Troubled

time skip--four years
chapter ninety
annabeth

"It's cold out there," Percy commented as she ushered me into Sally's apartment building. He shivered as he shut the door behind us.

It was a cool, crisp evening in New York. Whatever had remained of summer was now truly gone, but that was to be expected in November.

I slipped Percy's jacket which he'd given me off my shoulders and reluctantly handed it back to him. He draped the jacket over his arm and offered me his hand as we climbed the stairs to reach Sally's apartment.

"You ready?" Percy asked me as we both abruptly stopped at Sally's apartment door. His hand quickly found mine as we laced our freezing fingers together.

I nodded, turning to look at Percy. "It's babysitting Estelle, I'm sure it'll be fine. We've done this, what, hundreds of times?"

Percy chuckled nervously and nodded, still staring straight ahead at the door. "Yeah, you're right. Anyways, I just hope my mom and Paul will be home in time for us to make our dinner reservation."

"We can always cancel it," I responded, and Percy made a sound like he was choking. "Percy, are you feeling alright? I'd hate to get Estelle sick...."

"No, I feel fine," Percy assured her, winking at her. "Just a little cold and tired. I'm fine, I promise you."

I raised an eyebrow but decided to let whatever was on his mind go as to not ruin our evening. "So, shall we knock or do you wanna stand out here for a couple more minutes in this freezing hallway?"

"Ha ha, very funny, Chase," he said sarcastically as he dropped my hand to knock. "I hope my mom made blue cookies..."

Before I could respond the door swung open to reveal Sally. I felt warm air and the smell of cookies as we walked inside.

"Percy! Annabeth!" Sally greeted as she pulled each of us into a surprisingly bone-crushing hug. She ushered towards the kitchen and for us to follow her. "Come on in, I made a batch of blue cookies. They're just out of the oven, exactly the way you like them."

"Yes!" Percy whispered, a grin appearing on his face. We followed Sally to the kitchen where a platter of blue cookies sat awaiting us.

Percy instantly grabbed several blue cookies and started munching on them, causing me to playfully roll my eyes. Percy just shrugged as he downed another blue cookies.

"How are you, Annabeth?" Sally asked as she approached me, a warm smile on her face. She was wearing a nice, dark green sweater and black dress pants. Her graying hair was curled and pinned back and she had several bracelets on her wrist along with her wedding ring. "How's everything at work?"

"Well, I don't want to bore you with architecture," I said with a light laugh, "but everything's going great. I've just become head of a new project, we're going to be building a banking headquarters."

Sally instantly pulled me into another hug, which caused me to grin. "That's great, dear! And don't worry, you'll never bore me with that type of stuff, I'm married to Paul, after all!"

Before I could respond a streak of unruly brown hair rushed into the room and instantly hugged my legs. I grinned as I reached for Estelle, pulling her into a hug.

"Hey, Estelle!" I greeted as I pulled her close to me. "How's my favorite?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Percy interjected, earning an eye roll from me. "Now, Estelle, why do you always run to Annabeth first? I'm your own brother!"

Estelle shrugged as she held onto me tighter. "I like Annabeth better."

Percy gasped, clearly shocked. "Wow, my own sister likes my girlfriend better than me. I'm hurt."

Estelle stuck her tongue out at Percy. "Let me paint your nails and I'll like you more."

"Alright, well, we should be going," Paul interrupted as he entered the room. He was peering at the watch on his wrist. "Our reservation is in ten minutes. Ok? Percy and Annabeth! It's nice to see you two again."

"It's nice to see you again, too, Paul," I said as we shook hands. Paul nodded at Percy, who was still upset about being Estelle's second favorite. "We'll take good care of Estelle, we promise."

"Yeah, we will, even though she likes me second best," Percy said with a frown as he pulled Estelle into his arms.

She giggled. "Let me do your nails then! And your makeup. I'll make you look pretty."

Sally laughed and planted a kiss on Estelle's cheek. Then she pulled me and Percy into another hug. Paul followed her example with Estelle and simply nodded at us.

"See you all later," Paul said as he placed a hand on Sally. "We'll be back in an hour, hour and a half tops."

"Call is if you need anything," Sally said. She gave Estelle one last kiss before rushing out the door with Paul.

"Now, can I make you look pretty, Percy?" Estelle asked, batting her eyelashes up at him. "Pleeeeease! Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Percy sighed and reluctantly nodded. Estelle giggled and pulled Percy towards her room by the hand. "Am I not pretty already?"

"I'll start on dinner," I shouted down the hall as Percy and Estelle disappeared into her room.

Sally had left us her famous blue mac and cheese, which also happened to be Estelle's favorite. I started to heat up the mac and cheese as I heard giggling from Estelle's room.

Once the mac and cheese was done I headed down the hallway where Percy and Estelle were.

"Food's ready!" I called, my voice faltering. "Come eat dinner."

The door opened and Estelle rushed out, clearly forgetting about her conversation with Percy. Percy grinned nervously at me as he took my hand in his.

Percy's face was caked with little-kid makeup. He wore bright blue eyeshadow and showed me his blue painted nails.

"You look very pretty," I commented, trying my best to contain my laughter. "I really love the eyeshadow."

"Yeah, yeah. The food looks great," he told me as he planted a kiss on my cheek. "Now let's eat."

The rest of the night went by in a blur. Percy washed the dishes as Estelle painted my nails for me, claiming I needed them done for a special event. Then we watched Finding Nemo and Sally called us to check in several times.

"We're on our way home, but traffic is terrible," Sally groaned over the phone. Lots of cars beeping and honking was easily heard in the background. "I'm so sorry to keep you guys like this, Percy told me you two had plans...."

"Don't worry," I assured Sally as I peered down at Estelle, who was calmly watching the movie. "I'll just cancel our reservation, we can always make a new one."

Sally sighed. "I'm sorry, I feel so bad about this. And I know I rushed you to babysit tonight even though you were busy. Can I pay for your next meal, or—?"

"Sally, your kindness is enough," I replied. She laughed lightly. "Get home safe, we'll be here."

Sally talked to Estelle briefly before saying her goodbyes and hanging up. Estelle, now wide awake, peered at me, giggling evilly.

"I'm gonna go get some popcorn," Percy said as he stood up and stretched before heading to the kitchen. "I wonder if I can make it blue...."

"So...." Estelle said with a giggle. "When are you and Percy gonna get married?"

A small smile appeared on face along with a slight blush. "I don't know, Stella. Shouldn't you be watching the movie?"

Estelle ignored my last comment and trudged on. "When is Percy gonna propose? Soon?"

"You'd have to ask Percy that," I told her with a wink. "Now, you don't want to miss Finding Nemo, would you?"

Estelle shrugged and waved away the television. "I've already seen it loads of time."

"What'd I miss?" Percy asked as he returned to the living room, a bowl full of miraculously blue popcorn in his hands.

"When are you gonna marry Annabeth?" Estelle burst out before I could stop her. "And when are you having kids? I want someone to play with...."

"M-marriage? K-kids?" Percy sputtered at Estelle, nearly choking on his popcorn. He nearly dropped the bowl.

Estelle nodded. "Yeah! I wanna be a flower girl. And be an aunt!"

Percy lightly put the popcorn bowl down and gently pat Estelle's head. "Not right now, Stella, but when we do get engaged, you'll be the first to know."

"Then can I plan your wedding?" she begged. "Pleeeeeeease! I'll make everything blue, you'll love it!"

I laughed and pulled Estelle into my arms. "Of course, Estelle. Oh, Percy, I cancelled our reservation. Paul and Sally got stuck in traffic."

Percy's face dropped. "Wait, what? Why? Could you make another one? Soon, preferably—"

"Calm down, we'll figure it out," I assured him. He nodded, but was still visibly tense. Soon everyone settled down as we watched the end of Finding Nemo.

Estelle quickly fell asleep and was already tucked in bed by me and Percy by the time Sally and Paul got home. The two thanked us yet again and Sally gave us many hugs before finally allowing us to leave. She even sent us home with a plate of blue cookies which were nearly gone by the time we got to the lobby.

"Damn, how does Sally make such good cookies?!" I exclaimed as I popped another blue cookie in my mouth.

"I know," Percy agreed as he ate the final cookie. He sighed and reluctantly threw out the paper plate in l a garbage can in the lobby. "Now, m'lady, shall I lead you outside into the cold?"

I reluctantly nodded and took his arm. "Alright, but I hope we don't freeze to death."

"I'd never allow that," Percy promised me. "And if you freeze, I freeze with you."

"You're very kind," I replied warmly. The cold instantly hit us as we walked outside. As we walked I could tell Estelle's words were still on Percy's mind. "Hey, I'm sorry if you're upset. I didn't know Estelle was going to talk about proposals and marriage and all that stuff. Please, don't feel pressured to propose to me. I love you no matter what."

Percy suddenly stopped, a small grin etching upon his face. "Oh, no....I didn't get upset over all that stuff. You see....it's just such a strange coincidence Estelle brings all that up tonight."

"Why?" I asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at him.

Percy grinned as he fell to his knee, digging around in his coat pocket before pulling out a small, velvet box. He propped it open to reveal a ring.

My heart beat in my chest. "Wait—are you being serious?"

Percy nodded. "Yes, wise girl. That's why I had a dinner reservation for us. That would've been a far nicer place to propose than the street, but it's now or never I guess. So, Annabeth Diane Chase, the love of my life, will you marry me?"

"Yes, seaweed brain," I said as he slipped the ring on my finger. I helped him up and instantly pulled him into a kiss, his lips warming mine.

"I'm glad you said yes," said Percy with a light laugh. "I was nervous the entire night, as you could tell."

"Your head is full of kelp if you thought I'd say no," I responded.

"Strange to think all of this started out with me being a troubled kid, huh?" Percy asked as he laced his hand with mine, which was now wearing the engagement ring. "Think about it. If I hadn't been sent to a boarding school I never would've met you."

I nodded as we walked along, not even letting the cold bother me. "And if Luke hadn't of cheated on me we wouldn't be together."

Percy laughed. "God, that seems so long ago, we're getting old. I hate to thank Luke, the cheating scumbag, but I'm glad he did what he did just so we could get together. Where even is he now?"

I shrugged. "I tend not to think about him, but last I heard he was expelled from college for plagiarism."

"Sounds like him."

I couldn't help but laugh. "It sure does. Now, let's stop wasting our breath on him. We've got a wedding to plan."

"Oh no, are you gonna be all organized and punctual about all this wedding planning stuff?" asked Percy wearily.

"When am I ever not organizational and punctual?" I teased. "But I don't think I'll be planning it at all. According to Estelle, she gets to be the wedding planner. Apparently our theme is blue."

"Huh, I didn't know weddings had themes," Percy replied. "But I'm on board. Sounds like a great wedding. Well, it'll be great if your there."

"Even if I wore a trash bag as a dress?" I teased.

Percy nodded as he squeezed my hand reassuringly. "Especially then. Remember, the trash bag has to be blue, though. We've gotta follow Estelle's orders."

"We might have to actually wear garbage bags. Weddings aren't cheap," I commented, my thoughts starting to spiral. "Perce, how are we going to afford this?"

Percy, noticing my mind wander, did his best to reassure me. "Hey, I know that look. Everything will be fine, okay? We'll figure it out, we always do."

"I love you Percy," I blurted out, a smile pressed on my face. Although I'd told Percy that I loved him nearly millions of times, this time felt like the first on that cold, February night. I had the same feeling of nerves and the same passion for him.

"I love you, too, wise girl," he replied as he planted a kiss on my forehead. He wrapped an arm around me as we walked. "Now let's get home, we have a wedding to plan. Maybe we should even call up Luke and thank him."

I rolled my eyes as I buried my head on Percy's chest, inhaling his calming, ocean-scent. "You're lucky I love you."

"I know," Percy replied as he peered down at me, his face beaming. "Trust me wise girl, I know."