A/N: Don't shoot! I know it's been a couple weeks, but it's been crazy for me you guys. I'm gonna try my best to update as regular as possible. Thanks for sticking with me. I love you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, although I do own a small gif collection.

Summary:

This is Percy Jackson's 3rd summer working as a lifeguard on one of his father's cruise ships. Just him and his best friends on a cruise all summer long. Goes to show that when it seems like nothing can get better, a blonde walks into your life.

Chapter 21: A Different Kind of Summer

Annabeth:

(one day later, 8th day docked, Wednesday)

I dipped the salty chip into the cheese sauce and stuffed it into my mouth with satisfaction before continuing our game. "Okay, uhm," I said while chewing (yeah, not very ladylike but whatever), "least favorite high school teacher."

Malcolm pursed his lips in a familiar way and stirred his straw in his water. "Ms. Famia, for sure," he said matter-of-factly.

We sat outside on the balcony of a restaurant on the ship. The sun wasn't scheduled to set for another hour or so, so the cool breeze and warm weather was perfect for a small meal with my older brother. "Okay, what was so bad about her?" I asked.

Malcolm set his forearms on the table and leaned forward, like he had been waiting his whole life to tell me about this teacher. "Well, first off, she was my 7th grade teacher in middle school. Something's gotta be wrong with you if you want to teach middle school," he explained with a knowing smile on his lips. "Secondly, she was just flat out horrendous. She lost all of my papers and I swear, I didn't learn anything that year."

I smiled and raised an eyebrow. "So she lost all your papers, that's it? You're sure you just didn't turn them in?" I asked suspiciously.

Malcolm shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Well she lost the ones I actually turned in."

"Uh huh," I said with a smile.

"Oh come on," Malcolm said, "I wasn't the worst one in class. I was the smartest thought, that's for sure. I just didn't like the whole 'school' thing. Not my forte," he explained. "How about you? How was little Miss Annabeth in class?"

I shrugged and took a sip of my iced tea. "I graduated high school with a 4.4."

Malcolm widened his eyes. "No you did not," he said in surprise.

I nodded slowly with pursed lips. "Yeah, I did. Don't know why, though," I explained with a shrug. "Grades were never really that important to me. And with the help of Tristan, I really could go to college anywhere I wanted anyway. So… I don't know."

Malcolm didn't ask anymore questions. I think he knew that there was nothing more I could say on the subject. We sat as the sky began to dim and laughed and talked and just learned more about each other until I caught Malcolm staring at the sinking sun and something caught my eye.

"What's that?" I asked nodding toward his neck.

Malcolm's hand instinctively went to the simple gold chain that hung on his neck. I realized that he always wore this chain, but he usually hid it under his shirt. "What?" he asked.

I reached up and ran my hands along the gold around his neck. "This chain."

He pursed his lips and tucked the chain into his green tee shirt. "It was dads. He gave it to me when I was 9," he told me in a small voice. "You know… right before…"

"Yeah, I know."

When I got back to my room, I (once again) tore my room apart for my book of puzzles. And like usual, it was no where to be found.

Percy:

(one day later, 9th day docked, Thursday early morning)

Laying in bed at night on the ship was among one of my favorite things. The sway of the ocean seemed to rock me to sleep almost every night, but not before the thoughts got to me. Isn't that how it always is though?

Tonight, like many nights before this one, the hum of the engine and the rock of the sea reminded me of my father.

He would stand behind me on the deck of one of his small yachts and rest his palms on my shoulders. He would stand up straight and I would do the same. He would dig his toes and press his heels against the wood and I would do the same. "Close your eyes," he would instruct, "and breathe."

And he would do it.

And I would do the same.

I couldn't tell you how long we used to do that and I couldn't tell you why. But I can say that there was something magical about it. So now, I do it all the time whenever I'm on board.

Like tonight.

I pressed my body against the soft sheets of the bed and held my head against the pillow, feeling the sway of the waves and the power of the ocean. Even on a ship as big as the Sally, the magic was still there. And suddenly, the giant cruise ship seemed like a speck of dust compared the mass of the ocean. I could feel it. It put me at ease, for some reason that I won't even begin to try to explain.

I like to think that there are two kinds of people in this world; which can only be understood when you bring them both to the beach. As they stand at the shore, the water lapping against their ankles, their true selves will be revealed.

