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Percy blinked a couple times. "Er, what, sir?" he asked, more confused and surprised than when Chaos had first asked for him. Who could blame him?

Chaos crossed his arms over his chest and looked straight at Percy, being as they were almost the same height with Chaos's choice. "Do you have any romantic feelings for my commander?" he repeated, almost amused but at the same time completely serious.

Percy blushed deeply and cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. "Er, why?"

"Don't avoid the question. Answer it."

Looking awkward and immensely worried, Percy looked over to the side, thinking. Does he have romantic feelings for Piper? He sure liked the way her hand felt in his. He liked her smile and her laugh, and there was no use in denying that Piper was beautiful; you'd have to be blind not to see it. When he hugged her- and he had plenty of experience doing that- it felt...right, and his mind did stop to point out how she fit perfectly against him. Her blush was cute, he hated to see her cry- but he hated when all his friends cried, so that didn't count- he beat Jason to a pulp, and he'd do it ten times over again, not because of the words he said after they saw him, but the way he treated someone so amazing. He had those thoughts about kissing her, and he had been worried sick when she was gone- he didn't know if that level of worry could be distributed to just anyone.

The signs added up, but the real question was did she like him? He wouldn't act on feelings that wouldn't be returned. It'd be pointless and maybe the only time he'd do that is before she left just so she knew that not all love was bad, but then he'd have to deal with her leaving and that couldn't turn out well. But he may never see her again and it would be nice to just feel those pink, full lips just once. He could very well imagine kissing her. That wasn't a surprise, half the guys thought about it when they saw her (unless she was in battle, but it's pretty hard not to think about that then either). He was jealous whenever he thought about someone else kissing those lips and holding her, or anyone just thinking about her that way made him want to kick their ass right then and there.

And it was rather nice to wake up to her, even if it was one of the most awkward mornings of his life. She's still beautiful when she just woke up. He could get used that- not that he was thinking that far ahead. He's still confused. Really. It's on the borderline. Should he risk it and like her, only to lose her later when his feelings are more identifyed and bigger? Or should he try everything and not like her- though that idea sounds a bit sketchy. He didn't want to lose her again, whether he liked her or not. She was still his good friend- new and old- and they had good times together. She was still Piper and he really missed her when she was gone. He didn't want to miss her again.

But what if she was happier doing what she does now? He couldn't ask her to stay and take away that happiness. He understood what that happiness brought, traveling around and seeing things. However, she said that she was tried of fighting everyone's battles. Maybe she isn't happy, and if he did like her- he's not saying he does- he could ask her to stay and maybe bring more happiness to her. He wanted her happy. She was his friend first and foremost and he always wanted what was best for his friends. If she had to leave to be happy, so be it. He didn't want to strip that from her just because he was being selfish.

When was he ever selfish? For as long as he could remember, he did things for other people, to make them happy. It was rare for him to do something for himself. He wanted other people happy, yeah, but what about him? Didn't he deserve to be happy too? He was just like everyone else: he had a need for friends, he wanted love, he wanted a family, a good, safe place, and he wanted to be happy. But when was the last time he was happy? When did he do something so that he would be happy? Asking Piper to stay- if he did like her, he's not saying so yet- would make him happy. Having her here made him happy. Feeling her hand in his made him happy. Sleeping with her and feeling her head on his chest made him happy. She made him happy, and it would all go away once she left herself.

But he wanted her happy more than him. Even if it meant taking his happiness with him. Sure, the past...what? eleven, twelve days with her had been hard, involved a lot of crying, and he had mostly been comforting her when they hugged, but they were still a nice week. She had made him laugh, and she helped him through blaming himself for Leo's death, and she made him feel all funny inside. He had gotten to know the new Piper a little bit and see the old Piper in her in a whole lot more ways than she probably thought. It was half like she never left, but that thought never really did leave his mind because it was his fault.

