Sorry this is late... I was planning on releasing this on Valentine's Day, but it just wasn't the way I wanted it yet. I literally wrote six different editions of this. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the song "Love Story". Dammit.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" The King of the Gods slapped my back heartily, his eyes slightly unfocused.

"Er, hello... Sir." Zeus swayed back and forth on his sandaled feet, his toga twisted about in an interesting fashion and his hair disheveled.

"What's that you want for Christmas then?" he hiccuped, grinning broadly at me.

"Nothing," I said.

"WEASLEY IS OUR KING!" Zeus bellowed as a red-haired saytr walked by, who looked up in surprise. I made a "Just Keep Walking" motion with my hands, and he scurried off, back to the festivities.

"This isn't a Quidditch match, Sir," I said, trying to steady Zeus with my hands.

"Now, what is a little girl like you, doing at a party all alone?" he slurred, leaning on me for support.

"Ah, I'm not alone. Or little. And I think you're drunk," I grunted, straining under his weight.

"Nooooo, I'm fine," Zeus said, waving a hand airily at me. The action caused him to topple over into a rather large rose bush, his goblet of wine hitting the stone at my feet with a clatter. Bending down to see if he was alright, I was met by the sound of snoring. Zeus was passed out at my feet, half in a rose bush, at his own party in his own home.

The King of the Universe, everybody.

Sighing, I pulled him out by his gladiator sandals and laid him on the ground, head tilted to one side. Figuring that was all I was obligated to do for him, I straightened my own toga and marched back towards the main hubbub of the celebration to track down Percy.

I made my way through the intricate gardens of Mount Olympus, smiling proudly at all the reconstructed temples I had designed and enjoying the soft trickle of the numerous fountains. Even though I had designed this back when I was sixteen, at age twenty four I was still in love with every bit of it. It was hard to believe that eight years ago that day, Percy and I had defeated Kronos on the then demolished Mount Olympus. With the gleaming palaces and meticulously manicured lawns that occupied Olympus tonight, you would have never guessed. We were celebrating the anniversary of the defeat of the Titans, an annual bash that was thrown on Olympus each year. It was quite the event; nearly every god was in attendance, along with the majority of half-bloods and saytrs, tree nymphs, niads, The Party Ponies, ect. It was quite the event. I stopped momentarily to check my reflection in a pool; through its rippled surface I surveyed my appearance. I was wearing a gorgeous scarlet dress with gold glittery accents that swirled about me when I walked. I had golden sandals and golden jewelry to compliment my blonde hair, in which a laurel was nestled into. Deciding that I looked good, I crossed the bridge that connected the gardens to the main plaza, where the party, the lights, and the ball gowns could be seen.

I spotted Percy near the desert table, chatting with Iris. I made my way through the crowd over to where he was to say hello, the summer air whipping my hair around.

"And then, all of the sudden, I'm a guinea pig! And I was like-"

"Percy, are you bragging again?" I teased, linking my arm with his.

"No," he said, frowning playfully. "Of course not."

"Right," I said as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Well," Iris said, smiling. "Seems like you two are just as close now as you were in high school! How many Iris messages did I transfer from San Francisco to Manhattan..." The goddess shook her head, chuckling to herself while Percy and I both blushed.

"Anyway," she said, "I'd best be going. See you love birds later!" And with that, the Goddess of the Rainbow walked off, her iridescent dress shimmering.

"We didn't call that often," Percy said thoughtfully. "Did we?"

"Erm, I'd say we did a fair amount," I replied, grabbing a slice of cheesecake off the table.

"We probably called like, once a week," Percy said, taking his own desert.

"Try every day..." I said. "And it was mostly you doing the calling, Seaweed Brain."

"Nuh uh," Percy said thickly around a mouthful of tiramisu.

"Yeah huh," I said, sticking out my tongue.

"Your mom!" Percy said, eyes wide.

"Percy, I know you work with high schoolers, but aren't you a little more mature than a "Your Mom" joke?"

"No, seriously," Percy said, pointing with his fork. "It's your mother."

I whipped around to see my mother sashaying across the marble plaza, her grey eyes flashing as she strolled over to us.

Percy and I merely exchanged a glance. My mother never attended this particular party, since it was essentially a celebration of Percy. I set my cheesecake down.

