A/N: Thanks for all the kind words so far everyone! Posting is truly the highlight of my week. Also, don't worry, there is plenty of Percabeth coming up in the second half of this story. There's only like two more chapters until the Percabeth content really starts to ramp up. Obviously that's what we're all here for, but I also love an Annabeth centric fic because she's my comfort character. Enjoy! :)

Annabeth

I was nearly shaking from nerves as we climbed the stairs to Sally and Paul's apartment. I had given Percy a quick rundown of my last interaction with his mom while we were in the bar, but I hadn't given him the full details, and I wasn't looking forward to reliving them.

Just as they had for the past few days, the memories came rushing back, unrestrained. Sally was the first person I called when I thought Percy might be missing again after I arrived in California. It hadn't even occurred to me that she might have heard from him as I'd been trying to reach him. Sally hadn't answered any of my calls, just like Percy hadn't, so when I arrived back in New York I went straight there. I didn't even think twice.

I had an emergency key to their apartment at that point, and I let myself in after knocking. I found Sally in the kitchen, methodically slicing vegetables. She didn't turn around as I entered the room.

"Hey, Sally," I said her name to get her attention. She turned to look at me with a smile on her face. I remember thinking that she must not have known anything was wrong.

"Annabeth, what are you doing here?" she asked, her smile fading into a confused look. I furrowed my brow because I was over here pretty regularly, and this wasn't the way Sally ever greeted me. She would normally just throw some water on the kettle and offer me a cup of tea, even if it was a weird time of day. It was midday now, so Paul was at work and Estelle was at school.

"Sorry, I tried calling," I explained. "Have you heard from Percy? I haven't been able to get a hold of him for days. He didn't show up to pick me up in California, and all his stuff was gone when I got there. I'm really worried."

She turned back to chopping vegetables. I moved closer to stand next to her at the countertop, but observed our surroundings cautiously. I couldn't pinpoint it, but something didn't seem right here.

"Yes, I talked to him this morning," she said.

"What?" I asked, nearly in shock. "I've been calling him and trying to Iris message for days. Did you talk to him on the phone?" At this point, we were still trying to avoid using cell phones, but we each had one for emergency situations like this, and the more we integrated into the mortal world as adults, the less we could avoid it.

"Oh, he doesn't want to talk to you, dear."

My heart sank. The possibility had been slowly creeping into my mind since I saw all his things were gone. Missing a commitment could easily be due to anything, especially for a demigod, but packing up all his things and taking off? That was a deliberate choice.

"W-what do you mean?" I stammered, not understanding the meaning behind her words.

"I mean," she said, still chopping vegetables. "He doesn't want to talk to you. He's very upset."

"Upset? Upset about what?" I was starting to get angry. So far, I had determined that Percy had abandoned me in California, packed up all his things, and told his mom that he was upset and didn't want to talk to me. My heart was breaking into a million pieces and my stomach was clawing its way up my throat.

"You know, I've always tried not to get too involved in my son's personal life, but I think it's best if you leave him alone and give him some time to cool off. I'm sure he'll contact you when he's ready."

None of this made any sense. It's true, Sally was an awesome mom and knew the right balance when it came to being involved in Percy's life. But she always gave the best advice, and would never leave me hanging like this. It wasn't like her to be so blasé about this situation. I tried to press for more information, but we just kept talking in circles. I had to split my energy between trying to reason through this, and trying desperately to hold back tears.

"Can you please try and get him to call me next time you talk to him," I begged her, realizing this conversation was going nowhere helpful. I was on my own here.

"I'll tell him, but wouldn't count on it," she said, and it almost sounded like a warning.

I didn't know what to do. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, which was something that had never happened between Sally and me before. Percy was alive, not missing, and he was choosing not to talk to me. He chose to let me fly across the country and leave me at the airport. He was choosing to end our relationship.

I started to panic. I couldn't control my breathing, and the room was starting to spin. I backed up, heading for the door, when Sally spoke.

