Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the song "Forever and Always".

"You're kidding."

"I kid you not."

Percy looked at me in horror. "Why?" he complained.

"Because," I said, elbowing him past him into his apartment. "My place is overflowing with wedding stuff, and since you're getting married too, I figured you could do your part in housing all of this" Behind me, Percy closed the door defeatedly as I heaved the overflowing box onto Percy's table.

"So," I said, flopping down onto a chair and ignoring Percy's obvious irritation. "You have to help me make some decisions."

"Mhmm..." said Percy lazily, laying down on the sofa and turning his attention to the game on TV.

Rolling my eyes, I set to work. Weddings don't get planned by themselves you know. And apparently, they don't get planned with help from the groom, either.

"Percy. Percy."

"What?" he asked moodily, eyes glued to the TV.

"Percy!"

"What?" he asked, reluctantly tearing his eyes from the football game on TV and glaring at me. I held up two swatches of fabric for him.

"Which color do you like better?" Percy squinted at them, green eyes going back and fourth between the pieces.

"They're the same damn color."

"No, they aren't," I sighed. "This one is cream, and this one is egg shell."

"Exactly," said Percy, sighing dramatically. "The same damn thing."

I looked at the fabric. Truthfully, I couldn't even tell them apart. In fact, I couldn't tell them apart from the other seventy nine swatches that were in the box next to me, each one representing a different color of napkin we could have at our wedding.

"Percy, just pick one." I pleaded.

"Why?" he moaned. "Does it matter?"

"No," I admitted. "But I want you to have a part in the planning of our wedding, so pick one."

"Fine," he snapped. "Eggshell."

"Thank you."

Now to figure out which one was eggshell.

I turned back to the table, which was piled high with catalogs, samples, place settings, binders, invitations, and all of the other horrendous aspects of wedding planning. I wasn't surprised that Percy was indifferent to the details of our wedding- in fact, had he come breezing in talking about cake flavors and center pieces, I would have started to question his sexual orientation. But I was a bit ruffled by how downright hostile Percy had become towards the whole wedding shebang lately; in fact, he had become downright hostile toward me.

Trying to stay upbeat, I tried to talk to him again.

"What game is on?" I offered, attempting to sound cheerful.

"Yankees." he said shortly.

"Oh, they're having a pretty good season this year."

"Yup."

Well, there's the end of that conversation.

"Do you want steak or chicken at the reception?"

"Up to you," he said, his tone clipped.

I wanted chicken, but I knew Percy preferred steak.

"So, how's work going?" I asked nicely, starting to feel a little desperate.

"Fine."

Determined to at least have a conversation with my fiancé, I resorted to doing all the talking.

"Works not too bad for me either, a bit hectic though," I supplied, sorting through flower brochures. "We've started a new project that I'm really excited about, and I'm applying to be chairman of the new building that's going to be put up downtown. If I do get the position, I'll get a nice bonus just in time for the wedding, and I think that would be a rather nice way to start off our married life, don't you think?" I asked brightly, fully aware I was rambling. "Percy?"

Percy just turned the volume of the TV up, and the sound of the Yankee Stadium filled the room.

"Percy?" I asked, my voice straining over the volume of the game. Curse surround sound. "Percy, do you want steak or chicken-"

"I don't care," he said.

"You know, funny enough, I've worked that out for myself!" I snapped, marching over to the sofa and, grabbing the remote, flicked the TV off.

"Hey! What's your problem?" shouted Percy.

"No, what's your problem?!" I asked, jerking the remote away as Percy made a mad grab for it.

"I was watching that!" he said angrily, swiping one more time for the remote control.

"Oh, please," I snorted. "You don't even like the Yankees. You just like them because I like them!"

"Well you just like them because you have a magic hat from their team!" barked Percy.

"You say that like it isn't a valid reason!" I said defensively. "Look, what is your deal lately?" Percy said nothing, just sat back down on the couch grouchily. "Hellooooooo, talking to you, Seaweed Brain!"

Percy looked at a fixed point in the distance, no doubt proud of his execution of the silent treatment.

So original.

"Hey, remember that time when you said you loved me?" I asked sarcastically as Percy continued to shun me. "Where you just kidding about that? Because it seems to me that this this is completely breaking down! We hardly ever speak!" Percy opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off. "I don't even feel welcome anymore!"

"That's your own fault!" Percy exploded, standing up quickly. He towered over me, his face bright with anger.

"My fault?" I asked incredulously, my voice spiking up an octave. "How is this my fault, pray tell?" I said scathingly. "Please tell me, because one second it was perfect and now you're halfway out the door. It's like you don't want anything to do with me!"

"You've been completely monopolizing the wedding planning! You're obsessed with it!" shouted Percy, practically spitting.

"Because you won't help me! Someone has to do it!"

"You care more about the wedding than the marriage!" he yelled furiously. "It's all been 'bows on this' and 'lace on that' and other stupid stuff that doesn't matter!"

"It matters!" I cried indignantly. "How can you say our wedding doesn't matter!?" I watched Percy's eyes darken, and knew that he had crossed over into a whole new realm of fury.

