Not as quick an update as last time but less than a week. Enjoy! Don't forget to review and follow and favorite. Thanks to those who have done so already.

Before he could say another word, I slammed the door.

"Annabeth!" He called.

"What is it?" Silena and Thalia ran into the foyer where I was standing.

"Nothing." I said, pushing my back against the door.

"Who's there?" Thalia asked.

"No one." I pushed against the door harder, as if it would help.

"Really, Annabeth?" Percy called.

"Annabeth, open the door." Silena told me.

"He's a rich CEO. I'm sure he can find somewhere else to stay." I said.

"Who can find somewhere else to stay?" Thalia asked.

Silena shoved past me and pulled open the door.

"Who's this?" She asked.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

"So this is Percy." Silena said, smiling. "Well, come in."

"No," I snapped. "I know you're all about being hospitable and all but you can take that hospitality and book him a room in the hotel across the street."

"Annabeth." Thalia said. She pushed past me. "Let him inside."

"Make yourself comfortable." Silena told him and gestured to the living room area. "We'll be right back."

"Silena!" I hissed once we were in the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"We have to at least hear him out."

"No, we don't. Are you forgetting who that is?" I whisper-yelled.

"We don't even know what he wants yet." Thalia interjected. "So let's go see then we can argue about this later."

Silena returned to the living room. "So will you tell us about your, uh, situation?"

"My apartment building…burned down." He began.

"The entire building?" I asked.

He nodded. "Well, the top ten floors. And my apartment was on the top."

"So you came here?" Thalia asked.

"I didn't come here at first. When I heard about the building, I was away on business so that's why I have my bag." He said. "I didn't come here first. Rachel told me I couldn't stay with her because she's staying with her dad while her place gets redone. Then I went to Nico, Charlie and Jason's place but they didn't have room so they suggested that I come here."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here." Silena said.

"Silena, may I speak with you in the kitchen?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" She demanded once we were safely behind the kitchen's swinging door.

"Are you out of your mind?" I practically shouted. "What happened to 'I don't want you to get hurt again'?"

"We can't leave him on the streets!" She exclaimed.

"The streets?! He's not exactly poor. I'm sure he could afford another apartment or maybe a hotel room."

"Annabeth, he's asking to stay here for a reason. I'm sure he'll be on his best behavior at all times."

"I reserve the right to kick him out at any time." I told her.

Silena rolled her eyes and dragged me back into the living room.

"As I was saying," She began. "We would be happy to have you stay here. Annabeth, will show you to your room."

"Me Annabeth?" I asked her.

"Yes, you."

"Fine, follow me." I told him. He didn't say anything as he followed me as I led him down the hallway, pointing out rooms on the way.

"This is your room." I said, gesturing to the open guest room.

"The one next to yours? I'm surprised at you, Annabeth." He told me.

I frowned at him. "As you know, I'll be right next door if you need me. And try /not/ to need me."

I pulled my laptop, ready to get back to work but I couldn't focus knowing that Percy was right next door.

"Annabeth, Percy, dinner." Silena called.

I sighed. Then got up and changed out of my work clothes into an oversize shirt and leggings.

"What is it?" I asked, walking into the kitchen, Percy close behind me.

"We made dinner!" Thalia cried, gesturing to the table which had a dish of what appeared to be some type of baked pasta except it was covered with a watery green sauce.

"Why?" I asked, my eyebrows having knit in confusion.

"Because you always make dinner." Thalia said. "Sit down."

I sat, trying to keep the disgust off my face.

Silena served us all a large helping of the pasta. I took a tentative bite and tried not to gag. It tasted worse than it looked. I glanced at Percy who shared my look of thinly veiled disgust.

"Be honest. How is it?" Thalia asked.

"I can't believe you let me put that into my mouth." I said, getting up an rinsing my mouth at the sink.

"Was it that bad?" Silena's eyes were wide.

"It wasn't good." Percy said, taking a big gulp of water.

"I'm going to order a pizza." Silena decided, picking up her phone.