"Hello, Mother," I greeted her when she approached.

"Hello, Annabeth. Perseus," she said stiffly, not bothering to look at Percy. The three of us stood in awkward silence.

"Well..." Percy said. "I think I'll just... Go over there." He started walking away to where Jason and Thalia were seeing who could drink the most without throwing up. I grabbed him by the belt of his toga and pulled him back, casting him a Don't you leave me alone with her look.

Thankfully we were spared by Demeter, who struck up a conversation with my mother about herbicides. While they ranted about the negative effects of biochemicals, Percy and I made a casual getaway.

"Think your Mom will ever like me?" Percy asked after we were a safe distance, walking hand in hand toward the dance floor, where couples were dancing merrily.

"Someday, I'm sure," I said. "She just doesn't realize that we're serious, you know? Gods don't really jive with long term commitments." I looked up at Percy, who stared at me.

"Did you just say jive?"

I rolled my eyes, punching him lightly in the arm. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"No, I can... dig that," Percy said with a wink.

"Far out," I said.

"Groovy."

"We are so weird," I said as the song ended, and the band struck up a slower tune.

"Beyond weird," Percy agreed, kissing my forehead as he pulled me close. Placing a hand on my waist, he grinned down at me.

"You know, we sure dance a lot, considering our first dance was horrendous," Percy said.

"Its all these damn parties," I muttered. Percy just laughed and pulled me closer, his strong arms surrounding me. I laid my head on his shoulder and we swayed there without speaking, looking out at the party where our friends and family gathered drinking and chatting convivially.

"Do you ever..." I started, biting my lip.

"What?" Percy asked, looking down at me.

"Do ever just wish... We could get away from all this?"

"What, parties?"

"No," I said smiling. "Well, those too maybe. I'm not exactly a social butterfly. But what I really meant was get away from the whole demigod circus."

"Oh," Percy said, now on the same page as me. "Yeah, I do... But if it weren't for all of this, we would've never met." He smiled down at me.

"No, I wouldn't trade that for anything," I said. "I just get sick and tired of the rivalries, and I feel like we're always being watched-"

"And you feel manipulated sometimes?"

"Yeah," I said. "The gods think that we're they're pawns and that they can pit us against each other. Do you ever feel like that?"

"All the time," Percy said, furrowing his brow.

"Sometimes, I wish you and I could just leave," I said wistfully.

"I've thought about it," Percy admitted slowly. "Just take you somewhere we can be alone... but where is that, really? The monsters and the gods and the prophecies will follow us."

"Yeah," I agreed sadly. "Well, I'll be waiting," I joked.

"Then all there's left to do is run," Percy said, smiling at me.

The song came to a close, the final chord hanging in the air as the audience gave a smattering of applause.

"Percy!" We turned to see Grover waving ecstatically at Percy, motioning him over with enthusiasm.

"Um, I'm going to go see what Grover wants," Percy said a little to casually. "No! You can't come!" Percy spluttered as I began to follow him across the compound. "I mean," he said, trying to regain composure as I raised an eyebrow at him, "It's... a bro meeting. Guys only." I glanced over to Grover, who had been joined by Thalia, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Nico, Frank, Leo, Reyna, and Juniper.

"All guys? Percy, there's more females over there than guys-"

"Thalia doesn't count since she immortal."

"Well, what about Piper and Hazel and-"

"Piper is a tomboy and Juniper is like, part plant so they don't count either. And Reyna's scary. And Hazel... she should be dead. So there." Looking rather pleased with himself, Percy smiled smugly at me.

"Hon, you realize none of those reasons make any sense, right?" I put my hands on my hips, crossing my arms expectantly.

"Err... just stay here," Percy said lamely, and walked away quickly.

"Okay..." I said to nobody in particular. From over where the group stood, I heard someone exclaim loudly, "What? Tonight?" and Juniper squealed. I strained my ears to hear what they were talking about, but Piper noticed and shushed everyone. In a matter of seconds, Thalia was walking gracefully over to me, her immortal steps lithe and her rare smile enormous.

"Hey!" she said happily. "Why don't we go get some desert-"

"Already had some. Thalia, what's going on?"

"Going on? Nothing! Going on? No! Why don't we go look at the temples? I've hear they're stunning-"

"I know they're stunning, I designed them," I said irritably. "Now, what in the hell is going on?"

