I took a breath, smoothing over my shirt. There was no reason for me to be nervous, especially with my own daughter, and yet I was. The last time I'd seen Annabeth was when she was fourteen, and I barely had a normal conversation with her then—since I was flying around with celestial bronze bullets whilst she battled a giant man with a boy and a goddess.

I picked up my watch, checking the time. It was five minutes till seven, so if I knew Annabeth, even a little, I knew that she wouldn't be late.

Stepping out of the bathroom in my apartment, I peeked my head up the staircase, which led to the boys room, my room, the guest room, and a single bathroom. A shudder ran down my spine, Bobby and Matthew had taken over Annabeth's old room when she left. Though I knew that Annabeth probably doesn't care, since she now lived at Camp Half-Blood, it still worried me for her reaction.

"Boys get down here and help your mother set the table!" I yelled, making my way towards the kitchen, where Helen was. Seconds later, I could hear the thunderous footsteps that could only belong to the boys as they ran down to the kitchen.

Bobby and Matthew made a game of setting the cutlery, passing and catching the forks. I scowled, but turned away from them—the two wouldn't listen anyways.

I moved to help the boys with setting the table, when I heard the doorbell ring. I took a breath, that must've meant that Annabeth was here. She had said before that she was bringing a friend, and I assumed that it was going to be that Piper girl she talked about before on the phone—I was surprised when it wasn't.

Annabeth was at the door, dressed in a wrinkled Camp Half-Blood shirt with the front tucked into her jeans. I prayed that the smudge of red at the hem wasn't blood. Annabeth had her hair in a ponytail, and a small bag hung off her shoulder, the bottom of the bag sagging down in a way that led me to believe she didn't have a wallet or keys inside.

Standing behind Annabeth, was a familiar looking guy with dark hair and green eyes. He had a trouble-making smile on his face, and was wearing the same getup as Annabeth, minus the bag—meaning he had to be a demigod.

I offered a smile. "Hey Annabeth, it's been a while." Annabeth gave me a tight smile, staying silent till the boy nudged her in the ribs. Needless to say, it looked painful.

Annabeth glared at the boy, before turning back to me, "hey Dad." She greeted, letting out a reluctant breath. I tapped my fingers against the door, realising the two were still standing outside.

"Oh—sorry, sorry. Come in you two."

Annabeth stalked into the house, the boy giving me an apologetic smile as he entered, stopping briefly to say something. "In case you don't remember—my name's Percy."

I raised an eyebrow, closing the door behind Percy. I remembered that name, Percy was the boy who'd come by when Annabeth was taken by Artemis or something of the sort. Annabeth had made herself comfortable on the armrest of a pull-out couch in the living room, whispering to Percy, who was standing awkwardly next to her, his arms loosely crossed.

"Dinner will be ready soon, you two can sit anywhere at the table while you're waiting." I call to Annabeth and Percy, before heading into the kitchen. The fact that Annabeth had come with Percy, a boy, was interesting. At first, I had suspicions of them to be dating—though the two hadn't done anything couples would do in front of me, such as holding hands or kissing. The two behaved like siblings.

Well, siblings that don't fight like barbarians.

I made my way to the kitchen, picking up the plates of food, the boys somehow gone. "Helen, dear, do you know where the boys went?" Helen turned back to look at me, before resuming her earlier actions of dusting off her apron, before pulling it off over her head.

"Talking to Annabeth and her friend—Percy, I think his name was."

I stilled. I loved my boys, but that didn't mean they were the brightest. Looking up, I could see Bobby and Matthew sitting at their seats at the dining table, bombing Annabeth and Percy with questions. I hurried over, putting down the food before taking a seat opposite Annabeth, Helen doing the same, facing Percy.

"Let's eat." I interject in the middle of one of Bobby's questions, thankfully bringing silence. Well, for a few minutes at least. But soon, Bobby and Matthew exchanged grins, and turned to Percy.

"Percy, are you a demigod too?"

Percy tilted his head, as if confused by the question. And I sucked in my breath. If Percy was mortal than Annabeth would kill me for letting this happen. He then cracked a smile.

"Unfortunately, yes." He said.

"Cool! Who's your mum?" Matthew asked, his voice awfully high-pitched. I winced.

Percy didn't seem mad in any way from the questions. "Sally Jackson," he offered and Matthew frowned, confused. "My dad's the god—if you're wondering. He's Poseidon. And I have a step-father, Paul Blofis."

"Cool! Are you like Ariel, or Aquaman?" Bobby asked, leaning over his seat.

"Something like that, yeah."

Helen seemed to perk up, "So Percy, have you been on any quests?" She asked, genuinely curious.

The smile immediately faded off of Percy's face, "yes." He said stiffly, as if triggered by something.

"Percy, are you okay?" Annabeth asked from besides him, her voice was soft—not like any way I've heard her speak to anyone in this house before.

"I'm fine." The demigod says bluntly, as if telling us to back off. He offered a smile, though it seemed forced. And judging from Annabeth's disapproving gaze, she could tell.

"How many quests, then?" Helen asked, trying to keep the conversation going. And though I could tell my wife meant no harm, that didn't seem like the right question to ask.

Annabeth answered before Percy could. "A lot." Helen nodded, as if sensing the anger from Annabeth. "Annabeth, which was your favourite?"

From what I could tell, Helen seemed interested in the topic of quests.

Annabeth took a breath. "Probably the Labyrinth." She mused, and upon noticing Bobby's questioning eyes, she smiled slightly. "It had the least deaths, impressive for a Kronos related quest. And I got a laptop from it."

