Thanks for all people who reviewed. I have stories in my mind after finishing this already. So I'm very excited to finish this already. Hahahahahaha. But I have a lot to go through before I finish this. I would also like to tell that Nico and Thalia will appear after Annabeth comes back to New York, which is on the latter part of the story. Enjoy!

Oh yeah, before I forget. You should really read GingerKid73's stories. That writer's epic! I tell you. Okay.

Disclaimer: I'll try not to be lazy. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Sea Of Monsters, The Titan's Curse (my most favorite book of the series), The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian. Oh, and The Lost Hero (epic ending). There I said it.

"Sh—sh—shopping?" Annabeth said disgusted.

"Yeah. Grandma said she'd take us shopping. Aren't you happy?" Percy asked half-heartedly. He had had a lot of experience seeing girls very excited when they just heard the word 'shopping'. Yet he didn't know why shopping would be much entertainment. And as confused as Percy was with girls, he was more confused with Annabeth.

"Me? Happy?" Annabeth asked in a panicked voice.

Percy frowned. He saw that Annabeth was close to being white. He was really confused. "Isn't it that girls love to shop?"

"Call me a tomboy, but I despise shopping." Annabeth glared at the table.

It surprised Percy a lot, which made him more confused about Annabeth. "You're not really tomboy aren't you?" Percy asked.

"No, no I'm not. I was just kidding about that part. But I really despise shopping." Annabeth said satisfied.

Percy's mind was going to explode. He hadn't been this much confused. Annabeth was the only girl he knew that hated shopping. "Why don't you like shopping?" he asked.

Annabeth sighed. People have been asking the same questions to her. She'd grown tired of saying it but for the sake of Percy's curiousness, she decided to tell him. "It's basically because you feet get hurt while you walk. I'm not that materialistic either. I'm happy with what I have. And sometimes you have so many choices of clothes or items to choose from. From black to red. It's just so hard…" Annabeth explained.

"Wow! I thought Wise Girl was wise. I never knew she could be having a hard time shopping." Percy teased while chuckling.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth grumbled.

They were sitting at the dining hall of the hotel while waiting for Alice to get ready or wake up, for that matter. Annabeth's hair was tied in a ponytail. She wore a nice dress that was plain white on top and plaid at the skirt. Percy was wearing a buttoned-up shirt—which Annabeth found hot—and some jeans. The two talked and talked for a while and a figured loomed over them and asked, "Mind if I join you?"

Percy looked up and scowled. "Yeah, go on." Annabeth smiled.

"Thanks, Annabeth." Luke took a sit next to Annabeth, making Percy scowl even more. "What's witht the face Percy?" Luke asked teasingly.

"Nothing." Percy answered. "I heard you were taking Annabeth to the dance." Percy said with a bit of disgust in his tone.

Luke probably didn't notice how Percy said it but he said, "Yeah. I also heard you were taking my sister to the dance."

While Annabeth was listening to the both of them, Percy nodded dejectedly. "What are you doing here, Luke?" Percy asked suspiciously.

"What's wrong with that?" Luke asked as Percy glared at his answer.

Luke glared back to Percy and was starting a staring—or glaring—competition between the two of them. "Sooo… you two are best friends?" Annabeth asked to break the tension.

Percy didn't say anything because to him, it looks like Luke is beginning to be his rival. But Luke answered anyway, "Yeah."

"That's cool! How'd you become friends?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"It started in high school…" Luke started. "my sister had taken a liking on him."

"Rachel liked you?" Annabeth asked Percy.

"Well, yeah."

"Oh." Annabeth nodded.

"So, afterwards," Luke continued. "Rachel introduced me to Percy and—"

"Did you already know if Rachel liked you at that time?" Annabeth cut Luke off.

"Not yet." Percy shook his head.

"Starting that day, we're friends."

"Amazing." Annabeth said amazed. "The both of you remind me so much of my friendship with my best friend, Thalia."

"Tell me about her." Luke said to keep the conversation going.

"She's rebellious!" Annabeth said enthusiastically. "She's very stubborn…"

Annabeth kept on rambling about Thalia while Percy stared. She looked more beautiful when her hair was tied on a ponytail. Percy also noticed how Luke can entertain Annabeth and make her smile while all Percy does to her is make her mad. Luke's Blackberry began to ring and he left the both of them telling that it was important. "Want to take a walk outside?" Percy asked.

Percy and Annabeth were walking on the streets of Italy, eating vanilla ice cream. Percy asked Annabeth to walk with him because he wanted to get close with her, and Annabeth agreed because she missed walking and she needed fresh air. "God, I missed New York." Percy said as Annabeth was talking about New York.

"You've been to New York?" Annabeth asked.

"I was born in New York. I was raised in New York. I pretty much lived in New York." Percy said as Annabeth was licking her ice cream.

"So, you're not Italian?" Annabeth asked.

They both sat on a bench and Annabeth crossed her legs. "Yeah, I'm not Italian." Percy said.

They both continued licking their ice cream and when Percy looked at Annabeth, he suppressed a laugh. "What?" Annabeth asked innocently.

"Nothing." Percy kept on laughing. "It's just that—" Percy pointed on Annabeth's face "—there's ice cream on the side of your mouth."

