#like ugh. i don't like cappuccino muffins :

[bookwyrminspiration]

mochi (if you’ve seen them) and buttery

Oh I completely forgot I reblogged that ask game!

mochi: favorite studio ghibli film?

I've seen many of the well-known ones! I don't know if I have one particular favorite--perhaps Spirited Away? That's the ghibli movie my family associates with me (my dad is associated with Totoro and my sister with Princess Mononoke), though I'm also quite fond of Howl's Moving Castle. I intend to read the book one day, as it looks quite fun :)

buttery: favorite snack?

I'm quite fond of both apples with peanut butter (chunky, smooth peanut butter is a heinous crime against humanity), and carrots and hummus :). Also enjoy nuts (primarily pistachios and cashews for snacking), but I inherited this fun habit from my dad called I will snack on practically anything so long as its in front of me, regardless of whether or not I actually like it

[dorkzrul]

(Chapter 1)

Chapter 2

The next morning she found Luke had texted her and immediately jumped up, thinking he wanted to make amends for yesterday night. However this was all the text said:

Luke Castellan: You wanted to talk? Let’s meet at my place at 5.

No apology, not even an acknowledgement of the fact that yesterday had been their anniversary. Last night’s thoughts came back to her. She decided that she would go over, they would talk about yesterday and she would ask him why he was being so weird. Communication was important for any good couple. They would work through this.

At exactly 4:45, she left the house and reached Luke’s apartment by 5. She rang the bell and waited. Luke didn’t come to open the door. She rang the bell again. This time, she heard someone walking towards the door and fiddling with the lock. Luke pulled open the door and held up a finger. He was on a call. “K, I have to go, Annabeth’s here.” She heard a female voice saying something on the other side of the phone. “Maybe later, I have to go.”, said Luke and he put the phone down. “Who was that?”, she asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. “Noone.” “Um...okay” “Just someone from work”, Luke responded with a sigh. “So, how’ve you been”, he asked, instantly brightening. “You wanted to talk. What’s wrong?” The tone of his voice made her want to hit herself on the head. How could she ever think that he was cheating on her? He loved her!

“Oh um I actually wanted to talk about yesterday” “Sure, what about it?” Wait. had he really forgotten? “Yesterday was our anniversary Luke! How could you have forgotten? I waited for you for almost an hour yesterday!” He looked surprised and smiled sheepishly, “So sorry Annabeth! I thought it was next week. I really did. I had plans to surprise you with flowers and even bought tickets to see that movie you’ve been wanting to see. Ugh, I really messed up didn’t I?”, he shook his head, looking mad at himself. She softened. So he hadn’t forgotten. Well he did mix up the dates but that was a valid mistake. He did seem to have plans to make it special. She could forgive him. And since he’d bought movie tickets, they could go out together next week. “It's fine, it can happen. Lets go to see the movie next week and you can make up for forgetting our anniversary”, she added playfully. Luke looked relieved, “Great! Thank you!”, he tightly hugged her. She laughed. Things were good between them again!

Then suddenly she got a call from the architectural firm she worked in. “Hello?” “Annabeth, so sorry to bother you on a Saturday evening but do you think you’ll be able to send in the report right now? The date got changed to tomorrow and I still need to edit it and send it to boss” “Oh, of course. The report is complete. I'll send it to you as soon as I get home.” “So sorry Luke, I need to go”, she apologized. “It's fine, baby. Call me when you get home. Can’t wait to go out next Friday!”, he kissed her goodbye. She put on her shoes and walked out, closing the door behind her.

That night, as she lay in bed, she realised she’d forgotten to tell Luke about Percy. It’s fine though. It wasn’t really that important. Though she still felt she should’ve told him. She would have wanted to know if Luke was going for coffee with a random girl. She’d tell him tomorrow. Also, she still can’t believe that she’d actually considered that he was cheating. Luke would never do something like that, not just because it was wrong and he loved her too much but also because it would make him like his father. Luke’s dad had cheated on his mother and then just left them without a word. Luke’s mother hadn’t been right in the head since he left, leaving Luke to fend for himself. Luke loved his mother dearly and always took care of her, however she never got better. At least until she met his stepdad. She seemed brighter, happier, better mentally and physically. Until she died in a car crash a few years back. This was on the anniversary of his father leaving. Luke was devastated after that and his stepfather just took all the money that she’d left him and ran. Luke had had a tough past and he blamed his father for it all. However, he looked just like his father and every time he looked in the mirror it was his father's face he saw staring back at him. Luke swore that he would never be like his father and cheating would ruin that.

She fell asleep then, confident that everything was once again great between her and Luke.

The next morning she woke up and jumped out of bed, weirdly excited at the prospect of meeting up with Percy, considering he was just a stranger. You dont meet strangers for coffee, there's something else going on here, a part of her announced. Was there, she wondered, were they friends? She shrugged, it was unimportant. It was Monday, she suddenly realised. She was going to be late to work! She quickly got dressed and headed to work, grabbing a coffee on her way. The day passed, she felt herself get more and more jittery as it got nearer to 4. At exactly 3, she left the office and arrived home with just enough time to get dressed and leave.

