Guys, I'm sorry I haven't posted much. I was on break this past week and it was my cousin's birthday so we had to do stuff for that. Then my family went on a trip and my mom said I couldn't bring my computer to type and my phone died because I forgot a charger. But forget all that! Here's the next chapter.

Poseidon stepped off the elevator and into his home. The pair of shoes next to the door sparked his interest. He examined them. Not Annabeth's. Definitely not Percy's. Poseidon shrugged it off. The sounds of a movie invaded his ears. Curious, Poseidon went to investigate. The television was playing Finding Nemo. Percy sat with his arm around a girl.

"Percy?"

"Oh, hey. I was wondering when you'd be home. Need to talk to ya." Percy got up and walked over to his dad.

"Who's that? And are those her shoes?"

"I'll explain all that, just come on," Percy led his very confused father to the stairs.

"That's Piper,"

"McLean?

"Yeah. I got a lot to explain." Poseidon listened intently as Percy explained everything since they yelled at each other. He complimented his son on his kisses, was understandably frustrated when Percy told him it was a secret, and practically exploded when Percy showed him the message from Athena.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?! You and Annabeth are perfect for each other!" Percy tried to shush Poseidon.

"I know, but I really like Piper. We both just went through forced break-ups and need each other. Annabeth is awesome, but I don't want to worry about Athena trying to kill me."

"She won't kill you. That's a bit extreme." Poseidon turned on his phone. "I need to call your mother about Christmas." Percy grinned. How could he forget that?

"Okay. Thanks for listening, Dad."

"No problem, son." Father and son blinked.

"Did you just-" Poseidon looked askance at Percy, his eyes twinkling.

"I heard-" Percy grinned.

"Go call Mom. Also when I went to drop off Pipes at her place, her mom seemed really busy, so is it okay if she crashes here tonight?"

"Of course." Poseidon grinned and Percy saw where he got his smile from. The one on his dad's face was a mirror image of his. Percy went back to Piper. She was curled up in a blanket, eyelids drooping. She sat up when Percy approached.

"What took so long?"

"I told him everything that went down,"

"Even us?"

"Yep. He cleared you to stay over, by the way."

"I figured. I texted my mom. She still hasn't responded," Piper said, annoyed.

"I wonder why…" Percy mused. Piper hit his arm.

"Shut up and hold me," Piper snuggled up against Percy, who wrapped his arms around her.

Later, when the movie was over, they went up to Percy's room.

"Do you have any sweatpants?" Piper asked. Percy looked in his closet and threw a pair out. She picked them up and went to change. Percy turned off the lights when a glint of gold on his nightstand caught his eye. He picked it up. It was a condom. Percy sighed.

"Godammit, Dad,"

"What's that?" asked Piper, suddenly. Percy fumbled and slipped it into his pocket.

"Ah, nothing." he felt his face get hot.

"Lemme see." Piper reached for his hand, which was still holding it in his pocket. She forced Percy's hand out, took a look at the golden wrapping, and looked at Percy. A raised eyebrow made Percy very nervous. "I can't tell if this is a joke or serious."

"It's my dad, I swear. He put that there to mess with me." Percy pulled his hand away and set it on his nightstand. "We won't be needing it."

"You sure?" Piper asked, a mischievous smile playing across her lips. Percy blinked.

"Now I can't tell if you're joking or serious." Piper laughed and threw her arms around Percy's neck.

"Guess we'll never know." she kissed Percy and pulled back. "What's the deal with beds?"

"Uh, you can have mine. I'll sleep on the floor." Piper frowned.

"That doesn't seem right."

"It does. You're my guest and a girl so…"

"So just because I'm a girl means I get pampered?"

"Yeah?"

"Because you're right. But this bed is big enough for both of us." Piper leaped onto the mattress and patted next to her. Sighing, Percy flopped onto it. He pulled back the blankets. Before he was able to get under, Piper scrambled in. Percy stared at her.

"Really?"

"Yep. Get over here," Percy grinned and crawled over. He slid next to Piper and stared at the ceiling. Piper slid her hand onto Percy's stomach. He flinched.

"Your hand is cold,"

"I'm trying to warm it up,"

"Huh. You know what else is cold?"

"What?"

"Snow," Percy said, nodding seriously. Piper stared at him.

