He Doesn't Have to Know
The next day, Annabeth left, much to Percy's disappointment. He had argued that she should stay in case something happened, but she protested, saying she need to go and sort some things out. After that, Percy knew it was useless to try and convince her otherwise. Once she set her mind on something, she didn't budge unless it was really important. He also knew that she needed her space right now. She needed time to think over what had happened.
When Annabeth entered the house that she and Luke used to live in, she could see that Luke had moved out since his stuff was gone. She sighed, the pain of hurting someone—even if it was Luke—coming to her, making her stomach sick. She crashed on her bed. She loved being around Percy, but she had to deal with this herself. Leaving Luke shouldn't have been this big of a deal, but after hearing the things that he had said to her last night, she started to wonder when things started to change for him. Had it been way before she started seeing Percy? Or was it more recent?
Either way, it shouldn't have really mattered because she was in love with Percy now. She intended to marry him some day and live a happy life with him without the worries of being caught.
She sighed and got up, walking through the halls of the house. It used to be called home, but now it was just a denotation—the very definition of house. It no longer held the feeling of belonging, the feeling that this was where she belonged. It was just a building holding her things. Now her home was with Percy, which meant she would be selling the house. Besides, home or not, it held some painful memories. Ones that she'd rather get rid of.
And the first step to that was getting rid of the things that reminded her of those memories.
Annabeth found a box and, starting with their room, started packing the things she didn't want, the things that she couldn't bear to have around. It was basically pictures of her and Luke and a few CD's he had made for her. There were also some gifts he had given to her, but when she went through her closet, she stopped.
At the very back, she found her wedding dress.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn't do it. She couldn't get rid of it. It was a significant event of her life, and she needed to keep it.
After finishing going through the house, she packed the rest of the stuff and gathered it near the door. She called Percy to have him come over to help her, and he agreed, claiming he would be there in a few minutes.
Annabeth stopped and stared at the now empty and bare house. There were no pictures on the walls, no fancy decorations that signified someone had lived here…
She sighed. It was like a morgue—dead and lacking in life. But something better would come from all this. She knew it.
Love was like the four seasons: things started out great and it seemed like nothing bad was going to happen (Summer), but then suddenly things start to change and things slowly fall apart because of one stupid fight or because someone went off and did something ridiculous (Fall). Then, the worst part of love: it ends. Everything's dead and there's no hope. It's like someone yanked everything out from under you and you were left with this confusion, wondering why things ended the way they did (Winter).
However, what some people fail to realize is that something good will come from it. It's always darkest before the dawn. You have to reach hell, so to speak, before you can experience something wonderful. You have to figure out how to deal with the problem. Once you do that, something beautiful will take its place (Spring).
Such was life. For Annabeth, her new beginning would be with Percy. Of course, she would always have Luke in the back of her mind, but it wouldn't be as hard. She could sleep better at night knowing she wasn't hurting him.
But even after letting him go, was she a bad person for even cheating on him in the first place? But could she have let herself be with a man she didn't fully love? Luke was a great guy and he deserved better.
Annabeth took one last glance at the house before leaving, leaving her old self and her old life to start a new, happy life with Percy, her love.
Luke sat at a bar, by himself, drinking himself away. He wasn't exactly sure what it was—he had simply sat down and demanded the bartender give him something strong—but it was working.
Where had he gone wrong? It was obviously his fault that Annabeth left. Why else would she leave him? They had been happy when they were dating, but…
But that was just it. Once they got married, something about her changed. Maybe she had commitment issues.
He shrugged to himself. Who knows? Maybe it wasn't his fault.
"Stay the hell away from me!" Luke heard a girl say rather angrily. He merely turned in his seat to see a rather short—at least, to him she was pretty short—woman glaring at some guy who was obviously drunk. And she obviously didn't want him near her.
The guy smiled down at her. "Hey, relax, pretty lady," The man slurred. "I'll show you a good time…"
And when that pretty lady sucker punched him right in the gut, causing him to keel over, Luke felt his stomach drop, his heart stutter, and his palms start to sweat.
He watched as the pretty lady with pitch black hair smirked and walked past the drunk man towards the bar, right beside him.
Luke swallowed. He wanted to say something—anything—to get her attention.
