And here we have the next installment!

I wanted to say thanks to all the people who have been reading my story. It really means a lot to me, because (and I don't know why) but I'm really, really, really self conscious when it's comes to my writing. I literally get so nervous when I post a chapter or story up, so it means a lot to me when my inbox is flooded with positive messages and alerts. I'm such a loser XD

I really want a bad haiku for Apollo to use, but I really just can't think of any :( Help?

Disclaimer: I don't own PJ&O.


Aria slowly opened her eyes. The room was bright, telling her that it was morning already. She looked at the clock to verify. Yup. It was 9:00 a.m. She was still so glad to have her room back. The beds at camp Half-Blood weren't exactly...top notch. But whatever. She made-do. She had to remind herself that being in her cabin was much better than being in the Hermes' cabin.

It wasn't until after she got dressed and was about to leave her room to go downstairs, that Aria remembered who may be waiting for her. She suddenly felt kind of sick, and wanted to go back to her warm bed. After a moment of agonizing over what she should do, she slowly made her way downstairs, hoping that for some reason he had left.

And of course, the Fates were as cruel as always. Apollo was sitting on the couch, snuggled next to Arty, playing the Play Station 2.

He didn't look at her, as he was all too busy with what he way doing. Aria continued to walk closer and say what he was playing.

"Kingdom Hearts?" Aria was puzzled- again.

Apollo seemed to be frustrated and paused the game.

"Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. You're telling me you've never played this?"

"Um...well I played the first one and the second one. But wait, where did you get this one?"

"I have my ways. Now are you gonna let me play or what? I don't like this 'Olympus Coliseum' world. Hades shouldn't be this hard to beat! It's Hades for Zeus' sake! Oh, and your breakfast is on the counter, next to the microwave."

He resumed his game and Aria found herself speechless. But rather than try to make sense of the god's video game addiction, she headed for the kitchen. Sure enough, on the counter next to the microwave, was a Dunkin' Donuts bag, next to a cup of coffee. Huh, two chocolate cake donuts, a bagel with cream cheese, and a cup of black coffee. How did he know?

She put them on a plate, made her way back to the living room and sat down next to Apollo and Arty. Suddenly she remembered that Arty was probably hungry too. She started to get up.

"Already fed the dog. And let him out."

"Oh..."

She sat back down and ate in silence for a while. Aria watched Apollo and by the time he finally beat the level after cursing the PS2 a few times, she was done eating.

"So," The god spoke up. "Why don't we spend the day at the mall?"

The idea of leaving the house again with Apollo made her mentally cringe.

"Actually, I would rather just stay here for the day...If that's okay?"

Apollo seemed to pout a little bit, bit besides that he seemed fine.

"Aw, okay. Well what do you want to do then?"

Aria still didn't understand why Apollo didn't seem upset about the previous night.

"Well if you're going to be here for a week, why don't we get to know each other? I've kind of never met you before yesterday."

The god reluctantly agreed, and he turned to face her.

"Favorite color?"

"Well...It's green-"

"Favorite animal?"

"Wolves, but-"

"Phobia?"

"Apollo, don't mean twenty questions. I mean like actually trying to get to know each other."

Apollo frowned. "What do you mean? I am trying!"

"No, I mean.." She sighed. She wasn't sure how to say to him what she wanted to. Here was Apollo, her dad. She'd never met him before, and here he was trying to be 'Dad of the Year' or something. But...it was like he really didn't know how to even talk to her. Maybe that's why he took the appearance of such a young age. He didn't know how to act like a father.

She must have been thinking for too long because Apollo was waiting for her to continue.

"What do you mean?" He prodded.

It was time obviously to give up. "Oh, Uh...you know what? Why don't we go ahead and go to the mall?"

Apollo seemed relieved. "Great! Let's go." he jumped up and headed for the door. Not one to waste time.

They spent hours at the mall. The pair seemed to be large in contrast. Aria wanted to go to the little local mall, but Apollo insisted on driving an hour to the large super mall. Aria was content to just browse her favorite stores where as Apollo felt the need to visit every single store, buy at least three things, and "dazzle" the store clerk until they allowed him to pay with drachma. And yes, "dazzle" was the word that Apollo used, himself.

13 stores, 5 large shopping bags, and 8 nasty looks directed at Aria from jealous teenage girls later, Aria was ready to go home. They were sitting on a bench outside of the book store, when a group of three girls walked by. If Aria had to guess, she would have said that they were about her age. They were blushing, giggling, and trying to get Apollo's attention.

"Hey." He winked at them, which just encouraged them.

When they were gone, Aria felt sick. It was just wrong. How old was Apollo, really? Two, three thousand years old? And now he was flirting with every girl under the age of thirty. It was creepy.

"Alright, are you ready to go?"

"What? We haven't even covered half of the mall yet!"

"Yeah, but I'm tired and-"

"You haven't even bought anything yet." He whined.

"Look, Apollo I just really want to-"

"Oh! I know, lets go look for a new phone for you!"

"No! Seriously, take me home."

Apollo suddenly picked up on Aria's bad mood, and turned serious.

"Okay, let's go."

When they got home, Apollo too seemed to be in a bad mood. To him, Aria was boring, and had no interest in getting to know him what-so-ever. He took his usual place on the couch, folded him arms, and glared at Aria.

"So, what now? You going to go to your room angry again, for the entire night?"

"Maybe I will." Aria snapped.

"Fine. Not like I care."

"Good thing." She made her way into the kitchen, heated up some left over macaroni and garlic bread, and took it upstairs to her room.

She was sick of Apollo and she wanted to hear her mom's voice again. She found her cell, and dialed the number. She talked to her mom for about an hour, being careful not to mention Apollo.

When she was done, she put her earphones in and blasted some of her favorite songs, and again, she cried herself to sleep.