"Annabeth, nothing is happening!" Thalia said brightly, and the fact that Thalia was being bright absolutely screamed that something was happening. "Now, why don't we get some punch?"

"I'm going to punch you," I said as she steered me towards the desert table.

"Thalia, I really don't think-"

Smack!

"Ouch!" I clutched my head and squinted to see who I had collided with, and saw the Goddess of love looking extremely annoyed.

"Hey, watch where you're going! I say-" but mid-complaint, Aphrodite's anger melted away and she began to squeal with delight.

"Oh, Annabeth! Come here!" I was immediately engulfed by a puff of pink material and heavy perfume. "Oh, I'm just so excited!" She gave me one last squeeze, pinched one of my cheeks, and practically skipped away. I turned to Thalia.

"Seriously, Thalia. Tell me whats going on. I'm going to strangle you."

The rest of the night was spent in utter bizarreness, with a multitude of my friends sent to distract me from whatever was going down. Grover insisted on playing the first seven if Bach's concertos for me on his lute, all of which suspiciously sounded like High School Musical. Piper charmed me into standing still. Juniper tried to get me to smell all the flowers in Zeus's garden, which left me slightly dizzy. Rehab picked my brain for battle tactics. Nico took a more direct approach and just tried to get me drunk.

I put my foot down when Jason started sending minor electric shocks through my body every time I tried to seek out Percy.

"Leave me alone!" I snapped, and stormed off. I found Percy sitting by himself on a bench, sipping wine.

"Perseus Jackson, whatever shenanigans you have planned, they better be worth this god awful night I've had!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Percy said, raising his eyebrows in an attempt for innocence.

"Dot even try to play dumb, pal," I said huffily, flopping down next to him. Percy merely offered his wine to me, which I gladly gulped. When I had lowered the goblet, I was met by the sight of Tyson bounding over to us jovially.

"Yay! You are getting married!" said Tyson loudly. He clapped his hands together excitedly as the entire party fell silent, mouths open in astonishment.

"Er, no, we're not," I said quickly. Looking up at Percy, I saw him glare at Tyson. "Are we?"

"Oh... oh no," said Tyson, looking close to tears. "I am too soon. Lets... pretend that the last minute of our lives did not happen! Bye!" And with that, he scurried away, looking embarrassed.

"Okay, Percy, what was that about?" I whispered quietly while the entire party remained gawking at us, as if waiting for something.

"Well, this wasn't exactly how I pictured it, but I guess I don't have a choice," Percy said, and I looked back at him, totally mystified.

"Can I have you attention please? Oh," Percy said, realizing we had possessed their attention for the past several minutes, "Okay then. Well, um... I'm pretty sure you all know that eight years ago today Annabeth and I defeated Kronos. But," Percy paused for the trickle of applause. "Uh, yeah thanks. But anyway, Annabeth and I weren't just combat partners. We were best friends. Though we got off to a rocky start," he said, chuckling. "Her first words were 'You drool when you sleep'. Unfortunately, the situation hasn't improved much. The drooling, not our relationship." The crowd laughed with us.

Percy took both of my hands in his. "But I think we always knew we were supposed to be together. Through the wars and the prophecies, we always stuck to each other." My heart began to beat faster as Percy licked his lips nervously. Was this what I thought it was?

"Annabeth," he said, speaking directly to me. "You always had my heart. In the River Styx, when I was being pulled under, it was you who linked me to the mortal world. It was your face that I remembered, when I didn't know anything else. Your smile, your laugh, the way you like cats and the history channel and sweaters and muffins and rainy days and Harry Potter." Even though Percy was talking quietly, I got the feeling that the whole ensemble was listening carefully. "I love your passion for architecture, and I love how you can't wake up in the morning and how you sing in the shower and how you're so, so OCD." Was he really going to...

Oh my gods. He was.

Percy was down on one knee, looking a little nervous and pulling a black velvet box out of his pocket. The whole room collectively gasped, and right away the cooing started. I didn't hear it though; all I heard was the pounding of my heart beat and Percy saying, "Annabeth... will you marry me?"

The words were no sooner out of my mouth before I was down on the ground next to him, my arms thrown around his neck. As the crowd cheered, I whispered into Percy's ear, "Of course I will marry you Seaweed Brain." Standing up, I kissed him and he kissed me back. We pulled apart, grinning at each other.

