Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hot breaths, fluttering eyes, hands in hair, smiles, kisses: these things are what Piper was experiencing in her sleep. She didn't have to see who it was in front of her to know what the dream was about. Long, long ago, she had these dreams about Jason and each time, she was in stuck in the girl-head-over-heels-typical-Aphrodite-girl mood when she woke up. She'd swoon over him every time he passed by and she'd stare at him to memorize the lines and curves of his face and admire him secretly (or at least she thought so; it was actually quite obvious) while he was sparring or playing basketball or any other activity that involved his muscles.

This time, it wasn't blonde hair or blue eyes and a cute little scar on his lip. It was that messy black hair, sparkling sea green eyes, and sheepish smile of one of her crew. This time, there was more kissing and in between, he'd whisper sweet things against her lips and she'd giggle into his mouth. This time, his hands would pull her closer by her hips or her neck and hers would be lost in the fabric of his shirt or in that bedhead of his. This time, the kisses meant more than attraction and something way more special than the word girlfriend or boyfriend. This time, Piper believed, was everything from a fairytale and it definitely meant a happy ending for her and her prince charming. Percy was surely good looking enough to be a prince and he had saved her multiple times, why shouldn't she just accept it?

However, unlike the dreams with Jason, Piper didn't get to finish it, stuck between Percy's lips kissing up from the bottom of her ear, up her jaw to her chin and her curling toes and the feeling of nostalga that was overwhelming her. The knock persisted as she desperately reached out and tried to grasp it all back with need and desire gripping her
heart. That, she screamed, she needed that, and it wasn't fair to take it away from her.

On the fourth knock, Piper gave up all hope of recieving those kisses from Percy this morning, but promised herself she would try again tonight, and there was a slight chance (a much bigger chance than she wanted to admit to herself) that she couldn't resist him today when she saw him and she would kiss him in reality and make all her dreams come true- literally.

Throwing off the comforters she was just wrapped tightly within as if they were Percy's arms themselves, she heaved a great depressing sigh because of the situation she was being so unfairly thrown in, and she stood.

Another knock blew her good feeling off the edge of her head. "I'm coming!" she snapped angrily, stomping over to the door. "By Chaos, can't you just knock once and wait a minute?"

She threw the door open, and with her enhanced strength, it hit her wall and where the doorhandle was, a new large dent that showed the insulation of the cabin and shook the whole scene of Percy's bedroom that she didn't know was up there and it almost made her blush- if she wasn't so pissed off at the damn person who woke her up from that dream given to her from Chaos (it probably wasn't, but she was going to go with it anyway).

"I did knock once," Bailey said calmly from the other side of the door, but her eyebrows were raised and she looked a little nervous. "You didn't answer, so naturally, as any person would, I knocked again."

"Don't get snappy with me," Piper warned with a scowl before she leaned on the doorframe and stared hard at Bailey for a few, uncomfortable, tense moments. Piper sighed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to be that harsh."

"Don't apologize to me," Bailey blinked. "I would've killed the person who woke me up. Especially if I was as tired as you were last night."

Piper pushed her hair back, glad that it wasn't Percy at the door- she probably looked awful. "Yeah, that's the reason I'm so angry at you," Piper said absently. Good thing she was too distracted by her dream to blush or else she could've been in some real trouble.

Of course, she didn't take the fact that Bailey was her best friend and knew more about her than Jason did back then when they were dating: Bailey slowly grinned. "Oh did I get it wrong? Are you mad at me because I woke you up from a...hmmm, I don't know, maybe a...good dream?" She leaned back on the wall opposite of Piper's door. "I bet you a hundred bucks, I know who it was about." Her grin was wide and amused immensely, face flushed with the effort of not laughing yet.

"What?" Piper coughed nervously, heat coming up her neck. She tried desperately to stop it from reaching her cheeks. "What are you talking about? I told you, I'm mad at you for waking me up because I wore myself out last night."

"Sureeee," Bailey replied with a roll of her eyes and an uncharacterist giggle. "Whatever you say, Commander." She pushed herself off the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't worry, McLean, I won't tell Percy that his room is on one of your walls. Which we all knows means you're thinking of that place, and Percy still hasn't woken up, so I just figure..."

"Bailey!" Piper squeaked, and she quickly came out of the room and shut her door (whose hinges creaked and groaned from the pain that was just forced on them), blushing brightly. "Not so loud, will you?"

Bailey simply threw her head back and laughed. "Of course, Peacekeeper, we wouldn't want to wake Percy from the same dream, would we?"

