This pillow is way too comfortable.

That was Annabeth's first thought when she awoke to bright sunlight flashing in her eyes. She lay still, willing herself to go back to sleep before reality flooded into her brain, and she realized where she was. She blinked, the morning light streaming in through the windows of Cabin 3 and reflecting off the seaglass imbedded into the walls in iridescent fragments.

Her head had been resting on Percy's bare shoulder, their legs all tangled together. The remains of her pillow wall were now on the floor next to the bed or squished under the blanket by their feet. Annabeth extracted herself slowly from his body, embarrassed that last night was probably one of the best nights of sleep her life. It was the first time in months that she had slept through the night without waking up from nightmares. Her memory foam mattress back in her apartment had nothing on Percy.

Percy began to shift awake just as Annabeth placed the last of the pillow wall back into place. He blinked up at her sleepily before cracking that stupid, goofy grin of his. "Good morning."

Shit.

Annabeth smothered the butterflies in her stomach that erupted at the thought of waking up to the sight of Percy every morning. "Morning," she muttered. Percy yawned widely.

"What time is it?" Annabeth asked.

The blanket pooled at his waist as Percy sat up and searched the bedside table for his phone. Annabeth watched the way the muscles in his back rippled as he stretched an arm to check the time. "It is...hold on, nine forty-five."

"Shit!" Annabeth threw the blanket off, leaping out of the bed, "We overslept. Brunch is at ten. Down by the pavilion." She roughly unzipped her bag and threw open her suitcase. "We cannot be late."

Percy raised his hands in surrender, "Got it. Do you mind if I hop in the shower?"

"Go! Just get ready, quickly!"

Annabeth heard the shower turn on as she extracted garment bag after garment bag from her suitcase. Where the hell was her makeup bag!

"So, Annabeth," Percy's voice echoed off the bathroom tiles, "Who all is going to be there this morning?"

Annabeth stripped out of her pajamas and searched for her strapless bra in her bags, "Everyone who is invited to the rehearsal dinner. Basically everyone who went to camp with us. The whole wedding party. Parents. Piper and Jason wanted to make a whole reunion weekend out of their wedding." She wrenched her carry-on open to find her heels.

"And do they know about 'us'?"

Annabeth peeled her brunch dress, a flowy, ruffled blue number with spaghetti straps, out of the garment bag, grateful she packed with such care and the material hadn't wrinkled in transport.

"Um, Piper and Jason know I'm bringing a date. I don't know if they told anyone." Annabeth stepped into her dress as she heard the shower turn off, smoothing down the cinched waist and skirt that flowed out from her waist. Percy and a cloud of steam emerged back into the main room.

"Close your eyes! I'm changing." She struggled to get the zipper of her dress all the way up.

"Relax, just grabbing my clothes."

Annabeth hauled her toiletries over to the mirror and began to do a tasteful, daytime eyeshadow look as precisely and quickly as she could. She was almost done swiping on mascara that made her gray eyes pop when she spotted Percy over her shoulder in the mirror in gray slacks and a baby blue polo with the sleeves rolled up. The exact same baby blue as her dress.

"Oh no," she groaned.

"What? What's wrong?"

"We can't match!" Annabeth said, pausing doing her makeup. Currently, only had one glossy, pink lip and one normal lip. "We can't be too matchy-matchy. It's like we're trying too hard. I need to change." She dropped her lipstick and began rummaging through her clothes again.

"No, no," Percy said, already unbuttoning his collar, "I'll change. That dress looks too good on you."

Annabeth flushed, but nodded as she began trying to tackle her hair. She wasn't sure if she was blushing because of the compliment or because Percy was changing into a different shirt right behind her. It really wasn't fair how great his face and his body looked. She huffed and began attacking her curls with bobby pins.

She had gone to bed with it wet so her golden curls were extra voluminous and unruly this morning. She attempted to tame it into a half up-half down do.

