Work Text:
It was normal to feel nervous on your wedding day. And that’s all Annabeth was feeling. Along with obligatory excitement, of course. She had ten minutes before she would be walking down the aisle and marrying the love of her life. And spending the rest of her life with him.
Not nerve-racking at all.
Looking in the mirror one last time, she took a deep breath. Piper moved that one pesky curl back into place before meeting Annabeth’s eyes in the mirror.
“You look beautiful,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” Annabeth replied gently. It was all she was capable of saying. Everything she’d said and done today felt more out of obligation than sincerity.
“Alright girls,” Hazel said, getting everyone’s attention. “We had to be down there two minutes ago so let’s move.”
They were inside the manor, tucked away in the bridal suite. Down the stairs and out the back door was the courtyard, complete with the aisle, the guests, and her soon-to-be husband.
Easy. Piece of cake. Should she be feeling this much dread?
Annabeth, along with her four bridesmaids, moved in a pack down the stairs, quickly finding the groomsmen.
“Luke’s already out there,” Ethan said with a smile. He was the best man. She’d never liked him all that much, but he was practically Luke’s brother so she was friendly enough with him.
“Okay,” the wedding planner, Silena, said. She paired everyone off, one bridesmaid and one groomsman, placing Piper and Ethan last in line to go right before Annabeth. “We still have a few minutes and I’m sure I've drilled this into your heads a million times, but this is the last chance.
“The doors will open,” she continued. “You two first, step out. The doors shut, you walk down. On my count, the next pair will go, then the next. Then we have the best man and maid of honor, then the bride.
“Annabeth, you’ll need to stay off to the side so when the doors open, no one can see you,” she finished, carefully taking Annabeth’s arm and pulling away from the doors. Whether it was intentional or not, Silena made Annabeth stand close to a window with a sheer curtain, allowing her to see some of the guests but they’d be unable to see her. Luke was blocked from her vision, but she didn’t mind.
Scanning the few rows of people she could see, her eyes landed on a familiar head of black hair. Percy. She smiled lightly.
Percy was the only friend she’d had longer than Piper. She almost wished he was there with her now to calm her nerves. That was something he had always been able to do better than anyone.
“Okay,” Silena said, interrupting Annabeth’s thoughts. “First pair, go.”
The doors opened, the two stepped out, the doors shut, and they walked, just like they’d practiced a million times. Like a magnet, Annabeth’s eyes were drawn back to Percy. He turned in his seat, smiling as he watched them walk.
She thought about him, how he’d been there through everything with her. Every bad day, every good day.
“Next pair!”
She thought about his unconditional love and support, no matter what. She’d had some pretty bad ideas back in their college days and he was by her side through every night out, every hangover, every midnight adventure.
Everything in her life had always revolved around him.
“Next pair!”
Annabeth blinked. As soon as the doors shut, she came to a painfully sudden realization. She was making the biggest mistake in her life.
Silena opened her mouth to let Piper and Ethan go, but Annabeth said, “Wait!”
All eyes turned to her. She looked at Piper with wide, scared eyes. “I can’t do this.”
Piper dropped Ethan’s arm and in a heartbeat, she was in front of Annabeth. “Yes, you can.”
Annabeth shook her head violently. She had never been more sure of something in her life than she was at this moment. She couldn’t marry Luke.
“No, I can’t,” she whispered. Her eyes began to water and Piper moved like lightning, getting a tissue and carefully dabbing away her tears before they fell.
“Yes, you-“
“Piper,” she whispered, deadly serious. She was about to start hyperventilating if Piper tried to make her walk down this aisle. “I'm making a mistake. I can’t.”
Piper studied her. the pause felt like a million years, but it was probably less than five seconds. But with each one passing, more and more panic began to set in, and soon enough, she couldn’t breathe.
Dropping her bouquet into a chair, Annabeth fanned her face. “Loosen my dress right now, I can’t breathe.”
Piper blinked before moving into action, loosening the lace-up back of her dress. Silena came up to Annabeth. “Honey, everyone gets nervous,” she said gently. “You can do this.”
Annabeth just shook her head. Piper had sufficiently loosened the dress enough.
“Piper, take me back upstairs,” Annabeth said. Then her attention shifted to Ethan. “Tell him I’m sorry, but I can’t marry him. I'm making a mistake and it won’t be fair to him if I go along with this. I’m sorry.”