"Oh, and Annabeth? You should probably leave your key."

/\

Percy unlocked the door to Sally and Paul's apartment and we walked in. I looked around. It was the same apartment, but there was new furniture and new paint on the walls. Even though it looked different, it still felt as jarring as being in the Big House a few days prior.

"Mom?" Percy called.

We took a few more steps in and I was drawn to a series of photos sitting on their sideboard. Percy and Sally when he was younger, Sally and Paul on their wedding day, a photo of the family with a young Estelle, and what looked like a more recent photo of the whole family.

I gasped at how grown up Estelle looked. The last time I'd seen her she had been five, so she should be 15 now.

"Estelle looks just like you," I said to Percy, admiring the photo. She didn't have Percy's hair or eye color, but their features were strikingly similar.

"I think we both got the best of our mom," he responded as Sally rounded the corner, calling his name.

When she saw me, her hand went up to her mouth in shock. She let out a small "oh," and her shoulders softened.

"Annabeth?" she asked. "You look so grown up. What's going on?"

I'd been 22 the last time I saw her, but I'd known Sally since Percy and I were 12. Sally looked older, just like Percy, but she still seemed like herself. She honestly seemed more like herself in that moment than the last time I saw her.

"Do you have a few minutes to talk? Everything's fine but something came up." Percy explained.

"Of course," she ushered into the kitchen and started a kettle for tea.

Percy took the lead on explaining the situation, and I was grateful for that. My mouth felt like I had just shoved a bunch of cotton into it. "Annabeth and I reconnected a few days ago because of something that happened at camp. We were catching up, and talking about everything that happened when we broke up."

Sally flinched, as if the reminder of our breakup was just as painful for her as it was for me. "I was so surprised when you two broke up, I always thought you both were in it for the long haul" she said, and if I didn't know better I would have thought there was a slightly mischievous, motherly gleam in her eyes.

"Annabeth told me that she came here looking for me while I was on my way back from California," he said.

Sally scrunched her brow, digging into the old memories. "Yes, I remember that, but barely."

"Mom," Percy said, sounding slightly irritated. "You never told me that she came here."

Sally thought for a moment more. "Of course I would have told you that, Percy. You were so upset when you couldn't get a hold of her."

"I'm really sure you didn't," he said, sounding more irritated by the second. Percy getting annoyed with Sally wasn't something that happened often, at least it didn't before. They had always had such a wonderful relationship, one that I was secretly envious of.

I spoke up for the first time. "Do you remember what you and I talked about?"

"My memory isn't as good as it used to be so I'm having trouble with the details, but you were both so upset. I figured you would work it out once Percy got back to New York like you two planned."

Sally sounded genuine, and the look on her face indicated she was really trying to remember. I couldn't blame her, this conversation happened ten years ago, not last week.

"Do you remember asking for my key back?" I asked, and Percy looked at me with wide eyes. I hadn't shared that detail at the bar.

"I… No, I don't remember that," Sally said.

"That doesn't sound like something she would do," Percy followed up.

"I know." I didn't want to talk about Sally in front of her, but I remembered it so vividly. I also remembered the shock, so I could relate to Percy's feelings right now. "Sally, anything you could tell us about the day I came to see you would be really helpful."

Sally provided a largely ambiguous version of events, and I could tell Percy was frustrated. I was too, but I couldn't blame her for not remembering. If someone asked me to recall something from ten years ago that hadn't been significant to me, I doubt I would be able to do it any better.

Eventually, Percy stood and looked at me. "I'm going to go see if I can find the letter, there's still a few boxes of things here." I thought about the necklace in my office drawer, and wondered if Percy had a similar feeling. Maybe he didn't want to part with it, but it was too painful to be around.

There was a moment of silence after Percy left the room, and I sipped my tea, but Sally picked up the conversation quickly.

