Annabeth

I'm sitting on my couch working on the plans for this architecture project eating the chocolate chip cookies I had left over from Luke's visit earlier today. I'm going to miss that little boy, but I can't stay this close to Percy. I can't trust him anymore, but even after just one conversation on the beach I can feel he's still breaking down my walls. I need to get out of here fast before I crumble and let him in again, losing my nerve for this divorce. I put the cookies up and am about to finish my work for the day when I hear a knock on the door. When I look through the peephole I get excited seeing Reyna and open it quickly.

"Reyna! It's so good to see you!" I say and give her a hug. "What are you doing in town?"

"We'll make small talk later, Annabeth. Right now, get in the car." She says, her gaze hard and firm. I crinkle my eyebrows in confusion.

"Is everything okay?"

"No. I'll explain when we get there."

"Okay?" I say and slip my coat and shoes on and head with her into the car. She's silent the whole ride except answering my questions about where she's been the last four years and a little of what she's up to now. But any questions I have about where we're going she just remains silent. We pull up to an apartment complex that puts off desperate hipster vibes and she parks, the two of us getting out. The people around are all in their early twenties wearing the latest trends and drinking Starbucks, trying to look cool and relevant.

"Reyna, where are we?"

"It's time you had a chat with Luke's mother."

"What?!" I shout, making some people look over at me. I try to calm down and lower my voice. "Reyna, No. There's nothing I need to hear from that skank. How do you even know about all of this?"

"I have my ways. And there's more to the story you don't know."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I don't need to know! Percy cheated on me! He crushed any faith or trust I had in him into a billion pieces. Learning more will just hurt more, there's nothing that could make it better. I'd prefer you drive me, but even if I have to walk home I'm leaving." I state, staring her down. Reyna doesn't even flinch. Instead she lets out a sharp whistle, and her dogs appear and run up to her.

"Good boys. Watch Annabeth Jackson." She says Percy's last name with an edge.

"I go by Chase."

"Watch Annabeth Jackson. Guard her. Do not maim or kill, but do not let her get away."

"Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano I will never speak to you again if you make me do this!" I yell at her.

"Once you find out the truth, I doubt that. But even if so, you need to hear this. Let's go." She says and leads the way. When I don't follow the dogs growl and prod me forward. Letting out a resigned sigh, I follow. When Reyna gets to the right door, she knocks and steps back.

"Coming!" I hear from inside. "Just a second! If you're delivering my sushi, just leave it on the mat, I paid over the phone!" She yells. A voice that sounds familiar… A minute later, she opens it and sees Reyna.

"Uh hi…Can I help you?"

"No. But you need to have a talk with her." Reyna says and gestures to me. The girl turns her head and I gasp as she screams. It's Becca Jennings.

"Anna-Annabeth?" She questions.

"You're Luke's mother?"

"What are you doing here?!" She yells.

"You had an affair with my husband and got pregnant!"

"What are you doing here?" She screams louder.

"I told you! You had an affair with my husband and got pregnant!"

"Might I suggest we take this Inside?" Reyna calmly says, but making it clear it's not really a suggestion. Becca takes a couple of shaky breaths and moves so we can come in. I think back to High School, and panic builds in me. Did I do this? Percy always Hated Becca, said she was shameless and annoying but she was a younger girl on my track team and I often invited her to hang out. Sure she could be a little on the nose and aggravating sometimes, but I never really minded her copying me the way Percy was bothered by it. I was used to it by my younger siblings in the Athena cabin. I just figured she'd never had someone to look up to before. But how did she get Percy to sleep with her?

"Becca, It's time you told the story. The whole story of how you got pregnant with Lukas. And don't leave anything out. My dogs don't like liars, and I will not give them orders to hold back."

"Fine! Fine. I never though I'd have to explain it to anyone, much less you." She says accusingly, starting to sniff and wipe tears away.

"You cheated with my husband Becca. You won't find any sympathy from me. What Happened?" I demand.

"It all happened a little over three years ago."

...

Becca

October 3, 2011

"Here you go, Becca." My friend Joanna says and slides me my vodka cran. "Will this be it, or want to start a tab?"

"Tab." I say. "Celebrating tonight."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Just finished midterms for my…fifth…semester of college." I smile. Joanna's been my friend for years and as such knows my ID is fake, but we have to pretend while we're in public.

"Nice. Sounds like you'll probably be going home with someone."

"I guess we'll see." I say and start to drink. I almost spit it up when out of the corner of my eye, I see Percy Jackson going down the hall to the bathroom. I never though he'd be caught dead in a bar the way he used to refuse drinks in High School, always volunteering to DD or even just not coming. But It's him alright, and by the way he's moving I can tell he's new at this and about to throw his guts up. I wonder why he's here when I remember the gossip I've heard from our old High School friends about him and Annabeth having some sort of huge fight and her taking off last month. I drain the drink in front of me and slap some cash on the counter, following him down the hall. I hear him get sick and wait in the hallway for him to finish up. He stumbles out the door and almost falls when I catch him.

"Percy?" I ask. He leans against the wall for balance and holds his head in his hands.

"Oh gods." He slurs. "I'm sorry." Still clutching his head, he looks up at me and gets an almost desperate look on his face. "Annabeth!" He says. My stomach drops. He thinks I'm her. Not surprising, I guess. We have the same blonde curls, although hers is natural and mine comes from a perm and a bottle. Same gray eyes, except mine are contacts to hide the blue in mine. Same athletic build from running track. I'm about to sigh and correct him, when I realize he believes I'm Annabeth. He's not going to dismiss me or put distance between us tonight…He's going to love me.

