A/N: Hey Everyone! Hope you've had a good couple of weeks. I have another block of 10 chapters coming up so I hope you enjoy them! ~ Emma

"Will you stop looking at me like that!" Emma swatted Kits arm away, shocking herself. Realising her feelings for Rory had turned the keys to a forgotten cage unleashing a strange side of herself. A brazen confidence now ebbed among the mix of nerves and confusion. It seemed that when her mind span too fast she lost all control over herself and had no ability to suppress the boldness that her stepfather had taught her never to show.

"Looking at you like what?" Kit chuckled. His evident glee at the situation radiated off him as he leaned on the table casually.

"You know what." She replied in a threatening tone. She began pacing back and forth, wringing her hands. The more she thought about it the more it unravelled her. When had it changed? She remembered hating Rory at first. He had been rude and cruel the same way Austin had been to her. She had hated his smug little smile and the way he exuded confidence. Yet thinking of that same smile now give her a warm but tight feeling in her chest. What's wrong with you, Emma?

"What's the big deal, you have a crush on your best friend." Kit said. "It's happened to loads of people and inspired some really well known songs-"

"I swear to the gods, Kit, if you start rattling off Taylor Swift songs right now I cannot guarantee your safety." She snapped, glaring at him.

But it was like she couldn't see Kit at all. All she could see was the first time she'd gone to Percy's apartment with Rory. She remembered how she'd found herself softening toward him. She realised that everything he had felt that week was the same way she'd felt telling her stepfather about the snake in the woods. Then she thought about LA, how he had been so kind to her when they barely knew one another. By Monday she found that she was happier to see him than she was to see Austin. So how did she not realise it sooner?

"All I'm saying," Kit said, spreading his arms in a patronising manner, "Is that you don't need to be so worked up about it."

"How could you possibly say that!" Emma span toward him. "Apart from my half-brother and his girlfriend, Rory is my only friend."

The friend that had been there for her every time she had needed someone. The friend that always looked out for her, always had her back.

"Firstly, ouch." Kit said with sarcastic hurt.

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"And secondly, why are you making it sound like you're going to lose him?"

She looked at him bewildered, wondering how he didn't get it.

"Because unless I shut down my emotions, which is impossible around him, by the way, I'm going to have to tell him." Even saying the words aloud filled her with dread.

"I'm sorry." Kit said, sincerely, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I forgot that children of Poseidon can only talk to fish."

As he burst out into one of his Apollo-cabin-smiles, Emma's glare only became harder.

"What are the chances he liked you back?" Kit asked, ignoring her dagger eyes.

Emma sighed. "Zero. Rory McKenzie is on the swim team. There are girls in my school who would chose a chance to talk to him over a perfect GPA."

"You're not telling me anything about how he feels, sweetheart." Kit pressed.

"We only became friends because I saved his life!" Emma threw her arms up in surrender. "And please never call me that again."

"Noted." He nodded. "You said he risked his life for you, so he must like you a little bit."

Emma shook her head gently. She couldn't take anymore pacing and moved to sit next to him.

"He's a good person. An annoyingly good person, especially for a Jock. He would have done it for anyone."

She remembered Evans party. The way it felt to have his arms around her. Though the water helped to sober her, his arms did more to comfort her. And when they had got back, her head resting on his shoulder made her feel so at home. How had she missed it all? Every time he was near her she felt… lighter. How could she ever even hope he would feel the same.

"Well, you said it yourself." Kit shrugged. "You only have one option. You have to tell him."

Emma looked out at the targets. It was dark now and the arena was lit up like a football pitch and she felt robbed of a good starlit sky.

It was logical, wasn't it? Telling him. It seemed impossible, but it made sense.

"Admitting someone else is right has never been my style." She mused, looking over at him. "Please don't make me do it twice in one night."

...

When people said they wanted to be alone it usually meant they were overwhelmed or upset. For them, being alone was something that they wanted so rarely it was somewhat significant that they wanted to be alone. For Emma, her happiest memories were either when she had been friends with Austin, spending time with her mum or just simply being by herself. In fact the last one held the majority. She couldn't remember the last time she hadn't wanted to be alone, but as she swung open the door to cabin three she found herself desperately hoping there would be someone else inside. She didn't want to be left with only her racing thoughts for company.

Emma knew herself. She knew she was better off alone. She would run away from everyone if it wouldn't mean the end of the world. But because she knew herself, she knew that was a damned lie. There was nothing she could do to push Rory away. He wouldn't even go if she tried. He was as obstinate as they came.

