Disclaimer- I'm so bad at remembering to do this… don't own. If I ever forget just use deductive reasoning and know if I'm on fanfiction then I probably don't own Percy Jackson…

Chapter Twenty Six

"Sally," a cheerful voice said as a girl flew into Sally's arm in a flash of black hair. "I'm so glad to see you again!" Silena said as she untangled herself from Sally's arms and placed the container in her hands down on the counter. Annabeth stared at it, it was wrapped brightly with a bow. She gave Silena a curious look.

"I brought snacks for the games," Silena said with a wink. "I'm so happy you could come Annabeth!" She said as she hugged Annabeth as if she was her long lost sister. "It's going to be so much more fun with you!" She said, her voice always as bubbly and cheerful as it usually was.

"I'm glad I could come to, it beats my plans of Chinese takeout," Annabeth said.

"Oh my gods are you serious? You can't be serious! That's terrible!" Silena said, gushing over Annabeth.

"I'm used to it," she shrugged.

"Well you're part of the family now," Silena said, linking arms with her. "And family doesn't abandon family."

Annabeth nearly snorted, she had heard that line before from a certain blonde with a magnificent scar down the side of his cheek. And what had happened? He had lied to her and dumped her cold… like yesterday's trash as Thalia would say.

Not that Thalia saying that had helped Annabeth.

"Oh my gods you came!" Silena squealed again and suddenly unlatched Annabeth from her death-hold and latched onto her next victim, a girl with short curly hair which fell right below her ears and pretty earthy colored eyes.

"Yeah, Travis convinced me to take the day off to come," the girl said as she calmly pushed Silena away from her as if she was used to doing so. She set down a large casserole dish. "I brought sweat potatoes," she said. "Hi Sally."

"Hi Katie," Sally said as she turned her back to open the stove to check on the turkey, letting out an intoxicating smell. Annabeth felt her mouth water slightly.

"Annabeth have you met Katie?" Silena asked as she brushed away a strand of dark hair from her eyes. "Katie works at Ceres."

"We've met," Katie said. We have? Annabeth thought to herself. "Percy and her came in a few weeks ago. Remember it was all over the news?"

Ah yes… that Katie Annabeth remembered.

"Oh I remember that! They were so cute on that cover of the magazine!" Silena gushed. "I knew that they were perfect for each other ever since then." Annabeth saw Sally smiling to herself as she worked on the mashed potatoes.

"I know, when they came in Percy tried to dismiss them just as friends, but I knew better," Katie said. Annabeth felt her cheeks turning crimson as they continued to talk about her and Percy. She nervously jammed her hands into the pockets of her pants and looked down at her boots.

"There you are! I want you to meet some guys," Percy said suddenly appearing in the kitchen to Annabeth's relief. He took Annabeth's hand and then pulled her out of the kitchen, but not before Annabeth could hear Silena sigh happily. She rolled her eyes.

"Thank you for saving me from a fate worse than death, "Annabeth said sarcastically.

"Oh and what was that?" Percy asked raising an eyebrow.

"An in-depth analysis of our relationship provided by the resident expert, Silena with side commentary by Katie," Annabeth said. Percy snorted.

"Silena's like that, she thinks that she's the modern day Aphrodite of matchmaking. She's a model, she works for Venus Aphrodite, you met her as I remember her telling me. But Silena's not shallow, not in the least bit. Yeah she likes all that girly stuff… but she has depth beyond belief. You just have to be there for the rare occasions when it shows."

"I'll take your word for it," Annabeth said.

"You should, I'm a very reliable person," Percy said, swinging their entwined hands back and forth.

"As well as a completely prideful person," Annabeth reminded him as she so often did.

"We all can't be perfect," Percy said shrugging, "But I'm as close as you can get." Annabeth snorted and Percy grinned at her. He found her snort to actually be quite endearing… in a sense that she was real. She was real flesh and bone, with human emotions and human logic. She was perfect in every sense to him.

She was real.