"Uhh…yeah. It's me." I say, and he stumbles forward and aggressively pulls me into an embrace. He holds me so tight it kinda hurts, but honestly I couldn't care less. I breathe in his scent, and smell what reminds me of an ocean breeze mixed with whiskey. It's so intoxicating it makes my head spin more than any Vodka Cran ever has. He leans back just enough to kiss me, and energy shoots through every nerve in my body like lightning.

"Let's go home. Please, Wise Girl, come home with me." He pleads against my mouth. My entire body fills with butterflies. This is it. Tonight…he's mine. He gets to be mine. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but Annabeth's been gone for a month now if I heard right. There's a chance she's not even coming back. If I play my cards right…could he be mine for more than a night?

"I'd like nothing better." I say and stand on my tiptoes to kiss him again, after being gentle for a moment I push him against the wall and kiss him as passionately as I can. He moves his hands under my shirt, making me moan. I do the same to him.

"Let's get back to the apartment. My truck's outside. I'm too wasted, you drive."

"Sounds good, Seaweed Brain." I say, remembering Annabeth's nickname for him, and we walk out to his truck. I drive back to his place, thankful I don't have to explain why I know where he lives. Once I park we stumble into his apartment building, making out in the elevator.

"I missed you so much." He says. "Never Again. Those were our vows, remember?" He says. I try to push the guilt when he mentions his wedding vows. I remember Annabeth showing the team their wedding video and hearing him say that to her. I push it down and kiss him harder, exploring his body and going weak in the knees when I feel how stiff and long he is.

"As…As long as we're together, Percy." I say, remembering Annabeth's half of the vows.

The elevator opens into his apartment and I pull him into the bedroom, ready for the best night of my life.

...

July 2015

Annabeth

"He was so angry the next morning." Becca sniffs. "When I woke up, he was already awake and dressed, and I remember that was the first time I was ever scared of him. I didn't know it at the time until he explained about being a demigod when I told him I was pregnant with Lukas, but he actually caused a small earthquake and made the plumbing explode. I ran out as soon as I woke up-" She starts, but one of Reyna's dogs snarls and barks, making her jump.

"No lying." Reyna tells her. "Each lie brings you closer to an attack."

"Fine! God, those dogs are annoying!" She whines. "When I woke up, Yes Percy was awake and dressed and angry but I tried to get him to be okay with it. To convince him you weren't coming back. When I touched him, he told me to move my hand before he broke it. When I pushed more, he shoved me so hard I fell on my ass and he yelled at me to get dressed and get out. I'd never been that afraid of him before. So I did. And a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. 7 months later Lukas was born. Percy took him right away, but I briefly got him back for a while. When he was about 9 months old though, the Judge gave custody back to Percy. If I'm being honest though, I was kind of relieved. I never wanted to be a mom. I wanted a life. The life I have now, being a semi famous journalist in New York who can flash a press pass to get into the hottest clubs and concerts, making enough to keep up with the latest everything. It's what I wanted ever since I was a little girl. To move to New York, Have blonde curly hair, and be relevant. Being a journalist covering the hottest topics. I love Lukas, but there's not a ton of room in my life for him. If Percy had decided to stay with me maybe things would be different, but he never even gave me a chance. It was always all about you. There. That's the whole story."

"The dogs agree." Reyna says. "Annabeth?" She asks me. Becca forces herself to look over at me. I meet her eyes and feel a storm brewing in my own. I'm not as frightening as Percy, but I still see fear all over her face.

"Please don't kill me." She squeaks, taking deep breaths and trying to keep more tears from falling down her face.

"He was Mine! We were fighting but he was Mine! You knew That!" I explode. "Gods, Becca, how could you! We were friends! We weren't close but we were friends. I even covered for you when you couldn't let your parents find out you got drunk, letting you borrow clothes so you wouldn't go home dressed like a slut! And you Pretended to be me so you could sleep with my husband? That's beyond wrong!"

"I'm sorry! I just wanted him. It wasn't fair that you got married before I even had a chance to go out with him! Who gets married at 17 anyways?"

"Percy and I went through Hell together rather than be separated. And I've wasted the last three years I could have been with him because I thought he cheated on me when all the while it was you. You took advantage of my husband when he was so drunk he thought you were his wife." I say, guilt crashing all over me. There was more I didn't know. It did make a difference. Why did I never let anyone talk to me about it?

"Besides," Reyna says. "We can't kill you. You're under Percy's protection because you're still his son's mother. Understand what a blessing that is. Because There are plenty of creative ways I could kill you and never get caught. Or take you to the Legion of Rome and put you on trial for assaulting a former Praetor. You'd be painfully executed for that."

"But understand that While Percy is kind and forgiving, He is much more so than me. You are to never go near Percy or Luke again. In fact, you're leaving New York for good. I don't care where you go, but it has to be out of state. And if you don't listen, I don't care what Percy says." I tell her, a dark laugh building in my throat. "Do you even care about your own son? Do you even realize how lonely he sounds when he talks about you?"

"I want more time-" She starts but Reyna's dogs snap and snarl.

"When will you learn to stop lying?" I demand. "You have a week to be out of state before I take you before the Roman Legion, Regardless of what Percy says." I say and get up,walking out the door with Reyna smirking behind me.

"So now what?" She asks me as we get in the car.

"Take me home. I need to shower and change. Then take me to the firehouse. I have…I have a lot of apologizing to do to Percy."