Epilogue – Big Night

Travis was disappointed, but not surprised, that Katie hadn't returned to camp with them. He was also disappointed, but again, not surprised, when she didn't call or send him any letters. He wasn't sure what he had hoped for, but some form of acknowledgement would have been nice.

It had been months since the quest and even he realized he'd been moping about the camp. Travis figured it was a good thing it had been winter and the summer campers weren't around. He would have had to pretend to be the jokester with no worries when all he felt like doing was sitting by the lake watching the day pass. Connor and the rest of the year-round campers pretty much left him alone. He was pretty sure he'd heard Connor tell the others that he'd gotten dumped by Katie and Travis didn't even bother to correct him.

It was surprising to him, then, when he had a dream in the middle of May. In his dream, he was visited by both his father and Demeter.

"Travis, it's time. Tomorrow night is the prom and she doesn't plan on going. Only you could change her mind."

"Every girl should go to her senior prom. Even my daughter." Demeter added, though it looked like it pained her to admit that it was Travis who would be taking her.

"The prom? I don't have any clothes to wear. I've never been to a prom!" Travis protested. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Katie… it was that he didn't like to dress up.

"We will provide you with what you need. Take care of her Travis. You promised," Demeter reminded him.

"You'll be picked up in the morning and prepared for the evening. Have fun, son." Hermes winked and both gods disappeared.

When Travis woke, he wondered if had been an actual dream and not a demigod dream. He had never heard of the gods setting up someone to go to prom in a dream before. Besides, that sounded more like Aphrodite's domain than the god of thieves and the goddess of the harvest. He wasn't even sure that Katie's prom was tonight. He hopped out of bed and was met at the door by Argus who silently held up a bag and a hanger. Travis blinked and stared at Argus. Argus just returned the stare, his hundreds of eyes blinking. Travis shivered and took the offered items and followed him to the SUV.

The drive was long and silent. Travis spent it wondering how he was going to just show up on her doorstep. By the time Argus dropped him off, he still didn't know.

He had a few hours to kill, so he decided to wander the town, get a feel for the place. Katie lived in a fairly small town and he found the school easily enough. Travis chuckled to himself when he saw the kids decorating for the big night. It gave him an idea.

The sun was setting when Travis walked up the steps to Katie's porch. He stood there for a moment fiddling with the cuffs of his tux and his bowtie, trying to calm his nerves. He took a deep breath. This feeling of anticipation was one he knew well. It was the same feeling he got every summer on the morning that the summer campers arrived. The same feeling he got on the morning he knew he'd get to hang out with Katie for the entire summer.

Travis straightened to his full height and knocked on the door, trying to look confident that Katie wasn't going to open the door, see him standing there and slam the door in his face. The seconds ticked by so slowly that by the time the door was opening, he was sure he'd been standing on the porch for an hour.

When the door swung fully open, Travis found himself face to face with Katie. Her green eyes widened in surprise as she stared at him through the screen door. "Travis! What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Is Connor…?"

Travis grinned, the impish grin he shared with his siblings lighting up his face as his nervousness melted away. The familiar feeling he got from just being near Katie came over him. "Nothing is wrong except that I heard that your senior prom is today and that you aren't going. I'm here to take you."

"You're here… to take me to the prom?" She looked so surprised; Travis had a hard time not laughing. "How did you even… Never mind. My mom, your dad… they are kind of omniscient, aren't they? I'm not planning to go, you know. I turned down three guys who asked me."

"Of course you did. You were waiting for me to swoop in and escort you." Travis's eyes gleamed with mischief as they fell into their old routine.

Katie shrugged. She didn't want to let him know how close to the truth he was. "You might as well come in." She pushed open the screen door to allow him to enter. "I don't really have anything to wear though. That whole not planning to go thing and all."

Travis smelled victory. "Katie, you could go to that dance in sweatpants and you'd still be the most beautiful girl in the room. It doesn't matter to me if you wear a fancy dress or a pair of jeans and a t-shirt." He grinned. "I wish I was in jeans and a t-shirt right now."

Katie couldn't help but grin. "You look nice in your tux."

"Only nice? I was going for suave and debonair," he mock whined.

She reached out and patted his arm. "You look very debonair, Mr. Stoll. Now, if you have a few minutes to wait, I'll see if I can find anything decent to wear so I don't embarrass you at the prom." Katie showed him the living room and then disappeared up the stairs.

Travis waited in the living room, wondering where the rest of Katie's family was and why she was home tonight instead of with them. He didn't have a lot of time to dwell on the question because shortly after she had disappeared up the stairs he heard the distinct sound of high heels descending them. He stood and went to the base of the staircase.

When she appeared, Travis couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her dress was floor-length and emerald green, the same shade as her eyes. It was halter style and when she reached the floor, he could see that her back was bare except for the single, delicate gold chain that ran from the neckline down the middle of her back and attached at the waist. Her hair, normally in a long braid, was free and loose about her shoulders in soft waves. She wore a gold ring on her right hand and her camp necklace as her jewelry.

Travis had to grin when he spied her necklace. He reached out and picked it up with his thumb and forefinger. He ran his thumb over the smooth beads. "Nice necklace, Kitty-Kat."

She just grinned and shrugged.

