Piper's brain was wrapping around her skull and twisting and turning in confusion. Everyone shoved past her because they were rushing around for the runway and Piper was starting to feel a little sick because of it. It was humid in the backstage area and with the fabrics of costumes and the perfumed smells, she felt like her brain was just going to dissipate to dust.

But, despite this, she was having the time of her life. Her mind roamed like it was on an adventure and her fast-moving instincts made her adrenaline start pumping. A smile was on her face and if the show turned out to be awful, she still ran it with a grin.

Piper felt like she was on a roller coaster what with all of her feelings and expressions. It was literally an emotional coaster because on top of feeling sick but having a fun time, she was frantic. Her grin would melt away due to worry that someone had the wrong outfit and someone else ended up naked or that someone tripped on the catwalk and the clothing ripped. Or maybe, just maybe, everything could just go catastrophic.

Several arms brushed past her and she elbowed her way through. Lacey was making sure their friends made it safely down the catwalk and back and that everyone filed through exactly like they were supposed to. Although she had a crew of makeup artists, Piper was running around hastily trying to make sure that her models looked how she had imagined them to be.

She stepped up next to Thalia who had her arms spread out and a shocked expression on. She looked up and found Piper there. "Piper, I can't find my heels!" She screamed. "And I have to go on, like, right now!"

Piper's heart took the next beat a little quicker than usual. "Where were they last?

"In the dressing room, I think. Hurry!"

Piper nodded and dashed off. Her shoes were making hard slapping noises against the tile floor as she thrust the door open. A blood-curdling yelp leapt from her mouth.

"Piper!" Jason jumped. Luckily, he had pulled on his black slacks in time but Piper's hand had immediately clamped over her eyes as her back straightened. Her lips formed a firmly pressed line.

Finally, Jason's shoulders unwound themselves from their tight position—but his heart was still thundering through his ears—and he took a step towards her, resting a hand on her arm. "Piper, its fine; I'm dressed. You can open your eyes now."

Piper's fingers moved to where there was a small crack that she could peek through. She was greeted by his deep blue eyes and although that made her veins pump even louder, she let her hand down. She could feel her cheeks start to burn like tears of fire streaming down her face. A sigh escaped her mouth, but she was still uptight. She gave him a short smile and darted farther inside. She couldn't feel her fingers as her hands just thrashed around, bumping stuff over and looking behind things to look for Thalia's black heels.

"Hey, are you okay? What are you looking for?" Jason asked, standing next to her.

Piper explained what she was looking for and then didn't realize how garrulous she was becoming: "—and so this whole night—and last night—has been going so perfectly and I know that something is going to slip up. I just know it! And I'm freaking out, Jason;" She grabbed the tufts of his shirt into her hands and continued, "Freaking out!" Piper released him and continued on her search. She looked in the corner behind the rack of scarves and heard Jason duck to step through a space between the clothes to follow her. "I mean, I could seriously have a heart attack here. We are demigods and who knows?" She straightened and stared at him—which he was oddly close to her, a blank expression on his face. She could feel her eyes growing wide and she gestured a wave with her hand. "Knowing us, a freaking giant monster would come running through and—"

Jason's lips cut into hers, interrupting her. She was surprised and her body went rigid, her eyes wide and her breath not exhaling or inhaling anymore. It was so sudden and felt so normal. His lips were small and it felt like clay was being pressed and molded against her once-dried lips. She felt his fingers barely touching the crook of her elbow and she was about to fold into him, not caring and breaking her promise of not falling for him again, but then he pulled back. Piper felt her headache had soothed away but then came back due to how wide her eyes had grown. She stared up at him, her exact frozen position standing still.

But his eyes were deeper blue, gleaming as well, and his breath was almost panting against her cheek (because they were still so close together) even though it was a short kiss—though to the both of them it felt so long. The main thing that Piper was even more shocked about was how calm he looked. Like it was something they did every day.

Piper's heart was beating so fast it was like it was jumping on a spring and it would end up shooting up and right out her throat.

"I found them." Jason finally said in a low voice.

Piper blinked out of her trance. "What?" She asked and her voice was barely over a whisper as she couldn't seem to catch her breath.

