The Stories of Our Heroes

One Year

Not entirely sure on the canon timeline for this, but that's not a strong suit in the PJO world anyway, so roll with me. It's pretty close!

"It won't happen again. Not this year." Sally's voice shook. She took a rattling breath. "It can't."

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed miserably, even though she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it. "It'll be fine." The calendar weighed a million pounds in her hand. She finally had an answer as to why she'd felt on edge all day. Her nightmare from earlier in the week came rushing back to her, the crushing loneliness in her chest now explained, even as a half-asleep Percy took her hand. The snowmen donning the freshly-turned December display seemed to smile cruelly up at her. "He'll be fine." Annabeth's chest was a ping ball machine, her heart bouncing around wildly. "We'll be fine." Slipping from her clammy hands, the calendar landed on the kitchen floor with a loud smack. Sally flinched, but Annabeth barely even noticed. Her thoughts were slipping away to last December when her whole world fell apart. When she woke up the morning of December 12th, filled with dread. When she ran to the Poseidon cabin, knowing something was wrong, and finding an empty bed.

"Everything alright?" Paul's voice pulled her back to the present as he walked into the room. "What was that noise?"

"Um," Annabeth mumbled, trying to regain her composure, "sorry, I just dropped this." She knelt to pick up the horrible reminder, fully intending to stand back up, but her body betrayed her. She ended up on her knees, palms flat to the floor, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she muttered again, but she wasn't sure what the apology was for. Dropping the calendar? Sulking on the ground? Or possibly for letting Percy slip through her fingers a year ago, for not finding him in time to celebrate Christmas with his family?

"Honey, it's okay," Sally promised, letting herself sink to the ground as well, albeit a bit awkwardly due to her pregnant belly. "Gods, honey, it's okay, don't apologize."

Paul also joined the sniffling pile, tucking the two of them in his arms. Annabeth knew he now understood without an explanation; they had spent plenty of evenings together like this a year ago.  She tried to focus on Sally and Paul's warm embrace, not on her rising panic. The tell-tale symptoms of an episode were starting to close in on her, and that was the last thing Annabeth needed to bring on Percy's poor parents right now. They were probably dealing with their own emotions as the anniversary of their son's disappearance drew painfully close. So, Annabeth attempted to take deep breaths and slow her racing heart, ignoring the crushing sensation on her lungs, willing feeling to flood back into her fingers. Paul noticed her discomfort and gently rubbed her back. Annabeth appreciated the gesture endlessly, but she knew only one person would be able to successfully help her calm down.

"When - when will he be home?" She asked weakly.

Sally answered while absently running a hand across her stomach, "Soon. Practice ended a few minutes ago." Annabeth vaguely wondered if the baby was squirming around and kicking, sensing its mother's year-old despair.

"May I?" Annabeth hovered her hand over the baby bump. Sally nodded emphatically, pressing Annabeth's palm to a certain spot. She instantly felt tiny kicks, and the sensation soothed her. She recalled the first time Percy felt his little sister kick and the absolute joy and love that lit up his face. The endearing thought distracted her enough to allow her vision to clear and her body to feel more grounded. Now, only if she could recover enough that Percy would never know anything happened.

———

Percy knew something happened. The whole day had been weird enough. He felt the need to look over his shoulder every time he sat down in school, and it hadn't helped that Annabeth appeared as paranoid as he felt. The way her eyes repeatedly scanned the cafeteria, like she was searching for someone, made him nervous. Then, he couldn't shake the uneasiness that resided in his stomach all of basketball practice. A sense of dread began to creep up to his throat on the way home. All of this was only confirmed when he walked into his apartment and it took approximately three seconds to see that something was off with his parents. His mom greeted him instantly, a forced smile on her face and a tense look in her eye.