All right, ya'll can kill me this time.

It's been over a MONTH since I last updated and I feel horrible! I've just been really busy that I haven't had time to update. I'm so sorry. But seriously, A MONTH? It's never taken me this long to get you guys a chapter. So I'm sorry.

BIG NEWS: I have a new plot for our favorite couple for a new story, but I'm not putting that up until this story ends. And with that new story, it comes along the lines of... the sequel to Past and the Present :)

Enjoy the chapter, ladies and gentlemen!

"You have got to be kidding me," I said staring at the restaurant that Annabeth's parents were meeting us at.

She spent the day with me (after telling me she didn't have any plans this afternoon) and I was going to take her with me for the dinner I was having with her parents. I was expecting something casual and non-fancy. I wasn't expecting one of the best and elegant restaurants in the whole city. We're going to a freaking play after this and we're eating here for dinner? It doesn't go onto my list on where I want to eat before my kids' play.

"It's all right, Seaweed Brain. I didn't dress fancy either," Annabeth whispered in my ear as we walked through the doors into the classical music and ten dollars a plate monster.

I groaned softly under my breath. Waiting around on small booths, there were families with about three, four kids sitting with them and they were all dressed in expensive apparel. Ugh. I noticed Annabeth talking to the lady at the front, probably asking for our table. I silently went behind her and laid a hand on her back. She smiled at the lady then turned her gaze on me.

"Do you want to go ahead and find a table for all of us?" I asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Annabeth shook her head. "No. My parents want to meet us up here first and give hugs, you know how they are, and then we go sit down. The waitress I was talking to is saving us the largest table they have."

I grinned. She raised an eyebrow, her expression clearly saying she was confused.

"Why are you smiling like that?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I just love my girlfriend so much that I listen to her go into extreme detail about sitting arrangements for dinner."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You're so weird... but I guess I have to deal with you for the night. ONLY because my brothers want you here," she said, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I rested my hands on her waist. "I guess you do. And I guess I have to suffer your talks about architecture and explaining the difference between area and perimeter to your brothers."

"Hmm, you assume correctly," she mumbled against my lips.

"Of course I did," I leaned closer and closed the gap between us.

I know it was in a public place and there were kids probably watching us, but I love being able to hug, kiss, hold my Wise Girl in front of everyone without feeling embarrassed. We broke apart when a middle-aged man cleared his throat and Annabeth pulled away from me, realizing who it was. She must of heard it a lot, since she lives with him.

I turned to face Annabeth's father, Frederick Chase. Her mother, Christine was standing next him while trying to fix Bobby's shirt so that the buttons didn't over-lap. I suddenly felt way under dress. My dark, worn-out jeans didn't cut tonight's dinner. The Chases' minus Annabeth and her brothers were wearing nice clothes. It was just a child's play!

"Hey, Percy," Christine walked over and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

I pulled back to stand next to my girlfriend. I put a hand on the other side of her waist. "Um, thank you for letting me join to eat dinner and see Bobby and Matthew's play."

"No problem. The twins won't stop bugging Annabeth about it and then they kept asking us too," Christine explained, smiling.

Annabeth called for the waitress. "I have a table for all of us."

We all walked behind the waitress. Frederick and Christine sat on one side. Annabeth and I on the other. Bobby and Matthew sat on the edges. We all ordered our drinks, which I got my favorite drink of all time: Coke. The waitress got our drinks and went to go get them when Mr. Chase decided to start a conversation.

"Percy, how have you been?" he asked, an arm wrapping around his wife's shoulders.

I cleared my throat. "Oh, fine. Life's been great. I'm not being sarcastic either. It's been fantastic with my Wise Girl here with me, though," I said looking down at her.

Annabeth met my gaze for a moment, then our drinks arrived and we had to choose what we wanted for dinner. I ordered a cheesburger with the soft, curvy fries (mmmm) and asked the waitress if she could get me some more Coke. Annabeth ordered the same as me with a smile on her face when she mentioned the fries.

After the waitress got all our orders, Mr. Chase turned back towards me. "How's school been treating you?"

"Good, I guess," I answered, shrugging my shoulders.

"Have you been treating my daughter well?" he asked.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. Why was he asking me all these questions? "Yes sir, I've been treating her with respect and with the amount of love I can give her, sir."

"Have you slept together?" Frederick questioned. I just realized that the twins were gone and I looked over and saw them playing with games that were in the back corner of the restaurant.

"Wait, what?" Annabeth was speaking into the conversation now.

I took a sip of my drink and replied, "No, sir. We haven't. I wouldn't take advantage of her like that."

