Going Viral

Chapter 46

March 8th

Her flight isn't exactly early on Monday morning but the two of them don't roll out of bed until gone midday so she barely has time to grab an apple and glass of water before she has to say her goodbyes.

It's not a tearful goodbye, but it's certainly emotional. Annabeth had been looking forward to seeing him for weeks and flipping the pages of her diary as she counted down the days, but it was nice to think that the next time she saw him there would be no goodbye. The next time she saw him, the tour would be over. March 22nd couldn't come fast enough.

"Have a safe flight, call me when you land." He requests, arms wrapped around her tightly. "I love you."

Annabeth's insides melted as he pressed his lips to her ear to keep the words their secret. Ever since she had let the phrase fall out of her mouth on Saturday night, it's all they had been saying. 'Good morning, I love you.' 'I love you but, God, you're embarrassing sometimes.' 'You know I love you, right?' 'I love you, sleep well.' Her heart hadn't found a moment to settle back into it's regular rhythm with all of this love being thrown around. Every time he said it, shivers ran up her spine and the hairs on her arms stood on end, giving her goosebumps. None had affected her quite the way it did when it was whispered in her ear in the privacy of their hotel room when they laid together in the dark. It was meant for her to hear and only her. It wasn't something he was saying for the publicity and the media attention or for the many fan accounts that had donned a username including the word 'Percabeth', it was for her. He loved her.

It had been a while since anyone had told her that.

They part ways at the airport. Percy still has an hour or so to kill before their final performance in Sacramento, but there's a long night of travelling ahead of him on a crowded tour bus so he promises to take another nap before the show (Annabeth is almost proud of the way she'd worn him out, but she won't let anyone hear her admit that). Similarly, she planned to get a few minutes of shut-eye on the plane. Percy could sleep at the drop of a hat but it took her longer to settle so it was unlikely she'd benefit from it, though it was worth a shot. Sleep was a scarce thing for her so she needed to stock up while she had the chance. She might've gotten out of tonight's show but there was always tomorrows, and the ones after that.

Come to think of it, Annabeth hadn't been given a final show date. Apollo had warned her that she would likely be in the show for a few months just to boost ticket sales but no one had spoken to her about leaving. Though of course she's grateful for the extended run, the uncertainty of when it would end makes her worry.

She recorded a few moments of footage of her on the plane for a vlog but eventually she gave in to her drooping eyes and continuous yawning.

New York appeared in the plane window sooner than she had anticipated. Thankfully she had her sunglasses and cap easily accessible and was able to sneak through the airport to a cab without being spotted by the gaggle of teenagers that were gathered at the coffee shop in the arrivals wing. Luna yipped at her when she unlocked the door, tail thwacking against the door frame excitedly. When Annabeth had finally settled and made a cup of coffee to keep her eyes open, bags abandoned on the couch, her phone buzzed.

lesterpapadopoulos r u back in ny? i know ur not on 2nite but we have info

Wincing at his use of abbreviations, she typed back a reply confirming she was back in the city.

lesterpapadopoulos b @ the theatre 4 6:30? u can leave at 7 tho

Now that her plans for laid back evening and early night were out of the window, Annabeth decided it would do her some good to get her head down and work. There were several unedited videos uploaded on her laptop that she could make a start at.

She got to the part of the vlog where she and Percy were talking on the way to the corner store before she remembered about her mom. Before she'd left, Percy had given her a small, professional-looking business card which she now ran a thumb over, the calligraphy letters making her head ache as a reminder of her dyslexia.

Athena Poliouchos Architecture,
Elegant Greek-inspired designs to match your needs
Open 9-6 Monday to Thursday

A phone number was written innocently at the bottom, taunting Annabeth. Her mom was quite literally a phone call away. Perhaps it should've been a comforting thought but there was nothing comforting about it, the woman that was supposed to love and raise her that had done little more than give her her harsh, grey eyes was now expecting Annabeth to make the first move? Not a chance. Though she had yet to completely exhaust all of her options in her head, the chances of her wanting to reach out to her mother were quite slim. She had always harboured a little inkling of resentment for the woman she'd never met so she'd never had the desire to get in touch. But she'd never had the option before. Now she could make her own choice.

Did she really need her mother? The answer was obviously no, she was twenty-two and considered herself pretty successful, so no, she could cope perfectly well without her mother. There were people everywhere that an absent parent or two and so many of them were happy and had achieved their dreams. Everyone would have their own struggle, sure, but people didn't really need their parents. Did they?

Percy had done just fine without his dad, though his mom was a wonderful enough mother to make up for any lack of parental guidance. Piper's mom had never been around for her and her dad had been similar to Annabeth's own in his caring nature, so the two of them had done okay without a parent. Jason and his parents, Leo and Frank's dads, Hazel's parents, everyone had their struggles. Everyone she knew had a strained relationship with one of their parents. So it seemed that you could succeed without them. It's just a question of if Annabeth wanted to...

Don't get her wrong, she knew that Athena wouldn't saunter back into her life and braid her hair into pigtails for kindergarten and kiss her bruises better when she fell on her knees, but it might be nice to have a mother to talk to. Or it might prove to Athena that she really missed out by abandoning her daughter.

So, Annabeth was more than a little angry about it.

Her train of thought had drifted so far that when Annabeth glances at the time again, she's almost running late. She sorted herself out in record breaking speed and dashed of onto the familiar subway route to the theatre. Athena could wait another day.