He dropped her necklace and reached up to his own neck where his was hidden under the collar of his shirt. He pulled it free and when she saw it, she smiled. "We've survived worse, right? Prom should be nothing." she asked.

He offered his arm and she accepted it. They strolled out of the empty house and to Katie's old car. It wasn't much, but it would get them where they needed to go. Katie slid behind the wheel and smoothed her dress while Travis climbed in the passenger side. "You should let me drive," he said as he buckled his seat belt.

"I'm the one who can legally drive. You should ask Chiron to let you test for your license. You drive really well." She got them on the road and was quiet for a few minutes. "Hey Travis?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. When he looked at her she grinned. "Thanks. For doing this. I didn't realize until you showed up how much I really did want to go."

"Anytime, Katie. I'll always be here for you."

She was quiet again for a moment, steeling her nerves. "I Iris-messaged you a couple times. I chickened out though and dissolved it before you could see me. I wanted to apologize. On the quest… I was… I was really scared. Of everything. I took it out on you, and I shouldn't have. I'm really sorry."

Travis reached over and took her hand. He smiled when she didn't pull away. "No worries. We're here now and that's what matters."

They arrived at the school and Katie pulled into a parking space. Travis was out his door before she had the car turned off and raced around to help her out of the car. She smiled at him. "Thanks, Travis. I didn't know you could be such a gentleman."

He laughed and offered her his arm again. As they walked in, Travis noticed that Katie was getting a lot of stares. He grinned.

Katie waved to a few people she knew but didn't stop to talk. She saw a couple of girls whispering, and she could only guess they were wondering just who Katie Gardner had showed up at prom with. She tightened her grip on his arm and gave the girls a wide grin. She led Travis into the gymnasium which was decorated in black, silver and gold. With a mischievous grin, she immediately pulled him to the dance floor where the DJ was playing a dance tune.

As she started to dance, she was surprised to notice that Travis was actually a pretty good dancer. "Where'd you learn to dance?" she asked.

He shrugged. "My mom always said I could keep a beat."

The Stoll brothers didn't talk much about their mom. All anyone really knew was that she died and they ended up at Camp Half-Blood about four or five years ago. "I'd love to hear about her sometime. I bet she was a great person," Katie said.

"She was. I wish you could have met her."

Katie melted a bit inside. "I wish I could have too."

Just then, the DJ switched songs, this time playing a slow one. Travis reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her waist. Katie's hands went automatically around his neck and she smiled. They swayed to the music, quiet for a moment. During the chorus, Travis cleared his throat. "Katie? I… uh… I wanted to… uh… well I wanted…" he sighed. "This isn't going so well."

Katie tilted her head, looking at him inquiringly. "I thought the night was going very well so far."

"The night has been great! Oh gods, Katie, don't think I'm not having fun. I wanted to ask you something." He looked uncharacteristically nervous.

"What is it, Travis?"

"Katie? Would you be my girlfriend?"

She stopped moving and stared at him a moment. She reached up and traced the new scar that ran from his temple to his cheekbone. She remembered how scared she'd been of losing him during that fight. After the explosion. In the beauty salon when Cassiopeia had him charmed. Even in her heels she had to stand on tiptoe to kiss the pale, silvery line. Then she smiled. "Yes, Travis, I will."

He let out a whoop and twirled her around, drawing the stares of those near them. Katie giggled and leaned up to kiss him properly.

As the song came to an end, they went to find a place to sit. "I'm going to get teased by my brothers and sisters when I get to camp next month," she said. "They always said I'd end up with you and I always told them they were wrong."

Travis chuckled. "Well I'm glad you were wrong and they were right." He hugged her to his side.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing and laughing. It was the most fun Katie had had in a long time. She couldn't remember the last time she wasn't worried about some monster or evil taking over the world. It felt good to just let go and enjoy the dance with Travis.

The last song of the night was Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. Travis pulled Katie to him and they swayed together as the song floated around them.

Suddenly, Katie felt a couple drops on her shoulder before the deluge came. The sprinklers high above were raining down on them and the screams of the girls was deafening. The DJ was trying to cover his equipment, most of the girls were running for the door in a panic, crying about their ruined dresses and hair, and the guys were laughing and holding their faces up to the spray.

Katie looked up at Travis; her eyebrow rose as the water pulled the curl from her hair and soaked her dress. He shook his head. "It wasn't me, you've been with me the entire time!" he protested.

She stood there a heartbeat longer, just long enough to make Travis think she was going to blame him anyway when she laughed and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. She pulled him close and lifted her face up, kissing him as the water continued to fall.

In the corner of her consciousness Katie heard a teacher telling everyone to be calm and that they were getting the water to turn off. Katie didn't care. She threaded her fingers in Travis's wet hair and kissed him harder, feeling him pull her closer.

They broke apart as the water was shut off. Rivulets of water streamed down both their faces and Katie reached up to brush the strings of soaking wet hair out of her eyes. They stared at each other, trying to control their breathing as they both grinned.

"Think we'll get any time to hang out at camp before we're saving the world again?" she asked.

"I'll make sure of it, Katie-Rose." He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing it. "I go where you go."

And together, they walked out of the gym, laughing and splashing in the puddles on the floor, hand in hand.

Chapter title song credit: – Big Night (Big Time Rush; BTR album released 2010)