy hug me.

"Good morning, Sweet Boy!" I smile, trying to stay calm as Percy walks over.

"Luke, go inside for a bit." He says.

"But Daddy-"

"Inside. Now." Percy says. Luke pouts but goes in. "Just so you know, I did know you were coming back to New York, but I had no idea Malcolm was moving you in next door. That was just as much a surprise for me as it was for you." He tells me.

"Whatever, Percy. Look We're going to have to play nice around the kids, but other than that just stay away from me. I can't move out, but I'm going to sleep in my office when you're not on shift, so we won't have to run into each other."

"You don't have to do that."

"I'd rather do that than see you every day." I say and start to head to the cab but he grabs my wrist as I walk by him. "Let. Go." I snarl.

"Why won't you just hear me out?"

"Because I'm not the one who had a kid with someone else." I snap and pull my wrist away. I stomp to the car and slam the door shut.

"Nearest furniture store, please." I tell the driver. But then I rub my wrist where Percy grabbed it. It was the first time I've touched him in three years. Despite how much I really don't want it to, a loneliness spreads in my chest. I have a feeling tonight's going to be a T shirt night. No, I can't stay in that apartment when he's there. It'll be too painful and too tempting.

…………

Percy

Max's birthday comes along and Malcolm and Maryanne decide to have it at Camp Half Blood on the beach. Since the weather's always perfect inside the camp, even in the middle of January it's sunny and warm. Just the Paces, me and Luke, and Annabeth come. I spend a good part of the party in the ocean with the kids while Annabeth lays out on the beach. I have to fight to keep my eyes off her, so close and yet so far away. She's wearing a white string bikini and it shows her off perfectly, making me realize that no matter how beautiful she was as a teenager, she's even more so in her twenties. And I'm sure she wore it just to piss me off.

After a while in the water I bring the kids back to shore. Luke may be fine living in the Ocean forever, but Ella Claire and Max need breaks. I catch Annabeth staring at me as I walk out of the water, although she looks back at her book the second our eyes meet.

Maryanne whistles and calls us all over for presents. Max sits in the middle of the circle and opens up a Celestial Bronze knife from his parents, a full baseball set from Annabeth, and a Celestial Bronze sharktooth bracelet from me and Luke we had Tyson make that turns into a shield.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Max says and jumps up excited, giving each of us a hug. "Luke, wanna spar?" He asks. Luke looks up at me with his ice blue eyes pleading.

"I'll keep watch." Malcolm shrugs.

"Alright." I say, taking Luke's Celestial bronze shark tooth bracelets out of my pocket, also a gift from Tyson. A moment later he taps them and it's a dagger and shield. The kids run off with Malcolm to start fighting and Annabeth throws me a look.

"Seriously, Percy? He's not even three, and he already has weapons?" She asks. More like accuses. I shrug in response.

"Jason joined the legion when he was two."

"That's not the same." She says, and irritation builds in me.

"Okay first, He never gets them unless he asks and is being watched. Second, we're at a toddler's birthday party, don't pick a fight. Third, It's none of your business how I'm raising Luke, He's not your kid." I snap at her. She guards it well, but I can see the hurt flash across her face at the reminder. I wasn't even thinking about our miscarriage until the words were already out of my mouth.

"You're right, Percy. He's not the baby we lost. He's the bastard kid of whatever slut you cheated with." She spits. Never in my life have I been so tempted to hit her.

"I'm going swimming." I say and get up. "And Annabeth, you can be upset with me all you want. You can say whatever you want about me. But don't you ever talk about my son." She purses her lips, and I can see she actually regrets what she said. Even three years later, I still know how to read her face. I think about staying to talk to her, but shake it off and go back into the water.

………….

Annabeth

I watch as Percy jogs back into the water and sigh, bringing my knees to my chest. He's right, no matter what I say or think about him, I should never say anything about Luke. I hate it when he's right. Which, unfortunately, was and probably still is most of the time. I may have always gotten better grades than him, but Percy makes better decisions, always looking out for the people around him and making the best moral decision, rarely if ever letting pride blind him. Except for once.

