TRIGGER WARNINGS- THIS FIC WILL INCLUDE ABUSE, DEPRESSION, MURDER, DRUGS, ALCOHOL, AND SIMILAR THEMES. PLEASE BE WARY WHEN READING

Hey, so sorry again about massive delays. Good news is it's currently the school holidays, so i might be able to write a bit more. I have another chapter written out just in case i end up not updating for a while, but i may well end up delaying for a really long time.

As for this chapter, it's kind of short today. There's a bit of Percabeth fluff and a little angst, but the real angst will be in the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it and stay safe

Annabeth stumbled into what had been nicknamed as the Memory Room, her eyes still blurry with sleep.

"Oh, thank the gods," she mumbled as she caught sight of the breakfast spread across the table. She grabbed a mug of coffee and took a grateful sip, the hot liquid warming her from her head to her toes.

Now that she was slightly more awake, she took a proper look at the room around her. Hazel was sitting in an armchair, a small ginger cat Annabeth assumed to be Frank curled up in her lap. She was clutching a mug of hot chocolate, slowly taking sips from it. She had a fluffy blanket wrapped around her and looked very cosy.

Piper was already there, as was Jason. Piper seemed to be sketching something in a black notebook, while Jason watched her, stretched lazily across the couch.

Leo was also there waiting. He was definitely the most alert of the group, perched in an armchair with his back straight and an untouched cup of coffee on the table before him. He seemed lost in thought.

The only person who was not yet there was Percy, presumably still asleep. He never had been a morning person, Annabeth thought as she slowly sipped her coffee. But she would have to go and get him eventually, otherwise they would never get to continue watching the memories.

Annabeth was still unsure how she felt about this whole ordeal. They were learning a lot about Leo. So much had happened in Leo's life, and she had not known anything about it. No one did. She was starting to wonder how well they really knew Leo.

But it was invasive, and awfully forced. Annabeth would have greatly preferred it if Leo was telling them all this stuff out of his own free will. Instead, a goddess was forcing him to. Not ideal, but nonetheless, Annabeth would take it.

Just then, her train of thought was interrupted by Percy stumbling into the room, eyes bleary and hair even messier than usual.

"Bad night?" Annabeth teased as he made his way over to her armchair.

"Shut up," he mumbled, squeezing into the chair next to her and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Took you long enough to get up," Jason said. "Somehow he slept through all of us getting changed, talking and me dropping a metal water bottle off the top bunk."

Annabeth chuckled fondly. "Yeah, he does that."

"I do not!" Percy protested, but his blue pyjamas and bedhead took away from the effect ever so slightly.

"You sleep through earthquakes," Annabeth teased fondly. "C'mere, there's coffee."

"Is it blue?" Percy asked, although Annabeth suspected that the question was more out of habit than him actually processing her words.

"Yes, Seaweed Brain, it's blue. Now get over here, I have a feeling the memories are going to be starting soon."

As if on cue, the screen lit up.

Leo looked a little older than the previous memories. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with some faded jeans, and was in what seemed to be a club.

Next to him was a girl who looked like she was roughly the same age. She had dark blonde hair and freckles dotted across her pale skin. She was wearing a black minidress and stilettos, a sharp contrast from Leo's casual outfit. They were sat at a bar, sipping from glasses.

Annabeth frowned slightly. From the looks of it, they were at least a little tipsy. But there was no way they were old enough to drink.

Loud music played in the background, and multicoloured lights flashed all around them. People were dancing all around, singing along to the music.

Leo raised his voice slightly. "This is awesome!" he yelled.

"I know right?" the girl laughed.

The name Anna appeared in Annabeth's mind. She didn't even flinch- she was used to it at that point.

Just then, the song changed. Almost as soon as the first few notes were played, there was a tremendous uproar from the crowd, including Leo and Anna.

"We have got to dance to this," Leo insisted. Anna didn't try to fight it; she simply grabbed his hand and led him out onto the dance floor.

Shawty had them apple bottom jeans (jeans)

Boots with the fur (with the fur)

The whole club was lookin' at her

The music was playing so loud, the floor was practically vibrating. Lights were flashing all around, various colours dancing across the screen. Anna and Leo stood close together swaying in time with the beat.

Annabeth found herself gently moving in time with the music, singing along in her head. Memories of her childhood came to mind, listening to her father and Helen hum along to this very song.

The dancing was slowly getting stranger and stranger, with a random woman in a crop top and skirt grabbing Leo's shoulders and dancing with him. Curiously, Leo didn't argue, simply going along with it and placing his hands on the girl's waist.

Shawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low

Everyone in the club progressively got lower until there was practically a sea of people squatted on the floor and holding up their drinks.

Annabeth briefly wondered if Leo was also drunk, but quickly dismissed the thought- there was no way even Leo could be that irresponsible.

The memory stayed much the same for the rest of the song, but as the last notes faded, it cut to Leo and Anna stumbling drunkenly out of the club, giggling as they bumped into walls. Anna took off her high heels and dropped them off to the side somewhere, seemingly forgetting about them.

Annabeth was struck with a sudden horrible realisation that Leo looked to be no more than 13, maybe 14, in this memory. And yet here he was, so drunk he could barely even walk. And yet he was happier in this memory than they had seen him since the fire. This thought filled Annabeth with a deep sadness. No one deserved to experience this much tragedy before they even turned 18.

"So where are we go-gonna go?" Anna slurred.

Leo blinked hard and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his head. "Uh, alley?"

"Sounds good," Anna mumbled, slumping against the wall and slowly sliding to the floor. "'M just gonna…"

Her voice trailed off as her eyes fll closed and she started snoring gently. Her makeup was smeared and her hair was a mess. In that moment, she looked much older than she was, as if the universe had put her through its hardest challenges. And yet she still had the round cheeks of youth, the clear skin and innocent expression of a young child, contrasting sharply with her adult clothing.

Leo stared at Anna for a moment, seemingly sobering up as he watched her chest rise and fall. But then his eyes grew heavy and he sat down heavily next to her, his head drooping onto her shoulder as the memory faded to black.

The screen switched off and the memory ended, leaving a bittersweet air in the room.

"So…" Leo began awkwardly, breaking the silence. "Pretty good song, huh?"