Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

Chapter Thirteen

Love Makes the World Go Round

I felt like a complete idiot.

But what else was new?

It was just after the sun had started to set and I was standing beneath Andee's balcony, throwing rocks at her window in a futile attempt to get her attention. I was trying to do something romantic to win her over, but to be honest, I wasn't sure I was a romantic person. Or maybe I was, but I had never tried to do anything like this before.

The glass doors opened and Andee walked out in a tank top and shorts, ruffling her blonde hair as she leaned against her balcony's railing, yawning as if she had just gotten out of bed.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair," I called up, feeling a little stupid.

Apparently it worked on her, though, because her cheeks went bright red as a smile crept onto her face. "Sorry Prince Charming, I just got a haircut," she said, holding up a lock of hair as if to prove her point.

"Cute."

She smiled devilishly at me. "Well, I am pretty cute. So what – dare I ask – are you doing down there?"

This was the moment of truth. This was the moment where we'd all see if I could actually do this…or if I'd run away without even a glance back. Every part of me was urging me to go with the second option, and I must say it was tempting. "I was wondering…well, I was wondering if you might possibly…oh, I don't know…you know what? I'm just being stupid. I'll – I'll see you in the morning."

I started heading back towards the house, giving up on my stupid idea when I heard her call me back. "Percy! Percy!" she shouted, and I backed up to see her leaning over her balcony. "What did you want to ask me? You wouldn't have gone through all of this trouble if it was 'stupid'."

"Well, I was wondering if you'd want to go to that festival with me," I told her, knowing full well it wasn't going to happen. This was as pointless as a fish trying to swim on land.

"Are you asking me on a date?" Andee asked slowly, her head tilted slightly to the side as she looked at me.

"Well, it could be a date if you wanted it to be, but it's perfectly fine if you don't want it to be a date – we could go as just friends," I said speedily. "I just know that you really wanted to go and I figured that since we were here we could, but you probably don't want to go with me because –"

"Yes, Percy," Andee said, a huge smile on her face. Now I was confused. What did she mean? Yes, what? As if reading my thoughts, she said, "I'd love to go on a date with you."

I honestly couldn't believe it. She had said yes. Yes to me – Percy Jackson, the guy with the worst luck in the world. I had expected for her to say she was too busy trying to figure out where to go next for the quest, or to downright refuse me because she didn't like me. This was unbelievable.

"I just have to change out of my pajamas – give me five minutes," she said before rushing back into her room, shutting the window-doors behind her.

Okay, so I'd just wait here. That was fine. But what if she didn't come back out? What if saying yes to me was just some big joke to her? What if she was sitting in her room now, laughing hysterically at how pathetic I was?

I heard a slight thud behind me and turned to see Andee crouched on the ground. She stood up and snapped her knees back into place. It wasn't one of the most pleasant sounds I had ever heard.

"Did you just jump off the balcony?" I asked incredulously, and she nodded calmly, shaking her legs out. "You know, there's this new invention called a 'door', it comes in handy when you need to enter or exit a room or building."

"Going out the door is no fun," Andee said. "And doors aren't really good for sneaking out."

"That's true."

When I finally got a good look at her, she was wearing a pretty pink floral dress with little gold flecks that hung loose on her tiny frame. Her hair fell down her shoulders in subtle waves and she had a pair of gold branch-shaped earrings decorating her ears. And of course she had on her trademark sun necklace, and a pair of her gladiator-style sandals.

"You really are short," I said.

She gave me a look. "Really? Thanks for pointing that out – I hadn't noticed that in the sixteen, almost seventeen years I've been alive," she commented dryly.

"Well, I hadn't," I defended as we started walking towards the garage. She opened the garage door and straddled the moped. I climbed on behind her, wrapping my arms tightly around her waist.

By the time we reached the festival, it was completely dark out. The streets were crowded with people, music was playing, and colorful paper lanterns were hung up everywhere, giving the whole place a warm, colorful glow.

"Wow," Andee breathed, spinning in a slow circle so she could look at everything. "Where do you want to go first?"