"Dad, we actually just had a talk about this yesterday afternoon. We promised each other, if one day in the future, Percy and I get married, we'll wait until marriage. That will still happen even if we don't marry each other," Annabeth explained. She did so much better than I would ever do.

Christine called the boys over here and it looked like she was impressed. Frederick shook his head at me with a smile of his face. I'm guessing I gave him the right answer. Annabeth grabbed my hand underneath the table and intertwined our fingers. I smiled at her and she rested ours hands on my leg. I played with her fingers as Christine talked to the boys about the play.

"Percy!" Matthew knocked me out of my thoughts. "Do you want to know what the play is about?"

"Sure," I grinned, leaning back into the cusion of the seat and continued to play with Annabeth's fingers.

Matthew's grin got bigger on his face. "Well, Bobby and I are two of the main characters and we have to do this stupid dance at the end, but that doesn't matter. Anyways, it's about how friendships are really important. I thought it was stupid at first, but then-"

"He gets to dance and act with Samantha," Bobby said the girl's name in a weird tone.

Matthew glared at him. "Shut up."

"Hey!" Christine said.

"Who's this Samantha, Matthew Chase?" Mr. Chase questioned his son.

"A girl," he answered.

Bobby laughed loudly. "He has a crush on her!"

Matthew blushed deep red and crossed his arms above his chest, sinking down into his chair. Christine was talking to him about it and Frederick was speaking with Bobby. Annabeth and I glanced over at each other. She leaned over and her breath blew into my ear.

"This is what I have to deal with at home. Now you see why I don't mind coming over to your house," she laughed.

I grinned. "I thought it was because of me."

"Well, it is. I'm just saying why it's not a problem," Annabeth responded.

I chuckled and ran my thumb over her knuckles. "I'm just messing with ya, Wise Girl."

Frederick then cleared his throat again and both of us turned our gazes over to him. He pointed at the food that was coming towards us. Annabeth didn't pull her hand away from mine so I just kept mine locked with hers, resting them on my thigh. She blew softly on her food, watching the steam fly up from the fries.

"Fresh. Let's dig in," I said with a grin.

A few minutes later, there was practically no burger left on my plate. Maybe a few crispy bun pieces, but everything was consumed by my mouth. Bobby and Matthew ate silently because Christine threatened them that they would leave and just go home instead of going to the play. They both decided to shut up.

Annabeth patted me on the shoulder and I looked over at her. "I need to go to the restroom."

"Ok...?" I was wondering why she was telling me.

"I need to get out," she pointed towards the sign that said restrooms and I was blocking her from going since I was sitting on the edge of the long booth. It was pretty confusing how we were sitting.

"Oh, yeah," I slid out of the booth and Annabeth crawled out after me.

She smiled at her parents. "I'll be right back."

"Ok, honey," Frederick said eating another fry off his plate.

My girlfriend turned back to me and the look on her face said we needed to talk. I sat back down at my seat and I just grinned, taking a sip of my drink. I pretended that I was choking so I headed straight to the restroom. I passed through the sign and saw Annabeth leaning against the wall next to the males.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, stepping in front of her.

She sighed. "I'm sorry that my dad asked you all those embarrassing questions."

"There was really only one, but I appreciate it. It didn't really bother me. A dad should ask the boyfriend if he's having that with his daughter," I replied.

Annabeth then shrugged. "Ok, that's all I really needed you for."

"Are you sure?" I asked, taking a step closer towards her.

"I'm sure, Seaweed Brain," her eyes locked with mine.

I leaned my forehead against hers. "I love you, babe."

"I love you too," she whispered.

I leaned a bit closer and kissed her before grabbing her hand and walking out from the restrooms. Her fingers intertwined with mine, her head rested on my shoulder. I loved this girl for various reasons. So many reasons I lost count. Christine and Frederick were standing next to the table. Mr. Chase was pulling out some dollars and laid them on the table. Bobby and Matthew were picking on each other.

"Are you guys ready?" Christine asked, looking down at our locked hands.

Annabeth shook her head. "We're ready to go."

"Yes ma'am," I answered.

We all walked out of the restaurant and my car was parked on the other side of where the Chases car was at. Annabeth kept her hand in mine though instead of going with her parents and we walked over to my vehicle. I revved my engine and followed their car out of the restaurant's parking lot. Here we go on the adventure road.

AT BOBBY AND MATTHEW'S SCHOOL

"You know in elementary school, we wouldn't have this kind of play. It would actually be like something that was actually written as a play first," Annabeth whispered in my ear.

I laughed. We sat next to each other as everyone gathered in the school auditorium. Her parents were next to us, talking amongst themselves. Her fingers ran up and down my arm as I leaned my forehead against her shoulder. She patted my head before running her fingernails vertically on my arm, creating goosebumps.

