Percy piled his plate high with pancakes and blueberries. Annabeth went for fruit, scones, and bacon. The burden of saying hi and meeting people was eased with the crutch of having full mouths.

These were her old camp buddies, her close friends, but she could feel her social meter already running out. The constant circuit of greetings and small talk and introducing Percy had left her emotionally spent, but Percy was killing it. He was charming and goofy and greeted everyone so warmly. Annabeth was grateful he was here.

After they had chatted with Katie Gardener, her old fellow Cabin Leader, Percy excused himself to get more coffee. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

Annabeth shook her head, "No thanks. I'm actually gonna take a breather." She motioned over to an alcove of the dining pavilion that was less crowded.

"Are you okay? We can leave," Percy said, genuine worry in his eyes.

She flashed him a grateful smile, "Yes, I'm fine really. Just need a second. Go get your coffee." She shooed him away and watched him walk over to the beverage table and didn't miss how almost everyone's eyes followed him.

She felt bare now without his hand on her back supporting her, physically and emotionally.

"Is that the elusive Annabeth Chase?"

Annabeth whirled around and was suddenly in a bear hug, literally. Her face was full of Hazel's caramel curls and a huge mass of pure muscle, but when she saw her dearest friends, Frank and Hazel, she beamed. "How are you guys!" She asked, not letting go of either of her friends' arms.

"We'd be better visited us once in a while," Hazel retorted, but there was affection in her tone. She wore a yellow sundress that matched Frank's tie. They pulled off matchy-matchy without looking like they were trying too hard.

"Oh you know I've been meaning to, but—"

"We know, we know, you have work. Annabeth Chase the famous architect needs to be here to redesign the Manhattan skyline," Frank teased.

"I—" Annabeth smiled, sheepishly, "Yeah, I do have work."

"We know, and we're so proud of you," Hazel said, squeezing her arm, "But just one weekend, fly out to New Rome. We'd love to see you more often."

"I'll try, Hazel," and even though Annabeth had said that before so many times to Piper and Jason, the way Hazel and Frank looked at her made her really mean it.

"And Annabeth, I heard from a little birdy that you brought a date?" Hazel teased, grinning at her. Annabeth watched Hazel and Frank's gaze shift to Percy across the room, chatting to one of Jason's random old relatives at the coffee table, signaling Piper had fully briefed them on Percy already.

"I did," Annabeth said, challengingly.

"Why didn't you tell us? Piper said she didn't even know until you asked for a plus one like a month ago!"

Annabeth shrugged, "It all just happened, um, so fast." She wasn't lying. "I'm not sure if it was the right thing to bring him, actually. I brought a newcomer to camp, and now everyone's staring at him."

"Wrong, Annabeth," Frank said, "Everyone's staring at him because he's so attractive." Hazel's expression read, he ain't wrong.

"Oh," Annabeth bit her lip, "That's good, I guess?" It was better that they were staring at Percy for his looks rather than staring at him for being some random stranger she brought to an intimate wedding. She wanted the subject of Percy off from Hazel and Frank. "By the way, did you guys, um, fly in with Luke?"

Hazel and Frank exchanged glances, warily. Annabeth noticed. "No, he flew in with Thalia this morning," Hazel replied, "but he's here. Around."

Gratefully, Annabeth was saved from having to respond by superman. "Hazel, Frank!" Jason called from across the pavilion, waving them over.

"Whelp, Groomzilla beckons," Hazel muttered, tugging her boyfriend towards Jason, "Can't wait for you to introduce us to Percy later!"

As Hazel and Frank left her alone with her plate of now cold bacon, the reality of the situation dawned on Annabeth. She hired an actor to come be her date at a wedding with her closest friends, her family. These people knew her better than anyone, even better than her roommate. They would definitely see right through her whole façade. She had brought Percy so she wouldn't face Luke as some sad, single spinster, but Percy was already paying off just by being by her side while greeting everyone and having someone at her back.

"Annabeth. Hello? Annabeth?"

