I am so so sorry this took so long. Today was my first day of summer. You can thank my friends for nagging me every chance they got. I should have updated a long time ago, but I didn't. I'm so sorry. I knew I had to do this today or I would probably forget. I'm leaving for Yellow Stone tomorrow. It will be my first time there. I'm also going to Mount Rushmore. I'm pretty excited. I really do hope all of you can forgive me. I feel terrible for it. I'm taking my notebook with me so that I can start on the next chapter. I love you guys. You are all amazing in my eyes. Keep up the awesomeness. Hope you like this chapter. Read and review!

I own my computer... Thats about it. The rest, besides the plot, is Rick's. ENJOY!

I woke to honking horns and bright head lights. Apparently, I had dozed off somewhere between Springfield, Ohio, and Richmond, Indiana.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to fall back to sleep, but a thought occurred to me. Why were there headlights and honking horns? I snapped my eyes open as I processed what was going on around me. Cars and trucks were swerving around us, yelling and waving, trying to get our attention.

We were on the wrong side of the road!

"PERCY!" I screamed at him. I gripped the arm rests as hard as I could, turning my knuckles white.

I looked over at Percy, who was passed out in the seat with his head on the steering wheel and drool on his lips. It would have been cute if not for the fact that we were possibly about to die.

"PERCY! WAKE UP!" I shouted louder this time, starting to panic.

"Five more minutes, mommy," he muttered, still half asleep.

"PERSEUS JACKSON! WAKE UP, NOW! GOD D****T, YOU'RE GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED!"

He opened his eyes slightly. It took a minute, but when realization crossed his face, his eyes went wide, and his hands shot to the steering wheel. Tightly gripping the wheel, he swerved back into the correct lane.

By now, everyone was awake and either gripping the seat, each other, or the "oh s***" handle (as my uncle calls it). (In case anyone doesn't know what that is, it's the handle above the passenger doors. I asked my dad what it was called and this was the shortest/ least confusing answer)

"Percy, you need to pull over and let me drive," said Grover, trying to stay calm.

"No. I'm fine," Percy answered.

"Percy, I think you should listen to Grover. Pull over," I told him.

"I'm okay"

"Percy"

"I'm fine"

"Pull ov-

"I'm al-

"PULL OVER," everyone screamed, fear and agitation mixing together. He winced at the tone of the voices. Though I did feel bad for him, I was too scared to register it much.

He flicked on his right turn signal and carefully pulled over to the side of the road. He put the car in park and slowly unbuckled himself. Keeping his head down, causing his black hair to hide his eyes, he got out and trudged the few steps to the door to the back seat.

I was still breathing and for some reason, I couldn't stop myself from shaking. I hadn't even realized that everyone else had gotten out till Juniper opened my door and placed her small delicate hand on my shoulder.

Snapped out of my daze, I looked into her grassy green eyes. "Are you okay," she asked me with concern.

I was still having trouble controlling my heart beat. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit scared is all," I shakily answered, unfastening my seatbelt.

I slid off the seat and landed barefooted in the grass. I forgot that I had taken my shoes off after we left the gas station.

I snatched my flip flops from the floorboard, not even bothering to put them on. I turned around and caught Thalia's concern filled eyes on me. I managed to give her a half-hearted smile, though she saw straight through it.

She surged forward and enveloped me in a comforting hug. "Are you sure you're okay," she whispered in my ear. I nodded, not trusting voice not to shake. She let me go and jerked her head towards the back of the car.

I crawled into the back of the suburban, catching sight of a very defeated looking Percy. There was a guilty look on his face and he was absentmindedly playing with the hem of his pants leg.

I dropped myself into the seat next to him and quietly buckled my seatbelt as everyone else piled back in.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled, his voice cracking.

I looked at him and what I saw was very foreign to me. Percy was looking at his hands, opened in his lap, palms up, when I saw it.

The strong, confident Percy I had always known now looked terrified. His sea green eyes brimmed with tears. He looked at me and the look in his eyes said to me that he wouldn't blame me if I hated him.

Instead, I grabbed one of his open palms and squeezed it. "It's not your fault. That could have happened to anyone of us."

"No it wouldn't have. You all are too smart to do anything that stupid," he argued.

