A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."

-Aristotle

Lovely Shades of Red

"Can we please see that one, miss?"

The woman behind the counter gave the two teens a nasty look that could possibly rival Medusa's stony gaze... or any other enraged monster for that matter. Her eyes first glared at the boy with raven black hair and brilliant green eyes before moving onto the blonde haired girl with stormy grey eyes.

Despite their sincere smiles and obvious good looks, they had already managed to annoy the sales person who was unfortunate enough to be on her shift when they walked in.

Percy and Annabeth, she heard their names were.

They had walked into the lone store hours earlier with intertwined hands and a prominent aura of love.

It wasn't often she saw a pair of teenagers whose body language, crude groping for example, didn't just scream, "This is just young lust and infatuation, not love". Which was okay if she really thought about it. Teenagers weren't supposed to find that one special person that was clearly meant to be their loving husband or wife.

So when these two came in, it came as surprise to her when she noticed the sweet gestures and timid looks the two shared. If they weren't so young, she would have sworn there were already happily married.

She was more than happy to attend the couple until things got a little rocky.

The two of them had been wandering and asking for assistance for the past half hour, torn on what exactly to buy. It was amusing at first, watching as they harmlessly fought like an old married couple on what their purchase would be: a necklace, bracelet, or a ring, before they finally agreed on a necklace.

After settling that, everything went seemingly well until the hard part came: choosing the actual necklace. Again, they argued for well over a few minutes until they both agreed on one. The sales lady was immediately relieved, expecting that they wouldn't ever agree on anything at the rate they were going.

Well, maybe had spoken too soon. Because right as they were at the cash register, both of them pulling money from their pockets, the blonde haired girl, Annabeth, caught sight of another necklace on a display.

"Percy, look at that one!" The girl had exclaimed as she ran to the cabinet. The boy, Percy, walked over and they delved into an argument if it was the one, as they dubbed their purchase.

And that went on for quiet a while, one of the catching sight of some necklace so they were back to square one, arguing on the cons and pros, and then almost purchasing it before they caught sight of another piece of jewelry and went through the process again.

It was a never-ending cycle, and the sales lady was unfortunate to be stuck in the middle of it, unable to walk away and unable to do anything about it but endure.

This time, it was a sparkling silver locket that they spotted a few feet away when they were at the cash register. A long-chained, heart shaped locket that could easily hold in two small pictures if desired.

Annabeth was couched down as she peered through the glass for a closer view, her stormy eyes analyzing every millimeter of its smooth surface.

For the umpteenth time, the sales lady opened the glass display and set it on top of a velvet cushion with the gentlest of movements. The necklace its self was a mixture, not exactly simple but not exactly complex at the same time.

It was beautiful.

The girl seemed to notice this because she squealed, "Percy! Its this one! Oh my gods! It's perfect for Sally. It just screams subtle beauty and elegance! The color, the shine, and shape…it's perfect! She'll love it!"

Percy and the sales lady both towards her, their eyes slightly confused at the sudden girly reaction coming from, until now, the serious and calm girl. Annabeth cocked a slender eyebrow at the sudden attention.

Percy was the first to react, leaning against the counter as he gazed at her. "For a scary second there, Annabeth, I wondered if there was an a huge mistake and your real mother was Aphrodite."

Annabeth's cheeks instantly reddened with embarrassment, a lovely shade of red, and became bashful as she muttered her reply. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain…it was…a moment of great emotion."

She trudged back to the cash register, keeping her head down to hide the red tint from her cheeks. She didn't bother to see if Percy, or the confused sales lady, were following in her small moment of mortification.

Percy watched her walk away with a grin plastered on her face before turning back to the sales lady, who had watched their exchange. "Well, I guess we'll take this one…that is, if Annabeth doesn't go running to another one."

"I'm not! Hurry up! It's nearly three! Sally will be home any minute."

Percy, jumped slightly at the sound of Annabeth's shrill shout, surprised that she had even heard. "It's barely two-thirty!" He protested.

"We need to stop by another store!"

Percy groaned at the mention of another store. Gods knows how long they'll been in this one. "Do we have to, Mom?" he joked.

The sales lady burst into laughter, cupping her hand over her mouth.

At this Annabeth whipped around, her golden curls swirling in the air as she did so. Her eyes narrowed, enhancing the small storm that lurked in her grey eyes, and glared at Percy. "Percy! I can't believe you called me that."

Percy grinned widely. "Believe me. I can't either."

"I won't mess it up again," Percy promised as he fiddled with the wrapping paper in his hands.

Annabeth laughed and glided behind Percy, who was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sang in his ear, "Liar, liar pants on fire. You said that last time, Seaweed Brain."

