A/N: It's me again! Uh a couple of things: One, you may suggest any couple, just NOT Percabeth! :D Two: uh... let's just say that Travis and Connor are twins for those chapters... (sorry, it's been a while since I've read the Lightning Thief. No hard feelings! :D) This is a fanfiction after all so let's all just roll with it lol! :)

**By the way, if anyone suggests a couple that is rarely seen, I'll probably write about them first if they also suggested a well known couple...(That's not Perceabeth- wait. Have I said this before? Meh, whatever.)

I'm not sure how well known this couple is, but it was suggested.

Note that Percy and Annabeth aren't together in this one. Uh, but then again, they may not be together in most of these... so just assume that I guess, unless I say otherwise.

ANYWAY, enough of my rambling, on with the next chapter!

Enjoy!

Thalia's POV

Silence. There was nothing but silence, and the wind. Thalia sat calmly on a high branch, and waited for prey. She was just waiting. Patience. That's the key of being a great huntress. Patience, and having good sight, aim, and hearing of course are also needed qualities. Thalia closed her eyes and soaked in the cool breeze that carried the peaceful forest air. It was so quiet. There was nothing but the sound of-

Crack!

Thalia got an arrow ready, and shot it. The arrow silently flew threw the air towards it's target. "Ah! What- Crap!" came a shout. What? Thalia sighed realizing who this idiot was. The person stumbled about and she heard him fall into a bush. "Ugh. Man. Thalia! Where are you?" said Percy Jackson. Yup, that guy may be a fish in the water, but on land he was- well practically still a fish. Thalia jumped down from the tree she was in, and landed gracefully (A/N: Ha! Grace... uh, yeah.) on her feet. She picked up her arrow that thankfully, didn't hit him. She instantly found Percy strangled in a large bush. The bush nearly looked as though it was eating the boy. Thalia smirked at the scene.

"What's up fish head?" she asked. Percy stopped struggling for a second and gave her an annoyed look. It was partly from being in a bush, and partly from her nickname for him. Thalia did like to use one nickname in particular, but she liked to be different once in a while. "Aside from the fact that I'm now in a bush, we're planning on throwing a party for Nico's birthday even though he doesn't want it. Wanna help annoy him?" he said. With that said, he went back to struggling with the bush. Thalia almost laughed, but she thought it might be mean. The guy was having some serious trouble. But there was a particular reason as to why she wasn't helping him.

"Sure. Sounds cool. Bugging Nico is a fun past-time. But let me guess. This was Connor's idea?" she asked. Percy laughed.

"Ha, yeah... Aarg! This stupid bush!" Clearly he was getting frustrated. Who wouldn't? Thalia snorted, and Percy frowned at her. "You know, ever since Nico found out about Connor's crush on him, he's been trying to get Nico to be more socialized. Since I'm not around that much, did it ever work? More importantly, did they ever get together?" laughed Thalia. It was Percy's turn to snort.

"Define 'together.' But I do think it's working. Slowly, but it's working. Connor still gets nervous around him though." said Percy. Thalia sighed. She wished that Nico would just relax around others once in a while, and maybe show some emotions. But she supposed that came with being the son of Hades. "I think that's probably just because he isn't sure if Nico feels the same way. Ugh! Relationships! That's the exact reason why I joined the Huntresses." said Thalia with a nod. Percy smirked.

"I thought it was because you wanted to avoid the prophecy." he said. Thalia was about to reply, but Percy's smirk went away as soon as it came. "This damn bush! Hey, uh Thalia-" Thalia backed up.

"Uh, no I'm good here." she said. Percy looked at her and huffed. He really hated that bush now, but he will even more later... Thalia smirked again. "Oh just, grab onto a higher branch doofus." she said. Percy sighed and reached up. Eventually, he managed to pull himself out of the bush. "Man, finally! So. Nico's party." he said. Thalia laughed. "What?" said Percy.

"You may want to go straight to the infirmary before the party planning." said Thalia. Percy looked at her worriedly.

"Why? Did your arrow hit me?" That just made Thalia laugh more.