I felt a small pang of frustration as I listened to his self-pity. I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me.

"You, Percy Jackson, are not stupid. You were tired, that's all. It is not your fault, and if you argue, I'm gonna have to strap you to the hood of this car," I threatened, a smile creeping onto my face as I said the last part.

He laughed a little bit, allowing some of the tension to leave him. "Oh, we'll see about that, Wisegirl," he countered.

Nico looked back at the two of us, who were smiling at each other's faces. He raised his eyebrow at our hands linked together. Percy and I both yanked back our hands when we saw what he was looking at.

I saw that Percy's face had turned a bright shade of pink and I'm sure mine was just as bad, if not worse.

"How much longer, do you think, till we get there," I hollered up at Grover, who had gotten us back on the road a while ago.

I could figure it out myself but I wanted to get the attention off of Percy and me.

"Well," Grover answered, "We've been driving for about eleven and a half hours and the trip takes about seventeen hours. So, it will probably be another six hours if we count breaks. Speaking of which, anyone hungry? We'll be in Indianapolis in about forty-five minutes."

All of us decided, not too quietly either, that we would stop in Indianapolis for some food. Juniper used the radio to tell the twins and Katie our plans. They told us they were about fifteen minutes ahead of us. Then Connor started talking about being in the car with two love struck morons, followed by some shouts and an "ow" or two from Connor.

Thalia rolled her eyes, grabbing the radio from Juniper and shouting at them to shut up. She then turned it way down so we couldn't hear them anymore.

It was about 12:15 when we finally arrived in Indianapolis. We left at about 1 in the morning. Most of us didn't really pay attention to the city. All we wanted to do was get food and get on the road again. That's what we did.

When we were all a back in our vehicles and on the road again, I started to feel the stress from the day mixed with the full stomach, begin to work its magic on me. I let myself drift into a deep restful sleep… well, as restful as you can be in a car full of teenagers.


I woke up about three hours later a lot differently than the last time I had woken up. I found myself with my head on Percy's shoulder, his head gently resting on mine. He was sitting in the middle seat, very quietly talking to Grover as everyone else slept.

I couldn't help myself. I was still half asleep and enjoying the moment, I decided to listen to the conversation.

"Well, you can start by telling me how you asked Juniper out," hissed Percy. It was hard not to move, feeling the vibrations of his voice on my cheek.

"I didn't," said Grover, "She asked me."

Percy sighed, "Well, that's not gonna help me any."

What would Percy need help with that would be helped by Grover telling him how he asked Juniper out, I wondered to myself, keeping my eyes closed.

Grover did that breathy laugh and told him, "It might, actually. I mean look at you. She obviously likes you back."

It took everything I had not to react to that. He liked me. Percy liked me, and was trying to figure out how to tell me.

"Percy," continued Grover, "The way you guys look at each other… I don't know how to explain it. It reminds me of the way Juniper looks at me, and the way I look at her. Just go for it, dude. Worst thing she could say is "no"."

Percy silently laughed, "Yeah," he scoffed, "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

After that, I fell back to sleep.


Half an hour later, Percy was in the same place. I decided to show that I was conscious.

Yawning, I sat up slowly, stretching my arms out in front of me. I looked at Percy, "How come you moved to the middle," I asked him.

He smiled, "Well, your original position was leaning against my arm and putting your neck at an almost 90 degree angle. It was actually painful to look at," he answered.

"Oh. Thanks, Percy," I said, a little broken that that was the only reason why.

"Besides," he added, "You're cute when you sleep."

I struggled to hide the beaming smile and the blush of my face.

Percy laughed, "How much longer, G-man?"

"About an hour and a half," Grover called back.

Half an hour later, everyone was awake and complaining for either a bathroom or breakfast. Only an hour left before we got to the campsite. Only an hour left till we're at the place where I will tell him. Only an hour left.

Hope you liked it. I wasn't sure about this chapter. I hope I didn't bore you too much. I know I'll hear it from my friends if it stinks, but between you and me, I like you guys more. ;) Tell me how I did. Love you guys! Remember, your reviews keep me writing. I need feedback to help myself improve. Hopefully the next chapter will take less time to get up than this one. I don't know though. I have camps and band and babysitting. I'll find time though. I'm determined for that much. I promise. Review!