Annabeth's bump ^^

Hey guys I'm not dead I promise lol hope you like the chapter :P and thank you for sticking around and being patient w me... here's almost 5,000 words to make up for it :)

Saturday, March 16th
1:05 am - Annabeth's bedroom
Eight months and three days

"Percy."

"Annabeth."

Annabeth was grateful Percy was still awake. She hadn't been able to sleep, and it was creeping into the late hours of the night. She laid there, staring at the wall, in the quiet coolness of her room. She didn't really know why she couldn't sleep, although it seemed to be a new symptom of hers, something she didn't think could happen in the third trimester. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was wide awake, as if someone had forgotten to tell the gears the day had ended and it was time to go home.

Percy's gentle, deep voice cutting through the quiet sounded nice. She let it simmer in the air for a moment, lingering in the silence and echoing in her mind.

"I'm eight months pregnant."

The last Wednesday had been the official mark.

"You are? I hadn't noticed."

"I hate you."

A light chuckle. "You know I'm teasing you." 

"There's only a couple more weeks left. How terrifying is that?"

Despite their conversing, Annabeth stayed on her side away from Percy, speaking out into the open air. Laying in her bed, they weren't touching, not even by their fingers, but Percy's quiet presence was still strong. Neither seemed to mind.

"I can't believe it's already been eight months."

"I know right."

They talked slowly, un-rushed. They let each of their words float in the air like bubbles, patiently waiting for them to pop before blowing more. They hung on each other's every word. It was calm. It was the silence after pouring rain.

"I'm so glad I sat down in front of you that day."

"Me too. You have no idea."

Annabeth reminisced on the day often, his dashing smile, his hot chocolate in August. It still made her laugh.

"I don't think I would've been able to do it without you."

"You would have. I know you love me," he said with a slight smugness, and Annabeth pictured the smirk on his face, "but that doesn't mean you're not strong and determined on your own. That's all you, Annabeth."

"I do love you. You make it easier to be strong, you know. You also remind me that I don't have to be all the time."

"That's right. You bring out all the best in me, do you know that?"

"Do I?"

"You really do."

There was a pause, and Annabeth's heart smiled. He never failed to make her feel so loved and important. She counted her blessings every day, and Percy was very high on that list.

"I love you a lot. Like, I'm not sure if you understand how much I love you."

At this point Annabeth turned to her other side to face him. She wanted to see his face, to see if it was sinking in, just how important he was to her. He was lying on his back. She studied the profile of his face, the gentle curve of his lips, high cheekbones, his straight nose, thick eyebrows. Her eyes traced his outline, from his Adam's apple to his hairline. His thick, black hair flopped back, spreading daintily on the pillow. He was so gorgeous.

"Well I would hope so,"

She chuckled. Then, a thought popped into her head. Something so immensely horrifying, she wanted to scold herself for even thinking it.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why would you hope that I love you?"

"Because you're my girlfriend...?"

"You're not... planning anything... right?"

Percy laughed, louder this time.

"No, Annabeth." He grinned over at her, slightly shaking his head.

"Okay," she sighed in relief. Then she was chuckling. "Just making sure. You like to pull a fast one on me." They chuckled.

"But I do love you very much," he continued, staring at the ceiling.

"Tell me."

"I love you in a way that I've never experienced... a way that I never even thought was possible."

Now he looked over at her. Those piercing green eyes caught hers, and she never wanted to look at anything else. She got lost in the emerald sea, the current gentle but inescapable. But she didn't want to escape. She let herself get carried out to sea, to get lost in this beautiful boy in front of her, to give him everything. He had given her everything.

"Can you promise me you'll never resent me?"

"Why would I resent you?"

"You've given me so much more than I could ever ask for. You've given me your love, your future, your freedom. I don't want to make you regret it."

"For as long as we live I will never regret it. You could never make me regret this. I know we're young, and there's so many years ahead of us, but I want to spend every one with you. I can just feel it within me."

"Good. Because I plan on loving you forever."