Ethan stared at her before nodding once. Piper took her arm and they ran up the stairs as fast as their heels could carry them. Once the door was shut, Annabeth let out the sob she’d been holding in.
“Okay, breathe,” Piper said. “Tell me what’s going on. If you’re just freaking yourself out, we can work through it and start the wedding over. It’ll be okay, just-“
“I'm in love with Percy,” Annabeth gasped.
Piper’s voice died instantly and she blinked several times. “You’re what?”
“in love with Percy,” she repeated. Annabeth was forcing her arms out of the sleeves of her dress so hard, she was probably going to rip it. She didn’t care. It was suffocating her and she needed it off now. “I didn’t realize it until now. I saw him through the window and it hit me like a fucking train.”
“Okay,” Piper said slowly, moving around her to loosen the dress more. “And you’re sure about that? Like, in love, in love?”
“Yes,” Annabeth said with complete certainty.
“Well shit,” Piper mumbled, helping Annabeth step out of the dress. She had the leggings and tank top Annabeth had been in earlier already ready for her. “Okay.”
A quick knock, and then the door opened and Hazel stepped back in. Her eyes widened at Annabeth’s dress in a heap on the floor. “What happened?”
“Change of plans,” Piper said. “Um, Annabeth’s in love with someone else?”
Hazel’s eyes somehow grew wider. “Who?”
Piper looked at Annabeth, who swallowed. “Percy,” she whispered. Hazel blinked before nodding.
“Okay,” she slipped off her heels. “I'm going to get him.”
Annabeth started to protest but Hazel held up her hand. “I've never said anything because I wasn’t sure, but I'm, like, 90% sure he feels something for you, too.
“Right now, everyone is still waiting for you,” Hazel continued, not letting Annabeth process what she’d said about Percy. “I'm going to call it off completely, tell everyone to go home. Luke will probably be up here once I tell him it’s all off, so be prepared for that.”
Annabeth could do nothing but stare. Piper was the one who nodded and said, “Got it. Go get Percy. Tell him to hurry.”
With that, Hazel was off. Annabeth blinked. “Did she say Percy feels the same?” she whispered.
Piper laughed, packing up some of Annabeth’s things. “Now that she mentions it, I can kinda see what she means.”
“But he never…” she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
Piper took her hands. “If he loves you, he wants you to be happy. If you were happy with Luke, he wouldn’t have wanted to jeopardize that.”
Just then, a very out of breath Percy burst through the door. His eyes found Annabeth’s immediately, flooded with concern. “What happened?” he asked, walking towards her. Piper busied herself with packing up the room.
“I can’t marry him,” Annabeth whispered.
“What do you mean?” he asked, carefully resting his hands on her arms. Even his simple touch relaxed her somewhat.
“I was fine until the last minute, and then I-“ she started, forcing her voice to stay even.
She was cut off by footsteps bounding up the stairs and Luke’s voice, “Annabeth?”
Percy’s hands dropped and he stepped back. Anxiety filled her again as Luke stepped into the room.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered before he could even ask.
“I don’t understand,” he said, coming forward and taking her hands. Annabeth vaguely registered Piper and Percy leaving the room, the door shutting.
“I just,” she said, her voice broken and shaky, “I realized something and it wouldn’t be fair to marry you when my heart isn’t in it.”
“What?” Luke whispered.
Annabeth sniffled. She knew she was doing the right thing, but fuck did it hurt regardless. “I love you, Luke,” she said gently. “But I'm in love with someone else. If I had realized that sooner, I never would’ve gone through with this wedding. But I realized it twenty seconds before I had to walk down the aisle and I'm so sorry for that.”
He looked like he couldn’t even comprehend what she was saying. “Who?” he breathed. Annabeth shook her head.
“Telling you won’t help anything, and I don’t want you to take any anger out on this person because it’s not their fault. It’s mine.”
Luke blinked several times, his clear blue eyes watery. “But I love you,” he pleaded. Annabeth dropped her eyes, shutting them tightly. Tears still fell.
“I know. I'm so sorry,” she whispered. Luke dropped her hands and stood there for another moment, before leaving without another word. Annabeth took heavy breaths, tears falling harder. The door shut again and when she opened her eyes, she saw Percy.
