Oh my gods, I'm so sorry to Westonschnidtt who had requested this months ago, and I had said I'd be working on it right away. I believe I accidentally deleted the rough draft while deleting old one shots I've already published, and I kind of had forgotten about it. Anyways, I'm here now and ready to give you this long awaited chapter!

Enjoy!

---June---

Angelica's shuffling through papers while her students talk quietly among themselves in their respective desks, waiting for class to begin, when she catches a glimpse of disheveled black hair in her peripheral vision. Hands stilling to a stop, papers dropping to the desktop gracefully, she glances up and sees Percy Jackson walk into the room, looking like absolute hell with dark crescents beneath his red rimmed vibrant eyes, blotchy cheeks, and dressed in shorts and a white T-shirt she's sure is backwards. 

Lips tugging downwards in a frown, she pushes herself away from her desk and frowns, smoothing out her skirt and blouse before walking up the steps to the third row where his desk sat on the edge. He holds his head in his hands, eyes closing until his head suddenly jerks upwards and they blink open and she notices how they seem to glisten with unshed tears, and her heart squeezes painfully. 

"Percy," she says his name so quietly even she has to strain her ears to hear it.

But, by some miracle, his gaze slides over to hers. "Yes, Ms. Syler?" 

"Are you alright?" Pushing aside all her romantic feelings she may have for him aside, Angelica allows herself to fill into the roll as the professor who cares about her students' well being. She places her hand gently on his shoulder, making sure she's not making him uncomfortably in anyway before explaining, "You seem a but...distraught." 

He tries to send her a comforting smile but it comes out as a grimace. "I'm fine, thank you." 

Of course, she wants to say more, to understand why Percy looks like he'd been crying for hours on end, his bloodshot eyes already giving away that face, but she knows her students have boundaries and personal lives they'd rather keep to themselves. Besides, after the run in she'd had three months back with his wife, Annabeth, she isn't about to make that mistake again, though she has an inkling of a thought that just maybe the blonde haired woman had something to do with Percy's unusual behavior. 

"Well," Angelica starts, eyes glimpsing over at the digital clock hanging above the door to the classroom briefly before returning to his. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here." He gives her another smile and she returns it before heading back to the front of the room. 

Gathering her papers, Angelica clears her throat, gaining the majority of her students' attention, but she claps her hands together to gain the rests. Once everyone is facing her direction, she begins her lecture for the day. 

Throughout the class, she can't help but glance in Percy's direction every now and then, eyebrows furrowing as she realizes he's having trouble staying awake. His head is constantly dipping downwards until someone speaks or makes a noise and it snaps right back up, his reddened, yet teary, eyes blinking open hastily as he scrambles to catch up with the notes she's set on the projector. 

"...have a good weekend and I'll see you all next week!" She calls out to her students who are filing out of the classroom quickly, eager to get out of school and enjoy the warm, hopefully sunny, weekend they all have in front of them. Her eyes instinctively travel over to Percy's currently vacant desk and her heart crawls into her throat as she sees him only a few feet away, trudging the rest of the way down the stairs to get to the doorway, his shoulders slumped and feet heavy as if it took all the strength out of him. 

Sensing her gaze, Percy turns his head and looks at her, the skin between his eyebrows pinched.

Angelica clears her throat and takes a few tentative step towards him, not wanting to overstep her boundaries, understanding that the bond that was probably more on sides is possibly ruined due to the meeting she had scheduled back in April. The dreadful day she found out he wasn't only married, but also had a two week old daughter named Anthea. But she pushes the memories back into the box in her mind, locking them up so they couldn't escape and resurface, and takes another couple steps toward him. "Percy." 

"Yes?" His knuckles turn white from the grip he has on his backpack strap, and she just knows he wants to get out of there as soon as possible and just go home. 

"During class, you were having trouble keeping your eyes open," she tells him, though she's quite aware he already knows about this, and he confirms when his eyes downcast to the carpeted floor, feet shuffling nervously, afraid he's going to get yelled at. "I'm not bad. I just want to make sure you're okay. As your professor, I need to make sure my students are all taking care of themselves and are staying healthy." 