Inside the den the large flat screen TV had been set up to the football game and at least five other guys were crowded on the two large, black sectional couches, sprawled in different directions. Annabeth recognized a few of them from the club but two of them were foreign faces to her.

"Annabeth meet Travis and Connor Stoll," Percy said pointing to the two men she had never met before. They both looked incredibly similar with crooked grins and mischievous green eyes and unruly hair. But one of them had hair resembling a color closer to blonde whereas the other one had hair closer to brown. "Connor's the one with the brown hair, Travis the blondish one," Percy said. "Travis is dating Katie who you've met."

"And Connor is currently single and available," Connor said from his spot on the couch, winking at Annabeth.

"Nice try Stoll," Percy said, as he held Annabeth's hand tighter. "Make sure you watch your wallet around these two."

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

"You'll see," Percy said, winking at her. "And you've already met Beckendorf, Grover, and Leo."

"That's Captain Toolbelt to you," Leo said from where he was lazily flopped on the only easy chair in the room, fiddling with parts in his hands which were tinged with grease.

"He had a late night last night," Grover said, leaning over and patting Leo's shoulder. Annabeth smiled. She remembered Grover from elementary school though she was sure he wouldn't remember her. He used to hang out with Luke, Thalia, and her but then come sixth grade he had stopped. He had definetly changed, looking older and more mature and yet he was also the same old Grover, with the wild curls that would turn into an afro if he didn't cut them frequently.

"What were you doing last night Leo?" Percy asked.

"I had to finish the designs for the upcoming movie," Leo said with a heavy sigh. "I guess I'm just too good, everyone wants me."

"Yes I'm sure that's the problem," Percy said, rolling his eyes.

The doorbell rang and Annabeth followed Percy to answer it.

Outside Piper and Jason were standing hand in hand, Piper was practically beaming at Jason. And behind them stood one awkward looking Nico D'Angelo, his hands in the pockets of his black pants as he looked uncertainly between the couple.

"Hi Percy, Annabeth," Piper said as she swept into the room with a refined grace, smiling broadly at the two of them. "So glad that you two are finally official, we were all waiting for it," she said simply and then wander back into the house. She paused and turned to look at Jason. "Coming Jason?" She asked.

"Yeah," Jason said as he pulled off his coat and hanged it up on the hook. "Hey Percy, Annabeth," Jason said and then he followed Piper with that same dreamy look in his eyes as he always had when he looked at Piper.

Nico stepped in with a heavy sigh. "Honestly, I ran into those two lovebirds outside. I don't think I've smelled so much romance in the air… I need an air freshener." Percy laughed out loud and then slapped Nico on the back in that awkward hug that boys always gave each other.

"Percy is that everyone?" Sally called from the kitchen.

"Yeah Mom!" Percy called back as he brushed a curl off of Annabeth's cheek absentmindedly. "Nico's here too so everyone's accounted for!"

"Okay then, let's get this food on the table! Will you call Tyson!" She called.

"Sure!" Percy yelled back. Annabeth smiled at the fact that they yelled in their house. Some people hated it when there was yelling echoing in their houses (aka Sue, the evil stepmother) but Annabeth found it slightly… endearing? Perhaps it was the fact that both Percy and Sally seemed so comfortable in their house.

She wished that she had been given a family like this.

Percy showed Annabeth to a staircase just off of the front hallway. "Tyson! Food's ready!" Percy called up the stairs. Annabeth heard a thumping sound and she looked curiously up the stairs as a large form lumbered downstairs.

It was a boy.

Maybe that wasn't the right word. He wasn't quite a man yet he wasn't a boy. He seemed stuck in the transitioning age. He had long brown hair which fell over his right eye. The other eye was large and brown. He was large and could easily give a defensive lineman a run for his money in football. Annabeth shuddered a little at the sheer mass of… person in front of her. He gave Percy a childish grin.

"Percy!" Tyson said, hugging his half-brother.

"Hey, big guy, good to see you again," Percy said as he tried to pat Tyson on the back but his arms were squished too lightly.

