Love.

Thalia understood the concept of love.

It was when the feelings in a relationship were dramatically increased from 'you're a nice person,' to 'I never want to lose you.' It was a rough definition at best, but it was what she felt for him. How could she not? His stunning, sea-green eyes, his beautiful jet-black hair, the way he smiled every time she came up to him, how he sputtered out disconnected words and bashfully look at the ground after she teased him about it, it was all just so...perfect.

This couldn't be anything less than pure, genuine love. The type of love that doesn't just come into your life and quickly flutter out; oh, no. It was the type that crashed through the doors and demanded an immediate and permanent residence. For this love, her heart ached. She wanted to hold him, to tell him that she loved him and let all her guard down, laying and loving without a care in the world, and to have him do the same.

Nervously, Thalia glanced up at the ceiling. Every time she thought that, she was scared that her dad might try and break through the ceiling to reprimand her, or strike her bed with lightning or something like that. Luckily, it never happened, but sometimes, it would be easier if it did. Gods, she thought, Anything would be easier compared to this. Sitting up in her bed, she made a final decision. Tonight, she would tell him how she felt, no matter what the consequences would be. Even if Zeus came down from the clouds to fry her where she stood, or if Poseidon rose from the depths to turn her into a pincushion with his trident, she would confess. She'd held this secret long enough - it was time to let it out.

Percy really didn't understand girls very well.

Sure, he could tell when they were upset, or if they were happy, or angry, or whatever, but he had no idea what might have caused them to be like that. Point and case, Thalia.

Recently, she'd been acting very weird. She came up to him, and every time, she teased him about his smile, and he'd find himself unable to speak, much less look at Thalia. That was another problem - he had no idea what was going on with himself. His heart beat kept picking up every time Thalia came to him, and he'd find it harder to speak. Not that it showed, though, but the difference was easily recognizable to himself, or someone he'd known for a very long time, such as Grover. And again, another problem. Ever since Grover had gotten him to talk about what was bothering him, Grover got so happy that he seemed to be on the verge of laughing with glee, and for Percy, this was very irritating. This would not go unanswered, he was sure of it!

...right after he went to bed. Sword training had been intense, and he needed to go to sleep.

As Thalia walked back and forth in her father's cabin, she scolded herself. For the fourth time that week, she'd tried - and failed - to admit her feelings to Percy. Why was it so hard to say three words? 'I love you'. That should have been easy, but every time, she got only halfway across the small distance between Zeus' and Poseidon's cabins before she went back to her cabin. Sighing in defeat, she tiredly walked out the door and to the sword arena - maybe she could get some practice in before dinner. When she got there, she saw that someone else had thought of that already, and was already attacking a defenseless training dummy with their sword. She recognized the blade, but her mouth was faster than her brain.

"Hey, wanna practice?"

Silently, Percy thanked the gods that Grover was always there for him. Two days ago, Percy had finally made him confess what he knew, and it was...surprising. All it took was one sentence for everything to come into stunning clarification.

"Dude, you're in love with Thalia."

Now, as he had previously sorted out his feelings in a rather heartfelt talk with Grover, he just needed to tell her. The problem? He was way too nervous to say it. He'd tried twice to go over to her cabin, but both times, he chickened out and went back to his bunk, laying in his bed until he felt recharged enough to do something. It was now nearing sundown, and he was practicing his swordsmanship when he heard a beautiful voice.

"Hey, wanna practice?"

Luckily, he'd dealt with this type of thing enough recently to easily come up with a reply.

"Sure, why not?"

Throne Room, Olympus

Two of the three major gods sat upon their thrones, staring into the fire's image of Camp Half-Blood's sword arena, silently judging the two young demigods in the fire. It was a couple of moments before one spoke.

"She'll confess first."

"I doubt that possibility. She has a fine head on her shoulders, but she'll be too paranoid to say anything."

"As if your little whelp could possibly come up with a single sentence to-"

"Aww, isn't that cute?" cooed a wondrously beautiful goddess from her own throne. "They're so perfect for each other!"

The two brothers sat in an awkward silence, partially glaring at the goddess for interrupting their dispute. They both huffed quietly and disappeared, one in a gust of wind, and the other in a warm sea breeze.

"You do realize that they'll eventually start arguing the moment they see them together until they finally confess, right?" questioned a young looking goddess near the hearth, tending to the blazing coals.

"Of course I do! It's just so much more fun watching them unfold their own feelings without those two interrupting my train of thought," she said. "Of course, I've already figured out when they'll confess."

"Oh? Do tell."

"It's perfect, really," she said, leaning in conspiratorially, "They'll confess the moment the other does! Oh, it's so precious!"

"And what about Zeus and Poseidon?"

"Oh, I don't care about what they think. It's young love!" she said cheerfully, looking back to her mirror. The younger goddess simply smiled and rolled her eyes, returning her attention to the hearth. Even if she has no hand in it, Aphrodite has a profound knack for interpreting how a relationship will turn out. Of, course, that's a given; she IS the goddess of love, after all.