A/N: Just to let you know, something BIG is going to happen in this chapter and because of that I'm not going to put a chapter title because it will give it away. See you at the end!

Disclaimer: Oops! Forgot this in last chapter… Well you know the drill. I do not own PJO (unfortunately…)

Chapter 15: The Beauty and The Prince

Don't worry Annabeth. There's nothing wrong with having lunch with your best friend and his fiancée. Don't be so nervous.

Please. Like that's the reason you're worried.

Great. You're back.

Technically I've always been here.

Ugh! Stop with that whole technicality business so I can finish getting ready! Leave me alone…

Fine. I get when I'm not wanted.

FINALLY.

I sigh at the strange conversation that went throughout my head and look at myself in my full length mirror. I put my curly blonde hair in a ponytail and decided to wear a pair of denim skinny jeans with a pale blue blouse and my grey vans. Once I decide I look suitable enough to be in the present of the future princess I say goodbye to my family, grab my purse and get into my car to drive over to the palace. Nervous could not even describe what I was feeling for the lunch I agreed to go to with Percy and Calypso. Surely nothing could go wrong, right? But knowing my Seaweed Brain of a best friend, most likely something would.

15 minutes later I pull up to the gates of the castle and the guard passes me through after making sure I was the real Annabeth Chase. Please, who would want to impersonate me? Once I pull up to the front steps a young guard smiles politely at me and he says he is to take me car to park it. I hesitantly hand over the keys since my car is one of the most precious possessions I own. I walk up the steps and a maid meets me at the top.

"Welcome, Miss Chase. His Highness has arranged for lunch to be in the gazebo in the Royal Gardens. Would you like me to take you there?"

"Oh no thank you. I remember the way," I force out a smile and she smiles warmly at me before curtsying and walking away. The familiar surroundings are comforting and my memory serves me well as I quickly find the entrance to the garden. I gasp as I walk through the garden, which seems even more magnificent than the last time I was here. My feet have a mind of their own as they lead me to the gazebo where I remember passing many times during my stay here. Suddenly I hear my name being called and I freeze. I slowly look up to see the boy that I had missed terribly in only a week.

"Hey Annabeth!" his mouth breaks out in a grin and it makes him look achingly handsome. His white and straight teeth are bright against olive tan skin and his jet black hair is as messy as every with his bangs practically covering his eyes. My goodness, those eyes. The sea green orbs that somehow managed to see into every inch of me, that matched the color of the ocean perfectly and always had mischievous glint in them. That was my favorite thing about him, his eyes. Right now those beautiful eyes were showing but joy and I was happy to realize that that look was for me and me only. Suddenly he ran down from the gazebo and wrapped me in a tight hug. At first I was too startled to do anything, but then I brought up my arms and hugged him back just as fiercely. I breathed in his scent of man that every guy seemed to smell of, but his had that special mix of the ocean that I loved. With Percy by my side, I wasn't so nervous anymore.

Percy's POV

I looked up and there she was, somehow looking even more beautiful than she did a week ago. Her golden blonde locks are in a ponytail and a few curls were surrounding her tan face, her stormy grey eyes intense as ever, but that light blue blouse she had on made her eyes look more blue grey. I loved her hair, it smelled like lemons and sometimes I just wanted to run my hands through the soft looking. I couldn't help the grin that fell across my lips and I found myself running towards her and wrapping her in a hug.

Once we finally let go and I looked into her eyes, I realized that for the first I could see every single emotion running through her eyes. Normally, all I saw was what she showed, but this time it was like I was looking straight into the depths of her thoughts. There was happiness, radiance, wisdom- as always- and something else I couldn't quite figure out. But I was then interrupted from my reverie by Calypso's soft voice.

"Hi Annabeth," she says and I turn around to let them see each other better.

"Hey Calypso. How's your first week in the palace been so far?" she asks with a friendly smile.

"Oh it's been great. Percy's been helping me a lot," Calypso then smiles at me and I think I see Annabeth grimace, but it goes away as soon as it came so I must have imagining it.

"That's… wonderful," she finally replies, seeming at a loss for words.

"Let's eat!" I announce and Annabeth and I walk over to the gazebo where a white table is set up with a delicious looking lunch is being served; a chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries on the side, a Caesar salad, pink lemonade, and my mom's famous blue cookies for dessert.

"You would get straight to the food, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth states once the three of us are all sitting down. Seaweed Brain?

She's right you know. You are one.

Um, who am I talking to?

You.

Me? I'm confused right now.

