Hello all, thanks for the reviews! Sorry it's taken me a bit. I ended up having to rewrite this chapter several times. As for a posting schedule asked about in the reviews, it really depends. My health unfortunately goes through ups and downs that really hamper my creative outlets and ability to sit down and reread and edit. I aim for every 2 weeks, and try to upload at least once a month. Previous readers will know however, that often I upload faster or slower depending on how my writing process is going at the time. It shouldn't, but having engagement on the story does motivate me to spend more time editing and writing for it. Whether it's following/favoriting/reviewing. It also shows me if the current direction is resonating with people or changes need to be made. I want to make it clear though. I in no way expect or am asking people to do this. I'm glad people are happy to read at all. Readers are free to engage, or not engage, as they please. It just creates more of a sense of urgency for me knowing that there are people waiting for an update. It forces me to sit down and edit, or rewrite when I know something isn't fitting quite the way it should in the flow of the story. Again, people are free to engage as they please. I will post regardless as long as there seems to be even a little interest. The story does have a rough plot line and an end established so it will be completed. In the end, this is something I do in my free time to as a creative outlet and to process things going on, or have gone on in my life, and sometimes, the ideas happen quickly, other times they stagnate. Some weeks are busier than others, sometimes I'm healthier and in a more creative place than others. As always, thanks for all the positive support whether it's PM/follows/favorites/reviews/reads. I'm really happy that anyone enjoys what I post at all. Hope readers enjoy the latest update! :)

~secrethalfblood

Dpov

I wasn't exactly sure what qualified a store as a 'boutique', but from the short time I'd spent in this one, I was guessing it was taking random beach wear and slapping a price tag on it that sent wallets up in flames the second they crossed through the door.

The girls seemed to be having fun though.

"How on Olympus can this thing of lipstick be worth almost a hundred dollars?" I asked Lorelei as she appeared from behind a display of bathing suits that frankly, looked confusing to figure out how to put on. There seemed to be a lot of knots and string involved.

"Because," she said gesturing towards a logo above the make-up stand. "It's designer."

"So?" I asked frowning and she shrugged.

"So, it's worth more."

"Is it any better?"

"Sometimes," she continued sounding unconcerned, and something about her expression had me wondering if money really meant anything to Lorelei. Or anything close to the average person. "But that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?" I asked surprised when she frowned a little, obviously thinking about this.

I didn't know a lot about the people Lorelei spent time around apart from Jake, and while he was generally pretty relaxed, it wouldn't surprise me if he knew how to use, and possibly, abuse, a credit card. Judging by the look of her school, and it's reputation among my teammates, I was pretty certain her classmates could too.

But I'd never understood some people's obsessions with labels and brand name products, not unless they were actually quality products, and I didn't understand what the point of throwing money away for a name was.

"Status." She said eventually with a shrug before moving on to a row of fragrances that were all named things like 'Desire' and 'Adore'.

"That's it?" I asked incredulously.

"It's important to some people." she said with another shrug. "Money is power, and if you've got a lot of it, you can spend it on lipstick. It's not enough to have money for some people. They want other people to know they have it too."

"And what do you think?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

The question felt a little loaded. We both knew she had plenty of designer clothes, I'd seen her wearing them, but she didn't look offended. Instead, she looked back at the make up and smiled a little, as if she knew what I was thinking.

I'd by lying if I said it didn't make my heart skip a beat.

"It's not really my shade."

"Still don't like answering questions about yourself I see," I said and while I expected for her to get defensive, her grin went a little crooked.

"And yet you're still asking."

"Well yeah." I answered trying to sound casual, but something about my tone must have caught her attention because she looked up from the bottles and raised an eyebrow expectantly. "I mean… we are friends."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're real interested in Michael's preferred brand of chapstick." She said rolling her eyes, and while her tone was sarcastic, it wasn't ill-natured. She simply looked amused.

She seemed less upset about personal questions than she normally would have been today however, so I decided to push my luck.

"What if we went back and forth?" I asked and she looked confused.

"Excuse me?"

"We take turns, I tell you something about myself, then, you tell me something about you."

She hesitated for a moment her brow furrowed as if she was about to argue, then actually considered the option.

She crossed her arms over her chest, clearly still thinking before, to my very great surprise, relenting and saying.

"Ok."

"Seriously?"

"Seems fair." She continued with a reasonable nod. "But I get to go first."

"Alright." I agreed, surprised I'd gotten even this far. "What do you want to know?"