"So what are you up to these days, Annabeth?" She asked, before exclaiming "I've seen your billboard!"

I groaned. That was the final straw, I hated that thing, and I was going to have my marketing manager cancel that deal tomorrow.

"I can't escape that billboard," I laughed, "but my business is doing well. I'm still in the city, obviously, and I bought a house on the west side." I conveniently left out any details about my relationship status.

"I'm so proud of you," she said with a genuine smile. I didn't know whether I should be touched or embarrassed, but I felt the unmistakable welling of emotion in my chest. "You always talked about architecture so much, I was so happy when I first heard you had started your own company. I know that was a big dream of yours."

"How are Paul and Estelle? I, um, miss both of them. All of you, honestly," I dropped my voice as I shared this in a moment of vulnerability. I really, really did miss the Jackson-Blofis family. As much as I had been hurt by Sally, the validity of which was increasingly coming into question, she had been as much of a mother to me as anyone ever was. And Paul, he was so much fun to talk to, and we had such an easy relationship in stark contrast with my own father. I also regretted that I couldn't see Estelle grow up the way I had hoped to back then. Grayson's family was nice, but I'd never felt like I fit in the way I had here. His family was well put together and welcoming on the outside, but it always seemed like his mom, Rebecca, had an issue with me that I could never figure out.

"They're good. Paul is in charge of the musical theater club at the school, and Estelle is in the play this year. That's where they both are this evening. I know Paul would have loved to see you," she reminisced. I would have loved to see Paul, too.

Percy came back into the room holding a piece of paper, and he met my eyes with a grim expression. Sally excused herself so Percy and I sat at the kitchen table, staring at the note. I picked it up and began to read.

Percy,

I know this must be a bit of a shock, and I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell you this in person. I've been doing a lot of thinking this summer and I need to be honest with you. Since I've been back in New York, I've realized what it's like to be totally separated from our past, and I need to explore that. I don't want to live the life we've been living anymore. The responsibilities of being a demigod are becoming too much for me, and I need to figure out who I am outside of all of this. Unfortunately that means a clean break. I need to completely start over, including with us. I won't be coming back to California. I hope you understand, and it's not about you, but I need to do what's best for me.

Annabeth

I wordlessly dropped the note on the table when I finished reading. It was my handwriting, but I didn't write it, and it didn't even really sound like me. I looked up at Percy. His face was twisted in a mix of pain and sadness, and I wanted to reach out and take his hand like he did mine earlier.

"I didn't write this, you have to believe me," was all I could muster.

"I do believe you," he said slowly, as if fighting with his internal feelings, "but do you understand how I felt when I received this? And if you didn't write this, who did?"

"I don't know who wrote it. And you probably felt about as angry as I did when your mom told me that you didn't want to see me." I drew in a shaky breath. I couldn't focus on the emotions of everything right now, that was partially how we got here and it never solved anything. "So we have two separate versions of events, some missing phone calls, a letter that I've never seen before, and a conversation with your mom that doesn't make any sense. What do we do with all of this?"

"You're supposed to be the problem solver," Percy said, and threw me a weak attempt at a smirk. He was obviously as rattled by the evening's events as I was.

"I know, there's a reason I was always the brains of the operation," I joked back, and the atmosphere lightened slightly. I ran my hand over my brow. "I'm worried someone did this to us, Percy. Someone clearly manipulated the Mist, which would take a really powerful entity."

"But why?"

I tried to think, but I was fighting off a searing headache, as if my brain was screaming "turn back now." Who would benefit from us breaking up, and me pulling myself out of the demigod life all together?

"I don't know, but I don't think we're going to solve this tonight. Why don't we go home and keep thinking about it."

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," he agreed. I could tell he was as tired as I was after everything that happened today.

As we were leaving, Sally met us at the door and gave Percy a hug. She turned to me, and I didn't know what to expect, like with Grover the other night, but she gave me a rib crushing squeeze.