"Goddamn it," Annabeth cursed as a particularly springy curl fell out of the pins back into her face.

"Hey," Percy said, crossing over to her. He had changed into a mint green polo. "It's just brunch. You look beautiful."

Annabeth stared as he stood behind her in the mirror and took a deep breath. Her skin looked incredibly tan and glowy against the soft blue of her dress, and her legs looked miles long in her heels. Her hair actually looked better than she thought, like a carefree beach girl. Percy, of course, looked straight out of a J. Crew ad—tall, lean, and just as tan with a mess of soft dark curls that should be illegal. His shirt complimented his eyes for gods' sake. They were quite the attractive pair together, Annabeth was sure getting her money's worth.

Annabeth felt Percy's hand brush against her neck as he zipped her dress up all the way and hooked it. She nodded, "Right."

Percy rolled up his sleeves. His belt and shoes matched. Good.

"So what exactly am I walking into here?"

Annabeth turned to him, "The Nemean Lion's den." She walked out the door.

.~.~.~.~.

A dirt path led up the hill from the valley of cabins up to the dining pavilion. Only summer after summer of walking this route allowed Annabeth to navigate the ground in her heels. Percy followed her stride.

They were close enough now they could hear music and laughter. This was such a stupid idea. Not just hiring a fake boyfriend, but even coming at all. She should turn around and drive back home. Her palms were sweating. As they crested the hill, Percy rested his hand on the small of her back. She shot him a look.

Percy chuckled at her alarmed expression, "Relax, I'm supposed to be your boyfriend, remember? You look so nervous."

"I am nervous!" Annabeth craned her neck, trying to make out who was here already.

"Aren't these all your old friends?"

"Yes," she sighed, relaxing into him which each step towards the pavilion. "But it's, um, been awhile since I've seen everyone." She must admit it was nice having someone at her back. "Shit, I didn't even brush my teeth. We should go back," she turned, but Percy's grip on her waist tightened.

"Oh, no you don't." Percy slipped his hand into hers, and now he led them towards the party goers in the pavilion. "Come on, babe, introduce me to your family. Show me off." He teased.

Percy's nonchalance about this whole absurd situation did calm her. If he could act so cool about pretending to be her fake boyfriend in front of her closest friends and family then she could be cool about having hired him to do so. She took a deep breath, steeling herself and squaring her shoulders, "Right. Okay." Annabeth plastered a smile on her face and walked with Percy up to the pavilion.

It was crowded. And unrecognizable from the dining pavilion from her own camp days. The long tables that each cabin ate at during meals had been rearranged into two long buffets full of breakfast food. Wedding guests mingled in the middle. White and gold balloons and streamers adorned the columns of the open-aired pavilion.

A chorus of, "Annabeth!" "Hey, Chase!" and "Long time no see, Annabeth," rang out as soon as they were in view of the other guests. Annabeth's grip tightened on Percy's as she waved and smiled and greeted.

Annabeth noticed curious eyes immediately drawn to Percy — the tall, handsome newcomer. She had let go is his hand in order to give hugs and waves to her old campmates, and his hand adjusted automatically to the small of her back. His grasp was warm through the thin fabric of her dress, but the looks people were giving them made his handprint burn like fire.

"Annabeth!" The pair turned to see a guy in his early twenties, navigating through the crowd towards them. He wore charcoal gray suit with a salmon shirt, and had a blond crew cut.

"Malcolm, hey," Annabeth grinned, giving her brother a hug.

"When did you get here? We expected you at dinner."

"Late last night. I couldn't get off work early enough so we took an evening train." Malcolm's gray eyes identical to her own shifted towards Percy when Annabeth said 'we.' "Percy, this is my brother Malcolm. Malcolm, this is my, um—."

"I'm her boyfriend," Percy held out his hand, "Percy. Nice to meet you." Annabeth gulped, but relaxed when a grin broke out on Malcolm's tan face and he pulled Percy into one of those bro-hugs.

