"Your words are my food, your breath my wine. You are everything to me." -Sarah Bernhardt

Annabeth stared at the sliver ring laying on her bedside table. Empty Kleenex boxes filled the bed. She couldn't believe what was happening. Her whole marriage had been a lie. Percy never loved her, he did it because he was supposed to, not because he loved her. Annabeth groaned tossing and turning in bed.

"Ow. Ow." Annabeth yelped. She had been stuck in this stupid room, getting poked and prodded, for the last five hours. "Are you almost done?" Annabeth was getting Closter phobic and just wanted to finish her blueprints.
"Almost done, Miss. Annabeth," Her nurse said trying to calm her down. Annabeth wiggled in the dress, she hated this more than anything, she hated her life and the way she lived. "Wanita, I'm done. Seriously, this is rediculous," Annabeth pulled the dress up and walked off the pedestal to the dressing room. She changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a plaid overshirt. She walked out to see Wanita sliding the dress in a bag. She then handed the dress to Annabeth.
"Miss. Annabeth, please behave tonight. Don't put up a fight about how you have to wear this dress, or how you have to wear makeup and your hair has to be down," Wanita told her in a thick Greek accent. Wanita brought her hands to Annabeths face. "This is your party, baby. You need to find someone to take care of you and love you. I'm not going to be around forever." Annabeth was only 22, she didn't want to get married, she wanted to see the world, design and fall in love on her own time.
"I know, Wanita, I'm sorry. It's just I'm having so much fun in my life right now. I'm not ready to be married." Annabeth took Wanitas hands off her face and kissed her cheek. "I respect your wishes for me, but I don't like them." She smiled and walked out to her car. This was going to be a long night.
She could barely breathe in this freaking dress. This sucked. Her face was covered in pink gunk, her dress was long and poofy, and her blond hair was curly and down. This wasn't her, whatsoever. Her family was trying to change her into somebody she wasn't, they had for years, but she never gave in. She knew she was stronger than that, now she wasn't so sure.
"How long is this party?" Annabeth mumbled. Wanita sighed.
"Oh, no more than four hours." Wanita simply said, not noticing the shock on Annabeth's face.
"Four hours? Wanita, you've got to be joking. I can't drop everything for that long. I've been running late on my designs-my boss is starting to get on my butt for it."
"Well, baby, you're just going to have to put it off for a little bit," Wanita said pushing Annabeth's bangs out of her face. "You look beautiful, and there are over 100 young men in that ballroom just for you. So, come on, baby." Wanita patted Annabeths arms and took her hand, pulling her into the ballroom. Her hands started to become moist and she felt clammy. The two doors suddenly opened to reveal 100 men dressed in tuxedos. Wanita pushed her into the crowd, Annabeth stumbled but caught herself. She braced herself as she walked into a ballroom full of men waiting to sweep her off her feet.

So far it wasn't going well. All the men she had met were disgusting, too high and mighty, rude or just plain not her type. She had found her way to the snack table. She prayed that her dress wouldn't pop from her eating, but what did it matter anyway.
"So have you had enough?" A husky voice came from behind her, he reached his hand to take a piece of cheese from the dish. Annabeth chuckled and turned to see a smiling face. The man had dark black hair and mesmerizing green eyes. He was beautiful.
"Yeah, all these guys here are jerks or losers," Once she had realized what she said and saw the look on the man's face she regretted saying it. "Oh, no, no. I didn't mean it like that...What I meant to say was...well…well sometimes I speak from my ass." The man doubled over in laughter, he wiped a tear from his eye and spoke, "I'm Percy," He held out his hand.
"Annabeth," She felt a sudden burst of electricity shoot through her body.
"So, Annabeth," Percy leaned his arm against the table, but pushed himself off. "Would you like to dance?" He held out his hand once more. Annabeth took it, he pulled her toward the middle of the ballroom. She could feel the stares of the other rejected men. All of them seemed to fade away once she looked into Percy's eyes and he touched her waist.
"So, Miss. Annabeth Chase, the daughter of the most famous man in the country, why are you doing this?" Percy paused pursing his lips. "I mean you just. . .you don't seem like the kind of person who would be interested in," Percy waved his arm around the room. "All this."

Annabeth shook her head. "That's exactly it. I'm not. I've been trying to fight my nanny, the woman who has taken care of me my whole life. I mean I'm 23, I still can't live on my own, yet they want me to get married. I still want to do so much, see so much. They can't expect me to just. . .to just marry so suddenly." Percy looked into her stormy Grey eyes. He had never seen someone more beautiful. Her curly blond hair was pulled into a bun with strands of hair coming from the sides. Her dress hugged her curves in all the right ways. Percy rubbed her cheek with his hand. "They can't make you do anything. You're beautiful, smart, ambitious, you know who you are and what you want to do." She knew he was right. "You're absolutely right. I'm not going to be stuck in this stupid house forever. I mean how pathetic is it that I still live in the same house I've lived in since I was thirteen. My parents don't even live in this house. It's just Wanita and me. Twenty-four seven. I'm 23 and I can't even be independent. My parents keep me stuck in this stupid house when I don't even want to be." She leaned her head against Percy's shoulder. She felt so calm around him. If she had said this to anyone else she probably would have been screaming. Percy made her calm.

The rest of the night was a blur. It all mixed in together. With all of the talking, laughing and dancing, she felt like she was in a dream. Here was a beautiful man who was interested in her and wanted to be with her all night. The night was starting to come to an end. Half the men had left grumbling. Annabeth leaned her head on Percy's shoulder, her forehead nestled in his neck. They swayed back and forth.
"It's time for me to go, love," Percy whispered. Annabeth felt tears sting her eyes, she never cries, but she felt like half her heart was going to leave her. "Hey, hey," Percy lifted her chin with his thumb. "It's not a goodbye forever. It's an 'I'll see you later'. Okay?" Annabeth nodded. Somehow it didn't feel like an 'I'll see you later' as she watched the man she loved leave her in the middle of the ballroom.

A/N: Okay so I'm sorry about the OOC, but I wanted to give it a Romeo & Juliet kind of feel. So could I please get at least 15 reviews to continue this story? I have a lot going on and it's hard to just sit down to write a paragraph right now. School is kind of killing me. Reviews are the only thing that keeps me writing anymore! (: R&R. -demigodgirl1