Charlie,

"No, you should go, Kate. She likes you. She hates me," I begged, sounding like I was five years old again and desperately wanting to keep playing instead of having to get washed and dressed for dinner. Because I had been surrounded by older people in this journey, I had been acting maturely. I had been older, if anything to prove that I wasn't the child my brother saw me as.

But I felt myself taking a million steps backwards.

When it came to Hera though, I didn't care.

I luckily did not have much of a reason to hate the goddess as my mother did, but her hatred to my parents was enough for me. She was never partial to me, but I was afraid to risk her hating me. I knew she would never make things easy for me.

"She does not hate you, Charlie. Besides, you found it. Take the chance to get brownie points," Kate crossed her arms.

I could see I wasn't going to win with her, so I turned to someone else.

"Noah? What do you think?" I asked.

Noah's eyes widened, and he looked blindsided.

He looked between Kate and me as we both silently begged him to take our side.

I understood his problem and why he was panicking. We were his girls. I was his little baby, the sister he adored. Kate was the girl he had been not-so-secretly in love with for years. And he wasn't sure which one to choose or which one would be angrier when he didn't choose them.

"Yeah, Noah, what do you think? Shouldn't Charlie take the necklace to Hera? She did get it after all," Kate's grey eyes narrowed in on him, and I knew he was a sucker for whatever Kate wanted. But I was also his little baby girl, and I knew that would have to give me something.

I looked up to his crystal blue eyes, knowing he was also sucker for my sea green eyes, and I pulled on the best little kid's pouty face I could possibly manage without laughing at myself. I had to call on old memories of every tactic that had worked on him for so many years.

"Well… uh, I don't know. I really think you guys should decide," he nervously ruffled his hair, and everyone's eyes stayed glued to us.

I fought back quickly.

"But Hera doesn't like me. She doesn't like our parents, and I am the daughter of the girl who she hates so much. She made Mom's pregnancy as horrible as she could, and it's only a matter of time before she hates me, too. But she does like Kate."

"But this was your mission, Charlie. You found it, you're carrying it right now."

"Here, take it. I don't want it," I pulled out the beautiful, priceless ruby necklace, and I found myself making sure that the delicate jewelry was protected, "You give it to Hera."

"No, you take it," Kate told me, her grey eyes watching me like a hawk. We were both used to being stubborn enough to get what we wanted.

"She likes you!" I shoved it towards her.

"Well, I don't like her," she shoved it back, getting irritated now.

"Well, she already hates me," I pushed it in her direction.

"Well, I don't want her to hate me," it kept going, getting worse each time.

"Well, I don't care."

I heard the metal chime as I pushed it towards her faster.

"Well, I'm older."

The ruby felt like it was going to cut me as she shoved it back to me.

"Well, I have more life to live then."

My grip tightened on the necklace to push it towards her, the hard gems and metal digging into my skin.

"Well-"

Aiden jumped up from the bench where all of the boys had been sitting and watching, deathly afraid of what might come next. The line of wide stares and the pitiful looks for Noah was broken

"If you keep fighting like this, there won't be a necklace to give back," Aiden jumped in, and Kate and I both quickly stopped, though neither of us would still really take it.

Kate and I looked at each other, watching each other carefully as we refused to back down. Usually, we were together on everything. We were fought for each other's point, usually Kate defending my choice against Noah who wanted me to stay a kid. But, every now and then, we did butt heads.

And it never turned out well.

Last time, it ended with a few pipes broken from my anger controlling the water in them, voices hoarse from yelling, and everyone stopping to stare at us for the next few months with feat of a new fight.

And I didn't want to see where it would go now.

"Fine, let's do it the only way we can agree," Kate crossed her arms.

"You're kidding, right?" I almost blushed, thinking about our usual way to agree on things.

"Come on," she put her hand out straight and prepared to play rock paper scissors.

I grimaced but put out my hands, too.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot," Kate put out paper, and I put rock.

I moaned.

"Sorry, Shorty," she clapped on my back, laughing.

I put the necklace in my jean pockets, and I took a deep breath as I looked to Aiden to ask where we were supposed to go. But he seemed to anticipate my question and answered it without me even needing to ask.

I had to admit that I loved that about him. While I never really seemed to know what he was thinking about, he always seemed to know what I was thinking about like no one had ever known before. And we had only known each other for a few days…

"It would be better to keep it just you two," Sam told us before Chester could start to get up, and Aiden nodded, trying to mask his happiness.

