Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.

Summer came faster than I could remember. I didn't know that it was already finals until I'm finished with them all. And I was so glad that they didn't give us any homework to worry about because it was vacation. From school. They can't give us another reason to cram and trust me when I tell you that I am practically a professional on that sport.

Percy and I were packing rather quickly when we realized that we had to go back to the beach house, after forgetting the incident and giving it a small frown whenever we look back at it. But I never broke down anymore, seeing that he has forgiven me and told me that I wasn't supposed to apologize or feel guilty anymore.

Technically, I was the one who was packing. He was trying to clear something with Daisy, Katie's mom, and he was practically winning the argument. Since their family and Percy's family were already such close friends, they would allow their children to go anywhere with them. And, the only bad thing was that he got me distracted by being shirtless, sitting down on his bed with a cocky expression as I stared at him. "Could you please put a shirt on, Seaweed Brain?"

"We both know that you don't want that, Wise Girl."

"Shut up, Percy."

Instead of doing what I said, he stood up and headed over towards me, his eyes shining mischievously. And I gasped as I backed away from his hands, walking until I hit the wall. "Don't you dare." I've seen that face before and I'd rather kill myself than seeing it again.

But due to his inhuman strength, he quickly picked me up and brought me to the bed, dropping me the moment he did. "Perce, don't do anything you might regret." I pleaded

"Oh I'm not going to regret anything, dear Annie."

Before I could even think of my reply, his fingers were immediately on that one spot that made me react more than is needed. And I squirmed and screamed and pushed him off me, failing miserably. And I was laughing now, "Stop, please." I begged as he constantly tickled me. "Percy," I whined.

"Until you admit that you like seeing me like this."

And so I did. I hated that he knew how to manipulate me that easily and that I was helpless whenever he does that. And I punched him squarely on the stomach when he finally let me go, smiling triumphantly when I saw him wince in pain but other than that, he wasn't affected much so I readied myself for another blow that he easily blocked.

"You're not planning to kill me, are you?" he asked innocently, looking at me with those green eyes. "Because, when you do, you don't have anyone to kiss anymore."

True but I wasn't thinking about that. I was mad at him for making me admit something that I didn't want to say yet, even though it is written all over her face. So when I showed no interest on his last comment, he gave me a wicked smile and finally used his strength to trap me under his weight, his hands holding tightly to my wrist with my legs pinned with his. And I gasped at how close he was that when I leaned just a little bit further, we would have been in a deep make-out session.

I instinctively reached out and pressed the small of his back, hard, and he immediately let me go and moved as far away from me as possible. He hated it when I did that but he gave me no choice. He knew how much I hated being trapped under someone's weight. "You didn't." his breath was still hard, pain evident in his eyes and I felt bad for making him feel this way.

"I did. Now, let me finish packing." This got a smile from his face even though there were still goosebumps on his arms, reaching over to grab me by the waist and plant a small kiss on my cheek.

Surprisingly, I get to finish packing. It was actually a miracle because Percy was busy changing in the corner and I had a really good distraction in front of me but I opted to finish the job in hand. And after, we loaded all our bags in his car.

It was about three when we left the house, already on the road as I listened to my music. My boyfriend was watching the road, having to glance at me occasionally and I would see him smile that knowing smile. But he didn't say anything.

We pulled over at the driveway and he stopped the car, taking one longing glance at me. And I kissed him gently on the lips just to show him how much I cared. "Come on, they're probably there already." I told him

He agreed and opened the door, surprised to see that we were the only people there. You see, Thalia and Jason were going to pick up Piper and Nico in the process so they decided that they would just follow and we never really argued much. I wanted to be alone with him, even when it was just for a short time.

As the time passed, Percy decided that he would just start sketching, drawing the contour of my face, acting as if I didn't know what he was doing even when my cheeks were burning in embarrassment. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see that he was trying very hard not to smile, failing miserably at that. I didn't even know why I would bother trying to act as if I didn't care when he could already see right through me. "How does it look?" I asked instead, my eyes focused on the sketchpad in his fingers.