"Stop talking," she said and snuggled against him. Percy wrapped his arm around Piper and held her close. He kissed the top of her head.

"I thought you liked listening to me talk,"

"Not like that I don't,"

"Oh, shut up," A knock on the door made them let go of each other and scoot to as far away as possible. Poseidon poked his head in.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Percy sat up.

"Nah. We were about to fall asleep,"

"Are you being smart?"

"I am, sir. I don't know about your son though. He's not that bright to begin with." Piper smiled at Percy, who frowned.

"That was low." Poseidon chuckled.

"Well, good night, kids. Percy, make sure to use my gift." He shut the door, blocking his son's shocked spluttering.

Piper rolled closer to her friend. She kissed his cheek.

"Now what?"

"Well, we have all night, don't we?"

"Uh, for what?"

"Sleep, stupid." Piper rolled her eyes. "Didja think we were gonna have sex?"

"No! I just-" He was stopped by Piper's lips on his.

"Percy?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." They went back in, lips locked and in full make-out mode. Piper moved so she was on top of Percy, hands grasping the sides of his face. Percy held onto her waist. Their legs tangled together. Piper pushed her tongue against Percy's lips. The kiss went from closed to open. It was Percy's first time tounging and it was odd, to say the least. After a few minutes, Piper pulled away and gazed into the sea green eyes.

"I love you, Percy Jackson," she whispered. Percy smirked

"I do too, Piper McLean,"

"Are you gonna kiss me like you mean it then?"

"Keep talking and I won't." Percy pulled Piper down. They rolled onto their sides.

"It's getting kinda hot." Piper said and pulled Percy's sweatshirt over her head and threw it onto the floor. Percy had seen girls in bikinis before, but he had never seen someone in a bra, much less in his own bed. Gripping Percy's t-shirt, Piper pulled it over his head where it joined hers.

"Have you done this before?" Percy asked. Piper shook her head.

"I'm winging this," she said. Percy smirked.

"It's working." He glanced at the packet. "Will we need it?"

"If we get there. Not yet, though. For now, just kiss me," she murmured. Percy obliged.

Poseidon stood outside, his ear against the door. No sex sounds. Good Percy. He went back to his room and called Sally. She didn't answer, though a message did pop up.

It's late. What do you want?

Just wondering when you will be here.

Tomorrow at 11 a.m. How is he?

He's fine. Some drama went down, but I think he's handling it fine.

What sort of drama?

Girl-boy drama. Nothing major.

Good. He's never really been in a real relationship. There was one girl a few years ago he had a crush on. I'm not sure where it went.

Well, he did have a crush on this one girl here, but her mother ordered him to stay away from her. He's found someone else though. I'm sure he's fine.

As long as he's happy.

He is.

Good.

Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Sally.

Good night, Poseidon.

Poseidon turned off his phone. Sally was coming tomorrow and would stay for Christmas. He was excited. Opening his sock drawer, he checked to make sure the small box was there. It was. Poseidon shut the drawer and fell asleep.

Annabeth and Jason, despite being a few miles away from each other, felt the exact same things. Anger, sadness, betrayal, and hopelessness. Their parents had told them, no, ordered them, to break up with the person they loved. Jason wasn't sure how he felt about Piper and how she felt about him. Yes, he liked her, but did he love her? Annabeth mulled over the same problem. Percy had a crush on her, that much was true. But she was different. She would do anything to be with Percy. She loved him. And Athena couldn't prevent that.

The two people unfortunate enough to have been forced from their significant other were busy. While Piper's hands were tangled in his hair, Percy was thinking about a few things. One, how good Piper's hair smelled. It smelled like vanilla. Two, are aliens real? He supposed so. It's a big universe and there's the Drake Equation along with the Fermi Paradox to think about. Three, where was he with Piper? Yes, they were and are kissing, but were they in an actual relationship? If he had to guess, Percy would say this was more of a friends-with-benefits type thing. Oh well. He would deal with that in the morning.

CC, please don't do that. Big question for y'all: Do you think aliens exist? Also, from looking at traffic stats, reviews, favs/follows, this story is currently my most popular! *throws confetti* Yay! I love all of you! I will work on the next chapter, but it might not be up for awhile because I have stuff after school all next week. Seriously though, I love you guys. -RFA