Recorded Dreams (A Percabeth AU)

63

Hello!

Left off the last chapter with Annabeth visiting her dad. This will continue from this:

Annabeth POV:

"Where all are you going on tour?" My dad asks me.

"Manhattan and Brooklyn. LA, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville, Austin, Boston, Denver," I list them off as I remember them. Apollo made the full schedule, but it was all in my planner at home. "And we're discussing a few international locations. Maybe London. I liked touring there."

"Helen couldn't make it to that show," my dad mentions.

"Oh that's right! She was sick! Maybe that's why that was such a good concert."

He gives a sad smile and looks down at his glass of wine glumly.

"Annabeth, really—"

"We don't need to talk about it, okay? I'm not here to discuss that bitch." He smiles, finally looking up from his wine glass. He switches the subject back to me and my work. Mainly architecture, as he knew that was what I loved to do.

"These are incredible!" He says as I show him blueprints. "You're just so talented. I'm so proud of you." He marvels at them for a moment longer.

We had never been a big touch-y family. We didn't do hugs. Not like Percy's family did. But at that moment, I wanted to launch myself into my dad's arms.

"Thank you," I say instead.

"Dad! Annabeth!" The boys call. They enter the kitchen, Percy in tow. Bobby holds Uno in his hands.

We eagerly join them in the game. Percy takes a seat next to me and pretends not to sneak glances at my cards. I get him back by saving every draw two and draw four that I get for just the right moment to use on him.

Of course, I win. Of course, Percy has about twenty cards in his hands by the end of it all.

"I'm not sitting here anymore!" Percy declares. Bobby begins shuffling the cards.

"Why don't you switch seats with my dad?" I ask.

"Okay. That sounds good." My dad chuckles as he stands. I now look at Percy on the other side of me, still oblivious as Bobby deals.

He looks cute sitting there, tapping the table, eager to start the game. I grab his fidgeting hand and smile. He smiles back and picks up his cards. From this angle, he couldn't even see mine.

The first card Matthew places is a reverse. He laughs when he does it, knowing that I could once again attack Percy with cards. I start off subtle, waiting for him to notice that the pattern still went me to him.

"Someone reverse it!" He cries as I use a skip on him, finally catching on.

"That was a weak card. Just wait til I get the good ones, Seaweed Brain." I smile innocently at him and he frowns.

"Please don't. I love you."

"Shut up or I'll place a reverse and use all my draw twos on you too," Matthew says. "I'm sick of all this ooey gooey I love you stuff."

I laugh at him and Percy pouts as I play a draw two on top of my father's. Begrudgingly, he draws four cards. The game continues and I win again.

Percy POV:

After a couple more rounds of Uno, which I would not like to discuss the results of, we decide to head home. We climb in the car as Jason calls me. He never calls me.

"Hello?"

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asks.

"I'm with Annabeth, coming from her dad's. Why?"

"Oh. I'm at your apartment. I need to talk to you. And Annabeth too, I guess. It might be good to get her insight."

I pause for a moment, unsure what Jason would ever possibly ask me about and why he was at my house. I hang up, promising to be there shortly. I flip on the radio and Annabeth rolls her eyes to see one of her songs on.

She laughs as I sing along though and decides to join in. Next is a song by Jess Bellinger.

"Maybe I should ask her to open for some of my shows," Annabeth says. She pulls out her phone to message Apollo, humming along to the catchy beat.

"What do you think Jason needs?" I ask Annabeth, as it had been nagging at me the whole ride.

"I don't know. But your mom would have called you if it were urgent." I nod in agreement.

We make it to the apartment. I find Jason sitting at Estelle's tea party table in a purple hat with a bow, listening intently to what she's saying. When he sees me, he smiles.

My mom lets Estelle hug Annabeth and I and then takes her to bed, leaving the three of us to talk.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Piper and I broke up." He doesn't seem sad, but instead, confused.

"I'm sorry, man."

Annabeth stays silent, trying to calculate things in her head.

"Why?" She finally asks.

He shrugs. "We're going to college in the fall anyways, so it's probably for the best. I just don't know what I did wrong."

"You're perfect, dude," I encourage. Annabeth rolls her eyes.

"I appreciate that a lot, bro. Annabeth, now it's your turn to tell me how imperfect I am." He turns to her, awaiting a response. Her eyebrows are scrunched.

"It's okay, no one's perfect, despite what Percy says. But what have you done recently?"

He throws his hands in the air. "That's what I'm trying to think of! We hung out nearly every day and went on two dinner dates. I was late picking her up by like five minutes on one of those but she's never worried about things like that." He puts his head in his hands.

"What's new in her life?" Annabeth investigates.

"Nothing crazy. Just college stuff, stress. She's been trying to plan what to bring to the dorm with her roommate, Gwen. She met with her and her friend, Shel, for coffee yesterday. We talked about it on the phone last night. She loved them, she wouldn't shut up about them. We met up today and she broke up with me. Said she's trying to figure her life out, whatever that means."

Annabeth hums, and I look back and forth at the two, pretending that I have any clue about why Piper would break up with Jason.

Eventually, Annabeth looks up and breaks the silence, "What's Piper's sexuality?"

Jason laughs, "I don't know, we never discussed it. Why?"

"Because when I first met her I thought there was no way she had a boyfriend. I figured that I was wrong—"

I cut in. "This might be the first time you've ever admitted that."

"You're saying my girlfriend is lesbian?" Jason raises an eyebrow

"Your ex-girlfriend," Annabeth corrects. Jason sighs. "She broke up with you because she's still questioning. I bet she likes either Shel or Gwen."

"At least you know you didn't mess up." I pay him on the back as he puts his head in his hands.

"How did I not know?" He asks. "I mean, we hung out all the time. She's like the one person I care the most about."

"She didn't even know, Jason. Don't worry about it."

Jason looks up with tears in his eyes. Annabeth and I both wrap him in a hug.

No clue where this chapter was heading where I started, but here we are. Hope you enjoyed.

Maybe I'll update again soon 🤷🏻‍♀️