Annabeth snapped out of her reverie. "Oh my gods, Thalia!" She threw her arms around the dark-haired girl in front of her. If anyone would see through her today, it was her oldest friend.

"What were you just thinking about? You looked so stressed," Thalia said, swiping a piece of bacon off Annabeth's plate. She wore tight black dress that fell to mid-calf and reminded Annabeth of a pin-up girl. Her short black hair had new purple streaks from the last time she saw her.

"You know, just all this wedding stuff," Annabeth recovered. "How you've been?"

"Busy," Thalia bit off another piece of bacon, "Aren't we all? But we all needed this weekend, I think. We need this time to be together. What about you, Annie? How you've been since the last time I saw you?"

Annabeth smiled, "I'm happy we're all together too. I'm still recovering from you moving away. I have approximately one friend in the city now. You're all over in California. So many of you moved out to New Rome these past few years. I was just talking to Hazel and Frank, I need to come out and see your new place. Did you end up buying that yellow couch?"

"No, I couldn't haggle the price down. And also…well, actually, well, I moved again."

"Thalia, what! You just moved across the country at the beginning of the year, and you've moved again? It's only been like six months."

"Yeah, but the commute to The Hunt was just so long, and there was a vacancy in, um, Luke's building. So I moved to an apartment there."

"Oh," Annabeth could tell Thalia was studying her face for her reaction. She had to shift gears, "How is the new job?"

"It's amazing," Thalia said, "Moving all over again was worth it for this job. My boss, Artemis, is so cool. I love the company so much. It's an all-female staff, and we go on these awesome company camping trips."

"That's fantastic!"

"Enough about me. Now tell me about you since I last saw you."

"Well, I submitted my blueprints for the—"

"Not about work, Annabeth. You always talk about work. Tell me about your life! What are the new bars you're going to? Who do you go out with now? Are you going out with anyone right now?"

"Well—"

"Oh my gods, actually. There's the cutest guy I've ever seen here today. I don't recognize him from camp, maybe he's one of Jason's cousins? But he's so hot, and I think he'd be perfect for you—oh my gods, he's walking over here right now."

Percy returned from the coffee bar and kissed Annabeth on the cheek, "Got you a coffee, babe, looked like you needed one. Hi, I'm Percy." He stuck out his hand, smoothly transitioning to greeting Thalia.

Thalia gaped, but recovered quickly in true Thalia-fashion, "Oh, hello there, I'm Thalia. Annabeth's best and oldest friend. You've probably heard all about me already."

Percy grinned, "Nice to meet you, Thalia. Of course I have. I'm Annabeth's best and current boyfriend." Damn, Annabeth thought. Percy was so smooth, she actually had never mentioned Thalia, but Percy lied so well that she believed that she had told him all about her.

Thalia grinned, "Oh, boyfriend. 'Beth didn't mention the B-word. How long have you guys been dating?"

"-One month-" "-Just a couple weeks-"

Annabeth paused, squeezing Percy's arm in panic, "We start counting from different times, but, um, we met about a month ago."

Thalia raised an eyebrow, "Whirlwind romance?"

"Exactly."

"Are you in the wedding party also?" Percy asked.

"I'd kill Jason if I wasn't."

"Thalia is Jason's sister," Annabeth explained.

"Have you met everyone already, Percy?"

"Almost," Annabeth responded for him, "Still a couple people we haven't gotten the chance to talk to. Like Reyna and Leo, they've been too busy running around doing Best Man and Maid of Honor stuff."

"Right," Thalia said, chugging the rest of her mimosa, "I won't hog you two from the masses. Nice meeting you, Percy. I'll see you later, Annabeth?"

"Of course. Later."

Percy let out a whistle as Thalia walked away, "Wow, she has a, er, strong personality."

Annabeth grinned, sheepishly, "Yep, that's Thals for you. She's one of my best friends. We were so close growing up. Her, me, and…" Annabeth coughed. "Anyway, there are still a couple people we need to say hi to. They're over there."

Annabeth pointed over to where two people were yelling at a catering waiter, a wiry guy with curly dark hair wearing suspenders and a tall, dark haired beauty in a striking purple wrap dress, "That's Reyna, the best man, and Leo, the maid of honor."