"Stop that," I said lifting my head.

Annabeth laughed, her smile lighting up the whole room. "Why should I?"

"I asked you to," I responded.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, Seaweed Brain. Whatever you say."

Christine then patted her on the shoulder and Annabeth turned her attention on her mother. They seemed to be talking in whispers. I never got that about girls. I guess I'll never know. Everyone turned silent when a middle-aged lady walked onto the school's stage. She must of been the school's principal. I watched her explain what the play was about and I lost exactly what is was suppose to be because she bored me.

Soon, the curtains behind her began opening and she smiled towards the audience. She walked off and I was tempted to clap for her since she was done speaking. I know, Percy, stop being so rude! I've been worst to people. Trust me.

I saw Bobby and Matthew enter the stage after a few minutes. They were speaking into microphones that wrap around your ear and the little, soft-covered phone at the end of it. Ms. Chase was taking pictures of her boys on-stage as Mr. Chase was just smiling. My hand was still locked with Annabeth's and I wasn't letting go until I had to.

Close to the end just like Matthew said, there was a small dance with a familar song that I didn't remember the name of. Bobby was dancing with a girl that looked older and taller than him. Matthew was dancing with, I'm guessing, Samantha because he was smiling at her like he won a Grammy award.

Annabeth turned to smile at me and I just winked at her. She gave a small laugh before returning her gaze back at the stage. The song ended and the kids that were dancing went to the front, held hands, and bowed at the audience. Christine and Frederick stood up for their kids, just like other parents did. I clapped for my "little brothers". The curtains closed and the principal walked back onto the stage, saying all the performer's names.

A little bit later, Annabeth and I sat in the chairs as her parents talked to others. Bobby and Matthew were hanging out with some of their friends. My girlfriend leaned her head on my shoulder and I kissed her softly on the head. She then looked up at me.

"What?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Nothing. I just can't seem to find why I love you so much."

"I think because I'm so good-looking and sweet. You can't find anyone as special as me," I snickered after my last sentence.

Annabeth laughed, her smile lighting up the room. "Sure. You're incredibly special to me. You've been my best friend for years. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I didn't have you in it to cause me problems."

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked, looking up at her as she got up from her seat.

She turned around and a smirk was plastered on her face. "Come and find out."

I watched as she walked away and disappeared behind the auditorium doors. I glanced back at her parents and saw they weren't paying attention. I pushed myself out of my chair and followed Annabeth out of the doors. She was still walking and I jogged up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and lifting her up into the air. She squealed and laughed as I spun her around.

"Good gracious, Percy," Annabeth said, the breath taken out of her.

I turned her around and my hands were resting under her shirt, pressing against the bare skin of her lower back. "I'm always going to drive you crazy and cause you problems."

"I kind of figured that out already," Annabeth laughed.

I chuckled and pressed my forehead onto hers. She smiled at me and leaned in, kissing me. I kissed her once more before pulling away. I noticed her parents walking out of the auditorium and they were heading towards us.

"Well, it's getting late and we have to get these boys to bed," Christine said and she leaned over, giving me a small hug and kiss on the cheek.

I nodded, messing with the boy's hair. "You guys did great. I was proud of you."

"Thanks, Perce. Do you think we could hang out tomorrow?" Bobby asked.

Matthew shook his head. "Yeah!"

I sucked in a breath between my teeth. "Ugh, I can't, guys. I'm hanging out with my sister tomorrow."

"Oh, maybe the next day?" they asked.

I grinned. "Yeah. I'll hang out with you."

"Just us. No kissy-kissy with Annabeth," Matthew said.

I frowned, but shrugged. "Fine."

Frederick grabbed the boys shoulders. "Ok, kids. Percy's probably tired so let's him get home and get you guys ready for bed.

"Aww!" the twins exclaimed together.

I chuckled and turned to my girlfriend. Annabeth walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my waist into a hug. I held her against me, not wanting to let her go. I heard her mom calling her name so I had to release her. She leaned up and gave me a peck on the cheek before jogging over to her parents. Bobby and Matthew waved at me. I waved back and smiled.

I had a great night tonight. Now, I can't wait till tomorrow. I'm hanging out with Thalia for the first time in months. Wish me luck.

Now, the next chapter will be mostly him and Thalia. I wanted to show that he had relationships with other people than just Annabeth.

LONG CHAPTER! I hope this makes up for the month overdue of a chapter. I'm still extremely sorry. I just haven't had time to sit down and write a whole chapter.

I hope you forgive me and don't lose interest in this story.

-HunterofArtemis32