"What matters to me," said Percy, no longer shouting, his voice dangerously low. "Is that you marry me." His face was an inch from mine, his breath fanning gently across my face. "I don't give a damn about the color of the napkins, the food we eat, the color of the tie I'm in, or who's there. Got it?"

"Don't you want it to at least look nice?" I whispered, sounding scared even to myself.

"No," he said. "I don't care." He threw his hands up. "I don't care!" Percy declared, stepping back, his voice rising in volume again. "In fact, I'd rather forget the whole ceremony and just sign the papers down at the courthouse and call it good!"

"Fine!" I snapped, grabbing my purse and our marriage licenses off the table. If this is what it took to get married, then so be it. "Lets go then!"

"Fine!" roared Percy.

"Fine!" I yelled again, yanking the door open, Percy following close behind."

"I hope you're happy with how you've made a mess out of everything!" said Percy as we walked down the hall.

"Me?" I asked fiercely, punching the elevator button. "Who was it whose been a moody douche bag lately? Oh right, you," I snarled, following Percy as he stomped onto the lift.

"Moody, am I?" he asked acidly. The doors closed with a ping, and we both ignored the lurch as we began our decent. "Well, you've hardly been a ray of sunshine yourself!"

"Was I out of line?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, challenging him. "Did I say something too honest? Can't handle commitment now, Percy?" I knew I was going over board by taunting him, but at the moment I was so infuriated that I hardly cared. Percy didn't reply, just charged out of the elevator as the doors sold open smoothly. We stormed through the lobby, causing the receptionist to jump timidly at her desk. Pushing out into the chilly rain that was applying itself to New York, I hopped over a puddle nimbly while glaring at Percy.

We continued to bicker over the howling wind, barely pausing as we climbed into the cab.

"Take us to the courthouse, please," said Percy quickly.

"The courthouse?" the cab driver asked, bewildered.

"Yes," we said simultaneously.

"Okay then..." The driver looked skeptical as we peeled out into the traffic of New York, shaking his head dismally as Percy and I continued to argue.

We wove through the streets, rain pounding on the roof of the cab. After twenty minutes of stop and go traffic and sharp turns, I was successfully pissed of at my fiancé. We sat in stoney silence, each left to their own thoughts while the driver whistled merrily. Percy and I had been forced to stop fighting after the cab driver had politely asked us to stop.

"You kids are giving me a headache," he'd said.

I felt so low I couldn't even feel the cold as the rain seeped through my jacket. I cast an anxious look into Percy's green eyes, clouded with anger. I thought I knew him, I thought I knew what he expected of me and our relationship. I thought I knew where this was going.

But I didn't anymore.

We screeched to a halt outside the local courthouse. I followed Percy out of the cab and back into the torrential rain, pulling my hood up over my mass of curls.

"Thanks," said Percy, pressing several bills into the cab driver's hand.

"Welcome," he replied. "Good luck getting those divorced papers signed."

"Oh, we aren't getting divorced," said Percy, turning to go. "We're getting married."

We left the cab driver with a puzzled expression and made a run for the glass double doors that marked the entrance to the courthouse. We as soon as we entered the lobby, we immediately resumed our squabbling.

"This is all your fault-"

"You're so obnoxious-"

"Quit focusing on yourself-"

"I swear I'm going to strangle you-"

"Can I help you?" asked the secretary seated at the front desk, trying to sound pleasant but sounding rather disdainful.

"We'd like to be married," I said, glaring at Percy.

"Married?" the woman asked, clearly confused as to why two people arguing so viciously could possibly want to spend the rest of their lives together.

"Married," confirmed Percy, shooting me the death glare.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," we insisted simultaneously.

"Okay then..." the woman busied herself with some papers. "You have your marriage licenses?"

"Right here," I said, rummaging through my bag for the paper work and handing it over.

"Wait here," she instructed, walking off to a back room, her heels clicking as she went.

"You better be satisfied after this," I hissed after she had vanished. "Do you understand? I swear if you ever say 'Gee, I wish we would've had a real wedding' I will murder you. For real, Perseus Jackson."

"Oooooh, full names. Very threatening," mocked Percy. "What is even the big deal? Why do you even care what the ceremony is like?"

"Because maybe I want a shred of normalcy for once!" I said irritably.

"We aren't normal- why should our wedding be?" snapped Percy.

"You don't get it!" I exclaimed. "All I wanted was a nice ceremony in a pretty place with our family and friends. That's it."

"That's exactly the problem!" yelled Percy. "You want all of that crap, but you don't want to actually get married!"

"Whoa, back up!" I said, enraged. "Did you forget everything? I want to be married just as much as you do! Remember, I said yes!"

"You want a wedding, not a marriage!" said Percy, jabbing me in the chest.

"You don't know what I want and don't want!" I snarled, jabbing him right back.

"Are you sure you want to be married?" asked the receptionist, seeming to appear out of thin air, making us both jump.

"Er, yeah," said Percy, regaining composure.

"Positive?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes," I said impatiently.

