Annabeth's Return

Chapter 26: Flatline

A/N~ Chapters 20-26 were released at the same time make sure you didn't skip one <3

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Annabeth's pov

Marcello has gotten weaker over the past 2 months. It's more visible that he's sick. "Anna stop looking at me like that" he tells me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'm still the Marcello you knew before" he weakly smiles

"I know I know I'm sorry. Are you happy we went to New York?" I ask him we went for the weekend because he's been saying he wanted to go one last time. "It was fun but I'm happier here with my real family. Speaking of family, mom and dad invited me over tonight. Something about dinner" he sighs sitting up grabbing a cup of water.

"Are you planning on going?" He probably even wanted Zeno to see his parents before he died but they both were too selfish. "Can you come with me? I want to see Zeno after" he knows I would never say no to seeing Zeno.

"Fine, what time?" He better not say in an hour. "An hour" this bitch. It takes 30 minutes just to get there. Going to our room I quickly take a shower putting on a pair of leggings with a crew neck.

I put my hair back in a ponytail going downstairs. "Let's go" Marcello swings the car keys in his hands walking out the front door.

I follow him sitting in the passenger's seat watching the view of the house get out of the rear view mirror. Going through the highway the ocean glistens in the sunlight that is now setting.

How do you prepare yourself for death? I wouldn't even want to think about it knowing at any moment you can die. The lifestyle we live that is always on our minds but when it's your own body giving up on you that's a different story. "Anna were here" Marcello snaps me out of my thoughts looking at the house I haven't been in for at least 4 years.

I follow behind him as he walks inside. His parents sit at the dining room table laughing and enjoying a glass of wine. "Marcello, it's nice to see you after all this time. Hello Annabeth, how are you?" His mom comes up to me pulling me in her embrace.

"I'm surprised you called after all this time" He spits out sitting down. I take the seat next to him as a plate of food gets placed in front of us. Silently we start eating, the tension builds up in the room. "I'm very sorry Annabeth that you had to see Zeno pass now Marcello" His father says, making my head shoot up in confusion. "There's no reason to be sorry for that. I love Zeno like my own brother. Marcello is my fiancé. If I'm the last person they see before they go to a better place, at least they know it was with someone who cares" I try to say calmly, biting my tongue.

"Marcello, the reason we called you here today is because we knew the cancer was going to come back. There was a treatment for it but we thought it was best that we didn't put you in any more pain. You are our heir and have everything we passed down however you want to put it in your will is up to you. We do love you and your brother but death is death we can keep running from it" Marcello's face turns angry as he clenches the wine glass tightly.

"You could have stopped me from dying and made a choice for me that could have prevented this. How is that love?! I left New York when I was 16 and you didn't care. The only fucking mistake I made was letting Zeno convince me to leave him here. " He lets out a tear before walking off. I follow behind him trying to match his pace.

Quickly I take the car keys from him and thankfully he doesn't argue. I start the drive to the cemetery putting down the windows letting him get fresh air. The tears continue to stream down his face as he starts coughing. I hold his hand pressing a kiss to it. My fingers play with his engagement ring, feeling my heart breaking into tiny pieces.