"Annabeth?" I hear and look up, seeing Max and Luke next to me. I smile.

"Where are your swords, little warriors?"

"Daddy took them up when we were finished sparring." Max tells me.

"My dad doesn't hate you, you know." Luke tells me, taking me by surprise.

"What?"

"I asked him when you dropped me off. He said he loves you, but is angry you left. My mom told me you left because of me, but Daddy said that wasn't true. Do you love my dad too?" He asks, making my heart pick up.

"Oh baby." I say and pat for him to sit next to me. Max comes over too and sits in my lap. "Luke, like your dad said, what your mom told you just isn't true. Nothing between your dad and I is your fault."

"Then why'd you leave?"

"It's complicated."

"We're smart enough." Max assures me. I press my lips together and look at the sky. Help with words, Lord? I pray. As soon as the thought leaves my mind, I feel the answer.

Tell the Truth.

"I'm sure you are. Are you sure you don't want to talk about the Yankees? Or fighting styles with daggers?"

"No." Both boys say.

Lord, these are Children.

Tell them the truth.

"Fine. Percy did something to make me really angry with him. A long time ago, before either of you were born. And no, no matter how much you argue, I won't tell you what it was. That's between me and him. But after it happened, I couldn't be around him anymore. So I left."

"Daddy says sometimes forgiveness can be really hard. And trusting again after can be even harder." Luke tells me.

"Your dad's right." I say, blushing at getting a morals talk from a 2 year old.

Did you have to make him so smart so fast, God?

"Could you try to forgive him anyways?" Luke asks. "I like you. I don't want my dad to tell me to go inside every time we see you in the yard so you can fight." He says, making my heart sink a little bit. This kid is way more observant than I gave him credit for. "You said you were a Christian. I am too. Since Jesus forgave us I thought we weren't supposed to ever not forgive someone else."

"Wow. Guilt trip from a 2 year old." I mumble.

"2 !" He protests, making me chuckle.

"Okay, 2 . You're not wrong, Lukas. And you're not the first person to tell me that. Tell you what, I'll try harder to get along with your dad so you and I can see each other more, okay?"

"Okay!" He smiles and scrambles to get up. Max hugs me and does the same, the two of them going to play with Ella Claire and Maryanne. Percy gets out of the water as they do, ruffling Luke's hair as he walks by and up to me.

"What did he say to you?" He asks when he's in front of me.

"He…he said you're angry at me for leaving, but you still love me. He said it's hard to forgive, but I should try to forgive you and that I didn't really have the right not to." Percy sighs and runs his hand over his face, turning around and laying on his back beside me.

"Philosophical little shit. Don't know where he got it from. Definitely not me or his mom." He mutters. I smile a little at Percy calling him a little shit, but I can tell he says it with love. Every interaction he has with that child shows how much he loves him. "We need to talk."

"Yeah, I guess we do."

"Think we can do it without yelling?"

"I don't think our track record for that is the best, but we can try." I say and turn to look at him better. He's built so much stronger than he was three years ago, is tanner and leaner too. He's laying in the sun in a way that reminds me of so many beach dates together, making me want to slide over so his head's in my lap. I shake the thoughts and memories out of my head, and try to focus on the present. "What do you want to talk about?" I ask, and he rolls to his feet, holding out his hand to help me up. I hesitate for a second but take it, trying to not already fall away from my promise to Luke to at least try and play nice.

"Let's go for a walk." He says.

"I have one rule." I tell him as we step off.

"What's that?"

"I don't want to hear about that night. It happened, we can't pretend it didn't."

"You're right. There's more to it, but you've avoided it this long why stop now?" He rolls his eyes.

"Percy, I'm only talking right now cause I told that adorable child I'd try to get along with you. I won't be able to keep that promise if you make snide comments like that."

"Fine. Fine. We won't talk about you leaving or why you left. I think the question is what are we going to do now that you're back?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you want?"

"What do you mean, What do I want?"

"I mean you haven't seen or talked to me since you left, but you also never filed for annulment or divorce.Is this something that you want to work out, or are you done? Oaths on the Styx can only be dissolved with both parties in agreement."

