Sorry about the late update. I'm finally getting some free time to write again :D Besides, this story is very difficult for me to write because I don't normally use these characters. It becomes hard to imagine them in situations then and how they would act, yet still keep them incharacter. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!

Day Three

Day three of torture…

This was Thalia's first thought as she awoke in the massive suite in her own bed. She was snuggled under the blankets, her head buried in the big fluffy pillows. This was paradise compared to the usual tent she slept in.

She yawned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. After blinking blurrily, she regained her vision, only to see Apollo staring down at her.

"GAH!" she yelled in surprise. Her arm shot out to punch him—reflexes—but Apollo neatly dodged it with a grin.

"Morning sunshine!" he exclaimed.

Thalia blinked and then groaned, falling back onto the bed and turning on her stomach.

"What do you want?" she mumbled into the pillows.

"It's already 10:30, and breakfast ends at eleven!"

"And this concerns me how?"

"I'm starving!"

Thalia's eye twitched. He's so whiny…he's like a little eight-year-old.

"Then go eat."

"I was waiting for you so we could go together."

Thalia turned over onto her back and stared at him. She was embarrassed to find he was hovering over her, his hands supporting him on either side of her body. She blushed a deep red and shoved him off, sitting up.

"Fine then, we'll go eat," she mumbled, slipping out of bed. Apollo grinned at her, and Thalia just sighed, her neck still hot from embarrassment.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Approximately ten minutes later, the two found themselves in the lobby where there was a huge buffet of breakfast foods: waffles, cereals, fruit, doughnuts, hash browns, etc. There were lots of tables—most of them vacant—and big flat screen TVs built into the walls. The floor was marble and the walls were wallpapered with a beige and green wallpaper.

"Woah." Apollo's brows were raised in disbelief.

"Yeah. Woah." Thalia repeated.

"Not as nice as Mount Olympus though."

"Nothing's as nice as Mount Olympus."

"This is true."

Thalia trudged over to the huge stack of plates and grabbed one and started walking through the line. As she stared at all the food and how delicious it looked, her stomach started to rumble. She licked her lips and began filling her plate with all her favorite breakfast foods. After grabbing a glass of orange juice, she went and sat down at a table by the wall.

She glanced up to find Apollo, but when she spotted him, she didn't know whether to laugh or glare at him. In the end, she ended up with a crossed expression of horror and humor.

Walking from the buffet line was Apollo with a plate in each hand a third one balancing on his forearm. He was slowly maneuvering his way around the tables and chairs to Thalia. He was staring intently at the plate on his arm, a look of pure concentration on his face. When he side-stepped between two chairs, the plate started tipping and Thalia bit back a laugh at the fear on Apollo's face before he balanced it out again, relief clearly shown on his face. After two more strides, he made it to the table safely, all of his food intact.

Thalia's lips twitched, fighting off a smile. "Wow," she just said. "Enough food there?" she asked sarcastically, eating a piece of toast.

"Probably not. I might have to go back and get more," he replied, dead serious.

Thalia blinked.

As they ate in silence, Thalia's mind started to wonder (ADHD did that to you). In the background, she vaguely heard a weather report on the TV in the corner.

"Last night it snowed an extra three inches. Streets are going to be difficult to drive through, so please proceed with caution…"

She heard Apollo groan and she looked at him, brow raised.

"So much damn snow…" he mumbled. "Why can't it be summer year round?"

Thalia just decided to ignore his complaining. She was pretty sure she would hear more of it throughout their time together.

"We should go to Rockefeller Center today and ice-skate," he suddenly suggested.

"I thought you hated snow?" Thalia asked.

"Well…yeah…but ice-skating is fun!"

Thalia grimaced. She disagreed completely.

"Don't tell me," Apollo started, seeing the look on her face. "You don't like ice-skating?"

"No, I don't."

Apollo blinked at her blunt reply.

"Why not?"

"Because you glide on ice. How is that fun? If you fall, you could seriously hurt yourself. It's just ridiculous."

Apollo huffed, but then stared at her. "We're going ice-skating. Nothing you say or do could stop us. Well, I mean, there is one thing we could do instead…" He grinned suggestively.

Thalia glared and whacked him across the head. "Oh, grow up!" she growled, standing up and stomping away from him to their room.

Apollo came up to their room ten minutes later to find Thalia cleaning her bow.

"Can we pleeeeease go ice-skating?" Apollo pleaded.

Thalia stopped and sighed. "I'll go ice-skating if you do two things for me."

Apollo, eyes wide, nodded enthusiastically. "What?"

"First off, stop complaining about the snow. It's getting annoying."

Apollo glared at her slightly, but nodded. "And?"

She stared hard at him. "Tell me why Lady Artemis is at Olympus with Zeus. Something's going on, and I want to know."

Apollo narrowed his eyes at her and stared at her. "Well, you're definitely perceptive. But I don't know anything."

He was obviously lying. "Don't lie to me Apollo. I know you know what's going on. Why won't you tell me?"

He sighed a little angrily. "Because it's none of your concern."