"I saw fish ponies again!" Tyson said. Annabeth couldn't help but wonder what fish ponies were.

"That's awesome big guy," Percy said. "What would be more awesome is if you stopped trying to kill me by collapsing my lungs." Annabeth snorted as Tyson let go of Percy who then dusted himself off and straightened his jacket.

"Tyson I want you to meet my girlfriend, Annabeth," Percy said, holding Annabeth's hand.

Tyson studied her with his one eyes and then grinned at her. "Pretty," he said. "I like Annabeth." She tried not to shudder at his voice and his terrible use of grammar.

"It's nice to meet you as well Tyson," Annabeth said diplomatically, not quite sure how to respond to the giant in front of her. He seemed harmless enough… but looks were deceiving.

"Percy come on we're starving!" Leo yelled from somewhere else in the house. Annabeth thanked her lucky stars for Commander Toolbelt right then and there.

"Coming, cool your jets man!" Percy yelled back, rolling his eyes and making a face at Annabeth. She rolled her eyes right back.

"Come on Seaweed Brain, if they don't get food soon I have a feeling they'll resort to cannibalism and you'll be the first to go."

"Nah we've already discussed this, Jason would probably be the first to go," Percy said. "Honestly Wise Girl, that was the topic of last year's Thanksgiving Dinner."

Annabeth couldn't help but wonder what she had gotten herself into. What sort of Thanksgiving Dinner was centered on a conversation about cannibalism? "Do I even want to know how the heck you all started to talk about that," Annabeth said, shaking her head.

"Probably not," Percy grinned.

The dining room was set up elegantly, with a long white table cloth and china dishes. "Honestly I don't know why Mom goes through so much of a fuss. You could give us paper plates and we'd be fine. Sure almost all of us are millionaires but hey, food is food no matter what it's served on," Percy muttered in Annabeth's ear.

She rolled her eyes in reply. "Well for those of us whose pockets aren't that deep, it's beautiful," she said.

Everyone else was already seated according to the place cards on their plates. Tyson sat down next to Sally and Grover who looked liked he might pass out whenever he looked at Tyson. Annabeth got a strong feeling that Grover wasn't the biggest fan of Tyson.

Not that she blamed him.

Annabeth was between Percy and Piper, thankfully. She wasn't in the mood to sit next to the one of the Stoll brothers who she didn't trust as far as she could through them… which wasn't very far.

"I'll bless the food," Paul said as they all bowed their heads. Annabeth found it strange that she was eating Thanksgiving Dinner with her old highschool English teacher. Heck she found it weird that she still remembered who her highschool English teacher was.

Then again she was dating the Percy Jackson.

If that could happen then other strange things could happen as well.

"Food looks amazing once again Sally," Leo said as he looked greedily at the bowl of black eyed peas in front of him.

"Thank you Leo," Sally said. "Just this time Grover, please don't eat the tablecloth." Annabeth gave Percy a curious look. He responded with a look that said You had to be there to believe it. Grover turned beat red and muttered something about being really hungry.

"So Annabeth what do you do for a living?" Paul asked her politely.

"Um… I work at Olympian Scrolls," Annabeth said casually. Looking around the table, she realized that almost all of these people were probably seriously rich. She wasn't jealous of them at all… nope not at all.

Paul's eyebrows rose up. "And how did you manage to meet Percy over here?" He asked. He probably thought she was some famous person. After all it wasn't every day that a celebrity fell in love with a normal girl.

"We met at the masquerade party Zeus throws every year," Percy said, filling in for her. "Annabeth's best friends with Thalia Grace, Jason's sister. She went to the party with her."

"Oh you two were perfect that night," Piper said. "Honestly if you could have seen the look on his face when he first saw you Annabeth, I was sure he was going to die."

Annabeth snorted and turned to Percy, "I was that good looking huh Seaweed Brain?" She asked.

"Not going to deny it," he grinned.

