What Happened After Happily Ever After

#1 - When Did We Get Here?

Chapter 1 - When Did We Get Here?
published: Wednesday, 30 December 2020

...87 members in total were arrested with ties to the aforementioned crime families, prosecuted under claims ranging from battery and assault to aiding and abetting kidnappings-

Annabeth shook her head.

Every single word she was reading off the screen of her laptop was going in one ear and out the other. Focus was especially elusive today, and she'd read the same sentence about five times today.

The pan on the stove sizzled.

She glanced up. Percy stood by the kitchen island, expertly mixing the lobster bisque together. The orange colour was so vibrant and mouth-watering it made Annabeth want to punch a wall.

Add that to the list of "Things Percy can do and Annabeth can't" - cooking.

The oil sizzled and jumped. Annabeth bit back a 'would you stop that'. She couldn't exactly tell him to stop because she'd been bugging him to take over dinner duties this week so she could work on her new case.

It had taken far too much begging and a heated argument for him to finally relent. That was the problem with Percy.

So many things about him ticked her off. Obviously, that wasn't a good thing to think about someone you'd been married to for-for almost 5 years. Wow. She hadn't realised it had been that long.

3 months after Annabeth met Percy, he proposed. It wasn't as much of the whirlwind-romance it sounded like. The proposal had happened in the middle of an argument - a screaming match, to be specific - when Percy demanded why she had to be so stubborn, and Annabeth retorted that he should leave before he got stuck with her, and Percy said that he wished he'd be stuck with her for the rest of his life.

And then, bam, another 3 months later they were married in a small ceremony in a pavilion on Long Island. Annabeth met Percy's mother for the first time at the wedding. Sally was a dream.

That was the thing about Percy, though. He annoyed her, yes, he always had, but it had always been in an endearing way because he was just so damn perfect she couldn't ignore it.

Perfect Percy, that was her friend Piper's nickname for him. Absolutely gorgeous - dark hair, sparkling green eyes and a grin that made Annabeth melt inside. Hard-working and determined - he was a marine biologist and researcher at NYU. Respectful - always held the door open for her when she got into the car. Kind - she'd seen him befriend every dog he came across.

And Annabeth kept a list of all those things in a nook in her brain, titled "Reasons I'm Still Here" - the List.

Because the deep, dark truth was that, despite how perfect Percy was, Annabeth just wasn't...well, she simply wasn't in love with him anymore.

It wasn't like she hated him. Annabeth loved Percy, of course, she did. She was his wife; it was kind of her job. But it was 75% obligatory, and sort of like white noise that had faded into the background and didn't really come into play with other aspects of her life.

They climbed into the same bed every night; Annabeth had her side of the bed and he had his (it was strewn with pictures of his mother and step-dad, a messy heap of his own belongings including his keys and wallet, and a packet of crisps). They shared a bank account, shared life insurance, took turns driving the car. They had date night once a month - a habit Annabeth had insisted they keep.

But she just wasn't as in love as she should be. There had been a time where Annabeth would brighten up just from being in the same room as Percy. Her father used to describe her as a sunflower who had been kept in a cupboard all night finally being placed out in a garden. Annabeth now imagined herself as a sunflower that wilted because it didn't have enough water.