Percy's eyes travel back up to her face and she stiffens, nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach. He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. "Just some stuff has been happening the past couple days I can't quite shake off. I'm alright though." He tries for one of those thin lined smile but again, he winces along with it. 

Her eyes soften. "Two weeks from graduation, right?" 

He nods, eyes taking on a lighter tone. 

"Well, from what you just told me, I think you need a break from all the stress class has been putting upon your shoulders," Angelica says, crossing her arms over her chest as she debates what she wants to say next. Part of her knows it's a bit barbaric, but another part, deep within her, just knows this will help him. "How about we meet up at that small cafe a couple blocks away. You know which one I'm talking about?" 

"Yes," Percy says, but he's watching her carefully. 

Angelica's nails bite into her palms. "So, if you want, we'll meet up there and I'll help you out with your homework so you can have the weekend to get whatever's going on straightened out without having to worry about passing grades. How's that sound?" 

Percy hesitates. "Um...that sounds, good actually." 

Her eyes widen comically and her heart flutters within her chest, and she just knows that whatever is going on with Percy, the boy she's come to adore not just as her student but as a person, and quite possibly a friend, has to do with that wife of his. From the looks of how he'd reacted in April with his wife, she knows he wouldn't ever agree to go anywhere with her if she was still in the picture. A part of her celebrate, while another part of her, a more sympathetic part, scolded her for becoming so selfish. 

Calming her nerves, Angelica smiled. "Great! I'll see you at four?" 

"Four," Percy confirms with a curt nod before swiveling out the doorway. 

Cheeks puffing out, Angelica puffs out her cheeks before letting out a long breath. 

---

Still a bit baffled by the strange encounter with his professor, Percy exits the university and unlocks the doors to his Prius. He's never seen the point of getting a new car if the one he had worked perfectly fine. Even when Annabeth had practically made a power point on how it's okay to get a new car, he still didn't understand the point. Sliding into the drovers seat, Percy tosses his backpack careless onto the passenger seat and buckles his seat belt before sticking the keys in the ignition. 

After being honked at by angry taxi drivers, almost hitting two reckless teenagers who had decided to run out into the road on a green light, Percy finally turned down a familiar road and he releases a breath of relief as a large apartment building looms over him. Pulling into the parking lot, he parks his car near the front doors before turning it off. He grabs his backpack and leaves the car, quickly locking it and waiting for the beep, pocketing the keys in the pockets of his shorts as he walks through the doors the doorman is holding open for him. 

"Afternoon, Percy," the doorman, Darrel, greets. 

"Hey," is all Percy can muster up in his exhaustion before entering the opening elevator doors after a group of people exited. The elevator doors close as he presses down on the button engraved with the number four, and he leans back against the wall as he's encased in the small space, but he's too tired to feel claustrophobic. 

For some odd reason, he's been having nightmares for the past couple night, and not knowing what's triggering them really left him frustrated. His screams and crying woke up Anthea in the room across the hall, her cries mixing in with his, so the rest of the night Percy and Annabeth spent taking care of her or trying to get her back to sleep instead of giving into slumber themselves, resulting in the dark circles surrounding his eyes. This morning he'd barely had time to even get dressed (Annabeth tried to get him to stay home but he wouldn't listen) before he had to run out the door if he didn't want to be late. 

With a ding, the doors slide open and Percy steps into the hallway, taking in a deep breath of the familiar vanilla scented air, still not sure why it smelled like that. Brushing it off as a mere thought, he drags his feet down the hall, stopping in front of the last door to the right, and he pulls out his keys to unlock it, knowing Annabeth never left the lock unlatched if she was home alone, especially with three month old Anthea. The door pushes open with ease and he hangs his keys on the hooks they'd nailed into the wall beside the door a couple years ago once they had moved in. 

