Recorded Dreams (A Percabeth AU)

40

This one is like super sad... read at own risk.

I swear it'll get better soon.

Annabeth POV
(because for me her POV is just easier to write in because I can relate more. And she has a bit more going on rn)  -

Malcolm shows me around. All of the rooms, and the room that I would stay in. It was fairly large, as expected with how big the house is. My bed was surrounded by built in bookshelves. A few books sat on the shelves. I opened the bag of gifts that the Jackson family had given me and set the architecture book on the shelves, along with Estelle's princess crown. I toss Dory onto the bed. Malcolm looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't judge," I warn.

"I wasn't." He steps closer to me. "Tell me about those." He points to the crown and the Dory stuffed animal. I sigh. I begin to tell him all about Percy and Estelle, as I make my way around the room. I arrive at a desk, a laptop already sitting there, waiting for me to use, along with some empty blueprints. I unpack the pack of pencils and the sketchbook and put them in the drawers, and I carefully tuck all the cards and notes and everything I got in a separate drawer to look at later. Malcolm walks over to me and wipes my cheek. I hadn't realized I was crying.

"You miss them a lot, huh?" He asks. I nod and wrap my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, Annabeth. You'll love it here. Mom will get on your nerves sometimes. And when she does, I'll be here for you. Okay?" I smile and nod.

"Thanks."

"And you better tell me if she ever gets to be too much, Annabeth. I've dealt with her for long enough to know that sometimes she is very... difficult. I don't mind yelling at her though. She's learned to expect it from me. She loves us though, Annabeth. She really does. You know, every night before she went to bed she used to look at a baby picture of you. She wanted you here so bad, but she didn't think you wanted to be taken away from Frederick. Then, after you came, she was thrilled to have you interested in joining our family, I know she didn't really show it when you were talking to her, but she was. I swear. She holds back her feelings until she thinks she's alone. You two are actually a lot more alike than you think. She just hoped Percy wouldn't hold you back-"

"Percy's the one who urged me to actually come. He wouldn't let me stay with him with this whole job looming over my head. He always wants me happy. I love him, Malcolm." Malcolm smiles.

"I could tell you loved him by that stupid grin on your face when you were telling me about him, Annabeth. I wish mom would see that too. But she thinks that the heart gets in the way of the brain. That's why she said no friends or boyfriend. Everything they say influences your heart a little bit. I don't agree with her taking them away from you. God, you're a teenager. Your supposed to have friends and a boyfriend. And you should go to school and go to parties. You should get to have fun. But mom doesn't believe in that nonsense. It makes me wonder what kind of childhood she had. I bet she was that miserable kid who hated everything and everyone and would yell at people if they even tried to talk to her because she was 'busy' doing 'important work'." I laugh a little. "She was also the one who if she got dragged to a party, probably called the cops with the noise complaint because it was interrupting her studying." I smile picturing a teenage version of my mom being a complete party-pooper.

She still was one, just not the teenage version.

—•— A few months later, June on a Saturday —•—

(Mentions of self harm)

My mother had been over working me to my limits. With no time off, not even weekends and very few sleeping hours, I was getting frustrated.