"No, but that bush you were in? Poison oak." she laughed. Percy glanced back at the bush in fear.

"Uh, a-are you sure?" he asked. Thalia nodded. Percy kept glancing back and forth from her to the bush. She noticed that he didn't notice he started subconsciously scratching his arm. "How- how do you even-" Thalia interrupted him.

"You're scratching." she said. Percy glanced down, and looked very frustrated. He groaned and rubbed both arms. The two started to head to the infirmary before it got worse. "Aaarrg! Why do we even have poison plants on camp grounds?!" shouted Percy. Thalia snorted again. "Why do we have a climbing wall with lava?" she said. Percy just glared at her. "Stop scratching, it'll just get worse." Percy sighed.

"Have you fallen into poison oak before?" he asked. Thalia laughed and shook her head.

"It's just what I've learned about the forest. Duh. Now seriously stop scratching. It'll get worse, plus you'll have scabs." said Thalia. Percy sighed and tried to ignore it.

Percy's POV

Damn poison oak. Why him?! Heck, why now? Just before Nico's party! Man, this sucked. And gods this was torturous! The gods were probably having heart attacks from laughing so hard. Well, he didn't know about his dad actually, but, you never know with the gods. It didn't help that Thalia was having the time of her life. Yeah sure, he wanted her to be happy but come on! This was hell on earth- so to speak. Soon they made it to the camp grounds, and Percy couldn't have been more happy.

They didn't see many campers as it was close to bed time. Chiron gave the party planners permission to stay up a little later that usual for obvious reasons. Percy and Thalia came back to their friends hovering over a table. Annabeth was explaining how everything was going to go down that night. It was funny, it almost gave Percy the feeling that they were going to ambush Nico with party stuff. Which, they kind of were technically. Nico was definitely not the party type. Damn this itchiness! He really wanted to go straight to the infirmary, but he also really wanted to check out the plans to see how things were going. Also, Connor looked like he could use some reassurance. The poor guy almost looked as though he was about to throw up.

"Hey guys, how's the planning going?" asked Thalia. Percy noticed that Connor crossed his arms and shifted awkwardly on his feet as he stared at the plans. But Grover soon reminded him of his problem. "Uh, Perce? Are you okay? You seem... fidgety," he said with a weird look on his face, "And red and splotchy." Percy sighed.

"Oh, poison oak." said Thalia. The other replied with a chorus of 'oh's' and took a couple of steps back. Percy groaned. Why did this have to happen to him? "You know, it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't shot your arrow at me." said Percy. Thalia snorted.

"Who was the one pretending to be prey?"

"Who was the one being invisible?"

"Who-"

"Guys! Stop flirting-" shouted Leo.

"We weren't-"

"I don't care! We need to get this done before Hazel brings Nico here around ten."

"Besides, I remember one time when Connor and I hid in a bush of poison oak by mistake while we were pranking Clarisse and- uh, you get the idea you don't need to here more." said Travis, the gang replied with a series of 'awe's.' "Anyway, the point is, getting an Apollo child to heal it right away is better before about fifteen minutes have passed. Wait. How long has it-" Travis never got an answer to that, as Percy quickly ran off to the infirmary. It had been long enough.

Connor's POV

While Percy's predicament was amusing, Connor was still a nervous wreck. What if Nico disappeared on him er- them? Gods this was nerve wracking! He didn't know if he could handle a rejection very well. Suddenly he felt a hand on his tense shoulder. Travis gave him a reassuring smile, as if to say that everything will be fine. Connor nodded in response. "Okay guys, let's get to work. We have about three to four hours so let's move it!" said Travis. They broke out into groups and started decorating their reserved and private area. Chiron had made sure that no other campers could sneak their way in and mess with it. After all, not everyone liked Nico.

Connor sat alone in the Big House. He sighed as he got the cake ready in the kitchen. He decided that his hands weren't going to be steady enough to hang streamers and whatnot. He stared at the 'happy birthday' written beautifully on the cake. He hoped it would be a happy one. Travis was being reassuring, but he was having a hard time believing it. Ever since Nico accidentally found out about his huge crush on him, not once has he shown any sign of reciprocating those feelings. That made Connor very anxious and scared. He did have a small glint of hope though. He knew that the son of Hades was very good at keeping his feelings hidden. So there could still be a chance. But then again, it was pure chance.