~*~

Thursday, March 21st
7:45 pm - Percy's car  

"Will? Hang on, man, you're almost there." Percy glanced at Will in the back seat, barely breathing and bloodied to the point of being almost completely unrecognizable. Thalia and Beckendorf were crammed in the back on either side of him, desperately trying to keep him awake and staunch any bleeding they could. Grover seemed to be paralyzed in the passenger seat next to Percy, white as a sheet.

The thought of Will's weakening heartbeat caused Percy's own to thump louder and louder in his head, like a ticking clock reminding him that they were running out of time to get Will help. He drove as fast as he could without breaking too many traffic laws.

"Stay with me, blondie, come on," Thalia encouraged, applying as much pressure as she could to Will's side. All Percy had in his car was a blanket, which Beckendorf had ripped into rags. They started with about 20, but were on their last few, the rest soaked red with blood. They weren't exactly sure what the bleeding was coming from, but they knew it was bad.

"We need to get him to a hospital," Beckendorf said.

"N-no," Will choked out, his voice weak and raspy. Thalia wiped blood from his lips as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "My dad..."

"Will's not out to his dad," Thalia began. "The piece of shit is homophobic. If he goes to the hospital his parents will know, and if we're right about what happened, it'll out Will."

"Then what are we gonna do? He needs a doctor," Percy argued urgently. He understood what it was like to be afraid of a parent, but as far as he knew, Will was dying in the back seat of his car. His friend, someone so important to all of them... Percy tried not to dwell on the fact that his life was partly in his hands. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Juniper's mom is a nurse!" Grover exclaimed, suddenly not paralyzed anymore. "She's out of town but June might know how to help."

"Okay, where does she live?" Beckendorf asked, snapping his fingers in front of Will's eyes to keep him awake. Thalia forced a water bottle to his lips and helped him drink.

"20 minutes away—"

"We don't have that kind of time," Thalia reminded.

Percy continued driving, trying to focus on the road. "We're going to the only person I can think of who might know what to do," he said finally.

They all understood and went back to their respectful quiet panic, Grover calling Juniper and telling her to hurry.

Percy whipped into Annabeth's driveway and cut the engine, jumping out with everyone else. Thalia and Beckendorf worked quickly to get Will out of the car, his face beneath the blood and bruises gaunt and pale. His teeth began to clatter as his body shivered almost violently.

"Annabeth!" Percy started hollering from the walkway. The lights were on inside and he was praying that she could hear him as they stumbled as quickly as they could to the door, Will could barely walk. "ANNABETH!"

They made it to the door and Thalia started pounding.

A muffled, "I'm coming!" was followed by hurried footsteps. The door swung open to reveal Annabeth, her face first confused before dropping to shock. She quickly moved aside as they ushered Will inside, his feet beginning to go completely slack. They laid him on the dining room table as carefully as they could.

"What happened?!" Annabeth demanded, rushing to Will's side. Percy watched as she clutched his hand and he weakly attempted to reciprocate. He was looking worse by the second.

"We're pretty sure Sloan and Nakamara beat the shit out of him. All we know was that we got a call saying that he was hurt on Crawford and to come get him. We found him... like this," Beckendorf explained curtly. Percy was thankful for that because he wasn't sure he would be able to.

"And you didn't bring him to a hospital?"

"We couldn't, his—"

"His dad, right," she sighed in realization, running a hand through her hair.

"Juniper said she should be here in ten minutes," Grover announced.

"Juniper's coming to help because her mom's a nurse. But right now, Will's bleeding out so those three years of scrubs club better kick in," Thalia said.

"Thalia, being a part of an after school club does not make me a doctor, not to mention when the president of said club is on the table!" Annabeth exclaimed. Will probably would have been telling them what to do if he weren't so close to unconsciousness. It was taking all his energy just to keep his eyes open.

"I didn't know where else to go, Annabeth." Percy suddenly met her eyes and he could see the fear on her face, and he knew she had realized how terrified he was.