"You mean the other way around?"

"Actually, I don't. Reyna is Jason's best friend and Leo threw a fit until Piper made him her maid of honor." Annabeth explained as she pointed them out in the crowd. "That buff guy I was talking to is Frank, he's another groomsman. That girl standing next to him is Hazel, she's another bridesmaid with me. Do you see that kid in black standing by the muffins? Standing next to that blond guy? That's Nico and his boyfriend, Will. Dakota is another groomsman, but he's not flying in until the rehearsal dinner. And you just met Thalia. The last bridesmaid is Piper's sister, Drew. She's not here right now, I heard she ran to get more champagne."

"Okay, there's Leo, you, Hazel, and Thalia. And there's Reyna, Frank, Nico, Dakota and who's the last groomsman—" Percy asked, counting off on his fingers. He lost count when-

"Annabeth!"

"Leo!" Annabeth grinned, embracing her friend, "Long time no see, how are you—"

"Great, we're doing pictures of the wedding party over by the front of the room in T-minus forty five seconds, so get over there, princess," and then Leo was gone.

Annabeth shook her head, "That's Leo for you." She and Percy walked over to where the rest of the wedding party was gathering, and Leo was animatedly directing.

"Okay, let's do Piper and her wenches first, and then we'll do Jason and his guapo groomsmen next." Leo said, ushering people towards the front and pushing people away.

Percy fell back behind the photographer as Annabeth let herself be positioned with the other bridesmaids.

"Which ones yours?" asked a handsome, blond guy standing next to Percy behind the photographer.

"Oh, sorry, what?"

"I'm Nico's boyfriend. That groomsman who looks like he'd rather be digging graves than be here right now?"

"Oh, I'm Annabeth's boyfriend. My name's Percy."

"Will Solace. Nice to meet you," his handshake was firm.

A woman with long, wavy auburn hair in a chiffon dress peaked around from Will's other side and also shook Percy's hand. "And I'm Calypso. Leo's lucky date," She rolled her eyes when she said it. "Welcome to the wedding dates club, Percy."

Will grinned, "Our job is to make sure our significant others don't go crazy, so Piper and Jason don't go crazy."

As if on cue, Leo appeared and Calypso was already handing him his phone before he even opened his mouth, "You left it on the table this morning."

Leo grinned, kissing her on the cheek, "Thanks, babe." He handed his phone to the photographer as well.

As the groomsman gathered, Will called over his shoulder, "Nico, your tie is crooked."

Percy felt out of place so he just shot Annabeth two supportive thumbs up. She smiled gratefully.

The bridesmaids picture seemed to be taking longer than necessary because of dark haired girl in the front who was flirting with the photographer. From process of elimination, Percy assumed it was Piper's sister, Drew.

Will muttered from next to Percy, "Holy Hephaestus, she's trashed."

Calypso giggled, "I saw her downing an entire tray of mimosas. They weren't even that strong!"

"Being a wedding date is so fun," Will said, "You just get to witness all the drama unfolding without being a part of it. But then you have to hear them all bitch about it later at night."

Calypso handed Percy and Will fresh mimosas, "That's why we drink up, boys. We'll be standing on the sidelines watching them take pictures all weekend, might as well have fun."

Percy took the drink and cheers them, "I don't mind."

.~.~.~.~.~.

After Annabeth's cheeks hurt from smiling for so long and she saw that Percy was thankfully occupied by Will and Calypso, she slipped away from the pavilion for some fresh air. She hadn't seen Luke yet with the whole wedding party gathered, and her nerves were getting tauter and tauter with every second she braced herself to see his face.

"Annabeth, hey."

Snap. She knew that voice anywhere. Once upon a time, that voice could have roused her out of a coma. She felt like she was going to be sick. "Luke."

She turned on her heel to leave, but his hand caught her wrist, "Wait, I've been looking for you."

"Let go, Luke."

