Come Back to Me[Sequel to YME and Crossing Paths]

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Extra Lettuce

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Extra Lettuce

Rachel

After Percy called me to tell me that Annie could come, I went straight to cleaning. I'm going to be honest–my apartment is a fucking mess. I'd only lived here for a couple of months, getting back on my feet.

After the divorce, I started drinking more, and after I moved to London, it only got worse. I loved Annie so much, but I couldn't stop drinking, the awful decisions. When she left, I dug myself deeper and deeper into this hole I'd made for myself. Last year, around Halloween, I'd decided to move back to the US so I could sober up. These months have been hard, no doubt, but I was so glad I could finally see my daughter again.

•••
Later that day, I heard knocking on the front door. I rushed to see who it was. Annie was standing there, looking nervous. She looked so much older than when I last saw her. Much more grown up, as well. I opened the door, softly smiling.

"Hey, kiddo,"

"Hey..."

"Want to come in?"

"I mean that's why I came, so yeah." she grinned.

Once I'd shown her around, we sat at the kitchen counter.

"So, Annie, what have you been up to lately?" I asked. I was expecting something short, such as 'not much' or 'we've been kinda busy'. Instead, she launched into a detailed explanation of everything that had happened since I'd last seen her.

"So a lot has happened...at the beginning of the school year I got a teacher kicked out on the first day. She was really mean, so she deserved it. Then Annabeth came back from Greece for a while and then she left again because her boyfriend was an ass. Can I swear in front of you? Annabeth and Dad swear in front of me sometimes so I know a lot of cuss words. We moved into an apartment because it was just the three of us, but then Dad ran into Rosie, she's my best friend and Annabeth's daughter. I'm pretty sure we are going to move into a house soon though because we don't have a guest room and now people can't come stay with us. Oh, and Naiomi is awesome, she's Nico and Will's daughter. Jonas is pretty cool, but he can't really talk yet so he's not a lot of fun to be around him." she paused to breathe, then kept talking. "It's almost the end of the school year. We end in May. I'm excited for that. I heard Dad and Annabeth talking about how we might go to Greece with Will, Nico, Naiomi, Jason, Jonas, and Piper. I think that's about it." Annie finished.

I was speechless. I was also jealous. Annabeth had become more of a mother figure to my daughter than I was. I suppose I deserved it but...I couldn't help the jealousy boiling in my gut.

"That's...a lot." I said. "Wait, you said that your dad 'found' Annabeth's daughter. What's that mean?"

"Oh, right! Her dad, Luke, kidnapped her two Christmasas ago."

The jealousy evaporated a bit. "That must've been hard,"

"Yeah." Annie sighed. "Rosie is my best friend. When she came back...I kept on waking up thinking she would be gone–that it was all a dream."

I nodded slowly. "When I was younger, there was a huge fight at my school. One of the guys involved was my best friend. I watched him die. I get what you felt."

Annie's eyes widened. "That's awful,"

"It is what it is, kiddo. Changing subjects...I need you to be honest with me,"

"Mk?"

"I want to know how you feel about me." I said. "Don't sugarcoat it."

She thought for a moment. "I mean, after the stuff that happened in London I was pretty mad at you, and I wasn't too keen on going back to see you. That was a while ago, though, so when Dad told me that you wanted to see me, I was fine with it. I'm glad we got to see each other. If there's anything I've learned in my short life, people change." She looked down at her hands. "Besides, you are my mom. No matter how mad I get at you, most of the time I'll still love you."

I smiled happily. "I'm so glad you are here, Annie."

"Me too, Mom."

•••

"Can I have extra lettuce in my taco, please?" Annie asked me.

"Yeah, of course." I took out the bag of shredded lettuce and piled it on Annie's taco. "This enough?"

"Moreee," she stretched out the word. I laughed, and sprinkled a little bit more on top.

"Any more and it will start falling off." I warned her.

"Good,"

Many lettuce tacos were eaten in that half-hour. We'd just finished cleaning up when someone-most likely Percy-knocked at the door.

As I'd expected, Percy was standing there awkwardly. "Hey," I said.

"Hey...are you two ready or should I come back later?" he asked.

"No, we just finished eating. Come in." Percy followed me. I wasn't touching him, but I could tell he tensed up as soon as we were inside. "Chill, I'm not going to bite."

"Debatable," he chuckled. "How'd it go?"

"Good," I said.

Annie walked out of the kitchen with her bag. "Hi, Dad!"

"Hey, sweetie. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah," she said, looking up at the ceiling. "That's a cool pattern."

I looked up, "Thanks."

"Are you ready to go, Annie?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Alright. Go get your shoes on, I need to talk to your mom." As soon as she was gone Percy turned to me.

"Nothing bad happened?"

"Nothing. I swear. We just talked and ate tacos." I answered.

"Good. I'll ask Annie if she want's to set up a regular time to see you."

"Thanks, Percy."

Annie walked back to us. "I'm ready."
"Okay," Percy turned to me, "I'll get back to you soon,"

•••

It's been really hot these past few days

Also I just wanted to say hi

Yoink