He shrugged and turned his head to give her a sloppy, loud kiss on her cheek. "I didn't mean it last time, this time though, I promise I'll get it right."

"Right," she told him, mockingly.

"Shhh. You are ruining my concentration."

She rolled her eyes.

A few seconds later, Annabeth let out a soft laugh as she heard him release some obscene words, both Greek and English, under his breath.

"Percy, you're doing it wrong… again. Let me do it." She reached over his shoulders to take the small box but he snatched it and lifted it away from Annabeth's reach.

"Percy!" She frowned as he stood at his full height and lifted it high over his head. "That's not fair! I'm a little midget compared to you!"

"Maybe it's time you eat your vegetables like a big girl," he snickered as he flicked her nose.

She swatted his hand away with a prominent frown on her face. "Oh please, like you've actually been less than five inches from a vegetable without scrunching up your nose. I've eaten more vegetables than you could've eaten in a lifetime!"

Percy smiled. "You know me so well." He set the forgotten package aside and lifted Annabeth on the counter so she towered over him. "Better?"

She nodded with a grin. "Much better." She'd be ecstatic if she could stand up and show how short she felt next to him, but she doubted Sally want footprints on her kitchen counter. A few measly centimeters would have to do, she thought.

"Now get down on your knees and bow, Jackson," she ordered while crossing her legs and straightening her posture.

"Yes, Queen Annabeth." Percy laughed at her antics but did as she said. "Wait—scratch that! Princess Annabeth. I think of evil, old, warty ladies when I think of queens."

She rolled her eyes. "Not all queens are like that, Percy."

He shrugged. "Blame Disney and their movies. The queens usually are evil. Besides, the princesses always need a prince. I'll be yours."

Annabeth's cheeks warmed. "I don't need a prince. Who's to say I'm not fine on my own?"

Percy pretended to think about it as he scratched his chin with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Says… your father. He thinks we should get married."

Her stomach flipped as her mind focused on the word that came from Percy's mouth: married. She imagined herself next to Percy in a snow-white dress, holding his hands and gazing at his brilliant green eyes as they spoke the binding words: "I do".

Her chest tightened and warmed at the mental image, and only when Percy stood up and kissed her lips softy, did she rouse from her mind palace and regain her ability to think properly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as she replied, teasingly. "Do I have to?"

"Yup."

She sighed melodramatically and crossed her arms. "Fine."

Percy laughed and kissed her lightly before pulling back. She looked at him expectantly until he raised his brow in question.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to propose to me, Prince Seaweed Brain?"

He mocked groaned and mimicked her. "Do I have to?"

Annabeth slapped his arm. "Of course you do!"

Percy chuckled as he rubbed his arm. "I'm kidding! Sheesh."

Swiftly, he got down to one knee and began to propose until he figured it was going to be a little awkward without a ring, seeing as it was usually a given when taking the final step in a relationship.

His eyes darted around the room until he spotted a vase of semi fresh roses Paul had given his mother, Sally, on Valentine's Day. He lunged at the vase, tore one out of the perfectly arranged bouquet and resumed his previous position.

He pretended to smooth out his dress shirt and then looked up to see Annabeth already looking and grinning at him.

"I'm waiting." Annabeth sung.

He rolled his eyes, playfully before looking at her with a straight and seldom face he didn't know until now he could pull off.

"Annabeth, will you marry me?" He held out the red rose and looked at her with pleading green eyes.

Annabeth, who was barely able to keep herself from laughing the moment he got on one knee, pretended to think about Percy's offer as she let out a: "Hmm".

She let out a loud huff. "I suppose you will have to do."

Without letting Percy respond, she jumped from the counter, where she was still perched, and threw herself at Percy, wrapping her arms around him as he let out a surprised yelp.

Horribly off balance, he fell back and took Annabeth with him, his arms snaking around her petite waist as he did.

"Warn a guy, will you?" Percy joked as he instinctively rubbed his head even though the Curse of Achilles protected him from any damage.

"It was a moment of great emotion," Annabeth replied sheepishly, using the same excuse she had used in the jewelry store.

"Mhm, of course."

He grabbed the back of her head, knotting his fingers in her golden locks, and pulled her head down, capturing her soft lips in his own as he kissed her with red hot passion.

Annabeth immediately melted into the kiss as her eyelids fluttered closed. She's be lying to herself if she didn't say Percy's proposal—fake or not—didn't awaken the thousands of butterflies in her stomach.

Despite the fact that Aphrodite might as well be planting these mushy wanderings in her mind or that her mother would surely vaporize Percy for causing such thoughts, she played with the thought of marrying her Seaweed Brain.