"I don't know – why don't we walk around a bit and then if you see something you like, we can do that," I suggested and she nodded. As we strolled around the marketplace, Andee's hand kept nudging mine. I didn't know if she was just walking really close to me or if she wanted me to hold her hand. I was on a bit of an adrenaline rush from her agreeing to go on a date with me and the moped ride, so I decided to go out of my comfort zone.

I laced my fingers with hers, hoping to the gods I was reading her signals right. I glanced over and she was smiling a little but more than before.

"So what's the story with you and this place?" I asked her, swinging our joined hands a little.

"You mean Greece?" she asked and I nodded. "Well, I guess I kind of grew up here. My mom was born in Vancouver, in Canada, and lived there her whole life. During the summers she'd go with her parents and Val to the summer home – the house we're staying at right now. My mom actually met my dad at this festival – it's where they fell in love. They ended up getting married and had me in Canada. When my mom passed away and Val took guardianship of me, my grandparents retired permanently to their summer home, and Val took me to see them every summer, winter and spring break. I just absorbed the language and culture like a little sponge."

"So what's with your grandparents then? Because isn't Zeus your mom's dad?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "Popa is my mom's step-father. They met when my mom was a few years old."

"Okay…a little complicated," I said, trying to map it all out in my head.

"Hmm…okay, maybe I can break it down a little," Andee said. "Grandma was born in Greece, immigrated to New York. My mom was conceived and born in New York, and they lived there for around four years. Yaya and mom lived in the same building as Val and her dad. Things were rough at home for Val, so when Zeus said he was sending my grandmother and mom to Canada to keep them safe, Val was brought with them. So Val and my mom raised by Yaya in Vancouver, and then Popa came in and helped raise them as well. Mom and dad met in Greece, got married in Canada and I was born there. Val stayed with me in Vancouver, and Yaya and Popa retired to Greece."

"A little bit easier to understand," I said. "You might have to draw it out for me at some point."

"I can do that," she said with a smile. "So what about you? What's your family life like?"

"Well, it's just me, my mom, and her boyfriend – Paul Blofis," I said.

"Your mom is dating a guy with the last name Blowfish?" Andee asked incredulously.

"Blofis – no 'h' on the end," I corrected. "My dad actually calls him Blowfish."

She smiled. "It just seems kind of funny that she goes from the god of the sea to someone whose name is incredibly close to a creature of the sea."

"Yeah, that is pretty funny," I said with a laugh.

"So tell me about your mom."

"What about her?" I asked.

"I don't know – anything," she said eagerly. So I told her all about my mom – at least, everything I could think of on the spot. How she was taking writing classes and that's how she met Paul, how she loves the color blue, loves to make blue food to prove people wrong, and how caring and amazing she is to me, and to everyone, really. "She sounds incredible."

"She is," I said. "What about your mom? I know she died right before you were born, but what do you know about her?"

"Well, she was a professional dancer. She didn't like to sing as much as I do, but she was still really good at it. Val told me that while she was pregnant with me, she would always sing to me and she thinks that's why I'm as musical as I am," Andee said and continued to tell me everything about her mom. Her face lit up the more she talked about her mom.

"She sounds great too," I told her. "Do you…do you ever miss her?"

"I don't know…I mean, you can't really miss someone you've never met, right?" she asked, but it sounded more like she was talking to herself. "But I'll be on a run or at the mall with my friends or something, and I'll see a mother with her daughter, and I feel like a piece of me is missing. Like, I wonder how different my life would have been if I'd had my mom growing up. Val really and truly is my mom, and it feels weird to also want someone else, but you know? I wouldn't trade Val for anything in this world, but you know what I mean?"

"Yeah." The way she described missing her mom reminded me of how I felt about my dad.

"So," Andee said, making an obvious change in the subject, "when did you find out who your dad was?"

"When I was thirteen," I said.

She looked at me wide-eyed. "You only found out who you were when you were thirteen?" Andee asked and I nodded. "How the Hades are you still alive?"

"I had this stepfather for a long time, and apparently his smell was so strong that it blocked out my demigod smell."

"That's so gross." She shuddered a little at the thought before her attention was brought to something else. "Look! Airbrush tattoos!"

"What's that?"

"You've never gotten an airbrush tattoo before?" She looked at me like I was the insane one out of the two of us.

"Nope."