Luke dropped her arm, and stepped close, "Come on, Annabeth." His sandy hair was shorter than the last time she saw him. He probably cut it recently for the wedding. He'd grown out his facial hair, a stark difference to the clean cut face she remembered from almost a year ago. Annabeth had always requested a clean shave from him. He looked older, more rugged. More handsome.

Annabeth didn't want to, but she couldn't help but study everything about him. She recognized every article of clothing he was wearing. She knew that navy blue suit was his favorite one to wear because it hugged his biceps and made him look toned. She knew he got that white polo from a sale from their favorite outlet mall they went to one of the weekends right before they broke up. She had bought him those boat shoes as a joke because they were so preppy, but he actually pulled them off.

"What, Luke?" she sighed. She hadn't expected seeing Luke Castellan would be this hard.

"Can't we be civil, Annabeth? Come on, it's almost been a year. Can't we put this aside? For Piper and Jason?"

"Put this aside ? What? Our history? Our whole relationship? A couple months, and I'm not supposed to be upset anymore?" Annabeth felt her anger bubble to the surface of her skin like lava. She hadn't seen him or contacted him in anyway since the day they broke up, and it was all coming out now. She realized she'd never gotten the words out, she'd never had time to grieve.

"Annabeth, please," Luke continued with a steady voice. They were far away enough from the pavilion that no one would be able to hear them arguing, but he looked weary still.

"We were engaged, Luke. We were in the middle of planning our own wedding. And you left me. I can't just 'put it aside,'" Annabeth spat out.

"I didn't leave you, Annabeth. Don't twist things. You knew that job at Kronos Corporations was all I'd ever wanted, all I'd worked for. I was going to be promoted, and you wanted me to choose between you and my career?"

"I wanted you to compromise! We had our life in New York. What about my job? We had a good life and you wanted us to uproot everything. And the reason I felt to goddamn stupid the day you left without me was the day," Annabeth's voice caught. She could feel tears pricking in her eyes, "the day I was going to tell you that I was going to go with you."

Luke looked pained, "Annabeth." He reached for her.

"Stop. I-I'm here with someone."

Luke's arms grasped for her waist, "Annie, you don't have to lie to me."

Annabeth shied away, "I'm not."

"Annabeth?" Percy appeared and stepped between the two, smoothly putting a barrier between her and Luke. He stuck out his hand, "Hey, I'm Percy, Annabeth's boyfriend. You are?" She noticed the warmth he had greeted all of her other friends with was absent from his greeting to Luke. Percy's arm settled back around her waist, and she was surprised by how natural and comforted she felt by him.

Luke eyed Percy's hand, his facial expression hardening. He shook Percy's hand, "Luke Castellan. Old friend." The handshake was typical enough, but Annabeth could tell from the veins on their forearms that it was quite the firm one.

"Well, I think they're going to make some announcements now so we should head back. Shall we, Annabeth?" Percy said, already steering her away.

Percy kept his arm around her waist as they walked away from Luke. She felt his breath on her ear as he whispered, "Are you alright?"

"Yes-No, no, I'm not."

"Do you want to-"

"Later, okay?" Annabeth whispered back, "Let's just get through the rest of this brunch."

When they arrived back at the pavilion, Piper and Jason stood at the front of the room with the drunk girl from earlier. Drew was tapping on the mic loudly.

"Hi, everyone!" Everyone in the crowd jolted from the mic feedback, "Whoops, sorry," Drew said, yanking the mic away from the speaker. Percy and Annabeth chose a spot towards the front next to Hazel and Frank.

"Welcome everyone! I'd like to say a few words for my beautiful sister who makes an even beautiful-er bride," Drew giggled. She ironically still had a mimosa in her hand. "This day is so special for her and my soon-to-be half-brother-in-law Jason, but also for us former campers. Camp Half-Blood is home for all of us." Drew spread her arms like Triton parting the Aegean Sea. "We get to share this special event and be reunited with everyone after so many years." Drew slurred, "This reunion and celebration would've happened much sooner at the supposed-to-be wedding of the century last year, but we all know what happened with one one of our bridesmaids! Actually, do we all know what happened—"

Annabeth's stomach dropped, and Frank and Hazel's face probably mirrored everyone else's in the room as Drew made her speech — shock and horror. Annabeth turned away, about to make a break for it, but Percy surged forward, tripping over wires and grabbing the mic from Drew.

