Hi! So I was going through my other stories and deleting a few of them, but I loved the idea behind this so I decided to rewrite the first chapter and see how it goes. Review!

Chapter 1

"Emmaline!" Annabeth ran a hand through her slightly greasy curls, exasperated. She had been trying to get her five year old daughter to settle down and go to bed, but was failing. It was almost nine, way too late for a five year old, and she was running down their hallway as fast as her small legs could carry her. Fortunately, the wall cut Emma off, and the little girl turned around squealing. Annabeth laughed, and wrapped her in a bear hug. "Come on baby, time for bed." She said, kissing her messy curls.

"I'm not tired." She announced with a yawn. Annabeth bit back a laugh.

"No?" She asked.

"No, another story!" Emma said with a grin. "About you." She said, pointing her stubby little finger at Annabeth.

"Not again." Annabeth said firmly. She laid her down in her bed and pulled the light pink covers around her. "Which stuffy do you want tonight?" She asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and running a hand through Emmaline's curls. Luckily, Ems looked everything like Annabeth and nothing like her father. No need to have a reminder of him running around the house.

"That one." She pointed at a small lion in the corner of her bed. It had become her favorite these past few months, so much so that the seams were coming undone.

"Okay. Goodnight, sweetie. I love you." Annabeth kissed the top of her head, and Emma closed her eyes.

"Love you mommy." Emma said, half asleep at this point, cuddled on her stomach with the lion by her head.

Annabeth smiled and gently shut the door. She wandered back down the hallway of her huge apartment and went to the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee. It was only seven, and Annabeth had tons of work to do tonight. A year after Emmaline was born, she had gotten a job at an architecture firm, and just last year was promoted to senior partner. The money was great, especially as a single mom, but the workload was crazy. She had to call on Audrey, the nanny, more then she would like to admit these past few months.

She sat at a stool by her island in the kitchen and brought out some blueprints, but was interrupted by a call.

"Hello?" She asked, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hey." She inwardly groaned. Ethan Waters. The person she never wanted to talk to again, but who she would have to talk to for the rest of her life because she had made a stupid, stupid mistake at a bar six years ago.

"Emma isn't up." She said, holding her drawing down with her elbow so she could keep working.

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten it's my weekend with her tomorrow. I'll pick her up at eight if that works." He said, his voice tense like he was trying not to yell.

"That's fine. I'll be at the office all day tomorrow, if you need anything. She went to bed late tonight, so it could be rough tomorrow."

"Why'd you let her stay up so late?" He asked, accusingly. Annabeth wasn't sure there was a person on this planet that irritated her more than Ethan did. Originally, she hadn't wanted to tell him about Emma, but Piper had convinced her she should. She had been surprised that Ethan had wanted custody, but he had never been a real father. Not in the ways dads should treat their kids. He was hungover half the time, worked as a waiter at a restaurant in Soho, and couldn't afford any child support.

"It's not always me, Ethan. She's five and resists bedtime like every other five year old. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up, not giving him a chance to respond. She put her head in her hands, and gave a large sigh. Before she knew it, she was asleep, curls splayed against the table, her coffee cold and forgotten.

Luckily, Annabeth had her alarm set for 6:00 that morning, or she would have slept until Ethan came to get Emma. At 6:00 AM sharp, she jolted up from her uncomfortable position in the kitchen. Her neck was stiff, and her back felt like somebody had bruised the whole thing with a hammer. It didn't help that whoever was moving in next door was making the biggest racket ever. She rubbed her eyes and when she looked in a mirror she tried not to grimace before stepping in the shower. She kind of had never looked worse. Everybody said their twenties were the time of their lives. Parties, sex, boyfriends, finding the one, best friends to last a lifetime. Annabeth's twenties consisted of babies, diaper changing, sweat, greasy hair and overworking herself. Not that she was complaining. The love she held for Emma was indescribable. She had thought she had known what love is, with Percy, but when she had Emma it was like a whole other feeling.

Oh gods, Percy. She had gone this whole week without thinking about him, which was basically a record. She still felt so guilty. After everything they had been through, it all ended because of a stupid fight. She remembered the night like it had happened yesterday.

