The List | Percabeth AU [ORIGINAL]

Chapter 25

Hey guys, sorry about that last cliff hanger...not really. Hehe.

Hope you all enjoy. This chapter wasn't editier very well so sorry again 😬

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Annabeth

I was once again taken aback by the striking similarities between Poseidon and his son. They both had the same intense sea-green eyes that seemed to switch from giddiness to rage in an instant. Also, they both had the windswept dark hair; however, Poseidon's wasn't near as messy as Percy's.

"Dad?" Percy asked, finally speaking. His eyes were wide in shock and confusion as his father sat down on the love seat next to us.

"It is me," Poseidon said unsteadily. Suddenly, an uncomfortable silence settled in the air around us while I pretended to be focusing on the lukewarm coffee sitting on the table near us.

I felt Percy's gaze travel until he was staring daggers at me. The feeling made shivers travel through my spine. "Annabeth," He said. "What's going on?"

The hurt in his voice almost ripped my heart to shreds. How insensitive was I? He hasn't seen his dad is years, and here I was, afraid to tell him the horrible truth.

The truth was that I knew. I knew about his father leaving way before he told me that time at Jason's party. The truth was that I knew a lot more about Poseidon than I wanted to admit, even more than Percy did.

"Percy," I said, taking a shaky breath. "I can explain everything. Just promise you'll try to stay calm."

I met his eyes. Anger and hurt were fighting for dominance. The usual brightness was gone.

"What do you mean 'stay calm?'" He snapped angerly.

"Please," I pleaded with him. Tears were already threatening to take over my eyes, and my vision started to blur.

"Fine," He huffed.

"I knew about your father leaving you before you told me," I started hesitantly.

"What?" He interrupted quickly.

I nodded slowly and continued, "My mom kept tabs on him. When he started missing work, she became worried. Then, one day he disappeared. I think Poseidon can explain the rest."

Poseidon shot me a glare but cleared his throat. Percy had his knees up to his chest and looked as if he was trying to vanish from the world forever. I didn't blame him.

"I went to California. More specifically, San Francisco. I decided to start my own company. It's flourishing, Percy. I came back to offer a deal with Athena, kind of like a partnership," Poseidon stated.

"You came back just so you could get some more money?" Percy asked, furiously. His hands were now trembling with rage, and he was glaring intensely at his father.

"The main reason was that I came back for my family. I wanted to wait until everyone was together, but I want you and Sally to come back with me to California this summer," He replied as calmly as he could muster. I could tell he was trying to conceal his nervousness, but I could hear the tension in his voice.

"No," Percy replied flatly.

"Percy, I really think you should think about it-" Poseidon started.

"No. You don't realize that other people have things going on in their lives. You don't realize that it took months for my mom and I to recover. You don't realize that I stayed up until 3 am every morning, wonder what the hell I could have possibly done to make you leave us. You don't know how much you haunted me. Finally, my mom found someone. She's pregnant, you know. And she's finally happy. You're not getting near her again," Percy said, glaring at his hands now. His voice was steely calm.

Poseidon opened his mouth to respond, but he could muster no words. Percy finally looked at him, rolled his eyes and left the apartment. Poseidon's face fell and was contorted with an expression of pain. Suddenly, I felt ashamed of what I had just heard. This wasn't my place, and I had no right to be in the middle of this.

I ran outside with a blanket, leaving Poseidon staring at the same cup of coffee that I had earlier. Percy was sitting on the bench on the deck outside. He looked absentminded and didn't seem to notice that it was freezing out.

Around us, the city of New York was bustling below. Even from the 6th floor of my apartment, I could hear the traffic under us. Flurries of snow were sprinkling the world, and the grey skies made it hard to see the many sky scrapers that I knew were towering over our building.

I sat down, covered the both of us with the thick quilt and asked, "how are you?"

"I could be better," he shrugged. Snow was covering his dark hair, and I fought the urge to pick it out.

"Yeah," I sighed, not quite sure what he wanted to say. It wasn't every day that your runaway dad came back to town and wanted to take you with him.

"I just don't understand him. I thought I would never see him again, and here he is. You know, I use to practice what I would say to him if he ever came back," he said, flicking a snowflake off of the blanket keeping us warm.

"What did you say?" I asked him.

"I asked him why he did it. Then, I proceeded to tell him of all the cool things I've done since he left. Maybe tell him about a few of his swimming records that I broke. I'm not really sure anymore," he said, scratching his head.

"Percy, I know I should have told you that night. When you told me, I just panicked," I said suddenly. I felt his body stiffen next to me, and I regretted bringing the topic up.

After a few seconds of silence, Percy finally replied, "Annabeth, I have to go home." I slowly nodded. He probably needed to go and see his mom. My heart cracked even more when I imagined the look on Sally Jackson's face when she was told the news.

And with that, he was off. He threw the blanket off of himself, stood up, and faded into the grey skies of New York.

I waited until I knew he was out of earshot. Then, I let my self-control go. Hot tears spilled from my eyes as sounds of sobs escaped from me. After a few minutes of trying to resist, I gave in to my feelings. Screw it. I let myself cry for what seemed like hours as I glowered at the bleak sky. Why did these things happen to me?

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday!!! I hope everyone had a good week.

My question for you is: What's your favorite season?

Mine has to be fall, so I'm loving the temperatures right now 🧡🍁