A/N: Please R/R, it's super helpful! Thanks so much, you-yes, you-are the best!

"Come on, Percy, we're going to be late!"

Annabeth Chase tugged relentlessly on the bottom of her dress, somehow hoping for it to grow another three inches in length. It wasn't that the dress was too small—it wasn't too tight, either. It was just so damn short, and Annabeth Chase was a girl that didn't like parts of her body having the chance to be exposed if Zeus decided to send a gust of wind her way.

She doubted Percy would mind.

She crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her heel-clad foot on the hardwood floor. The dress, as much as she tried to ignore it, kept rising. She yanked it down again in hopes that it might actually stay there. Her luck must've been worn thin, though, since it just bounced right back up to the position at her thighs.

Clenching her jaw, she gave it one last pull.

It didn't budge.

"Dear," Annabeth heard a voice tsk behind her. "You just don't work with what you have. And my dear, legs are one of them."

Annabeth spun around on her heel, nearly toppling over. In front of her stood a very beautiful, shimmering woman with a yellow dress and hair that reached her waist.

"Sweetheart, Percy would probably die if you let me choose your outfit." The woman in front of her looked at Annabeth sadly, as if knowing Annabeth would never let that happen. "Oh, it wouldn't be anything bad. Just something to show off your legs and your arms. Camp has done wonders for your body. And that hair—"

"Aphrodite," Annabeth groaned.

The goddess clapped her hands together excitedly. "Congrats," she said cheerfully. "Give the girl a prize."

Annabeth pursed her lips. Subconsciously, she thought about Percy. They were going to be late, and if he came downstairs to find Aphrodite, there'd be no way they'd even make the gala. They'd have to make it up to Grover by helping him pick up the garbage or something.

"He'll be up there until we have our little chat," she grinned, her beautiful eyes flickering mercilessly from Annabeth's face to the stairs, as if knowing that Annabeth's thoughts were trained on the boy who was somehow late for everything. "Come on, let's talk. Girl to girl."

Aphrodite reached over and tugged on Annabeth's forearm. Her touch stung, and Annabeth flinched. The goddess pouted.

"Oops."

Leading her to the couch, Aphrodite gracefully tucked her shiny hair behind her ears and turned to Annabeth, her distinguishable features changing over and over again. It was giving the half-blood a headache. For one moment she had gray eyes as steely as Athena's. Another, her eyes were a brilliant green—not unlike Percy's.

"Cute," Aphrodite commented, her lips flickering up into a smile. "His eyes are quite beautiful, aren't they? I've always told Poseidon that they're his best feature. He doesn't like to listen to me, though. Then again, who does? To them, I'm just some…frilly girl in a boy world…" she huffed, obviously put out about something. Annabeth didn't care enough to ask.

"I'm not here to talk to you about Poseidon; I'm here to talk to you about Percy. You and him are quite the pair, you know. We have bets going on up in Olympus. Athena says you'll dump him sooner or later. She says you'll 'commandeer your common sense', but Poseidon is completely against it. He thinks that you're the one for his great little warrior. Ares, on the other hand, wants you both to suffer, so you're dead in his book. The Styx knows I've tried reasoning with him."

"What else is new?" Annabeth muttered under her breath. Aphrodite grinned.

"That's the spirit!" She fluffed her hair before looking back at Annabeth. "Look, I'm not here on anybody's orders, and I know you dislike me. You think I'm fruity and not at all comparable to your heartthrob of a mother, but whatever." She waved off the statement as if it was nothing. "Your mom, by the way, gives you one of her patented Athena-like looks. You know the look."

Annabeth did know. It was a look that conveyed neither annoyance nor pride, and she had been on the receiving end of that look since for as long as she could remember.

"Get to your point, goddess," Annabeth growled. "I have a party to get to."