Whoops of joy filled the night, and Thalia yelled Finally! while Grover started to cry. Several Party Ponies saw fit to shoot off fire crackers. People began to stream forward to congratulate us; even Poseidon looked happy.

"No!" The angry voice thundered across the courtyard, hushing the celebration immediately. We turned to see Athena, red in the face with fury as she stomped toward us with clenched fists.

"No!" my mother repeated, spitting the word out. "I have permitted this nonsense to go on long enough!" Percy wrapped his arms around me protectively as my mother approached us, battle spear drawn. Everyone remained still; for Athena to draw her spear was frightening, and nobody knew quite what to do.

"Stay away from Annabeth," she said harshly, gritting her teeth.

Neither Percy nor I moved a muscle.

"I said," she hissed, "Stay away from Annabeth."

We did not budge.

Suddenly, my mother reached out and grabbed me, yanking me sharply by the wrist. Pulled out of his arms, Percy tried to lunge for me, but missed as I was dragged away by my mother.

"Percy!" I shrieked, and the whole party exploded into chaos.

"Athena!" Shouted Zeus, who had apparently sobered up. As people swarmed toward us, my mother pulled me into the gardens, quickly hiding us from our pursuers.

Clever, I thought to myself as we entered the tall hedges, winding quickly through the maze of shrubbery and trees. They'll never find us in here. The shouts of alarm where faint whispers now, barely audible. All I could hear was Athena's heels clicking when they hit the pavement. As my mother tugged me along, her godly strength no match for my muscles, I realized that we were headed for her temple. Stumbling along in the dark, we plunged through a hedge, the brambles cutting my face and arms and tearing my gown. Pulling through the other side, we emerged in front of Athena's palace, both her temple and her living quarters. My mother lead me up the marble steps, and I had no choice but to follow her. The harder I fought her, the tighter she gripped me and the more forcefully she pulled. A thin sheen of sweat covered my body from all of my fruitless struggles. Once inside the glamorous temple, my mother forced me up a long set of spiral stairs, up, up, up to where a single door lead to my mother's bed chambers. When I tripped and fell, I simply at there, crying on the staircase. But my mother showed no compassion, and yanked me up again.

When we finally arrived, Athena barged into the room and threw me onto the ground, not bothering to be gentle.

As I rolled over and sat up, I saw her standing in front of me, hands on her hips.

"You," she said, her voice shaking, "Will be staying here for a while. You will never see that Jackson boy ever-"

"No," I said, choking back a sob. "No, he will find me. He will come!"

"He won't find you."

"He's bound to look here sometime, he'll come for me I swear it-" I was thrown back as my mothers hand came flying at my face, slapping me hard. I stared at her in shock; she had never, ever hurt me.

"We will move you tomorrow," said Athena, smiling cruelly. I bit my tongue; I had never seen my mother like this. I realized that she was insane, on the brink of delirium. "I have a nice, landlocked place in Russia that will work quite nicely." I meet her gaze, our grey eyes clashing.

"He is everything to me," I whispered.

"Not anymore," my mother clucked, and swished out of the room, bolting the door behind her.

I was alone, locked in a tower with people trying to tell me how to feel and my true love searching for me. I was a damsel in distress. It was all to god damn cliché.

Slowly picking myself up, I stood and surveyed my situation. French doors lead out to a balcony, which after a brief inspection was deemed too high to jump off. I threw myself against the door, but the door would not budge. I was certainly stuck.

Tears starting to collect, I laid down on the thick, Grecian carpet that covered the flagged stone floors of my mother's suite. My cheek burned. This love was certainly difficult, but it was the most real and true thing that I had ever possessed. I closed my eyes and pictured Percy's face, mentally begging him to come find me.

I laid there on the ground, dress in tatters, mind running in circles. Waiting.

But I got tired of waiting. My faith in Percy that I had expressed to my mother was fading. I began to wonder if he was ever coming around-

No, I told myself firmly. Percy loves you. He will come. Feeling so alone, I wondered faintly if this was in all in my head. For the first time, this child of Athena didn't know what to think.

