Disclaimer : I don't own PJO, Arabella, Settle Down, or Love Me Harder.

"Alright, class. Your next assignment is to write a song and perform it in front of the class on Tuesday. You will be graded on vocals and lyrics. Any questions?" The vocals teacher, Mr. Patel, asked, but everyone called him Apollo for his singing voice.

"Can we do it in partners?" Someone at the back of the classroom asked.

"Er, yes, I think that's a good idea." Apollo said. "Everyone write your names on a piece of paper and put them in.. this cup." He grabbed an empty mug and walked around the class, picking up everyone's piece of paper.

"Alright, uhm, MacKenzie, come pick."

"Josh."

"Grace."

"Piper." Piper looked up, startled, and walked up to the jar. Piper reached around in the jar, then plucked one in the bottom. She picked it up and opened it.

"Jason." She whispered. "Uhm, Jason," Piper said, shoving the paper in her back pocket. It really said Alison, but she was the last to pick, so it didn't matter.

Jason looked up at her, surprised. "Okay." He said, shrugging.

Piper walked over to his chair slowly, taking Cal's chair and pulling it up to his table. "Hey," she said.

"Hi." He smiled. "Any ideas at all? I can sing, though I can't write songs."

"Please," she nodded. "Writing songs is what I do."

Piper pulled a piece of paper from Apollo's desk and flattened it on the table.

"A soft sound,

to the way that she wears her hair down,

covering up her face."

Piper wrote. Jason stared at her.

"Did you just make that up?" He asked, obviously in shock.

"No, I've had those lyrics in my head for a while." Piper grinned. "Now you write something. Just follow that theme." Piper pushed the pen to him.

Jason took around three minutes, scribbling something down wildly.

"Oh, what a let down,

I don't seem to be having any effect now,

falling all over the place."

Piper was astonished. "This is great, Jason. See? You're a natural." Piper smiled. "You should write some of my songs.

Jason looked confused. "Wait, yeah. You're in my sister's band."

"Yep." Piper kept writing, not looking up.

"But you're losing your words

We're speaking in bodies

Avoiding me and talking 'bout you.

But you're losing your turn

I guess I'll never learn

'Cause I stay another hour or two."

"How about 'Settle Down'? For the title?" Jason suggested.

"Yeah, yeah! That's good!" Piper wrote it at the top.

Eventually, the two agreed on a chorus-

"For crying out loud, settle down!

You know I can't be found with you

We get back to my house

Your hands, my mouth

Now I just stop myself around you."

Then came a second verse, then a tune, and soon enough, it was Tuesday.

Apollo wrote "Performance Day" on the board in bright green letters. All the groups were practicing, but Jason and Piper were cracking Your Mom jokes in the corner.

Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy came to watch them perform. After MacKenzie and Eli sang, it was Jason and Piper's turn.

"So, this is a song we wrote called Settle Down. We hope you like it."

They gave Apollo the sheet music for his guitar, and they began to sing

(Jason's part is marked in Italics, Piper's is in bold. Both are underlined)

A soft sound

To the way she wears her hair down

Covering up her face

Oh what a let down

I don't seem to be having any effect now

Falling all over the place

But you're losing your words

We're speaking in bodies

Avoiding me and talking 'bout you

But you're losing your turn

I guess I'll never learn

Cause I stay another hour or two

For crying out loud, settle down!

You know I can't be found with you

We get back to my house

Your arms, my mouth

Now I just stop myself around you

A small town

Dictating all the people we get around

What a familiar face

Do you get what I mean now?

I'm so fixated on the girl with the soft sound

And hair all over the place

But you're sure that I'd learn

I'm pushing through bodies

Avoiding me and walking around you

But you're cold and I burn

I guess I'll never learn

Cause I stay another hour or two

For crying out loud, settle down!

You know I can't be found with you

We get back to my house

Your arms, my mouth

Now I just stop myself around you

A soft sound

To the way she wears her hair down

Covering up her face

Oh what a let down,

I don't seem to be having any effect now

Falling all over the place

But you're losing your words

We're speaking in bodies

Avoiding me and talking 'bout you

But you're losing your turn

I guess I'll never learn

Cause I stay another hour or two

For crying out loud, settle down!

You know I can't be found with you

We get back to my house

Your arms, my mouth

Now I just stop myself around you

For crying out loud!

At the end, the class clapped furiously. Apollo even gave a big smile. "Beautifully written and beautifully sung. You two are quite the duo." The bell rang, and Piper was in such a fit of giggles she had to sit down. Jason smiled.

"Really good job, Pipes." Jason told her. "You're good."

"You're not too bad yourself," she laughed. "You did great, Jase."

Jason nodded at her, grinned, then left. Piper gathered her books and took to her locker.

Reyna tightened the laces on her ballet shoes and grabbed her bag. She got out of class early to see Piper's performance.

Reyna walked out of the dance classroom and near the vocals. She heard the faint sound of a guitar, so she pushed it open.

Piper was standing there, and Jason was next to her. Was this a partner thing?

Jason's blonde hair was perfectly messy in an adorable way. His eyes were bright and filled with life.

Reyna suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. They looked like they belonged together. Why was that fair? She was obviously the one to love here.

Reyna quit staring and walked through the door. Piper and Jason began to sing, and Piper's sweet voice filled the room. Jason's lower but still great voice harmonized perfectly with hers.

At the end of the song, Reyna's phone rang, saying she had to leave. Reyna walked out, sighing a little bit.

Thank God. If she had saw any more of that, she was afraid her crush on Piper might have shone through.

