Falling for You (A Percabeth AU)

Chapter Twenty

I burrow myself in my room until we are called down for dinner at 6:15. Later than usual, probably because Helen has to figure out how to make something edible for my father's arrival.
The tension in the kitchen as I enter could be cut with a knife. I take my place at the table without acknowledging the arrival of anybody new. I avoid eye contact through dinner. Attempts at casual conversation are made, but I let it float around me.  The table jolts as two hands slam down around a plate, bringing me out of my daze.

"Dammit Annabeth, would you just listen to me for once?"

That's certainly a wake up call.  The first thing I hear my father say to me, and he's already angry.

Figures.

"I don't know, would you like to be an actual father to me for once?" I fire back. Helen gasps, and tells the boys to go upstairs. I know this will be serious, but I'm done.  I'm suddenly filled with a rage unlike anything I've felt before.

I'm... done.

Simple as that.

No more putting up with their bullshit, their yelling, their anger. I won't do it. I won't. 

My father's chair creaks violently against the floor as he stands and walks over to my seat. I get up and face him, grey eyes meeting blue. I know my gaze is steely, from my mother. I wonder if he notices, too.

"You are not to speak to your father like that, Annabeth," he says. I see his hands clench into fists at his sides.

"Good thing you're nothing of the sort," I retort.

"How dare you-"

A cold laugh escapes me.

"How dare I? How dare I?? You have been nothing but neglectful for the entirety of my existence! You have never, once, told me that you are proud of me, that you care about me, hell, you've never said you loved me! You stood by while this, this-" I gestured wildly in the direction of my stepmother, frozen half-stood up from her seat in shock, eyes wide. "-this sorry excuse for a human being yell at me and treat me like a piece of shit for- for too long." My voice is definitely shaking now, but I don't care. I look my father dead in the eyes, stepping even closer. He stumbles back, visibly shocked. "And I. Am fucking. Sick of it," I say. I take one more fake step forward, like I did with the guy this morning, and watch him stumble to the ground. Pathetic.
Then reality sets in.

Helen begins to come out of her trance, eyes darting between me and my father, who is still frozen on the ground. I bolt to my room, gathering anything I can think to grab- my phone, a portable charger, a shirt, a pair of jeans, my headphones, a hairbrush, my school laptop- frantically attempting to shove it all into a backpack before I hear steps outside.

I rush to lock my door before looking around my room. My back is to the door, and I can feel Helen's pounding reverberate through my bones. It's likely a matter of seconds before she breaks the door down herself. I scan my room, looking for anything, any kind of escape.

My eyes catch my window.

The fire escape.

I rush to open the window as my door begins to shake. Helen must be using some sort of hammer to break it down. My fingers fumble with the sill, but I wrench my window open, dropping to the fire escape below. I fly down, down, down, before finally dropping to the pavement below. I don't bother to look up as I sprint down the street as Helen's screams echo through my ears. 

It's close to 7 when I stop running. I take in my surroundings, unsure of where to go from here. In my rush, I had forgotten to take my metro pass. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I scold myself mentally.
I look around hopelessly, no idea of where to go. The only thing I was certain of was that I would not be returning to that house.

Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

Think, Annabeth, think. 

Suddenly, it hits me.

Percy.

I fumble in my pocket for my phone, trying not to drop any of the belongings I haphazardly grabbed when making my escape.  Percy had his location shared with me on Snapmaps. And it's hardly a mile from where I am. 

I send a silent prayer up to whoever would listen. Thank you.

It doesn't even register that showing up uninvited at somebody's doorstep whose home you've never been to before but found on Snapchat at 7pm is probably not the sanest thing I could be doing, but I'm out of ideas. And Percy is about the only person I can think of turning to at this point. 

So, I make my way to the apartment building, and find his room number through an old directory on the lobby floor.

On my way up the stairs, I begin to seriously question this decision, but suppose it's too late to turn back now. I also really hope that Percy would be home alone, because explaining this situation to his parents seems like an absolute nightmare.  I try to gather myself, pushing back sobs that threaten to break my usual demeanor.  You're not going to cry, I tell myself.  Don't fucking do it. So, when I finally reach his door, I pull myself together, raise my fist, and knock.
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TO BE CONTINUED

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hehehehe sorry to leave y'all on such a cliffhanger... actually that's a lie lol
anyway uh i may or may not release the next chapter early if we hit 45k reads 👀👀 but hope you all enjoyed! make sure to tune in for chapter 21 because boy it's going to be FUN.
if y'all care ab my personal life, got some exciting shit lined up, which is really cool. some incredible opportunities and just a generally exciting time, although this time in the world is pretty insane. thanks again for the reads, really means more than you can imagine. love all of you, and please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter!
love y'all
- L (author)