Favour

A month had passed since the war had ended, and ultimately, since I had kissed him. Two weeks. Two whole weeks. I haven't seen him in two weeks. I haven't talked to him in two weeks. I haven't kissed him in two weeks. You know how hard that is, after having waited so long? He couldn't have just manned up and kissed me; I had to do that too. And he still hadn't taken me on a date. I told him I'd be staying in New York, to go to a boarding school. Of course he had thought it had something to do with him. Not that it didn't. But my dad was worried sick over this war, and wanted to have me home for a while. So I voluntarily stayed with him in San Francisco until school started. But he didn't mention this. I was prepared for anything that came with my step-mom. Just not this. A wedding; not just anyone's wedding, but my step sister Jenna's wedding and she wanted me to be a bridesmaid. This shocked me at first, but then again, we were never really on bad terms, she was super nice to me when I was little and wanted to play games. But her mother never let her.

Man this computer is slow! I thought as the video chat screen loaded. I had sent Percy an e-mail yesterday to make sure he could talk to me. Finally it came up and I clicked connect. It took a minute but soon I could see Percy. He was sitting in front of the computer, facing the side. What I remember from his room was that he would have been looking out the window.

"Percy…" I said, quietly. He jumped slightly and his cheeks reddened. I wondered what he had been thinking about. I just hoped it had something to do with me.

"Hey Annabeth! I've missed you. It feels like…so what's up?" he said grinning. He missed me? Then maybe he should have called…wait, I know it's probably been super busy for him.

"Yeah…I missed you too. Nothing's really…up…" I said awkwardly. I wished this was in person; I wanted to see him so badly, which is why I didn't just call him. This way I could at least see his face.

He laughed, "I just meant, why you wanted to talk. You said it was pretty important…" He was staring me down now, the best he could through a computer screen. It was almost as if he wanted me to say something. But with me, it usually had to be comfortable, or I wouldn't say anything at all. People knew better than to try to talk to me when I was mad.

"Yeah…It kind of is," I said. Oh gods! Can't I start a sentence without 'Yeah…?'

"Wait…what's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked, looking worried. Why does he have to be so sweet?

"No, no, nothing. I'm fine. I just…need a favour. But it's totally up to you!" I added quickly, so he wouldn't feel forced.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well, see; my step-sister is getting married and she wants me to be a bridesmaid. I said yes…because well…it felt right. Anyways, I definitely won't know anyone there besides my step-mom's family and my dad. And…my invitation said 'and guest…'" I said slowly.

"You want me to go with you to your sister's wedding?" he asked. I nodded, getting ready to be shut down. He continued, "Like…a date?"

"No…not if you don't want to. I just need someone I know there." My face was burning. But his wasn't; he was smiling, like he was enjoying watching me squirm.

"Annabeth. We kissed…does that not mean anything to you?" He said it lightly, but the words cut him and me both.

At first I was silent, but then I said, "Of course it does. I miss you every day. And I need to see you," I noticed he was grinning now, kind of cocky, "So yes, if that's what it takes. Be my date." His bright, green eyes were locked to mine now. They always made me self-conscious, but I refused to look away right now. He seemed speechless; he just nodded.

I smiled, "Great! Well, the wedding is in New York because the groom's parents live there or something. But anyways, it's next week, August 31st. I'll see you at 4. You're still at the same place, right?" I realized I was talking too fast, because he had started laughing. I hoped I didn't come off too eager, though.

"Wait! Slow down… 4 o'clock? When is the ceremony?" he asked. I told him it was at 6, but that the wedding party had to show up a bit earlier to make sure everything was ready.

"Two hours early?" he groaned, "Do I have to rent a tux too?" I laughed.

"Yes. You're lucky; I'm stuck with whatever bridesmaid gown Jenna chooses."

Percy looked down for a second, but then looked back at me; he seemed to gain confidence, "You look great in everything."

My cheeks were burning again, but I said, "Thanks, Percy…I'll see you next week. Bye…" He said bye and disconnected. Wow…

Ugghhhhhhhh! My dress was deep purple. I didn't mind the colour, but I minded the style. It was disgusting: too girly, and too lacey. If it had been a little longer it would have been a mermaid dress; it sat just above my knees. It fit snugly at my waist and everywhere else. Apparently, Jenna's maid of honour had chosen it. I should have known; she always dressed like that: showing too much. Jenna was girly, but not into the too much skin thing. I hated anything lacey though, no matter what. This is the stuff I thought about as I walked into Percy's building. I was trying to keep my mind off of him. Off of what he'd think when he saw me, what he would say, what he would look like, his hair, his eyes, everything about him. I loved it all…too much for my own good. I got into the elevator. This is weird…isn't the boy usually supposed to pick the girl up? Then again, what's so usual about us? Just your average daughter of Athena and son of Poseidon couple. I got to his door, took a deep breath (cliché, I know) and knocked on the door. I heard footsteps and Sally Jackson opened the door. I smiled.

"Hi Ms. Jackson," I said as she leaned in to hug me. She looked so happy lately. Maybe a certain fiancé was contributing to that.

"Percy is just in his room; I don't think he's changing or anything, though. Just go on in," she said smiling at me. I walked over to his doorway, debating whether or not to wait in the sitting room or knock. I noticed Paul sitting in the couch: sitting was no longer an option. Too awkward. I said hi and then knocked on Percy's door. He answered. Man, I had a hard time not staring. He looked really, really good. And he was giving the once over. I saw from his expression he liked what he saw. He grinned.

