Authors' Note:Originally, this was supposed to be a multi-chapter fic. Seeing my frequency at updating The Montauk Affair, I figured it might be better as a oneshot. However, once I got along with OC development, it showed all signs of being a humongously long oneshot, which is a problem because my exams are due in two days and I won't get closure until I actually finish the thing. Considering my ineptitude at engineering mechanics (or theory of structures, as the case may be) I decided to try out for a little wisdom, and make this a two/three shot.

Well, that would be the story of the story. I might have to have a beta in this, because my tenses may be messed up. I'm willing to entertain offers, but please be sure you can help.

Warnings: This happens to be a slightly unconventional Apollo/OC romance, possibly damaging to the very delicate soul. People who feel squeamish are invited to yell at me. And also, I've gone (again, slightly) against original mythology in one of the events, even if it is not entirely evident at this point of the story. Think of it as literary licence.

Part One

Geriatrophile

The first time she sees him, she's recovering from a particularly bad day at work.

She's sitting near the kitchen table, her hair in disarray and her eyes harried, when her daughter enters through the back door. Gwen is laughing and explaining something to a blond kid about her age, maybe a couple of years older. She's struck by what a good-looking couple they make, her with her long brown hair and confident step, him with his dazzling smile and undeniably handsome face.

She sighs when her daughters' black bag falls into the table with a crash.

"Gwen."

"Sorry mom," She shrugs, her eyes bright with excitement. "Apollo, this is my mother, the woman crazy enough to have a ukulele collection. Mom, this is Apollo. He wants to see your ukulele collection, for some unfathomable reason."

It all started with the darn ukeleles.

She blinks and stares at the kid. He's still smiling as he nods at her, his eyes reminding her of a cloudless summer sky. Her daughter takes the moment to look at him admiringly, making an 'isn't he cute?' face at her behind his back. She is inclined to agree, but privately decides to have a long talk with the kid, threatening him with as many forms of horrendous torture she can think of if he as much as shows a sign of hurting her little girl.

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Fletcher." He says.

"Miss," She corrects bluntly. "I'm not married."

She sees Gwens' face fall and immediately feels guilty about taking her frustration out on her new friend.

"The ukeleles are upstairs in the attic," She waves in the direction of the stairs. "I'm sorry, Gwen. It was just a bad day at work. You two have fun." She smiles at them both, trying to play the part of the benevolent parent.

He shoots her another thousand-watt grin before going to the stairs, but her daughter takes the time to squeeze her hand tenderly and plant a soft kiss on her forehead before following. She is gratified by this because this reminds her that no matter what happens, she'll have Gwen, and Gwen will have her.

"Isn't he cute?" Gwen asks later as she helps her set the table for dinner.

She hums noncommittally as she brings in the pasta, trying to downplay her daughters' excitement.

"Mom!"

"Yes, he is cute," she admits grudgingly. "But you, young lady, have your SATs to think about. That kid had better take a backseat in your priorities."

Gwen ignores her like she always does when the subject of her education comes up (not that she's all that worried, Gwen was a bright girl) and proceeds on a long monologue about the kid.

"I met him last weekend at the club; he plays guitar. Not reallywell, just okay… but all of us -the girls- are happy enough watching him," Gwen dumped cutlery on the plates. "He said he liked music, all kinds of it. So I joked to him about your ukeleles. Believe me, I was surprised when he said he wanted to see them."

"I'm happy they were useful for something," She says. "Straighten those spoons, please."

"He knows a lot about ukeleles," Gwen says once she's stuffed a spoonful of pasta into her mouth. "He was telling me how they were made; almost like he was there when it happened. So if we ever get married, you and he will have at least one thing to talk about."

She paused at this, despite how she knew her daughter was joking.

"You are not even going to think about marrying until you get a decent job. Men, are jerks. I learnt that lesson the hard way."

"Geez, mom."

"I'm exercising parental authority here. No arguments."

Gwen makes a choking sound she suspects is a snort. She reflects there might be something in that. Caroline Fletcher had been guilty of exercising parental authority maybe ten times in her existence.

He shows up again next week, to look at the ukeleles.

Caroline notices how his eyes linger on her daughters' body when she's not watching him, and her nose itches with discomfort. She doesn't want to ruin Gwens' crush for her, but something about the kid unnerves her. Maybe that's why she silently follows them into the attic, and eavesdrops at a crack near the door.

"Gwen, sweetheart, I like hanging out with you, but it scares me how your mom looks at me like I'm about to rape you." She hears him say. Gwen laughs at the statement.