"You have lived such a sheltered life!" Andee said. "You need to get one! Right now!" She led me to one of the open chairs and started looking through the book of designs.

"Are you ever going to tell me what these airbrush tattoos are?" I asked.

"They're tattoos that are sprayed on with a special paint and they last for a couple weeks and are really cool!" she said excitedly. "My dad used to take me to get them before I got my real tattoos." She spoke in quick Greek to the guy running the booth and he nodded, before taking my forearm and starting on the tattoo.

"How many tattoos do you have?" I asked.

"Four, but they all had to be easily hidden because my grandfather doesn't exactly approve of them," she told me. "My grandpa thinks I don't act lady-like enough without 'putting graffiti on my own body'."

"And your dad?"

"He took me to get them." She grinned wickedly.

"Can I see?" I asked, feeling cool air brushing against my skin from the machine. I started to look over to see what was being put on my arm, but Andee turned my head so I was looking straight at her.

"No peeking, it's a surprise," she said, talking about the tattoo I was getting. "Now onto my tattoos. You've seen the first two, and these are the other two." She lifted her hair so I could see the music notes behind her hair, and the stars on the back of her neck that ended just before her shoulder blades.

"I can see why I didn't notice them before."

"Grandfather has strictly forbade me from letting them be seen when I'm in Olympus, so I had to choose ones that are easy to cover," she said, looking over at my forearm. "You're done, take a look."

I looked down at my arm and saw a blue-green trident. "That's sick," I said and she smiled.

"And the best part for you is that it won't come off in water," she said as we walked out, hand in hand. I was definitely starting to like this whole dating thing, that's for sure. We walked along the street, looking at all the different stalls, playing the games and going on a few of the rides. The music was getting louder the further we walked, and it wasn't long before we came upon a crowd of people, all dancing along to the music the band on stage was playing.

"Wanna dance?" I asked her on a whim. I had never seen her smile that brightly before. She nodded, blushing as I led her to the makeshift dance floor.

She took both of my hands and got me moving, and pretty soon, people were moving away from us because we were dancing so crazily. That was before the band started playing a slow song. Oh dear gods.

Andee moved automatically, putting her arms around my neck. I put my hands on her waist – which is something I had really only seen other people do – and hoped it would be the right thing to do. Apparently it was.

As I danced with her, I couldn't help but notice that the lyrics of the song were all about love and how you should always try for the person you love. Andee seemed to know the song because she was humming along softly. She lifted her head off my shoulder and looked at me, smiling.

Something came over me and I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers. When our lips first met, that first jolt was more than anything I could have ever imagined. After a few moments, Andee pulled back looking almost guilty.

"Percy, we shouldn't," Andee said softly, refusing to look me in the eye. "I can't…we can't…"

"I don't know what is bothering you, but it doesn't matter now," I said, forcing her to look at me. "Do you have feelings for me?"

"Yes, Percy –"

"And I have a lot of feelings for you, so isn't that all that matters?"

"It's so much more complicated than that, Percy," Andee said, a sadness in her eyes.

"But why does it have to be?" I asked, before kissing her again. This time she didn't hold anything back. The kiss was hungry and passionate as Andee pressed herself against me, straining to get closer as she wounds her hands around my waist and pulled the back of my shirt towards her. I felt dizzy – in a good way – and I let myself go, loving every stroke of her tongue against mine. My hands moved restlessly, around her shoulders and down her back, and then tracing their way up to the nape of her neck. My fingers tangled into her hair to draw her closer.

"Why do you have to make this so hard for me?" Andee whispered as she gazed into my eyes.

"It's one of my many talents," I replied and she gave me one of her looks. "Do you wanna go?"

She nodded, letting me lead her out of the dancing crowd. We looked around, perfectly content in our silence before Andee spotted a photo booth and suggested we go in it. We squeezed into the cramped little booth and Andee ended up sitting on my lap so that the two of us could fit. She quickly put in a few coins before it started taking pictures, Andee's arms wrapped around me the whole time.

As they were developing, we stood outside and waited for them to finish, Andee's arms wrapped around me in a hug, watching the photo booth. I had my own arms wrapped around her tight before the two little slips of photo paper came out, showing four pictures on each one.