After Silena finished ordering the pizzas, she sat back down at the table, joining the minimal conversation.

"Well, Percy," Silena began as I started clearing the table. "I feel like Thalia and I know nothing about you. For example, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Actually, I do." He said.

"That's nice."

"Stop playing dumb, Silena." I said, interrupting whatever Thalia was going to say.

"I just didn't want him to know that I knew." She said.

"You know what. I'm going to bed." I announced, leaving the dishes half waded in the sink.

"Aren't you hungry?" Thalia called.

"I'll starve for one night." I yelled back.

Once in more room, I realized my scene out there had been in vain. I was starving and even Rachel hadn't given me any work to do.

Maybe an hour had passed of me sighing and staring the ceiling when I heard a rap at the door.

"Come in." I said.

Percy poked his head in. "Is it okay if I come in?"

I nodded.

"Here," he said, holding out a plate. "I brought you some pizza."

"Oh, thank you so much." I said, sitting up.

He handed my the plate and sat down at the very edge of my bed, looking around.

"Don't forget to breathe." Percy said, glancing back at me.

"Sorry." I said, swallowing hard.

"I wanted to ask you something," He began, reaching out and pushing my door closed.

I must've looked pretty frightened because he laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kiss you again."

I allowed myself to breathe again. "What is it then?"

"I was going to ask you about what you were going to say."

My eyebrows drew together.

"After I kissed you."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Just answer me and I swear I won't bother you again. At least tonight anyways."

I handed him the plate. "You can go now."

"Annabeth," he began.

"Fine." I began. "I was going to say that it was—"

"Great? Wonderful? Magical?" He suggested.

"Good. I was going to say that it was good."

"Good. I'll take good." Percy said, standing and opening the door to leave.

"Night, Percy." I told him as he left.

"Night, Annabeth." He said, blowing a kiss over his shoulder.

I shook my head. Then rolled over, covering myself with my comforter and tried to get to sleep.

I felt like I had slept an hour when I heard the blaring alarm resonating through the apartment.

I heard a thud that sounded like someone falling out of bed.

I sat up quickly, now alert, and checked the clock which read 5:03.

"What the—" I heard Thalia yell.

Knowing I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, I got dressed in jeans and a white silk button up blouse.

When I was finished getting dressed, I quickly brushed my hair then fixed into a half up-half down style.

"Why am I awake?" I heard Thalia demanding in living room.

I walked into the living room and took in the scene: Thalia was still in her pajamas and was currently yelling at Silena when I walked in, Percy, only dressed in his pajama pants, was trying to fall back asleep on the couch.

"Why did you wake us up this early?" I asked, setting down my phone on the couch where Percy was eyeing us all sleepily.

"You were probably already awake." Thalia told me.

"I was sleeping like everyone else." I told her.

"You're already dressed." Thalia countered.

"Stop arguing about this." Silena interrupted. "We need to leave."

"Leave you to go where?" I demanded.

"The bridal shop."

"You are kidding me." Thalia groaned.

"Does this involve me or can I go back to bed?" Percy interjected.

"You can go back to bed." Silena said.

"Thank you," he said, standing and leaving the living room.

"Is this bridal store on the other side of the world or something?" I asked.

"Yeah, why couldn't we wake up at eight like normal people?" Thalia asked.

"It takes two hours to get there and we have to pick up Piper." She explained. "We have to get there as soon as if opens."

"I'm sure once we get there and they realize you've designed a tenth of the dresses in their collection you'll get prime treatment." I said.

"Thalia, go get dressed." Silena ordered.

After Thalia got dressed, Silena hustled to get us to Piper's apartment before six.

Piper was ready to go when we got there, a huge relief for Silena, and we hailed a taxi to Kleinfeld.

The store was enormous. The store was divvied into maybe three sections. The largest was reserved for dress displays and the many racks and racks which contained dresses. The store also had stalls where the family and friends the future brides had brought along waited and gave their opinions when the future brides modeled each option of wedding dress on the small platforms in each stall.