"Bailey!" Piper hissed, eyes wide. Percy was surely going to hear them and then what would he say? Especially if he saw her room...Oh, she couldn't even imagine the embarrassment. Yet some part of her thought that in order for Percy to see her room, he'd have to go in it, and in her right mind, she wouldn't allow that right now, which would mean that he would have to distract her in order to get in, and there were hundreds of ways to do that, many she thought of that started with the content of the dream and led to more intense...

Oh, Chaos, she bet her whole body down to her toes was blushing brick red.

Bailey laughed again. "Don't worry, it's totally okay to dream of the person you're dating. But there are some borders to these dreams." She tried to keep her face straight, her cheeks red with the effort. "Piper...maybe we should have the Talk if you're thinking this hard about Percy."

"Bailey!" Piper squealed in horror and embarrassment, her eyes widening to a comic state.

"You see, Piper," Bailey started, her lip quivering with her words. This was priceless; how she managed to not laugh after that face was a true accomplishment she should put on her resume, above the fact she worked with Chaos. "When two people love each other, or just find another person attractive, they gain these feelings...Feelings that are okay and healthy to have, no matter who they're directed to..."

"Oh, Bailey, please stop!" Piper cried, hiding her red face in her equally red hands. She would go back into her room, but knowing Bailey, she would just scream it through the door, and then Percy would come out and think there's something seriously wrong with both of them, which would not get her points for him liking her, and she was very much looking forward to making that dream come true.

Bailey bursted into uncontrollable laughter, clutching her stomach as she bent at the waist. She couldn't form words and her breaths were short and looked as if they hurt her throat because her whole body moved with them. Her face grew redder from the lack of exhaustion as Piper shook her head over and over, ready to die from the embarrassment in front of her best friend. Why, oh why, did she have to have this dream today when Bailey felt the need to wake her up and notice exactly what she was dreaming about?

How'd she even know what she dreamt about? It's not like she had this dazed look on her face or she even mentioned Percy whatsoever! She doesn't understand how her friend could've figured something so secretive out! And now she's paying the price for it, for being so careless with anger and not disguising it well enough that she hid the real reason for her anger from Bailey. Why couldn't she be a good liar? Everyone saw through her lies and this was the one time she needed a break from it. When the rest of the team found out her and Percy were "dating", they were going to get teased mercilessly for it. Percy may be able to handle it, but he didn't know the content of her dreams and her thoughts...this teasing meant these people saw into these things, and there were not kid friendly items in there.

An idea popped up in the place that held such dirty things, and Piper straightened immediately. "Bailey," she said, lacing her Charmspeak cleverly through her voice so that no one would notice, "shut up."

Not on her own accord, Bailey's mouth closed and her laughter was muffled and starting to stop. Gasping for breath, Bailey stood up again and pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes shining with amusement, mirth, and laughter and unshed tears that had gathered at the corner of her eyes. It made the green in her grey green eyes pop out a little more.

Piper shook her head at the last thought- she was already turning into a fangirl with Percy, she didn't need to turn all the way into an Aphrodite girl. "Now," she said slowly, her Charmspeak still in her voice, "tell me why you woke me up."

Bailey nodded, and with a few giggles spilling from her lips, she explained, "di Angelo's waiting in the living room." Even the mention of the person she disliked in this place didn't make her giant smile waver, and she even giggled at the end of the sentence.

Piper's eyes widened. She had forgotten about meeting with Nico! She didn't think she would have the best sleep of her life (alone, of course) and that the dream that acccompanied it would be so breathtaking and revealed how much she really liked Percy. She also didn't realize that with both those things, Bailey would end up torturing her with her knowledge and making fun of her. And that, she knew would not only take a bunch of time now standing in the hallway, but it would last for-fucking-ever.

Making her mind up in a split second decision, she headed back into her bedroom, making sure that Bailey couldn't see any of her walls, just in case, and quickly, threw on some clothes and ran a brush through her stupid hair at the same time. She was quite proud of that skill, since all her missions were so short notice, she had to learn to be quick with getting ready. It was lucky she didn't join Chaos as an ordinary Aphrodite girl because that would've taken forever each and every time and so many lives would be lost by time she was actually ready to get on the ship. Plus, most of the planets she had visited are not very pleasant and any Aphrodite girl would freak out about their hair and clothes, and it would just be horrible. And she lost a lot of clothes and she couldn't remember all the times her hair had been burnt or fizzed up and there was soot and dirt on her face.