"What about you Percy?"

"The one where we had to retrieve Zeus' master bolt. The good ol' days."

Helen hummed, before firing another question their way. "So Annabeth, I heard you were in a war? How was that?" At that question, Percy set down his fork, falling limply against the back of his chair, eyes glazed over as he muttered things, his bottom lip quivering.

"Two actually, not that good." Annabeth said absent-mindedly. She frowned at Percy, biting on her bottom lip. Though I hadn't seen Annabeth in years, I could tell she was worried. Annabeth had a tell.

"What about you Percy? Were you in both wars?" I glared at Helen, who seemed to press with questions that the two teens seemed to not want to answer.

Percy nodded vaguely, still in the same state, though looking more awake. Annabeth rested a hand on Percy's shoulder, the demigod tensing at the touch, his movements stopped—as if Annabeth would attack if he did something.

"Percy, are you sure you're okay?" I pressed, beginning to grow worried. I didn't know how bad the wars were—and if this was how Percy got every time someone mentioned it, I would hate to know what actually happened.

He nodded, but Annabeth cut him off, a scowl on her face. "Perseus Jackson, you are not okay. You haven't been for a while. I might not be a daughter of Janus, but that doesn't mean I haven't noticed." She reprimanded Percy, who made no change but snap out of his trance.

"You will tell me what's wrong, and you will tell me now."

Percy glared weakly at Annabeth, before hiding his face in his hands. The demigod made an unintelligible noise. "Gods Annabeth, you know why—Dreams. Flashbacks, that."

Helen scowled, about to ask a question, only to be shunned by a now angry Annabeth.

"Flashbacks? You still get them? I thought Zeus helped you with that in exchange for the help against her? I mean—he was obligated to!" Annabeth rambled, before taking a deep breath, calming herself down.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Percy turned to face Annabeth, his eyebrows furrowed. "You know why," he repeated once more, seeming reluctant to tell Annabeth, "we just got into college, you already had so much on your plate what with Olympus and New Rome—I didn't want to burden you with this."

"I have my own separate plate for you Percy! After Tartarus, you can't blame me for being worried." Annabeth argued, beginning to look panicked. Though it didn't seem like Percy heard the whole thing. Upon hearing the word Tartarus, the son of Poseidon let out a breath, head falling back against his chair—his body went limp for a total of ten seconds before he started thrashing on the spot, still unconscious. Bobby and Matthew edged away.

"What's wrong with him?" Bobby asked, voice small.

Annabeth got fidgety, fingering a coral pendent on the necklace she was wearing. "He's having a flashback."

"To what?"

"Tartarus." Annabeth snapped, kneeling down and holding down Percy's arms. He began to sweat, his breathing got rougher. Annabeth stroked Percy's hair, muttering sweet nothings into his ear, tears began to form in her eyes, I could tell she was beginning to remember whatever had happened in this 'Tartarus'.

After a while, Percy quieted down, and once the room was silent, I realised that he had been screaming. With a jerk, he woke up, eyes wide. "Oh Gods." He said, turning to me. "So sorry Mr Chase." I nodded slightly, and Annabeth threw her arms around Percy, giving him a quick peck on the lips, before she calmed down. Percy rubbed soothing circles at the small of her back—reassuring her that he was okay.

I stilled. Annabeth kissed Percy. They were dating. Holy—

"I'm sorry Percy, it's my fault. I should have known better than to mention that place even without flashbacks." Annabeth said, voice shaky. Percy shook his head, holding my daughter close in his lap. Too close for my comfort.

"No—I should've told you the first time it happened Wise Girl."

After that, I spent half of the night conversing with the two about their relationship, and the other half just enjoying their company, exchanging stories.

At the end of the night, I walked the two towards the door, "I can tell you two will work out just fine." I said, giving Percy a pointed look, hoping he understood my message to take care of Annabeth.

He nodded slowly, a small grin making its way onto his face. "Yeah. . .we will, won't we?" He muttered, taking a coral pendent identical to Annabeth's off his necklace with one swift tug.

Annabeth tilted her head, giving Percy a questioning smile. The son of Poseidon, in turn, went down on one knee, a lopsided grin on his face.

He put his hands up, as if a warning. "Annabeth, I'm not the smartest tool in the box—this goes without saying. So there is no surprise that I'm choosing to do this at your father's house, using a pendent I gave you, especially since this decision was made due to what Dr Chase said."

Annabeth let out something halfway between a laugh and a sob. A smile on her face.

"Demigods don't live for very long—we've seen it first hand. And though I've been known to make reckless decisions, ending with me regretting those decision—this is one thing I know for a fact I'll never regret." Percy took a breath.

"So with that speech I made up entirely on the spot, with no consideration of what Athena might think—my Wise Girl, Annabeth Chase, will you marry me?"

Annabeth's mouth fell agape, before it closed. She fell to her knees, going at eye-level with Percy. "Gods Seaweed Brain, this is possibly the most stupid way you could've proposed."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "So you knew I would at one point?"

Annabeth punched his shoulder, before taking Percy's hands in hers. "But yes, I'll help strengthen our relationship the same way you helped end our parents'."

Annabeth kissed Percy, long and hard, before pulling away. The kiss was long enough for me to feel awkward.

Percy attempted to slip the coral onto Annabeth's finger like a ring with shaky fingers, resulting in the pink pendent breaking in half from the rough handling. The two laughed. Percy wrapped his arms around Annabeth, their hands linking.

"I'll get you a real ring soon enough, Wise Girl."