"Nice punch," He spoke up. The pretty lady with a small frame and black hair looked over at him, startled.
She smiled. "Thanks,"
He smiled back. "I'm Luke Castellan."
"Thalia Grace."
And as Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace started to talk, and as they started to (unbeknownst to them) fall in love, Luke figured that there was a silver lining to every cloud. Things would get better.
He knew it would.
Two Years Later
Annabeth grinned as she fingered the ring that now held its place around her ring finger. Before, with Luke, the wedding ring had felt heavy, a reminder of what she had been doing, but now, with Percy's ring on her finger, she felt so care-free and happy.
She turned to Percy who was sitting beside her on the park bench. She leaned against his chest, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"I love you so much," She said with a smile.
Percy grinned down at her. "I love you more."
She shook her head with a small chuckle. "I don't think that's possible."
Percy didn't say anything. He just planted a kiss on top of her head.
"I wonder how Luke's doing…" Annabeth mused to herself.
"Well," Percy said. "You can only hope he's doing okay. Who knows? Maybe he found someone already."
Annabeth was slightly comforted by that. "Maybe…"
And Percy was right. That night, when Luke had met Thalia, they had instantly fallen in love. They had gone on many dates, Luke happy despite the drama he had been through. Thalia thought herself lucky to find a guy this amazing.
The first time marriage had crossed Luke's mind, he had hesitated. This was exactly what had happened with Annabeth. Would it be another repeat?
No, because Thalia was different. She spoke her feelings and what was on her mind. She was the one. He could feel it.
And so, he proposed to her, and Thalia almost screamed, which would have been so out of character for her. But hey, she was really happy she would spend the rest of her life with the person she loved.
So, was Annabeth still a bad person? She cheated on her first husband and lied to him about it for a very long time. In that aspect, she was. However, in another point of view, she was a good person because by letting go of Luke, she somewhat helped him find his soul mate.
"Come on, Wise Girl," Percy said, standing up with a grin. He pulled her to her feet and held her hand. "Let's go get some ice cream."
She smiled. "Okay, Seaweed Brain," She leaned into his side and squeezed his hand.
Yeah, she thought, I made the right decision.
Because she let Luke go, everyone was happy.
And everyone—including Luke—could know that.
Complete! I love the ending for this. I wasn't planning on it being that cheery.
I just want to say something. When people read this, some thought I hated Luke, and in the beginning, I did, but after reading the Last Olympian, I fell in love with him. I do like Luke, and that's why I gave him a happy ending. I don't like him with Annabeth (she belongs to Percy!), but I love LukeThalia :D
Thanks to all those who reviewed and encouraged me to write more!
Special thanks to Clara Fonteyn for being my most annoying reader! :D She basically bugged me to no end to finish this. But if she hadn't bugged me, I probably wouldn't have finished this.
Also, just because I want to tease you guys…I'm writing this story that probably won't come out until mid-March, but I want to give you a preview of what it will be about:
Artificial Engagement
Summary: It was either become a hobo or marry the guy's daughter. He wished he had chosen to become a hobo. "For some reason, I always find myself fantasizing about strangling him to death." Percabeth, with mentions of Thuke. AU. Slight OOC.
Preview 1:
The entire lunch was spent eating in silence. If Percy and Annabeth weren't glaring at each other, they were exchanging insults. Poseidon was thinking about the phone call he would have to make to Sally. He could just imagine how that would go down—"Hey, Sally, it's me, your ex! I just wanted to tell you that your son is getting married to a temperamental, smart, and witty girl! Oh, and did I mention they hate each other and that this whole engagement was due to my poor poker playing?"
That conversation wouldn't end well.
Preview 2:
She sighed and ignored his request. "We're definitely not going to my apartment…or yours, for that matter."
"Why not?"
She stopped and raised a brow at him. "Knowing you, it's probably a pig-sty."
"But see that's the thing: you don't know me…and it is not a pig-sty. Sure, there's probably a pile of clothes here and there, but it's not a pig-sty."
"Whatever you say, Seaweed Brain…"
Percy ran a hand through his hair and glared at the woman. There was no way he was going to survive this.
And that's all I'm going to show you :D
I love being evil.
Anyways, thanks for reading and review please!
--Akatsuki Child