One will cringe, feeling small compared to the massive ocean. They will feel unimportant and compare themselves to a grain of sand between their toes.

The other person will take another step in the water, feeling just as powerful as the sea itself. They will be reminded that everything and everyone in this world has a purpose and empowered to reach their full potential.

My goal has always been to never cringe.

As much as the sea tried to rock me into oblivion, oblivion never came. I sat up on my upper bunk bed in defeat as my bed to let out a small squeak. "Can't sleep either?" a raspy voice asked from the bed underneath mine.

I nodded before realizing that in the dark, he couldn't see me. "Yeah, no luck," I answered out loud.

I heard the bed under mine imitate the same squeak signaling that Jason was sitting up on his bed as well. "What time is it?" he asked lazily.

Noting how my bed wasn't feeling as comfortable as it was earlier now that I was sitting up, I stretched my arms over my head and tilted my interlocked hands to the right, cracking my shoulders. "How'm I supposed to know?" I yawned.

"Thought I'd ask."

We sat quietly for a while, both stretching and cracking random body parts, both fully aware of the other one. That was the cool thing about Jason and me. We could just be, you know? We didn't have to fill the air with meaningless banter. That's why when Jason did finally speak up, I knew it must have been important. "Remember last summer?"

"Vaguely."

"That's what I mean," he said with finality like I just proved his point.

"Wait, what?" I asked, lost as hell and too tired for any bullshit.

"I mean, last summer was fun and everything, we met some cool people and had a good ass time, but…" Jason trailed off.

"Are you 'bout to get all soft on me, Grace?" I teased with a smirk. In the dark, a pillow came flying at my head. "Nice aim," I complimented after tossing it back down at him.

"Anyway," he sighed exasperatedly, "I mean, I feel like something about this summer is just… unforgettable."

"You mean someone," I teased, a smile playing on my lips in the dim lighting as the sun began to rise over the ocean.

"Yeah…" he said, not even bothering to try to deny it, "but it's not only Piper, man. It's everything. It's how everything seems to be coming together. How Malcolm finally found his sister that he hasn't seen in fucking forever, and how that just happened to be the same girl that you fell for. Come on, tell me that's not fate."

"Fate?" I questioned skeptically. "Oh my god, you are going soft on me," I teased.

"Dude, shut the fuck up and actually think about this for a minute. We stumbled upon something rare here."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"A connection," he emphasized. "Before this summer, everyone working here were just a bunch of random college kids thrown together on a ship with the only thing in common being our need for cash and our lack of a social life that allowed us to be gone for a full summer. Now two girls walk on, and suddenly we're all closer. The girls are having sleepovers. Do you know how many sleepovers Thalia's been too before this? None.

"The Stoll's are doing more than just pranking people all the time," Jason continued his rant. As the sun slowly rose, so did Jason's voice. "Us guys are doing more than just passing time together and getting drunk to look for girls, we're all hanging out. I don't know man," he sighed, like his speech was coming to a close. "Everything's different, everything's awesome," he said in defeat.

"Then what's the problem?" I asked.

"I just feel like our time is limited. But strangely, I don't care. I just want to enjoy it, you know?"

"Yeah," I answered, laying back down to try to catch a couple more hours of sleep before my shift starts, "the ocean'll do that to ya."

Piper:

(same day, 9th day docked, Thursday)

"What's the occasion?" Katie asked me as I handed her a mixed drink made by the one and only Jason Grace.

"Do we need one?" I sat down on the pool chair next to her and tightened my pony tail.

Katie pursed her lips. "I don't know, I just don't like to day drink without a reason."

I frowned. "Okay, then happy Thursday, we're on a cruise ship that's docked in Kauai. Drink up," I ordered, taking a sip of the surprise drink that Jason had made me. Strawberry, coconut, mango. I smiled and took another sip.

"You're in a questionably good mood this afternoon," Katie noted while staring at me skeptically through her sunglasses.

I beamed a smile at her and crossed one of my tan legs over the other. "And why would I be in such a great mood?"

"Well, it could be the fact that your man candy gets off work early today," she reminded me.

That just made my smile grow. "It could play in a small factor," I admitted.

"How much longer?" she asked.