Eventually I feel asleep. My dreams were vicious; they were consumed by spiders and dark places, and my mother, my mother chasing me. I ran and I ran down the never ending hallway, glancing behind my back to see if she was there. But all I could hear was the clicking of her heels, lurking in shadows and behind corners. Click. Click.

I woke with a start, with pale pink light streaming in through the windows. As I groggily blinked, I concluded that it was indeed dawn. Click. Click.

Propping myself up on my elbows, I searched for the source of the clicking, which was apparently not my mother's footwear. Click. Click. Realizing that the noise was rocks hitting the glass of the French doors, I crossed the room and poked my head out into the fresh morning air.

Click. I ducked as a stone soared by my face, bouncing of the glass. As the volley continued, I picked my way across the balcony and peered over the edge to find Percy throwing pebbles.

"Finally!" he shouted. "Hey, look what I got!" He held up...

"A ball of string?"

"Ariadne's string!"

Well, how about that.

Percy tossed the string up, which I caught between my two hands. I quickly wrapped the string around a spindle on the railing, and tossed the rest down. In seconds Percy had scaled the wall, and hopped lightly onto the balcony. Rushing forward I threw myself into his arms.

"My mother will kill you if she finds you here," I whispered.

"Nah," Percy said, stroking my hair. "Zeus has her calmed down for the most part. She's not happy, but she's agreed to not try to kill us any longer."

"Really?" I sniffed, pulling away slightly.

"Really," said Percy, grinning at me. "Are you ready to try our proposal over again?"

"Definitely," I said, smiling at him.

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said, "Marry me, Annabeth. You'll never, ever have to be alone. I promise. I love you, and that's all I really know."

I looked at him, his face hopeful in the rose colored light of dawn.

"Just say yes," he suggested.

"And why should I say yes?" I asked coyly as Percy stood up, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Well, for starters," Percy countered, his green eyes dancing. "You already excepted before your mother brutally dragged you off. And secondly," he said, touching our foreheads together, "We went through way to much tonight for you to turn me down. And I even talked to your dad. So you're kind of stuck with me."

"I would be honored to be stuck with you, Seaweed Brain," I said happily, and he closed the distance between us. When we finally broke apart, the sun had cleared the horizon. We just kind of grinned stupidly at each other, absolutely thrilled.

"Let's see that ring then," I said after a while, breaking the comfortable silence.

Percy placed the ring in my upturned palm, where it glinted in the fresh sunshine. It was beautiful; very simple, very me. It was a plain gold band where a single, healthy sized diamond was perched.

"It's beautiful," I said softly. Percy just squeezed me by his side. "Will you put it on me?" I asked, and he nodded. Leaning up against the railing, he took the ring in his hand and brought the ring to my finger.

"There you are!"

Thalia's voice shattered the peace, making both Percy and I to jump violently...

...and causing Percy to drop the ring.

"No!" we both gasped simultaneously. It bounced twice on the shining marble, and then it was gone- off the side of the balcony. There was a moment of complete silence in which Percy, Thalia, and I exchanged looks of horror, and then a soft Ping! from several stories below as the ring hit the pavement, no doubt rolling off into some obscure place.

"You're shitting me," Percy said. "Your mother finally agrees to not murder us, and we lose the ring."

"Sorry," Thalia apologized, looking completely crestfallen.

It was quiet for a while.

"I'll get a metal detector," said Percy suddenly, heading for the door.

"Yeah, I'll start looking down there," I told them, following Percy's lead.

"I'll go get Hazel," said Thalia. "Maybe she can help us locate it, since its precious metal and stone and stuff."

As we traipsed down the spiral stairs, Percy gave my hand a squeeze. "Love you."

"Love you too, Seaweed Brain."

"We'll find your ring. I promise."

"I know we will," I said, smiling up at him.

And we did, seven hours later in the bottom of a fountain. Percy placed it safely on my finger and we went down to the mortal world to celebrate. Percy, Thalia, Grover, Tyson, Ella, Juniper, Jason, Piper, Frank, Leo, Reyna, Nico, Clarisse, Chris, Hazel, the Stolls, myself and the rest of the search party wedged into a small, dingy Chinese restaurant and ate to our hearts content.

It was pretty much the greatest engagement party ever.

PLEASE REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Also feel free to message me personally with comments, questions, suggestions, fan mail, hate mail, prom invitations, dog sitting, proposals, ect. I love you all!