I wasn't sure if he thought I didn't know that he hated Chester or if he just tried to be nice about it, but you could see it a mile away. I wasn't sure exactly what made him hate him, but it was strong whatever it was.

"Let's go, Charlie," Aiden nodded, and I followed after him as we walked through the city to get to the place Hera had left instructions to go through an assistant who was working in the movie.

As Aiden and I walked, there was silence. Not an awkward silence but just a silence. It didn't hurt to hear, and there wasn't a real need to break it.

"So, you said Hera hates your mother?" Aiden broke the silence, looking to me as we took a turn.

I nodded.

"My mom, Annabeth, said something to her years ago. She insulted her in such a way that Hera never forgave her. She tried to hurt her at every chance. Hera slowly let her hatred sooth until she got pregnant with me. First, she made my mother think that she had hidden the pregnancy for so long that it was her ex's, not my father's. Then, she took away the birthright of descendants of Athena to have peaceful pregnancy. And then she made labor so horrible that doctors look back and think it was a miracle my mother survived," I told him, something boiling in me as I thought about how Hera had been to my mother.

"I thought your parents had been together since they were sixteen."

I realized that Aiden hadn't heard the renowned story of my parents, and I decided to tell it.

"Well, not exactly," I smiled, "My parents were completely in love since they were sixteen. They moved in together after college, and my dad was planning on proposing. But then they had a fight, and my mom moved out for a month. My dad went out to drown away the sorrows, and he ran into an equally drunk old friend, Noah's mom. Can you see where its going?" I laughed.

"Yeah, I get it," he laughed with me.

"Well, after that, my parents got back together, and, suddenly, my dad got a call from his old friend with the results of a pregnancy test. My dad was ashamed, so he left. My mom never knew what happened, so she ran away to California, her home. My dad stayed in New York, and he raised Noah. Six years later, my mom showed up back in New York, and my uncle 'accidentally' made sure she moved into a place right beside my dad. There was a lot of stuff in between, but, in the end, my parents got engaged. They got pregnant with me, and they got married."

Aiden nodded.

"They have a pretty good story."

"They do," I nodded with a small smile.

I missed my parents, and I still worried I would never get home to see them.

"You're pretty close to your parents, aren't you?" Aiden asked.

"Yeah, I am. Are you?" I asked.

"Close to my parents?"

Aiden hesitated.

Before he could answer, we found that we were at the meeting place, a small little coffee shop. I would have let him have time to answer my question, but we found that she was already there, sipping at an iced coffee and reading a book.

My spine straightened, and Aiden gave me a comforting glance as we walked into the coffee shop.

We both walked up to the goddess, and I almost faltered when her amber eyes looked up to us, so cruel and so intimidating. Her lips pursed, and she put down her book as she motioned for us to sit down across from her at the table.

We did, and she leaned into the table.

"Do you have it?"

I reached into my pocket, and I pulled out the priceless ruby necklace, gently handing it over to her.

Hera smiled wide, and she put the necklace gently on her neck, her smile widening the entire time.

"Thank you, young heroes," she continued to smile at us.

I was about to stand and leave when Hera spoke again.

"As for the rest of your quest," her face went back to business, and my stomach twisted, "you are going to LA, are you not?"

I prayed she wouldn't make us to another errand for her.

"Yes, we are, Your Majesty," Aiden replied.

"Your Majesty. You Romans have always been gifted with flattery, a trait I wish the Greeks had gotten as well," Hera continued, "You are a good friend for the journey, young boy. Juno highly treasures you, and I see why. But are you sure you want to risk your life, so promising and full of a future of power for you, for this quest? I can take you home, Aiden."

Aiden looked to me, and he shook his head.

"I made a promise, and I will keep it, My Lady."

"Very well," Hera sighed, and she looked at both of us now instead of just him.

"You need to leave here before they notice that the necklace is gone and wonder if it is you. But you can't go on to California, not yet. You are not ready yet," her gaze lingered on me, "From here, go to Hermes in Los Vegas. He He has something you need."

Hera stood.

"Good luck on your journey, and take this," she reached inside of her purse and brought out a necklace with a single purple stone in the center, handing it to me, and she handed a card to Aiden, "And this is the address where you will find Hermes."

I took the necklace, and Aiden took the card from her as well. Hera's eyes turned back to me, she looked at me with such pity, like she knew I was never going to go home.

"I do not like your parents," Hera told me, "But do not think that I against you for this."

I nodded, though I wasn't sure I believed her. But I wanted to. I wanted to believe that eons of a horrible marriage that was formed in the worst of possible ways, disappointing children, never the possibility of heroes to fight for her own causes, and having to be in charge of so many childish gods had formed her into such a cruel woman but that she was still able to be kind and love people.

After all, she stood for the institution of love, for the part that came after Aphrodite had her sweet soap opera.

Hera turned to leave, and that was the last we saw of the goddess.

I looked back to Aiden, and he smiled weakly.

"On to Vegas."

Noah,

As soon as Aiden and Charlie got back from taking the necklace to Hera, we followed the instructions from the goddess, and we set off for Los Vegas, an eight hour drive. It was about four or so when we got on the road, and it was hard to navigate through traffic, though it might have just been how antsy we all were to get out of town before Brenna was finished shooting for the day and would go back to her dressing room to get ready for her date with Zeus.

I doubted she would blame me. Kate maybe. And the staff would probably tell her about a cousin, Aiden Blue, from England who was also an actor.

Of course, I knew that it would most likely boil down to another story, probably whatever would be most dramatic for the media. She might blame employees or create a story of a jealous fellow actress trying to hurt her. Zeus, happy that it was back to his wife so he wouldn't have to hear it but that he didn't have to take the blame, would undoubtedly spoil her with other gifts.

It was hard sometimes to remember that Breanna Blue was taken in what she called a "serious relationship" on the phone with Zeus, King of the Gods. While I wasn't married or known for cheating, I was no Zeus, even if she was flirting with me.

I wasn't actually taking it serious. If she did continue to pursue me in New York, it would have ended up as a relationship. Something my career would have benefited from, and maybe her career would, too. But, when the beauty and flirting faded, it would fade as well. And it would serve as memories and photos in magazines.

But it was still a great compliment to have a famous woman who could have any man (and any god) was flirting with me.

It wasn't such a compliment that it hurt to drive away or anything.

I did notice that Kate loved driving away though.

Her spirits lifted with every minute we got further and further from Breanna.

She hadn't liked Breanna, but I didn't know she hated him so much. I couldn't tell if she just didn't like her as she said or if it was something greater. If it was a little green monster…

I remembered how much I had hated Apollo when we were last with him and he pursued Kate so much. I didn't think I could be so happy as when we drove away from his home in Charleston. And it seemed awfully familiar to look at her and see the way she was acting.

Throughout the drive, seats kept changing.

First, Sam drove. And I sat in front while Kate and Chester sat in the backseat and Aiden and Charlie in the very back. Then it was me driving, Kate and Charlie together, and the Aiden and Chester awkwardly together. That didn't last long, and Aiden quickly offered to drive, even though that meant Charlie and Chester together.

That didn't last long either though.

Not too far into the night, we got Aiden to stop for us at a hotel, though Sam was adamantly against it of course. But Aiden was in charge of the car, and we stopped.

I was nervous about stopping at a hotel, even if working all day and driving off in fear of someone chasing after us had me worried. The last time we stopped in a hotel, it didn't turn out well. Rock men tried to take my sister, Charlie, to someone who had been trying to kill her since she was seven. They put me and Kate in a prison made of rock with Chester. And my little sister, who was thirteen, had to save Kate and me after I had spent my life saving her.

I worried that my baby sister might not be able to do it next time.

I knew she wasn't my "baby sister" anymore.

I was grown up. I lived on my own (well, almost since I had a roommate and my mom often checked in). I had my dream job that paid well, and I was a young adult.

And Charlie was growing up to. This was her last year of middle school, and she was a mature thirteen. She wasn't being stupid like everyone else in her class. She kept up her grades, and she held extracurricular activities as well. She was already taking on a prophecy, and she was handling it well, especially for her age.

Thirteen wasn't young, but it was young for such a large prophecy.

"I'll park the car," I offered, "And bring in the stuff. You guys go on in."

Everyone nodded, and Kate, who had been watching my face slowly pale since we had all agreed to stop and get a hotel room, quickly spoke up.

"I'll help."

I was about to say it wasn't needed, but Kate gave me a warning look that it wouldn't work no matter what I said.

So, everyone else piled out, and I switched to the front seat with Kate.