The next day, Apollo handed back a rubric with two names on it- Jason and Piper.

Piper flipped it over. "100%," it said. "Great song!"

Piper turned to the side where Jason sat. She smiled and held up the grade. He immediately grinned.

Piper turned back. Apollo was on about something related to the difference between treble and bass, but she didn't care enough to listen.

She was too busy staring at Jason.

Annabeth plucked the strings of her guitar and tuned. This was performance day. They had to pick a challenging song and have a duet with someone who didn't play. Annabeth had chosen Percy, because Thalia and Piper had class during that period, but Percy had study hall.

Percy smiled at her. "Thanks for the lessons, Annie."

"No problem." Annabeth said monotonously, finishing the tuning and plugging the guitar in.

Annabeth grabbed her other guitar, which was her spare in case her one painted blue wasn't available, which was orange. She plugged it in to the other speaker.

She handed the orange to Percy and put on the vocals.

"Arabella's got some interstellar gator skin boots. . " The speaker played. Percy played the backup, of course- he couldn't play the solo.

Percy was pretty good, though she didn't want to admit it. She'd broken up with him the day before.

Percy still acted like they were dating, though. Annabeth heard the crappy way he treated her behind her back, and she didn't like him anymore. He wasn't the same Percy that drove 6 hours to see her concert.

She leaned into the solo, which took an hour straight of playing and replaying to learn. After that, her and Percy's parts were the same. Annabeth made Percy riff at the end, and she stopped hers.

"Really good, Percy."

"Thanks," he said, riffing again. "Guitar's fun."

"Yeah, well, we'd better get to class." She flipped the guitar over her shoulder and walked out of the media center, Percy at her tails.

Piper and Reyna frantically went through their dress and makeup collections. They had planned to host a party in the theater for all the seniors.

Piper found a short red dress and Reyna a midnight blue jumper and a skirt. Piper shoved extensions in her chest-length hair to make it down her back and Reyna tied her hair in a bun.

Both girls clicked along the sidewalk of campus and to the theater. It was empty except for the DJ, Leo, a student who Piper befriended recently.

"Hey, Beauty Queen," he said, fixing his hair.

"Leo," she nodded and smiled. "This is Reyna." Reyna waved, and he blushed softly.

"So, we should start to decorate, no?" Piper asked.

"Yep." Reyna said.

By the time the first people arrived, streamers were everywhere. The music was playing, and Piper and Reyna were fixing their hair.

"Hey, thanks for coming!" They greeted at the door. Annabeth came after a minute, and she helped them greet. Two boys dressed in suits walked through the doors, and Piper could feel her heart pounding.

It was Jason and Percy. Jason actually styled his hair this time, and not in the messy way. It was quiffed and perfect, his electric eyes made the sky look dull. Percy looked rather handsome too, his messy black hair straightened and green eyes matching his tie.

"Damn," Piper whispered.

"I know," Reyna agreed, though it didn't sound too convincing.

"Hey, Pipes." Jason said, startling Piper a bit. "Oh, uh, sorry."

"No, no, it's fine, it's just wow, uhm, you, uh, you look amazing." Piper startled.

"Thank you, Piper." He grinned at her. "You look great as well."

"Thanks!" Piper beamed. "Shall we go?"

He stuck out his arm, which she took. "We shall."

Though Jason was mostly vocals, his dancing was great too. It felt like a dream, but she knew that she shouldn't expect anything. The farthest she'd gone with Jason was a hug. It'd been a month. A month.

She knew Jason wasn't the type to go fast. But really, Piper needed to confess. Maybe that would get him interested.

"So, Jason, uh-" she asked. "Love Me Harder" played in the background. "I kinda really like you."

Jason looked surprised. "What? Really?"

"Yeah." Piper wasn't rejected. That was good.

"I, uh, kinda really like you too." Jason replied.

That was Piper's cue. She leaned in a kissed Jason hard, not caring about her YSL lipstick being messed up. His lips weren't soft, but they were nice and firm. His mouth tasted faintly sweet, almost like coconuts.

Piper pulled him down to her, making the moves. Piper usually was the one to do this- she didn't like to be entirely submissive.

Jason kissed her back equally hard, wrapping his strong arms around her curvy waist. She caught a bit of his scent- pretty much what a hot boy would smell like. It was hard for Piper to describe, but she could eat it up.

Piper reached behind herself skillfully and pushed the knob open. She and Jason fumbled backwards, until Piper regained her balance with her back against the wall. Jason pushed her up, kissing down her neck and on her collarbone. Right as it started to get more heated, a knock came at the door.

"Pipes? Party's over." Leo's voice echoed through the wall.

Jason let go of Piper. She walked out, and Jason came behind her.

"Jason?" Leo asked.

"Leo? Hey!" Jason said. "Haven't seen you in a while."

The two started to chat, so Piper left while she still should. The walk back to her dorm was cold and uncomfortable. Her dress never fit over her chest just right, and her shoes were bending and twisting on her.

She arrived to the dorm and almost fell asleep immediately. Before that, she scrubbed the makeup off her face and began browsing on her phone.

Reyna wasn't home. She looked outside the dorm, checking everyone's room.

"Thalia?" She opened their door. It was open, and she checked in. Reyna was there, all right. Macking on Thalia's face.

"Alright, then." She invited herself out.

Piper hit the sheets immediately after arriving back.

EOC : I know the Jiper seemed a bit rushed, but Piper is the queen (at least, in this AU) of rushing things. Review, favorite, follow, whatever- until next time,

bugatty