She sighed. If Percy was to ever come with her to these missions, he would find her so ugly by the end and not even consider liking her. Maybe it would be better if he stayed here, even if that would break her heart into a million pieces once again. But if she got too attatched here and he actually did come and saw her when these things happened to her, while she had the illusion that he liked her enough to look past these things, the pain then would be unbearable.

She paused as she headed out her door, Bailey no longer present. What was she thinking? Percy would never do that to anyone. He wasn't Jason, or any other man on Earth, and he was nice and candid. He would tell her if he didn't like her if she ever made a move or Bailey or someone told him of her feelings. He would let her down easily, and stay her friend, help her with her broken heart that he didn't mean to cause. Percy was a good guy, and he would never treat a girl like that. Percy had class and he was old style. She supposed that's one of the many reasons she likes him so much.

"Next time you dream about Percy, could you please not tell Bailey," Faughn muttered, her door a crack open as Piper paused. The Peacemaker stopped an blinked in confusion at her crew member. Her brown hair was like an afro, it was so messy, and her brown eyes were half hidden by her drooping eye lids. Her cheeks were flushed. "Some of us are still
sleeping and I'd rather not hear about your latest fantasy with the Savior of Olympus," she further explained with a yawn before she closed the door and Piper was left alone in the hallway with a deep blush on her face.

Deciding to pretend that did not happen, Piper continued on her way to get to Nico to get this over with. Half of her still wanted to analyze that dream thoroughly- for science, of course. It was not because she wante to relive the fire that burned through her skin and to her nerves wherever Percy came into contact with her. Why would she want that? Right, she didn't. She just wanted to go over the dream in order to form a prediction on what she would actually feel if Percy was ever actually to kiss or touch her. Then maybe a little experiment? Just to test how well her imagination works, of course. There's no pleasure in this field of work. This was serious, actual business. She was not dying to find out. Scientists are patient, and right now, she was a scientist trying to form a conclusion.

At least, that's what she told herself. She didn't even believe it, but she had to tell herself some lie.

"Piper," Nico greeted with a smile as he pushed himself up off the couch and turned to face her. Everyone was still asleep, unless her and Bailey woke them up...Oh, she was going to get an earful later today when everyone was awake. She was praying to Chaos that Percy had somehow mircalously stayed asleep through all that so he didn't hear what Bailey was talking about very loudly. Or that her crew members wouldn't speak of it in front of him so if he didn't know, he wouldn't find out. She really didn't want him to find out. That would be the end of her life as she knew it.

"Nico," she replied, returning his smile. "Sorry, Bailey and I had something to talk about." Please don't let him know what we were talking about, please don't let him know what we were talking about, please don't let him know-

He gazed worriedly at her. "Did I wake you up?"

Piper bit her lip, hiding a smile. Thank Chaos. "No," she answered. Hopefully he didn't see through her lie like everyone else. "I just woke up, but Bailey wanted to tell me something and I still wasn't dressed."

He nodded. "You up for a walk?"

"Sure. We've just got to be back before breakfast. My team was freaking out that you killed me when we missed most of breakfast last time."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do they not trust me that much?"

She shook her head and walked up to the front door, grabbing her jacket. Nico followed. "It's not that, it's just they aren't used to me being gone for a while, and they were worried that one of the campers could've got me becuase they hated me."

Nico chuckled. "Do they not think that I could protect you?" He glanced at her in the corner of his eyes. "Because I could, and I will."

Despite what she would tell you, Piper swooned just a little bit. "T-Thanks," she blushed. "But I can protect myself, and that's what my crew's for."

He shrugged. "They won't always be there." He paused, this time turning his head directly to look down at her through his dark eyelashes. The sun hit his hair just perfectly that she could that it was actually a brown and the tips looked as if they were dipped in black paint. It hung in his eyes that were intense and had a fierce heat coming from them that made her knees weak. No wonder he was the talk of the Aphrodite cabin; she completely understood why, even if her crush on Percy was rather large. "I will, though," he said, and her heart thumped a little harder.

She swallowed once. "Thanks?"

He smirked and continued walking. "All you got to do is call my name."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "How will you know?"

He gave her a single, fleeting glance. "I told you, I'll always be there, so I'll probably be watching if you were in trouble."

The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them, "What if I'm not in trouble and I call you?"

