Recorded Dreams (A Percabeth AU)

59

Hey guys! It's been a while! Brief rundown:
Annabeth and Percy are now engaged!
Annabeth received a letter from Apollo, inviting her back to do a final national tour.
Frederick and Helen are filing for divorce! Woohoo!!!
Poseidon finally visited. We find out Tyson is his son.
Annabeth is torn between her options of trying one last tour (with no Helen to drive her crazy) and being an architect. After a talk with Percy, she wants to find a way to try both. Hoping for a happy life without Helen involved!

Annabeth POV-

I nervously knock on the door to my moms office. It would be hard to figure out how to approach the subject.

"Hey mom, I need to talk to you."

"What's wrong, Annabeth?"

"Umm... Apollo invited me back and—"

"I know sweetie. He emailed me about it. Do you... are you going to go?"

"I want to try out a final tour, I think."

"Okay. And you heard about your father, I'm assuming. His divorce with—"

"Yeah, I did. It'll be good for him. She was... not good."

We were both nervous. An awkward silence filled the room for a moment until she spoke again.

"You're not going to leave, are you? I mean, if you want to go live with him that's fine but with all these opportunities I just—" her voice breaks, and I'm surprised at the moment when I look up and I see tears in her eyes. I realize in that moment what Malcolm meant when he said that she did truly love us. It would break her heart if I told her I was gone for good.

"Oh! Mom, I don't plan on leaving. I like it here with you and Malc. I just think I need to go visit him and make sure he's okay. Check up on him occasionally. He's never really known how to be truly alone, y'know? I just worry." She sighs with relief.

"Okay, okay."

"I love you, mom."

She smiles. "I love you too. Now get back to work."

I laugh and exit her office, heading down to the cafe to finish up my work for the day.

When I get home, my mom and I discuss my visit with my dad, and decide that it would be best for me to go sooner rather than later. I would be visiting him tomorrow. I haven't seen him in forever.

•••

I take the elevator up to the penthouse. Argus greets me immediately with a smile when I enter. I was glad to see that even though I left, he was still employed.

"Hey, Argus. Is my dad here?"

He nods towards the kitchen.

As I get nearer to it, I can hear screaming.

"How can I trust you to take care of them after what you did to Annabeth!" My dads voice is instantly recognizable. I lean on the door to hear more and put a finger to my lips as I turn towards Argus, to make sure he wouldn't tell them. He turns the other way and wanders down the hall.

"Annabeth wasn't my own kid!"

"You were expected to treat her like she was! You promised me! And then you starved her, stole from her, and drove her out of here!"

"I did not!"

"Where's Annabeth's money? What about all those times when you told her she couldn't have any more food?"

"Maybe if she actually showed up for dinner on time and obeyed the rules that I put in place—"

"She was a teen and you expected her to follow you around like a child!"

"I didn't see you trying to help her!"

"She was so sick of you that she didn't want me either."

"Annabeth, you're here!" A voice exclaims from behind me. I turn around to see Matthew.

"Matt, hi!" I pull him into a hug.

"Annabeth!" I let go of him for a moment and rest my hand on his shoulder. It's then that his gaze drops down to the ring on my finger. He points to it and looks back at me. "You're married?"

"I'm engaged, Percy and I will be getting married. Keep it down okay. Why don't you go upstairs again with Bobby. The two of you—"

"We're not babies anymore, Annabeth. We've heard worse before. This isn't even close to their worst fight." I let out a pained sound and pull Matthew in closer. I feel another pair of arms slide around me and know immediately its Bobby. I sink to the floor, and so do they.

"I'm sorry, boys. If I had been here—"

"It's not safe for you," Bobby says. "Dad said so. He said he's glad you left because he knows you were safe with Athena. He told mom that one day. I think that's when the fighting really started."

I let go of the boys for a split second, unsure of how to react.

"But the two of you are okay? You're safe here? Because give me one word and I'll get you out of here."

They just nod. Suddenly, the door is thrown open from the kitchen. I don't have time to move out of Helen's angry path. She turns and stares at me.

"You started this! What are you doing here?"

She waits a moment for me to respond, but I don't give her that pleasure. I stand back up and the boys follow, grabbing onto me tight. I pull them behind me.

"Answer me you little bitch!"

"Mrs. Chase, please calm down," Argus says, entering the room again. He rarely talks, and I was shocked to hear him standing up for me without fear. "She came to visit her father."

She glares at me for another moment before beginning to storm out. "Boys, pack up your things! I'll be back by Monday!"

I hug the boys one last time and nudge them towards their room. Then, I walk to the kitchen to find my dad.

He sits at the table, an exhausted look on his face.

"Hey dad, I came to visit." His head snaps up immediately.

"Annabeth! You're here!"

"Yeah. I— I'm sorry about Helen. I'm really not because she's a bitch and it's about time you got rid of her, but I'm sorry that she is a bitch."

He cracks a smile. "I've missed you. How have you been, sweetie?"

"I've been good. I've missed you and the boys. And Argus too."

"Not Helen?"

"Not one bit." He smiles.

"How's your mother been?"

"She's been good to me. Our relationship was rocky at first, but we're doing good."

"Malcolm?"

"He's in law school, making it harder to win an argument against him. Ridiculous really."

"I'm sure your stubbornness makes up for his ability to state a case." I smile at him.

"Well of course."

"And what are you here for? Just to stop by and say hello? Because you would've done that sooner if that was really it."

"Dad, we have a lot to talk about."

Omg I'm so happy to be back to writing this. I've actually missed this so much. I don't know how regular my writing schedule will be, but I'm really trying to get back into it. Thank you all for reading!