"Mom's a little overprotective. She had me when she was seventeen; obviously I wasn't planned. She's looked after me all these years and…well, we're really close. She gets jealous," the affection in Gwens' tone pleases her. "No one is good enough for me. And well… she's had a few bad experiences with guys. More than a few, really. She's pretty much given up on your sex."

"That sounds like my sister," he laughs. His laugh is like his voice, attractive in a sunny sort of way. "Except for the experience part. She gave up on us at birth."

"Really?"

"We're twins. She says that after sharing a dark, enclosed space with me for months, it's a miracle she doesn't just shoot every guy she comes across."

Caroline grins in time with her daughters' laugh. It only fades when a few seconds later, he looks in her direction. The grin is still on his face and there was absolutely no way he could have spotted her behind the wall, but there is something in his eyes, like he knows something she doesn't, quite possibly something about herself, that makes her shiver.

She decides she's overreacting, and goes down to make herself some coffee.

They come down later, laughing and talking. She tries to fade into the background while still trying to keep an eagle eye on them, definitely a hard job.

He notices her guitar leaning against the stairs, where she's kept it after a little strumming to soothe her nerves.

"You play guitar?" He asks Gwen.

"No, that'd be mom," Gwen tells him. "She's the music buff of the family."

"You play the guitar, Ms. Fletcher?" He asks her. She's stuck by the sheer potency of that smile when it's directed completely at her. No wonder Gwen was delirious with joy.

"A little." She says, willing herself to judge him. She finds it impossible; she has too little information.

"That's great!"

"Thank you." She wishes she could tell him to not hurt her daughter instead. Later, she does, when Gwen isn't paying attention.

"I'll do my best, Ms. Fletcher." He says, and there is no doubting the sincerity in his voice.

"Gwen?" Caroline is concerned when her daughter enters the house with a melancholy expression. "Gwenny, are you all right?"

Gwen seats herself at the kitchen table, her head held in her hand, waving her mothers' concern away. Caroline waits patiently for a little more than half an hour, cleaning the kitchen, before she decides to speak.

"It's nothing, mom. It's really silly," Gwen sighs. "What was I thinking?"

"Apollo?" Caroline hazards a guess, her heart sinking.

Gwen nods miserably.

"What did he do to you?" Caroline is surprised by the fierceness of her voice. Even Gwen jerks up at that.

"Nothing! Nothing like that! He's just, well…a flirt," Gwen explained. "It's built into his system or something. He's nice and all, but he's hardly permanent." (she rolls her eyes) "I'll bet he's had dozens of girlfriends."

"Oh, honey-"

"My bad, and I'm dealing with it," Gwen waved her away. "I was an idiot, that's all. And he's still a good friend; at least I get free rides to school."

"Gwenny-"

"No mushy stuff," Gwen ordered her. "And don't take your anger out on him, I think he'll still come here for the ukeleles."

Caroline unconsciously stabbed the table with a fork, earning her a raised eyebrow from Gwen. She sighed and said she'd do her best.

"Smooth," She tells him when she opens her door to him two days later. "If that was your best, I'd hate to see your worst."

He had the decency to look (somewhat) ashamed.

"Can I see the ukeleles?" He ventured.

"Only because Gwen said so." Caroline let him know. "Come on in."

"She's a sweet kid." He said, smiling.

"Maybe you could have kept that in mind before you started hitting on every single girl in that food court," Caroline snapped. "Haven't you learnt tact yet?"

"I was trying to let her down gently," he said meekly. "I wasn't really interested in Gwen. She's not my type."

Caroline bristled at that.

"There's nothing wrong with my daughter."

"Of course there isn't," Apollo agreed. "She's pretty, smart, sweet, witty…she's brilliant."

"Then why?" Caroline asked.

"Because you asked me to not hurt her," he said simply. "I don't have permanent romances, and I didn't like her enough to be selfish about it."

She's surprised by his bluntness, and halfheartedly concludes he might be okay after all. Just possibly, and onlyin a roundabout way, but still.

The next weekend, he shows up and offers to drive Gwen to the mall. Caroline is on her third cup of coffee that morning, and isn't really paying attention to what they're saying till Gwen tugs at her and tells her to get dressed. Apparently, they'd decided she was going to come to the mall with them. Pretend-chaperoning was possibly the last thing she wanted to do on a weekend, but she melts at the look of desperation Gwen shoots her. Apollo looks anxious too, and she's struck by a sudden bout of fondness for the kid.