The ends of his mouth twitched upwards and he nodded his head over to a spot behind her. "The heels,"

"What?" She asked again as her brain turned to mush. Jason placed a thumb on her chin to move her neck to where he was looking. She found that the black heels were resting on the purple cushion of a chair. Piper's breath caught in her throat and she jerked out to reach for them, time suddenly jump-starting back into her system as she realized what was happening again.

You are at your runway show and you had to get Thalia's heels, she reminded herself.

And then you bumped into Jason and he kissed you, a small voice finished for her.

She turned back around with the heels' straps dangling around her fingers and she expected him to be gone, knowing that he was up next for walking down the catwalk. But no, he was right there where she had left him with a dazed face as if he was contemplating on whether what he had just done to her was real or a dream.

Without thinking, Piper said in a small voice, "What?"

A flicker of something flashed through his eyes, like he snapped out of the daze, but his facial features smoothly lifted upward bashfully and he shook his head to the side. "Nothing," he said as a small smile tugged on his lips.

"Grace! Where are the Grace's?!" Someone yelled outside of the dressing room.

Jason's head shot up at the mention of his last name.

"Dude!" They heard Thalia's voice scream. "I'm right here!"

"Oh, sorry, but where's your brother?"

Jason turned back to Piper. "I gotta go,"

She nodded.

He gave a short nod and turned to go, but then stepped back to her. "Oh, yeah, and," He rested a hand on her arm, giving her a serious look full of care and continued, "stop freaking out. You're doing great and everything's under control. Everything will turn out fine."

Piper's heart warmed and then melted a little in her chest and she could feel its melted warmth spread throughout her ribs. Jason took his hand back and walked out of the room, his electric blue cape sailing behind him. When his presence was gone, only then did Piper have the chance to actually breathe again. But it was small and still held back as she slid back, the small of her back leaning against a table next to her. Her face was painted ashen as she awkwardly stepped back and slowly parked her rear on the edge of the seat. Her mouth slowly gaped open and breath entered her lungs in a sharp gasp. It finally completely caught up to her what had just happened and it almost scared her a little. Her heart was meddling with her.

"Piper!" Thalia raged from the other room.

That made her jump from the seat and sprint out of the dressing room.

Leo Valdez was disappointed. He hadn't been able to find an outfit to wear in the runway and he couldn't just waltz out with nothing on but the thong—no matter how hard he begged. So now he sat amongst the crowd, slid down to where the base of his skull touched the rim of the back of the chair, with his arms folded over his chest. He didn't care if he looked like a five-year-old with a pouting scowl on his face. He was mad and felt left out.

Groups with brightly flashing cameras fought so much as Jason walked down the aisle with his sister close behind him. Leo sneered at the feisty people who were frantically craning their cameras to get a picture. Leo felt jealousy nip at his chest because Jason always looked incredible wherever he went—either on the courts or on a catwalk. He flashed a smile and turned to let them take pictures of Thalia, who Leo had to add looked hot with the black dress. He couldn't help but stare a little bit longer. She tipped her hat at them and then turned as the next person strolled out.

Leo looked away, shutting his slightly gaped mouth close, and suddenly realized how loud the room was. Everyone was talking and shouting and the music was pumping so loud he could hear it thrum through his ribs and pound in his stomach like he had swallowed a bass drum.

Leo shot the group of people with cameras a glare and then turned back to the show, shifting in his seat.

Suddenly, two people thundered down on him, clamping their hands on his shoulders and shouting in unison, "Leo!"

Leo jumped and screeched in surprise, "AH!"

But it was so loud in the room that nobody noticed it.

"Will you calm down? It's just us," Connor Stoll said.

Leo looked at him sideways, his eyes wide and revealing his frightened brown orbs. He then looked over at his other shoulder and found that Travis was there. He took a relieved sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just you guys. What do you want?"

"Why are you sitting down here?" Travis asked.

"Well, I didn't have anything to wear," Leo glanced over at him.

"You sound like an Aphrodite girl," Connor observed.

Leo then turned to look at him. "Is that an insult?" He asked melodramatically.

