Oh...my...Gucci...THREE HUNDRED REVIEWS ALREADY! Like seriously? That's crazy. I honest to God love you guys! As a reward...chapter fifteen, and maybe another quick update... :D

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!

A Big, Frizzy Problem…

When Annabeth heard the plane was coming, she wasn't sure whether to run to the beach and wave them in with big palm leaves, or to be a bit disappointed that she wouldn't have the day with Percy. Going home won out, though, because even though they were on this beautiful island, she was a little stressed out, and she really just want to strangle Poseidon for doing this to them.

Percy agreed, but he too was disappointed. He had wanted to spend the day with her, but like her, he wanted to go home and hurt his dad.

"If we want to make it to the beach by the time the plane gets here, we need to start hacking through the jungle now," Percy stated that afternoon.

Annabeth sighed from her spot on the couch. "Can't they just come to us?"

"Oh, yes. They'll just land the plane on the glass roof and we'll just climb the golden stairs up to the roof," Percy deadpanned. "Silly me. Why didn't I think of that?"

He barely dodged the stiletto Annabeth threw at him.

She glared. "Don't be a smartass."

"Sorry. It's in my blood."

She rolled her eyes. "Lovely. So I'll have to put up with this for God knows how long?"

"Mmm…probably not. Only when I'm stressed or mad. Anyways, let's get going!"

Annabeth stared at him, her lips pursed. Finally, she said, "Only if you give me a piggy back ride."

Percy crossed his arms. "No way. It's hard enough to fight the jungle by myself. I don't need more weight on my back to make it even harder."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"No! I'm just saying I'm not going to do it."

Annabeth glared. "Well then I'll stay here. I am not hacking through that jungle again."

Percy narrowed his eyes. The one thing he learned from his past experiences with stubborn people is that there is only one way to make them give in: force.

Percy stomped over to her and stood in front of her.

"What are you—!" She squealed as Percy promptly picked her up and hefted her onto his shoulder.

In a way, Annabeth got her wish of being carried. Percy would not only get to the beach, but he would make Annabeth angry for being carried on his shoulder, causing him to smirk triumphantly.

"Percy!" she yelled. "Put me down!"

"Nope," he simply replied, starting his journey through the jungle.

"Percy!" she growled. "I swear to God I will make you extremely spicy food for a week and wash your clothes so they turn out pink!"

Percy rolled his eyes as she continued to make threats. Finally, fed up, he gave her a good whack on the butt.

"Ah!" she screamed, blushing. "Did you just spank me?"

He smirked. "I like to think of it as a "slap on the ass"."

"Jerk," she muttered. Still embarrassed, she remained quiet and instead rested her head on her hands.

Percy sighed, thankful for the silence.

The two had never really been this close and okay with it. They had usually tried to keep a three yard (at the least) radius between them. Now, they were kissing and he was carrying her like a doll. It was a little awkward for them still.

Annabeth knew it wouldn't last for long though. She knew that they only kissed because they were on the island where no one was around them. Plus, stress tended to make you do things you wouldn't normally do.

Percy also knew that their truce was temporary. Eventually, they would go back to the normal bickering and fighting. A part of him wanted to run back to the house and call off the plane and stay with Annabeth for a good month, but a bigger part of him (the more logical side) told him that even if they did that, it wouldn't last forever.

Plus, they both needed to strangle Poseidon.

"You can put me down, now," Annabeth murmured.

"What if I don't want to?" Percy asked. "What if I like carrying you?"

She sighed. "Well can't I at least get in a better position?"

Then Percy, quick as a flash, shifted her around so he was carrying her bridal style.

He grinned down at her. "Better?"

She blinked, then blushed. "Yeah. Thanks."

The two remained quiet for a while.

"You know, I never found out what your dad's company is about…" Percy stated out of the blue.

"He manufactures planes and packaging. He's basically the guy people go to when they want things flown somewhere."

"Like a major Fed-Ex."

"Exactly."

"And so how is he going bankrupt?"

