Disclaimer: I think you guys (and girls. And everyone else) know where this is going. I hope so. I'm not Lin Manuel Miranda, a member of the Broadway cast of Hamilton, Rick Riordan, or have rights to either Hamilton: An American Musical/Percy Jackson in any way. Any lyrics in italics are song lyrics from Hamilton. Songs mentioned in this chapter: Helpless, the tenth song in Hamilton where Eliza and Alexander fall in love, and Satisfied, the song right after that where Angelica confesses her love to Alexander at his and Eliza's wedding.

A/N: We made it to chapter 16! Yay! Here's a cookie: (::). Good job. Also, additional cause for a yay, it's opening night. Anyway, just to clarify, it isn't Thanksgiving yet. It's like the week or so before. That doesn't even matter in this chapter, buuutt… In case you were wondering.

Annabeth POV

Annabeth stared anxiously at her phone. It was the day of opening night, and her parents still hadn't answered about the tickets. Granted, she hadn't directly asked them to let her know if they were coming, but still. Although Annabeth did her best to make it look like she didn't care, she did. She had done what Piper had said not to do: "Don't, like, get your hopes up too much, but try to make it so that if any of them want to come, they can," Piper suggested.

Annabeth had done exactly that, and now she was pretty sure she would pay the price for it. It was unlikely that any of them would really come, to be honest. While in that fight a while back Helen had said that they don't really like musicals because "what's the point of watching people waste their lives," that was probably something Helen had made up on the fly as an excuse to be mad at Annabeth. Ins reality, she probably thought that musicals (and Annabeth) were stupid for no reason whatsoever. Maybe Frederick would try to convince her to come, and bring the boys. Enrichment, and all that jazz.

Don't, Annabeth told herself, Do not let yourself believe that your dad is actually going to convince that cow to come support her daughter. Chances are, he's forgotten this whole musical existed.

Her phone rang. It was Percy.

"Hey, Perce," Annabeth greeted as she picked up.

"Hi, Annabeth, my most wonderful girlfriend," Percy greeted in response.

Annabeth grinned. That was such a Percy thing to say.

"What, no response?" Percy asked.

"Fine," Annabeth agreed, "Hello Percy, my mediocre boyfriend."

"Hey!"

"It's been literally four days, Percy. We've been one one date. I'm not making any judgments on your boyfriendship yet."

Boyfriend. The word felt weird in her mouth. It had been a pretty long time since she got to say that about someone. She got excited about Luke, thinking he would be the one. That was silly; she felt like she could see him so much clearer now that she wasn't blinded by the charming façade he put on. Luke was selfish, and mean when he wanted to be. He knew how to play all his cards just right, how to hide under that golden-boy exterior.

Percy was different. Percy was funny, and kind, compassionate, kind of dumb, but he knew how to surprise her with his quick and clever thinking. Occasionally. Percy was more deserving of that title -a good boyfriend- than Luke would ever be. Luke had taken her out on a date a week after he broke up with his girlfriend, for goodness sake!

Percy was everything Luke could never be.

When had she started acting like one of those characters in a romance novel? Geez.

"Annabeth? Anybody home?" She heard Percy say, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry- what were you saying?" She asked.

"I was asking if you were ready for opening night. We have to be there in like an hour and a half," Percy repeated.

"Wait, what? What time is it?" Annabeth asked frantically. How long had it been?

"Annabeth, relax. It's only five, we need to be there at six."

Annabeth sighed in relief; it had only been two hours since they came back from the practice where they had done a last couple run throughs.

They kept talking until it was five forty, and Piper wanted to talk and get ready before they left.

"Hey, Percy, I gotta go. I'll see you in twenty minutes," Annabeth said.

"Okay. Goodbye, Annabeth. See you soon."

With that, they hung up.

Fifteen minutes later, Annabeth pulled into the parking lot of the theater, with Piper and Hazel with her.

They walked into the theater, walking backstage.

"Ah, Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper! Thank you for being so prompt. Please head to your dressing rooms, and start to get dressed. The stylists will be in there in just a moment. Once you are ready, meet onstage," Chiron instructed.

Annabeth nodded, and, waving goodbye to her friends, walked over to her dressing room. Silena, her hair and makeup stylist, was already waiting.

Half an hour of combing, straightening, and perfecting later, Annabeth walked out of her dressing room fully dressed up in the off white dress she wore from the opening number.

She walked onstage, holding her notebook that she had filled with notes of suggestions Chiron, Coach Hedge (their choreography manager), and Mr.D had made. A few minutes later, the rest of the cast slowly started trickling in.

When everyone was there, Chiron, Mr.D, and Apollo came in.

"Hello, hello everybody," Chiron began, "You all have come so far as performers. All of you have been so great with this, and we are all so proud of you. So, I am happy to welcome you to your first show! You guys are starting at exactly seven, so… break a leg!"

On that note, the cast dispersed backstage and waited for audience members to file in. From her angle, Annabeth could just barely see the door. People started to enter. There was a man with black hair. A regal-looking woman with brown hair and stormy gray eyes. Wait, what? Stormy gray eyes? Annabeth had never seen someone else with the exact same shade of eyes as her. Who was she?

Just as Annabeth glanced back at the woman, she saw the woman stare at Annabeth. Directly into her eyes. It was unnerving. She shouldn't have been able to see Annabeth. There was only a tiny crack in the curtains that Annabeth occasionally stole glances through. She shouldn't have been able to know that there was someone standing there, much less know where their eyes even were.