"Anyways, you'll never believe what we found," Travis squeezed his shoulder.

"What?" Leo turned back to him, feeling a little dizzy as he knitted his eyebrows together.

"Something that I'm sure you love." Connor said, making Leo turn back to him.

Leo opened his mouth to say something, but then Travis said, "We found it in the back at the last minute,"

"No, it wasn't," Connor said to Travis and Leo swiveled his head back to that brother. "I was going to wear it but then I realized that I didn't have to because I would be announcing,"

"Oh, yeah, that too." Travis then asked excitedly to Leo, "So will you do it?"

"I don't know what it is yet!" Leo raised his shoulders along with his voice.

"Dude," Connor lightly punched him in the shoulder. "It's an outfit for you to wear,"

"Duh;" Travis said and Leo turned his head back to him. "For you to be in the show."

"Where did you find it? I couldn't find anything after everyone else took theirs."

Connor glared at him a little, his nostrils flaring. "Did we not just tell you the reason we're giving it to you?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"So will you do it?" Travis repeated.

"Well I gotta know what it looks like…" Leo mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"But you're still gonna wear it, right?" Connor asked.

"Maybe we should just show him. He's gonna see it sometime or another." Travis said.

"Well this is Leo we're talking about."

"Yeah. But we shouldn't rush him."

"Since when did you learn manners?"

"Um, I've had them all along," Travis said in an attempted female tone as he made a motion to flipping his hair.

"Well we kind of do have to rush him because the show's only got a little bit more people left and then it's over," Connor said, ignoring Travis' joke.

Leo, sitting in the middle, had his head turning side-to-side at each comment and it was starting to hurt. At this point of view, it was like he had an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other telling him whether or not to resist a temptation. But it was getting on his nerves so he stuck his hands in their faces and yelled, "Stop doing that!"

They stopped and exchanged a look and then laughed in unison.

"Come on, Elf Boy," Connor said as he took a hold of Leo's arm and jerked him to his feet, dragging him backstage.

"Hey! I'm not an elf!" Leo exclaimed in a hurt voice.

"So, whaddaya think?" Travis asked Leo.

Leo stood in front of a mirror and had to shield his eyes due to the reflection that was glinting off of him and bouncing off the mirror. He strained his eyesight as he took his hand down and placed it on his chin, tilting his head to the side.

"Now we're talking my style," Leo said with a mischievous grin that matched the brothers'.

Piper was beginning to calm down a little more because the show was almost over and nothing out of place had happened yet and the building was not in its ruins. There was no dust in the air and no frightened screams—except for the loudness that filled the air everywhere.

She waited for the Stoll brothers to announce that it was over, but it never happened. Instead, they said, "Whoa, what's this? We've got one more dazzling outfit to show you?"

"What." Piper asked as her face fell to a dead serious expression.

She ran to the doorway next to Lacey just as she heard the crowd go up in an uproar. That made panic rise even more in her chest. She saw Lacey's face being lifted as her reaction but she didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. "What's going—" she stopped when she saw the sight in front of her. "On," she ended in a faltering voice.

Leo had jumped out wearing an outfit she had only designed just for fun and to see how it could look. It was a blinding white coat that went to his ankles—like Jason's—and had diamond-like beads lining down the trim and covering all over the fabric. Underneath, he had a white button-up that the buttons and suspenders were made of sequins. The white slacks were also as blinding white. Atop his head sat a top hat and he literally shined underneath the glowing bright lights.

The crowd was fascinated and rose to their feet. Cameras flashed as the paparazzi were in a bigger uproar, struggling to get the best picture of him because he (no pun intended) was the star of the show.

A slow gasp filled Piper's mouth and her mouth gaped open. But then the corners of her mouth began to turn upwards and it became a giant grin.

Leo stopped walking and started to jog a little. Then he slipped to his knees, sliding his way down the catwalk with his arms spread out, doing an almost jazz hands. The crowd was toppling over each other in excitement.

A laugh bubbled from Piper's throat and Leo began to stand up. He tipped his hat at them and then walked back with a beat in his step. On his way, though, he couldn't resist clicking his tongue against his teeth as he pointed to a random person in the crowd.