"Well, you've looked better." He teased lightly, handing me the paper.

I didn't understand why he said that I looked better when this is the best way to look at me. It caught the moment where I was look at him, my head tilted lightly to face him, a small smile plastered on my lips, gray eyes sparkling mischievously. "It's beautiful, Seaweed Brain." I told him honestly.

But he just shook his head, sighing. "There's something wrong with how the eyes look like. I didn't get to catch how it shines quite that perfectly."

"Percy, it is perfect." I told him, "And don't push yourself any more than you already do."

The party that we were planning for Piper was postponed due to the many things we have to worry about. That is why Silena and I are already talking like crazy about what we were going to do. Gladly, she has absolutely no idea that we were even planning her something as grand as a sixteenth birthday party when we already treating her as a queen herself on her birthday. But when that happened, I still haven't quite healed yet from the incident with Percy and I just want to spend every waking moment I have with him.

"Tonight? We can't do it tonight!" I whispered exasperatedly to my friend. "Do you know how hard it is to do that last minute? And she's going to be here the entire day to unpack. How do we pull something as big as a surprised belated Sweet Sixteen to her?"

Silena just giggled at the tone of my voice. "You worry too much, Annabeth. Trust me in this. We're going to make it successful. All we need is the help from your boyfriend and Jason."

And so, I did. I asked Seaweed Brain to help me and he agreed quite easily, even when he had to cancel his entire schedule for the day just for this specific reason. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, leaning lazily against a tree.

"We need you to help set up in the beach. Jason, try to keep Piper busy and make sure she doesn't go out. But don't make it too desperate that she would be suspicious." Silena ordered, already making her way through the piles of folding tables and lawn chairs

He was quite helpful when he wanted to be. In an hour, we were already done with the decorations, blue and white streamers hung gracefully from palm tree to palm tree, balloons of the same color forming a decent arch that was made to mark the entrance. A wooden podium that he specifically had to work on just for the band that Percy asked to perform (he's friends with the vocalist), and the tables and chairs were already set up that they were all facing the ocean.

We were busy hanging up the lights when Katie came to help with the food. She was forced to cater and I don't think she even wanted to be part of the stress-related work but since she was really close to Piper, she needed to be nice. "You did great, guys. I'm impressed." She commented when she saw the venue.

Percy jumped down from the table he was standing on, wiping the sweat dripping from his forehead with his arm. "Well, a lot of work has gone with it."

My heart pounded uncontrollably against my chest when I realized that he removed his shirt because it does a much better job absorbing than his forearm. "Why don't we just get this finished? I'm hungry." he mused lightly, sighing.

"You're always hungry, Seaweed Brain." My boyfriend laughed at this, placing a soft kiss on my cheek before climbing on top of the unsteady table just to get the job done. His eyes were so intent on making sure that those lights work and I'm pretty glad that he was serious enough to actually put his best efforts in this.

"You can rest, you know."I told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll finish up."

"No, I'm fine." He said all too quickly. "Plus, it's been a really long time since I've done something like this."

I didn't dare argue with him but I was pretty worried that he might overexert himself like that last time. And that is something I don't want. But there must something that I can do to help him. He practically fixed everything and he actually said that I was a "supervisor" who oversees the entire operation. I felt useless. That's the only thing important.

Soon enough, he landed back beside me with a huge smile on his face, nodding at his handiwork. And when I went to check if it actually did work, the breath was knocked off my lungs. Because the sun was setting, the lights had this beautiful effect that made the entire thing look as if it was underwater. I don't know how it was possible but it was and it was to die for. "Oh God, Percy."

"Well, I do have to agree with Katie on this one. We did quite well."

