Piper's P.O.V

It was a rare Friday night that Annabeth and I were in the flat. Which is ironic, considering before Christmas, Friday's were a night we always spent together to ensure Annabeth actually took a break. I wasn't complaining though, I thought it was brilliant that Annabeth and Percy had found each other. I thought he was perfect for her and vice versa. Which was why with him being out of the hospital now, I was a little surprised that she'd asked for a girls night in the flat with Hazel.

I was less surprised when Jason said he was having a cousin's night with Percy and Thalia to brain storm for Thalia's dinner with their father tomorrow night. The impression I got was that their dad wanted Thalia and Chris to set a date tomorrow night and that Thalia and Chris wanted to call it off tomorrow night. Hopefully the night wouldn't be as explosive as it had the potential to be.

Once Hazel had arrived, we set out having one of our usual gossip sessions that we always had when we got together.

"So Hazel how are things with Frank?" I asked.

"Pretty great" She blushed, "We're still deciding what we want to go to Estelle's party as. Every idea I've given him so far he's thrown out. I'm starting to think he doesn't want to do a couples costume." She said a little sadly.

"Maybe he just doesn't want to be a prince?" I asked.

"Yeah," Annabeth jumped in. "We all know Frank's crazy about you, there's no way he wouldn't want to match you. Maybe you could be a hero and a sidekick?" She asked

"Or a princess and her best friend" I added.

"I hadn't thought of those options." Hazel said nodding, "I'll ask him." She said picking up her phone to do just that.

"I don't think we'd be doing a couples costume if Estelle hadn't requested it." Annabeth confessed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Annabeth said before taking a sip of her coffee. "Percy didn't exactly want to be Flynn Ryder." She said.

"Who did he want to be?" Hazel asked.

"Flounder" Annabeth said with amusement shinning in her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised?" Hazel said laughing and we laughed along with her.

"Who would you have been if Percy went as flounder?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know to be honest." Annabeth replied.

"You'd be prime material for Belle." I said.

"But Estelle's dressing up as Belle, I wouldn't have done the same." Annabeth replied and I nodded.

"Speaking of costumes I need a little help, not with mine and Frank's we'll figure that out." Hazel said.

"What did you do?" I asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Something, which I never do. I meddled." Hazel replied.

Hazel spent the next half an hour filling us in on her history with Nico and coincidently with Will. And that she was trying to set them up using Estelle's fancy dress party. I had to admit the plan had merit, I was pretty sure it could work too. Annabeth and I then spent the following two hours throwing out costume ideas for Nico and Will. She shot down Stitch and Angel. Apparently, Nico wouldn't dress up as anything cute or cuddly. I thought it would be a good idea for someone though.

She also shot down my suggestion of Mushu and Crickey, which I thought would have been brilliant but apparently Nico didn't want to be a fluffy side kick. I was fully ready to argue that neither Mushu nor Crickey was a fluffy sidekick when Annabeth suggested something that was totally perfect. I didn't even know she'd seen that film. But I thought it would fit the dynamic of Will and Nico, that Hazel had told us about, and follow all of Nico's very specific rules about what Hazel could dress him up as.

I didn't know Will very well or Nico for that matter, but I loved to set people up if they were well suited, which it sounded like they were. We lost track of time discussing ways to get Nico and Will talking at the party, but it was a fun night.

Percy's P.O.V

Annabeth was having a girls night, which she was really looking forward too. I really missed her even though my cousins night was fun. Thalia, Jason, and I sat discussing the plan that Thalia had come up with for the dinner tomorrow night.

It was a pretty good plan, Thalia and Chris were each going to bring a date with them to the evening, a move which she thought Chris's dad would expect from him, but one Thalia's dad wouldn't expect from her.

Thalia had always been a really private person. I think after everything that had happened with their mom, she didn't feel like she could talk about certain things, at least not with her dad. She'd opened up to me and mom and eventually Jason too and of course she's always had Annabeth. I wasn't surprised when she told us that their dad had no idea that she preferred women over men.

"So who are you bringing?" I asked.

"Here's the flaw in the plan." Thalia said, "I have no idea, I've recently met someone I'd like to take on a date, but it's really not the setting for that."

"Why not take Annabeth?" I suggested.