When he walked up to her, her laugh was in a high tone and she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a hug. Leo was taken aback, but he returned it awkwardly.

"That was so awesome, Leo!"

"Thanks, Beauty Queen, but you're kind of…suffocating me."

She stepped back. "Sorry—"

"Whoa!" Leo interjected. "What time is it?!"

"Um…a little after six."

"What! We gots to go!" Leo said and he took off his hat and tossed it onto the table. Leo hesitated, not knowing how to summon the team so that they could leave, and so he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled as loud as he could.

"Ow, Leo," Jason rubbed his ear.

Leo gawked at him. "Wow, I didn't think that would actually work."

"What are you—?"

"There's no time!" Leo waved his hands in Jason's face. "You gotta get the team or else we'll be late!"

"Oh, crap!" Jason yelped as he suddenly realized where he had to hurry to next. He looked back and found the rest of the team already pushing through the thick crowd trying to change back into comfortable clothes in the backstage area. They looked up at Jason in distraught.

"Okay, step aside; let Mrs. Charm Speaker here do her thing," Leo said as if he were presenting Piper to the world.

Piper blinked down at him and then looked up at Jason. Shivers crawled through her body as something flickered across both of their eyes; a look of reminiscence. Her lips parted and she felt as if the bees were poking at her heart or like a feather was tickling it. She swallowed, feeling nervous as Jason gave her an unreadable look.

Piper looked away as she could see Leo raising an eyebrow at them in the corner of her eye. She sighed a little and then said with her voice full of strength, "Move for the players,"

People turned to look at her with googly eyes and they snapped back in front of them and cleared a path for them. The players were skeptical and stared at the path in surprise. Nevertheless, they jogged towards the three. Leo urged them on and followed them. That left Piper with Jason.

Jason opened his mouth to say something but was then cut off by one of the Stoll brothers announcing that Jason Grace and the rest were going to be at the game. That caused an eruption as people shoved to the doors, pushing the two closer together. Piper found herself folded into his side and Jason covering her from the current of the crowd with his body. She was almost surprised and he was so close that they were touching and she could smell him—like rain and something nice—and could feel his pulse thrumming through him.

He turned back to her and just like the first time they fell together, he could smell and hear and feel all those features about her fragrance that he had held onto. Jason swallowed and opened his mouth again, but was again cut off by the loudness.

Piper winced from the bellows around them. She looked up at him and oh, so desperately wanted him to continue what he was going to say. She wanted to know so badly.

But he didn't continue. Jason gave her a look that showed that he didn't know what to do. Piper took his hand and turned and instead of resisting against the crowd, she brought him along its current.

She ran and ran and ran, dragging him along with her. He stumbled but soon he regained his footing and was running alongside with her. They were with their friends, who had all bought tickets to the game because they didn't want the night to end, and they were waiting for the bus again. It had just shown up and everyone was relieved until the bus driver shrugged at them and closed the door. The bus was full and now they didn't have a ride. They groaned and wondered how they were going to get there.

Percy, getting this burst of energy, dashed through a tunnel in the thick crowd and started to run to the stadium, even though it was several blocks away.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelped.

"Come on!" He hollered over his shoulder. "We've been through battles; we can run to the stadium!"

"You're joking, right?!" Thalia screamed at him. "I just wore heels! My feet are killing me!"

"Get over it, Pinecone Face!"

Thalia looked like she could just strangle him.

But Annabeth, not caring if he was deliberately acting like a Seaweed Brain or not, ran after him. It was a domino effect as Grover followed and then Thalia and everyone else started to run. People thought that some sort of riot or something was going on. But it was like when Piper brought them to the rehearsal sight and she should've felt free but it wasn't exactly as much as last time. She liked it, of course, but it was like she knew something wrong was going to happen.

They made it in time a little while before the game started.

Piper had texted Chris to tell him that she was at the basketball stadium. Even though it was just a text, she could hear the shortness in it when he replied: K. He was coming, though, and Piper suddenly felt uncomfortable. It was like the air was stuffy and she felt like she didn't fit right in the setting.

