Okayyy! Finally, here's the last bit of it. A wee bit longer then the last chappy...

Warnings! Luke & Percy! Kissy! X3

-I still don't own the books...T.T-


You never realize how far away something is until you're running toward it to get away from something or someone. The beach, a mere fifty or so feet from the base of the Hill, seemed as though it was miles and miles away from an out-of-breath Percy Jackson. He stopped, just short of the sand, and let his hands fall to his knees. His head hung low as he tried to catch his breath.

He never considered himself an out-of-shape kid but, apparently, he needed some work done. He's run faster before, he knows it. He's run away from every monster that's come his way at some point. This time, he's running from three monsters.

Clarisse. He should have known not to trust her. Especially with something like this. Ares hates Percy, so Clarisse hates Percy, too. Why would she want to help him? Ever?

Annabeth. Luke and Clarisse probably already told her everything already. She's probably madder then her mother was when Poseidon brought Medusa into her temple and had his way with her. Annabeth would probably pin the dark-haired boy to the ground and put her dagger to his throat if she caught him.

Luke. Even Chiron had said that Luke was probably the toughest demigod in this whole Camp. And Percy already knows how angry he is; he could see the anger in his bright blue eyes even through the dancing crowd. What chance would he have if Luke came at him with Backbiter in hand?

Not a very good chance, mind you.

Percy started up a jog, still lost in his fearful thoughts, and kept going until he reached the beach. He stumbled over his own feet, trying to get to the water, and landed face first in the sand. When he picked his head up, he began to pout. A mouthful of sand and three insane people chasing him down wasn't exactly his idea of a perfect night.

He got onto his hands and knees, spitting out the sand in his mouth, and crawled over to the water. His own reflection startled him when he saw it. His entire face was pale, except his flushed cheeks and his lips, and beads of sweat made his hair stick to his forehead. Tiny grains of sand also decorated his face; around the corners of his mouth, under his eyes, and on his forehead. He could feel the coarse grains all down his shirt and even in his shorts, too.

His usually bright eyes were a dull, pine-needle colored, washed out, green. He didn't even look like Percy Jackson. He looked like...like a fish out of water, for lack of a better word. He could see the panic in his own eyes grow as he heard Annabeth growl, "Where is he?" from somewhere behind him. His breath caught in his throat and he sat up immediately, his shoulders tense and his eyes wide, and he spotted her.

She was with Luke and Clarisse; Clarisse walking behind her with a smirk plastered on her face, Luke at her side trying to calm her down before someone noticed they'd left the dance, and she was stomping furiously. Her blond hair, which she had done up fancily, had fallen from its pony-tail and fell messily around her shoulders. Percy could almost hear her teeth grinding together angrily.

The dark-haired boy panicked. His legs weren't working good enough for him to get up and run, and his mind wasn't thinking as clearly as he would've liked. He got all the strength he had left, forced it to go to his legs, and hurriedly ran into the water. It didn't take him long to get under the water and out of the view of the three.

Hopefully they would go back to the dance before someone came out and asked them what they were doing. They'd probably say they were looking for him, then they'd have the whole Camp searching, then he'd get in trouble for disrupting the dance. He'd have to do dishes for a year.

After a few minutes of floating lazily under the water, he decided to take a look around above the water. Annabeth was kicking rocks into the water, cursing in ancient Greek like only she does, while Clarisse and Luke stood on the beach. Clarisse was pacing, shaking her head and throwing her hands up, while Luke tried to calm them both down.

"Let's just go back," he said, reaching his hand towards Annabeth and waving Clarisse off. "He probably swam to Africa to get away from you two." Although he was joking, Annabeth and Clarisse both glared at him.

It took her a few seconds, but she huffed and turned to take Luke's hand. "Fine," Annabeth had said, turning to walk away. "But if I find him, he's dead." Clarisse seemed to nod in agreement as the three left the beach and headed back toward the dance.

Percy was relieved. He could survive for another night (lest Annabeth didn't go and kill him while he was sleeping) and hopefully stick close to Chiron for the rest of his time here. He started to swim toward the dock, making sure to keep an eye on the three walking away from the beach. When they were almost out of sight, Percy full-on swam for the post holding the dock up above the water.

"I forgot something back on the beach," the dark-haired boy heard someone say, and he quickly hid his head under the water again. Luke started walking back down toward the beach, making Percy gasp and swallow some salty water, and the boy quickly hid behind one of the posts. He waited, for what seemed like, forever, but he never saw or heard Luke on the beach.

Two arms made their way around the post and around Percy's waist, making him jump and almost scream out for help. He heard Luke chuckle in his ear and part of him wanted to relax. The other part of him was struggling to get away.

"This is where you were hiding, huh?" Luke asked, swimming to the other side of the post so he could face Percy. "Why didn't you come out?"