As I had predicted, as soon as one of the clerks spotted Silena, she was rushed to the largest stall in the back and she was assigned not one but two dress advisers.

That had been two hours and thirteen dresses ago and Silena still couldn't make up her mind. Thalia had given up on giving her opinion and was claiming each dress was 'beautiful and definitely the choice to go with'.

Piper and I were taking turns giving helpful suggestions on each dress.

"What about this one?" Silena would ask and we would helpfully chime in our opinions about the dress only to have Silena second guess herself and try on another dress.

Silena came out in dress number fourteen. It was a "laid-back ball gown" as the dress advisors called it. Unlike most of the others, it wasn't strapless and the bodice flowed into a large skirt that swept around her feet when she walked.

"This is definitely the one." Thalia murmured, not looking up from her phone.

"Ignore her, Silena. This one is by far the best." I told her. The dress advisors nodded in agreement.

"It suits you. I think this one is the one." Piper said.

"Me too." Silena agreed.

"Are you sure?" A dress advisor asked.

"Positive. This is the dress." Silena squealed. "I'll go get dressed and be right back."

When Silena returned, Thalia got up, grabbing her bag.

"Let's go."

Silena knit her brows and frowned. "We're not leaving yet."

Thalia groaned and collapsed in the chair.

"We might as well look for bridesmaids dresses while we're here. Unless you want to make another five am trip here." Silena told her.

"You're right. What's another three hours here?"

Silena rolled her eyes. "So who wants to model the bridesmaids dresses?"

"Not me." Thalia said.

Piper shook her head.

"You can Annabeth." Silena told me.

"What? No, thanks, I'm good."

"You're the only one who didn't say no."

That's how I ended up becoming the bridesmaids model. The dress advisors pinned up my hair, claiming it helped the other bridesmaids picture themselves in the dress.

After dress number three, I'd had enough. I wondered how Silena'd made it through fourteen dresses and was still excited to try on more.

"You know what," Silena began when I came out in dress number four. "I think you should be maid of honor."

"What?! Why?" Thalia demanded.

"Oh, now you care." Silena said to her then turned back to me. "I just think you should be maid of honor."

"I don't care at this point." I said, sighing. "What do you guys think of the dress?"

"It's awful." Silena decided.

"I like it." Piper said.

"I don't care," groaned Thalia.

"Can you get her another dress?" Silena said to the dress advisors.

The dress advisors nodded quickly and escorted me from the stall into the dressing room. They quickly helped me change into dress number five and then number six.

I walked onto the platform in the stall.

"Tell me you like this dress so the torture can be over."

Silena didn't say anything, just studied the dress.

It was a strapless dress with a belt creating an empire waistline. The fabric fell in waves down to my feet. The skirt wasn't large like the dress Silena had chosen but fell lightly around my legs.

"This is it. This is the dress." Silena decided.

I exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I can change back into my own clothes now, right?"

After the exhausting part in the bridal store was finished, Silena took us out for a late lunch/early dinner at a retro diner we'd found on the way home. I'd realized that I hadn't eaten all day.

"So we don't have to do that again, right?" Thalia asked, taking a breath between devouring her burger.

"We have to go back for fittings." Silena told her.

Thalia pretended to faint.

Piper looked at her watch. "Oh, you should probably leave if you want to make your date with Nico, Thalia."

"Oh, thanks." She grabbed, her purse and slid out of the booth. "Bye, guys."

"Don't look now, Annabeth," Silena began. "But a hot guy has been staring at you for like ten minutes."

"I think that's borderline stalker." I said, trying not to follow her line of sight.

Piper turned subtly and glanced behind her. "He is cute."

"He's coming over here!" Silena squealed.

"What?" I demanded. I was completely unprepared for this.

Too late. I watched him approach the table. He did live up to Silena and Piper's descriptions with his clear blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. If he hadn't been dressed in a formal attire, I would've pegged him for a surfer.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Luke."