"Hey!" she protested.

"Um, hi," Percy said into the mic, "I'm Percy. I, er, didn't go to camp here. I only met Piper and Jason this morning, but after just five minutes of talking to them, they, er, showed me what love truly is. I'd like to propose a toast. To Piper and Jason!" Percy raised his empty hand.

The guests echoed, "To Piper and Jason!"

Jason walked over, sheepishly, and took the mic from Percy, "Wow, um, that was beautiful. Thank you, Drew. And Percy. I hope everyone had a lot a eat, we still have plenty of food left. Pipes and I just want to thank you all for coming a couple days early to celebrate our wedding weekend and catch up with us at camp. Chiron has happily set up camp activities for us today. So after this please refer to your wedding itineraries—" Piper shot Jason a look. "I mean, everyone go have fun!"

Percy walked back to Annabeth, ignoring the stares directed at him and her. He took her arm, this time not asking a word and steering her back towards Cabin 3. He wasn't sure if that's where they were supposed to be headed, but she was silent.

As they approached the valley of cabins Annabeth turned to him, "Thank you. For, um, intervening back there. I don't know what Drew was thinking…"

"You're welcome. I, um, I didn't know that you had been engaged."

"Yeah, we—"

"You don't have to tell me."

"I want to," Annabeth said, "You deserve to know why you're here." The pavilion crowd had dispersed and most of the guests were headed straight towards camp activities so luckily, they were alone by the cabins.

"Luke and I started camp around the same time. He was a lot older, but he still hung out with me. We grew up together. I had a huge crush on him, but I thought he just thought of me as like a kid sister. He was my best friend. When we were older, we both knew the feelings were kind of there, but nothing ever happened until I came back from college. He was working in the city, and we started dating. I moved in with him. I think everyone knew we would end up together one day, so none of our friends were surprised when we got engaged only a year after we started dating. I've known him basically my whole life. Even though I was only twenty-four, he was thirty-one already. I was finally getting some of the bigger projects at my firm, we were in the middle of planning our wedding. It was supposed to be a June wedding too.

"Then, a couple months before our wedding, he got a call from this company he's been trying to get involved with for years. They wanted him, finally, and it would be a huge promotion from his position at his dad's shipping company. Except their headquarters is in San Francisco. Luke wanted to postpone the wedding so we could relocate to California. And I didn't want to leave New York. I was finally getting traction as an architect, and we had a life, something permanent here and he wanted to throw it all away."

Annabeth sat down on the bench outside of Cabin 3, almost like the weight of the story was too much for her stand.

"It was a huge fight. I ended up leaving and packing a bag and crashing on Thalia's couch. After days of moping, I went back to our apartment, fully intending on making up with him and agreeing to move to California, but he was gone. Our apartment was all packed up and he was in a U-Haul with half of our things. The worst part was that I'd already mailed out our save-the-dates," she muttered, bitterly.

"This was the first time I saw him, well the first time I saw basically everyone since we called off the wedding. I almost didn't come, but I couldn't do that to Piper and Jason. So that's why I hired you," she trailed off, looking at Percy.

Percy held out his hand to her, "I respect what you're doing. He's an asshole, and you shouldn't have to face him alone. I'm glad I'm here."

Annabeth took his hand, standing up. He was looking at her so kindly and sincerely with those beautiful green eyes. He didn't release her from his grasp. They were so close. If Annabeth tilter her chin forward, they'd be kissing.

When his lips were about to brush hers, she breathed, "I don't know if you're okay with anything physical."

"I'm an actor, Annabeth, I kiss in shows all the time. But it'll cost you, that'll be another $500," Percy grinned.

Annabeth blinked, pulling away from him and cracking a smile, "I hope it won't resort to that, but good to know you're prepared." She opened the door and slipped into Cabin 3.