Thank you so much for the reviews. I will keep them in mind from now on. :)

I do not own any of this. Percy Jackson belongs to the beloved Uncle Rick and the storyline goes to the amazing Michelle Do for her play of the same name.

Annabeth sat up in bed the next morning with a sense of peace and tranquility. Probably because the last creep that will ever be formally accepted into her home was kicked to the wayside by her. That thought made her giggle slightly while she got up to ready herself for the day. She had plans to go to the museum in order to look at the art its history. There was a new section dedicated to Ancient Greece, and she wanted to look into the architecture.

Dressing in a casual green dress, she styled her curly blonde hair, into a fashionable ponytail and headed downstairs to meet her father for breakfast. On her way down the staircase she stopped and heard two distinctly male voices conversing in the sitting room. One was obviously her father, but the other was not as deep but certainly just as masculine. She pictured a young man asking her father for a loan or advice. As she turned the corner to enter the room, she faltered a step when she laid eyes on the other gentleman. That was certainly what he was, and there would only be one reason a bachelor would be in her house.

Inwardly rolling her eyes, Annabeth huffed and thought to herself, great, another one. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was dripping in honey for how many flies I'm catching. She refused to acknowledge the stranger and instead trained her eyes on her father and silently asked him for an explanation. Frederick looked at her with a smile and something akin to pride and extended his hand for her to take. She reluctantly took it and he brought her closer, and in consequence closer to the gentleman.

"Annabeth, I would like you to meet Percy." Her father extended his other hand to the newly named Percy and he bowed at the waist to her in greeting. None of the other suitors had done that. She ducked her chin slightly in acknowledgement but still looked at her father for further explanation. "I met him last night at the speakeasy and he wanted to meet you." Percy raised his eyes to her, cocked and eyebrow and lifted the corner of his mouth in a smirk. So, you think you can just walk in here and I'll just fall all over you? Well, we will soon remedy that.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Annabeth." Percy took her hand and kissed her knuckles in an old fashioned way.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her father slip out of the room and give both of them an encouraging look. "The pleasure is all mine, Percy." She plastered a sickly sweet smile on her face that usually had men drooling over themselves. Percy, however, smirked again and sat on the settee in a relaxed manner. Almost as if he had done it a dozen times before. Cocky little son of a gun.

She sat herself beside him on the settee but with enough space between them to still fit another body. "So, has father set you up to this?" She happened to miss the stiffening of his spine and the wide look he gave her. "Because the only reason an eligible bachelor would willing be in this house is if he is fawning over my beauty, or father is blackmailing him."

She gave him a pointed look, and for the first time since she walking into that room, she really looked at him. She saw dark, almost black hair that was messy, but in a stylish way. Almost as if he tried to comb it but it would not stay and so he just runs his hands through it. Darn, it actually looks good on him. Not scruffy like I accused Leo's of being. She moved from his hair to his face. She saw a straight nose, strong jaw, free of any stubble, and a thin mouth with firm lips. Her eyes moved back up to study his. The eyes are the windows to the soul and she wanted to see what his held.

Her breath caught in her throat, and though she would never admit to it, his eyes captivated her. They were an intense green, like the ocean on a clear day. She could drown herself in his eyes. She could sense confidence, strength and power. This was a man that was used to getting what he wanted, even if he had to work hard to get it. There was also a hint of uncertainty. Where did that come from? For a man as confident as he appeared, why was there uncertainty in his eyes?

He cleared his throat and pulled her out of the depth of his eyes. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm here for the reasons that your father said earlier. I heard him talk about you at the bar, and was curious if you are really all he said you were."

"No doubt he mentioned how gorgeous I was, and needed to find a husband."

"Well, personally I don't see what all the great fuss is about." He crossed his legs and reclined while putting his hands behind his head.

Annabeth balked at his brazenness. "Excuse me?"

After realizing how his last sentence sounded, Percy sat straight again and tried to remedy his mistake. "Not that I don't think you're attractive, but I'm more interested in other things." He tried to take on a more sweet and seductive tone so he wouldn't be kicked out as quickly as the other suitors had been. "For example, what have you been reading lately?"

She was taken back by this question. None of the other men had asked her what she was reading. "I've..lately been reading Fitzgerald, but Wilde has always interested me…" She was not sure how he would take this information.

He smiled and and nodded. "His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God." Percy stood and walked behind the settee as he continued to quote. "So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star." He stood directly behind Annabeth while she sat ramrod straight. He bent slightly so he could whisper the words into her ear. " Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete." Her eyes and closed and he took the opportunity to almost imperceptibly inhale her scent before straightening.

Annabeth opened her eyes and breathed deeply to try and steady her heartbeat. Point to you sir, you have managed to stay in my house for longer than 10 minutes. "So I gather you are also a Fitzgerald fanatic?" She half turned to face him again and he shrugged.

"I tend to appreciate the finer things in life." He did that smirk that just lifted the corner of his mouth and Annabeth felt her mouth turn as well. "There is one thing though, that has left me curiouser." He came back around the settee and sat himself on the arm rest. "Why does the thought of love frighten you so much?"

Annabeth's brow furrowed. How dare he assume something like that about me. As right as it was, how did he even begin to know something so intimate about me? "How do you-"

Percy interrupted her and resumed, "From what your father has told me. You rejected so many men, not because they were not good matches, but for another reason. The only other reason I can think of is because you are afraid that someone would love you for something other than your beauty."

Annabeth stopped and stared at him, but not looking at him. It was almost as if she was really looking at the wall behind him. "It's not he thought of love that scares me, it's the thought of being in love."

"Is there a difference to you?'

"Of course there's a difference." Annabeth stated. "You can love someone, but it takes two to be in love. Love, is like a garden. Sure you can water and plant the seeds, but it takes time and dedication to keep the garden alive. I also don't like the idea that someone is dependent on me for their love. And it scares me just as much that one day I will be dependent on someone else to help keep the garden thriving." Since when did I start pouring out my ideology to strange men? Get a grip!

"So you don't like having to be dependent on someone. That someone can completely shake your foundation."

"Exactly. Being single is a certainty. Status quo."

"But maybe, you'll actually like it. Maybe you just haven't found the right guy that you would willing give up your control to."

Annabeth made the most unladylike snort imaginable. "Maybe, I guess I just haven't found the right flower yet." She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked inwardly. Surely that will get him to leave. I've made it plenty clear that I have high standards that no one will meet.

Percy stood and walked around the perimeter of the room. "I think, I would be an orchid."

"What?" Annabeth snapped out of her reverie and looked at Percy with confusion.

"The kind of flower that I think I would be, is an orchid," Percy said deliberately.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because orchids are unique. Plus, you can have many flowers in a garden, it only takes one orchid to change a garden."

He let Annabeth ponder his last statement as he reached for his jacket and walked towards the door. "Well, I must be on my way. Can't have you monopolizing all of my time."

"Wait!" Annabeth jumped up and held up a hand almost to stop him by sheer will. "Will you be back?" She was shocked at her actions. She had never let a man come back to spend more time with him. What's wrong with me? I can't invite him back! Then he'll get ideas that I'm interested in him, which I'm not! Well it's too late to take it back.

She waited patiently for his answer. "Of course, if...you want my company again."

"I would like it very much if you came back to visit...and maybe talk some more." Idiot! What are you saying?! You don't want him to come back!

Percy bowed, "I look forward to it." And with that he strode out of the door.

The quote that Percy says is from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.