"Only 15 more minutes."

After a couple more minutes of checking out random guys on the pool deck, a certain lifeguard came into view. Percy stood by his chair and pointed a lady to the bathroom with a fake smile. I let out a small giggled. Percy made eye contact with me and raised an eyebrow asking me an obvious silent question. Where's Annabeth? I shrugged back at him in defeat. In fact, I hadn't seen my blonde partner in crime all day. When I left to get breakfast with Jason at 9, she was still sleeping.

Percy frowned at sat back down on his lifeguard tower.

"You ready?" a gruff voice whispered next to my ear, sending goosebumps throughout my body.

A flashed a small smile as Jason's soft lips traced down my neck. "What exactly should I be ready for?" I whispered in a breathy tone.

Much to my dismay, he immediately pulled his lips away from my skin. "Okay now that sounded dirty."

I shrugged and stood up, facing him and resting my hands on my bare hips. "I could keep everything rated PG from now on?"

Jason eyed down my tanned bikini body and gulped. "Honestly, I prefer PG13. And R."

As I begun to laugh, Katie made a gagging noise from her pool chair. "Ew, guys, get a room."

Jason walked around the pool chair and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling my body against his and kissing my hair. "Hmm," he mumbled against my hair, "not a bad idea, huh?"

I laughed and stepped out of Jason's grasp. I grabbed my shirt from under my chair and pulled it over my head. "How about lunch first?" I offered.

He beamed me a bright smile. "My treat."

"Is it weird working on the ship with your sister?" I asked Jason as I took a bite of my burger.

Nothing was as blissful as sitting by the beach at a restaurant in Kauai with this god of boyfriend. Was boyfriend an accurate term? Oh god, now I was freaking out. Before I could rethink all my life choices, Jason's smirk in the sunlight pulled me back to reality. "Weird is one word," he answered my previous question. "But honestly, Thals and I have always been friends as well as siblings, so it's cool working with her."

I couldn't help but smile at his sweet words. It was rare to find siblings that got along like they did, and he talked about her like a good friend.

"What?" he asked, noticing the thoughtful look on my face.

I shrugged. "Just you."

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly in amusement as he shook his head. "You're something else, Pipes."

I lifted an eyebrow and leaned toward him with my elbows on the table "And you're cute."

He matched my posture, placing his elbows on the table and leaning in. "Let's go on a walk," he said simply.

I leaned back in my seat and let out a light laugh. "To where? We're at lunch."

"Yeah," he said shrugging and standing up. "But we're both done and I wanna go on a walk with you, gorgeous."

I snorted and stood up. "Flattering me won't get you anywhere."

Jason rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked out of the restaurant. "A guy can try, cut me some slack."

The sand scraped between my toes as Jason pulled me toward the water from the beach. A giggle erupted from my throat as I tried to keep up with the blonde god. "What are you doing, Jase?" I asked him.

He turned and gave me a bright smile as the water touched my feet. "Do you trust me?"

"I don't know, am I about to get my clothes wet?" I asked.

Jason rolled his bright blue eyes. "Come on McLean, where's your sense of adventure?"

He pulled me deeper into the sea, the water now up to my knees. Right as the ocean was about to soak my pants, I took a step up, like an incline in the sea. "What…?" I stuttered.

"Sand bar," he said simply.

The incline went up until the water was nothing but damp sand and Jason and I stood on our own private little island. "This is amazing," I said, walking around the sand bar to see how big it was. Our small island was about 15 feet in diameter.

I squinted out toward the uninhabited beach just as Jason wrapped his arms around my waist and placed his chin on my shoulder. "Beautiful, huh?" his hot breath blew in my ear, running shivers down my spine. We stood and watched the wave lap against the beach for a couple minutes before he began placing wet kisses down my neck. I let out a hum of delight and leaned my neck to the side to give Jason a better angle. He laughed against my skin, obviously aware of the effect he had on me.

Turning to face him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him with a fire burning between our lips. I pulled away and gave him a smirk. "Let's enjoy our own little island."

A/N: hey dudes. So let me know what you think! should I start the next chapter with some Jasper smut... hmm? I for sure wanna put some Percabeth smut either in the next chapter or the one after that.

Well, any who, thank guys. Happy reading!