She didn't dare check her phone. If he had messaged her she didn't know what she would do. She flopped into bed and covered her head with the pillow. Her thoughts seemed to have no end, as if her mind wanted to scrutinise every detail, looking for the chink in the armour. The one that would reveal that this was all just a side effect of Kits mind games. It could all be in her head. But admitting that would mean admitting her mind was playing tricks on her and that she had lost her best and only defence. Her guarded mind.

She felt as if she were floating in water that was slowly turning black around her. Everything she trusted suddenly became subject to suspicion. Every hope unravelling into doubt. Thinking about Rory was usually a source of comfort and now it was tainted with anxieties of what might happen next.

Did she even have the ability to tell Rory how she felt? She didn't normally talk about her feelings with others. What was she meant to say? 'Hey, by the way, I realised I have a huge crush on you. Surprise!'. That didn't quite seem to cut it.

On any normal day she could pluck the right words out of the air that would build a palace from the foundations to the gilded ceilings. Her words often got her what she wanted but that was when her heart had been dormant. Now her emotions clouded her ability to use words as the tools they should be. All she could do was try to find another way. She could try and walk away from him, but she already knew she wasn't capable of that. She could try and hide it, but her track record of hiding things from him wasn't going well either. Her only choice was to clear her head, dive into the dark waters and bring the right words back with her.

Emma knew she was holding herself back because she liked finally having a friend again. One she could trust. Was it worth the risk? Becoming more, but at the risk of losing him completely? But maybe she wanted to be led astray. Maybe she wanted to risk hurt so that there was finally a chance she could be happy. Being with him was like pushing down the walls of the world and transporting her mind to a wonderful place of beautiful calm. It was her own private Elysium. He didn't shy from her darker side. From her panicked spiralling or her inability to do anything other than run away from her problems. He made her feel normal.

'You can't let your experience with Austin define every other relationship you have'

Then tell me how, Rory. Emma's mind whispered into the dark. Tell me how.

...

"You look like shit." Lou said, wincing as Emma collapsed into a seat across from her. Emma rested her head on the table, thankful for the cold feeling of the stone against her forehead. She hadn't exactly slept well the night before and she had decided that sparring with Sherman would be the only thing to take her mind off Rory. She had been right, but she was now completely exhausted.

"Do I still have arms? I'm not sure I still have them, I think they fell off." Emma grumbled, only raising her head when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Rachel plopped down next to her.

"You look ready to go home." Rachel said, passing her a goblet. Emma didn't want anything but water. She glugged it down happy for the short relief it gave her.

"We're leaving shortly after lunch." Emma said. "Annabeth needs to get back to do some work before tomorrow."

"Any plans this week?" Lou asked excitedly, as if Emma would actually have something planned other than staying in and reading.

"Try to survive till Friday?" Was all she could offer. Lou's face dropped, though she had tried to conceal it. Emma decided now would be a good time to give the daughter of Hecate her offering. From under the table, she pulled out the book they had been discussing the day before. "As you've got surviving covered, I'm expecting you to let me know what you thought of this by the end of the week."

Emma slid it across the table almost as if it were some form of contraband. Lou's eyes lit up, Emma's disappointing social life forgotten.

"Are you coming back next weekend then?" Rachel asked and Emma realised she hadn't really thought about it. She had come into this weekend expecting it to be a one off. She supposed she could come back next weekend and even the weekend after. Still, she shook her head. Better not to let them down.

"I don't think so. It'll really depend on when Annabeth can give me a lift." Emma replied.

"Rachel." They all turned to see Nyssa from the Hephaestus cabin jogging up to them. Nyssa seemed to turn uneasy under the gaze of the three girls. "I was just wondering if, uh, you wanted to go down to the beach again today?"

Emma might have imagined it, but Rachel's eyes shone and her cheeks turned a pale shade of pink. Though it was hard to tell when she had such a confident exterior at all times.

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll catch you after lunch." Rachel shrugged almost too nonchalantly. Nyssa nodded and walked away. As Rachel turned back, Emma met her gaze with a knowing grin.

"So I'm guessing Nyssa was the friend you were saying you'd become close to." Emma couldn't keep the smugness out of her voice.

Rachel carried on playing it cool as if Emma knew nothing. "When I had to go into hiding, it was in a place called bunker nine in the woods. Nyssa, as a daughter of Hephaestus, has access to it, so she stayed with me down there."

"Oh, I see." Emma nodded. "So as the Oracle, you have to stay a maiden, is there a loophole if you like a particularly strong daughter of Hephaestus?"

Emma was sure she wasn't imaging Rachels blush this time. Her face almost matched the tomatoes in her salad as she smacked Emma lightly on the arm.

"Don't say that." Rachel said in a hushed tone, looking around to check if anyone else was in ear shot. "How did you know?"

Emma shrugged casually. "I just had to put the pieces together."