Connor reached for another candle, but his hands were shaking so much that he had to stop for a second to calm himself down. It was hard though. He felt like this party would conclude whether or not Nico returned his feelings. This fear was worse than any quest, or monster. "Believe son, and everything will be fine." came his father's voice in his head. Connor gave a small smile, glad to know that he was there.

"Connor?" said a voice. He turned to see the last person he thought he'd ever see at the moment.

"Uh, N-Nico! Um, wh-uh, what are you doing here? Where's Hazel?" Connor blurted. Damn his nerves. They just got in the way. Nico looked confused. "Hazel? Isn't she here?" he asked. Oh gods, this wasn't happening!

"Uh, I uh- she w-went looking f-for you. T-to bring you h-here." Nico gave him a weird look. Connor's heart was beating faster than ever, and his face was practically on fire. Then Nico glanced down. "Um, why- is that a birthday cake?" he asked. Connor tried not to panic.

"NO! I mean, yes, b-but i-it's not- I mean-" The key word being tried.

Thalia's POV

Thalia walked across the grass towards the infirmary. She decided that she should be the one to check on fish head. That was mainly because it was kind of her fault in the first place. She walked past the Big House and just glanced in the big window to see- wow. Someone arrived earlier than planned. Uh oh, it looked like Connor was freaking out. She hoped things turned out alright for them. Ugh, relationships! She sighed and carried on to the infirmary.

Once there, she found Percy sitting on the end of a bed. He kept fidgeting, and Thalia then felt bad for what happened. "Hey." she said. Percy gave her a forced smile.

"Uh, hey." he said quickly.

"I'm sorry. This was my fault." said Thalia. Percy smiled.

"Hey, don't be. I was the one being quiet in the woods for once." he laughed. Thalia laughed along with him. Then she remembered. "Oh hey, when I was walking over here, I saw that Nico had arrived earlier than planned in the Big House." she said. Percy's eyes narrowed in thought.

"The Big House? Isn't that where Connor was with the cake?" he asked. Thalia nodded and smiled sadly. Percy got the message. "Oh man. Connor's freaking out isn't he? Man I hope things turn out okay- arg! Come on! How long does it take to make ambrosia?!" he sighed. Thalia smiled and held back a laugh. Then she got an idea. "Ooh, I'll be right back! Hang on. Don't scratch." she said. Percy sort of half groaned half sighed.

Thalia went in to the back, and opened up a cupboard. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Why they didn't stop at the lake before, she'll never know. Hey, she was the daughter of Zeus. Not Athena. She walked quickly back to where Percy was waiting anxiously. "Here." she handed him the glass. "Oh man thank you! Why we didn't stop at the lake, I'll never know." he said mirroring her thoughts from earlier. Thalia smiled as he began to relax. After a couple of seconds, Percy sighed in relief. "I officially hate poison oak!" he said loudly. "So much for the ambrosia." Thalia laughed, and she couldn't help but notice Percy blushing. She didn't exactly know what that meant, but she didn't care.

"Well, I for one am glad you feel better." she said. A comfortable silence fell upon them.

Percy's POV

Percy stared at the floor in silence. It wasn't awkward, but comfortable. It was as though he and Thalia knew each other since forever. Percy's gaze left the floor and made it's way over to Thalia. She was looking out the window in thought. He noticed how the light made her look as though she were glowing. Her stormy green eyes (Percy still thought they were green even though everyone else says they're a bright blue colour,) twinkled in the light as she remained deep in thought. Percy's stomach flipped again. Why did this keep happening whenever he was around her?

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Thalia's voice snapped him from his thoughts. A blush crept up on his face again. He glanced down at the floor. He didn't realize that he was staring at her. What the heck? "Huh? Oh, uh, no. I uh, was just lost in thought. I didn't realize that I was um... yeah." he said. Thalia smiled, which made Percy blush again, and his stomach twisted with knots. Why was this happening to him? He was not, repeat not falling for her. Not! That wasn't him. Besides, she was Artemis's top hunter. It's not like it would work out. Gah! Why was he thinking like that?!