Six years ago

Annabeth threw a leg over her boyfriend's hips, and grinded expertly on top of him. She reached into his pocket to grab a condom, but he stopped her.

"Wait." He groaned. She frowned, and started to kiss his neck. "No, seriously. I remembered I have a project due in my class tomorrow."

She raised an eyebrow. This was the third time this week this had happened. Not the almost having sex thing, but he had interrupted their time together (which they didn't get a lot of) because he had forgotten about homework.

"Are you kidding right now?" She glared. "This is the third time this week. I already did my homework while you couldn't tear yourself away from the basketball game." She got off of him, and stood over him with her arms crossed.

"Oh, sorry we can't be as perfect as you, Annabeth." He stood up too, their faces inches apart.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, face red.

"Nothing. You're just constantly on me, and sometimes I just can't live up to what you want from me."

"What?" She balled her fists. "Just because I think you should get good grades, does not mean I think you should be as perfect as me."

"See." He sounded tired. "That's the issue. You're not perfect. Nobody is. I am most definitely not. Sometimes I forget things."

Annabeth laughed in disbelief. "Well, if you don't like my company, maybe I should leave.

"Annabeth, that's not fair." He said.

"No, it's fine. I'll stay with Piper tonight." She said, sidestepping him to grab her coat.

"Annabeth, please-" It was too late. She slammed the door, and called Piper. It was freezing out, and Annabeth was lucky the snow storm hadn't hit yet. Piper told her to meet her at their favorite girl's night place, a bar on 8thstreet. Annabeth had turned twenty-one less than a year ago, and she and Piper had made it their mission to try every good bar that New York had to offer.

Annabeth felt bad for making Piper listen to all her issues, but she couldn't stop herself. She drank one vodka tonic after another, and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was making a huge tab that would lead to another fight between her and Percy. Eventually, she had gotten pulled onto the dance floor by some guy she didn't know, and they ended up at his apartment. When she woke up in the morning, she didn't remember anything, the only sign that they had done something that night were her panties thrown on the door handle.

-0-

Ethan was late to pick up Emma. Of course, Annabeth had expected this, so she had told her work she wouldn't be in until nine. She didn't usually work on weekends, but there had been a crisis. The partner who had been in charge of the huge new aquarium being built in Brooklyn had gone into labor, and Annabeth was put in charge of the project. The building would be especially hard since they had to work with a marine biologist on how to make it safe for the animals, but working with someone else on designs was never fun.

Annabeth didn't even have time to look at who the project was with. She ran into her office, trying and failing to put her hair up in a bun. At least it wasn't frizzy today. She was wearing a red pantsuit and black heels.

"Hi, Nate, sorry I'm late." She said, grabbing the manila folder from him with the details.

"It's no problem, you're 9:30 hasn't arrived yet." He said, giving her a nod. Nate was her assistant, and if he ever quit, Annabeth would be in huge trouble. He was a lifesaver sometimes.

"Oh, great." She sighed with relief. "Let me know when he's on his way."

Nate nodded, and Annabeth pushed open the wooden door. Her office was huge. The desk was pushed up next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. A couch sat in another corner, pictures of her vacation to Europe with Percy blown up on a canvas. Of course, none of them had Percy in it. They were just scenery. Emmaline was widely represented, little drawings she had given Annabeth hung up around the office, the professional pictures Annabeth had done every year were sitting in plain sight. Nate buzzed her, signaling that her appointment was here.

Annabeth straightened the paperwork, and grabbed the papers from the file she had been given. If she wasn't going to be actually prepared, she could at least look prepared.

The door opened. "Hi, sorry I'm-" Holy shit. "Annabeth?"

"Percy?" She looked up, hoping she would be met with dull brown eyes, and this was all a nightmare.

Nope. There he was, eyes as beautiful and intimidating as ever.

"I never thought – I thought – you left?" He stumbled over his words, and Annabeth just stared at him. She didn't know what to say. Unfortunately for her, he noticed Emmaline. "Is she…"

"Yours?" She asked. He nodded. She didn't say anything again, but her face gave away the answer.

"How old?" He asked, but his voice was harsh.