"Heather." She said giving me a pointed look and I almost winced. "Why in the name of all the gods did you go out with her? She sounded horrible. And from everything I can tell, she wasn't even all that nice to you."

"I dunno." I said eventually, avoiding Lorelei's intent expression and looking around at the shelves that seemed to be exploding with merchandise. "I mean. It wasn't always like how it was in the end."

I was suddenly finding this idea very stupid.

I didn't like to talk about my ex-girlfriend. Going back to that relationship and everything that had happened wasn't pleasant. It made everything around me, and myself feel oddly cold. Even the memories of constantly being screamed at brought back anxiety.

"At first she was funny and cute. I thought she really liked me. I wouldn't have asked her out if I didn't. A for a while we were happy. Then one day she just… changed." I shrugged. "She'd always had the occasional off day, but they weren't that bad. When it started getting worse and for longer amounts of time, I thought if I just stuck it out, put up with the fights and the screaming, I'd get my old girlfriend back but I dunno." I sighed and shook my head, wondering if I even wanted to look at Lorelei at this point, afraid of what I might see. "I just never did."

I I did chance a glance at her, and while she seemed to be thinking, it didn't look as if she was going to voice an opinion about what I'd said which was somewhat of a relief. I'd gotten a lot of 'advice' about my relationship with my ex-girlfriend. What I should have done or what I shouldn't have put up with. How I should have said this, or not have done that. In the end, I hadn't found it either comforting or helpful. I couldn't change what had happened. No one could, and hindsight was all well and good, but it couldn't do anything for me back then, and it didn't do anything for me now.

"That sucks." She said eventually, and while the response was a little anti climatic, the sympathy in her tone wasn't.

She sounded like she meant it. Like she really understood how unfair the situation felt.

"Yeah," I said with a slight laugh at such a concise approach to her response, but also because of out of anything anyone had said about the situation, it was the thing I related to the most. The one that made me feel a little better. "It really did."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." she said quietly for some reason avoiding my gaze and I shrugged.

"It's fine." I said automatically, and when I saw her expression, clearly about to protest, I continued. "I mean, I know it's not fine. But it's over. I'm sure Caleb wasn't really a prize either."

To my surprise however, Lorelei made a noncommittal gesture.

"Actually, Caleb wasn't all that terrible of a boyfriend. I mean, at the end he was." She added when I could feel myself start to doubt. "But before the end he wasn't all that bad. For the most part anyways."

"For the most part?" I asked a little stunned to hear her somewhat defending her ex boyfriend's conduct in their relationship. Especially with how it ended. "I thought you hated him?"

"Oh I do." She said easily, which confused me even further. "I don't think I've ever hated anyone as much as I hate him. But he wasn't like that." She shook her head, clearly meaning heather.

"Then what was he?" I asked and she smiled, but it was bitter.

"Caleb was a guy who wanted to date a daughter of Aphrodite." She said shrewdly. "Instead, he got me."

Something about her expression though, was telling me there was more to this statement than she was willing to tell me.

"But-" I started, completely baffled by this, but she shook her head.

"Nope, no more freebee information." She interrupted, cutting off my question. "You said you were going to ask about me, not Caleb, ask your question."

"Fine." I said with exaggerated patience, and she motioned for me to move on with the conversation.

I wasn't sure when we'd started walking again, but by now we'd reached the front of the shop. A row of brightly colored sundresses were styled on mannequins in the store window and while they were positioned in a way that I guessed supposed was to be fashionable, they looked somewhat contorted to me.

I looked away from the mannequins and back at Lorelei who's expression was expectant, and I scrambled to think of something to ask her.

There were so many things I wanted to know. Questions about her father and everything that had happened to her overseas. Why her mother was angry with her, and even more intimidating, what she thought about me.

But a Lorelei seemingly open to answer questions about herself was still somewhat of a new experience for the both of us, and I had feeling that inquiries such as these wouldn't have been appreciated. Even worse, they might do more harm than good.

"How did we meet?" I asked eventually, realizing only as I said it, that I really did want to know this. I had for a while.

"How did we meet?" she repeated, looking a little confused and I nodded.

"Yeah." I pressed and when she continued to appear puzzled I explained. "For the first time, I mean. When you introduced yourself, after when we were by the lake, you said we'd spoken before."

"You remember that?" she asked in shock and I nodded.