"I wouldn't think as much if I were you, you might sprain something." laughed Thalia. Percy smiled. He felt as though that already happened. Nevertheless, he laughed along with her. "I think that already happened." he said before he could stop himself. The blush deepened when Thalia looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean? Sure your head may be filled with kelp, but you know we're always kidding when we say that." said Thalia. Percy's brain was reeling with excuses, but nothing seemed good enough. What was he suppose to say? Tell her the truth about his crush? Wait. Was it even that? "Uh... w-what I mean is um..." he said quietly. He couldn't think of anything! Heck, he couldn't think period. Thalia tilted her head to the side curious as to what he had to say. "I- I think-"

"Guys! We're almost done if you still want to help out! Frank is running out of air so someone else has to blow up the rest of the balloons, and everyone else is still busy with their thing. Jason would, but he's exhausted from keeping the breeze down so we could hang everything else. He also helped with the lights when Travis accidentally shocked himself. Oh he's fine as well. If you hadn't noticed, the whole place had been dark for like fifteen minutes." said Grover. The guy had absolute perfect timing. Although, Percy wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. Thalia stared at Grover. "What- really? I'm sorry I could have helped. I didn't notice. When did this happen?" she asked.

"Just after you left. Oh, and Jason's okay, but he's ready to fall asleep at any moment. The guy's good, but he's not Jupiter or Zeus." laughed Grover. The other two laughed. Then Grover looked at Percy. "You're safe now right?" he asked. Percy gave a short chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm good." he said. Grover looked at him weird.

"Really? Are you sure because your face is still red." he said. Percy cursed himself for blushing as it deepened in colour. He glanced at Thalia and looked back at Grover. "Y-yeah. I'm fine Grover. We'll uh, meet you out there okay?" he said quickly. Grover gave him a look, but glanced at Thalia and then gave him a knowing smile and walked off.

"So..." said Thalia. Percy looked at her. She had a mischievous grin on her face that made her look as though she were one of Hermes kids. "We both know you're fine. So why's your face red?" she said. Percy's heart beat accelerated.

"U-uhm..." Percy couldn't think of anything. He couldn't tell her. He knew how it would end so why tell her and have his heart broken? Thalia stood up and walked over to him. "Don't sit next to me. Don't sit next to me. Don't sit- oh crap!" thought Percy. Thalia had sat next to him on the bed. The room had just gotten ten degrees hotter. "There must be a reason..." said Thalia.

"Um, it-" Percy cleared his throat that had become dry. "It uh, just g-got hot in here is all." he managed to say. Gods, having Thalia sit right next to him was making him feel weird. She scooted closer to him. Gods why? "So... why did it get hot all of a sudden?" she asked. She was going to make him say it wasn't she? She obviously knew, and she was going to make him say it! Annabeth had said that they could either be best friends, or worst enemies. What if Thalia chose to be enemies? What if this was her way of humiliating him? On the other hand, what if she chose friendship? What if she was being brutally honest? Gods, this was a fifty-fifty chance! A flip of the coin! But then, then she did something that surprised them both.

She cupped his cheek with her hand and kissed him. On the lips! All of Percy's earlier worries floated away just like that. It was obvious. She chose friendship. But then a totally new fear came about.

Artemis would kill him! No, she'd get Thalia to break his heart, then kill him. It would be an act of revenge. Percy, as much as he didn't want to, ended the kiss. "Wait, Thalia, what about Artemis and- and the huntresses?" he asked, scared to hear her answer. Thalia smiled at him.

"So much for being a lieutenant." she said with a giggle. Percy sighed with relief. They kissed again.

"Oh, and don't worry about Artemis. She may hate you, but she won't kill you. Zeus may have a say in that." said Thalia. Percy smiled. "We should get back to the party. They're probably done." said Thalia. The two got up and went outside.