"Now we both have copies of this," Andee said, handing me mine so I could tuck it into my back pocket.

"You know, the beach is right down there if you wanted to go hang out there for a while," I suggested and she nodded, so I took her hand once more. We spent the rest of the night walking and chasing each other along the shore, and then just sitting in the sand, kissing and talking, neither of us able to stop smiling.

"You do know I've had feelings for you this whole time, right?" Andee asked suddenly, turning around to face me so that she was now straddling my lap.

"I hoped, but some days it seemed like you really hated me," I said.

"I just have some…things going on right now," Andee told me honestly, her hands lightly touching my neck. "But regardless of those things, I really really really care for you, even if I don't want to."

"How can you not want to care for someone?" I asked.

"When you've got the goddess of love interested in you, relationships aren't very appealing," Andee said, the tone of her voice revealing that she wasn't telling the full truth.

"You know," I said, softly stroking her cheek gently, "if you don't want to tell me something, that's fine. But you should know that whenever you're ready to talk to me, I'm here."

Andee groaned. "Why do you have to be so sweet?"

Her lips immediately met mine in another passion-filled kiss. We laid there for a while, just holding each other, not knowing or caring what time it was. But we decided that we should probably get back to her grandparents' house. So we got on the moped and were back at the house in no time at all. We both climbed the trellis up to Andee's balcony and landed back in her room.

I hadn't seen it before, but it was really nice. Her room looked like it was from a completely different time period. The walls were covered with a gold wallpaper and everything in the room seemed to match it. Her bed had a sheer gold canopy over it while the sheets were white with gold details that matched the walls. She even had a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was a white door on one side, which I had a feeling led to the bathroom she shared with Annabeth.

"Your room's really nice," I mentioned and she smiled.

"It used to be my mom's," she said softly, flopping onto a bright blue and gold seat at the end of her bed. "I love it."

I nodded before looking at the time and saying, "It's really late – I should probably go."

"No," she said suddenly, her cheeks flaring up. She stood up and walked over to me, draping her arms around my neck. "What I mean is that I want you to stay."

I moved my lips over hers to show my approval of this, and she instantly responded back, maneuvering us both to her bed. I gave her a playful push down onto it and she laughed, having to quickly quiet down before we were caught by her grandparents, or worse, Annabeth.

"Can I have your shirt?" Andee asked and I looked at her oddly. "To sleep in."

"Sure," I said, starting to unbutton the light blue, slightly dressy shirt I had chosen for our date. I felt her watching me and suddenly felt very self-conscious. She bounced up onto her knees so she was closer to eye level with me.

"You have an incredible body, Mr. Jackson," Andee said, sliding my shirt off my shoulders, her nails tickling my skin as she did it. She took the shirt and laid in on the bed. She smiled at me, her cheeks turning red. "You're very cute, you know."

"Just what every guys wants to hear," I said.

"It's a compliment," Andee argued. "It means you are sweet, kind, devilishly handsome, brave and just amazing." She rested her hands on my chest. "Now, turn around so I can get out of my dress and into your shirt."

I turned around like she sad, but argued, "You know, you get to watch me like I'm performing a striptease, but you get privacy."

"I am a lady," was all Andee said. Then she walked in front of me with my shirt on and hanging open, revealing her lacy gold bra and panties. "However, I'm not as much of a lady as I probably should be. And my body is not something I feel like I need to keep hidden."

Well, thank the gods for that! "You look a lot better in that shirt than I do," I mentioned.

She grinned. "That might have something to do with what you can see underneath, but thank you," she said. "Now, I think we should probably try to get some sleep."

"Agreed." Andee climbed onto one side and slid underneath the covers. I sat down and took off my jeans and socks before getting into bed too. She immediately moved over so that she was right beside me, wrapping her arms around me. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I couldn't help noticing that she had a faint smell of mangoes.

"You are so insanely beautiful," I whispered to her, kissing the top of her head. "This has been one of the best nights of my life."

"Me too," she said softly. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything," I said, my eyes feeling heavy with needing to sleep.

"Promise me you won't break my heart," she whispered, sounding extremely fragile.

"I promise," I told her, giving her one last kiss before going to sleep.