"Sure, sure," Aphrodite chirped, tucking her long legs underneath her. "Now, you and Percy have been dating for a while, and I know how much he cares about you, but…how much do you care about him?" She lowered her gaze, rifling through a bag that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the overall lack in the relationship. He'll bend over backwards for you, but Annabeth…you don't make much of an effort." She frowned, as if this was really upsetting. "It's true. We've all noticed it. And if you plan on keeping that boy, you better change your behavior."

"I love Percy," Annabeth said, rising to her feet. Her cheeks were flushed and she suddenly felt the urge to rip each perfectly manicured fingernail off of Aphrodite's fingers. "And who are you to tell me how to act in my relationship?"

"Sure you do," Aphrodite responded, ignoring the last part, still rummaging through her bag. Annabeth watched as the goddess pulled out tubes of lipstick and bottles of mascara that had gunk dripping from the corners. A Chihuahua emerged from the bag, and in another heap, an actual hand came out of her bag. It landed in Annabeth's lap.

She yelped.

"Ooh, sorry," Aphrodite crooned, reaching for the hand. It was perfect in every way with minimal flaws or wrinkles. The nails were painted a vibrant green.

"What is that?" Annabeth gasped, forgetting the current conversation completely.

The Goddess of Love just grinned. "It's my Holding Hand. Watch." Aphrodite snapped her fingers, and the hand jerked upwards. A mirror materialized out of nowhere, the hand holding it firmly in front of Annabeth's face.

"It's quite intuitive. My husband made it for me as a wedding present. It was actually thoughtful of him, surprisingly."

Aphrodite snapped her fingers again, and all of Annabeth's carefully applied makeup vanished from her face. "Play to your strengths, love. Your eyes are too harsh. You need to lighten them up." With another snap, Annabeth's eyes were completely covered in shimmering eyeshadow and black eyeliner. Her lips were a sultry red, and her hair was half braided, the end tossed over her shoulder.

She looked sexy.

"I don't look like me," Annabeth panicked, rubbing at her face to try and get the makeup off. Aphrodite just clucked her tongue.

"It doesn't wear off until midnight, Cinderella. Lucky you. Now, back to Percy." With yet another snap that reverberated through the living room, all of the belongings in her bag were gone from the table. The hand was no longer positioned in Annabeth's lap. Frowning, she tried to remember where they had left off in the conversation.

"I don't know what I would do if I lost him," she whispered finally.

"Does he know that?"

Annabeth opened her mouth to respond, but shut it very quickly. The truth was that Annabeth had been kind of demanding of Percy lately. Mostly since she was trying hard to be accepted into a college, get a job, and find an apartment….It was all very stressful for her. A new chapter of her life was beginning, and she hadn't really thought of including Percy. She just took him for granted, assuming he'd be by her side the whole time. And he was trying to help. She just kept insisting on doing things herself. Because she was Annabeth, and she did things like that. Perks of being a child of Athena, she supposed.

"Why are you here?" Annabeth demanded. "Why are you trying to…help me?"

Was that what Aphrodite was doing? Was she helping Annabeth? The younger girl didn't know for sure, but it sure seemed that way. And, by the small smile that flittered across the goddess's face, Annabeth guessed she was right.

"Like I said, we're putting bets on you two up in Olympus. There aren't any wars to fight anymore, so it's all a bit dull. You two are the talk of the town, and I think the two of you have the strength to pull all the way through. In a way, I'm partnering with Posedion. And Artemis, but she doesn't count." Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. "Imagine saying no to boys. How awful!"

"What about Piper and Jason? Why don't you go interrupt their dating life?"

Aphrodite just laughed. "My daughter and her boyfriend have their own problems. And unfortunately, I can't fix those as easily. They are in no way any competition to you and Percy." She stood up, reapplying her makeup lazily. "I'll see you around, hon." She tossed Annabeth a green silk tie. She caught it automatically, puzzled.

"It'll come in handy," Aphrodite promised with an oversized wink. With a flirtatious jerk of her hips, the goddess was gone.

