Into the Clouds | Percabeth| Mortal AU

Chapter Two

Rachel gave Annabeth a ride home since their shifts ended at the same time. Annabeth waved goodbye and Rachel blew her a kiss. 

When she walked inside the warmth assaulted her skin but it felt nice. Bobby, her younger brother, came running up to her. 

"Beth! Lee Lee drawed a picture with me!" he beamed. "She's cooking dinner right now. We are having spasgetti," his first-grader voice babbled on. 

"That's awesome Little Dude!" 

Thalia met Annabeth by the door. "Dinner is being cooked. TV tonight?" she asked. 

Annabeth sighed. "For sure, I need a de-stressor after work today. God, I hate boys."

Thalia's eyebrows went up. "Oh?"

"Don't get your hopes up. I'm gonna shower then I'll be down for dinner, kay?"

Thalia nodded and walked back off towards her brothers. Bobby was still gushing about his drawing, and Matthew was reading a book. Annabeth's home life was definitely unusual. Her dad rarely comes around. Annabeth has custody of her brothers and was emancipated at 16. Mom was dead. She died right after the twins were born. 

Annabeth started walking down the hall to their bathroom. She turned the shower to hot and waited for it to heat up. She stared at herself in the mirror. The eyeliner from her eyes had worn off and it was smudged under her eyes. Her hair has gotten frizzy in its ponytail. She looked like shit. 

She undressed and got the shower. She leaned her head against the wall and attempted to sigh the stresses away. 

;;;

"How was work?" Thalia asked. 

The boys had gone to bed and Annabeth and Thalia were hanging out for a while before Annabeth did her homework. 

"Torturous. Percy Jackson came into the coffee shop and ordered a ridiculous drink that took me like 20 minutes to make. God, I hate him." Annabeth ranted. 

"He sounds like an ass," Thalia agreed. 

"That's because he is one."

"Obviously."

This went on for about 20 minutes. "I should get my homework done. Thank you so much for helping out." Annabeth sighed. 

Thalia smacked Annabeth's shoulder. "Dude! Stop thanking me. I would do this for you any day of the week, I'm your best friend. We've known each other for years, your like my sister." 

"Yes, but half of those years we hated each other's guts. You tried to kill me."

"Whatever, it's in the past." Thalia kissed Annabeth's cheeks. "Get some sleep, Love. You look like you need it."

"Gee, thanks." Annabeth laughed. 

After Thalia left, Annabeth opened her bottle of wine and sat down in the living room. 

Good thing I'm older than I look, thought Annabeth.  This is the one secret I can keep from Far Water. 

Annabeth lived in a tiny town in New York. One of those cliche towns where everyone knows everyone. There's no secrets in Far Water, but Annabeth is determined to keep hers.