"I'm—"

"You're Annabeth Chase. I know." He smiled at me. "I just wanted to give you something."

"Wha—" I began but I was cut off as he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to mine.

"Here," he said, sliding me a piece of paper.

I couldn't speak so I just blinked at him and nodded.

Luke gave me another smile and returned to his booth.

I turned to Silena and Piper. "What just happened?"

Silena and Piper spent the whole ride home discussing and dissecting Luke's kiss. I was still too stunned to speak.

I was unlocking the door to our apartment when Silena and Piper decided to ask me what I thought.

"I think he had a lot of nerve." was all I managed to choke out.

Silena and Piper pulled me onto the couch and continued their discussion until forty five minutes later when Thalia showed up.

"Why are we still taking about this?" I groaned.

"Talking about what?" Thalia asked, joining us on the couch.

"What happened in the diner." Silena told her.

"Very vague, Silena." She said. "Will someone tell me what happened?"

Piper spoke up before I could and explained the whole 'Luke' situation.

"Oh my gosh." Thalia said when Piper was finished. "And you didn't slap him or anything?"

"I was kind of in shock. It's not everyday, handsome men walk across a diner sharing little more than twenty words before kissing someone." I said.

"Did you ever check what was on the paper?" Silena asked.

"No," I grabbed my bag and fished out the piece of paper. It read: Luke Castellan (212) 534 5768. "It's just his number."

Thalia scanned the paper before getting up and grabbing the landline. "Perfect. This is all we need."

"To do what?" asked Piper.

"Get him arrested." Thalia said, shrugging.

"Oh, no you don't." Silena snatched the paper back and gave it back to me. "I haven't seen a love story unfold for a very long time and especially not one in my own apartment."

"Well, what are you going to do?" Piper asked.

I shrugged.

"Do about what?" A voice asked.

I heard the door slam and Percy came into view. I noticed he was wearing a business suit like he had come back from work.

He looked over our arrangement on the couch.

"What is going on in here?"

"Well, Annabeth was—"

"Nothing. We were just relaxing after that rigorous day of dress shopping." I told him.

"Oh, I heard you made maid of honor status." Percy said. "I guess we'll be walking together."

"You're best man?" I demanded. "Silena!"

Silena looked up at me from the kitchen.

"You knew."

"No, I swear I didn't." She held her hands out in front of her face.

"Oh, so you just randomly decided to choose me as your maid of honor after you said that you didn't want to favor anyone." I said.

"I told Charlie I picked you as my maid of honor and he told me he picked Percy as his best man." She explained.

Percy shook his head and disappeared into the guest room.

"Why do we care?" Thalia asked. "But Annabeth, what's your secret?"

"What secret?" I asked.

"I haven't been kissed in four months and you have two guys practically jumping you in the same week."

Silena's eyes widened. She abandoned her glass of water and scurried back into the living room.

"Nico hasn't kissed you yet?!" She cried.

I took that as my cue to leave.

"Don't leave me with her." Thalia called after me.

I ignored her, closing myself in my room. Once I was in there, I pulled out my phone and the slip of paper Luke had given to me and dialed the number.

"Please tell me this is Annabeth." He said as he answered.

I laughed. "You're in luck."

"I am, aren't I?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why did you kiss me in the diner?"

Luke laughed. "I had to leave an impression."

"I hate to break it to you but you didn't have to kiss me to leave an impression." I told him.

"Maybe I just couldn't control myself."

I rolled my eyes before realizing that he couldn't see me. "I'm rolling my eyes just so you know."

He laughed again. "So are you free this Friday?"

"Maybe. What for?"

"A date. Though I must warn you I may not be able to wait that long. So what do you say?"

"I say pick me at seven."

I guess the roll ended but at least it's been less than a week. I hate to admit it but I've been so busy with this story that I haven't worked on the sequel to the Twists and Turns to him but I;ll have it out by next week. Oh, and I want to thank 123percabeth for telling me what was going on with Chaptern 3 because I had no idea.

More soon,

~CharminglyWitty~