"Because dad would put the relationship to the test because he doesn't know about it and I don't want to change the friendship I have with Annabeth by asking her to do that."

"Okay, rules out Pipers too then." I said, both Jason and Thalia nodded.

"Oh okay, I have a friend that owes me a favour, and she'd totally be up for this, you wouldn't have to worry about any tests Uncle Z would ask for either. I actually think you'll get on very well. Do you trust me to set it up?" I asked.

"Of course I trust you." Thalia said.

"Brilliant, I'll shoot her a message in a mo, see if she's able to do it." I said.

I'd helped out Estelle's teacher when she had needed her tire changing a while ago and we'd become fast friends ever since. That wasn't why she owed me the favour, that had been a little more on par to what I was about to ask her to do, which is how I knew she wouldn't mind me asking her to do it.

I actually had thought on more than one occasion that she and Thalia would be well suited but until six months ago I hadn't known she was into women. Hopefully everything would work out well and maybe they'd try for a real date, but I was getting ahead of myself. First step find out if she's free.

Percy: Are you free tomorrow night? I need to call in that favour.

Annabeth's P.O.V

Percy and I were spending the afternoon together, it had been a while since it had been just the two of us and it was really nice. We were mostly studying, trying to help Percy get caught up on his classes. But it was time spent together and it let me rather reminiscent of when I first started helping him with Calculus.

"What are you thinking about?" Percy asked.

"That this is very similar to when I first started helping you with Calculus." I replied honestly.

"Feeling a bit nostalgic?" Percy asked.

"A little I suppose."

"Because I wasn't hurt then?" Percy asked seeing right through me.

"Yes" I confessed.

Percy closed the book in front of him and turned to face me.

"Annabeth, we've been through this, it wasn't your fault, it was Luke's. If I could go back the same thing probably would happen again, do you know why?"

"Because you love me."

"Because I love you." He agreed "No-one, not even Luke, could stop how I feel about you Annabeth."

"I know and I love you too Percy, and no-one will ever be able to change that."

"But?" He asked.

"I still feel guilty, and I know you said not too, but it's really hard to turn that off y'know?" I was getting better at not feeling guilty about Luke kidnapping Percy, but it was sometimes really hard to ignore or turn off. I knew I had to process it fully and so did Percy, but Percy needed me, so I'd been putting it off.

"Come on" Percy said pulling me up from the sofa.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To relieve your guilt and stress over this."

"Leave a note for your mom or send her a text just so she knows where you are." I said, thinking of how awful it would be to come back to an empty apartment with no idea where Percy was again. Percy nodded and sent his mom a text before we grabbed our coats and headed out of the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"It's a surprise." He replied.

His surprise was the bowling alley. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been to one it had been years.

"Bowling?" I asked.

"Bowling" He agreed. "I know it's not an easy fix, helping you to process how you feel about what happened, but throwing a ball at some pins might help a little until you feel ready to process it."

"Have I told you that I love you?" I asked.

"Not recently." He replied cheekily, knowing full well that I had in fact told him only moments ago in his mom's apartment that I loved him.

"Ready to knock down some pins?" He asked.

"Ready" I confirmed as we entered the bowling alley.

Thalia's P.O.V

I'll kill him! Of all the people, in all the world, that owed Percy a favour, it had to be the one woman that I wanted to ask on a date. My luck absolutely sucks! There was nothing I could do about it now that she was standing outside my door waiting for me to open it.

Deep breath, Thalia!

"Hi!" I said opening the door. "It's great to see you again." I said genuinely.

"Oh hello again, Percy didn't exactly say who I'd be helping out tonight but I'm glad it's you." She said smiling.

"Has Percy told you the circumstances of the dinner? I don't want you to be surprised when we get there." I said.

"Oh he has." She said and something flashed through her eyes, an emotion, but it was gone too quickly for me to figure out what it was. "Shall we get going? We have a marriage to stop."

"Let's" I agreed.

"So I don't know if Percy told you but, my first name's Thalia." I said realising she didn't know it and feeling awkward for pointing it out.

"He did, it's probably on your work system but mine's Reyna. Relax Thalia, you'll be out of a marriage by dessert." She said smiling and opening her driver's door.

As I directed her to my dad's apartment, we chatted about random things like what she did for a living and how I got into veterinary medicine. By the time we pulled up to the valet for dad's building I was feeling a little more relaxed about this evening. Reyna seemed as cool as I hoped she'd be. I really hoped whatever happened tonight didn't ruin my real chances with her, if there were any.

