Piper

I walked up to the beach after breakfast, intrigued by his sudden revelation about the uncertainties of our relationship. He was right about it, though. Our beginning wasn't right at all.

I finally spotted Jason; he was standing at the edge of the water, the waves lapping up against his feet. I walked up next to him. "Hi, Sparky," I whispered.

"Hey," he said. I looked at him curiously. He usually didn't come to the beach. "What?" he asked. "

This isn't really where you 'hang'," I replied. He smirked and looked at something behind me.

I heard a shout. "Hey, Grace! Don't screw up my car!" I turned around. It was Percy, walking toward us with a set of car keys in his hand. When he got closer, he said, "The car is new and it better stay that way."

"Thanks," Jason said, taking the keys from him. "And don't get pulled over and don't do anything weird in the back."

"Dude," Jason said, turning pink. "I get it."

"Good. And have fun." He smiled and walked away.

The car was a silver Ford F-150 Tremor. It wasn't really a romantic outing type of car, but we both were adventurous, so it didn't matter. Jason took my hand in his and looked at me for a moment, his icy blue eyes probing my soul for any uncertainties. "Piper, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said softly. He smiled at me as we made our way to the truck. He helped me into the passenger side before climbing into the driver's side. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He drove out of camp in silence; neither of us spoke a word until we made it onto the highway.

"Jason? What's your favorite color?"

"Really, Pipes?"

"I seriously don't know what your favorite color is," I replied.

"Blue," he said, looking at me with eyes the same color. "Like the sky?" I asked him.

"No," he said. "The type of blue your eyes keep changing back to." He smiled as I blushed. "What's yours?"

"Orchid."

"That's a nice color." We finally pulled up in the parking lot of a nature reserve.

"We're hiking?" I asked.

"Something like that."

"Which trail?"

"We're not using a trail."

I looked at him, puzzled. Jason got out of the truck and helped me out. He took my hand. "Let's have an adventure, shall we?"

Jason

I had scouted out this area earlier with Percy, when he wanted somewhere interesting to go with Annabeth. We had uncovered a meadow in our uncharted trek through the forest. The meadow was pleasant; it was like something out of Snow White, with birds and bunnies and deer and a pond. It had reminded me of Piper, which is why I decided to bring her here.

We slowly made our way through the forest, helping each other over fallen branches and roots sticking out of the ground. Neither of us said anything. We didn't have to. I was happy enough basking in her company, knowing that I hadn't made a mistake. The trees began to thin out soon enough, and Piper ran ahead of me, searching for the source of the sudden brightness. She stopped with a gasp at the edge of the tree line, surprised by the sudden change in scenery. A rabbit hopped over to Piper and rubbed her leg. Piper looked down at it and smiled. She bent down and scratched it behind its ears. It closed its eyes and nuzzled her hand. "You like that, don't you?" She picked it up and took a tentative step onto the grass. She actually looked happy for once. Before, it was all brave face, I'm okay kind of happy face. Right now, she was happy and she didn't have to worry about anything. I wanted to preserve this moment, I wanted her to feel like this forever, I wanted to be the reason for the smile on her face.

A fawn walked toward Piper, looking at her curiously before sniffing her hand. Piper rubbed its neck. She had that motherly aura to her, something I hadn't noticed before. That's when I decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I was only sixteen, but we had gone through more together than most married couples. I walked up behind her silently and wrapped my arms around her. The rabbit jumped out of her arms and hopped a few away with the deer behind it, as if they were giving us space. Piper turned in my arms and rested her head on my shoulder and her hands on my waist. "Thank you," she muttered into my chest.

"Anything for you, Pipes," I said to her softly. She pulled away from me and took my hand. We walked farther into the meadow. She spotted the pond and ran ahead of me once more, pulling off her shoes and socks when she got to the edge of the clear water. She stepped into the water slowly. When I got closer, she cupped some water in her hand and pushed it in my direction, splashing me. I pushed some water in her direction in retaliation getting her wet as well. After a few minutes of sissy water fighting, Piper jumped in the water, drenching me from head to toe.

"That's it. You asked for it, Pipes," I said, and tackled her into the pond.

Piper

We were sitting against the trunk of the tree in the middle of the meadow, bone-dry thanks to Jason's incredibly strong gust of wind after our impromptu water battle. I rested my head on his shoulder and he laced his fingers with mine, tracing circles on my palm with his thumb. I shivered, and it wasn't because of the cold.

He took his hand out of mine and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me onto his lap. I nestled into his embrace. "Piper?"

"Mmm?" I mumbled, closing my eyes.

"I think I love you."

"You think? Gods, how I wish I could tell what you were thinking all the time," I replied.

He chuckled. "I think I love you," he reiterated. "I'm serious."

I sat up straight, overcome by a moment of bravery. "Sparky," I said, kissing his nose. "I think." I kissed his chin. "I." I kissed his jaw. "Love you, too." My fingers traced the stubble on his jaw. His fingers knotted into my hair and he pulled my face to his once more.

"You think?" he asked against my lips, teasing me.

I kissed him, hard. "I'm sure."