He watched as Thalia shot a few practice shots, sure the girl had talent for just leaving his sister's band of followers, but there were a few errors she made. He was tempted to walk over and show her, but he figured he wouldn't be able to fluster her like Apollo did, at least there was no way he'd fluster her as Lester. Lester was rather unimpressive in the looks department; he missed his golden locks, his grass green eyes, and more importantly his six pack abs. He hated Lester's ridiculous case of acne, though Thalia told him it's nothing compare to other teens, he hated Lester's flab, once again Thalia asked him where it was, and he hated Lester's dark brown, curly locks, Thalia told him to be grateful Zeus didn't turn him into an old man. Over the past few months, he'd spent a lot of time with Thalia, Meg even accused him of developing a crush, but what would Meg know about that?

Apollo seemingly missed his mark because Thalia started packing up her things and walking toward him. She seemed sad when he encountered her in Indianapolis, so it didn't come as a shock when she stepped down from her position, Artemis didn't seemed surprised because she didn't smite Thalia. Thalia claimed she missed her brother, and she wanted to catch up on everything she'd missed out on, but Apollo felt like there was something else behind her departure. Even after completing his father's ridiculous repentance, Zeus wouldn't call him back up to Olympus, so he was stuck for gods know how much longer as Lester. Thalia plopped down on the grass beside him and tossed her bow and quiver to the side.

"You know my sister blesses you guys to be good at that right?" Apollo asked, arching his eyebrows.

Thalia laughed, "Yeah, but it's just kind of discouraging to not be as good as I was."

"There were a few mistakes you made, I can get Kayla to help you out if you'd like." Apollo offered, knowing she'd probably laugh at him if he offered to help her. He knew he was no longer impressive, the sun god she thought was hot so many years ago. In fact, he knew she liked tall, buff, blonde guys, Aphrodite fated her with never being able to get over Luke Castellan.

"It's literally no big deal, but I need to start working with my spear again. I haven't used it in years." She shrugged.

Apollo arched his eyebrows, "You fight with a spear?"

"Yeah, apparently Zeus decided to send me a spear, I prefer swords though." Thalia nodded. Apollo knew Thalia had a sword, Hermes had given it to her a few summers back, but he doubted Thalia couldn't look at the sword, much less use it, without a painful torrent of memories.

Beside his children, Thalia didn't seemed phased by him, something he welcomed, he wondered if he was allowed to consider Thalia a friend. She'd saved his butt a few times in Indianapolis, and he had really gotten to know her since she came back to Camp Half Blood. The truth behind her departure from the Hunt definitely wasn't just about her brother, he felt like there was something else hidden in there. He had to admit, with her dark hair and intense blue eyes, Apollo had never seen beauty like that before. Something about her just drew him toward her, whether he was aware of it or not, he cursed Aphrodite for toying with his brain, Thalia would never find him impressive.

"Are you going to the sing-along?" Apollo asked hopefully. He figured he could try asking Thalia to hang out, just the two of them. As much as he loved signing and leading the bonfires with his children, he was tempted to just chill with Thalia.

She nodded, "Kind of required, are you leading the sing-along again?"

The way she smirked at him, almost led Apollo to believe that she was possibly flirting with him. His heart fluttered at the thought, something Apollo hadn't felt for a long time. He tried for a suave smirk, but he didn't know what it looked like on Lester's face, "I could let Will lead if you don't want me to."

"I mean you could let Will lead it." She laughed, in the distance the dinner horn rang through the valley. He cursed the timing, he was just starting to get Thalia to flirt with him. She pushed herself up and brushed off a few blades of grass, waiting for him to start walking. They walked to the pavilion together, close enough for Apollo to feel her warmth, her hand brushed against his a few times, and he wondered if it had been an accident, or if Thalia was just messing with him. As she walked toward the Zeus table, she looked over her shoulder and waved at him, leaving him standing there with a dumb smile on his face.

"Hey, Apollo, what's up?" Will asked as he and Nico walked in with Austin and Kayla. All of them were staring at Apollo curiously, who was still smiling like an idiot. He rubbed the back of his neck and noticed Will raise his eyebrows.

"I think he was talking to Thalia again." Nico smirked.

Will chuckled lightheartedly, "You know, I could write you a doctor's not that says you have to sit at the Zeus table."

"You could?" Apollo asked, hoping he wasn't letting his desperation show. He would love an excuse to be that close to Thalia. Thunder rumbled in the distance causing the small group surrounding him to laugh. Thalia looked over at him and smiled again before sitting down at her table with Jason, who didn't seem to like Apollo all that much.

"It would be just like Nico's." Will smirked, earning him a punch in the arm from the son of Hades. Apollo didn't need a doctor's note, he walked over to the Zeus table, plopped down next to Thalia, and earned a slight frown from Jason.

Thalia turned toward Apollo and raised her eyebrows, "What are you doing over here?"

"Probably breaking like a thousand rules, but there was something I wanted to ask you." Apollo squeaked, he was trying for suave and nonchalant, but he got squeaky and terrified. He'd never been this nervous to talk to a girl before, and Thalia's intense blue eyes weren't helping.

Thalia smiled, "What would that be?"

He hesitated, and one of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin, Piper, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Ask her out already!"

There was a loud cheer from the Apollo table, and Jason looked like he wanted to strangle Apollo and wish him luck at the same time. Thalia smirked at him, "Well, go on then."

"W-would you like to um go out some time?" Apollo asked, it had taken him a moment to find his voice. Thunder rumbled, apparently Zeus wasn't too happy with the question, but everyone else at camp seemed rather content with the idea, even Chiron was suppressing a smile. Meg rolled her eyes and mouthed 'finally' before giving him a thumbs up.

Thalia pretended like she was thinking for a moment, but after a second she nodded, "I'd love to, maybe you can give me those archery pointers you were hinting at earlier."

He could feel his face coloring, and he tried to get up to leave, but Thalia pulled him back down, "Where are you going? I have a doctor's note that says you're supposed to do everything with me."

She flashed him a piece of paper in Will's handwriting done in what looked like crayon, but Apollo couldn't help but laughing. Without needing to be told twice, Apollo took his seat next to Thalia, making sure Jason didn't want to kill him. Thalia interlaced her fingers with his under the table, and Apollo had never felt his heart beat as fast when she kissed him on the cheek after he walked her back to her cabin after the sing along. Maybe Apollo was wrong about Lester being unimpressive, whatever the case, he nearly passed out from the fact that Thalia Grace had just kissed him on the cheek.