I do not own Percy Jackson, or the Seven Year Hitch.

The worst thing about being in love with your best friend, is realizing too late that you never told her. Sure I had said "I love you", but it never had the meaning behind it that it truly meant. I had always loved Annabeth. First as my neighbor that played with me on the swings, then my study partner through middle school, my date to every homecoming and prom because we didn't want to go alone, and then finally roommate. But that love transformed when she came back to our apartment with the news that "she met someone".

Of course I was happy for her, and was the most supportive best friend I could be. I helped her pick out the outfit she wore on her first date and then stayed up till four in the morning talking about how it went. Falling asleep on the couch with her leaning on my shoulder made me realize that that was how I wanted to wake up for the rest of my life.

That's when I realized that the love I always knew was there, had transformed into an all consuming torrent of emotion that I had no idea how to control.

But by the time I finally had the courage to say something, she came home with a ring on her finger and a sparkle in her eyes. It was basically like getting a baseball bat to the stomach. That's the thing that sucks about being in love. You will always put their happiness before your own. And if marrying Luke makes her the happy, then I'll be the greatest best friend I can be. Sure, it hurts every time she smiles and I know that she's thinking of him and not me. Sure I'll be there when they say their vows and kiss. Sure I'll still be there when she has to get vaccinations because the needles scare her. But, I would rather be in her life as a friend that not be in it at all. Because that's what you do when you're in love.

"Hey, earth to Percy." Annabeth waved her hand in front of her best friend's face when she saw he was starting to zone out. Maybe it was time for a break. Even she couldn't handle this much wedding planning at a time. In fact, it was usually Percy that made sure she stayed on task. Most of the time she felt like she was drowning in a sea of different color swatches that she could swear were all the same exact shade of white, or getting sore fingers from how many little bows she had to tie around various items like bubbles or party favors.

"Hmmm?" Percy looked at her and blinked a few times to get the daydream out of his head. "Sorry, did you say something?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes amusedly, "Yes I was just saying that I have decided to forgo any and all wedding preparations that involve the color eggshell. It is far too close to the color cream."

Percy laughed and nudged her in the shoulder which she playfully pushed back. "But seriously, I was just saying that I wanted to keep the dinner simple, no seven course meal or anything. And it will help cut back the cost of everything if we only offer two entree choices. I just wanted you help choosing which two."

Annabeth took in Percy's demeanor again and saw his sad face. Yes, it was definitely time for a break. "Or…..we could push this off until next week when the menu is due, and we can go to Tobey's, get a pizza, and go home and veg with the dog?"

At that, she immediately saw Percy perk up. He stood so quickly and was at the door before she even had her purse over her shoulder. Annabeth laughed at Percy's childish antics, and they headed out of the door of the small wedding shop.

As they walked, Annabeth's and Percy's arms linked together, Annabeth couldn't help but reminisce about the past. The day was beautiful for April, and there wasn't a cloud in sight, so it was perfect to get lost in her own thoughts.

Percy had been her first friend when her father and her moved to New York. She had been playing in the lobby of their apartment building with a slinky, when an older nine year old boy stole it from her. Percy had come to her rescue by pushing the boy down and valiantly giving her the slinky back. They had been best friends ever since. They went to the same school and then the same college.

Annabeth had majored in architecture and gone on to get her master's at NYU. She then was an intern at a local firm, and she made the right connections, because she was now operating her own business out of the same building. Percy on the other hand had majored in History with an emphasis in Greek and Roman culture with mythology. He had plans to go into his master's but his mother got sick and he decided to wait and help his step-father pay the medical bills. Once she was better, Percy had already been teaching at the local middle school for years and had gotten comfortable. He didn't want to leave, but a teacher's salary, wasn't much to live on, and so we decided to be roommates.

Together, they had been in the same two bedroom house for over five years. Together they had faced relationships and breakups and late night works sessions and bills. They now had a dog named Zeus, a beautiful yellow lab, and they were thinking of upgrading to a bigger house, but this one had so many memories. They had this strange tradition, every Wednesday night, they would order pizza from the local pizza shop and watch a different movie together. Every month it was a different genre and that's how they had been up until a few months ago.

A few months ago, Annabeth had been taking the bus back home. She usually walked but it was raining pretty badly and she didn't bring her umbrella. So she was standing between a young woman nursing an infant and a greasy, mustached man in a bowler hat. Did people even wear bowler hats anymore? She was trying to determine if the hat that Charlie Chaplin wore was in fact a bowler hat, when said greasy man bumped into her and she lost her balance. She was about to hit the floor of the bus when a pair of strong arms caught her and stopped her descent.

"Woah there." He was a tall man, and very muscular. Sandy blond hair and striking blue eyes that spoke of mischief.

As if he heard her last thought about mischief he looked at their entwined arms and said, "I think you just fell for me," and he flashed her the most dazzling set of perfectly straight teeth right out of a Cosmo.

After a straightening of limbs and a sharp glance to the greasy mustache man, introductions were made.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth, I'm sorry for the fall." She stuck out her hand and he took it. She thought she felt a little tingly sensation in her hand, but it was probably in her imagination.

"Hi, I'm Luke. Luke Castellan."

And they say that the rest is history. They had begun talking and agreed to meet for a lunch date on Thursday. Soon lunch dates became dinner dates, and dates to the local ball game, and the restaurants became fancier. Six weeks after their initial meeting, Luke proposed.

Looking back on it now, it was really quick. They had only known each other for a little over a month, but Luke made her feel special and she wasn't getting any younger. And so, dates were set, colors were picked and Percy got cranky.

Ever since she met look and told Percy about it, he had gone quiet. Everything would be fine and then she would say something that Luke and her did and Percy would go quiet and retreat into himself. He was still the fun loving, goofy, seaweed brain that she always had, but her relationship with Luke seemed to rub him the wrong way.

Arriving at Tobey's, Percy put in their usual order and they sat on the bench to wait their required 20 minutes.

I must have been too deep in thought about Percy and his aversion to Luke that I was making a face, because Percy looked at me concerned.

"Hey, Wise Girl, what's going on in that big brain of yours?"

I playfully leaned my head on his shoulder, "I was justing thinking about the men in my life."

Percy wrapped his arm protectively around me. "So you're saying there's two of us? You're not cheating on me with another best friend are you?! I'm devastated!"

We both laughed at that and I playfully punched his arm. "No seaweed brain. I would never replace you. You are my one and only best friend."

At that Percy smirked and leaned his head back to rest against the wall.

"I was just thinking about, what you have against Luke."

At those words, Percy closed his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Well, to be honest, I don't know. I just have this really bad vibe about him. Like he's too good to be true. Plus you only knew him for a month before you decided to marry him."

"It was 6 weeks, Percy."

"Close enough. And I bet he doesn't even know what your favorite color is. Which, FYI, is green. Your purse is green, your room is green, your coat is teal, that's a type of green!"

"Percy…"

"I'm sorry. I just don't know. He just rubs me the wrong way."

We sat silently until the pizza was ready. I stood up to pay for it and turned towards the door when Percy took my upper arm.

"Hey, you know that I just want you to be happy right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if marrying Luke makes you happy, I'm all for it."

I grinned and gave him the biggest hug I could give with a pizza box between us.

"Thank you so much Perce, that means a lot to me."

"Yeah, well, that just means that I got out of paying for a pizza."

I laughed and we started the trek home, enjoying each other's presence.

Tobey's is a real pizza place that I worked at during High School.