48. Glad You Came

There was a knock on the door. She got up, setting down her sundae. She had been able to save a little extra from her babysitting money and used it to spoil herself with a fancy ice cream sundae and a low budget movie.

She opened the door and almost slammed it closed when she saw who it was. He stuck his foot in the door.

"Go away! I'm not decent!" Thalia said, pressing against the door.

"Okay, you're just saying that because you have ice cream!" Percy laughed.

"No, I don't…"

"Thals, I can see it from here," Percy snickered. She grunted and walked away, letting Percy step in.

"What is this?!" Percy exclaimed. "Why aren't you ready?" Thalia looked up at him as she slouched on the couch in her sweats and t-shirt. She creased her eyebrows as she grabbed her sundae, laid it on her stomach and slurped her melting ice cream.

"Ready for what?" she said, waving her spoon.

"The beach!" Percy said, sitting down next to her and throwing an arm over her shoulders. "We were going to the beach today," he said as he grabbed her hand and pulled the spoon to his mouth to steal some of her ice cream.

"Oh no, I am not going to the beach," she said, ripping the spoon away so it hit his front teeth.

"First of all, OW! Second of all, you said yes, don't you remember?"

"I never said yes –" she narrowed her eyes and he grinned. "Wait, the morning you came by… OH MY GOD! Percy, did you ask me while I was asleep? Oh, that is low. That. Is. Low." Percy guffawed.

"But you promised, so you need to go," he said, giving her a quick kiss. "Hm, strawberry."

"Well, I don't have a bathing suit. I'm not going to just swim in my jeans," she said, trying to reason her way out of it.

"Got it covered," he said. Thalia raised her eyebrows. Smiling, he rummaged into a backpack he'd brought and pulled out a bikini. Thalia scoffed. No way was she wearing that skimpy purple, white dotted bikini.

"I guessed your size… I mean, I think," he played with the top. "It looks big enough –"

"Percy, I really don't want to talk about breasts right now," Thalia interrupted. Percy snickered.

"Come on, if you go to the beach with me, I'll do anything you want," he said. Thalia's face scrunched up as she thought about it. She really didn't have anything to do, but she was not one to go to the beach. In fact, the last time she had ever gone to one was nine years ago. She sighed. That was a long time. Her eyes locked with Percy's deep sea green ones and figured she didn't have to get into the water.

"Okay, but we're making a stop before we go," she said. Percy smiled wide.

She would wear the bikini (which was actually a size too small), but he wouldn't get to see it. She still had some money left, so they had stopped at the nearest Wal-mart and she had bought herself board shorts and a rashguard. She winked at Percy as she slid into the car again and he just rolled his eyes.

He drove for a while and never told Thalia what beach they were going to whenever she asked. She kept thinking about beaches, because there weren't too many in New York, but whenever she guessed he always said no.

"Just relax, Thalia. You do know how to relax, right?" Percy said. Thalia crossed her arms. Percy laughed. He rolled down their windows so they were buffeted by the wind, making their jet black hair swirl like mini tornadoes and turned up the radio. The "in" music was playing. At the moment, it was "Glad You Came".

"The sun goes down. The stars come out," Percy sang and Thalia was surprised he didn't sound like a beached whale. "And all the counts is here and now!"

"Come on, I know you know this song," he smiled.

"I'm not singing," she said, pulling her legs up and leaning against the door.

"You're not fun. And I decided you look well on me, well on me. So let's go somewhere no one else can see, you and me. Turn the lights out now," he sang, eyeing Thalia and acting like a player with the grin and the head bobbing and the raised eyebrows. Thalia couldn't help but smile.

"Come on, I know you want to," he said, poking her side.

"No!" He shrugged.

"Stay with me, I can make, make you glad you came!" Thalia smiled. She looked out the window and saw that there were no cars near them. Probably regretting her decision, she started singing.

"The sun goes down, the stars come out. And all the counts, is here and now. My universe will never be the same. I'm glad you came. I'm glad you came."

Laughing, they sang their hearts out. Hearing another voice harmonizing, sometimes, with hers gave her a good warm feeling in her stomach. She'd only sung with one other person, and they weren't in the picture anymore. Hadn't been for nine years. It was like riding a bike. It came and felt natural to sing with someone; to feel like the world was finally balanced because someone else can share the same love for something you can't live without. It was perfect. It was completely and utterly perfect.

Thalia never thought anything could feel so good besides the occasional make-out, which she was secretly hoping would happen again soon. What? She wasn't a goody-two shoes and even then, good-two shoes have the occasional urge to have a little… fun.

They sang a few more songs, until Percy pulled up next to a rundown cabin. Ahead of them, a beautiful, maybe a little dirty, beach stretched before them.

"Where are we?" Thalia asked.

"Welcome to Montauk."


Thanks for the reviews/alerts/favorites guys! :) I still can't believe how much you guys like this story. Sorry it's taking me much longer to pull out chapters. I have so much to do, I'm amazed I was able to write this one. But I promise I will finish this story, with as much good quality as possible. I hope you guys liked this chapter and tell me what you liked or didn't like! :)