The conversation continued on and Annabeth learned that Piper was in law school but her father was the famous Tristan McLean, the famous movie star. She wanted to become an advocate for women's rights. Her and Jason had been dating since they were juniors in highschool.

Grover was an animal activist who was super close with Percy and ran his own Vegan restaurant which was incredibly popular. Apparently he wouldn't eat any meat, hence the "Tofu Tom" as they had dubbed the strange looked bird like thing which Grover was eating. "You can hardly taste the difference," Grover had said. Annabeth didn't believe him.

Leo worked for big movie companies, creating special effects. Some of his set designs had even won him two Academy Awards. At his age it was a feat to marvel at. He named some movies that he had been in charge of and Annabeth's eyes popped open, those movies had been blockbusters and had been praised for their visual effects.

And the Stolls… well Annabeth was still slightly confused about what they did.

She had been watching Connor for a while, watching as he fingered a quarter in the palm of his hands. He closed his fingers around it and then opened his hand. Annabeth looked at him impressed. "They're magicians, the two of them perform all the time at big joints around the city and nation," Percy whispered in her ear. "Plus they have this incredible joke shop. I'll have to show you to it some time."

"Annabeth, Percy said you're a writer, what do you write?" Sally asked. Annabeth felt her cheeks turning bright red as she looked down at her potatoes and gravy. She shifted awkwardly in her seat. She didn't care to talk about her writing with just anyone.

Some things were far too important, far too special, far too personal to share with just anyone. They were the moments in your life that you'll always remember. They're your passions, your dreams, your hopes which are tucked away in your soul until the right person comes along to unlock the key to get into them.

"Um well… I'm getting a minor in Creative Writing, but I major in Language Arts," Annabeth said, trying to cover up what she really did. She could only see the shock on their faces when she said that she worked on writing on an online website… even though she was somewhat of a celebrity. For some reason, in this day and age, you weren't really a "writer" unless you had something published. Annabeth found that stupid. She had read stuff online that was ten times better than the trash which had become a Nation Bestseller. It was pathetic the amount of garbage people shoved into their brains.

"That's interesting, are you attending NYU?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, I'll be going there this next year. I attended UCLA for the past two years but I transferred to NYU a little too late to catch this year," Annabeth said.

"Why did you come to New York?" Katie asked.

"I grew up here and moved to California my sophomore year. I've always loved New York so I couldn't wait to get back. And plus I was excited to get away from my parents," she admitted.

"I think we all understand that feeling," Connor muttered as he slumped in his seat and stabbed at his stuffing as if he was picturing his parent's face…. With the emphasis he was putting into the jerking movements, Annabeth would not want to be on the receiving end of that fork.

"Second that," Leo said, his eyes growing a bit dark.

Annabeth looked at everyone around the table, all of them shifting uncomfortably in their seats as if they all had family issues. While she never would want anyone else to have to go through what she was going through, it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one.

"So Annabeth is it true that you and Percy worked together on his latest album?" Silena asked, smiling as she tried to change the subject to something a bit… happier.

"Yep," she said, not sure of what other details she could give.

"Annabeth here was my muse for this last album, I don't know what I would have done without her," Percy said as he squeezed her hand under the table.

"You probably wouldn't have been able to do anything seaweed brain," Annabeth said pointedly. "I think we nearly drove Nico insane sometimes."

Everyone turned to look at Nico who was slouched in his seat between Grover and Travis, looking very uncomfortable. Not that Annabeth blamed him. He seemed more like the type of person who liked to work in the background, not stand in the spotlight.

Sometimes those people were the best people. They listened a lot, hearing everything you said, understanding how you felt. They were the people who you wanted as your friends because they cared, they honestly felt for you. They listened. And sometimes listening is better than talking.

"I guess I managed to survive since I'm here," Nico said solemnly.

"Or you're a zombie," Beckendorf pointed out, pointing his knife at Nico. "Sometimes I worry that you are."

Nico rolled his eyes at Beckendorf and then went back to picking absentmindedly at his peas which seemed very interesting to him.