"Fine. I'll just get the justice of the peace and a witness for you and-"

"I'll take care of them, Nina," said a pleasant voice. Turning, I saw someone that I recognized immediately, even though her appearance changed each time I laid eyes on her.

The woman was clad in a hot pink pantsuit that clashed magnificently with beach blonde hair, and wore stiletto heels that clicked merrily as she approached us. She sported a smart set of pearls on her ears and designer sunglasses perched on that pile of hair.

She would've given Elle Woods a run for her money.

"Hello dearies," she said with a wink. "Follow me, into my office..."

Percy and I, exchanging a weary look, trailed behind the woman reluctantly into an office whose entire square footage was either covered in glitter or the color pink.

"So, Aphrodite," I said, narrowing my eyes as the door swung shut. "Goddess of love, and a lawyer?"

"Well, I obviously had to be here if my favorite couple was going to elope!" said Aphrodite with a flourish, sitting down in her desk and grinning. "So, kiddies, trouble in paradise?"

"No, we're fine, we don't need your counseling," said Percy hurriedly.

"What he said," I said, agreeing with Percy for the first time that day.

"Nonsense," said Aphrodite. "You need relationship advice. Sit down."

"No, really," Percy said. "Annabeth and I just got into a disagreement, okay?"

"And you think eloping is the answer?" asked Aphrodite quizzically.

"Well, yeah. I mean we can just focus on us getting married instead of all the frilly stuff," said Percy, a little uncertainly.

"Is that what Annabeth wants?"

"Well she agreed," said Percy impatiently.

"Just because she agreed doesn't mean thats what she wants." Aphrodite fixed me with a look, baby blue eyes searing into mine. "Do you want to elope Annabeth?"

"I... well, no," I said, feeling like a small child confessing to stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.

"Then why did you agree to this?" asked Percy exasperatedly, throwing his hands up.

"Because I figured if the only way you would be happy marrying me was if we eloped, then I was willing to give up the wedding," I said softly. Percy's face fell a bit.

"Oh, Annabeth, that's not how I meant it," he said gently. "I was just panicking because... because you were just controlling everything about the wedding and I started to worry that that was what our marriage was going to be like."

"And you cared so little about it that I was worried that our marriage was going to be me putting in all the effort an you not really caring," I said. "I love you, Percy, and I just want us go be happy and together."

"That's all I want too," he said, an he reached our and grabbed my hand. Squeezing it reassuringly, he said, "You've always been the one for me. You always will be. Forever and always."

"Forever and always," I repeated, looking into his velvety green eyes that seemed to go on forever. He wrapped his arm around my waist and planted a kiss on my forehead, and I knew everything would be alright. I knew we would be just fine.

"See?" asked Aphrodite, bringing us back to earth. "I'm a counseling genius."

"You didn't do anything," pointed out Percy. "You just watched while we worked it out ourselves."

"Ahem," said Aphrodite, clearly affronted. "My mere presence was the catalyst for your reconciliation."

Percy and I exchanged a look that said, Yeah, right.

"So, are we gonna elope or what?" I asked, grinning up at Percy.

"What? No way," he said, pulling me toward the door. "We're going to have a proper wedding."

"No, we aren't!" I insisted, planting my feet firmly on the ground. "You were right, none of that really matters! What matters is us devoting ourselves to each other for the rest our lives."

Percy looked down at me tenderly, brushing a loose curl out of my eyes. "I know," he said. "And to hear you say that is the most important thing to me. As long as I know that's how you feel, I'm fine with having a huge wedding."

"Not a huge one," I said. "But you do have to help me."

"Deal," he promised, winking at me. "Where do we start?"

"Manglee's Mongolian Grill," I said, turning to go. "I'm famished."

"Hmm... I may like wedding planning after all," said Percy playfully. "Bye, Aphrodite," he called over his shoulder as we left the office.

"Yeah, thanks for the... help?" I said hesitantly, not sure if she helped or not.

"Anytime!" she cried happily at our retreating figures.

"But seriously," said Percy as we walked out of the courthouse. "Where do we start? Believe it or not, I happen to have extensive knowledge about weddings."

"Oh really?" I asked, my eyebrows popping up. "And where might have you acquired that clandestine knowledge?"

Percy blushed and mumbled something about bit wanting to talk about it.

"Come on," I said, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Well," he said, thoroughly abashed. "Nico and I may have watched the Royal Wedding."

"Oh?" I said, trying not to laugh.

"Okay, Nico recorded it and we with it frequently."

"I see," I said, struggling to keep my face impassive. "So, all those times when you say that you and Nico are going to go watch some gory horror film... You're watching Kate Middleton get married?"

"Yep," said Percy.

Losing composure, I started to laugh.

"Hey!" said Percy defensively, though he too was smiling. "At least now I know what a wedding is like!"

"Oh yeah?" I said mischievously, deciding to mess with him. "That's too bad, because British weddings are completely different than American weddings."

"What?!" asked Percy, appalled. "Oh Gods, I have so much to learn..."

"You bet you do, Kelp Head," I teased. "And you always will." I took his hand. "Forever and Always."

REVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEIEIEIEIEIUEIEIEIEIIEW! (Please!)