Chapter Text
Percy stopped the car. “Well,” he said. “Here we are.”
There they were, at the Chases’ house. Frederick had begged Annabeth and Percy to come visit. He promised things would be different this time around. Annabeth was so anxious that she’d been sick the night before.
Percy had insisted on taking her temperature, even though Annabeth insisted she was fine. When it was normal, they concluded that it was just nerves. She still felt a bit queasy, though,
“Yeah,” she said sourly. “Here we are.”
Percy squeezed her hand. “Are you ready, Wise Girl?”
“Of course," she lied through her teeth. Everything would be fine, she told herself.
They got out and rang the doorbell. Helen answered it. “Annabeth! It’s been too long!” Her excitement sounded completely fake.
She enveloped her stepdaughter in a stiff, awkward hug. Annabeth tried to relax into it, but it felt fake. Any affection from Helen felt that way.
“Annabeth! Percy!” Frederick appeared and wrapped his arms around her. She spent a moment breathing him in, and then, far too soon, the hug ended and he pulled away. Annabeth blinked away tears.
Don’t cry, she thought, He didn’t really do anything. Percy squeezed her shoulder. He knew what she was thinking without her having to say a word.
Both of them were ushered inside. The house was warm, but to Annabeth it felt cold in another way entirely. She had never felt welcome in the Chase's home. She always felt that her dad and stepmom veiwed her as a problem, not as a daughter or even a person.
“How was your trip here?” Frederick asked as they all walked through the halls.
“It was good,” Annabeth said.
“She was asleep most of the ride, actually,” Percy interjected. “She stayed up late working on a paper, even though she has forever to do it.”
“And that’s coming from someone who leaves everything to the last possible second,” Annabeth replied. Frederick laughed and her heart soared.
The happiness only lasted a moment. “Well,” he said. “I’ll let you guys get to unpacking.” He walked away to where Bobby and Matthew were. He didn’t offer to help them. He had barely even greeted them.
Maybe he thought she was tired, but the ride was only two hours and she had slept during that. It wasn't late. More likely he just couldn’t stand to be around Annabeth.
She set her suitcase on her bed. Annabeth hadn’t been in her bedroom for a long time, and being there felt odd. This place was rife with memories.
The spiders. Her Lego creations. Childhood innocence. Happiness. Sadness. Fear. Excitement. Heartbreak.
There were so many memories in this room, swirling around and contradicting each other.
“Are you okay?” Percy touched her shoulder. His voice was gentle and concerned.“You look a little lost there.”
Annabeth shook her head, as if doing so would clear away her thoughts. “Yeah. I was just remembering a lot for a second.”
She leaned against Percy and tucked her head under his chin.
“You’re so cuddly lately. It’s cute,” Percy tapped her nose. He was right. Lately, Annabeth couldn’t get enough of physical affection. She was always finding a reason to curl up in his lap, hold his hand, or countless other things. She just couldn’t get enough of his love.
As a child she had been starved of it. She knelt at the feet of those meant to provide her with it and begged them for just a scrap of affection. If she could just scavenge enough of it, she could make a quilt to block out the cold of loneliness and then maybe it would all be okay.
Dinner was an awkward affair. It had been a long time since they’d seen each other, and longer still since they’d been on good terms.
Annabeth sat between Percy and Matthew and chewed quietly while she tried to think of something to say.
“The food’s good,” Percy volunteered. It wasn’t. It was bland and disgusting. Annabeth wished she was eating something Percy had made.
He was the one who cooked in their relationship. He made all the meals and they were delicious. Everything he made was perfect, because he learned from his mother.
“I’m glad to hear that,” said Helen chipperly. “And you, Annabeth? What do you think?”
“It’s good,” she said quietly. Then she saw the spider. She screamed.
Matthew burst out laughing as Annabeth scrambled away, her chair falling to the floor. She couldn’t get enough air in her lungs.
Distantly, she could hear her stepmother yelling and Percy calling her name. She ran from the room and all the way to her bedroom, then crawled under the bed sobbing.
“Annabeth!” Percy appeared seconds later, lying on the floor just across from her. He extended his hand to her and she took it. “Breathe with me.”
Annabeth tried, but she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs.
“Focus on me. Copy my breathing.”
She did. She breathed in when he did and out when he did, and eventually she could do it on her own. Eventually her tears stopped falling.
“That’s my girl,” Percy said softly. “Do you think you can come out now?”
“Yeah.” She crawled out and sat up with him, leaning against the bed. “Did you tell them not to come after me?”
Percy didn’t say anything. He just shook his head after a time and squeezed her hand. Of course her family didn’t come after her.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.” They sat in silence for a bit longer. Percy was the one who broke it. “I don’t know if this makes it better or worse, but the spider wasn’t real. It was Matthew’s and it was fake.”
“I don’t know if that makes it better or worse either,” Annabeth was tearing up. Lately she couldn’t stop crying. She blamed the stress of staying with her somewhat estranged family for spring break.
“I don’t wanna go back down there,” she sniffed.
“That’s fine,” Percy said. “We can just tell them that you don’t feel well, and then you and I can just lay in bed and watch Netflix. We’ll watch whatever you want.”
“I’m so glad I met you,” Annabeth said tearfully.
The next day, Frederick and Helen had a trip to a history museum planned. They knew she liked history. That meant they were at least trying, right?
Annabeth was looking forward to it, which was why she ignored the nausea as she got ready in the morning.
She did her hair, got dressed, and practically skipped downstairs to eat three bowls of cereal.
Annabeth was looking forward to her day. She felt sick again, but she did her best to shove the nausea down. Her best wasn’t enough.
They were heading out the door (together, like a family!) when she vomited all over the front lawn.
“Annabeth!” Helen shrieked. There wasn't a smidge of concern in her voice. Only anger.
"Eww!" Said Matthew, who had been standing near Annabth as he lept back.
Frederick didn't say anything. He just looked at the pool of vomit on the grass, his face betraying no emotion..
“Woah!” Percy wrapped his arms around Annabeth. She’d vomited so hard she looked wobbly on her feet. “I got you, Wise Girl.”
Helen sighed. “Matthew, Bobby, get in the car. We’re still going.”
“Wait, you’re just gonna go without her?” Percy exclaimed.
“Watch your tone with me, young man!” Helen snapped. “I’m not going to let Annabeth ruin my children’s day out!”
As usual, Frederick didn't say anything in his daughter's defense.
“She’s not trying to ruin anything, she’s just sick!” Percy argued furiously. Maybe they should call this off and go home. He’d been trying to be optimistic about this for his girlfriend, but the situation seemed more toxic by the hour.
How could he just accept her being around people who treated her this way? He didn't want to. Annabeth deserved so, so much better than this. He honestly didn't think her family deserved her, but his girlfriend disagreed, so here they were.
Annabeth leaned against him, crying quietly against his side as the Chase's car left the driveway and disappeared down the road. She happened to put her hand over her stomach, and that made Percy start to wonder about a possibility other than nervousness or a virus.