He stopped a little in the forest. The birds tweeted and sang their songs of greetings to the world and each other, oblivious of the two standing under their home. The monsters gave morning roars and purrs as if they just woke up, even though Piper remembered hearing them all the time when she went on nightly strolls. There was a gentle breeze and it lifted the hair that was in Piper's ponytail gently, throwing it away. In this shadow/light, there was something more about Nico that made him appealing.

"Well," he said with a grin and twinkling eyes, that in this light, looked black but welcoming...drawing you closer... "You'll just have to trust me then, won't you?"

She let out a breath and pressed her back against the trunk of a tree, and she really hoped it wasn't a dryad because she leaned heavily on it. Her nails dug in the bark, burning the senstive skin of her fingertips. "Yeah," she breathed. "I guess I will."

He studied her for a long moment. "Word around Camp is that you and Jackson are dating," he said finally, and Piper's hand almost tore off a piece of bark as she waited.

"Where'd you hear that from?" Piper asked, avoiding that question.

He shrugged, but his eyes didn't leave hers. "Everyone was talking about it on the way back to their cabins. That, and the fact that the game was a tie and you singlehandedly handed over the win to make sure Jackson was okay."

She blushed. "Well, yes...I care about the welfare of my crew members."

"Mhmm." He played with his lip ring in thought. "When'd you two...?"

"Um..." In turn, she bit her own lip. "Well, you see..." She paused. What does she tell him? The whole dating thing was actually a lie, but she couldn't go back on it now. How would Percy and her teammates feel once they learn that their leader is nothing but a liar just to get out of a tough situation? It's not like she doesn't trust Nico not to
tell the whole camp or something, she does, that's the only reason why she let him on the team because she trusts him. It's just...telling one person her lie might let it get out to others becuase they act different around each other, or something, she doesn't know. Still, might as well as play it safe. "Um...well, I don't know, really. It just kind of...happened, I guess."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? You didn't seem too hooked up on Percy when you were with me yesterday."

She frowned. "Nico, you let me see my dad. I can't thank you enough. And you were an old friend. Of course I'm going to be friendly with you. The fact is, however, that I'm dating Percy."

"Piper..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. His lip ring glinted in the light, and for a second, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him and feel that metal against her lips. She bet it would be cold and his lips would be warm so there would be a nice little contrast there...His hands are cold on her hips, she knows from shadowtraveling, just like how she knows he smells like the earth and musk...

"I like you, Piper," he said bluntly, breaking her out of her thoughts. Her mother was messing with her, as revenge for blaming the war on her, or maybe leaving her, or maybe causing love problems between her stupid favorite couple. She shouldn't be having these thoughts about another guy when she was already having them about her "boyfriend", and she shouldn't be having these thoughts about her only ally in the camp other than her "boyfriend" and this ally was crucially important. She couldn't be messing these things up.

"I thought you liked me too," Nico continued, pacing in front of her. His words were rushed as if he was afraid he would stop and not get out what he wanted to say. "You acted like you did. I thought I had some inkling of a chance with you, and then I find out that you're already in a relationship, one you didn't even bother to mention to me
when we were talking about ourselves on the way to meet with your dad. Didn't you think this was an important thing to tell me? I think it's extremely important, Piper! I would've told you if I had a secret girlfriend, even of we had only been good friends for a couple hours."

"Nico..."

"I just don't understand it."

"Things are different than you would think." Piper tore off a piece of bark. "I didn't tell you because we didn't tell anyone."

"So?"

"So I couldn't tell you. You should know that in a relationship, it takes two to make a decision."

He sighed. "I know. I know." He played with his lip ring. "It's just...I thought we had something, Piper."

Piper shook her head. "Maybe in another life, but it's just not...this one, I guess."

Nico tipped his head back. "If we're immortals, Piper, how is it that we're ever going to get a chance in another life?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know." She heaved a great breath that she didn't know was in her lungs; maybe it was because she didn't know if she would be able to deny this gorgeous man what he was asking. She didn't know how she was doing it, maybe it was because she liked Percy a whole more than she guessed. Or maybe it was because she knew that they had no future together because they both wanted different things. She would never come back to Earth as long as she lived after she finished this job, and he was still hooked up on his sister. She wanted to settle down with someone she would always love and make a family, he probably just wanted to try things out with her. Percy could give her what she wanted, Nico...well, she wasn't sure Nico could.

"All I know is that this- us- it can't happen," Piper told him, shaking her head. She couldn't look at him. She was afraid her resolve might break down and she might give him what he wanted, but she couldn't because things mattered more, Percy mattered more and she couldn't give him up.