As he's slipping his tennis shoes off he can faintly hear the clicking of his wife's fingers tapping against the keyboard of her laptop coming from the living room. Not caring that his heavy backpack full of textbooks and other supplies is still hanging from his broad shoulders, Percy walk through the entryway and into the living room where he finds Annabeth sitting on the grey couch, feet propped up on the glass coffee table surrounded with blueprints and other architectural supplies he doesn't feel like naming while their baby daughter's sprawled out on her stomach atop a blanket on the floor, legs kicking out excitedly as she absentmindedly plays with the baby toys surrounding her. 

He watches as Annabeth's beautiful grey eyes lift from the computer screen to meet his gaze, and she closes her laptop, setting it aside before standing and walking over to him. Her eyes are soft, sparkling in the sunlight that beams through the windows that take on the roll of the windows more than anything, and he thinks she's never looked more beautiful. Her lips tug up in a small smile and she asks, "how are you feeling?" 

At the sound of his voice, Anthea's small blonde head turns in their direction, eyes wide at the sight of her father and Percy smiles at her, giving a small wave which she smiles in return, before turning back to his wife with a smile. "Really tired." 

Annabeth nods, crossing her arms over her chest. "I told you to stay home and sleep." 

"I know," Percy replies, letting her slide his backpack off his shoulders and drop it to the ground, landing with a small thump that startles Anthea who lets out a small gasp and he smiles because she's just too cute. "I just- I need to graduate, Annabeth. There's two weeks left and then I'm done and can get an actual job and contribute to this family instead of just letting out pay for everything and- and-" 

Before the hysteria can take him over, Annabeth interjects, "Hey, hey, it's okay." 

Taking in a deep breath, he lets his shoulders relax. "I'm sorry. Tired." 

"I understand." Annabeth grabs his hand and leads him over to the couch where she pushes him down onto a sitting position and he doesn't relent. She's running her fingers comfortingly through his black locks when she remembers he hadn't eaten breakfast, and he tells her he hadn't eaten lunch either, so she leaves to the kitchen to make him a sandwich. 

Percy leans back against the couch and lets himself fully relax, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table, and reaching out for a blanket that had been thrown carelessly on the ground. He wraps himself up in it and closes his eyes as the warmth it provides make his eyelids heavy. Though someone lets out a small shriek and he's back to being wide awake. Looking down at the floor where Anthea still laid dressed in nothing but a white onesie, her head moving to the right and he suddenly realizes she's trying to turn around to face him. 

Huffing out a laugh, Percy pulls the blanket away from himself and stands, taking a few steps forward till he's beside the blanket she's laying on, and slowly lowers himself down so he's laying next to her. Her green eyes that match his search his face curiously, blown wide by the fact that he's home, and the corners of her lips twitch up in a small smile, and he can't help but return the gesture. 

"Hey, Tea. You taking care of Mommy while I'm gone?" he asks her, reaching out to tickle the bottom of her chin with his index finger and he laughs when she shakes her head away from his hand, lips pressing into a thin line as she stares at him. The expression is so Annabeth that he can't help but bark out another laugh, ignoring when Annabeth called out from the kitchen asking what was so funny. 

He's pressing a sweet kiss to the top of Anthea's head when Annabeth reappears in the living room, a plate with a delicious looking sandwich on it in one hand and a glass of ice water in the other, and he stands as his stomach grumbles. "Thank you," he tells her, kissing her forehead lightly as he grabs the contents from her and plops back down on the couch. 

"You're welcome," Annabeth says from across the room where she's picking Anthea off the ground, holding her against her shoulder as she comes back to sit beside him. Leaning against the back of the couch, she says, "Since it's the weekend, why don't you hold off your homework till Sunday and we can just have a movie night? Order take out for dinner?" 

He gives her a sidelong glance, swallowing his sandwich he's quickly devouring. "Actually, I have to be somewhere for school tonight." 

"Percy," she sighs, staring at him intently. "Skip it. You need the rest." 

"I can't, Annabeth." Percy drops the remaining crust of his sandwich onto the plate and stands to bring it back into the kitchen, not realizing Annabeth had gotten up and followed him until he's placing the dirty dish into the sink and feels her chin rest on his shoulder. 

"I'm sure your classmates won't mind if you miss out on a study date," she says. 

Closing his eyes to regain his thoughts, he spins around causing Annabeth to take a couple steps back, Anthea in her arms, her small head resting on Annabeth's shoulder and Percy almost starts to believe she's sleeping but her legs kick out and he knows she's awake. "I've got to go. My teacher, Ms. Syler, said that she'll help me out with my homework so I don't have to worry about it over the weekend." 

Annabeth frowns and reaches for his hand, curling her fingers around his. "I'm worried about you." 

"Why?" he asks. 

She shrugs. "You just- you're so tired, Percy." 

"And that has to do with school because-?" 

"You can't keep overrunning herself," she tells him, her voice taking on a serious tone. "As much as I admire how hard you've been working these past couple months, I care about you and your mental health more, and if you need to take a break, then take a break." 

Percy smiles and tugs on her hand, wrapping his arms around her as she steps closer, and he presses their foreheads together. She's staring at him with a question in her grey eyes, and he's quick to elaborate, "Why don't you come with me?" 

She pulls away, a mischievous smile overtaking her features. "Like old times?" 

"Mhm," Percy hums before pressing a kiss to her lips. 

---

Angelica smooths her light pink sundress, wanting to look her best for this meeting she'd planned earlier that day with a student (who also happens to be her unexpected love interest) who was going through a tough time, causing him to be all mopey and tired throughout all of class. Her fingers curl around the strap of her book bag hanging from her shoulders as she pushes the door open to the cafe Percy had agreed to meet her at, sending a smile over to the barista before claiming a booth table to the right of the building beside a window. 

Sliding into her seat, she takes her laptop out from her book bag, setting it up beside her and opening up her notebooks that contain the notes she's sent out in class, placing them beside her laptop. She's entering her password, fingers passing across the keyboard swiftly, when the barista appears beside the table, notepad and pen in hand, asking if she wants anything to drink or eat, and she orders a black coffee and a powdered donut. The barista scribbles it down before disappearing into the back. 

She takes out a spare book she's brought along, "Missing the Ocean" which also happens to be the book Percy's mother, Sally Jackson-Blofis had written. She'd started it a couple months ago back in April, but with how busy she's been, she hadn't gotten around to finish it. Opening up to the page she left off halfway through, Angelica dives into the captivating words printed out neatly in black ink across the white paper, taking in the explanation of a mother who's son had gone missing without a trace and her heart clenches painfully for this mother, even if it's only fiction and not real. 

The barista comes back with her order minutes later, setting the cup of black coffee and plate with the powdered donut and she mutters a "thank you" distractedly as the words of the book she's currently reading holds her mind captive. She's three quarters through when the bell above the door dings and someone plops themselves in the seat in front of her, and she's about to tell them the seat is taken when her eyes lift off the book and meet with a pair of familiar sea green ones. Cheeks flushed, she mutters out an apology as she marks the page with a bookmark and stuffs it back into her bag. 

Percy waves off the apology as the barista reappears, asking for his order, and she listens intently as he orders a creamy iced coffee and a chocolate chip cookie. After scribbling it down on the notepad, the barista heads into the back to prepare the order. 

Unzipping his backpack, Percy pulls out his homework she's assigned him a few hours prior, and he flips through the pages of his notebook, keeping it on the page with messily scrawled notes she recognizes as the ones she gave him today. She waits patiently to begin as he takes his time opening his laptop and entering the computer, taking his phone out and setting it beside his computer, checking the screen before turning it off and she catches a glimpse of a woman with a bright smile before the screen turns black, and a wave of fear races through her veins as she realizes maybe he and his wife hadn't been fighting, but she brushes it off because she didn't get a clear look on who the woman was. Maybe it was his mother. 

"You're reading my mom's book?" 

"Huh?" Angelica replies, blinking her eyes rapidly as she comes back to the real world. 

Percy points at her book bag slumped on the seat beside her. "You were reading my mom's book." 

"Oh!" She nods. "Yes, I am." 