"I dunno," Percy said quickly, his face a bright red. "Sorry I didn't want to get killed by Annabeth and Clarisse." Luke laughed at his comment, making him bite his lip. He wanted to throw his arms around Luke's neck and hug him close just because he was glad Luke wasn't mad at him, but that was so girly. Percy Jackson is not a girl. Bleh, girls.

He also wanted to throw his fist into the blond's face. One, for giving him that dirty look like he was super pissed about Clarisse's plan. Two, for leading him on and then asking Annabeth to the dance. Three, because Percy had felt like Luke didn't ask him because he would've been embarrassed. He wouldn't have been embarrassed if he had actually had the guts to ask Luke out.

So, instead of reacting like he'd wanted too, Percy remained silent while Luke's blue eyes and his wonderful smile were focused all on him. He swallowed, trying to help his dry throat create words, and just looked at the blond. "Why did you...," the dark-haired boy began, swallowing again. "Why did you ask Annabeth to the dance?"

Luke chuckled, a look of disbelief on his face. His scar seemed to move back to its original place as his smile faded. "Clarisse set us up," he said, his grip on Percy loosening. "She said Annabeth really wanted to go to the dance with me. All I did was say 'Okay, then, so...' and she cut me off. She was gone and at Annabeth's cabin before I could stop her."

Percy pouted. Not only was Clarisse the huge issue with this whole night, but now he felt like a jerk for ever despising Luke. "But...then," Percy started, another thought coming to him. "If she set you guys up, and you weren't really wanting to go with Annabeth, why did you act like...?"

"Because," Luke said, looking away from Percy. "I don't think I've ever seen Annabeth so happy."

That pulled on the strings of Percy's heart a bit. Sure, he wasn't overly sensitive when it came to...well, anything, really. But, still, Luke was right. Percy hadn't ever really even seen Annabeth very happy. But that's also probably because Annabeth called him dimwitted and Seaweed Brain all the time. Much like everyone else at Camp, she was only truly happy around Luke.

The dark-haired boy felt Luke's hand on his cheek and he snapped out of his thoughts. The blue-eyed teen was smiling sweetly at him, his thumbs stroking the boy's reddened cheeks slowly. "You look cold," Luke said, his voice practically a whisper.

Percy shook his head quickly. "No, I'm fine," he said, his shoulders getting tense again. "Really, I'm fine."

Luke laughed a bit, letting his fingers move up and run through the hair clinging to Percy's forehead. His other hand moved to the younger boy's back to hold him closer. "I don't think you are," Luke said, kissing Percy's forehead. He let his kisses trail downwards; he kissed Percy's temple, his cheeks, his nose, his chin. Then he stopped and looked at Percy and said, "I can warm you up."

Not even a second later, Luke's lips moved to occupy Percy's. The elder's lips were smooth, and warm, which left a new mental note in the back of Percy's mind. Although it seemed to go against his better judgement (he really felt too much like a girl to be comfortable), Percy's eyes slipped closed and his hands held the back of Luke's head so he couldn't pull away.

The blond's lips moved faster, Percy struggling to keep up, and he pressed even closer to the younger. Percy was so lost in the moment, when Luke's tongue moved to touch his lips, his mouth subconsciously opened to the elder. It was hard to think, it was hard to breathe, and it was too hard to fight back, Percy noted again, as Luke took Percy's hands and pinned them behind the post. Luke broke away from Percy's mouth and moved to his neck.

Percy tried to catch his breath, his chest heaving erratically, as he felt the elder's lips move against his skin. My heart's gonna burst, Percy thought, breathing heavily. He heard Luke chuckle, the hearty sound vibrating through Percy's neck, and it got deep under his skin. Luke's breath hit his ear and he shuddered slightly. "I won't let that happen," he whispered, letting his free hand slide underneath Percy's shirt.

The dark-haired boy gasped loudly, his hands clenching into fists, as Luke pulled Percy away from the post. Luke kissed Percy on the lips again and lifted him so that his legs were wrapped around the elder's waist. The blond walked through the water, as best as he could while carrying Percy, until the two had gotten to the beach.

Luke had stumbled when his foot hit the sand, and both he and Percy fell. Both out of breath, Percy and Luke just stayed lying in the sand, looking up into the night sky. The lights from the dance hadn't affected the view at all and there were more than enough stars decorating the sky.

"Stars," Percy said quietly, his breath coming quickly and in short puffs. "Look at all the stars."

The blond nodded, his blue eyes still locked on Percy. "Beautiful," he said, smiling.

Percy moved his leg until he was able to kick Luke, the blond glaring playfully, and then he smiled, too. Constellations and other random stars filled the sky above the two, slowly, unnoticeably, moving around the earth. "We should stay out here forever."

"What's the point," Luke asked. "The stars don't stay here forever."

"So?" Percy said, looking over at the blond.

Luke's smile seemed to move his scar as he looked away from Percy and to the stars. His hand moved to hold Percy's and the two stayed there all night, under the light of the stars.


Ahh, cheesy ending. I couldn't think of anything better. X/

Reviews are always welcome, as long as they aren't super mean. :)