When Annabeth finally dared to look for a third time, the woman had been swallowed into the now-crowd of people walking through the door. However, this time, someone else of interest entered the room. It was a man. A man with sandy colored hair and was just out of his prime. And -although she couldn't see it from this distance- Annabeth knew that this man also had intense brown eyes.

This was Frederick Chase. This was her father! He came! Annabeth grinned, and was about to give a little wave when she remembered he couldn't see her. She settled for taking one last peek, to see where he was now. As she watched him settle into his seat, she noticed that he was the only member of her family there. No Helen. (Thank goodness) No Bobby or Matthew. Oh well. She'd take what she could get.

A minute or two later, the seats were filled, and the "silence your phones" message was broadcasted over the speakers.

Then, Hamilton: An American Musical, a musical she had poured her heart into, a musical she had worked so hard for, finally, finally, began.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Percy POV:

"Please take this opportunity to silence your cell phones. Thank you, and enjoy my show," King George the Third (Will) said over the loudspeaker. From backstage, Percy could hear a few laughs coming from the audience. Then, the curtain rose, and all the actors of Hamilton: An American Musical stepped out on the stage and gave the audience the best performance they had ever seen.

In hindsight, it was, without a doubt, the best performance they had ever performed. It was amazing. That's not to say there wasn't a hiccough or two, but it was amazing. Just amazing. This, Percy knew, was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

The opening notes played, and for once, Percy really took a moment to thank whatever deity was up there for giving them such an amazing orchestra.

Luke walked out onto the stage, wearing his burgundy coat, just like Percy had seen him do dozens of times before. The spotlight trailing him across the stage.

"How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore

And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot

In the Caribbean by providence impoverished

In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?" Luke sang.

"The ten-dollar founding father without a father

Got a lot farther by working a lot harder

By being a lot smarter

By being a self-starter

By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter," Grover came in, perfectly on time. To be honest, Percy hadn't been quite sure that Grover was actually the best fit for the role, but who was he to comment? In the end, Grover had proved the perfect fit.

Percy listened as everyone came in. Gods, Annabeth was amazing. He was so lucky to have her as his girlfriend.

As Percy sang and danced on stage, he, at first, couldn't help but look out at the huge crowd in the theater. They were all watching. Watching him. That was more than a little nerve wracking, but Percy was soon able to forget the people watching him.

He was doing things that he had done hundreds of times over. This wasn't new. This was natural.

"This is so cool," Percy said quietly to Grover during Helpless as they were standing in the back while Annabeth sang with Hazel and Piper about the letters Hamilton sent Eliza. Their microphones were off, so they could talk (as long as they were quiet) and nobody would hear.

"I know, right? This is awesome," Grover agreed, "I will never get used to performing live. You know how actors on TV and stuff will sometimes get that really close up shot during the rare times they perform live, to be like, look at me, I'm performing live. I mean, please, we perform live eight times a week."

Percy chuckled silently at that.

The rest of the show passed by in a blur of singing and dancing and being so, so grateful that he's gotten this opportunity to do what he loves. Because this was it.

There were a couple bumps in the road, but those had been smoothed out. Like when Percy had forgotten a line, and he saw Annabeth standing on the surround, giving him an encouraging nod. Percy's eyes lit up as he remembered what to say, and, not wasting any time, he sang it, and the show went on. The audience didn't know, the show wasn't completely wrecked, and that was all that mattered.

When Percy and Annabeth and the rest of the cast walked out onto the stage and bowed, there was a thunderous applause so loud Percy was pretty sure he had burst an eardrum. Still, it was worth it.

It was worth it all for the cheering and the impromptu party held after the performance. For the hugs and you-were-great's. The cheers. For seeing Annabeth embrace her father with tears running down her cheeks as he handed her flowers. For Annabeth, for the kiss that she had given them after the curtain closed.

As Percy drove back home with his parents, he knew this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. The work, the frustration, the late nights, they all came with the territory. But other things did too. Like friends that were made, friends that were like family. The memories that Percy knew he would cherish forever. (Like when Leo shoved one of the extras out of the way to talk to Calypso during Satisfied) The improvements all of them had made, and so, so much more.

A/N: It's like 68 degrees (fahrenheit. 20 celsius for all you non Americans. Btw fahrenheit is waaay better. What is the point of having a system based off of the freezing and boiling points of water? Although I think we can universally agree the metric system is better. But I digress) in March yasss! So Im outside on my trampoline right now and it's pretty awesome since we're coming out of a winter filled with 30 degree days. Like, Texas literally hit zero degrees. What? That's insane. I mean, I don't live in Texas, but still. Anyway, thanks all so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review so I can know what you guys think.

Reviews:

KOTLCgirlSoKeefe forever: Thank you so much! I update every Saturday

Guest: Thanks so much! Here's your answer :) I decided to make only her dad come because I feel like Helen wouldn't come, and the boys wouldn't come because a) it would be a pretty late night for them if you think about a two hour drive there and back plus a two and a half hour musical, that means that if they leave at six, they'd be back by 10:30 and b) Helen just doesn't really like Annabeth because she's a reminder of Frederick's first marriage, so she'd use what I mentioned in the first point to convince Frederick not to let them come. If you review again in the future, could you give me some kind of name to call you in case two guests review?

Recommendation:

(It's a book this time)

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend.

It's a really good book series (three books out so far, but the author said she's thinking 7-10) about a girl named Morrigan Crow. I don't want to spoil anything, so here's the back cover summary thingy for book one, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow:

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks-and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart - an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests - or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.