"Five, almost six." Annabeth whispered. Percy pushed the door shut. His eyes swirled with hurt, anger, sadness. Annabeth felt her heart breaking all over again.

"So this is why."

"Yeah."

"I can't believe you." He said. Annabeth felt a tear go down her cheek, but she quickly swiped it away. Now was not the time to be crying. "You – you cheated!" Percy slammed his hand down on the table, and Annabeth jumped, starting to cry even harder.

"I'm sorry." She whispered again, but she knew it wouldn't fix things, or even make them better.

"Gods, Annabeth, all this time I thought I did something wrong. You let me believe I did something wrong. You know, I came back here thinking maybe we could talk. But, honestly, I don't even know who you are anymore. I don't even want to know you." He shook his head and Annabeth's heart clenched. She knew she deserved this, but it still hurt. She had been a bitch, and she knew it.

"We don't have to work together. I mean, I can find you somebody else. Our other senior partner just had a baby, but we have plenty of other people-" Annabeth muttered, stumbling over her words. She had absolutely no idea what to say.

"No, Annabeth, gods this is part of the problem. Or what used to be our problem. This isn't about work. It's not about money. It's about us, and our relationship, and what you did."

"I know." She whispered.

"I don't even know what to say." He looked like he was going to cry, and Annabeth felt like her heart was splitting in two.

"Percy-"

He put up a hand, cutting her off. "Just, don't." He turned and headed out the door, slamming it behind him. Twenty minutes later, she got word that he was working with Matt now.

-0-

Annabeth was very very glad Emmaline was with Ethan. She was sobbing on the couch, eating her favorite chocolate ice cream and watching rom-coms. She was surprised there were still tears left in her. She had called Piper and Rachel, but both had been busy. Piper and Jason had just had their second baby, so things were seriously crazy at their house, and Rachel was dealing with a new prophecy. It was weird, sometimes, to think about how there was a new generation of people now. New kids that were going on adventures, making friends, falling in love. Gods, who would have ever thought that would have been the simple time in her life.

So, she threw herself a one-person pity party. Around eight, she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." She called out. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she was miserable and unmotivated.

"Hi, sweetie!" Annabeth internally groaned. The old lady who lived next door was always coming in. Alice was the sweetest thing, almost seventy years old with a pretty big attitude. She was very social, though, and Annabeth wasn't in the mood right now. "I heard you crying through the walls." Alice said, setting a plate of brownies down on Annabeth's dining room table. "I thought I'd come check on you."

"Thanks." Annabeth sniffled, rubbing her nose on her sleeve. She got up and grabbed a brownie. The woman definitely knew how to cook.

"So," Alice started. "Want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Just boy problems." Annabeth said, not really willing to spill her life to Alice. They weren't that close. "I'm really alright, seriously."

Alice looked at her suspiciously. "Okay. If you need anything, you tell me." She said, pointing a long finger at Annabeth.

Annabeth bit back a laugh. "I will."

"Good." Alice said with a smile. "Have you heard about our new neighbor? He's moved here from California. Only staying a few months or so, though."

Annabeth nodded, half listening. She knew Alice was trying to set her up. Alice thought Annabeth was the loneliest most depressing twenty-six year old out there. Annabeth honestly didn't mind. Emmaline was her whole world. She would have given up Percy any day to have Ems with her. Of course, that doesn't mean that Annabeth didn't wish Emmaline was Percy's. Besides, she had never really been a partier in the first place. It had always been Percy that had wanted to go out.

"Anyways, I've got to go. I have book group at 9 AM tomorrow. So early." Alice said with a shake of her head, which Annabeth did laugh at.

"Okay." Annabeth said, opening the door for her. "Thanks for the brownies." Annabeth said as she waved goodbye.

Annabeth decided she needed to sleep. Unfortunately, the TV next door to her was blaring with some stupid sports game. Her bedroom was flush with the other person's living room and she could hear the commentator's every word. Eventually, she was angry and couldn't take it anymore, so in cotton shorts and a small white tank top (looking back on this, she should have changed), she stormed over there and knocked impatiently. Of course, the last person she wanted to see right then opened the door. Annabeth decided her life officially sucked.