Day before prom:

Piper:

Piper woke up before her alarm, and for once was grateful for the distraction school would bring. She had hardly focused on the school day; her mind running with thoughts of her upcoming marriage to Jason and the text Anthony had sent just before she drowsed off.

I'm so fucking sorry.

I love you, Pippy

Her heart had clenched at the 'I love you.' They always said it to each other, but after the phone call with him yesterday, Piper now knew that his words took on a whole other meaning.

After school, she came back to the room to find Annabeth and Thalia getting themselves ready, and laying out her own dress. She recalled when they went to the mall yesterday to pick them out.

Annabeth and Thalia had, of course, chosen extravagant and fancy dresses, whereas she, the bride, picked a simple white gown.

Her dress flowed to the ground, puffed out just the slightest bit due to the light gray layer of fabric under the skirt, had thin straps, and lace designs at the top of the skirt. She didn't want any cleavage showing, but Annabeth and Thalia argued that she had a bigger rack than the two of them and for once she would 'be grateful and show off what she just loved.'

Thankfully, they let her pass with one that didn't show too much.

Their dresses, on the other hand…

Their argument for their choices was that their best friend only got married once, and that's why Annabeth was going to wear orange and Thalia hot pink.

The absurdity.

Piper chose to not wear any makeup, and the two girls reluctantly agreed she really didn't need it. They, however, fulfilled their fantasies and went crazy with what they had.

As she got into the white bra and pantie set Annabeth picked out, and then her dress, Piper swallowed, her heart heavy and pounding with anticipation.

And fear.

She was getting married.

To her best friend.

"Here, put these earrings on," Annabeth snapped Piper out of her head when she held out a pair of diamond earrings.

Piper frowned at her, "Who are those for?" She had never seen them before.

Annabeth smiled gently, "The first of many gifts for you. It's your wedding, so obviously your best friends are going to spoil you.

Piper's lips parted as Annabeth pulled her into a hug, then laughed when Thalia wrapped her arms around them both, squeezing hard. "Don't you dare leave me out!"

They laughed and pulled away, and Piper gingerly put the earrings on, thinking how grateful she was to Annabeth and Thalia for not making her do anything to her hair. They left it to flow down Piper's back in it's natural loose-curled state.

"Percy booked you guys a hotel for tonight," Thalia said, a slight smirk playing on her lips as she exchanged a glance with Annabeth.

Fighting a blush, Piper raised her brows as she slipped on her flats, a pale gray to match the fabric under her dress. "Oh? Why would he do that? There are only two more nights we're staying here before school ends." She tried to act indifferent, failing.

Thalia snorted, "So he can have his privacy when he has sex with you for the first time."

Piper stood up, "How did you know it'll be my first time?"

Annabeth and Thalia's jaws dropped simultaneously.

"You're a virgin?"

"You've never had sex before?"

The questions came right at her, and Piper regretted ever opening her mouth. She spluttered, "You just said Jason wants his privacy when—"

"When the two of you do it together for the first time. She didn't mean you because we all thought you've done it before. Thalia meant your first night as a married couple," Annabeth interrupted.

Thalia nodded, silent and still clearly reeling from the shock.

"Oh," Piper said quietly, feeling dumb.

"Why didn't you tell us you're a virgin?" Annabeth asked softly.

"Better question is why are you a virgin?" Thalia raised her brow.

Piper blushed. "I don't know," She mumbled.

"It hurts like a bitch," Thalia commented, just as Annabeth spoke.

"It only hurts a little," the blonde frowned at Thalia, who shrugged.

Piper opened her mouth and closed it.

Someone knocked on their door. "Guys, are you ready? Jason and I have been waiting for ten minutes." Percy's voice sounded through.

The girls hurriedly rushed out, and Percy whistled. "Piper, you actually clean up really well when you try," He said, his eyes roaming up and down her body in a joking manner.

Piper rolled her eyes, slightly uncomfortable, "And you don't, Jackson." He was clad in a navy blue tux, his hair gelled back against his head.

Thalia snorted as Percy's eyes landed on Annabeth and he froze. "You, uh, you look good, Annabeth. Really good," He said, his demeanor softening.

Annabeth licked her lips, "Thank you."

He nodded, and they all went outside to find Jason standing by the car, tapping his foot impatiently against the concrete.

Piper sucked in a breath as she took him in. He was wearing a light gray suit, the shade that matched her shoes and dress perfectly, a white dress shirt, and a pale blue tie, one that made his eyes standout. He had done absolutely nothing to his hair, it seemed, as it was in its natural state, blond strands curling to his ears.

His eyes met hers, and he smiled, stepping towards her, the others taking the hint and getting into the car. Piper bit her lip when he was standing less than a foot away from her, his eyes slowly taking in her appearance.

"Pipes, you look…" Jason sucked in a breath as he gazed at her. "You look fucking beautiful."

Piper blushed. "You look really good, too, Jase," She whispered, swallowing.

"We're really doing this, huh?"

She licked her lips and nodded. "We are."

He smiled. "For the record, I'm glad it's you I'm marrying."

Piper inhaled sharply, "Me too, Jason."

He nodded towards the car, where Annabeth and Thalia, sitting in the back, had stuck their faces against the window to look at them.

Piper scowled in their direction as Jason laughed.

"We should get going. We have a ten minute drive to the airport, then we'll go through security, and afterwards we'll get onto Anthony's jet. The flight should take about forty minutes, and from the airport in Ohio we'll take a cab to the chapel, which is only seven minutes away, thankfully. The ceremony shouldn't take long; so in short, we'll be back here in about two and a half hours."

Piper nodded, that wasn't so bad. It was seven now; they actually took three hours to get ready, so they'd be back around nine.

They got into the car, and that's when Percy chose to make things weird.

"So, um, I really don't want to talk about this with you guys but I need to get this out. I highly recommend you don't use any, um, birth control tonight," Percy actually blushed

Along with Piper.

Jason, driving, raised a brow. "And what if we don't want children right now?"

Piper's heart stuttered at the thought of having babies with Jason.

"I said I recommend it. If Piper gets pregnant, then her dad literally cannot do anything. It'd be one thing for you guys to get a divorce, but to annul a marriage when kids are involved? It'll be far more complicated for him and there's a higher chance Piper won't have to leave you because of him."

Annabeth was already nodding, "That's splendid. But obviously, it's up to you, Piper. And Jason. But mostly Piper since it's her body," Annabeth clarified when Jason raised a brow at her.

Jason looked at Piper in the rear view mirror, "We'll talk about it tonight."

Thalia chuckled as Piper blushed and nodded.

"And here's the Marriott," Percy announced as he pulled up in front of the extravagant hotel. Jason looked at Piper, smirked when he noticed her staring at him, then opened the door and helped her out of the car. He kept her hand securely held in his, and she glanced down at her ring.

Simple.

Three small stones

Past, present, future.

A thin band with tiny diamonds decorating the round of it rested underneath the main ring on her finger.

Jason's band was very simplistic; a metal band with their initials carved into the inside.

They said their goodnights to Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth, then headed into the hotel as they drove off. As soon as they checked in and were given their keys, they headed up on the elevators to the top floor, the fiftieth, which had the three suites in it.

Piper's heart began to pound as Jason silently opened the door, his hand at her back sending scorching heat waves through her dress and onto her skin.

She licked her lips as he shut and locked the door, then turned around to face her, his gaze dark.

They were alone.