I'm your conscious. So technically you're talking to yourself. Doesn't Calypso look gorgeous? But I bet not as great as Annabeth though.

Yeah, sure… Wait, they both look beautiful.

I'm sure you prefer Annabeth though. Am I right or am I right?

You're wrong. I don't prefer any one of them. Besides, Calypso is my fiancée…

You know you made a mistake though. You wish you picked Annabeth.

No! I mean… not that there's anything wrong with her… it's just… Ugh! Never mind! Now go away because they're giving me weird looks.

As you wish oh so confused one.

"Um, Seaweed Brain? Why am I a seaweed brain?" I ask, raising my eyebrow. A pretty pink blush falls across her cheeks and I can't help but chuckle at her embarrassment.

"Because you can make some really weird decisions sometimes and you are always acting funny. Plus half the time only food is on your mind," she states, regaining her composure. Food isn't always the only thing on my mind…

"I do not act funny! Besides, you're a… you're a Wise girl! Ha, Wise Girl!" I retort, but I know it's a terrible comeback. She snorts and rolls her eyes.

"Please, that's the best you could come up with? Wise Girl? I'm actually going to take that as a compliment," she has a smug look on her face and I cross my arms and pout a little.

"You two are hilarious! I could watch the both of you all day," Calypso suddenly intervenes in our little banter and I look over at her a little startled, I almost forgot she was here.

"Percy over here is always amusing to watch," she says and nods her head over to me and I pout once again.

"Yeah, well…" Annabeth holds up her hand to stop me from continuing.

"Don't go on. It's too horrible to watch you trying to struggle from all that seaweed in your brain to come up with a decent comeback." Calypso bursts out laughing and Annabeth joins in, her laugh sounding so… melodic. I can't help but laugh with them and the rest of the lunch goes by like this, laughing and joking around with each with Calypso and Annabeth both ganging up on me. There's no awkwardness whatsoever and it makes me happy to see both girls getting along so well. I know that Calypso is usually shy and Annabeth is not always the… friendliest person in the well so this is pretty rare for the both of them. Once we finish eating, we decide to take a walk throughout the gardens. But before we could, Calypso speaks up.

"Annabeth, is it alright if I talk to Percy for a minute? It's something really important," I give her and odd look but she avoids it.

"Sure, of course. I can start walking and you guys can catch up to me? I'll make sure to walk slowly," she laughs lightly and Calypso grins.

"Perfect," after making sure Annabeth is out of earshot she turns toward me and takes my hands in hers.

"Is everything okay Callie?" I ask her.

"Everything is great with me, but I'm not sure with you. You don't like me,"

"What? Of course I like you! How could I not?" I was a little outraged, was I acting cruel to her?

"No, not that way. I mean that you don't seem to have an attraction to me and that's okay. But I think you do towards Annabeth."

"How… what in the world makes you think that I like Annabeth? She's my best friend."

"I don't think you just like her. I think you're… I think you're in love with her." at this comment I jump out of my seat and start to pace around the gazebo.

"WHAT? I am most definitely NOT in love with her! Sure I like how she's clever and witty. How she can be so stubborn sometimes, the way she's so infuriating but wonderful at the same time. That weakness she has for babies that nobody knows about, how she would make a wonderful mother. I love the way her hair glows in the sunlight and her princess curls… I love when she gets mad and her stormy grey eyes look almost alive. I love her lemony sweet scent. I love… her. Oh my gods, I do love her. I'm in love with my best friend," I run my hands through my hair and stop pacing once I come to the realization that I am completely and utterly in love with Annabeth Chase.

"I told you. Now go get her and never let her go," Calypso walks up to me and puts a hand on my cheek.

"Wait, so you're just going to leave?"

"I am not the right person to become your wife, Annabeth is. You have to go get her and convince her to stay with you for the rest of your life. A love like this is rare and you shouldn't ignore it. Annabeth is an amazing girl and I know the both of you will live a happy and long. I am going to leave and go home where I belong because Annabeth is the one who belongs here, not me. Thank you for choosing me, even though it was the wrong one, and goodbye. Now go. Get. Her," she kisses me on the cheek and walks in the opposite direction of where Annabeth went.

"Callie?" I call out to her and she turns around.

"Thank you," is all I say to her and she smiles and walks away once again. Once I come to my senses, I take off and run as fast I can to reach the one I love and thankfully Annabeth was true to her word, she didn't go too far.

"Annabeth!" I yell out and she smiles at me when I catch up to her.

"Where's Calypso?" she asks with a questioning look on her beautiful face.