"Is it good?" Percy asks, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. 

Angelica frowns, a crease appearing on her forehead as she furrows her eyebrows in confusion, because she'd assumed he'd already read it, considering it's his mom who had wrote it and gone through all the obstacles of getting it published. She clears her throat. "Haven't you read it?" 

"I've tried," he admitted, typing something into his laptop. "But my dyslexia kept getting in the way." As he's saying this, the barista arrives with his order and he thanks him, grabbing the cookie and taking a bite of it, chewing slowly, leaving the ice coffee aside. 

Her mouth forms and 'O' shape. "Right, sorry. Yes, it's fantastic." 

He lets out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad people like it. She worked really hard on it." 

She hums in response. "Has she written anything else?" 

Percy presses his lips together and looks at her over his laptop screen. "She's got an unfinished book on her laptop but I don't know if she plans on finishing it. After my little sister, Estelle, came along, she's been my mom's main focus." 

Eyes widening, Angelica begins to ask if that's why he's been acting all distressed, because his mom prefers his little sister of him but he beats her to the chase and explains that he moved out not even a year after she was born, and she lets out a breath of relief. She suggests they get started on the homework and he agrees, pulling up a blank google doc on his laptop screen so he can start writing his essay. 

About twenty minutes pass and he's halfway done with his essay, working on the third paragraph with her help, when the bell above the door rings again but she doesn't pay it any attention and reads through the sentence he'd just written, pointing out a spelling error and he quickly fixes it before continuing. Out of the corner of her eyes, Angelica sees a figure of a girl walking in her direction and she stiffens as the person she least wants to see comes into full view, clad in ripped skinny jeans and a high collared white T-shirt, her curly blonde hair flowing freely around her shoulders, ending just above her shoulder blades. 

"I hope you don't mind me joining in," Annabeth says, accepting a high chair a worker brought over for her and she flips it upside down so she can set the all too familiar baby carrier down on it, thumbs pressing against the buttons to move the handles back. 

"Not at all," Angelica says through gritted teeth, her eyes trailing away from Annabeth and into the baby carrier where Anthea, clad in white footie pajamas, sat happily, chewing on some rubber baby toy, and she noticeably winced as she noticed the baby's fist covered in drool. Gross. 

Annabeth sits right next to Percy, grabbing his iced coffee and taking a sip as her eyes skim across the laptop screen, obviously proofreading through his essay. She hums, nodding and leans back against the booth. "Very well written, Seaweed Brain." 

"Thanks." He beams. "I had some help though." 

Angelica swears her heart is about to beat right out of her chest. "I am your teacher."

"And I see we haven't moved on from the homework incident," Annabeth states, giving Anthea a sarcastic look as she gestured to the notebooks and papers strewn about on the tabletop, the baby just staring at her mother with wide eyes as she reaches into the carrier to grab one of her covered toes, giving it a wiggle. "Have we?" 

"Um, excuse me," Angelica clears her throat and Annabeth takes her goo-goo eyes off her baby and sits back into her seat, taking another sip of Percy's ice coffee, though he doesn't seem to mind in the least bit so she stays quiet. Annabeth raises an eyebrow for her to continue. "I'm sorry but this is a private meeting, I'll have to ask you to leave." 

Annabeth slaps her hand against the table as she laughs. "You're funny!"

Beside her, Percy snorts. 

Frowning, Angelica says, "Excuse me-" 

"Oh shush." She watches as Annabeth reaches over and breaks off a piece of Percy's cookie, plopping it into her mouth. Once she swallows, she continues, "You know, I really thought you would have it wrapped around your head by now. I mean, you are a college professor, upper twenties I assume, and you still don't understand that Percy's not available." 

"What?" 

Rolling her eyes, Annabeth says slowly, "Read my lips. Percy's not available." 