"Do you want dessert now or later?" Sally asked as everyone began to push their plates back on the table and let out groans of being full. At the mention of dessert, Leo perked up, sitting up straight in his chair.

"Now of course," Leo said. Everyone else moaned in protest, glaring at him.

"Sorry Leo, I guess we're a democracy," Sally said sympathetically. "Majority rules. I'll set out dessert and you guys can have it later, how does that sound?"

"Sounds great Mom," Percy said. "Let's head to the den, maybe the game's still on." Everyone managed to push themselves out of their chairs and troop out of the room. Annabeth stayed seated, smirking as they went by, thinking how similar they looked to highschoolers.

"Let me help you Sally," Annabeth said, standing up and reaching over to pile the plates everyone had eaten from up into one stack.

"Thank you Annabeth," Sally said as Tyson disappeared up stairs and Paul headed into the kitchen, whistling while he carried the large platter of turkey. "Sometimes the kids forget that people actually have to clean up. They're all so used to having someone else do it for them."

"I don't mind it really, it was nice to be able to have dinner with people, everyone was nice," Annabeth said, smiling.

"Percy sure does have an odd assortment of friends doesn't he? He tends to be very popular with everyone, he was always able to make everyone feel happy and wanted. It was part of his charm. You seemed to fit in well," Sally noted.

"I liked them all, they're… different but I guess we all are," she said as she headed into the kitchen with her stack of plates and set them into the sink. Paul was busy cutting up the turkey and storing it into Tupperware containers.

"For the sandwiches," Paul grinned. "Best part of Thanksgiving," he said as Sally kissed him on the cheek. Annabeth smiled, that's how she hoped she looked when she was older and married.

"Last year Percy brought this terrible girl with her, do you remember that Paul?" Sally asked as she began to spoon potatoes into a large container, blowing her brown hair out of her face. "What was her name? Rebecca? Ridley?"

"Rachel," Paul corrected. "Remember she's that model chick. The one with the red hair."

"Oh yes… Rachel. She didn't seem to fit in too well with Percy's friends, the poor girl. Then again she didn't exactly try," Sally said, making a face. "She spent the whole time attached to Percy. Not the type of girl I want for my son."

"That's probably a good thing to not want," Annabeth said. "Where do you want me to put the cranberry sauce?" She asked.

"Oh just put it in the refrigerator wherever it fits," Sally said, waving her hand in the general direction of the fridge. "We don't care exactly where it goes as long as it fits."

Annabeth opened the stainless steel refrigerator and slid the glass container of red sauce between the eggs and a plate of sausage.

"So Annabeth what do your parents do?" Paul asked as he snapped the lid onto the container and shoved it into the fridge as Annabeth danced out of his way.

"Well my stepmother is in real estate and my dad recently passed away," Annabeth said, trying to dismiss it casually which was pretty damn hard to do. She felt tears prickling in the back of her eyes as she bit her lip to try and keep herself from crying.

"Oh you poor thing, I'm so sorry," Sally said as she went to hug Annabeth.

For some reason, being hugged by Sally, even though she was almost a complete stranger, was comforting. There were certain people in the world that could calm you down and comfort you with just one touch and one soft word. They were the most amazing people in the world.

Sally was one of those people.

"It's okay," Annabeth said. "I wasn't exactly close with him. But it still hurts I guess. My mom ran away from my dad when I was born so it's not like I've had that great of a mother figure… or family in that case."

"The same goes for the rest of Percy's friends. Maybe that's why he identifies with them so well. All of them have at least one parent who's absent from their lives," Sally explained. "Percy's no exception. But I'll tell you what I tell all of them, you are always welcome here."

"Thanks Sally, that means a lot to me," Annabeth said honestly.

"There you are!" Percy said as he appeared in the kitchen. "I was wondering where you had wandered off to. Getting bored of us already?" He asked, grinning. He wrapped his strong arms around Annabeth and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"No, I'm just doing your job and helping your mother like you should be doing," Annabeth teased, poking him in the side.

