"Wise Girl, wake up." Annabeth groaned and rolled over.

"Percy, it's the weekend, why on earth are you making me get up at this ungodly hour?" Peeking an eye open, she glared at the clock. "Seriously, Seaweed Brain? 7 AM? You always complain when we have to get up this early at camp."

"You don't know what day it is, do you?" Her eyes shot open at the thought of Percy figuring something out before her, and she mentally face palmed seeing the flowers before her, a smirking Seaweed Brain holding a chocolate kiss in his left palm.

"Schist!"

"Aw, don't tell me you forgot," he goaded her with a grin.

"I didn't, I was supposed to get up earlier and-why didn't my alarm go off?" Percy at least had the decency to look guilty, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Perseus Jackson, did you turn my alarm off?"

"Annabeth-"

"Did you?"

"Maybe just a little. But I had to wake up first!" He exclaimed, eyes pleading. "I missed last Valentine's cause of Hera, I had to make this one spectacular."

She smiled, "Big word, Perce. I guess I can let this one slide-as long as you do manage to make it spectacular. What exactly do you have planned that we had to wake up so early anyhow?"

"It's a surprise. I'll tell you one thing: there will be donuts involved."

"Ooh donuts, Blackjack would be so jealous. That's all you're gonna give me? How am I supposed to know what to bring, or how to dress?"

"Like you actually care about any of that, you'll just bring your knife, phone, wallet, and snacks to keep me quiet." She laughed at the truth of his statement, and he continued, "Just wear a t shirt and jeans and meet me at the car."

/

"No way! Perce, how did you find this place?"

He grinned, "Once I had the idea I did some digging, found the best place nearby. We have the whole place to ourselves for three hours."

"How are you paying for it? This has to be crazy expensive."

The son of Poseidon blushed, "It is. I, uh, I called in a favor with Aphrodite-'Anything for true love!' and all," he quoted in a trilling voice.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jackson?" A worker asked, approaching them as they neared the entrance. Percy's face became scarlet, but he nodded as Annabeth pressed a hand to her mouth to suppress a giggle.
"My name is Randall Evans, I'm the presiding manager here. Please, if there's anything any of us can do to assist you at any time, don't hesitate to ask. Our only rules here at Go Go Go Cart are that your seat belt remains buckled at all times, you don't purposefully ram into each other, and you don't purposefully ram into the rails. Enjoy yourselves, and have a Happy Valentine's Day. Your carts await."

"You ready to lose, Jackson?" Annabeth asked with a smirk, pulling up to the starting line.

"You wish, Chase. You're going down."

"Oh, you mean like how you do every time we play capture the flag?"

His jaw dropped in mock offense, "It is so on."

"GO!" Randall announced, and they were off, zooming around the track without hesitation.

"Feel that, Chase?" Percy called, turning his head as he passed her, zipping around a curve. "That's my tailwind."

"Honey, being in front of me in the first lap doesn't mean you'll win. I'm sure you'll have that figured out when I've lapped you five times," she retorted, planning out where best to pass him based on the trajectory of the track.

/

"So, babe, what did we learn today?"

Percy gave a sigh, "My girlfriend is the smartest person in the whole world and will always dominate at every challenge ever."

"Very good," she commended, giving him a peck on the cheek. "So, what's next?"

"What makes you assume there's something else?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Give it a break, Seaweed Brain, there's no way you would make an appointment at eight in the morning if you were planning on just going home after, not even for go carting. We both know Aphrodite could've booked a night shift-you wanted a morning slot. Not to mention your appetite; it's lunchtime and you haven't had a snack, you're planning something with food."

"Dam it, Wise Girl, you get me every time," he groaned with a wink. "Okay, yeah, we're getting food."

/

"Italian?"

"It's not because- listen, I have a speech prepared about why we're at an Italian restaurant-we're getting pizza by the way. I mean, you don't have to, but I am, and the point of us coming here was to get precisely that so...yeah." He trailed off aimlessly, scratching the back of his head.