She had wished Jason and his team good luck before making her way to her seat—which was right under the hoop and as she sat down, she could spot out all of her different friends scattered around her.

Finally, Chris showed up and she didn't get that feeling in her stomach like she normally did when she was around him. It was like he was just another color in the crowd. Piper swallowed, knowing that this was a bad thing. But even though she knew it, something inside of her told her that it was all right. Her heart and brain were at a battle and she was confused on Chris.

She took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. She had been through this all before with the triangle between her and Jason and Reyna. She would think one small thought and then get too rational and ahead of herself. And now, just at the sight of Chris, she's suddenly confused and almost feels like crying.

But she knew it was real, what she was feeling. She was at a battle with herself and didn't know how it was possible for someone to win. You could either come out on top, or both sides of yourself could die.

Piper mentally slapped herself. What was wrong with her? She just needed to stop thinking.

And then she did.

Unfortunately, it was because her eyes had landed on Jason, who was in his team as they filed out from the locker rooms.

Piper clenched her teeth. She found herself in a very sticky mess. She looked down and suddenly, Jason was searching the crowd. His eyes skirted around and she knew that they were searching for her. A part of her wanted to slink down in her seat and the other wanted to stand up and wave her hand around with a grin on her face. She didn't do either; she just sat there and let his eyes lock onto hers. He froze as he saw her and his lips twitched up as if they really wanted to beam up at her. But Jason's eyes flashed at Chris and he turned solemn and turned his head away as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Piper's eyebrows knit together and she felt bad for Jason. But then…she looked sideways at Chris. His lips pressed a firm line and she realized that they hadn't said a word since he got here. She knew something was up but didn't mean to ask it. Another bad thing was that she didn't feel guilty for him that much anymore.

The game started and they played hard. Almost two hours later and the two teams were at a tie and Piper was at the edge of her seat. She was biting her nails as her eyes trained on the fast actions and the passing and the squeaks of the shoes echoed in her ears but the crowd around her began to zone out. She found herself completely enveloped into the game.

And then Jason began to set himself up for a basket. He just about the only one on that side of the court and he looked over his shoulder and saw the opponent barreling right towards him. Nevertheless, he arched himself up to shoot for a basket. The player lunged forward and jumped up to try and block it but he had thrown his body weight off and he ended up throwing his entire 150 pound body against Jason, who had been light in the air at that moment.

Jason hadn't expected that much of a force to drive through him, but he did see the player. But that didn't stop his body from falling to the ground and since he was also conjuring a little bit of wind at that moment that also pushed him harder to the ground. He saw the ground and a patch of reflection from the bright lights above and then he saw it rising faster and growing bigger. He put his hands out in front of him to stop the hard contact that was about to rattle his brain, but it didn't work. His feet flew into the air and he decided to use the wind in that split second to help him twist his body around to where he'd land on his back.

It almost worked except he landed on his side and he felt a tremor bounce through his ribs. The side of his head slammed against the floor and then lifted as he slid across the floor, creating a burn on the side of his calf. He gritted his teeth as a trickle of sweat dripped down his forehead and stung his eyes which had red and black fuzzy spots dancing in his vision.

He must've blacked out for a while because when he opened his eyes up, there were people standing over him and waving their hands in his face. The bright lights were just a white fuzzy smudge. A groan escaped his lips but the first thing that he mumbled out was her name. He blinked and everything began to come clearer and he shook his head a little, closing his eyes longer and then opening them up wider.

"Are you okay?" Leo was suddenly there. "Jason, my man, can…you…hear…me?" He asked slowly like Jason was some sort of an alien.

Jason turned his head to the side and he held his arms to his chest like he had a broken paw, but really, his ribs were the source of the pain. But he didn't let that show because it didn't hurt as bad with it being numb. He searched through the crowd again and everyone was on their feet, gawking at him. But Jason didn't care about him.

Piper stood up and was craning her neck over the crowd to see him. She couldn't get a good view.

"Ooh," Connor said in the microphone in the box up high in the ceiling. "Jason Grace has taken a pretty hard fall. They say he might have a concussion and a couple of bruised ribs…"

"Jason!" His name cried from her. She gripped the blue plastic seat in front of her to where its pattern was starting to leave an imprint in her palms. She decided that she needed to see him up close so she stepped out into the aisle.