Not more than a second after the shimmering light faded and readjusted to open the living room up more, Annabeth heard a call from a different room.

"Annabeth, do you know where my tie went? I've been looking for it everywhere, and I swear I'm not trying to be late on purpose like last time. I just don't know where it went…."

She glanced down at the silk fabric clutched in her palm. It didn't take long for the pieces to fit together in her head. "Here!" she gasped. "I have it."

Percy peeked his head out from around the corner, grinning at the sight of his tie in her hands. "Great. Now we might actually have a chance of arriving fashionably late instead of not making it at all. I bet Grover…" he stopped midsentence.

"What?" Annabeth demanded, scrunching up her face to analyze his gaping expression. "Have I got something in my teeth? Is it the dress…oh, gods."

Annabeth swore. The extremely conservative (minus the short length) blue dress she had originally been wearing was gone. Instead, Annabeth wore a strapless black dress. It clutched and pulled at her body, flashing her curves in Percy's face. Poor Percy looked like he was drowning.

"Your dress," he mumbled, coughing. "It's, er, very nice. Is it new?"

"Something like that," she growled. She tried to think of a prayer for Aphrodite, wanting to get her dress back, but no response came. Granted, it was probably because her prayer was filled to the brim with swears. Finally, Annabeth sighed. "You think it's nice?"

This dress was even shorter than the previous one. She didn't understand why so-called sexy clothes always had to be so revealing.

"Yeah," Percy said. Annabeth looked up, slightly startled. Percy usually didn't comment on Annabeth's wardrobe choice. Not to mention that his voice was deep and husky, his eyes looking at her with a sort of brightness that she hadn't seen in a very long time. He squinted at her eyes. "Your eyes look amazing, too. I mean, not that they don't always look amazing."

Annabeth bit back a smile. "Come here," she said. Percy sighed, looking slightly pleased, peeling himself away from around the corner, exposing his suit-clad self in front of her.

Annabeth dropped the tie.

"You okay?" he asked immediately, a smile flickering across his face as if knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Fine," she coughed. Percy wearing a suit was something she hadn't really thought about a lot, but boy was that going to change after tonight. Her boyfriend looked amazing, with dark angles and messy hair and bright eyes. It fit his figure, making him look taller, older. He fidgeted with the cuffs in a way that gave off an uncomfortable vibe, but that only made him look more endearing. Gods, she was head over heels for this boy. How could he ever doubt she wasn't?

Percy made his way over to Annabeth, standing dutifully in front of her so she could tie the tie. It took longer than usual, but that might have been done on purpose.

"Percy, you should wear suits more often," Annabeth teased, her fingers readjusting his lapels.

"Why, do you like it?"

Percy, Annabeth could tell, was looking at her smugly.

"Just a little bit," she admitted, planting a firm kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her gently closer.

"How about we skip this gala thing for Grover and make out instead?" Percy asked suddenly. "I mean, we'd just be bad people if we went. Leading on others, thinking we're available? It's an atrocious thought. Completely sickening." He said this all half-heartedly, as if knowing her answer. She knew he expected her to turn him down, to call him out on the idea of leaving Grover to fend for himself at this new job, but Annabeth just grinned.

Propping her chin on his chest, she looked up at him, realizing that she didn't even want to go anymore. She wanted to be with him. So she echoed, "You're right, we'd be doing the community a favor if we didn't provoke them with our beauty. I'm in." She watched as his eyes widened in amazement. He looked down at her quickly, taking her and her scantily-clad black dress in, his eyes shining brightly.

Aphrodite was right: he did have great eyes.

In a flash, Percy was picking her up and rushing her to the bedroom. Annabeth, in a state of joyous giggles, realized that maybe—just maybe—Aphrodite knew a thing or two when it came to assisting relationships and making them become stronger.

But Annabeth would never admit that to the goddess's face.