Perhaps now wasn't the right time, still incredibly young at sixteen-going-on-seventeen, but she couldn't help but think of the future the world held for them if she ever married Percy.

Like any other architect she wanted to build something beyond beautiful, something permanent, and she'd fooling herself if she didn't admit that Percy's name popped right up when she thought of that.

She sighed happily as Percy's lips released her own but then traveled to her neck, lightly nipping at the sensitive skin there.

"So what's the answer?" Percy murmured against her skin.

"Of course I'll marry you!" She exclaimed dramatically in a high voice. They burst into hushed laughter, stopping only when a subtle cough interrupted their giggles.

Being demigods with more than enough attacks of monsters cast upon them, the two immediately scrambled upright, and instinctively Percy nudged an unarmed Annabeth behind him. Faster than the intruder, or intruders in this case, could blink Percy had uncapped Riptide and had its wickedly sharp blade pointed in their direction.

Only when a familiar yelp of surprise sounded from the other side of the blade did Percy let his eyes drift to analyze the trespassers—or rather, a stricken Paul and Sally. Embarrassed at his almost attack on poor Paul, he removed his sword from Paul's heaving chest.

"Er, sorry, Paul. Battle reflexes." Percy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as Paul struggled for breath.

"Ah, no, no. It's okay." He had his hand over his heart that was surely trying to escape his chest. "Just surprised me."

Percy looked over to his mother for help but found her staring at him and Annabeth with a startled look in her eyes, a small 'o' formed on her lips. Without thinking more about it, he knew she and Paul had walked in a little before they started laughing.

Great, he thought as he looking longingly at Sally's present on the counter, this isn't exactly supposed to be how she found out about me and Annabeth dating.

He hurried to explain but Sally's next words stopped him cold.

"You two are getting married?" Sally's high-pitched voice echoed and bounced off the walls of the kitchen.

She was more than horrified at the sudden news. Her shock had nothing to do with the blonde-haired girl who was furiously trying to hide what was obviously a hickey on her neck. Annabeth was an angel, protecting and caring for Percy on his thousands of demigod quests when Sally couldn't, but the thought of marriage happening between the two had never occurred in her mind.

Sure, dating and in love, she could completely understand—she wasn't that oblivious, in fact, she predicted and hoped they would come together. But marriage? Marriage! They were only sixteen for gods' sake! They—

"What? No! No! No!"

"It's a complete—"

"You— "

"—Misunderstanding!"

"—Don't understand!"

"'Not what it looks like!"

"Just playing around!"

"Ha, w-why would you think that?"

Percy and Annabeth rambled at the same time, gradually blushing and shuffling away from each other as they did.

"You proposed and Annabeth accepted." Paul answered the last question, the only thing he was able to catch through Annabeth and Percy's continuous chatter.

Sally nodded in agreement. "Yes. Perseus—"

Percy internally groaned. There's the full name, he thought. "Mom, we're not getting married."

Somewhere besides him, Annabeth bobbed her head up and down, with a lovely shade of red tinting her cheeks. "We were…er, just playing around."

Now what she voiced it out, they both winced at how odd it sounded. Why would they be joking about getting married? They looked at Sally and Paul and sure enough, their question was clearly on their faces.

To avoid any further explanation, Percy blurted. "We're just dating. Uh, we were going tell you but well….yeah." He gestured to show this awkward situation.

A silence was bestowed amongst everyone, and the longer it lasted the more awkward it became. At this point the two teenagers standing in the kitchen were so desperate for some kind of interruption that they found themselves wishing for a monster attack.

Annabeth wrung her hands and bit her lip as she took in the faces or Paul and Sally. She didn't know if the shock lingering on their faces was still from the fake marriage proposal or the dating Percy had smoothly blurted out. Which ever it was, she wanted fervently to get out.

Aphrodite must be having a blast right about now, she thought.

She internally shook her head and nudged Percy. Thankfully he noticed her obvious discomfort and grabbed her hand reassuringly. He started leading her out of the kitchen, maneuvering between a paralyzed Sally and Paul.

"Uh, while you guys try and process…we'll be out and around. Okay?" Percy might as well be speaking to himself. "Great! We'll be back in maybe fifteen minutes."

Quickly, they shuffled out of the kitchen and out the door hand-in-hand and both equally red.

True to their word, fifteen minutes later they entered the Jackson residence once more.

More relaxed they came into the apartment with two hot chocolates, but upon seeing Sally and Paul sitting on the couch in the living room, they both tensed a little.

Percy opened his mouth to talk but he snapped his mouth back close when his mother abruptly stood from the couch and came running at them. Faster than humanly possible Sally had engulfed Annabeth in a bone-crushing hug, which in turn caused Annabeth to squeal in surprise and nearly drop her drink.