Why would she like him if he made her leave? She probably didn't blame him, like Chiron said, and she forgave him, but how could she forgive him? He had known she was there and that she was having problems after the war- he had been involved in one before that then so he had a little experience with that- but he hadn't tried to comfort her. He wasn't there for her like she was for him when they were in the war. He had been with Annabeth, trying to make up for lost time, and that probably killed Piper too because she didn't have that privegle to be with her boyfriend and he was shoving it in her face. He had completely- and unintentionally- ignored her and he wasn't aware she had left until Lacy asked him about seeing her. He hadn't done anything to make her like him. He killed her best friend, ignored her when she needed him, and now what, thousands of years later, he was here trying to help. He could never make up for what he had done to her, taking away what she most cared about and needed.

She would never like him. Besides, he didn't have much to offer. A guy on Pluto, however, he could offer her a great house in a great galaxy and they would work side to side with peace. Percy didn't normally use peace. He had been in multiple wars, he had killed monsters, injured demigods, and he hadn't done anything with peace. But a guy on Pluto...he could defend himself, Piper, any kids they would have, and still try to use peace to work everything out. But Percy...Percy didn't have any of that. The only thing he had to offer her was being her friend way back then, beating up Jason, and taking her side. That was it, really. He had comforted her and tried to make her feel better and forget about Jason, but he was the reason she left. So, why on Earth would she love him?

Sure she trusted him. She trusted him with her life. She trusted him in keeping secrets and staying by her side. But did she trust-him-trust-him? Like no questions asked. If they were stuck in a battle and they were almost losing and they weren't getting any better, would she trust him to come up with a plan or would she try and come up with her own plan? Did that even make any sense? No, but really, did she trust him with everything she had? How could she? She trusted him to have her back when they were first friends, after the war and everything, but he had let her down. Why would she trust him again? What if she didn't want to take that chance and have someone betray her again?

Chaos, he didn't mean to, but it was unintentional. Annabeth, he hadn't seen her in forever and once he did see her, there was a war and that's not exactly the best place to have time to get back together, so they used after the war, but he had never meant to leave Piper alone. If only he had paid more attention...Piper wouldn't have left, he probably could've realized his feelings sooner- yes, he admitted it. He liked Piper McLean- and maybe even got a chance with her. But now? Now he had no chance. There was nothing he could give her, or anything he could do to make up for what he had done to her. He probably couldn't gain her full trust back and she would never think of him as anything more than a friend.

So now he was stuck, realizing that he had romantic feelings for his old-new friend, boss, and a very beautiful woman while she was probably thinking about leaving already.

"Yeah," Percy answered Chaos who watched him for the long time he had spaced out. Percy looked over at him and with a slightly pale face, he nodded. "I do."

Chaos nodded and clapped the young man's shoulder. "I thought so. What do you plan to do?"

Looking hopeless, Percy ran a hand through his hair. "What can I do? I'm the reason she left, and there's not much to do, really. She'll leave once this is done..."

"Never lose hope, Percy," Chaos said, squeezing his shoulder. "If you haven't released it after everything you've been through, why lose it now?"

"Because I don't have a chance," he deadpanned, frowning deeply.

"You have seen the impossible, Percy. Anything, even love when you don't think it can happen, is possible. Anything."

"But-"

"There is only the question of if you want to make it impossible. Is that what you want, son?"

Percy shook his head. "Of course not-"

"Then keep hope and prove that impossible is only a choice."

"So..." His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. He always was oblivious and dense. "If I just think that it's possible for a chance, there will be a chance?"

A ghost of a smile crossed Chaos's lips. "In a way, that was what I was saying."

"Okay..."

"Anything is possible, Percy." He squeezed his shoulder. "Remember that. And don't lose hope."

Percy watched helplessly as Chaos dissolved with a blast of wind. So...there was a chance of Piper liking him, he thought as he headed towards the Chaos cabin unconsiciously. The chance could be small, but it was there, and if she blushed around him, that had to be some sort of sign, right? And how they always held hands...Okay, so maybe he had a chance, and he knew that anything was possible because well...he was on Pluto for gods' sake. There was a chance of Piper liking him because anything was possible, and as long as he kept hope that she would realize it before she left, something might actually happen? Gods, why are all powerful immortal beings confusing? Why can't they just flat out tell you what they mean? They're as bad as girls.