Everything went smoothly from then on. The band came prepared and so we don't have to worry about that. Piper didn't have a clue on what was going on and so we don't have to worry about that either. And her parents and baby brother finally arrived with big smiles on their faces. Apparently, Tristan McLean, Piper's dad and infamous movie star, cancelled every single one of his appointments just to be here because he felt guilty that he wasn't there for her actual birthday.

"Wait, you just did all of this today?" Piper's mother, Allyson, said in disbelief.

"Yeah," I answered, "But it's mostly Percy."

The look on her face when she saw the entire thing made all the sweat and blood that we poured out actually mean something. She was awestruck, actually too stunned to believe that something like her birthday would be so important that my boyfriend nearly lost his finger, a story I will tell for another time. And the tears in her eyes were so very visible, rolling down her cheeks and dripping to the sand every second. "You didn't have to do this." She breathed, choking on her words as she hugged me tightly, hugged everyone tightly.

"You deserve a greater Sweet Sixteen, Piper." Her sister said, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Plus, you deserve something this beautiful."

Many minutes passed without anyone bothering to interfere. There was no Rachel. There was no Drew. There was no storm. There was nothing but clear starlit skies and calm ocean waves. The band was playing songs everyone liked, from Maroon 5 to Coldplay to The Script. There would be times when Piper would escape with Jason and you would eventually find them walking with fingers twined, just finding time to be alone. And I smiled at how happy she was. She deserved to be happy. She needed to be happy.

Since I changed from the clothes I wore decorating, I ended up with a white strapless dress mid-thigh and black leggings that I knew would be perfect for the occasion. To ward off the cool sea breeze, I paired the attire with Percy's black hoodie that I keep on forgetting to return to the owner.

Will Solace decided to take over when a specific song resurfaced in his mind. He wanted this to be Piper's present and he just didn't find the time to give it to her. He actually asked Jason to help and he never argued when he stepped onto the podium, a smile on his face and a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep

'Cause they'd fill the open air
and leave teardrops everywhere
you'd think me rude
But I would just stand and stare

The harmony in their voices was unbelievably beautiful. Percy eventually had to join them because he was forced to and when his perfect voice resonated in the speakers, I knew that the night would be perfect.

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
from ten thousand lightning bugs
as they tried to teach me how to dance

A fox trot above my head
a sock hop beneath my bed
a disco ball that's just hanging by a thread

I never noticed how Piper might be reacting about this, having three of the most attractive guys in school sing a single song for her, one of them devoting his entire life for her that he risked his reputation so many times just to keep her from being bullied when they were children. And I sighed in delight when I noticed that she was actually trying hard not to make a scene by crying in front of the many people again.

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

Leave my door open just a crack
(Please take me away from here)
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac
(Please take me away from here)
Why do I tire of counting sheep
(Please take me away from here)
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

It has been so long since I've heard his voice that melodious. He's always been so talented but has always been so afraid to show it to everyone, having to watch other people mock him for something he was actually really good at. I wanted to show those who bullied him that he was perfect, the only person who made this life on earth so devastatingly breathtaking. And my eyes started to water at the thought, knowing that he was the reason why everything that I look at right now was beautiful. It was him. It was always him.

To ten million fireflies
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes
I got misty eyes as they said farewell

But I'll know where several are
If my dreams get real bizarre
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

Will Solace never disappoints. Being friends with him meant that you have to accept everything that is him and he worked hard just to make that perfect. And I know at this moment that it paid off. He's always been one of the most well-known musicians in our class and seeing him play with such grace and fluidity made me even regret doubting him of his skill. He was born to entertain and I don't dare question that again.

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seems

As the song came to an end, she finally decided that she needed to thank them for the wonderful experience, running towards the stage and pulling the man she loves with a hug that could kill a normal person. Her sobs and cries of joy, her quiet mutters, her inaudible whimpers, every single sound she made was heard throughout the crowd. I have never seen her so at the loss for words that she would rather show them than say them. And now, I know that doing this was probably the best thing I have done for her.

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