"Oh, Annabeth! I'm so sorry, please don't think that I don't approve of Percy's relationship with you! When Percy announced that you guys were dating, my mind was still on the marriage proposal—which I know wasn't real, I believe you—but I was still processing, and I'm really truly happy for you two—"

Annabeth laughed softly at Sally's mindless worries. "No, Ms. Jackson. It's okay."

Sally, who was still a little flustered, pulled back from the embrace. "I'm really sorry nonetheless."

Annabeth smiled warmly and waved her apology away. Subconsciously she moved to Percy's side, to which Percy took to an advantage and grabbed a hold of her hand.

Sally didn't let this small gesture slide past her and let out an ear-splitting grin. "Aw. You two are so cute! I've predicted this you know," she commented as she hugged her son in a silent way of congratulations.

"You wouldn't be the first, Mom," Percy joked. "Apparently the Aphrodite cabin had seen this coming the first moment I stepped into camp."

"Smart people they are," Sally replied with a smile, which then turned into a mischievous grin. "So while you two were gone, I took the initiative to pull out the old albums; just a nice stroll down memory lane. Annabeth, care to join me?"

Annabeth laughed at Sally's innocent demeanor and Percy horror-stricken face. "Don't mind if I do actually."

Sally took Annabeth by the arm but before they two could take another step, Percy had snatched Annabeth away from his mother's clutches and grabbed onto her shoulders.

He let out a false laugh as he promptly tried to steer Annabeth out of the living room. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Annabeth, why don't we go to my room, and I don't know, do something not involving you hearing the thousands of baby moments I've had."

Annabeth let out a laugh as she stood her ground. She protested much to his expense. "Aw, but Percy! I bet you were such a cute, little baby! Did you drool when you were a baby too?"

Paul, who had stayed silent until now, let out a loud snigger. "Oh! You've seen him drool, I'm assuming?"

Annabeth whipped her head to Paul and nodded enthusiastically. "First time I saw him in camp, he was out cold in the infirmary after the Minotaur attack. Chiron had me feed him ambrosia and nectar. Naturally he was drooling in his sleep."

Percy felt his cheeks burn furiously. "Okay guys that's enough humor at my expense."

He led Annabeth out of the room with, thankfully, no more interruptions. Before they were completely gone though, Percy's head stuck out from the doorway as he called to his mother.

"Hey, Mom? That present on the kitchen counter is for you. It's not really wrapped properly but yeah."

Sally smiled in appreciation but she doubted her son saw it. He had disappeared as soon as Annabeth had walked five feet away from him. She did however get to hear part of their conversation as they walked down the hallway.

"Hey, Wise Girl? We should tell your father next."

She heard Annabeth chuckle softy. "And I suppose you want to tell Athena after that?"

Percy replied without missing a beat, "Actually scratch that. Forget this conversation even happened."

Their footsteps eventually ceased and she took the moment to grab her present. Walking into the kitchen, she found it tucked in between the toaster and the blender. Sally gently eased the box from her son's trademark wrapping and was surprised to find a small box belonging to the jewelry store. She lifted the box to her gaze and immediately a card slipped out.

To: Sally Jackson

From: Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase

Mom, you're probably the only parent, excluding Annabeth's stepmom, that won't kill me. Athena hates my guts, Poseidon is still a little iffy, and I'm sure Dr. Chase would castrate me for stealing his daughter. :) Therefore you get a present while everyone else grumbles. -PJ

^^ Correction: You get a present just to soften and flatter you before you hear the news. :) -AC

She set the card aside, with a wide grin on her lips, and carefully lifted the top of the small box. The sight that greeted her was so awesome that she couldn't help but let out a small gasp.

A silver heart-shaped locket rested against the navy blue velvet in the box, propped open. Inside there was a small photo, seemingly insignificant, but upon further inspected it became one of her treasures.

Paul, Percy, Poseidon, and Annabeth.

The four faces smiled at her as her eyes swept across the miniature photo. Percy stood comfortably in the middle of Paul and Poseidon, each of their arms resting on Percy's shoulder. Annabeth, who looked relatively shorter amongst the men, stood in front Percy, her hands intertwined with his as he gripped her waist.

It was a simple photo, yet it brought so much emotion to her chest.

Poseidon, the man who held her heart; Paul, the man who holds her heart now; Percy, the one that occupies her heart; and Annabeth…

The girl who will always hold her son's heart.

A/N: A small one-shot that I've been playing around with in my mind as I wait for the release of The Mark of Athena. I thought it would be very cute, even though it didn't end like I had pictured it in my head. This is my first PJO story—or in this case—one-shot. Nonetheless I am fairly content with it. What do you guys think?

Review.