She turned off the engine and turned to face me.

"Right, how do you want to play this? Subtle flirting through the dinner, obvious flirting through the dinner? Hand holding, cheek kisses, actual kisses? The balls in your court Thalia, Percy said your dad would make you jump through hoops with this tonight, let me know how far you want to go." She said.

"Yes to hand holding and cheek kisses as an absolute minimum he'll expect that. I don't want to make you uncomfortable by saying yes to actual kisses so maybe we'll see how it goes? And maybe, a combination of the flirting?" I said a little unsure of where to set the boundary line.

"Alright" She said getting out of the car and I followed suit. She came around to my side of the car took my hand and laced our fingers together before handing me the keys to give to the valet.

From there we made our way up to Dad's apartment. Chris and Clarisse were already there when we arrived and Chris's dad looked about as happy as mine did.

"So Thalia, how did you meet Reyna?" My dad asked.

"Do you mind if I tell it?" Reyna asked me.

"Not at all" I replied smiling at her, all night she'd been brilliant at this, jumping in perfectly to make it seem romantic and to take the pressure off me.

"Thanks" she said and kissed my cheek before piling into the story about Argentum's vet visit and how I'd helped with the surgery (which was a stretch as I hadn't actually been there the night before). How I was the only one Argentum would settle with and that we'd just hit it off. That she'd brought him back later for an unnecessary check just to see me again, (I didn't know how true that was), but Argentum had had a check up after his surgery and was totally fine.

I smiled at her when she finished and kissed her cheek in return. "Been together ever since." I added.

Reyna then asked Chris what his plan was for the future, which considering the circumstances around the dinner was a pretty risky question.

"I've just applied for my doctorate in psychology, I've had a recent experience which has made me want to help those who struggle mentally." He said.

"I think that's a very honourable thing to want to do, I hope it works out." Reyna said genuinely missing the reddening face of Chris's father. I assumed that that was not part of his plan for Chris.

"What is it that you do?" Chris's dad asked Reyna.

"I'm a teacher." Reyna replied.

"Talk about noble professions" Clarisse said and I snorted before smiling in agreement.

"Do you enjoy it?" Chris asked.

"Very much, yes." Reyna said smiling and I could see that she genuinely did.

Dinner progressed with us all avoiding the elephant in the room. That was until Chris got up before dessert and got down on one knee.

Ψ

~Author's Note~

Hi All, apologies for missing the update last week, work was insane, and we had a very poorly child to contend with so instead of posting a chapter I wasn't happy with, I postponed until I had the time to shape it into a chapter, I was happy with. I hope you all enjoy it, please let me know.

Merendinoemiliano – Thank you for your review! Frazel will probably make another appearance before the end of the story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know.

SarcasmRocks – Thank you for your review! Yes, I'm taking your suggestion for Will and Nico, I hope that's okay :). It's very on point for canon and I think everyone will get a kick out of it. I think Paul probably dotes over Percy in a more fatherly way, rather than taking Estelle or Sally's approach :). Slime sandwiches have been a real thing in my life unfortunately but thankfully nobody ate them! Thalia's POV has been really fun to write recently, Clarisse will have a few more cameos before the story is done. Hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know.

WiseGrl14 – Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoyed this one too, please let me know.

Dawn. Justice – Thank you for your review! Couples costumes if you have any suggestions please throw them out :).

Astra2111 – Thank you for your review! I've written the party yet but I think you can say Solangelo might be one their way. I decided not to put Percy in the marriage talk, but hopefully you like the direction I've taken it in. Please let me know.

McShizzleSupreme778 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you're looking forward to the fancy dress, I'm sure it'll be fun to write, please throw out costume suggestions if you have any. Hope you liked the chapter, please let me know.

SpillTHEteaNOW – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you loved it, I hope you loved this one too, please let me know.

TheFatherDrPeso – Thank you for your review! Everyone is big on the Solangelo, I didn't realise you all felt so deprived! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know.

Insanedreamer7905 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you loved it! Estelle's a cutie that's for sure! Solangelo is really in demand! Hopefully this chapter made up for your feeling a little? Let me know.

As always happy reading and stay safe!