She nods reluctantly. The thousand megawatt smile that appears on his face when she does scares her slightly.

He drives them to the mall in his car, a red convertible most roadside bystanders appear to be drooling over. She concentrates on trying to not get carsickness in addition to her migrane, noting that Gwen looked exceptionally thoughtful.

When they reach the mall, she tags along with Gwen while Apollo disappears. They spend a couple of hours window shopping; at least, Gwen does while she clutches at her head and tries not to complain. They finally make it to the food court, where she collapses on a chair and presses her head to the table.

"What happened?" Apollos' voice, concerned. She hears him putting down something.

"She gets migraines sometimes." Gwens' voice, sounding worried. "I shouldn't have forced her to come."

"Not too loud." Caroline mumbles, closing her eyes.

"Sorry." Gwen whispers guiltily.

"Let me see," he says.

She's unprepared to have her head raised from the table, even more unprepared to see him sitting close to her, cradling her head in his hands. This close, she can see how fine his blond hair is, and how his summer-blue eyes are crinkled with worry. She's aware that her mouth is slightly open and that she's staring, but it was a dim sort of awareness, more useless fact than actual knowledge.

He brushes his hand across her forehead (frowning slightly - she's surprised, she hadn't seen anything like that on his face since she first met him), opening a sudden void in her stomach. Abruptly, he lets go of her.

Silence reigns for a few seconds. Much to her surprise, Gwen isn't the person to break it.

"Are you all right?" He asks.

"Umm…yes. Thank you," she rubs her head vaguely. "I feel much better."

That was the last time in her life she ever got a migraine.

Gwen is unusually quiet that night. Caroline is glad, because she doesn't feel much like talking either. They order takeout and curl up in front of the TV, and she leaves for bed before she's halfway through the movie.

Caroline sighs and follows her upstairs. Her room is open, and she's staring mutinously at the wall.

"Gwen?"

Gwen pretends not to hear her.

"Honey, do you want me to ban him from the house?"

Gwen takes time off to glare at her, then goes back to the wall.

"If he's annoying you, then-"

"It's not him," Gwen snaps. "It's you."

"What did I do?" This was the early teens all over again.

"Nothing!" Gwen throws her hand up. "Nothing at all. You barely talked to him, and he's besotted with you! He spent all of that day flirting with the waitresses and today he was just watching you. Like, I don't know, like you were some sort of goddess or something! I've been pushed over by a guy in favor of my mother. Excuse me if I'm a little pissed off!"

And she turned around and refused to talk to Caroline, which was perhaps for the best. Caroline was sure she was too stunned to form a coherent sentence.

"You're not here for the ukeleles, are you?" Caroline asked him when he showed up the next day.

"How's your migraine?" He asked.

"Not here yet, but it will soon be, at this rate." Caroline stood in front of the door, blocking his entrance. "Answer my question."

"Not entirely." He confessed.

"And you've already made it clear you're not here because of Gwen," Caroline said. "So what, exactly, is your motive?"

He looked at her in a way which made it all crystal-clear. She was stunned into silence again.

"You are unbelievable," She said finally. "I am old enough to be your freaking mother. There is no way this is going to work."

He smiled again. But for once, it wasn't carefree or embarrassed. It was knowing, and a little sad.

"Oh, it will." He said. "I know."

She's unnerved again, this time by the certainty in his voice, and she refuses to let him in again. He shrugs at her, still smiling, and walks away with his hands in his jeans pockets.

Somehow, she doubted that'd be the last she'd ever see of him.

Of course it wasn't. And it restarted again with Gwen.

They were sitting at the table, having breakfast. They'd apologized, and they'd shared hugs, and things were pretty much back to normal, at least until she vrought the subject up.

"So…" she says, her mouth half full with morning toast. "I met Apollo yesterday."

Caroline pauses in pouring out coffee, dreading whatever was going to come next. How could one single guy cause so damn much trouble in so little time? Was this even possible?

"It's all over, Gwen. Forget him," she says. "It's just an embarrassing chapter in both our lives."

"He said you wouldn't let him in."

"Like I said, forget him."

"Mom, I think you should date him."

Caroline puts down the percolator, staring at her daughter in disbelief.

"I mean, come on," Gwen waves a fork in the air for emphasis. "The guy's hot- sizzling, in fact. He's sweet. If that car of his is anything to go by, he's rich too. And okay, he's something of an airhead, but he knows a lot about music. That should keep you guys on conversation long enough. He's obviously in love with you-"

"Not to mention, he's about the same age as my daughter. And love? Gwen, are you serious? Love? I'm almost thirty-six."

"See? Still young."

"Compared to you, and to him, I'm a dinosaur."

"So? Maybe he's older than he looks. The way he wanders around, he's definitely not in college."

"Great. So now I'm being stalked by a dropout?" Caroline throws up her hands. "I'm sorry, Gwen. But none of this-"

"Give him a chance. So what if he's young, it's just going to be a fling," Gwen rolls her eyes. "I told you the guy has no concept of permanency. You deserve some fun."

"Gwen-"

"Mom."

"This is-"

"Mom. Grow up. Give yourself a break. There's no way for any heartbreak to be involved in this relationship; it's just one of those physical attraction things. You are so warm for his form-"

"Gwen!"

"I was watching in the food court. I could see it. Clearly." She glanced at her watch. "Look, I've gotta go. If he comes, let him in. And if he asks you out, go for it."

He came, and despite her inner wisdom, she lets him in. This time, he doesn't even pretend to look at the attic, preferring to lean against the wall and look at her instead, the ever-present grin on his face.

"What?" She finally asks.

"Are you doing anything Friday night?"

And again, she ignored inner wisdom and followed her daughters' suggestions.

"You look great, mom."

Caroline closed her eyes in disbelief.

"No, really."

"I have greys in my hair," she stated, closing her eyes. "I have greys in my hair, I have wrinkles. I'm going out with a guy who can't be any older than twenty. Please tell me why I listened to you."

"You're madly in love with him?"

Caroline sighed.

"Mom, you could be. I have this feeling-"

"You and your feelings-"

"Hey! No insulting my gut instincts," Gwen pushed her down the hallway. "Now go there and drool over your date. I'm sure he'll be the most edible thing at that restaurant today."

She turned out to be right, of course.

He took a detour while driving her back, pulling off the road for a while. Miraculously, the car wasn't even scratched.

"Full moon," He looked at the sky, barely reigning in his laughter. "Lovers' night and all that."

"And that's funny because?"

"Oh, my sister," he grinned. "She can't stand any poems like that. I remember this one time, I was reading this poem out to mom, something about ardor and moonlight and true love. She heard it, tackled me and threw the book into the fire. Mom got on my case about teasing her, and got on her case about attacking me," he smiled at her. "Yeah, we're a crazy family."

"And your father?"

"Absent. Well, not entirely. But his wife can't stand me; she's absolutely detested me since I killed her little pet when I was a kid. Daddy-O keeps his distance, but my job forces me to interact with him. He's all right, sometimes."

"You killed her pet? What was it, a chihuahua?"

"No. Python."

"Python?"

"I told you it was a crazy family."

"But a python?"

"Not really normal, is it?" He glanced up at the sky. "But can we talk about something else? Like how beautiful you look tonight, for starters?"

"Are you always this cheesy?"

"Hey, it usually works."

The way he looked at that point, dazzling grin and velvet tux, a lot of women would accept any sort of cheesiness to get introduced to him, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Can we get home? I'm worried about Gwen." She pointedly drove in the fact she had a daughter around his age.

"Sure."

"Gwen?" Caroline called out. "Gwen, are you in ther-"

A note, stuck to the fridge and underlined with red marker, caught her eye.

"What does it say?" Apollo asked from behind her.

"She's gone to Lindas' house. Her friends'," She added. "At this time of the night?"

She heard Apollo mutter something, but the words indecipherable. It didn't even sound like English.

"I'm guessing this is something to do with you," Caroline pulled the note off the fridge. "She isn't usually that anxious to get out of the house."

"Don't blame me for everything," he protested. "Gwen's a big girl. She probably gets mood swings, or something."

"Expert on girls, aren't we?" Caroline started walking to the bedroom; the dress was killing her.

"I try to be. My sister says I'll never succeed," he paused. "Well, except in the case of sex-starved maniacs. Her words, not mine."

"She sounds like someone I'd like to meet," Caroline decided, lips twitching. "She's not much like you, I'm guessing."

"She'd kill you for just suggesting that," He helped her remove her coat. "We're polar opposites. Day and night. Sun and moon. Civilization and wilderness."

"Poetic, aren't we?"

"I try. Chicks dig the artists," he grinned. "So, how was your date?"