"It's not a big thing." Rachel nervously pushed her wild curls out of her face. "We're taking it slowly and we're keeping it quiet because, to be honest, we don't know what the rules are. Apollo mentioned that love can get in the way of prophecy, but… well it's too early to know."

She could hear the hopeful tone in Rachel's voice, as if she didn't quite believe it herself but also didn't want to face the possibility that it might not work out.

Emma raised her hands. "Don't worry, I won't tell."

Rachel went quiet and after a moment Emma realised she was glaring at Lou who was glaring right back.

"Fine!" Lou rolled her eyes. "I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you." Rachel said to them both.

"Why does everyone else get to live double lives." Lou grumbled, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Emma let her gaze drift around the dining pavilion for Kit. After everything that had happened she didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to him. She hadn't liked him messing with her head but the outcome was sort of inevitable. He just helped her realise it sooner.

Annabeth caught her eye instead, wandering over and asked if Emma was all packed up. They agreed to meet back at the car and Emma went to get her backpack from her cabin.

She felt a jolt of shock as she realised she had referred to it as her cabin. It almost made her feel at home despite only spending two nights there. When it came to closing the door one last time, she found herself pausing to survey the room. Perhaps she would miss it a little.

"Heading off without saying bye?" Kit's voice made her jump out of her skin. She pulled the door closed and turned to see his broad smile.

"I tried to look for you at lunch." Emma pointed out. Some part of her brain told her she should feel awkward, but she didn't. There was something about Kits easy disposition that made it impossible to feel awkward around him.

"Well you've found me now." Kit winked at her. "How about a last kiss before you go and proclaim your love, preferably via song, to your friend."

"You're a terrible flirt." She grinned at him as she started to walk toward Half-Blood Hill.

"I'll have you know my flirting has got me as far as my beautiful voice." His overconfident charm never ceased to amaze her. It was in such a beautiful contrast to the careful way she thought about everything she said. The kind of contrast that meant they seemed to get on well from the get go. She had been confused about how she felt toward Kit, as she tried to convince herself it could be as more than a friend. She now knew that wasn't true and it made being around him feel so enjoyable.

"I hope you'll come back and visit. It can get pretty boring around here without a new face from time to time. Besides, your archery really needs some improvement." He flashed a smile, but it was his words that warmed her.

"I'll try my best."

She didn't mention that with the winter solstice only two months away, it might not even be worth trying. She had to keep in mind she would likely not make it to the end of that day. "What's the rule about you guys leaving camp to fight an evil monster rising from the dead?"

"You mean Bahram?" Kit's voice turned serious. As his smile faded it seemed his golden aura slipped away a bit. There was a reason they all avoided talking about him. It wasn't nice to have to remember why they were there and what waited for them on the outside.

"If he rises…" She took a deep breath in. Maybe this was the first step. If she could face the thought of not going into battle alone, maybe that's trust. "I'll need people I believe in to be there."

"If you can convince Chiron to let us out, we'll all be there. This isn't just your fight Emma, this is about everyone."

He was right. It wasn't just her fight. Though every fight before had just been hers, this was not and she had to accept that. Maybe someday she would believe she could be a part of something greater.

"Thanks for making me realise how blind I was being." She gave a bashful smile.

"Thanks for making me weekend way more interesting." He grinned. "I'm going to have to go write a song about how amazing I am at helping people realise their true feelings."

"Ever modest." She praised him sarcastically.

"It's my finest quality." Kit admitted matching her tone.

As they reached the top of the hill, Lou, Rachel and Sherman were all standing around waiting for her. She couldn't quite believe her eyes. She couldn't remember having had four friends let alone four at one time. She felt a tightness in her chest that she refused to show. She hugged Lou and Rachel and said her goodbyes to the others. She found herself really hoping that she would find her way back to Camp Half-Blood before too long.

As she turned toward the car, Chiron trotted up to her. His face bore a smile though the deep set lines in his face made it seem almost sad. "I hope this weekend has been all you had hoped."

"Everything and more." Emma breamed, really meaning it. She cast a glance over her shoulder to were the campers were joking around.

"You are welcome to return at your leisure, though I stress that it would be safer for you here, particularity with Bahram on the rise." Chiron said. The fatherly nature of his words was greatly comforting to her, despite the warning they held.

"I know." She nodded. "But I can't run away every time a monster threatens my existence or I will never get to live a normal life."

"You seem as strong willed as your brother." He conceded. "So I will not push you further. We hope to see you again soon."

Though she bristled a little at the comparison, the pride in Chirons voice made it easier to swallow.

She threw her bag in the back and said one last goodbye to each of the campers on the hill, before climbing into the car and driving away.