"Yeah. I remember because I thought it was really weird that you seemed to know me at least a little, but I had no memory of talking with you. I don't usually forget faces." I shook my head. "And I know you said we'd run into each other at the arcade at least once, but I get the impression that's not what you were talking about. But if you can change how you look, and it sounds like you used to…"

She nodded, clearly understanding my point, and I let my sentence fade waiting for an answer.

It didn't happen immediately. she seemed to be thinking about what she wanted to say.

"Do you remember?" I asked wondering just how long Lorelei and I might have 'known' each other.

"Yeah." She said her tone a little entertained at this point, but her smile, if anything, was a little embarrassed. "I remember."

"Why don't I?" I asked feeling a genuine sense of disappointment at this realization.

She didn't look offended however.

"Probably because at the time, my hair was blonde."

I frowned, trying to picture Lorelei with the hair color and failing, but let her elaborate.

"You were running a demonstration on how to make and maintain daggers. I'd only just gotten to camp a few weeks earlier. I think I was like thirteen at the time. Right before freshman year. I dragged a friend to the demonstration. You looked pissed people showed up."

"I remember that." I said in surprise, mentally sorting back through the summers at camp to the few times Chiron had forced me to lead an activity.

The class had been pretty full which I had been irritated about. I'd been hoping no one would come and I'd could work on other projects rather than keeping untrained teenagers from cutting themselves open trying to sharpen a dagger they weren't familiar with.

As these memories flooded back to me, so did others, along with a realization that hit me like a bus.

"I don't remember you there, but I that's where I met-"

"Heather." Lorelei said with a nod and I had an image dart across my mind's eye.

Two blonde girls, giggling maddeningly often during the demonstrations, one with green eyes, the other what I was now realizing was a familiar blue.

I'd remember thinking while the giggling had been annoying, and the first girl had been hopeless with weapon making, the second had had promise. Had even talked to her a little after one of the classes, when she'd chimed in on a debate one of my brothers and I were having as she'd walked by.

"You told me I was wrong about the dev behind the Lockspire trilogy."

"Well." She said with an apologetic gesture. "You were."

"I can't believe that was you." I said shaking my head, though, looking back it made total sense. I let out a laugh suddenly remembering that I'd been planning to ask her out. "I was going to talk to you after the next lesson, but you weren't there. I asked Heather where you were and she said you'd gone home for a little to visit your father. I thought you were sisters."

I looked at her, stunned by yet another realization.

"Wait, were you and Heather friends?"

"I'm pretty sure it's my turn to ask questions." Lorelei said stubbornly, clearly not wanting to talk about this, but it was a subject I didn't want to risk being dropped.

"Does she know about your dad?" I asked, and she delayed for so long, I almost thought she wouldn't answer.

Finally, she said.

"Yes."

She wasn't looking at me, but at a board of earrings shaped like various seashells, but she looked far less at ease and I figured I shouldn't push farther in this direction.

I waited for her to ask something, only to be distracted when a bell signaled the door to the shop opening. A couple stepped into the store, a breeze ruffling the dresses on the mannequins causing me to frown, suddenly remembering why we were here.

"Where's Ellie?" I asked looking around, realizing I hadn't seen either of my friends for a while now.

This store wasn't very big…

"Oh, I locked her and Michael into a fitting room like twenty minutes ago." She said airily, waving the statement away like it was nothing while I gaped at her.

"You what?" I asked incredulously but before she could respond, I asked. "Don't those lock from the inside?"

"Yeah, that's why I dragged the return rack in front of it."

Her eyes went a little wider when I continued to stare at her, and her tone went defensive.

"What? You asked me to set them up. Mutual attraction trapped in a confined space will do a lot for that."

Her tone was so matter of fact, I knew better than to ask if she was serious.

Instead, I turned and walked straight for the fitting rooms to see that yes. One of the doors was blocked by a metal rack strewn full of rejected clothes, blocking the space between the door and the wall.

"This is a fire hazard Lorelei," I said wheeling the it out of the way while she shrugged, apparently unbothered by this reality, and I tested the door to see it had been unlocked, no doubt in their attempts to get out.

"Ellie, Michael are you-"

But the question died as the pair sprang apart, both going bright red as Lorelei leaned into the door way looking supremely pleased with her work, said.

"You know, I still expect you to take me to prom."

Ellie, who looked like a mortified deer caught in head lights just stared at her.

"C'mon." she said grabbing Ellie's hand. "I found something I want you to try on. I think blue is your color."