"I never tried to make the end official because it hurt too much to think about. Do you know what you cheating did to me, Percy?"

"And what about you leaving? You think that was a walk in the park for me?" He stops and takes a deep breath. "The truth is, Annabeth. Luke wasn't lying to you. I do still love you. But I'm not going to grovel and beg for you to come home, either. If you decide you're ready to listen to the whole story and then maybe try to work out our marriage, we'll talk. If you decide you want a divorce, we'll dissolve the oath. You and I have a lot of thinking and praying to do. So you think about it, and let me know when you have your answer. But stop running. Stop hiding. It's not fair. " He says and turns around, walking back to the party and leaving me standing in the sand being forced to finally make the decision I've been dreading for the last 3 years.

………..

Three days after the birthday party, I walk into Malcolm's office and have a seat.

"What's so important?" I ask. He sighs and tosses a magazine in front of me. "Remember how we talked about how in the limelight our company is? Well you've had paparazzi tailing you." He explains and I gasp when I see the page it's turned to. The headline reads Three Year Crack Going to be Repaired or Broken for good? With a picture of Percy and me arguing in the park the day I dropped Luke off with him.

"What the Hell? This is a total invasion of privacy! Annabeth Chase is apparently Annabeth Jackson as of August 2009, explaining her lack of any public dating life, getting married at just 16 according to public New York Records. But her whereabouts the last several years have been on the opposite side of the country from her Husband Percy Jackson, A New York native who many might remember from the nationwide manhunt for him back in 2005, at the end of which we found he was not the guilty perpetrator but a victim of kidnapping. Why Did the up and coming business celebrity run? Does Percy have PTSD attacks making him too dangerous to live with? Does it have anything to do with the son Percy fought a vicious custody battle over in 2012, or was it simply young love not meant to be? Whatever it is the couple now reside next to each other, and don't appear happy about it. Will it be a happily ever after for the childhood sweethearts, or will the papers finally be signed and filed, and Annabeth Jackson be Annabeth Chase once again and ready to hit the dating scene? What the Hell is this?!"

"Don't panic. It's a trashy gossip magazine, not a business one. I also IM'd the hecate cabin, and while it would take too much magic to completely remove a magazine from the memories of people when we don't even know who's read it, they did cast a memory spell over the office that made this. They won't remember your address, so you can still live there in privacy.

"Thank you for that, but what reporter dug all this up? Do they really not have anything better to do than go through my life?" Malcolm's mouth twitches.

"It's a gossip magazine, Annabeth. It's entire point is to dive into the lives of people for others to read when it's none of their business. The magazine does raise a fair point, though."

"Oh, please tell me." I roll my eyes.

"Are you going to try and work things out with Percy or are you going to dissolve the oath? I asked him what happened when you two walked off at the party, he told me about your talk."

"Mind your business, Malcolm." I snap and get up.

"It's company business now. Trashy gossip magazine or not, it's out there now. And if any of our investors see this it's going to call judgment into question."

"Like the article said, I was sixteen. Teenagers make stupid decisions all the time. It shouldn't affect their adult lives."

"But you're only almost 21 now. That's not far enough away from 16 to ignore."

"Then mist them! I don't care! But don't try to rush me into this!"

"It's been 3 years, Annabeth, it's hardly rushing you." He rolls his eyes.

"So you want me to get a divorce?"

"Actually, I'd like to see your marriage work out."

"I don't think that's possible! I can't trust him!"

"You can trust Percy more than you can trust anyone else on Earth, and on some level you know that."

"Percy made his choices. He's going to have to live with them."

"Does that mean you're done?"

"Yes! No. Maybe, Malcolm why are you getting in the middle of this?"

"Because, you're my sister and I love you. And I haven't seen you actually be happy since you were with Percy. You want to find that happiness again, i think you know where to look."

"I'm not going to be happy with him! Never again! You know what, Thank you! You, Percy, and the rest of the world have your answer! I'm going down to get the divorce Papers and as soon as I have them in hand I'm going to Percy and dissolving the oath, and publicity or not I'm finding another damn apartment!" I say and storm out, slamming the door behind me.