"Okay, I'm all ears, let's have that speech." Annabeth gave him an encouraging smile and squeezed his hand.

"So, did you notice what kind of flowers I gave you this morning?"

She bit her lip, "Not particularly, I put them in a vase but I was in a hurry to see the surprise so I just cataloged them in passing; they were kind of unusual looking, light pink, with a darker pinkish violet in the center, but that's about all I remember."

"They were almond flowers, and before you say 'Percy, why on earth would you give me the flowers of a tree from which you get almonds?', I'll come back to that.
As you remember, I'm sure, the last time we were together before Tartarus was when we got lunch near the Tiber River."

"Pizza," she breathed, eyes alight in understanding. "We ate that really bland pizza.

"Correct," he beamed. "We had super duper gross, disappointing pizza from the waiter who that we were weirdo Americans eating in the middle of the day and drinking Coke with ice. Anyway, Italian pizza being subpar aside, I was terrified that I was going to lose you. I had just gotten you back, and the worst part is that you're not my girlfriend."

She raised her eyebrows and he grimaced, backtracking, "That came out totally wrong. I didn't mean it that way. I meant-it's not that you're my girlfriend, and 'oh no, I haven't made out with her in months, everything is wrong', you know? I do love the making out," he hurried to assure her. "It's one of my favorite things to do, and we should spend more time doing it. But...gods, I'm so bad at this."

She laughed, "Percy, it's sweet, you're fine, just keep going."

"What I mean is that I love you on a level beyond as being my girlfriend, like we were best friends for four years first, and I will love you in that way, as my best friend, just as much as I love you as my girlfriend. So while I missed the making out, it was more 'oh no, I need my best friend with me because things just aren't right when we're not together and I need her here, watching my back while I watch hers'. So the thought of just having you back, my girlfriend AND my best friend, who I love more than anyone partially BECAUSE I love you both ways, and sending you to your doom was one of the worst things I've ever faced-and remember, I've battled a whole bunch of titans."

Annabeth giggled, but she knew her eyes were watering.

"And then, you had beaten Arachne and found this statue that no one in history could ever find, and I was thinking to myself that's my girl, and I was so unbelievably relieved to have you back-and then you fell. And you told me to let go of you, and I changed my mind: THAT was the scariest thing I've ever faced, letting you fall into the deepest pit in hell all alone. There was no way.

"So I did the only thing I could really do, and I went with you. And you continued to amaze me; you made your way through Tartarus with a broken ankle, you figured out that the pen I'd had for five years could actually write, and you SENT A MESSAGE TO CAMP FROM THE BOTTOM OF HELL. I had been so worried that being there would suck away our humanity, but gods, Annabeth, I just kept falling more in love with you-also falling literally."

Eyes shining, she shook her head at the terrible pun. "Seaweed Brain, you can't make awful jokes while being sentimental, my emotions can't keep up."

"Don't worry, I'm almost done," he assured her. "Back to the flowers: I'm not sure if you know this, but I did some research, and almond flowers have an origin in Greek Mythology. One of Theseus's sons, Demophon, some Herc-the-jerk type, hooked up with this Thracian princess. They were supposed to get married, but he claimed to miss home and went on a 'trip' to Athens, and he was supposed to come home their wedding day. Long story short, the guy was just like his father and didn't show, and the princess, Phyllis, was heartbroken for years until she died from being so upset, at which point the gods turned her into a tree-like someone else we know. But anyway, her tree was an almond tree, and it kind of became a symbol of hope-her hope that he would come back for her. Eventually, he realized what an idiot he was and returned, and he hugged the tree, knowing it was her and feeling so sorry. All of a sudden, these pink flowers bloom all over the tree, and they proved that there was a love death could not conquer. I brought is to this American-Italian restaurant because it reminds me of all that, of the love and being scared and every emotion I felt that day-also because we need to eat quality pizza.