She then dragged Ellie out of the fitting room in a rush of confused activity leaving Michael and I in an extremely awkward silence.

"Thanks," he said eventually, clearing his throat and avoiding my gaze. "For unblocking the door. We'd been stuck for a while."

"Seemed like you found a way to amuse yourselves."

His flush increased.

"Shut up Dex," he muttered furiously and I laughed.

"Why were you even in there?"

"Her zipper got stuck. Lorelei said I should help her while she went to grab something." He explained sounding flustered, and shot me an irritated look when he caught my expression. "It made sense at the time."

"Uh huh." I said trying not to grin.

"Don't look like that." He said pointing at me. "You're the one who brought the chaotic neutral, not me."

I laughed at this description of Lorelei, but he still looked annoyed.

"Yeah, laugh while you can. It won't be so funny if you were the one locked in the room."

"Lighten up Mike." I said.

"Look who's talking." He muttered, before stepping out into the main part of the shop after the girls.

…

After the events in the boutique, the evening went by quickly. While Lorelei continued to insist she was still Ellie's rightful prom date, it didn't stop her from offering to make accents for a suit for Michael, that complimented the color of Ellie's dress.

Eventually, as the sun went down and shops started to close, Michael and Ellie went home and while I knew I probably should have as well, I couldn't quite bring myself to.

I didn't know when or if Lorelei had a time she needed to leave, but she didn't mention anything and I figured knowing her personality, it wasn't as if Lorelei wouldn't tell me when she wanted to go.

I decided to leave it to her to decide when to call it a day, and while a part of me was nervous with her spectrum of abilities, she might have been in tune with my realizations earlier, she either didn't notice or was polite enough to pretend.

Either way, I didn't want to bring it up.

"Be honest," I said pinning her thumb under my own before resetting for another match.

The boardwalk had officially closed for the evening, so we'd made our way to the beach just walking. Eventually we'd ended up sitting in the sand, declaring one thumb war after the other while talking about random things between.

"What's the dumbest thing you've gotten detention for?" I asked pinning her thumb again and she frowned, a look of concentration crossing her features as she tried to break it free.

"What? Like the most idiotic or most unfair?" she asked with a laugh as I relaxed my grip.

"Both."

She shot me an amused look, and while the sun had gone down hours ago, there was enough moonlight to see her expression.

"That's two questions."

"No, that's a two part question." I argued knowing I was pushing my luck. "It's one question over all."

"That's not how it works."

"Humor me."

"Fine." She relented and appeared to think for a moment.

Technically the beach was supposed to be closed after dark and I had no doubt we'd be told by security to leave if someone did see us, but for once, she seemed to be in a mood for talking and I wasn't about to disturb the status quo.

A cool breeze drifted off the waves and pulled at a few strands of her hair which she brushed away absentmindedly with her free hand. She was still wearing my jacket which was zipped up against the cold, and while I wasn't exactly warm, I couldn't help but reluctantly admit I preferred she be the one using it.

It was stupid, I knew that. A total cliché. Growing up being raised by an independent, extremely practical single mother, I'd never understood why girls couldn't just bring their own jackets to places. Now though…

"The most idiotic was probably one of my teachers gave me detention for walking in like three seconds late for class, because the teacher before held us late. So then I got sent to the office and missed even more class time. The most unfair was probably when my gym teachers bet against my father's team in a tournament final, and lost a ton of money when they won. I got two weeks of in school for that."

"They let him do that to you?" I asked so startled, I forgot about the game and she clamped her thumb down over mine.

"I didn't complain." She said with a shrug, apparently unbothered. "I didn't have to see him while he was still pissed, and I don't mind sitting in a room by myself. I don't like a lot of my teachers, and they don't like me. I don't really have friends there. Not seeing Jake sucked though. He decked our quarter back after the first week so we could hang out."

"That's one way to solve a problem I guess." I muttered and she smiled.

It was times like this that reminded me Lorelei and Jake appeared to have a much broader idea of what could be considered 'acceptable' behavior than others might. The casual way they spoke about things like intentionally getting detention still took some getting used to for me.

"Tell me a secret." She said unexpectedly.

"A secret?" I asked and she nodded, her expression unusually interested. Eager even.

"What kind of secret?"

"Anything." She said with a shrug. "Something embarrassing that happened, something no one else knows, something you're afraid of."

"Why?" I asked uncertainly and she shrugged.

"Why not?"

