Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.

A/N: First 2 weeks of class over. Phew! Here's the next chapter; enjoy! PS: if anyone ever wants to do some fanart, I would totally love to see that and maybe even feature the link with the next chapter? I need some cover art as well, and I'm no good at drawing humans ;)

"Well, that was delicious, and I don't think I could handle another bite," Thalia said, taking the last sip of her beverage.

Luke smiled. "I'm glad you liked it." He signed the bill and helped Thalia out of her seat as they departed from the restaurant.

"Should I call you a cab?" Luke asked her with the same gentlemanly air he always seemed to carry with him, at least around her.

Thalia smiled. "No, thank you. I drove here, but you can walk me to my car?" Her teeth caught her lip as she proposed the question uncertainly.

"Of course," Luke said quickly. He offered his arm with a smirk and Thalia looped her hand gingerly through it. The walk was short and the air had turned brisk despite the beginning of spring, but it was bearable for the two of them, lost in their own world to any passersby. Thalia unlocked the car when they arrived, and hesitated before opening the door. Seeing her hesitation as an opportunity, Luke reached around her for the door handle. He leaned an elbow on the top of the door frame as Thalia thanked him with a hidden blush, sliding into her seat. She fumbled in her handbag, and retrieved a small object.

"Call me if you're staying in LA for more than a few days?" She held out a small business card between two slender fingers, her nails characteristically painted black. As soon as Luke had taken the card with an expression Thalia could tell he was trying to hide, and one that she couldn't distinguish into any single emotion, the safety alarm of the rental car went off, causing Luke to spring away from the vehicle while Thalia scrambled to find the keys again, muttering a few colorful words in the meantime. Once the alarm had finally been silenced, Luke cleared his throat.

"Well, have a good evening, Thalia Grace." That stupid smile was back, the one that was slowly chipping away at Thalia's heart. Luke shut the car door for her and waited by the curb for her to depart safely, before Thalia saw him turn away in her rear view mirror.

When she got back to the hotel, Thalia wasn't surprised to find that Zoë was sitting erect on her bed with a larger-than-life grin. "Soooo? How'd it go? I want all the gooey details!" she declared instantly.

"Give me another half hour to get ready for bed and you can have it all," Thalia responded with a roll of her eyes. She set her bag down and sighed, wanting nothing more than to take off her makeup, let her hair down, and pass out on the bed. But true to her word, she shared the evening's details with Zoë, who couldn't share her interest in men but who was happy to play the role of cheerleader for her friend. "And his outfit was just on point. I felt like an idiot, and was trying so hard just to not drool on my plate whenever he talked to me," Thalia concluded with a shy smile.

"Do you think he'll call you tonight? Or maybe tomorrow? Ooh, maybe he'll plan some kind of sightseeing picnic for you two by the beach," Zoë suggested excitedly. Leave it to her to be the wishful thinker for a romance-movie date night ending.

"How much of the hotel chocolates have you had? I don't think he'll do any of that. We won't be a thing, Zoh. We can't. He's busy, I'm busy, and we're at different places all the time. It just wouldn't work," Thalia shrugged, despite Zoë's dissenting opinions.

-x-

In fact, he did all three things. Just before midnight, Luke called her cell phone from his own personal number, under the excuse that he wanted to make sure he'd put the contact information into his phone correctly, much to the defense of Thalia's teasing response. (Too much champagne and now your screen is blurry, is it?) The next morning he had called her to say that he was leaving the city for three days, but that he was returning for two weeks for his own spring vacation. And once those three days had passed, Luke Castellan called Thalia up yet a third time to request lunch with her on the Santa Monica pier, which both Thalia and Zoë agreed was very close to a sightseeing picnic.

"So how is your research going for the theater set?" Luke asked Thalia as they walked up the boardwalk. He was holding a funnel cake, and she was munching on a bag of popcorn, having finished their lunch about an hour ago. It was hard for Thalia to not look at him. The weather was perfect for illuminating his bright blue eyes, and Luke looked very ready for summer in a pale coral button-down top, with the arms rolled above his elbows, and he had navy blue bermuda shorts on as well, with comfy looking white espadrilles. Oh yes, this man knows how to dress to impress, and I'm falling hard. Thalia had dressed comfortably herself, with a lacy dark grey top and white shorts, and she had some beige sandals on. She didn't usually prefer to wear white, but Zoë had convinced her to go with something a little different. The shorts were Zoë's after all.

"Research has been good, if you liking having the be-geezers scared out of you. Zoë and I got a private tour of the abandoned Rancho Los Amigos Hotel yesterday. I don't think I'll be going by there again any time soon," Thalia said with a shudder. "There's something insane going on over there. I don't want any part of it. To make matters worse, Zoë wants to take a tour of the Queen Mary Hotel tomorrow night. Next thing you know, we're going to be hearing ghost stories about our hotel."

Luke laughed. "Not a fan of ghost stories, are you? I'm not much of a fan of them myself," he said.

"This is going to sound really stupid, but can you come with us?" Thalia asked him imploringly. She ate a handful of popcorn while awaiting his response.

"You just want to hear me scream when a ghost comes after us, don't you?" Luke teased her. "Yeah, sure, I can come with you two." He smiled, noticing how evident Thalia's relief was.

"So which ride are we riding first?" Thalia asked with a grin, desperate to change the subject. Conveniently they had just arrived at the entrance to the rides. "How about the West Coaster?" She pointed to the large, yellow ride, complete with dips and swirls.

"Sounds fun," Luke agreed. They finished their snacks and then jumped in line.

Fifteen minutes later, their safety straps were lowered and the ride took off. Thalia wasn't conscious of her screams, and was confused when the ride ended and all Luke could do was laugh and try to explain why.

"Oh, shut up," Thalia said, cracking a smile. "Go win me a teddy bear or something." Sure enough, he did just that. Well, not a teddy bear exactly, but a cute little blue and green stuffed turtle. Thalia clutched the turtle for the rest of their day on the pier, like a child with a favorite toy that they just couldn't leave at home. As they drove back to Thalia's hotel, they chatted about their favorite rides and foods from the pier, and for once Thalia didn't feel as if the only thing that she had to look forward to in her life was her work. She looked forward to spending time with this blonde stranger, and hoped that soon he wouldn't be so much of a stranger to her, but a good friend. Maybe more, if she truly felt hopeful. She stopped herself from thinking about the few short days that she and Zoë had left in Los Angeles, but at the same time she was curious as to when she might see him again once this particular vacation was officially over. The skies were bright, clear, and blue, and she prayed to whoever was listening that they could stay that way for a while.

[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]

Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.

A/N 2: Bit of a late upload, but it's within the two weeks I said I'd get it done in! Although I'll admit most of that was done yesterday and today...so we'll just pretend that it's cohesive enough because I'm too tired to proofread it right now :P Next chapter's going to be a little different, but in a good way, I think. That's the only hint you get!