"All right. Or it would have been if I hadn't been looking over my shoulder every couple of seconds praying nobody I knew was in there seeing me with a kid. I'm sorry, Apollo. You're really too young for me, it'd be awkward," she sat on the bed. "I really appreciate everything and I'm sorry for wasting your time but I really think you ought to go now. You know the way, I assume."

He looked at her, smiled and bent down to kiss her. She let him, rolling her eyes. Later, she decided she should have remembered what his touch had felt like at the food court. That might have made her exercise some caution.

"Whoa." Gwen said, stepping into the bedroom.

"Don't. Say. A word."

"He's a very fast worker," Gwen decided, dumping her bag on the ground. "So what was it like, having sex with an eighteen-year old?"

"We didn't, we just kissed!" Caroline slammed back into the bed.

"Yeah, that's why your clothes are like that."

"And maybe groped a little, but we didn't-" she blinked. "I cannot believe I'm having this conversation with my daughter."

"Trust me, I've known about the birds and the bees for a while now."

"My daughter, I just said that to my daughter," she shook her head. "That guy is bad news."

"I notice you didn't say kid. I also notice the 'we'"

"Notice my misery."

"Shucks, mom. Your boyfriend's hot," Gwen grinned. "You going out with him again?"

"You can go. I told you to go. Yesterday. This is not going to work-" Caroline went on the monologue before opening the door fully. "I told you it was- argh! And no, Gwens' approval doesn't mean anything here. Just-"

"Mrs Fletcher?"

She opened her eyes to see her next door neighbor peering anxiously at her. Sarah Gelt was attired in her customary skirt and blouse, and carrying a batch of pink coupons.

"Sorry." Caroline muttered, mortified.

"We're selling coupons, for charity." Sarah Gelt said cautiously. "It's for the good of the community, will you buy some?"

"Sure," Caroline seized at the chance to make amends. "I'll take two. What's it about?"

"We're funding the police against pedophiles." Sarah Gelt shuddered involuntarily. "Do you know that there are men abusing little girls? And even some women- they, they make moves on boys young enough to be their sons-"

This was not happening. No way.

"Such monsters deserve to be locked up in some hole far away from decent people. Don't you think so, Mrs. Fletcher?... Mrs Fletcher?"

Caroline had thrust her coupons back into the womans' hand, and was now glaring at a blond figure near a red convertible parked right across from her house, who was obviously doubling over with laughter.

"Mrs. Fletcher!" Sarah Gelt exclaimed as Caroline slammed the door on her face.

"It's Miss, dammit!"

"How did you get in?" She asked him.

"Gwen," he waved a familiar key in her face. "She told me where the spare key was hidden."

"And now my daughter is a traitor," Caroline sat down on the kitchen chair. "Thanks a lot."

"She's smart," he corrected. "And you owe me a date-"

"I don't-"

"You promised yesterday."

"I was under duress," Carolines' face pinked slightly at the memory. "It was blackmail."

"Blackmail?"

"Okay, more like bribery," she agreed. "Apollo, I told you already. No."

"How about a kiss instead?"

"No!"

"Oh come on-"

"I refuse to be a pedophile."

"Last time I checked, I was trying to seduce you, not the other way round. You're not the pedophile, I'm the geriatrophile."

"That isn't even a word."

"So? Most of English is just Latin with prefixes and suffixes."

"Apollo-"

"Look, I really like you. I love you, in fact. Cupids' arrow has found its' mark," he was looking directly into her eyes, notching things up a few points in his favor. "If you don't go out with me, I am going to start stalking you. Believe me, I can be persistent."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I want to be a geriatrophile," he announced. "It's my current ambition."

"Good grief."

"Please?"

It was the eyes, the smile. And also the biceps clearly revealed by his sleeveless T-shirt.

"Just make sure the police arrests you, and not me."

In celebration, he kissed her. She was dead to the world for a while after that.

End Note:On regaining access to the Internet, I decided to check up on something I had doubts on. Apparently, I messed up my myths; the Oracle of Delphi belonged to Gaea, not Hera. The Python, though, washers. Glad to see I wasn't completely wrong.

Acknowledgements and Inspirations:My thanks to RachelleMarie, the Apollo/OC trailblazer on the site, and her story for stopping me from making Apollo too serious. Inspirations include three songs; Mar Jaawa (which is Hindi), You make me wanna (Blue) and Full Moon (The Black Ghosts) and a book, Don't tell Laura. I do not remember the authors name, and I didn't like the book all that much, but it contributed to the ideas.

And as usual, try leaving a thought.