"The way I see it, that's us; I mean, we didn't die, surprisingly, but going to Tartarus kind of counts as death, right? That's the second time we've gone to the land of death together, and only came out stronger-not physically, but our relationship, you know? And when you add in the whole holding-up-the-sky thing...I know, even if I died, I would still love you. And it's crazy that we started out thinking we could never even be friends because it was forbidden, and your mother still hates me, but we love each other anyway, and that's what Valentine's Day is all about: breaking the rules, because there are no rules when it comes to love, that's why Valentine married all those people illegally way back when. There's no one I'd rather spend today with, even if it's a 'manufactured holiday generated by candy companies to create revenue by playing on people's pathos'."

"Perce, you remembered my exact wording? I was just going off on a rant, I thought you weren't paying attention," she said quietly, wiping her eyes.

"I always pay attention to things that are important to you, even when they're super boring and I have no idea what the words you use mean; do you know how much you've said that I could recite about 'the columns not being tapered enough' and 'the architrave being sooooo beautiful'?"

"That...all of that was just, the most amazing thing I've ever heard, Seaweed Brain. Gods, Percy...nobody's perfect, but you're sure perfect for me." Leaning across the console, she kissed him softly. "By the way, I'm big on the making out too," she whispered against his lips.

"In that case, lunch can wait a few minutes," he replied hastily.

/

"Okay, last thing," Percy promised, pulling Annabeth out onto the balcony beneath the night sky, the two having spent a few hours making out on the couch under the premise of watching mushy movies after returning from lunch to babysit Ben while Sally and Paul went out to dinner.

"Hey, Percy, you guys ready to go?" Nico and Will materialized from the shadows instantaneously, looking to be in a good mood.

"Wait, Nico? Will? I'm confused."

"Don't worry, I'm not planning a three-person-date or anything; obviously, since I'm not his type, but whatever. Nico's giving us a lift, and Will offered to watch Ben."

"Yepp. Have fun you guys, I'll see you...later." Will waggled his eyebrows suggestively, then went inside.

"Where are we going?" she wondered aloud, but Percy mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key, and Nico shrugged apologetically.

/

As soon as they had landed, Percy let out a short laugh, and Annabeth and Nico looked to him uncomprehending.

"Those are some bad bruises on your neck, there, Nico. How'd you manage it?" Annabeth burst into muffled laughter as Nico blushed and turned up his collar to cover the dark hickeys, waving as he disappeared again, leaving them alone on the rocky terrain.

"Do you know where we are?" Percy said, eyes smoldering.

"It looks so familiar but I can't quite put my finger...oh my gods."

He grinned, "Yeah?"

"We're-we're at Mount Saint Helens?"

With a delighted nod, he pulled her close. "Where we had our first kiss."

"I don't know if it counts as our first kiss; I kissed you, and you just stood there in shock," she teased, her lips dangerously close to his.

"I've definitely made up for it since, though, wouldn't you agree?"

Her eyes fluttered closed, and she nodded, heartbeat in her ears. "Mhm. This is perfect, Percy. I never knew you to be so reminiscent."

"Well, I've never had such good things to reminisce over."

A/N: There ya go! I know Valentine's Day isn't for another week or so, but I knew I would never have the time to do it next week, so you know :b

Tell me what you guys think, I think this is one of the chapters I've put the most effort into, so I really hope you like it(: Review, tell me your favorite parts, what you want more of, what you want less of-I'm all ears.

I promise, I will get to the things I've hinted at but haven't gone into, I just want to make sure the plot is complete; Olivia's irritation and Thalia's absence will be explained.

Question of the Chapter: Favorite show?

Adjoining Question: Superwholock?

My answer: Tie between Doctor Who&Castle

Adjoining Answer: YAAAAAAAS, always superwholock :D

Don't forget to check out McLean's Memoirs, I really think you guys would enjoy it(:

Until next time!

Kaitie~