The Aftermath

Cold.

The water had never felt cold to Percy. But it sure did now.

And yet, the water was the only presence around Percy that was welcoming and "warm," in that sense.

He forced his head under, soaking his pitch black hair and trying to get the horribly vivid memory out of his head. But like a stubborn stain on his mind, the memory wouldn't simply wash off. Annoyingly, it was the only thing that was not leaving him alone.

He remembered walking into his new apartment, a bouquet of roses behind his back and a diamond ring in his pocket.

He remembered how it felt to smile. The last smile he would have for a long time. Then, he saw her. She wasn't alone.

He ripped his head from the water, gasping for air. The water had never suffocated him before either, but with all the tears in his eyes, he couldn't breathe. The memory was choking him.

"Think!" he muttered to himself, his teeth chattering, "you have to think!"

You never had to think before, a voice in his head said, she was always the brains of the operation.

"SHUT UP!" He screamed, and a tidal wave crashed over his head.

He remembered that she had been wrapped lovingly in their bed sheets, beautifully naked as she kissed another man.

He didn't remember dropping the vase of roses, but she flinched when the glass shattered on the floor.

He started thrashing, causing the waves to be violent. The wind whipped through his hair, and he screamed in rage as he brought both of his fists down on the icy water with an ear-shattering BOOM!

Underneath him, the waves parted, forming a perfect circle. Then, after the initial shock, the waves pushed outwards like a tsunami, bombarding the shore. Percy felt the earth beneath his feet tremble, fearful of his rage.

Then, he remembered a different voice in his head.

"Percy? Wait, what? No, Percy," she had said, quivering on their bed, on HIS bed, "it's not what it looks like, I swear!"

But he remembered all that he had seen, and he had seen all he needed to.

Funny how his world ended on September 11th. Ironic that he was from New York City.

He remembered saying, "Annabeth, I tried to love you the best I could. I went to Hell and back for you, I gave you my life. What I couldn't do, I tried to, and even if I wasn't perfect, I gave you my all. I thought you respected that. Apparently not."

He remembered just walking out, and she had jumped up from the bed, still naked.

He remembered her pleading with him, grabbing shoulder in a useless attempt to get him to listen.

That brought him back to the present. The waves died around him, and the perfect circle of now dry sand was once again covered in sea water as the tsunami him inside receded.

Percy felt his shoulder, trying to feel her hand on his jacket. But it wasn't there anymore. Percy sank to his knees and started crying as he replayed what had happened on that fateful night.

As he dropped onto his face, still kneeling in the water, something else new happened. The saltwater stung his open eyes, adding to the pain. He tried to look around, but felt lost in his own element. Lost without her. He felt limp without the support of his one and only Wise Girl.

When the lifeguards found him, he had been floating in the water for 17 hours, face-down in the calm waves. They dragged his hopeless body, fully clothed in a tuxedo, out of the water, and were amazed to find that he was still alive.

But he didn't want to be alive. He had hoped with all his heart that his father would take pity on him and drown him. But, no such luck. The lifeguards thought it was a miracle, Percy thought it was a sick joke.

But still, he stood up shakily on the sand and walked away from the lifeguards without a word. When they tried to stop him, he incapacitated both of them. He only cared about their lives enough not to kill them. Then, he headed for the highway. He planned to throw himself in front of something.

Athena, he said to himself, I guess you were right. Maybe I'll get a random car to complete your wishes.

Suddenly, an Iris-Message appeared in front of the demigod. He looked up bleary-eyed, and was about to swipe through the message when the face looking at him stopped Percy in his tracks.

It was his mother. Sally Jackson's blue eyes glinted with a sense of sadness only Percy could understand. That was the final straw. Percy couldn't take the way his mother was looking at him. He just cried. He cried and cried and cried and cried until finally, his mother murmured,

"Percy, where are you, honey? I'll come pick you up."

He stopped crying long enough to croak, "Where do you think I am? I'm at Montauk."