"She uh, had to go back inside. She wanted to give us privacy,"

"Privacy? For what? And you look worried, your eyebrows are all furrowed up," she pokes the spot right above my nose and between my eyebrows and I laugh nervously.

"Well, I wanted to… needed to tell you something,"

"Okay. What is it?"

"I-I want you to stay,"

"I can stay for a while longer. Is that all?"

"No, I mean, I want you to stay with me and be the one I marry. Not Calypso," she is stunned into silence. I wasn't expecting her to throw her bag on the ground and get so close to my face that our noses are practically touching.

"So you want me to become your new girlfriend that you can dump and then keep getting new ones until you're satisfied? I can't believe you! You expect me to throw my life away AGAIN to be your next play toy? No way Perseus Jackson! I can't believe you broke poor Calypso's heart to just come and ask me to be your new wifey! You are such a JERK!" her eyes are alive and seething with anger. I was NOT expecting her to be this upset.

"Annabeth, listen to me. I don't want you to be my play toy. And I didn't break Calypso's heart. While we were talking back there she made me realize that I made a mistake choosing her at the ball, that I should have chosen you. You were the one for me all along. I'm not going to dump you because I could never hurt you like that. Please, all I want for you is to believe me," I take her hands in my mine and give her a desperate look. Her look softens just the slightest bit, but I can still tell she's mad at me.

"Okay, maybe I do believe you, but that still doesn't help you. This is a big commitment, me becoming your WIFE. I want you to prove to me that you want me here. Prove it and you better do it fast," an idea pops into my head.

"Fine, you want me to prove that I want you here? Okay," I push her back into a large tree right behind her, grab her neck and press my lips to hers. At first, she's too surprised to do anything, but then she relaxes in my arms and wraps her arms around my neck. I move my lips in synch with hers and taste the sweet taste of chocolate on her lips. I slide my arms down to her waist and pull her impossibly closer to me. I feel electricity from my head to the tips of my toes and I can't get enough of her lips. This feels incredibly right and I wonder why I never did this before. Once I can't take anymore I painfully rip my lips away from hers and take a gasp of air. I look into her eyes and they are bright with emotion. Her cheeks are flushed and her pink lips are swollen. Who knows how long the kiss lasted, but it felt like a blissful eternity.

"Okay, you proved your point," she whispers and buries her face into my shirt. I chuckle and she looks up at me sheepishly.

"Sorry for calling you a jerk… Heat of the moment and all," she says in a small voice.

"It's fine. But do you believe me now? You are the only one for me and I want you to know that."

"Yes, I believe you. Honestly, after we danced that night I was secretly hoping that you would choose me. I don't think I realized that I liked you until I was walking alone right now before you came."

"Well I'm glad you realized that just in time. Should we go back inside the castle? We should thank Calypso. After all, she made me get my head out my butt and come and fight for you," she bursts out laughing and nods her head. I lightly kiss her on the lips once again and we walk back with my arm around her shoulder and her leaning into me.

"UGH! How could this have happened? He was supposed to stay with the flower not the stupid blonde! Now all my plans are all RUINED! Now I have to start to planning ALL over again!"

"Of course your highness. We'll come up with a better plan than last time,"

"Well obviously we will you idiot. The new 'happy couple' won't know what hit them…"

A/N: I hope you love me now! I was so happy that when I realized it was time for this chapter that I couldn't get it done fast enough! I TOLD you I would fix it :) So no Speak Now stuff because that is just WAY to cliché and overused. You know, I wasn't planning this from the beginning. I was reading a book (can't remember which one) and this popped into my head when I finished it (and no I did not take that author's idea). Speaking of plagiarizing, a fan let me know that she read a book similar to mine called The Selections and I want to let all of you guys know that I did NOT mean to write this story so similar to that author's. Just thought I'd clear that up. By the way, a guest left a review saying that they hope I make a sequel? This story is far from over Guest! I still have a lot left to write and there is more drama yet to come. I'm not sure why they thought I was done with this story… Did I leave you guys with a closure feeling? Hope not!

Anyways, I'm supposed to be finishing reading Great Expectations for high school by Charles Dickens (it's so boring and I can't get into it! For those of you who've read it, please tell me it gets better! I'm at the part where the lawyer dude is telling Pip that he's receiving a fortune… If ANYONE here has read it…) but I updated for you guys because I couldn't help myself! Aren't I a generous person? ;) Actually, this is the least I could have done for the wait I gave you guys… Got to go now! I will update soon!

~Sky