"Alright, it's gonna be okay," she said, nodding at Percy reassuringly and looking back to Will. "Look at me, we're gonna get through this. But I need you to fight for me. Can you do that?"

Will groaned what sounded like an okay, nodding weakly.

"Someone get me scissors," Annabeth said. "Grover, there's peroxide in the bathroom cabinet. Percy get me towels from the basement. Beckendorf, keep the pressure on that wound." Percy obeyed as Annabeth ran to the freezer, getting an ice pack for Will's busted face. Behind their solemn expressions and focus was nothing but panic and fear—their determination to save their friend was the only thing keeping them together. At least, that was the case for Percy. His hands shook as he carried the towels back to the kitchen.

It seemed that Juniper couldn't get there quick enough. Annabeth carefully cut open Will's shirt, revealing purple skin and the gash from which all that blood had come from.

"Fuck," Annabeth muttered.

Percy thought his eyes might fall out of his head. "Oh god,"

"Holy shit," Thalia cursed.

Grover looked pale and ready to faint. "I think I might be sick."

Beckendorf was the only one who didn't say anything, but he didn't have to—his grave frown said it all.

"Th... that b-bad, huh?" Will coughed, blood and spittle speckling his chin.

"No, y-you're gonna be alright," Annabeth assured. Percy was astounded watching her expression go from panicked concern to reassuring warmth. He didn't know how she did it; but he knew that he had made the right decision bringing him here.

Then Will's head fell back to the table and Annabeth's eyes were wide with panic, her hands still pressed firm to the gash.

"I... I d-don't know what to do," she mumbled almost to herself. "He needs stitches, lots of them, but I don't know how to do that, I... I c-can't help him." Percy watched tears brim her eyes as she took a glance down at the deep, throbbing wound, the blood flow slow now, but still a steady reminder of the hopelessness they were facing.

"Annabeth," Beckendorf said suddenly, getting her attention from across the table. He was certainly the most levelheaded in the room at the moment, the only one capable of being uplifting. "You do what you can," he reminded her. "Juniper will be here soon, but right now, you're all Will's got and I'd say he's in pretty good hands. Now, what do you need from us?"

There must have been something in the way Charlie looked at her because suddenly, Annabeth was composed and collected. Once again, Percy stood there, amazed by the marvel before him. He would have taken a second longer to admire her courage, but his was fleeting, as was Will's ability to stay awake.

"Thalia, keep him awake—do not let him close his eyes," Annabeth reminded. "Will, keep fighting for me, you're alright, you're almost there." Then she looked back to the wound and grabbed peroxide. "Percy, go to the kitchen—get the painkillers above the sink, water, and a wooden spoon."

Coming back with their supplies, Percy quickly helped Will to take the pills, watching him swallow thickly. He wasn't looking good between his swollen black eye and fat lip, not to mention the bloody bump on his forehead.

"He took the pills?"

"Yeah," Thalia answered. "What's the spoon for?"

"He's gonna need something to bite down on," Annabeth said. Suddenly Percy understood, placing the stem of the spoon in Will's mouth. He placed it between his teeth and got ready to clench his jaw. "Alright, Will. This might sting a little bit," she warned. "On three. One, two—" And she poured on the peroxide.

"AGHH!" Will cried out in pain, writhing and biting the spoon so hard, the veins in his neck looked about ready to burst. Thalia silently tried not to scream as he nearly crushed her hand, her eyes widening and teeth clenching. Her reaction would've been funny if Will wasn't crying out in pain. Those screams were one of the worst sounds Percy had ever heard, and every time he looked at Will's gaunt, bruised, and exhausted face, his heart broke a little more. But he knew it was necessary; they were saving his life... hopefully. No—he reminded himself not to think like that. Will was going to be okay.

The wound bubbled and pulsed as the peroxide did its job. The skin around it was inflamed, but it didn't seem to be infected; they had gotten lucky.

Suddenly, the front door slammed open and Nico was standing in the foyer.

His face was stormier and more concerned than Percy had ever seen it, but despite the anger in his frown there was panic in his eyes; just like the rest of them.