"You look great. So girly…for once," he said. I frowned, wondering if that was a good thing. He said, "No, I mean, it's good. You look beautiful." I didn't know what to say to that so I just hugged him. I put my arms around his neck, his hand were around my waist. I tried to say, "You look great too," but it sounded kind of muffled, because I was leaning on his shoulder. He laughed and said, "Thanks, Annabeth." We pulled apart.

"Are you ready?" I asked. He nodded. We left after saying bye to his mom and Paul.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"Here…as in New York or your apartment?" I asked, as we walked out of his building.

"Apartment…I guess."

"The best man drove… He's a little mean... Just warning you…" I said. He raised his eyebrows as we stepped into the car.

"Was he mean to you?" Percy asked, looking a little mad. I shook my head, even though he was, I knew full well that I could take care of myself. And I told him that.

"I know I know…" he said holding his hands up, in surrender. I didn't want to fight either, but sometimes I can't control what comes out of my mouth. I could see the best man, whatever his name was, give us both a look in the mirror.

"What?" I snapped at him. Percy looked kind of worried, which was so cute because his eyebrows were all scrunched up, until he realized I wasn't talking to him.

"No, nothing, nothing… It's just…you two should have taken longer… you know, it's not like we're holding up a ceremony or anything…nooooo," he said very sarcastically. I glared at him.

Percy said, "We're not…doesn't the ceremony start at 6? It's only four…"

"Who the hell are you?" he snapped.

"Yeah, nice come back. Would you relax? People will think you're the one getting married," I said.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever." The hall was only 20 minutes away, but it seemed like much longer since no one talked. Percy looked really nervous. He was fidgeting with everything; his tie, his seatbelt, his hair, my seatbelt and pretty much everything else. This would be normal, with the ADHD, but it was worse now. I took his hand in mine and that seemed to relax him a bit.

For two whole hours, we were both stuck listening to whatever the stupid wedding planner and maid of honour had to say. Mainly it was to move stuff to one place and then to move it back. After a while the people who were supposed to have set up the wedding showed up and they got yelled at, instead of us. Percy and I snuck off and hid in one of the upstairs rooms. The servers were walking in and out of the room, but I don't think they minded. It was kind of awkward…at least I felt a little uncomfortable. He was smiling though, looking out the window, to a little artificial Koi pond. It wasn't that the silence was uncomfortable or anything, it was just that I had so much to talk about; so much to say to him, but this wasn't exactly the best time. I actually liked the silence sometimes; it showed that we were close because we didn't feel the need to fill up every minute with unnecessary chatter. I saw him glance at me out of the corner of my eye. I turned and raised my eyebrows.

He smiled, "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Percy." He put his arm around me. Interesting…usually he would have lost courage. I smiled to myself and rested my head on his shoulder. It felt nice; he felt nice. Warm and strong.

"There you are, Annabeth! You know how long we've been looking for you two. The guests are starting to arrive, you need to be with the rest of the bridal party," the wedding planner said.

"Sure…" I mumbled, not wanting to leave Percy. I got up and she dragged me to a room in the back, right where we would have to enter.

"I'll see you after," Percy had said, quietly. I sat down next to my dad, who would be walking Jenna down the aisle. The bride seemed to be getting cold feet, but judging by the huge crowd around her, I wasn't needed. Then I heard her yell.

"NO! Would all of you just be quiet?" Jenna exclaimed. (Her maid of honour mimicked saying, "Yeah, shut up all of you!") Most of them looked shocked. I rolled my eyes. Jenna walked over to me and sat down, "Am I making a mistake, Annabeth?"

I looked at her and everyone who was staring. I took both of her hands, which were freezing (so much for cold feet), and said, "Do you love him?" She nodded. "Does he love you?" She nodded again. "Then what are you worried about?" She was silent for a while but then she smiled and hugged me. "Thanks…" she whispered.

Then it was time. The ceremony started and I walked out with one of the groomsmen. He was a lot better than the best man, but he was sweating. A lot. It was kind of disgusting. Funny how the groom's party are more nervous than the groom. I looked to my left and saw Percy; he was smiling at me. I got to the front and eventually so did the maid of honour. Everyone rose when the bride came in, and honestly she looked beautiful. More importantly, she looked happy. The groom couldn't stop smiling. While most people's eyes were on the bride, I glanced at Percy and saw his were still on me. I could feel my cheeks burning; feeling self-conscious. But he was smiling.

It took awhile, but eventually pictures were done, people were settling down, all the tables were set up and Percy and I were seated. The bride and groom had their first dance which was so cute. The maid of honour came up to me and said, very rudely, "You better dance; otherwise you're going to ruin this wedding." I rolled my eyes as she walked away.

"Melodramatic much?" Percy said. I raised my eyebrows.

"Big word Percy!" I said laughing.

"Shut up Annabeth! Come on…" he said pulling me to the dance floor. The dance was sweet, even though a lot of people were watching. His hands we around my waist; my arms were around his neck. We danced for a long time, just swaying to the music. Pretty soon we were in a crowd of people and no one could really see us. This is when the best part of the whole night happened. He leaned in and kissed me. A real kiss…right there in the middle of the crowd. Which is how I knew he loved me…well, maybe not love…yet.