She got there right on time and saw Percy already there. He saw her and waved, grinning. “Hey!”, he happily greeted her. “Hi”, she replied, slightly hesitating. He waved over a waitress. “What would you like today”, asked the waitress, clearly flirting with him. “Oh, um I’d like a hot chocolate and a chocolate muffin please”, he asked politely, almost as if he didn’t notice the waitress twirling her hair and blinking rapidly. “Um, do you have something in your eye”, she asked, annoyed. The waitress, Kelly (it was on her nametag), glared at her. “Who asked for your opinion”, she asked rudely. “You’re the waitress aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be asking for my order?” “Fine, whatever. What do you want?” “I’d like a cappuccino please” “Whatever, sure”, she rolled her eyes and walked away, swaying her hips and turning around her shoulder to wink at Percy, who had been watching this whole exchange with an amused expression on his face.

“What?”, she asked when she saw him looking at her. “Nothing, just the way you reacted” “She was just being annoying. I mean she only asked for your order, what about me. I was right there. Like hello, are you blind?!” He laughed at that. She glared at him, before cracking a small smile herself. “So, Annabeth, did you sort things out with your boyfriend yesterday?” “I did actually. It went pretty well” “Did he apologize for standing you up” “He did actually. He thought our anniversary was next week” Percy snickered a little at that. She glared at him, “Hey! It could’ve been you! Are you telling me you’ve never forgotten an important date between you and your girlfriend?” “Okay firstly, I might have forgotten a couple important dates but that’s different.”, he protested, “Secondly, I don't have a girlfriend”. Oh, Annabeth thought to herself, a guy as good looking as you without a girlfriend? Damn! But she kept that thought to herself, once again reminding herself about Luke. “How is it any different?”, she asked referring to his previous statement. “Well, it just is”, he mumbled, the tips of his ears reddening. She sensed there was an embarrassing story in this somewhere and tried to convince him to tell her.

“Fine, fine”, he conceded, grumbling under his breath. “I once forgot my own birthday and when my friend called me asking about my gifts, I thought it was his birthday, panicked and immediately went to his house to give it to him and apologise, only to find he wasn’t at his house. When I got back home, all my friends and family were there and threw me a surprise party. Imagine how much of an idiot I looked like when I entered the house with a gift from my friend and sad because I’d forgotten his birthday, only to be surprised by everyone and realise that it was my own birthday I’d forgotten”. She was doubled over by the end of the story, laughing harder than she had in a long time. “Whew”, she added, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye. “That is hilarious! Did you really forget your birthday?”, she asked in disbelief. He nodded, embarrassed.

“What about you? Any embarrassing birthday stories”, he asked, grinning, his face still red. She immediately stiffened. Her birthday was a topic she liked to avoid. Percy noticed this and immediately, the expression on his face turned to one of concern, “What’s wrong? Was it something I said? I’m sorry”, he quickly added. “No, nothing you said” She debated for a moment, should she tell him? She’d only known him for a couple of days but he looked trustworthy enough. She decided to tell him. “It’s just, birthdays are kind of a hard topic for me. On the night of my seventh birthday, my mother just left, without a word. My father was heartbroken. He immersed himself into his work until he met Helen, my stepmother. On my 11th birthday, he introduced us to each other and she instantly hated me, I don't know why. I had never done anything to her.They got married soon after and had twins. My brothers, Bobby and Matthew. As I grew older, I looked exactly like my mother and looking at me reminded my father of his lost love. Thus, he shunned me and ignored me entirely. He got his own family with Helen, Bobby and Matthew and I was always the outsider, just another reminder of his failed marriage”, tears were falling down my cheeks by now, “My stepmom hated me as I was the child of her husband’s previous marriage. My stepbrothers learned to hate me. I had no one left who I could rely on… until Luke”

She kept her head down, tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt Percy’s arm around her and moved closer to him, almost burying her head in his warm chest. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be crying. I’m making this whole meeting really awkward.”, she noticed a couple of wet marks on his shirt, “And I also ruined your shirt!” She pulled away, quickly wiping away her tears. “No, no, it’s okay. I'm glad that you trusted me enough to tell me this and I’m so sorry. If it makes you feel better, my father also left when I was little and until a couple years back, I also had a terrible stepfather. He was really bad. He used to hit my mom and I. I still have scars on my back from his knife, and they’re still better than those my mom has.” That did make her feel better, but then she felt horrible for feeling better at someone else’s bad experiences. “Oh, I’m sorry that must’ve been terrible. You said until a couple years back? What happened” “Oh um, he died in a car accident and my mom just remarried another guy. He’s much better. He really loves her and she loves him.” She could hear the pain in his voice. He really loves his mother, she thought. “What about you? Do you like him?” He looked surprised at the question. “Well, I suppose he makes her happy so he can’t be all that bad” “You really love her a lot huh?”, she asked, softly. “I do”, he smiled at this, “She’s the most wonderful person ever. She deserves so much better than what has happened to her. She really loved my father and he left her, leaving her to fend for herself with a baby. Then came Gabe, my first stepfather. He used up all our money and left us injured and almost broke. She worked 3 jobs to support us and we finally got back on our feet. Then, she met Paul, and he’s been around for a year and it’s been great” The two shared soft smiles. “It was really great meeting you today Percy. And thank you” “You’re-you're welcome”, he replied, looking a little shocked. “You too. I hope we can do this again sometime”, he said smiling. “Sure”, she responded.

He walked her to her apartment and then left with a quick hug, momentarily stunning her. That night she fell asleep with a smile on her face, feeling better than she had in ages.

Thanks so much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to update asap, which was today. Also, anyone got the Bad Blood reference? Lol. K thanks again for reading and don't forget to comment/review. It helps me write better and update faster!!! *awkwardly hugs readers* <3<3<3

Tagging: @rhian-not-ryan