I could think of plenty of reasons, good ones too, why telling a secret to a child of Aphrodite might be a terrible idea. They were notorious for gossiping, they always seemed to know everything about everyone, and they weren't afraid to use it to their advantage. But, from my experiences getting to know her, and Jake as well, I was starting to see how having such a rigid interpretation of what campers of each cabin were 'supposed' to be like didn't really get you all that far.

Still, it was a bit unnerving to have someone as self contained as Lorelei asking for personal details. It was out of character for her, and she was asking for something she didn't seem all that eater to offer up herself.

But she had been talking tonight, opening up little by little, and I couldn't pretend that it hadn't affected me. And maybe it was this that had me asking.

"Can it be something only my siblings know?"

"Sure." She agreed, clearly surprised with how little resistance her request was met with and I had to admit, even I didn't know why I was entertaining it.

Maybe it was because she seemed more willing to answer questions about herself today. It had me wanting to reciprocate, to find out more. Everything I could.

Still, it didn't stop the feeling of anxiety settling in the pit of my stomach as I dropped her hand.

"Alright." I started, uncertain if this was a good idea, but determined to continue anyways. "But it's easier to show you rather than tell you."

"What do you-"

But she cut herself off, her eyes going wide as I turned my hand over, palm up, and flames burst into life above it.

Around us, the sand was flooded with golden light as sparks darted between my fingertips and drifted up towards the night sky. It reflected in the blue of her eyes giving their color a strangely gilded quality that I thought shouldn't have been able to be achieved by a mortal. Not even a demigod.

"You can control fire?" She asked softly, her expression one of wonder.

I knew why.

While not unheard among of my siblings, the ability was rare. Only a handful of fire wielders were known to the camp, the power was almost legendary. It was why I'd kept it quiet.

"Yup."

"That is so cool." She said holding up a hand to feel the warmth.

"It's useful." I said with a shrug. "Especially in the forge."

"How come you never told anyone?" she asked curiously.

"I dunno," I said with a frown. "It just never really came up, that and it seemed like a terrible idea to dangle a fire user in front of people who try to kill each other during capture the flag in a forest trapped in almost perpetual summer time. I knew if I told people it would become a whole thing. People would expect stuff from me with such an unusual ability. I just… didn't really feel like dealing with it."

I expected her to be incredulous at this, to tell me these were stupid reasons and that I, or the camp could benefit from this knowledge like some of my siblings had. But she didn't.

"Fair enough." She said quietly and something about her tone made me think that maybe she really did understand. That she realized I was the sort of person that wouldn't want that amount of attention or expectation. That even now, what little recognition I had at camp for my ability to make and repair things, was more than enough.

Whether it was intuition, or her abilities to tap into other emotions that caused her this insight I wasn't sure, but I was grateful for it.

She continued to watch the fire for a moment, apparently lost in thought.

"It's so… warm." She said and while I had a feeling this aspect of my ability would be fairly obvious, I decided not to point it out.

Something about the statement seemed significant to her, and from the way she was looking at the flames, it was as if she would have been content to see here, staring at them forever.

"So wait," she said eventually tearing her gaze from the fire to look at me. "Only your siblings know that? No one else?"

"Not besides my mom no," I said shaking my head. "My dad might have figured it out, but to be honest I can't be sure. He's not the most observant of people."

Something crossed her expression, a sort of conflicted emotion, but whatever she'd been thinking of it was clear she decided not to bring it up.

Instead, she asked.

"What's he like?"

"Who? My father?"

She nodded looking strangely eager for a response.

"Yeah."

"Kind of exactly how you'd expect him to be." I said grinning a little before letting the fire die. I couldn't help but notice she looked a little disappointed as the light was extinguished. "Picture me, but bigger, and about a thousand times more awkward. More cranky, less patient, and having even less of a dress sense."

"Dream boat," She said pretending to swoon and I laughed.

"That's what does it for you huh?" I asked smirking. "Hulked out nerds? It's a wonder Jake's survived you."

"Jake rejects the nerd label."

"Poor guy."

"I know right?"

"So then what is your type then?" I asked holding out my hand, ready to instigate another round of thumb wars.

"I don't think I have one." She answered frowning, curling her fingers around mine. Her hands were soft and noticeably warmer than they had been before. Earlier they'd been like ice. "Wanna know my secret?"

"Just the one?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Just one." She confirmed. "But no one knows this. Not even Jake."

"What is it?"

"When I was first claimed, I thought my mother made a mistake."