Piper watched from the couch as Percy came in with his eyebrows furrowed together in thought and his eyes were clouded over as he looked at the ground. He didn't even acknowledge the group as he headed for the stairs, his hands in his pockets and his eyes still on the ground. Oh, Chaos, if Chaos messed with him to put him off track, Piper would yell at him. She didn't need someone else zoning out on her, especially when she already was with the dream and confusion.

"Percy?" she called when he reached the stairs and he looked up in shock, blinking around at everything as if he didn't even know where he was.

"Oh, hi, Piper," he said dismissively, frowning in thought as he looked back at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, watching him.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I've got to...think some things through..." he trailed off and looked deep in space again and Piper stood up and walked over to him.

"What did Chaos say?" she asked him, touching his arm and he looked at her hand.

"Nothing really," he replied distractedly. "He just asked me something."

"Like what?"

He looked up at her and then nodded out of no where. "Yeah, uh, I'm going to bed."

"Percy?" she said softly, looking confused. Her hand was on fire from his arm, but she tried to ignore it. She was worried about the way he was acting and wondered if it had anything to do with the way she was acting. She hoped not because they would be in a whole lot bigger mess than they already are. Or maybe it was something Chaos said. Maybe he had given him a chance to stay in the crew. The thought made her heart jump, though she tried her best to ignore it. She didn't want to get her hopes up; she had done that before and it hadn't ended very well.

"I'm okay, Piper," he assured, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I've just to think about something. Really."

She nodded and looked up at him, trying to read his face to see what he was thinking about. "Is it anything about the war?"

He thought for a second before shaking his head. "No. I don't think so. Not directly anyway. But it's fine."

"What did Chaos talk to you about?"

"Nothing important," he replied before biting his lip. "Nevermind, it's kind of important. But not to the war or anything. I- It's hard to explain, Piper, but I'm fine."

She studied him a second time. "Are you sure? You're acting weirdly."

"Yeah." He squeezed her hand and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm fine. I'm going to bed, okay? See you tomorrow."

She blinked with a hint of a blush as he kissed her forehead before heading up the rest of the stairs. She doesn't think she could remember a time when he looked that thoughtful, even in a war and he had to think up ways to defeat the giants or Gaia. He never thought about anything, actually, not that she could remember. He was always more on his feet kind of guy who thought of things last minute and those things were usually stupid and life threatening. But this...he seemed to really put his time into thinking about whatever he was thinking about. It wasn't about her, she decided, but about what Chaos talked to him about, and who knows what that could be? So what on Earth had he said to make Percy go all weird and zone out and everything. He even acted oddly about her touching him, and she knew that he had never acted like that before.

Chaos, this was going to bug the hell out of her.

The whole day had people asking Percy what he was doing with Piper- they had avoided the word traitor- and people asking Piper how she could start a war. Piper had tried to explain multiple times that she hadn't actually started anything, though her words were half hearted and Percy would step in each time to tell the kid to back off. People whispered as they passed when they patrolled and gave the rest of the crew members a better look around Camp. There weren't any fights, though Drew and the rest of the immortal campers were glaring at her. All except...Nico. Nico had actually come up to her and asked to talk to her in private. Her crew, being as paranoid as they should be, were reluntact to back off. Even Percy who was still acting weird ever since he saw Piper. He would sneak glances at her and he would interlace their fingers making Piper blush, but not let go. She decided to just act normal because if she didn't, he would notice something and become more suspicious.

"Tell me what happened," Nico demanded once her crew was out of ear shot.

Piper blinked a couple times. "What?"

"Why you left. I'm not jumping to conclusions before I heard your part," he said simply, crossing his arms over his chest. He had grown up a lot since she last saw him. He was still goth-like, he still had that aviator jacket and his hair was long and covered his eyes the slightest. He had his lip pierced and his sword hung at his side. Even if he had been in an immortal fight the other day, he still looked pretty good, even if Piper was reluntact to admit it.