"No, I know that," Angelica says, her frown deepening. Who does this girl think she is waltzing on in her uninvited to her and Percy's 'study' date. Well, really, it was him studying or working on school work while she helped him out. It was like a tutor meeting with their student, nothing intimate about it at all, so why was Annabeth so mad? "I don't understand why you're so upset," she decides to voice her thoughts, "I only invited him to do this so he wouldn't have to deal with the homework over the weekend. Clearly something has been bothering him-" she gives Annabeth a scrutinizing look. "-and I just want to help." 

Apparently that supposedly subtle look, didn't go unnoticed by Annabeth. Her eyes narrow as she leans her elbows on the table. "Okay, whatever." She rolls her eyes. "I'm not upset that you invited him here so you could help, that's very nice of you and I mean it. What I'm not very pleased about is the fact you tried to kick me out. This is my husband, I'm allowed to go wherever he goes, and no one, especially his professor, has the right to tell me to leave because it's some 'private' meeting. So suck it up because I'm not leaving and neither is my sidekick." She jabs her thumb in Anthea's direction. 

Anthea, who had recently replaced the toy with her fist, stares at her mother with wide eyes. 

Percy laughs, turning his head to look at Annabeth. "Your sidekick?" 

"Yes, my sidekick," Annabeth confirms, her eyes never leaving Angelica's. 

Getting her thoughts under control, Angelica swallows thickly before she explains, "I only asked you to leave because you're rude. That's it!" Annabeth watches her with an amused expression painted across her face as she continues, "I don't like you, I never have, okay? Ever since you showed up at that meeting which wasn't even supposed to be a meeting at all, I haven't like you. You're mean and self centered and aren't you two a little young to be married anyway?" She's breathing heavily, the angry confession stealing the breath away from her, and all she can see is red when Annabeth has the audacity to laugh at her, proving her point. 

"They always say that," Percy says, eyes wide in bewilderment. 

"Woah, woah, woah!" Annabeth exclaims, ignoring Percy's comment. "That meeting wasn't supposed to be a meeting at all?" 

Angelica's eyes widen. "Um..." 

"HA!" Annabeth laughs again, muttering an apology to Anthea who flinched at her loud tone before turning to Percy. "I told you, Seaweed Brain, I told you." She punches his shoulder teasingly as he chuckles before facing Angelica again. Batting her eyelashes and smiling way too sweetly for it to be genuine, Annabeth says, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave?" 

"What? Why?" Angelica frowns. 

"Well, I mean-" Percy cuts himself off. "If you don't like her, why'd you wanna stick around?" 

Annabeth nods in agreement. "Because, like I said, my sidekick and I are not leaving." 

"You sidekick is a baby-?" Angelica starts packing up her things, closing her laptop and sliding it into her book bag as she tries to keep her cool. She's the older person here, literally, so she needs to stay calm, don't rash out on kids. She shuts her notebooks and packs those away too before standing and shouldering her bag, grabbing her coffee. 

"Careful," Percy warns, watching carefully as Annabeth glares at her. "Don't unleash Mama bear." He squirms away, letting out a small shriek as Annabeth pokes his side with her index finger and she laughs, Anthea smiling from her car seat. "Hey," he hisses, "don't do that." 

Angelica clears her throat and they turn to face her once again. "I'm leaving." 

"Okay," Annabeth says. 

"See ya," Percy replies, closing his own laptop and shoving it away in his backpack, and for a second, Angelica has hope that he's following her out and leaving Annabeth behind but then she realizes, her heart sinking, that he's just putting everything away so he can spend some quality time with his... family in the cafe they were supposed to be hanging out in. But no, she's being kicked out by his bitch of a wife. 

"Well, bye," Angelica utters before turning around and leaving the cafe as fast as she can.

---

Percy watches her leave, waiting till the door is completely shut before saying, "We're evil." 

"I know," Annabeth says, her eyes still trained on the door. 

Without looking at each other, they manage a perfect high five, Anthea gurgling happily. 

"...even she thinks it's funny." 

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth laughs before pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

I hope you guys liked it! I don't really know how I feel about the ending. It's kind of rushed and I feel like I could've done better but I can't think of anything right now and I'm tired because it's late so yeah, I hope you enjoyed it!