"Sorry Mom," Percy said. "Anything else you need help with?" He asked. Sally looked around and then shook her head.

"No it's okay Percy, Annabeth helped enough, why don't you two head back into the den with your friends," Sally said.

"Cool, come on Wise Girl," Percy said, grabbing Annabeth's hand and dragging her to the den. Annabeth could almost swear she heard Sally whisper behind them to Paul.

"Those two are perfect for each other."

o.O.o

Annabeth sat curled again Percy's side as they sat on the couch, his arm wrapped around her waist. He smiled smugly to himself as he looked down at her every now and then. Sometimes he would wake up at night and sneak into Annabeth's room where she was currently still staying and just look at her.

No he was not a creepy stalker or anything. He was just shocked, shocked and amazed, shocked and amazed and grateful. Sometimes he couldn't believe his luck whenever he looked at his girlfriend. How on earth had he managed to deserve someone so perfect as her he had no idea. He found it funny that they were almost complete opposites, she was down to earth and hardworking and he liked to goof off and laugh a lot.

And yet they were perfect for each other.

What one of them lacked, the other made up for it.

Whenever he looked at Annabeth he couldn't think of spending his time with anyone else but her, he couldn't think of smiling at anyone else but her.

Gods the thought even made him smile.

"What are you grinning about Percy?" Travis asked from where he lay flopped on the floor, Katie's feet on his chest from where she was propped up against the couch.

"You look like you've been bitten by the love bug," Leo laughed.

Silena rolled her eyes. "Honestly Leo, that wasn't that funny."

"I thought it was funny," Leo muttered to himself. Percy snorted.

"Most of the time when you're the only one who thinks it's funny, it means that it's not," Beckendorf said.

"Or you guys wouldn't know a good joke if it walked right into you and wore a flashing sign that said 'I'm a good joke laugh at me!' and waved it's arms," Leo huffed.

"We do know a good joke… you," Connor said.

"Iusta!" Jason said from where he and Piper were squished on the recliner.

"Iusta?" Nico asked. "What the hell does that mean?" Jason turned read.

"Well… it's the Latin word that's the equivalent of burn…" Jason said, trailing off at the end.

"Do you know how stupid it sounds that you just said burn in Latin?" Leo asked. "You sound like a first class geek."

Jason turned red and looked down at his hands. "Oh shut up you guys, you're just embarrassed that you're not smart enough to know Latin," Piper said, trying to support her boyfriend.

"You know Latin Jason?" Annabeth asked, sitting up at this.

"Yeah… I taught it to myself when I was younger, turns out I have a real knack for the language," Jason said.

"What am I telling you… geek!" Leo said, waving his hand at his best friend.

"Okay why don't we stop picking on poor Jason and play a game or do something productive?" Silena asked, rubbing her hands together.

"If you say movie don't let Jason pick it out, he'd probably choose Gone With the Wind or something like that," Beckendorf said, still scarred from Jason's selection of The Great Gatsby.

"Really it wasn't that bad," Nico said quietly.

"Okay so movie's out…" Silena said.

"We didn't necessarily say that, I mean I'm in the mood to watch one of Leo Valdez's wonders, like the one which got him an Academy Award," Leo hinted, wiggling an eyebrow in Silena's direction.

"Yep, movie is definitely out," Katie said for Silena.

"Want to play a game?" Silena asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm just dying to play heads up seven up," Connor said sarcastically and rolled his eyes as he tossed his ever present quarter into the air and caught it in the palm of his hand. "It'll be fun! We can try and peak from underneath our arms at whoever is pressing our thumbs!"

"Dude, we always won that game," Travis said with a sly glance.

"Because you always cheated!" Katie said indignantly. Percy snorted at Travis and Katie. They had almost been border line enemies back in elementary school. Especially after Travis had littered Katie's garden which she had done for a project in fifth grade with chocolate Easter bunnies. But somehow they had started dating after highschool. Now they were inseparable.

"I don't mean Kindergarten games," Silena said rolling her eyes.

