The Bread Thief | Percabeth | Victorian Era AU

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊: 𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖑𝖊𝖓 𝕭𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉

"I just hate, hate that everyone expects me to be this mindless hedge whore," Annabeth rants. "I'm not saying all whores are hedge whores. Those girls work for their money, but it's just not me."

Percy sighs. "This era sucks. I'm lucky I haven't been stuck in a workhouse yet."

Annabeth scoffs. "It's not like working for my dad is any different."

"It is though," Percy says, taking a bite from his bread and shoving it in his mouth. "I am paying off my debt, I'll be allowed to leave once my six months are finished."

Annabeth stares at the ground wondering if she should tell Percy what her father does every night when he is allowed to leave. She can't risk getting hung. Betrayal was something taken seriously in the Chase's house. She fiddles with her bread and cheese.

"What's going on with you?" Percy asks. "You've had your head in the clouds this whole conversation."

"You can't leave," Annabeth mumbles, betraying her father.

"What do you mean?"

She sighs and rearranges herself on her milk crate. "Every night when you leave our house, Frederick erases a mark from your board, yes? To say you've completed another day?"

Percy nods. "Yes, I watch him do it."

"Well," Annabeth says, "since you never made him swear an oath, he can technically do whatever he wishes with that board after you leave our house."

His eyebrows pinch together. "What are you saying?" he asks.

She makes contact with her friend. "What I'm trying to say is that every time you leave our house, he rewrites the mark on the board. He only leaves the mark off enough times that you won't notice it isn't decreasing." Annabeth pauses. "You're stuck working in our house until Frederick gets bored of you, and if he knows you know, he'll blame me, and he will have me hung the next morning."

Percy doesn't say anything for a while. The two teenagers just sit in silence. Annabeth can't tell if Percy is upset with her for not telling him sooner or seething because Frederick has been messing with him this whole time. Maybe both, but the thought of losing Percy scares Annabeth. She hates her life, the only time of day she actually looks forward to is when she gets to meet up with Percy behind the gentleman's club.

The wedding date is coming closer and closer. It was adomania. Annabeth can't find any more excuses to push the date further and further away from her. She wants for than anything to be free of her father's harsh words, but she doesn't want Luke either. She wants to be a normal commoner looking for food and running around on the pier stealing from merchants like when she was a girl. She has so many responsibilities, it's exhausting.

"I'm not upset with you," Percy finally says, even though he still won't look at Annabeth. "You couldn't tell me. Knowing you, you've been thinking about this since you found out. You have always had a kind heart and wanted everyone to be treated the same no matter what they had, or what they didn't."

Percy stands up and holds out his hands for Annabeth to take. She does, and he pulls her to her feet. He kissed the back of her hand.

Annabeth feels a sudden and strange tension in the air between them. There is this wall between them that completely separates them from being able to understand each other. They can talk for hours, and they fit together so easily, but there's this wall right there. Percy is a commoner, and Annabeth is the daughter of the head of the Magistrates.

They can't, and never will be, totally together.

"Goodbye, Annabeth," Percy says, backing away from her. "I should get going."

Annabeth nods and forces a smile onto her face. "Of course, as do I." She turns and hikes back up the hill that leads to her house. She climbs the long pipe that runs up to her window, and crawls in, being completely silent.

Kayla appears in her room a few moments later to help Annabeth prepare for bed. "How can I help you, Ms Chase?"

Annabeth sighs but doesn't correct her. "I would love some tea and biscuits," she says softly. "It's been a very long day." She tries not to show it, but she still feels some disdain for Kayla after she so openly spoke that she agreed with everyone that not all were equals.

Of course, not everyone was equal, but it wasn't their sexual preferences or gender that determined it. It was how hard they worked. It wasn't what they did, but how they did it.

She likes to think of Percy as her equal. He was a commoner but he works harder than Frederick.

She, of course, expects him to run. He knows he will never leave this awful house, so why come back? He won't. Annabeth convinces herself of that before changing climbing under her blankets.

The next morning, Annabeth wears her loose, white dress. It's pure comfort and has no style to it. It has always been her favourite.

"Good morning, Annabeth," her father says as she walks into the kitchen. "How have you been."

"Just fine," she says quietly. "What's going on?" she asks when she realises how intently her father is staring at a piece of paper. She wanders over and sees a sketch of a boy with messy hair and commoner's clothes. "Is that Percy?" she asks when she realises it's a wanted poster.

"Yes," her father replied grimly. "A merchant counted his cheese and bread and it has been missing for weeks. Someone said they saw him steal some food before disappearing into the shadows of the gentlemen's club in town. There's a warrant for his arrest and he will be put on trial again, yet there's no doubt he will be hanged since this has happened before."

"You can't hang him!" Annabeth bursts without thinking. "I mean... He's our houseboy. Don't we need him?" she asks.

Her father sighs. "I know you are fond of the boy, but he cannot go unpunished for his crimes."

"What if they aren't his crimes?" she asks, then immediately curses herself for speaking.

"What do you mean by that?" he snaps. "Do you know anything?"

Annabeth sighs. "Of course not. I'm just simply suggesting that maybe we shouldn't take the word of just anyone."

Her father smiles. "Well you're in luck," he says. "I'm not trusting the word of just anyone. I am trusting Luke's word."

Annabeth feels the word sucker punch her in the gut. "Luke told you?" she asks, struggling to remain neutral.

If Luke is the one who said he saw Percy steal bread, that must mean he knows about them meeting every night since Percy didn't steal that bread. Annabeth did.

"Of course," her father says. "Do you have a problem with that? I know it's hard to know the truth about someone that you were friends with, but at least now you know the truth."

Annabeth nods. "Yeah, at least," she mutters.