"Er, well, it's kind of a...long story, I guess," she replied awkwardly, shifting her feet. Percy, who was watching with the rest of the crew, furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't want to have to beat up Nico, but if he was trying to make her uncomfortable and if he was trying to harrass her, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. He was still confused about the whole 'anything is possible and don't lose hope and blah blah blah' but he knew enough to know that he had feelings for Piper even if it might not get him anywhere. And he was going to protect her and see to it that she left happy, satisfied, and safe, as much as that hurt him to think about already.

"Well, I've got time, don't you?" Nico frowned at her, the lip ring shining in the sun. "Come on, why?"

She sighed and went on explaining as plainly as she could without getting emotional, and it didn't even hurt too bad to tell him that Jason cheated on her with Reyna. It stung a bit, but it was nothing like before. Maybe she was getting better. Maybe she wouldn't have to worry about never speaking Jason's name and maybe having his daughter named after her had been a good thing. The closure part of him explaining sucked because...well, he sucked at it, but his daughter was nice and it showed that some part of him still cared enough- even as a friend- to name his daughter after her. So maybe, even with all the tears and the hard work that was still ahead, this trip was worth it.

"Yeah, I know what it's like to be forgotten," Nico said, nodding after she was done and she looked hopefully at him. "I know what you went through. I would've left too, except I'd've gone to the Underworld, but you probably couldn't...so it made sense."

"So, you don't think I'm the reason for the war?" she asked, excited that someone despite Percy believed in her.

He shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Nope. If Aphrodite cared that much, she'd've noticed you needed some help. And she is the love goddess, she could've warned you or something."

Piper let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Okay. Great. So you're on my side."

"Yep. If you need my help, just give me a call." He paused for a second before smirking at her, Piper getting a chill down her back even if she tried not to. She couldn't tell whether it was a good one or a bad one. "Actually, just give me a call anyway."

Piper blushed and Percy felt his stomach clench in jealousy, but he reminded himself there's nothing to be jealous of because Piper would never go for a guy like Nico because well, she's just- she knows nothing about him and Piper wouldn't base a relationship on looks and she would have to know him in order to date him, and why in hell is she kissing his cheek? Percy gritted his teeth together as she fell back on her heels after kissing his cheek. The jealousy burned brighter when she didn't decline his kiss to her cheek and what did Nico have that Percy didn't? She walked over with a red face and Nico gave a smirk to her back before leaving into the shadows. Gods, Percy was going to kill him.

"What'd he want?" Naden asked as Percy tried his best to ignore the fact that Piper never kissed his cheek and not be jealous. Never lose hope, right?

"He believes me," Piper replied happily and Percy's stomach clenched at how Nico made her happy- he had made her cry more times then he could count. "He wanted to know my side of the story and he said he didn't think it was my fault."

"That's great," Carl said, grinning at her. "Another for the team, huh?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah, it's great, right? He said he would help us anytime."

"Sweet," Naden smiled. "Let's get over to where Bailey's coming. She should be here any minute."

Percy shoved his hands into his pockets and followed them, trying to contain his jealousy even though he shouldn't even be jealous. Just because she kissed his cheek and blushed didn't mean anything. Percy made her blush. She just kissed Nico's cheek because she was glad for someone on her side. That's it. It was always nice to get someone on your side. Maybe that was her thanks to him. Even though just a thanks would've been perfectly fine too. Nico could tell it meant a lot just from a thanks. It wasn't that hard. She didn't have to kiss him for him to know.

"Percy?" Piper said gently, grabbing onto his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he grunted, still working on figuring out why she had to kiss his cheek, and then Nico had the nerve to kiss her cheek and Chaos, why did Chaos have to bring up the fact that Percy liked Piper? He wouldn't have been this jealous if he hadn't admitted it to himself. Damn you, Chaos.

