Sometimes, Piper wished she was actually pretty. Daughters of Aphrodite were supposed to be, after all. Her sisters were pretty. Even her brothers. But they were fake. No one wanted a fake. Right?

Then how come people loved them? How come people loved them more?

Maybe if she was better, Jason wouldn't leave. Maybe if she was better then, he would stay, would stay just for her. She knew he had friends, friends he hadn't seen in forever, but she was his girlfriend for goodness's sake. He had offered to take her with him, of course. But she had friends too, friends that lived at Camp Half-Blood.

So she would just have to convince him to stay.

Fake. She could do fake. Faux smiles, faces caked in makeup. She could pretend. Her dad was an actor. Maybe she had inherited his genes. She sure hoped so. Concealer first, to conceal her ugliness. Lipstick next. Her hand shook. Unconsciously, she let a tear run down her cheeks. She looked at her reflection, swiping the rebellious thing away.

She wanted this. Didn't she?

Of course she did. If this is what being loved took, then she would do it. Gladly. She picked up her mascara. Her hand was just not cooperating today. The purple tube fell to the floor with a metallic clang. Whoops. Bending down to pick it up, trying to ignore the putrid smells that was always present in bathrooms, Piper fell. And broke. Shattered.

She was sobbing now, a river - no a flood - ran down her already soaked face, animal noises escaping her lips. What was she doing? She couldn't stop now. She hugged her knees, oh her ugly skinned, skinny knees. Her wailing increased, although she willed it to stop.

The door clicked.

Dammit. She had forgotten to lock the door. Hastily, she picked herself up, only to fall down again, the whole process restarting, tears and all.

"Piper?" It was Jason's voice, worry lacing it, a little horrified. She did not feel the need to answer.

This time he opened the door, not bothering to ask. He looked at her now, confused. He blinked. Once. Twice. Piper looked away.

"What happened, Pipes?"

No answer.

"You're beautiful, you know." It was a hesitant sentence, that came from Jason's inexperience in handling situations like this. Piper misread it.

"No, I'm not," It came out quickly, a mumble, her words running into each other.

"Do you really believe that? Is that why you're doing this?"

Obviously. The word hung between them, unspoken, but there all the same. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight.

"Gods, Piper, you're a daughter of Aphrodite." Piper forced herself to meet his gaze.

"Besides, you'll always be perfect to me."

And to Piper, that was the best thing he could've said. It meant so many things to her, so many things she should've known, but had forgotten.

"Thanks, Jase." Jason smiled now, and standing up, he offered a hand to her. This time, with Jason's help, she did not fall back down. If anything, she felt stronger. She didn't Jason. His perfection, his kindness, his everything. Which was funny, because he felt just the same way about her.

It was okay that he was always at Jupiter, and she was always at Half-Blood. It was okay because she knew she still loved her, loved her as far as the distance between the two camps. It was okay because he loved her.

xXxXx

A few months later, Lacy was helping her with her makeup. It wasn't like before, because it was different. She was doing it for Jason. He was coming back now, and she wanted to surprise him. But she would be sparse about it. Just a bit, She'd warned Lacy. Just a bit. Because she knew Jason would claim that all of the lipstick, eye shadow, all of it would block out her beauty. Because she knew Jason loved her, and she loved him back.