"I'm so glad to see you, honey. You're always welcome here," she said after the moment passed.

I blushed, and then got a bit choked up as I realized that her words mirrored Chiron's from a few nights before. All of these people were still so willing to welcome me back into their lives, despite how horribly I treated them. I'd always felt like family was truly temporary, especially after what happened with Percy, but I was slowly realizing it was more permanent than I thought.

/\

I made my way home, thinking exclusively about today's events. I had reconnected with Rachel Dare, interpreted a prophecy, fought some monsters, rehashed the worst breakup of my life in its entirety, and reconnected with my ex-boyfriend's mom, all in the span of one day. I'd had some crazier days in my time, but today was up there. Especially since three days ago the biggest thing I had to look forward to was my handbag arriving.

I unlocked my door, and was immediately aware that someone was in my house. My hand drifted into my bag. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to take on a monster alone, but I was going to have to try.

I rounded the corner into my kitchen and was bombarded by the scent of food. Grayson stood at my stove, sautéing something.

"Hey," he smiled as he turned around. I had completely forgotten he was coming over for dinner tonight. "Long day?"

My shoulders relaxed and I took my hand out of my bag. "Like you wouldn't believe," I said and walked over to him. He put his arm around me, and I accepted the gesture. I felt like I needed something familiar and stable right now, but as we stood there, I wasn't sure if this felt right. We stood like that for a while, and he kept one arm around me and continued cooking with the other.

I wanted to tell him everything, but what could I say? More about my so-called friends from school? That would start to raise more questions than answers, and wouldn't explain why I looked like a mess. I took a breath, focusing on the smell of the food and trying to push my feelings down as far as they would go.

We ate a nice meal, and spent the evening in familiar company. Later that night, we were getting ready for bed when he asked if I had an extra phone charger. He said he had forgotten to grab one when he left his house earlier.

I handed him one from my side table, and said "you know, if we just moved in together, we wouldn't have to worry about carrying our stuff back and forth all the time."

He rubbed his face and sighed. "I know, but we both own our places and it doesn't make sense to sell right now. Plus my place is so close to my office. It's really convenient for when I have late nights, and I don't want you to have to give up this place after all the design work you put into it."

I was silent for a moment. This wasn't the first time I'd brought up moving in together, and he always seemed to have a reason for not wanting to take the leap. I was worried that with us not living together, and his new promotion looming, that I would never see him.

"You're not upset by that, are you?" He asked, picking up on my silence.

"No, no, forget I mentioned it," I gave him a soft smile to try and convince him to drop it. I didn't want to talk about it anymore.

He gave me a kiss and rolled over to turn the table lamp off, plunging the room into darkness. I lay there, still thinking about the day's events. I had lost Percy due to a miscommunication. Even if it was more complicated than that, that's what it boiled down to. What a terrible way to break up.

And then there was the prophecy. Phillip was counting on us, and I was so far out of practice that I had no idea what to do. We'd figured out who we're up against, but I didn't know what the next steps were.

And to top it all off, my boyfriend of six years doesn't even want to talk about moving in together. He had some valid points about the housing market and proximity to our jobs, but weren't we supposed to take the next step soon? He was older than me, and sometimes it seemed like he wasn't in a hurry to settle down at all.

His snores drifted from the other side of the bed. I tossed and turned, but couldn't fall asleep. Eventually, I crept from the bed and went to retrieve my bag from the hall, carrying it back into the room.

My dagger was still inside, which was surprisingly comforting and a complete juxtaposition from this morning. I opened the drawer to my bedside table and pulled out another item from my bag to place inside: my camp necklace.

I pulled the last item out before laying down again. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I stared at the picture of me, Grover, and Percy. I traced my finger over my adolescent features, and then Percy's.

Eventually, when I felt tired enough to fall asleep, I propped the photo up with the other that stood on my nightstand. I drifted to sleep thinking about a boy, a late-night kiss, and an air bubble under a lake.