Found Family (HoO, Mortal AU)

ANNABETH CHASE

Before she knew it, they were packing for home. It was heartbreaking. She wanted to stay forever, but the days flew. They stayed up all night partying on Leo's birthday again. The day after, they went into the city. That night they decided to go to bed early. That was until they heard Hazel and Leo screaming. Annabeth ran out of her room to see them both going down the stairs on a mattress.

The tenth of July came, however, and she knew she had to go home. On the 12th- her birthday- her and her friends were going to Boston for Hearth and Blitz's wedding, meaning Annabeth would get to see Magnus again. When they came back, they'd only have a week before Sally and Paul's wedding. Then they'd have August. Then they'd be off to college. It seemed eerie. Exciting, though. It was truly going to be the best summer ever.

"Okay, everyone!" Jason shouted. "Go to the bathroom now. My first stop will be in two hours. Nothing before that. Don't even ask."

They were on the road for 20 minutes before everyone wanted Jason to stop at a gas station.

• • •

Finally, they got home. Annabeth slept for most of the journey. Although she wanted to stay at the beach house, she couldn't be happier to be home. Sally came to collect her and Percy and Piper's house.
"MOM!" Percy grinned when he saw her. Annabeth hadn't realised how much he missed her until he opened the car door and hugged her. "Hi! How are you? How's Paul? How's Tyson? How's the baby?"
"Everyone's great," Sally hugged Percy. "How are you? And everyone else, of course. Lovely to see you, Annabeth."

• • •

On her birthday, Percy and Annabeth drove back to Piper's house, which seemed to be their meeting spot. Thankfully, there were less suitcases this time, as they were only staying in Boston for two days. Reyna was forced into driving the minibus this time, as Jason said he was 'sick and tired of people telling him to stop at gas stations'. The drive was much shorter, thankfully.

They celebrated the entire way- singing and eating cake (courtesy of Sally Jackson, of course). The drive only seemed to last five minutes since Annabeth was having so much fun. They arrived to the hotel they were staying at, where Magnus and Alex were waiting for them.

"MAGNUS!" Annabeth opened the door and jumped out of the minibus before Reyna had properly stopped driving.
"ANNABETH!" Magnus ran to hug her. "Hi! How are you? Wait- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
"I'm good! How are you?! Your hair has gotten longer!"
"Yeah, I know," Alex rolled his eyes. "He won't let me cut it."
"ALEX! HOLA!" Leo smiled.
"Aye, Valdez!"

"Where's everyone else?" Piper asked.
"Oh, wedding preparations are getting stressful. Very stressful," Magnus laughed. "That's why I insisted on meeting you here. Blitz is such a perfectionist. Hearth insists on only wearing black. Halfborn won't shave. Mallory and him broke up for the fifteenth time. T.J is taking the breakup worse than they are. Samirah is the only one with any sense anymore."
"Apart from me," Alex nudged him. "Right, Maggie?"
"Of course. Anyway- Annabeth, you're a perfectionist, so you can help with wedding planning. To the venue we go-"

Annabeth snaked her forehead. "You should've had this planned ages ago. The wedding is tomorrow! Do you even know what you're wearing?!"
"Yes, Annabeth. I'm not that dumb. Alex, however-"
"Shut up, Beantown. I'm between a dress, suit and jumpsuit. Cause- y'know, I'm masculine today. So today I'd choose suit. But tomorrow I might be feminine. But I mightn't be feeling that masculine or that feminine so-" Alex rambled on.

Magnus smiled at him before looking over to Annabeth. She could tell there was something more. Last time, during spring break, Magnus obviously had a crush on him, this time he seemed completely head over heels.

• • •

Sign-language arguments had to be the funniest things ever. Annabeth and her friends walked into the wedding venue to see Blitz and Hearth fighting with each other in sign language. Their hands were moving so fast that Annabeth, who had took it upon herself to learn ASL, couldn't understand a thing. Blitz eventually grabbed Hearth's hands. "You can lip read, so you listen to me. I'm telling you, the flowers-"
"If you don't stop fighting about the flowers-" Sam put her head in her hands. "I will cancel the wedding myself."
"What a shame," Halfborn sighed. "Oh, hi folks."

"Finally, a Chase with sense," Mallory smiled. "How are you lot?"
"Hi," Shel waved. "Good to see you all again."
"Now I'm quite the florist myself," Percy stepped towards Hearth and Blitz. "So, what's the problem."

Hearth and Blitz looked from Percy to each other, before rapidly speaking in sign language again.
"We have it sorted out. Don't worry," Blitz smiled.
From what sign language Annabeth could understand, she constructed the conversation in her head.
H: flower man?
B: don't trust. Bad taste.
H: both flowers.
B: deal.
She couldn't help but laugh. "Good choice, don't trust him."
"What does that mean?" Percy asked. Annabeth just shrugged and walked away.

She found a chair in the corner, away from the drama. She checked her phone to see new messages in the apartment complex groupchat.

Thegardner.katie: the guy moving in is 25

Leesol: does that mean he's hot?

Thegardner.katie: wtf Lee you're the straightest guy I've ever met

Leesol: right. @Lieutenantzoë wassup?

Lieutenantzoë: I will rip your throat out. Anyway, what's his name?

Stollno2: in relation to Mr Fletcher, who insists on having 'sol' for 'solace' in his username's question, is he hot?

Stollno1: sending screenshots to Malcolm rn 😱

Thegardner.katie: lads idk if he's hot. Lemme check what his name is I'm sure dad has it written down somewhere.

Leesol: the suspension is killing me 🥺 I need to do some Facebook and Instagram stalking

Ethannak: stfu

Leesol: my Instagram stalking helped me find your 12 year old self's bts fanpage

Ethannak: not me. Fake.

Thegardner.katie: I don't wanna hear about that. Dad has done background checks and the guy has been in prison but not for anything major, mainly thievery. Dad will be keeping a close eye on him, don't worry anyone

Bekendork: what's his name tho

Thegardner.katie: Luke castellan or something like that

Annabeth stared at her phone as all the messages came flooding in, no one knowing who he was.
"You alright, Annabethany?" Will asked. She couldn't answer. She couldn't look away from her phone. She couldn't bring herself to look away from that message.

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Word Count: 1101

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A/N: surprise :D

Also sorry the beach house ended that soon 😭 I didn't know what to write tbh

And for those of you who forget, when Annabeth ran away, she met Luke & Thalia and they became a sort of 'family'. They spent months together before Luke started threatening them for reasons such as Thalia wanting to go home to see Jason. He got more and more abusive, both physically and mentally, before Annabeth and Thalia ran away and turned themselves into the police.

See chapter titled "the 'broken' trio" / chapter 38 (ao3) / part 39 (wattpad)