Annabeth's eyes widened and tried to wipe the side of her mouth with the back of her hand. "No, not there. The other side." Percy said chuckling. Annabeth tried again but the ice cream was spread even more.

"Is it gone?" Annabeth asked.

Percy laughed even more, "You made it worse. Here, I have some hanky here." Percy took his handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Annabeth.

"Thanks." Annabeth said as she took the handkerchief and wiped her mouth.

"You're welcome." Percy said as he took the handkerchief and stuffed it in his pocket.

Then Percy felt something—something sticky—on his forehead and Annabeth laughed. Percy glared at her and did the same for Annabeth—he put ice cream on her forehead. "What was that for? Annabeth asked exasperated.

"Revenge. They say 'Revenge is cold but revenge is also sweet.' So I'm taking revenge using ice cream." He said simply. Annabeth rolled her eyes on his crooked logic.

Percy tried to wipe the ice cream off his head but Annabeth wasn't going to back down. She put ice cream on Percy's cheek this time. The two continued to play around putting ice cream on their heads until Annabeth gave up. Annabeth raise the both of her hands—one hand with the melting ice cream—and said, "Okay, okay. You win."

Percy grinned victoriously although they both had ice cream smudges on their face, they both actually had fun. "Come on." Annabeth stood up. "We should wash our faces. We look like idiots here." Annabeth said chuckling at Percy's face.

Percy and Annabeth were having their worst moment ever.

Shopping.

They both hated shopping. Yet they had to do it for the sake of Alice and they admitted that they didn't have anything to wear for the dance. They both groaned when they entered the store where gowns and suits were being sold. "Pick whichever you want." Alice said motioning to the shop.

Annabeth and Percy shared one last groan and separated ways. Annabeth went to the gowns section and Percy went to the suits. Since Percy wanted to finish early, he grabbed the first suit that caught his attention. It was a black tuxedo with a matching sea green tie. Percy smiled to himself. 'I hope it looks good on me.' He thought.

He tried the suit on the dressing room and it was a fit. "Not so bad." Percy complemented himself on the mirror.

While Percy is showing his outfit to Alice, Annabeth was staring at a silky blue gown. It had one sleeve extending from her shoulder to the arm. It had a little amount of glitters and it was inflated at the skirt. She'd been admiring the gown that she didn't notice Alice. "Is that what you want?" Alice asked.

Annabeth smiled and said, "The gown's beautiful. I like it."

"Go on. Try it. Percy's done already. He's now outside buying drinks. I bought Percy's tux already." Alice said raising the paper bag where Percy's tux was placed.

Annabeth nodded and grabbed the gown. She felt that it wouldn't fir her, but she was wrong. It fit her perfectly. It was comfortable. She stepped out of the fitting room, "Wow! Beautiful!" Alice exclaimed.

"Thanks. Do you think Luke would like this?" Annabeth asked.

"The better question is, 'Would Percy like it?'" Alice corrected Annabeth.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Are you going to take that?" Annabeth nodded.

She went back to the fitting room and changed the gown for her clothes. Alice paid for the gown and afterwards came looking for Percy.

"Let's rest tomorrow. I was exhausted today of all the walking." Alice said.

After shopping for gowns, Alice insisted that they buy more stuff. Much to Percy and Annabeth's displeasure, they had nothing to do to get out of the situation. What can they do? Alice love to shop. It was one of the things Percy hated to his grandmother. But Annabeth had saved his life by requesting Alice to do all the shopping while the two ate at a restaurant.

"How about the search?" Percy asked.

"We'll resume it on Tuesday. Shall we?" Alice asked.

Annabeth and Percy agreed. Alice went back to the room and Percy was looking at Annabeth as she was opening the lock on her door. Percy decided to go back to the instead of looking like an idiot waiting for Annabeth to say something. But his prediction was wrong. As he was returning to his room, Annabeth called, "Uh, Percy?"

"Yeah?" Percy turned towards Annabeth.

"Thanks for today." Annabeth flashed a smile. "I had a lot of fun."

Percy blushed a deep red; he was hoping Annabeth wasn't seeing it or even noticing it. 'She actually had fun.' He thought himself. "But I still feel the stickiness of the ice cream in my face." They both laughed.

"Well, good night." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, good night." Percy smiled at her.

Annabeth went back in her room leaving Percy staring at the closed door again with a lopsided grin.

Annabeth went inside her room and saw something unexpected. In her bed, sitting there was a bouquet of roses. Annabeth was perplexed; she didn't know who it was from. And who would actually dare to give her roses. What? A secret admirer? And even if she had a secret admirer, she wouldn't care. It wasn't Percy, of course. Unless it was Luke. No. She studied the roses, there wasn't any note. 'Whoever gave this, is an idiot.' Annabeth thought to herself. She hated flowers especially roses. She took one last disgusting look at the roses and threw it away on the trash bin.

She settled herself on the bed. Percy had been crossing her mind the whole day. Percy would always manage to piss her off, but today they developed an unusual friendship between the two of them. She really did have fun today. She meant it. Suddenly, Annabeth wished that there were more days they were both getting along fine with each other. Because it also meant so much for her for them to get along.

/sighs. What a long chapter. Anyways, I had a lot of fun making this chapter. I was listening to a lot of songs just to get inspiration. I also took the ice cream scene (and changed the scene a bit) from Letters to Juliet. Okay. Review?

-BE18