Annabeth sighed. "He's had his company for a long time. People just aren't going to him anymore for their packaging needs. Besides, with Mike's company starting to go down the drain, my dad is losing a lot of money."

"And that's why we're getting married…" Percy stated softly.

Annabeth nodded slowly. Back a month ago, she would have done anything to not marry Percy, but now…now, it didn't seem so bad.

"You know, I thought arranged marriages only happened in India, or Europe or something…" Percy said.

Annabeth laughed. "Apparently not."

He grimaced. "Well, at least we'll be angry and lonely together."

Annabeth continued to smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and reached up to kiss his cheek. "Sounds like a plan."

He grinned and pulled her closer. "Sounds like a plan…" he repeated.

Finally, after about an hour, they made it to the beach.

"Finally!" Percy shouted. He let Annabeth stand on her feet before collapsing in the in the warm sand.

Right on cue, the two heard a helicopter in the distance, and the winds started picking up. They looked up to the sky and saw a black dot approaching them.

"Thank God," Annabeth sighed.

The helicopter slowly descended onto the beach, causing sand to fly, the water to lap in waves, and the palm trees to bend to the point where they could snap. The two ran to the door and climbed inside. They were each immediately handed a pair of head phones so they could talk to everyone in the aircraft.

"Mr. Jackson. Miss Chase. Good to see you again," the pilot said. "Unfortunately, Poseidon couldn't make it."

Percy rolled his eyes.

Of course he couldn't…Annabeth thought sarcastically.

The helicopter lifted into the air and they made their journey over sea and cities back to Manhattan. After a couple hours, they landed on the helicopter pad on the Overseas Inc. building, where Poseidon stood, waiting for them with five body guards surrounding him.

Now, Percy and Annabeth's original plan was to strangle him on sight, but after taking a look at the intimidating, six foot, beefy body guards who wore black suits and dark shades that were surrounding him, they decided that they could wait until they had left. They feared too much for their safety. They still wanted to be able to walk after they attacked Poseidon.

"Dad," Percy greeted, glaring at Poseidon. The two slowly walked up and stood before him.

"H-hey, guys," Poseidon replied nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I see things went well."

Annabeth glared harder at him, and Poseidon swallowed.

"Any reason for the body guards?" Percy asked.

"Oh…you know…" Poseidon mumbled, looking pale. "I feel my safety is in danger."

"Damn right it is…" Annabeth mumbled back. One of the body guards grumbled and cracked his knuckles threateningly.

Annabeth nervously took a step back and Percy grabbed her wrist. "Well, after all your messing around, we're tired, so we're going home."

The two turned and started walking towards the stairs that would take them to the elevator. Eventually, Annabeth slipped her hand into Percy's and they became interlocked.

"'Home,' huh?" Poseidon mumbled. "Whatever happened to 'Annabeth's apartment'?"

Poseidon watched as they stepped onto the stairs and disappeared into the building.

I think something else might have happened on that island…

"Ahh…" Annabeth sighed. "Home."

"Never thought I'd be saying this, but…it's nice to be here," Percy admitted.

Annabeth just nodded. "Well, I feel like there is dirt on every part of me body, so I'm going to go take a shower."

She turned and walked down the hall before disappearing behind the door. Percy was momentarily distracted by the way her hips swayed, but then he shook himself out of his stupor.

Percy went to lie down on the couch. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. Now he was starting to notice things about her. Yeah, sure, he had always noticed her nice ass, but now he was noticing her hips.

It wasn't just her…physique he was noticing. Like on the island: he had noticed her eyes and how someone could get lost in them just for staring into them. And lately, he'd been noticing her better side, the side that was nice and beautiful and caring.

Percy groaned. What was happening to him? Did he pick up some rare disease on the island? Was he getting sick?

Well, in a way, he was getting sick, just not in the sense of fevers, headaches, vomiting etc.

No, Percy didn't know it yet, but he was getting lovesick.

