A/N: This takes place between the end of "The Lightning Thief" and the beginning of the "The Sea of Monsters."

Written for the Capture the Flag Competition.

Round Two- Place: A Boat

Word Count (Not Including Title and A/Ns): 1,037 Words

Thinking

Maybe it was because the stars were brightly glimmering in the night sky. Or it could be how soft the breeze blew. Perhaps it was that there were only small waves shifting through out the ocean. Whatever it was, Luke Castellan, though not the romantic, still thought it would be a very intimate moment right there on the deck of the Princess Andromeda.

The demigod had wanted some place quiet where he could get away to and be by himself. There, some thinking could be done. Not just for schemes about the downfall of the gods, no, but to just think in general.

So he figured now would be a good time to do so.

Sure, he was supposed to be sleeping, but the young man figured that could wait.

So now here he was, gazing out into the open while shivering slightly due to the evening chill.

With the thought of a possible setting of love, it trained into another idea of a possibility in which where it could play.

In which it was centered on a nice girl and him.

But who? Who will be his female companion in this scenario?

Though Luke had a lot of options to choose from, he wasn't really interested in the majority.

Those women were flirts. From demigods, mortals, and even monsters, seduction attempts were everywhere for him. But they were all unsuccessful.

In contrast, there were girls he held a real interest in.

Alas, those numbers were small, with not much of a chance of growth.

Thalia Grace was practically the only one after all.

But those old feelings were gone like as she might as well be.

After her… Luke couldn't really think of any other. Except for maybe one.

Annabeth.

Huh.

He had never really thought of her in that way before. But those feelings, concerning her, never came for him.

The demigod's emotions for the daughter of Athena never actually went beyond brotherly concern. On day one when he and Thalia first found her in that alley way, Luke had felt the urge to protect and guide her.

Luke knew exactly how the little girl felt. He had been there before, practically being abandoned and alone. The son of Hermes, because of that, wasn't going to leave her there.

So the two of them took the child in and showed her what they knew on how to survive.

Things weren't easy (like when a demigod's life ever is?). But, though he never did admit it out loud, Annabeth dragged them down. More monsters came to attack because of the trio's scent that attracted the beasts. More food had to be gathered since there was one more mouth to feed. They had to make stops, more than he would like to be. But the little girl was only seven at the time. There was only so much distance she could cover before she had to rest.

They all had to pull their weight ever since the child came into the picture.

Though, Annabeth wasn't trying to be a burden. In fact, she was doing everything she could to not to be. Staying up late to take watch much longer than that was healthy, learning her sword play as quickly as she could, etc. With that she was tolerable. So much so, that the male found all those attempts cute and amusing.

Up to the point where Grover led them to Camp Half- Blood, the three of them managed to stay alive.

During those times on the run, the son of Hermes looked over Annabeth so much that it made him both proud and kind of numb at the same time whenever he saw how she was managing in camp, no longer depending on him. Though, it wasn't like that at first when they entered. Annabeth stuck by his side for a couple of weeks. It didn't help that Thalia became a pine tree. But afterward the daughter of Athena slowly gained a life of her own before finally going off by herself. Yet things were still tight between them, even when she went her way and he went his.

Together, like close siblings. That's what Luke always imagined it to be.

But things changed. Or at least, from what he noticed so far, on Annabeth's side.

The guy wasn't sure when exactly did it start, but he saw how differently Annabeth was acting around him. Whenever he now tried to strike up a decent conversation with her, her face always slowly went red. During their talks, she seemed more hesitant responding than before, as if she was thinking of the right thing to say. There was also how she tried to spiff herself up whenever she was in his presence, while in the past, the preteen never cared much for looks.

It was awkward whenever she was near him. But around anyone else, Annabeth wasn't anything like that at all. She was the girl who had the plans. The girl who had the ideas. The girl who was basically his little sister.

From all that, the demigod came to the conclusion that the daughter of Athena may have a crush on him.

Maybe.

Who knows, this could just be her embracing her femininity.

But if it wasn't, Luke wasn't sure what he would do. He couldn't just turn her down like that. Things would only get more awkward than they were before. But those kinds of feelings just weren't returned and he shouldn't be worrying about stuff like this right now with all these plans to conquered the gods.

Yet he couldn't help but imagine her in the female position of his scene. It did felt nice, thinking of how it played out. But the son of Hermes shook that feeling away with self disgust. Annabeth was seven years younger than him and he sounded like a creep thinking of her like this.

He should stop these thoughts.

Maybe the guy should also feel embarrassed with all this imagination. He probably sounded like a middle school girl fantasying about her crush.

But he wasn't.

It wasn't like anyone was going to know anyway.

Just like no one was going to know Luke was out this late.

A/N: Whatever Luke's fantasy was, you can only imagine…

Other than that, if it's not too much trouble, please review!