"I don't why I called him, I just thought he should be here," Grover interjected. "He's the only one who can really understand." He wasn't wrong about that; Nico knew what it was like to be the victim of homophobia. While he wasn't out in New York, he used to be in his hometown. Even though he was only a kid, people would go after him... bad. Not to mention, he was only in love with the boy who's life they were trying to save.

"Will," he sighed, running to the blonde's side. He took his almost lifeless hand as his eyebrows furrowed. "You're not getting away that easy, Sunshine," he tried to joke, and Will's busted lips quirked up into an attempted smile. Having Nico there was a good idea.

"N...Nico," Will tried to say.

"Save your strength." Nico looked back to Annabeth. As minimally as she could, Annabeth shook her head: it's not looking good. Nico's expression hardened in understanding. He turned back to the blonde and continued talking to him, making light jokes and just holding his hand. He took a seat next to him at the table. Percy noticed the way Nico's thumb gently stroked Will's hand. In that moment, he wanted to do the same.

It was quite obvious that they hadn't been friends for very long, but Percy knew who his friends were, and he would fight for Will, the same way Will would for him or Annabeth. He was a good friend to those who loved him, and Percy had an incredible amount of respect for that. No matter what, this boy was his friend and he was afraid to lose him—he couldn't even imagine how Annabeth was feeling. The lump in his throat grew with his fear.

"Will, I have to do it one more time, I'm sorry," Annabeth winced, readying the peroxide for another pour.

"Just do it," Will choked out gutturally. Thalia put the spoon back between his teeth and Nico took his hand this time—Thalia looked grateful for the break.

"Alright," Annabeth said, pouring on the peroxide.

"GAH!" Will screamed out again, and Percy winced at the sound, noticing the pained looks on everyone's faces. It wasn't easy for any of them to see their friend in pain. Will's breathing was ragged and heavy, sweat coating his forehead. Nico carefully patted his face with a towel. Percy didn't think he had ever seen his cousin be so gentle, or so worried.

"Okay, it should be clean," Annabeth sighed. The bleeding slowed to almost a stop, but there were still a million other problems. Because they weren't doctors, and the Chase's kitchen wasn't a hospital, they had no idea what was going on inside Will's body. And judging from the terrible look of the outside, it couldn't have been good.

Annabeth was carefully beginning to dress the wound when Juniper walked into the house.

"JUNIPER!" They all exclaimed, jumping up and rushing her over to the table. She quickly placed down her special first aid kit—one much larger and more highly equipped than ordinary kits.

"Please tell me you know how to do stitches," Annabeth begged.

"I-I do," June replied, looking back to Will. She uncovered the wound. "Oh... Oh my," she said faintheartedly.

"Please, June, you've gotta help him," Grover said, looking into his girlfriend's eyes.

"I'm going to do whatever I can," she promised. "Will?"

"Hi, J-June," he replied, his voice coarse and week.

"I'm gonna try to help you, just keep hanging in there for me, okay?" Her voice was calm and even, perfectly warm and reassuring. Percy suddenly realized how much sense it would make if Juniper became a nurse. "Nico, keep talking to him, keep him distracted."

"Okay. Remember when we had that snowball fight?" Nico began reminiscing with Will—it was strange to see him engage in something nostalgic and joyful. Will's face quirked into an attempted smile. Percy almost started to feel hopeful.

"There's only so much this numbing cream can do, since we don't have actual anesthesia, but it's all we've got." Juniper worked quickly to open her kit and apply the cream to the skin around the wound. "That doesn't hurt, does it?" she asked rhetorically, as if talking to a small child. Will shook his head in response. "See, it just feels a little cool, is all." She carefully opened the stitching kit and pulled out the needle and surgical thread.

Percy didn't know whether to cover his eyes or stare, mesmerized. It seemed his body would only allow the latter as Annabeth watched with him, clutching his hand tight. Her other hand was occupied keeping a new ice pack against Will's head.

"It'll only be a little pinch," Juniper said, readying herself to begin the stitches. Nico began talking more—and stuttering more—and carefully turning Will's head to face him instead of his abdomen.

June centered herself with the wound, complete focus and determination on her face. She carefully went through the skin, beginning to slightly pull it together. Apart from his disgust at what he was watching, Percy was amazed not only that it was working but that Juniper had the stomach to do it. Annabeth heaved an exhale and Percy could hear the relief in it. Nothing was certain yet, but Will's chances were already better.

Nico helped the blonde drink more water, trying to make jokes about how Will looked "so beautiful". Even Percy had to chuckle at those. For a moment, Beckendorf caught his eyes and gave a subtle nod; it's gonna be okay. The panic thumping in Percy's mind and adrenaline pumping through his veins must have been more eminent than he thought. He gave a small nod back, a thank you almost.

Will had to be okay. This kid had survived that long, and there was no way he was going to go down without a fight. His face was still pale and his bruises swollen, but the bleeding from his gash had stopped which was already a good sign.

A few minutes later, Juniper was done with the stitches. She sighed and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, so as not to get blood on her face. "That should do it."

"Th... thank you, June," Will muttered.

"Just keep breathing for me, Will," she said, a small, encouraging smile on her face. Her eyes were so warm and her demeanor comforting.

Juniper and Annabeth began to move onto Will's smaller cuts and other injuries, cleaning, applying ointment, and bandaging. Thalia began teasing him to keep him awake, and laughing.

Percy stepped out of the kitchen for a minute into Frederick's study. Of course, the man was away—Percy would've never gone in there if he wasn't. But he just needed a second to collect himself and try to put his head on straight. If he wasn't so on edge, he wouldn't have noticed when Nico walked into the study, his footsteps silent and presence almost absent.

"Are you alright?" Nico asked, suddenly. The sounds of the other's light voices were faded from the study, the whole room quiet.

Percy scoffed. "Forget about me, are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't think to call you, I just—"

"It's alright. I'm here now, and that's what matters. But, seriously, Percy..." There was a look of concern in Nico's eyes that Percy had never seen before. His cousin was being somewhat... affectionate. It wasn't that Nico didn't care about his friends—he just didn't often show that he did.

"I'm okay. Will's gonna be fine and everything will be okay," Percy said, more so as a reassurance to himself. Though a few grey clouds still lingered over his head.

"Exactly. Look... I know that you put a lot of pressure on yourself to be there for the people you care about. You're all about loyalty and reliability. But I can see it in your eyes—you already feel like you failed Will."

Percy realized he was right, and it was a little scary (although not surprising, coming from Nico) having someone read him so well.

"But you were there as soon as you knew—hell, before you even knew what was happening. Bringing him here, being there for him, is saving his life right now. And you're a part of that. So don't forget it," he reminded him sternly.

Percy finally looked into Nico's eyes. There was so much sincerity behind those dark irises, he realized it was one of the few times when he had really been moved by Nico—one of the few times he let his emotions show. Part of Percy wanted to hug the boy, but he decided against it.

"Thank you, Nico," Percy said, nodding with a small, but grateful smile.

He just nodded before turning on his heel and walking out of the room.

Percy thought for a moment longer on Nico's words and how correct he was. He needed to be there and be strong for his friend, and that's what he was going to do.

~*~

Thursday, March 21st
10:30 pm - Annabeth's living room  

"Please just explain to me one more time what happened?" Annabeth asked, sighing through her nose. She, Percy, Juniper, Thalia, and Beckendorf were all now in the living room, talking quietly and trying to regain their senses after what had just happened. Nico wouldn't leave Will's side.

"It was about 6:30 when I got a call from a restricted number," Percy began. He was able to calm down a bit, and now he watched Annabeth pace back and forth from where he was sitting on the end of the couch. "All they said was, 'Your little...'" Percy faltered for a moment, deciding to leave out the slur they had used. "'Your friend is on Crawford. Hell's coming sooner than you thought.'"