Without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms and he held her close. “I got you,” he whispered.
And he did. Like always, he had her. She’d fallen apart a million times in her life, and he’d always been there to pick up the pieces and place them back together. She’d done the same for him time and time again.
Percy’s arms stayed around her waist as Annabeth leaned back to wipe her eyes. “I love him,” she said, sniffling. “But I realized right before I walked down the aisle that I'm not in love with him. I'm in love with someone else. It wouldn’t be fair to me or to him to go through with this wedding.”
“You did the right thing then, Beth,” he whispered. And then, “Someone else?”
She stared at him. It was all she could do. The pieces came together slowly and he blinked. “You… you mean…?” he whispered. She nodded. “Oh.”
That little oh hurt more than she could describe. Perhaps Hazel was wrong about his feelings for her. Annabeth forced herself not to cry harder. “It’s, um, fine,” she said, her voice thick. “That you don’t feel the same, I mean. It’s fine. I just still couldn’t go through with marrying him.”
“What?” he asked.
“What?” she repeated.
“Who said I don’t feel the same?”
Annabeth blinked. “I just assumed,” she said slowly. “Based on your reaction, I guess.”
“No, no,” he whispered. “You just caught me off guard. Very off guard.”
“So you… do?”
The corner of his mouth tilted upwards. “How could I not?” he asked gently. “You’re my best friend. Of course, I love you.”
Annabeth sniffled again, staring. One of Percy’s hands lifted to her cheek, wiping tears away. “If you weren’t having a small mental breakdown right now, I would’ve most definitely kissed you already. I've wanted to for years.”
His voice was so soft and reverent, it lifted weights off her chest. “Really?” she whispered.
“Yeah, Beth.”
“And if I want you to kiss me now?”
His mouth twitched into another smile and for a second, she thought he was going to. But he didn’t, instead saying, “Why don’t I get you home and cleaned up? And then we’ll see about that?”
She tensed. “How am I going to go home? I live with him, I can’t just-“
“My home, dork,” he whispered, kissing her head.
Oh, she thought. Duh. She nodded. “Okay.”
They let Piper back in the room and it took a bit of time but they finished packing up. The other bridesmaids came back and helped, all of them offering tight hugs and reassuring words to Annabeth before heading out. Piper asked if Annabeth wanted to stay with her tonight, but she shook her head.
“I got her,” Percy said. Piper smiled.
“I don’t doubt that,” she said back.
And then they were in Percy’s car, driving away from the manor. It was silent the whole time save for the music on the radio. More than once, she thought about speaking. Saying something, anything. But nothing came to mind.
When they got back to his place, he pulled her into another hug and kissed her head before telling her to shower.
Annabeth stayed in there for a while, rubbing off the makeup and washing away the hairspray and gel. She cried a lot, just overwhelmed and careful to stay quiet. When she finally got out, she changed into the clothes she’d brought with her, twisted her hair into a bun, and found Percy in the kitchen. He gave her a small smile and she instantly found solace in his arms once again.
“You okay?” he whispered.
She nodded. “I just feel bad. I wish I had realized earlier. I never wanted to hurt him.”
Percy pulled back enough to look at her. “How did you realize it?”
Her cheeks flushed slightly but she didn’t shy away from the question. “I could see you through the window and I was thinking about how you’ve always been there for me, no matter what. And how everything in my life always circled back to you. And it just hit me.”
He smiled lightly and kissed her forehead. Annabeth frowned.
“I'm not having a mental breakdown anymore.”
He let out a soft chuckle and leaned down to kiss her. But it was short, just a gentle press of his lips to hers. She frowned harder.
“You said you’ve wanted to do that for years,” she said in a small voice, “and that’s it?”
“So bossy,” Percy laughed, but his voice was full of affection. His hand came up to hold her jaw. “You’ve been through a lot today.”
“I know,” she said, tilting her head up. “But I know what I'm doing now. And I want you to kiss me. Properly. Please.”
He hesitated and she was about to back down and let it go before he leaned forward again, kissing her for real this time. It was slow and sweet, drawn out. It was… exactly what she expected and exactly what she wanted. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.
When she broke away, she couldn’t help the slow smile on her face. They had a lot to talk about and a lot to figure out. But for Annabeth, she thought a pretty good place to start was a quiet whisper of, “I love you,” against his lips.