The harshness in his voice caused her to reel back. She didn't know he could get so upset. It scared her.

She swallowed down the bit of guilt she felt and took a deep breath. "Sorry," she mumbled.

He nodded. "Me too." Then he smiled. "Now let's go ice-skating!"

Thalia sighed as she and Apollo stood before the crowded ice rink in Rockefeller Center. She saw lots of couples holding hands, some people by themselves, and a few people leaping and twirling around.

She would be lucky if she could skate ten feet, because not only did she hate ice-skating, she sucked at it too.

"You promised," Apollo reminded her after seeing her look of distaste.

She glared up at him in response. "Well you didn't exactly hold up your end of our little deal."

He shifted around uncomfortably, choosing to just change the subject. "Yes well…let's just get skating, shall we?"

He then stepped onto the ice and skated off, leaving her alone and to tread for herself.

"Apollo!" she hissed. He just chuckled and twirled around before skating off some more.

She groaned. He's one of those people, she thought. The type of person who shows off and laughs at us people who can't even skate in a straight line.

She swallowed and called on what pride she had left and stepped onto the ice. Her legs wobbled, but thankfully Apollo had tied her skates tight enough that her ankles would stay sturdy and not bend outwards.

"Come on, Thalia," Apollo called, skating by her. "Relax and have fun for once!"

She glared at him. "I know how to have fun. This is not fun."

Keeping one arm on the wall, she slowly tried to skate, moving at a snail's pace.

Apollo appeared once again, skating backwards beside her. "I can tell you don't skate."

She glared at him. "Shut up. And would you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Skating backwards. It's really ticking me off."

He grinned at her and swiftly turned around, skating the right way again. She rolled her eyes.

After a few more minutes of skating, she finally took her hand off the wall. Her legs shook slightly as she started gliding slowly on the ice.

"Getting the hang of it finally?" Apollo asked from behind her.

Thalia turned around to tell him off, but the turning caused her to become off-balance and her feet slipped beneath her. She fell backwards with a yelp, but was thankfully caught by Apollo's arms around her waist.

She blushed as he chuckled down at her. "I guess not."

Thalia just kept on blushing.

After a while of skating (well, Apollo was the only skating. Thalia just quit after her near-fall), the two decide to quit and go walk around. They walked down quite a few random streets, and all the while, Thalia's mind was busy with thoughts.

She still wanted to know what was happening on Olympus. She wanted to know why Apollo wasn't telling her. Was it really that serious? And why was Apollo so defensive about it? From his reaction, she could tell that this problem was making him pretty upset.

She sighed. She needed to find out what was going on, sooner rather than later.

They continued to walk in silence. Just then it hit Thalia that Christmas was only a few days away.

"Crap," she said. "I need to go shopping." She shuddered as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Ugh, shopping.

"For Christmas you mean?" Apollo asked.

Thalia nodded, and the two changed course for a mall. As they approached the large building of a mall, Thalia realized that this was the perfect place to ditch someone.

She smirked to herself and turned on Apollo. "I'm also buying a present for you." She wasn't sure if that was a lie or not yet. "So you need to leave me alone." And then, just like that, she stalked off into the mall and got lost in the crowds of people.

Inside the mall, it was busy as hell. Stores were packed with their "amazing" deals and sales and people were crammed in the food court. There were about fifty different Santas, each one looking heftier than the last.

Thalia made her way through different stores, buying gifts for her friends in the Hunters and at Camp. She had spent about an hour or so in the mall already and she had only found a few things, since most of the things she wanted to get would have to be specially made (she'd have to talk Apollo into getting this stuff for her). In the end, she decided that she would get something for Apollo. And she knew exactly what she was getting him.

Her plan from earlier still in mind, she tried to sneak out of the mall without being found. She didn't even know where he had gone to.

She stepped out of the mall and looked down the streets, Apollo nowhere in sight. She smiled slightly and started making her way down a street. Suddenly, she felt someone fall in step with her.

Her eye twitched as Apollo said, "Did you get your shopping done?"

Was there really a point? Was it even possible to ditch a god? Apparently it was, because he always found her.

Thalia sighed. What's the use? She thought. "Yeah," she replied. "I did."

"That's good. So, are you hungry?"

It wasn't worth the energy to try and ditch Apollo. He would always find her.

"Yeah, actually. I am."

Maybe instead of fighting this situation, she should try to make the best of it. Who knows? She may just have a good time. He wasn't always so bad.

They went to a restaurant and had some food, Thalia's presents securely by her side. They ate and talked about lots of things: Camp, the Hunters, Olympus, but they never touched on the subject of Artemis.

Afterwards, they walked back to the hotel where Thalia collapsed on the bed. Apollo smiled wryly as her breathing slowly evened out. When she was asleep, the smile fell off his face as he sighed and dematerialized to Mt. Olympus.

Neither would actually admit it out loud, but they both had fun that day.

So, Apollo has snuck off to Mt. Olympus...hmmm...and they had a "moment" when he caught her from falling! :D

Review please and thanks for reading!

-Akatsuki Child