Annabeth's face didn't change from its look of intense concentration, her eyebrows furrowed, a deep frown set in her face. Percy could almost see the gears in her head turning, becoming red hot with anger. His own anger stirred in his gut—he could only imagine what she had been feeling, for Will was her life long friend. Everyone seemed to wait patiently, silently, for her verdict.

"We have to do something," she said finally. "Those fucking pieces of shit..." she muttered a curse and Percy noticed how tightly she clenched her jaw, but then she exhaled, seemingly trying to calm herself.

"What can we do? I mean, of course Will knows who hurt him, but they can deny that easily—chalk it up to head injury and bias," Beckendorf reasoned. "Believe me, I wanna nail these guys as much as you do, but we can't do that without some more proof."

Annabeth sighed, accepting that he was right. Then she stopped pacing suddenly. "We can find proof..." she said and it was almost like Percy could see the lightbulb above her head. "Sloan wears that stupid gold ring on his pinky finger, right?"

She marched back into the kitchen, everyone following behind her. The pleasant conversation Nico and Will seemed to be having halted. "Hold on, Will," she said, carefully lifting the ice pack from his face.

And there it was. Left in the midst of purple, swelling skin on Will's left cheekbone was the imprint of a ring—Matt's ring.

"Someone get me my phone," Annabeth asked, reaching out to take it from Grover's hand. She told Will not to move as she snapped her picture, getting up close enough to see the imprint clearly.

"You're a genius," Percy said, almost chuckling. Annabeth gave him a determined smile.

"What's that for?" Will asked, his voice slowly coming back with his strength.

"We're finally doing something about Sloan and Nakamura," Thalia explained.

Will's eyes suddenly opened wider. "Wait, what?" He looked concerned.

"What's wrong?" Juniper asked. Percy found himself confused like the rest of his friends.

"Guys... it's unlikely anything... will even happen if we do try to tell someone. And when they find out that we tried, it'll only make it w-worse," he coughed. Juniper carefully laid his head back down, his excitement eating at his strength.

"But this has gone on for too long, Will," Thalia protested, shaking her head sympathetically.

"I'm ready to march in there at eight months pregnant, and I won't give a single shit who finds out," Annabeth added.

"Look," Percy chimed in. "We're only saying this because we care about you, Will. You deserve so much better than this, and what they did to you tonight is the last straw. But we won't do anything you don't want... we just want to help you get the justice you deserve," he explained. He knew a thing or two about bullies—middle school was a rough time for him. He understood Will's fear, and even more so his exhaustion. He didn't know how Will put up with the torment for this long, but he did know it couldn't have been easy.

Everyone nodded in agreement and Will looked to Nico who had been silent through the whole conversation.

"I think it's time, Will. They're right," he said.

Will looked around at all of them. "Thank you, guys."

"That's a yes?" Beckendorf asked.

"I get to kick some ass?!" Thalia asked excitedly.

"No!" Annabeth scolded. "That'll look bad for our case... but once that's over I'll help you out with it," she joked.

They laughed together as best they could, and Percy realized the spark was still between them all, even after what they had been through. Their laughter wasn't loud and haughty like usual, but even when their energies were spent and they were all ready to drop, the soft sounds of their chuckles and slight smiles felt warm.

That night no one went home. They all crashed in the living room or Annabeth's bedroom, Will hitting the hay in Frederick's room. It seemed that no one wanted to be alone that night, and Percy was grateful when he felt Annabeth's arms snake around his waist and her face on his back. He held one of her hands and kissed her fingers gently in the dark warmth of her bedroom. He knew that this girl was his home, she was his solace.

He remembered how terrified he had felt in the hours prior, wondering if Will was even going to make it out alive. He remembered the rush of stability he felt just looking in Annabeth's eyes, being in her presence. She was incredible.

In the quiet of the night, somehow the whole house was peaceful and gentle. Though in different rooms, they were all connected and comforting each other.

And finally, Percy let himself drift into the most peaceful sleep he could manage, Annabeth's fingers intertwined with his own.

•••