"Hey guys!" Percy said loudly. The gang was just sitting around a table. They all looked fine, except for Jason. Once Percy spoke, Jason shot up from leaning against Piper with his eyes closed. "I'm not sleeping!" he said quickly as he rubbed his eyes. He then yawned.

"Sure you weren't. Hey, does anyone know what's taking Hazel so long? Also, where's Connor with that cake?" asked Grover. Juniper sighed and shook her head. Everyone else chuckled. But, he did have a point. Percy and Thalia looked at each other wondering if they should say it or not.

"Damn that kid! When I find him I'm gonna-" came Hazel's voice from behind them. Those two should really have some sort of bell because everyone nearly jumped out of their socks. "Oh hey guys." said Hazel. "Do you know where Nico is?" she asked. The others looked confused. That just made Hazel confused. Percy and Thalia looked at each other again wondering if they should say anything. "Man, if he doesn't get here I won't be able to give him my awesome gift!" sighed Jason. Piper snorted as if she knew something the others didn't. That made Percy and Thalia look at her curiously.

"Uh, that doesn't matter guys 'cause Nico just got the best present ever that none of us can ever top." said Travis. No one had noticed that he had walked over to the Big House. He was looking at the window, and Thalia and Percy gave each other knowing looks. Everyone migrated over to the window. They all 'awed' at the scene. Nico was gripping Connor's shoulders, and the two were kissing. Both of their faces were bright red.

"So much for the surprise party." said Hazel.

"Wait. Did Nico get the present, or did Connor?" asked Frank. They all thought on it.

"Nico got the present, Connor got the gift bag." Travis said with a smile. They all agreed on that.

"Does this mean we don't get cake?" asked Grover. That got him eye rolls and a sigh from Juniper. Grover looked at everyone. "What?" he said.

"Ah give him a break guys, he's part goat, it's in his blood." said Luke. Juniper looked at him.

"Hey. I'm part goat too." she said.

"Grover's also a man." said Piper. That got her eye rolls from the boys and smirks from the girls. Travis looked back at the couple inside. "Alright. Should we end this and celebrate Nico's birthday, or let them have their fun?" he asked.

"Well, I for one want to uh 'let them have their fun,' but I also want to celebrate. So I say we interrupt them." said Piper.

"Let's all go, but I'll go in and be the annoying brother." said Travis. Luke cleared his throat. Travis sighed. "Fine. You can come too." he said. They all walked towards the door.

Travis and Luke walked inside. The others listened carefully in the hallway. "Sup guys?" said Travis. The others held back a laugh. They heard shuffling feet, which would only be Connor and Nico moving away from each other. "So when you guys are done making out, we wanna celebrate." said Luke. Again, everyone had to bite their tongues to keep themselves from laughing. Travis sighed. "Man, I was gonna say that." he said.

"You said the first thing." said Luke. "You could at least let me embarrass them too."

"Fine. Oh and Nico, appreciate our gifts too even though they won't top Connor's." said Travis. Percy didn't have to picture the boy's red faces because at that moment, the gang walked out.

"So, do we get cake or not?" asked Grover. Everyone looked at him. "What?"

"What's with you and cake tonight man?" asked Percy. Grover shrugged.

"I love cake." he said. Connor put the last candle in the cake, and Leo quickly lit the candles. Everyone cheered as Nico blew out the candles with one breath. After everyone got a piece of the cake, Annabeth shrieked and everyone looked at her.

"We forgot to sing happy birthday!" she said loudly. Everyone, including Nico, sighed.

"We uh, we can't sing with cake in our mouths." said Leo. Although, his mouth was full of cake so it was very muffled. Annabeth sighed. Nico smirked. "Hey it's okay, I'd actually prefer it this way." he said. Annabeth smiled.

Percy glanced at Thalia who had some frosting on her nose. He thought she'd never looked more beautiful though. He gave a small smile, but it faded once he noticed that Grover was smirking at him and glancing at Thalia. He tried to hide the blush that was appearing on his face. Now was not exactly the time to tell everyone that they were together. Maybe someday they would. But for the time being, Nico was the centre attention whether he wanted it or not.

A/N: There you have it! :) Sorry to put Percy through that torture, but it was funny.

Well, R & R please! :D