"Yeah," Nico sighed. "I figured that after I learned about you and Percy. I wanted to give it a try anyway."

"Nico, I'm sorry." She bit her lip. "I'm not sure what to say."

He shook his head. "Nothing."

She took a cautious step forward. "Can we still be friends?"

He smiled at her. "Of course."

She heaved a sigh, relieved that she didn't lose a friend or an ally in this war that she desperately needed them in. She was worried that because she said no to him that he wouldn't want to work on her side anymore. She was worried that, even though she knew better and believed that Nico would never do such a thing, that he would turn the camp against her and make her job so much harder than it should be. She was worried he wouldn't speak to her again, and she would lose another part of her past that she wanted to keep because it was a good part and she needed those parts more than anything in order to make it seem as if she was here for a reason and it was not a complete waste. Having that good part of her past made her seem happier in those times, and if she focused solely on the good that happened, it could out-way the bad and make it seem her childhood was nice and friendly. It made her a better person, for thinking of these happinesses, and in order to be a good leader and Peacemaker, she needed to have compassion, friendship, and all the other things a good person has in order to make peace between people who don't have those traits, or it is being blinded by something else.

Being with Nico made her remember these times when everything was alright. Being with Percy reminded her of the times ahead and things that could happen, the good times ahead. She liked to look at the future, not delve into the past. She liked possiblities and what if, she wasn't too fond of could I make it better.

Percy, she decided, was better for her. Nico, was good for laughter and friendship. These things are facts.

These things are what drove Piper to give Nico a large hug and kiss on the cheek before darting back to Percy and the Chaos cabin.

Okay, I have no blame on anyone who doesn't review or favorite or even read this chapter. I understand. I probably would act the same way. I mean, I haven't updated in a long time, haven't given any indication on what I was doing with the story and when my next update was. Of course, I have reasons for this, if you want to hear them. If you get this far. I'm not surprised if you don't make it past the first sentence because you're upset with me.

For those who want to know, and who want to yell at me and are reading this, thank you for reading this chapter. My excuses run all over, and I have no idea where to start. First, it was a new semester and I was completely screwed with my schedule and my classes, so it took me a while to get all of that in order. Then came the government projects that took up most of my time and ruined me. My great grandmother died next, and my whole family was distraught, and I couldn't touch my computer to make anything happy at that time happened. Of course, once I took a break from writing, I got a huge writer's block that lasted forever and prevented me from writing anything and everything. I tried to work through it, and I have gone through eight different versions of this one chapter before I was sort of okay with it. I still don't like this one. My birthday was last month, and I considered posting, but I had to paint my car that I'm building with my grandpa, dad, and cousin, and that was time consuming, but fun. Testing followed, and I needed to get my grade up in biology and government, so I needed to focus solely on that. Major testing has been happening this month, and I really need good grades and scores in order to get the money for a scholarship that (hopefully) I'll get later on in life when I need it. Today, a sudden inspiration hit me and once I got out of school, I was on my iPod typing this up. I've been working on it all day and really trying to get it right.

So, yeah. That's been the past few months for me. And each time I get a review, I try to promise myself that I'll get started on the chapter to make it better and more appealing, but each time, something comes up. Education is important, guys, and that comes first, but since I wait afterschool for a little bit, I figure I'll try to put a little writing time in each day, if I can.

Sorry about this chapter. I don't think it's my best, and to me, it's extremely boring, but I felt that I needed to end the Nico/Piper thing and start more on the Piper/Percy romance. The interaction with Bailey and Piper is something I would do with my friend if I was in a situation like that, and it's not perfect, but it made me smile when I wrote it. The Nico/Piper scene kind of sucked, but next chapter is Percy/Piper date so it'll be a lot more interesting, and I have a lot planned for that. Hopefully, I'll get it started tomorrow, if I'm not brainfried with the stupid state testing that's going on. Reading and Writing is my speciality though, so I don't think I'll have too much trouble.

I don't remember if I put Bailey's eye color in, but there you have it. Plus, ignore the mistakes. I reread this a couple times, and it was on my iPod, so there's probably an apostrophe missing somewhere and I didn't catch it. As for you people who have stuck with me this whole time, I promise I'll try to be better, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support with the reviews and favorites and follows. ALL OF YOU ARE FREAKING AMAZING!

Well, hopefully, I'll see you soon. There's no hate if you don't review C:

Love it? Hate it? I'd love to hear about it(: