"You're kidding right?" my mouth fell open," they can't do that."

"They can. It belongs to my father until I turn 18," Annabeth sighed, "Mom didn't think this through."

She waved around her room. It was something she'd just recently showed it. 'My secret room' she called it.

And the fact that I was privy to it made my world light up. It had quickly become one of my safe zones as well and since Annabeth gave me permission to stay here whenever I wanted, I was here a lot.

Specifically after long meetings with my father, who seemed to have gotten the hint that I didn't want to marry Rachel.

It seemed to have made him paranoid though. Because he began strict curfews, and even hired a man to follow me around and make sure I didn't run away or something.

I wasn't allowed to meet my friends anymore. And I was escorted directly home after high school was done.

It was infuriating.

I did have a pretty cool stepmom who covered for me, so I might have some respite from living in a police state.

And my respite was Annabeth. And her secret oasis.

The secret room wasn't big or anything flashy. That's what made me love it.

It was purely just Annabeth, everywhere you looked. Every part of the room was like an extension of her, her hobbies and interests and her life. I absolutely loved it.

But,''I asked, moving aside our abandoned books,"Is there really nothing you can do? Contest her will or something?''

Don't you think I would've figured that out already?" she asked me, lightly flinching before her eyes met mine again.

"Another headache?" I inquired quietly, as she nodded in response.

She'd been getting these tension headaches recently. When I asked her about it, she told me that they were just related to the bookstore.

But something told me that I had a part to play in them as well.

"Percy could you get the medicine from the counter over there?" she pointed across the room. And I went to retrieve them for her.

As I poured her a glass of water, my eyes drifted to a picture on the wall. I carefully peeled it off the wall, making sure Annabeth didn't disapprove of me doing so.

"I don't remember this," I passed her the pills, taking my place next to her.

Annabeth reached for the photo with a distant smile on her face. As if she could picture the incident.

I do," she smiled, swallowing the medicine with a glass of water.

"It's when the camp had a play.You really loved that replica sword so you stole it and sat on top of the building with it until they let you take it home. Sally asked me to bring you down and so I climbed onto the ledge next to you."

"I'm assuming you told me to put the sword  back?" I Inquired, moving some papers aside.

"Oh I should've," she took another sip of the water,"Instead I helped you convince Chiron to let you take it home."

"Of course you did," I chuckled, leaning in to kiss her. Gods I loved this girl.

"Hey," I whispered, inches away from her lips,"If we've made it this far, we can go further."

Annabeth pursed her lips before nodding,"y...yeah."

Something didn't feel right.

"Annabeth-" I moved back, "you don't believe me?"

"It's just that...you say that about everything!" she moved away from me by an inch, wincing in pain.

"Are you alright?''

"Ye..yeah," she held her head, as if keeping the pounding at bay.

"What else should I say then?" I asked, lowering my voice.

"I don't know!" she replied, chugging the remnants of her water.

"Let me ask you this then," I tried lightening the mood, "...how serious....how serious are you? About you and I ?"

Apparently that didn't help the mood because Annabeth frowned.

"You're kidding right?" she said moving away in irritation.

"You think I would've put up with allllll of this, with you marrying someone else and lying to me about marrying someone else and everything in between if I wasn't serious?! If I didn't love you?!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"That's not what I meant!" I crossed my arms, "What's with your mood today?"

"What's with the questions today?" she cocked an eyebrow

"I just wanted to ask!"

"And I answered!"

"Annabeth!"I rubbed my face, "I wanted to know because I'll do my best to find a way. And when I do, I don't want to force you into something you wouldn't like"

"Force me into what?" she asked.

"I don't know? A lifetime with me?" my heart hammered in my chest"just....me?"

Annabeth looked away from me, her eyes locked on the picture.

She sighed.

I'm sorry," she apologised, "All I want is a lifetime with you. All I want is you. So if you wanna know I'm serious about that-"

She gave me a good long kiss. One with all the answers I needed.

"Understood," I murmured, butting my nose against hers as I moved back.

"Good. Now any more stupid questions?"

"I'll let you know,"I laughed.

A few minutes later, I spoke again. Spoke my truth. Something I'd been thinking about for weeks.

"I have another one"

"Let's hear it"

"Let's run away. Let's leave all this behind for a while," I whispered, taking her hand in mine.

My heart thudded dangerously.

Annabeth gave me that look. That look she always gave me when I said something stupid, but also when she was giving it the decency of thought.

A flurry of emotion passed through her eyes, each taking its own sweet time reflecting under the lights.

"The bookstore. High school," she whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Luke can take care of it. We'll come back after the wedding date is over. The contract, from what my stepmom told me, is only valid till then. After that, they'll have to draw up a new one."

"That doesn't make any sense," she mumbled, more to herself than anything,"Thalia has a skoolie. She was planning on selling it soon."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we borrow it then," I said, slowly catching on to her train of thought.

"Money. We'll need money."

"I have money. Enough atleast."

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Percy?" she asked.

I nodded in affirmation.

I could tell she already made up her mind. She already ran through a hundred scenarios and probably even came up with the solutions for them.

"Annabeth...only if you feel like it's okay. I would never-"

"Meet me at dawn, tomorrow. Pack a bag," she said, retreating into a cocoon of thought.

Annabeth shuffled closer to me, laying her head on my shoulder as she let out a sigh.

"Dawn. Tomorrow. Got it."

—————————————————————-———

Okay so, yes. If any of you are wondering, I redid the entire last chapter of the book because I didn't like how the plot was progressing.

So after a brief rewrite of a couple of chapters and editing a couple more, I'm back I suppose.

Anyways! Sorry for the wait and being a crappy author with no understanding of time-

Stay tuned!!
—S