An awkward silence filled the air, and I could feel Kate's grey eyes glued to me, silently begging for me to tell her what was wrong. But I pretended I didn't notice and watched for open spaces in the parking lot like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Finally, when we had parked and stopped to get the bags out of the car, Kate spoke.

"You're shaking, Noah."

I looked to her, and I frowned, knowing this was going to lead to me having to tell her why I was upset.

"That's weird. Its kinda chilly though."

"It's hot."

"Maybe I have the flu or something," I tried, and Kate raised her eyebrows. I turned back to the bags.

"Is this the Worrying Brother flu?"

Despite myself, I looked back to Kate. begin,

"She's thirteen, not three, Kate. I… I don't need to worry about her," I tried, but I heard the weakness in my voice without needing her to point it out.

Kate laughed, and she rolled her eyes at me, pulling herself to sit on the edge inside the trunk.

"When has that ever stopped you?"

I sat down beside Kate, and I tried to think of a way to begin. But I couldn't think of where I could begin, let alone where I should. It felt like everything was crashing on me at the same time. I was being forced to see my baby sister wasn't a baby. Everyone I held truly dear could die on this quest, and everyone thought Charlie would. Kate was beside me, and my love for her kept growing but she saw me more and more as a friend. And, even more, I had to sit here while two guys tried to fight over my baby sister!

"So, what's up?"

My mouth opened, but so many words rushed to my mind I couldn't pick them out.

"I could go get ice cream, that's like a truth serum with you," Kate nudged me.

"That isn't the truth serum, Katy-Cat. It's the fact that you always showed up with it when it was night, which makes me talk more, or you do it when I really need to talk," I smirked.

"So you just want to tell me stuff," Kate smirked, nudging me.

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, and I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, what is it, Noah?"

"The last time we were in a hotel, rock men tried to take Charlie to a woman who wants to kill her. They kept us in a rock prison with Chester. And Charlie had to save us. What if she can't do that next time?" I crossed my arms, and I suddenly couldn't stop now that I had started, "And, right now we are on a quest were all of the people I love could die. Charlie is most likely going to die. A-And, with every minute that goes by, every mile we drive, every adventure we face, we are getting closer. This fear has been building up since the day Charlie was born, and it is just being released in the course of a few days. In a few minutes, our world changed…"

That was exactly it.

When the rock men tried to first take Charlie, that was the beginning of everything.

Suddenly, Kate was back in my life, and that was slowly killing me but also made me feel like I was finally alive again. My feelings for Kate, my best friend's little sister, were being stirred up and felt stronger than ever. The little girl playing with MeMo suddenly disappeared and showed a grown-up girl who was stronger than I could have ever imagined. And rules just suddenly fell apart.

"I'm not sure it changed as much as our view of it changed. We just finally noticed it…" Kate looked out to the sky, and I wondered if she even realized how much I was completely and pathetically in love with her.

Would she ever notice it or keep a blind eye?

"So, now that we are talking, what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" Kate looked back to me.

"We were out of touch for so long, you say I didn't miss anything. But I basically missed your senior year and your freshman year of college," I turned to where we were looking at each other, "I had to miss something."

"What can I say?" Kate smiled, "I'm lame."

"That's not what the yearbook said about you in your senior year, Charlie showed me that you were in basically every picture," I smirked.

"You remember that?"

I tried not to blush.

"Charlie talked about it for a while."

Kate nodded and shrugged.

"Well, I don't know. I did stuff, I guess. I went to parties, dated a few guys. But nothing really jumps out as being important that you wouldn't know about."

"How about stuff unimportant?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Tell me about annoying professors. Are you going to stay in dorms next year? Uh…" I tried to play it casual as I asked the last question, "Are you dating anyone?"

Kate looked shocked that I asked, but she tried not to look it.

"Well, Professor Jennings is unbearable. He never gives us enough time to finish stuff and do it well, and he complains that we are lazy and that our projects looked like fifth grader's did them. I like the dorms, but my dorm next year is known for being full of crazy parties on the third floor, which is where they say I would be. So I haven't completely decided. And…" Kate pushed her hair behind her ear, "I'm not dating anyone. I-I was, a while ago. But we broke up two months ago, and it wasn't really serious or anything."

I nodded, and Kate nervously bit her lip.

"A-Are you?" she nervously asked.

"Dating someone?"

Kate nodded.

"No, no. Not really in a while. I mean, there have been a few dates I guess, but it never turns into anything serious."

Kate almost looked relieved, but I couldn't tell.

I knew I was…

"We better get back to the hotel before Sam gets angry," Kate stood, and I nodded.

Kate,

I pulled the blanket a little closer to Charlie, and I kissed the top of her head as she snored lightly.

I had called first shower, and I felt like I desperately needed. While I liked how the hair and make-up crews made me look, I also felt like I was wearing a second skin. After a while, I just wanted my make-up and hair products out, and I took my time in the shower making sure I was cleansed of the beautifying chemicals.

When I came out of the bathroom to get dressed, I found Charlie asleep on the bed. She had fallen asleep waiting for me, and I put the asleep girl under the covers and let her sleep. I was careful as I got ready afterwards, trying not to make much noise.

I slid into the other bed quietly, and I tried to sleep. I had a long day. It started by waking up in a stone prison with Noah trying to comfort me, and that turned into exploring caverns with a son of Pluto. That turned into a long drive that was suddenly interrupted by Hera, who teleported us to Albuquerque. There, she wanted us to steal a necklace that her husband gave to his mistress, and we had to pose as actors to get in. I had to act in a movie and pretend like I loved a woman I couldn't stand and who kept flirting with Noah. From there, I had to fight with Charlie about who had to take the necklace to Hera. When she let us go, she announced we had to go Las Vegas, and we had another long drive that was stopped by going to a hotel. And, at the hotel, I had a talk with Noah about what was wrong with him, how my life was, and if we were both single.

You would think I would pass out just like Charlie.

But my mind was racing, focusing on Noah.

I kept feeling how horrible it felt when Breanna was flirting with Noah and how he didn't stop her, how it felt like someone stabbing my heart with each flip of the hair and flirty smile. I felt the rush of sitting beside him for so long. I felt the sweet sensation of being with him again, talking to him and knowing he trusted me like no one else. And I also felt the constant pain of the fact that I would always be his best friend, or worse, his best friend's little sister.

It got so bad that I could see his face in the darkness of the ceiling.

I couldn't take it, and I got up.

As I checked on Charlie, I thought back to my laptop in my bag.

After making sure she was okay, I hurried to my bag, and I carefully got the computer out and made sure I wouldn't make any noise as I turned it on.

I logged onto the hotel's wifi, and I opened a new IM.

PixarRules4: Hey, you up?

I waited for what felt like a lifetime, and I was about to give up hope and log off when I got a reply.

SoccerBoy18: Yeah, I can't sleep. How about you?

PixarRules4: Same, it's been a long day.

SoccerBoy18: That's the understatement of the century. I feel like I just crammed a month into one day. You'd think that I would want to just pass out as soon as I hit the pillow, but no. Can't sleep. Can't stop thinking.

PixarRules4: I knew that Green would be on my mind because we are on this trip together, but he's on my mind more than ever before. Not seeing him for so long should have made me stop liking him so much, it should have dulled it, right? But, instead, it feels like it just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

SoccerBoy18: I know, right?! Every day that passes, it turns less and less of a crush and more and more of actual love. It's not just being close and suddenly not seeing Dianna anymore.

I bit my tongue, and I sighed as I began to type.

PixarRules4: I am starting to think that I am never going to get over it, that I am stuck feeling this way forever.

I pressed send, and I tried to imagine my life from this moment on. Could I ever really be happy?

I could do everything right. I could have an amazing career, do everything I want to do. I could make great friends. I could find the perfect guy for me, and I could go on to have wonderful adorable children. But I could I really be happy without Noah?

If Aunt Annabeth proved anything, it was that love trumps all. She had what looked like the perfect life. She had achieved her dream of owning the most successful and well-known architectural companies in the world. She had great friends. She went to all of the exclusive and prestigious events. She was engaged to the perfect man. But she didn't have love. Her love was in New York City, far away from the life she built trying to get away from him.

In the end, she couldn't be happy without him though. She was lucky that he still loved her and that he had felt the same way without her. They went on to get married, raise a wonderful son, and have a daughter of their own.

But would I get the happy ending like Aunt Annabeth?

SoccerGuy18: I wonder if I can ever truly be happy without her. I thought I could, but I was talking to her today. And I realized how much I loved her, how much I needed her in my life.

PixarRules4: I guess we can just hope…