He remembered the first time he had taken Annabeth to that beach, after the war with Gaea.

He remembered thinking about how amazing their lives were going to be; how in love they would be for years to come.

"I'll be there as fast as I can," she responded, and then swiped through the message reluctantly, not wanting to leave her son alone.

He seemed to wait for an eternity, and yet only a moment. The next thing he knew, she was kneeling over him, and he closed his eyes as tight as he could as she kissed his forehead, his eyelids squeezing out the last of the tears.

I can't cry any more, Percy told himself, It's just not possible.

They were silent all the way other apartment, and when they got there, Percy just slumped onto the couch. His mother offered him some blue food, and Percy almost laughed. He was definitely feeling blue right now.

"Do you want to talk about it?" His mom asked after a while.

Percy wanted to refuse, to go back into hiding, to go back to the water. But he couldn't. He had to let go. That was the saddest part. He realized that after all those years, he was now having to let go of her.

"She cheated, Mom," he said, his eyes stuck in the memory, a million miles away, "she was with another man, in our bed."

As the words came out, silent tears rolled down his cheeks as he relived that horrible night.

"I..." Percy started, and then choked up. Sally went over and hugged her son, crying almost as hard as he was. Annabeth had been like a daughter to her.

Not anymore.

"It's okay, Percy, just let it out," she said shakily, trying to hold it together for her son.

"I was going to propose to her that night, Mom," he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear, "she was going to be my wife. We were going to have kids, our own house, a whole life."

He realized how much that he still wanted that, still wouldn't give up on her for that. He realized that he was so disappointed in her. She had aced every test life had given her. But now, she had failed on the worst night ever.

"I was ready for that!" Percy screamed, "And she failed me! I was READY!"

He sank to his knees and started crying again, the tears hot from the rage and endless from the melancholy. His mom hugged his shoulders and handed him over to Paul, who brought him in close.

Then, there was a knock on the door. Sally got up and wiped the tears from her eyes, breathing in deeply to calm herself as she walked to the door. Before she answered it, she motioned for Paul to take Percy to his room.

But Percy didn't want to move. He wanted to see who was at the door. A small voice in his head told him that Annabeth would be behind that door. But why did he even want to see her? To hear her apology? No, that wouldn't be enough, not for what she had done.

Besides, he thought, She probably wouldn't even care about me anymore. If she was behind that door, she was probably here to make it official. To fully leave me alone.

Paul tried to guide him away from the door, but Percy stood firm. His mother saw that he wasn't budging, and opened the door.

But Annabeth Chase wasn't behind the door. It was just the postman. Percy realized that that was the ultimate insult. Annabeth didn't even want to see him to apologize.

"Here's the mail, Mrs. Jackson," he said with a smile. She took the envelopes with a small "Thank you," and was about to close the door when someone else rushed in.

"Percy!" She said, and he turned immediately at the sound of her broken voice.

There she was. And Percy was utterly shocked at how she looked. Her shoes were mud-stained, her jeans were dirty, and her orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt was wrinkled and had a piece of ripped Kleenex stuck to her collar.

But the worst part was her face. Her nose was red from blowing into tissues too often, her hair was messed up, and her eyes, those beautiful storm-grey eyes that Percy had come to love more than anything, were surrounded by red veins. She looked rabid.

But Percy couldn't even look at her. He just reached into his pocket and took out the diamond ring, holding it up for her to see. She realized what it was, and started tearing up, unable to move.

Paul had moved away from him and was watching the scene unfold right next to Percy. Sally had closed the door and was still clutching the clump of envelopes. But she looked like she didn't even know they were there.

"Worthless," Percy said, dropping the ring silently onto the carpet. Then he turned his back on her, walked to his room and locked the door, rubbing his head from the headache that was developing.

Notes

So, this started out as a one-shot, and here it is. I thought I'd develop it a bit more. ALSO: This thing is going off of the fact that Percy was born on August 18th, 1993. So, he'd be 21 (barely) at the date in the description.

Enjoy,
Grafon