The next day, Percy was sitting in his own office, in his own building, at his own desk, in his own chair. It had been quite some time since he had sat down in his ridiculously large black leather chair, and he missed the way it would 'poof' when he sat down in it.

He found himself having a hard time concentrating though. He couldn't really focus for more than five minutes. Was it because he didn't have a chance to get his morning coffee yet? Was it because he was really tired? Or was it because he didn't have his fiancée bugging him?

Perplexed by the situation, he stared unseeing at the clock, trying to figure out the problem.

Suddenly, his secretary walked in. She had a grimace on her face.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Someone's here to see you," she replied, wrinkling her nose.

Percy's hopes shot up a bit, but then they settled back down because Percy knew she wouldn't make that face if it was Annabeth.

"Well who is it?"

"Peeeercyyy!" a voice suddenly called. Percy was suddenly hit with memories of Spring Break from years ago during college.

"Hey, I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

"Well, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, I'm Jackson. Percy Jackson."

And then he was hit with more flashbacks of partying with her and dating her.

"Rachel?" he asked just as she walked in.

"Percy! I've missed you," she declared as his secretary walked out, shutting the door. She leaned up and gave him a big kiss on the lips. Percy blinked, surprised by her open affection.

He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. "Whoa, Rachel. What are you doing here?"

Rachel Elizabeth Dare smiled up at him. "What? I can't visit my ex boyfriend?"

Percy raised a brow. "Um, usually, you don't go looking for your exes. Most people usually forget about them and move on. That's how it works."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm not like most people."

Percy took in her tattered jeans with marker stains and her frizzy red hair. Yup, still the same, he thought.

"No, you are not," Percy mumbled.

"And besides," she muttered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I missed you. Can't we give it another try?"

"No, we can't," he said, unhooking her arms. "I'm engaged, Rachel." Percy felt himself smile a bit when he said this.

Rachel blinked and took a step back. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. Dead serious."

She blinked again. "Oh," she murmured, obviously disappointed. She remained silent, staring at the floor for a few minutes. Percy felt a little awkward just standing there while she battled with something in her mind.

Finally, she looked up. "Well, then, can we at least be friends?"

Percy didn't see why they couldn't… "Sure. Friends." He shook her hand, and she smiled a bit.

They released hands, and things went awkward again. She had just admitted to missing him, and then she suddenly accepts them being friends? That seemed a little fishy…

"So…" Rachel whistled. "As friends, did you want to go to a movie tomorrow?"

Percy was smart enough to know that there was no such thing as "going to the movies as friends."

"Yeah, sure. I'll see if Annabeth wants to come," he said smoothly. He mentally applauded himself for such quick and smart thinking.

Rachel's face grew emotionless. "Annabeth…?"

"My fiancée."

"Right. Yeah, you should totally see if she can come."

"I'll ask her when I get the chance."

Rachel nodded tersely. "Okay then. I guess I should go…I'll see you later."

"See you."

Percy sighed and rubbed his head as he plopped down in his leather chair again.

Great, he thought, another blast from the past.

Rachel, meanwhile, entered the elevator with a scowl on her face.

Fine, she thought, bring your fiancée. We'll just see exactly how strong your guys' relationship is.

I literally debated for days whether or not to use Rachel as the antagonist. I like Rachel. I really do. But in the books she had always been a thorn in Annabeth's side, so that's why I use her as the "problem" in some of my Percabeth fics. Eventually I just said "Screw it!" and wrote it using her. If you don't like it, well then that's your problem.

OMG! On the seventeenth I'm leaving town for a week, so I won't be able to udpate! Oh no! This, oddly enough, brings me to my next subject: the ending of this story. There are only about six chapters left, and what I'm asking you to do is REVIEW and let me know if I should do a sequel to this story. I have a good idea of what it would be about, so I just need to know if people would read it.

So review and let me know about the sequel! Also, please try not to flame my using Rachel, because I just KNOW some people are going to try...

Thanks for reading!

-Akatsuki Child