"Piper!" Chris stopped her.

She had the instinct to yank her arm back, but she told herself who she would've been doing that to. She stopped herself and stood frozen, staring down at Jason who lay on the floor and his eyes looking a little dull. She got that feeling again. That feeling she got when she used to date him; that feeling where she just had to be by his side and be near him like he was her lifeline. To just hold his hand—especially now that he was injured.

"I wonder why, he obviously saw number 13 coming at him," Travis commented.

"Well, maybe he's just a little distracted." Connor offered. "He just came from a runway show."

"Or maybe it's from a secret love," Travis said tauntingly.

Piper turned back to Chris, who was slowly breaking from his mask. He looked weary and a little ashamed and embarrassed. "Pipes, what are you doing?"

"I need to check on Jason," She said. She began to start off down the steps again, but Chris kept his grip.

"Do you really? He'll be fine! You can just stay here with me!" He cried out.

Piper halted, her heart nearly stopping. Her eyes widened and she knew that they weren't talking about anything that was happening at that moment. She knew the real reason he had been acting that way.

She turned back to him, her face ashen.

But his was sad. Chris had loved her, he really thought he did, and it's always heartbreaking when you see the one you love, love someone else. Especially when it happens right in front of you—it's almost like you're invisible and they just don't care about you. And Chris got that surrender feeling where he kind of just didn't care anymore if she loved Jason or not. He knew that this was that next stage—giving up on loving that person. But Chris had to at least tell her.

"I love you," he said. "And if you leave me, you're leaving what we had. So you can either go with him, or stay with me."

"Chris…" Piper trailed off, her eyebrows knitting together.

"I don't want to do this, Piper, but you leave me no choice! I saw you two last night! I saw you dancing and I saw how you held each other. You guys have loved each other even before you met me! I know it. I can tell because that's how you and I looked."

Piper could feel her heart ripping itself apart with guilt. She didn't like being in the middle and that this one choice was up to her to make.

Chris let go of her arm and gave her a look.

Piper looked back to Jason, whose eyes had finally locked on hers once again. It gave her that warm feeling on the back of her neck and her heart started to put itself back together again.

She then looked back up at Chris, who once shimmered in her vision and was the highlight of her life. But now…he was just another person and she had that nip in her stomach that told her that they could never be together no matter how strong their feelings were.

She lowered her head and began to step back up the steps to him and stood next to him.

Chris was almost relieved.

But then, Piper knew what she had to do. It was the right thing to do even though it was going to be wrong on Chris' part. She rested her hand on his cheek and kissed the other one. She brought her lips close to his ear and said, "I'm so sorry."

With that, Piper, not exactly knowing what she was really feeling and why she was thinking this way—but she ignored those thoughts as she suddenly felt happy. That was when she knew it was right. And then she stepped away from Chris once again and ran down the steps. She dodged the guards and slipped past the borders and she kneeled next to Jason.

"Piper?" He mumbled.

"It's okay, Jase, I'm right here." She gripped his hand. "I'm right here and I'm not leaving." Piper knew that that was a promise she was willing to keep.

Jason smiled up at her but then the doctor that rushed in pressed on the sore spot of his ribs, making his overwhelming headache grow stronger like the pulse of something evil. And then with that, Jason slipped back into blackness.

Yeah, I know: this was kind of cheesy and clichéd but I had to do this in order to write the next chapters. And, yeah, I know, I was mean with Chris again...but this is a Jasper Fan Fiction. But do not fret, we are still not done with this story - Chris might just return in later chapters. And I hope you liked this! I had to drop math homework for a couple hours just to finish this up.

I also hope you guys liked Iron Man 3! If not, then...there's...there's something wrong there. But that's just my opinion because I thought it was perfect in every way and that it was just...perfect :) and if you haven't seen it and are planning to, I advise you to stay for the end credit scene. Trust me, you don't want to miss that at all. But if you're familiar with Marvel, then you would know to never leave the theater before the credits are over because there's always something at the very end.

Anyways, I hope you have a good week! Please review!