Bailey and her crew had come a little before dinner and her ship, like theirs was stuck deep in the forest and even though they had never been to Camp before it was easy for them to navigate and get to the end, or beginning of the forest, where Piper and her crew were waiting for them. After hugs and welcome backs, Piper brought them around Camp to Chiron who was teaching archery class. They introduced them and then walked around before dinner, talking about the plan to try and win a game of Capture the Flag against the whole Camp to earn their respect and get them to listen to them. The whispers were more frequent and louder now, but they all tried their best to ignore it, and when it got especially annoying, Percy or Bailey would just glare at them and they'd shut up or talk quieter.

During dinner was the worst. Piper could clearly tell they were talking about her and now that the news had time to travel, everyone knew about yesterday, Chaos, Bailey coming, Nico believing her, and the whole ordeal with Annabeth. Most of the Camp blamed her for the war and it was awkward to listen to everyone whisper about her in a bad way. Percy seemed used to it, but she only had people talk about her in a good way, what with the whole claiming scene, being one of the seven, and a hero. But now they were saying things about her being a coward and weak for not fighting fairly with Thalia. Others were saying that she was selfish and only wanted attention which is why she left and had Aphrodite freaked out. Most believed that Chaos was only an act and that he was secretly trying to get an army against the gods so that he could rule. A lot believed that Piper had brainwashed, drugged, and kidnapped Percy in order to get him on her side, and the same with Nico, too, even though he had denied any of that and told them that it was because he knew how she felt. No one cared to ask her why everything happened, but rather just listened to the rumors that weren't true.

She had been shifting awkwardly and nervously in her seat next to Percy and Bailey when Percy put a hand on her thigh and looked down at her sternly. "Stop moving," he ordered. "It's annoying and you're letting them know they're getting to you."

"They are," she replied, trying to ignore the heat of his hand. "I mean, I'm used to being talked about, back in school because of my dad and everything, but..."

"Just ignore them," Bailey said, looking over at her. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.'"

"That's a lie," Piper mumbled. "Words hurt."

Percy sighed and grabbed her hand. "Don't let them get to you."

"How? It's really hard, Percy."

"I know. It's even worse when you're alone at a table. Just relax and talk to us, okay?"

She nodded and tried to calm down, but it didn't work and she flinched when Drew and Annabeth walked by, a rare sight for her, and coughed out, "Bitch."

Percy tried reassuring her it wasn't her, but she was focusing on the whispers and how everybody all the sudden hated her even though they all were the reason that she left. She couldn't handle being blamed for something that a goddess who saw she needed help did and it wasn't like she purposefully asked Aphrodite to go on a rampage and search for her. All she had to do was ask Tristan and she would've known, but no, she had to freak out and start all this! If she had cared an ounce she wouldn't have left and none of this would've happened!

She was knocked out of her thinking and brooding when Bailey slammed her palms onto the table, the sound sending all the plates on the table clattering and bouncing. She stood up as the dining pavilion shut up immediately and looked towards her. "That is it!" Bailey snapped angrily, glaring at them. "We're having an emergency Capture the Flag after dinner. The Chaos crews against the whole Camp, Nike included! We win, you listen to every word my commander has to say and I hear one of you talking bad about her, I'm going after her because she may not be permitted to hurt on the job, but I am. We lose, we'll leave. Forever. Got it?"

There was not a moment's silence before Camp Half-Blood burst into cheers.

I know I'm late and I know I said I would have 20 chapters by the end of this month, but I went on a two week long camping trip for some girl thing my mom signed me up for and obviously, I couldn't bring a computer, but I wrote this out and then my sister spilled water all over it because she's...she's my sister. So I lost have of it, but I managed to get enough to make it and here it is.

Hate me it's okay, but I'm going to try and get this done soon. School starts in four weeks, a little less. I've got summer homework- because apparently homework during school isn't enough, and it's a lot to work through, so I'm not sure when I'll update, but I'm going to try.

But I tried to make this long, so here it is. How'd you like it?

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