"Nice to meet you, Percy," Malcolm said, turning back to Annabeth, "Piper mentioned you were bringing a date last night, but we all thought she was joking."

"Thanks, I'm so flattered," Annabeth said, playfully punching his arm, "Where is the beautiful blushing bride anyway?"

"Probably calming down Groomzilla."

Annabeth laughed, "We should go say hi to them."

Malcolm nodded, grabbing a mimosa off of the drink table, "I'm gonna go help Chiron with the microphone. I think people have some speeches prepared for later."

Percy turned to Annabeth, his hand returning to her waist as Malcolm left, "He looks just like you, same expression and everything. It's like I can hear the clockwork in your brains turning when you both look at me."

Annabeth stared at him.

"Yeah! Just like that."

Annabeth grinned, "Our mom has really powerful genes. He's technically my half-brother, but she sent us both to camp here so we still grew up together."

"Yeah, it seems like this whole camp is like a family. I really like it."

Annabeth's chest felt warm with a sense of pride for her beloved camp when he said that. Or maybe it was the fact that she was on her second mimosa by the time she saw Piper and Jason at the head of the dining pavilion.

Piper had her back to them as they approach. She was in a cream jumpsuit, all flowy and bohemian and very Piper. Her dark hair was down with its signature braids, and she had weaved in gold strands for the occasion. Jason looked even more like blond Clark Kent than usual in a white button down and navy slacks. They were in heated debate.

"Piper, a pre-wedding brunch is already not normal, we can't just have people making speeches and toasts all over the place."

"Drew wants to make a toast, so what? Would you rather my psycho sister have the mic during the reception?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but should I go tell someone the wedding's off?"

The bride and groom whipped around. "Annabeth!"

Annabeth squeezed Piper, tightly, "Hi, Pipes." She threw her arms around Jason, "How are you doing, Grace?"

"Not great, Chase, my wedding is going to get steamrolled by Drew Tanaka."

Annabeth laughed before remembering Percy behind her when she saw Piper's kaleidoscope eyes widen.

"Guys, this is Percy. Percy this is the bride and groom and my best friends, Piper and Jason."

"Nice to meet you, Percy' Piper said, warmly and charismatic as ever, though she seemed slightly starstruck by him.

"Good to meet you, Percy." When Jason and Percy shook hands, Annabeth felt the air tingle only the way it did when two Alpha males collided. She almost rolled her eyes.

"Congratulations, thanks for letting me crash."

"Of course, anyone who has Annabeth's approval is welcome at my wedding." A sparkle of mischief shone in Piper's eyes. Annabeth shot her a look.

"Did you guys eat already?" Piper asked, ignoring Annabeth.

"Not yet, we've just been doing our rounds and saying hi to everyone."

"See, Pipes, I told you we should've done a seated brunch, not this cocktail hour breakfast. It's like we're barbarians." Jason said, Piper rolled her eyes.

Percy said, "Buffets are the best, you made the right call."

"Oh, gods, my father is here," Piper said, her neck craning as she spotted a tall, ridiculously handsome man arrive at the pavilion's entrance on the opposite side. He had dark hair and copper skin just like Piper, but where she was all grace and slenderness, he was buff and massive. "I need to go make sure him and my mom stay away from each other." Piper muttered, "Actually more like keeping both of them away from all members of the opposite sex period. But go get food! I'll find you later, Annabeth." Piper was already on her way stalking towards her father and the most beautiful woman Percy had ever seen.

Jason followed in suit of his fiancée, "Nice meeting you, Percy. See you in a minute, Annabeth."

Percy glanced where Piper and Jason headed, "Isn't that—"

"Yep."

"And he's—"

"Yeah."

"Piper's father is Tristan McLean."

"Yes."

"Your best friend's dad is People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive? As in box office smash hit Hercules in Hercues ?"

"Uh huh."

"Wow."

Annabeth cracked a smile, "Come on, let's go get food. I'm starving."