"Then what Monopoly?" Grover asked.

"No, we're not playing that game! Annabeth will crush us all, trust me," Percy said, speaking from personal experience. She wacked him outside the head with the back of her hand.

"What about truth or dare?" Piper suggested.

"What are we? Seventh grade drama queens?" Jason asked his girlfriend indignantly.

"Well sometimes you sure do act like it," Piper said, looking pointedly at the Stolls and Leo.

"I think that's a great idea!" Silena gushed. "It'll be fun! Come on guys!"

"Can we at least make rules? I'm not in the mood to get my picture plastered around the front page of the New York Times because I've run down the street half naked wearing a horse head again," Percy said with a shudder.

"You did what?" Annabeth asked.

"You don't want to know," Percy said shaking his head.

"Fine, fine party pooper," Leo said. "I'll refrain from my genius dares."

Silena clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "I'll start! Charlie, truth or dare?"

Truth or Dare seemed to bring back memories for Percy, memories of when he could smile and when he could goof off with friends. It was nice. It reminded him of a words for the wise Annabeth had once written to him:

W4W- I think that the things in life that make us the most happy are the small things. The time we spend with friends, the first date with your spouse, your first kiss. Our lives seem so insignificant in the great scheme of the world but really we're all here for a reason or else we wouldn't be put on the earth. Each day that we live is a little miracle, it's a little piece of Heaven. So we shouldn't waste it, we shouldn't give it up. We should live each day, each moment, each second. And we should be thankful for the small things. Because the small things make the big things big.

As well as the awkwardness of Truth or Dare which made him grin every time. The best answers were always from Leo or Katie surprisingly enough. Connor seemed to like to ask Annabeth personal questions about her dating habits, like what she looked for in a man, how she liked to be kissed. He stopped after Percy shot him a life threatening glare. Silena was too nice with any of the dares and the worst she could make someone do was stand on one foot for three minutes straight. Piper was ruthless and had fun coming up with crazy dares.

And surprisingly enough Annabeth found a way to weasel out of every single dare by playing with the grammar structure.

"Told you she was a genius," Percy said causing her to blush.

When they were done playing the game they all romped back into the kitchen for round two of food and completely destroyed all of the dessert. Percy found out that Annabeth was a killer cook. Then again he already knew it from the pancakes and the spaghetti she made him. And the chicken with blue potatoes.

Afterwards they all settled in to suffer through one of Leo's movies, making snarky comments the whole way through.

"Honestly Leo that is so unrealistic, it's impossible for a car to flip that many times and still survive," Nico said.

"I don't understand the point of this movie," Annabeth had added. "There's just a bunch of punching and cars exploding."

"Exactly," Leo grinned. "That's the whole point of it Ms. Chase."

Halfway through Percy tugged Annabeth out and onto the back patio, tired of watching a movie with exploding cars and chicks that looked like they were Barbie on steroids. The wind was cold as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. "I'm glad you could come," he whispered as he tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

"I'm glad you invited me," Annabeth smiled.

"I'm glad we met," Percy countered.

"I'm glad you read my story."

"I'm glad you wrote it."

"I'm glad you read my letters."

"I'm glad you moved to New York City."

"I'm glad you became a Rock Star."

"I'm glad you're here with me."

"I'm glad that you existed," Annabeth said saucily.

"Fine you win," Percy said.

He leaned in closer to her and pulled her into a kiss.

It wasn't an earth shattering mind blowing kiss. It was soft and light and beautiful in a way that only certain kisses could. It made them both feel safe.

And at the moment that's all they needed.

At the moment it was all they wanted.

The way she ran her fingers through his hair made him feel wanted. The way he held her tight to him made her feel loved. The way there seemed to be an unspoken desire behind their kisses spoke volumes to them.

He never wanted to let her go. He couldn't imagine a world without her.

She never wanted to leave him. She couldn't dream of a life without him.

They were made for each other.

And there in New York City, on the back patio of some random town house, the world proved to its people that love did exist.

And that it was not a forgotten art.