Hey guys! Whatever's up?! I have published two chapters already and no one has either read, voted or commented? Come on guys... Have you forgotten me? :( I'm sorry once again for not being online so long but now I can write... so please read my story... You won't be disappointed I promise... Happy Reading!

It was five minutes to four in the evening and Piper was restlessly waiting for four o'clock. Despite its being only five minutes away she couldn't stop herself from bursting with eagerness to go on the beach. It was such perfect weather! And with the breeze blowing the clouds slowly, it was a scene Piper couldn't resist. She wanted to just rush on the beach. With Jason.

For the first time she acknowledged that Jason had something to do with making her happy. Whenever he was around, she would feel... lighter, somehow. And for the first time she accepted the feeling.

Looking at the clock once more and seeing it was four, she rushed down the hotel wearing a tank top and shorts. But not before she was caught by Hazel.

"Where're you going looking so excited?" Hazel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know, just around to the garden. I was... getting bored." She managed a convincing smile.

Hazel knew she was lying but she thought of a better plan. So, instead of questioning her, she let her go. "Okay. Have fun!"

Piper flashed her a smile and walked out, frowning slightly. Well, that was easy. She thought. Maybe too easy. But she shrugged it off and made her way to the beach, eagerly.

Jason was waiting for her, sitting on a rock. When he saw her coming, he got up, grinned and waved to her. Piper ran up to him.

"You came early." She said to him, as she seated herself beside him.

"Yeah, well. I'm not really punctual. So I decided to come early than coming late." He smiled at her.

"You're such a dork." Piper shook her head at him.

"A cute dork for that, eh?"

"Hmm... Not really, no." Piper put in, thoughtfully. Jason feigned a sad and hurt expression and wiped an imaginary tear. Piper added. "I can't say cute but I think you can pass off for a nice dork." She smirked at him. "Nice and a very dorky dork."

"I'm gonna get you for that." Jason got off his rock ready to chase Piper. She got off her rock with a shriek and laughed as he chased her around on the soft sand.

"Can't catch me!" she laughed at him as he stumbled over as his foot stuck in some sand.

"Wait and watch." He said as he regained balance and resumed his chase with a grin. After a few seconds he caught up to her and grabbed her by the waist, making her stop.

They both laughed as he spun her around, still holding her close. As they regained their breaths, Jason said, "Told you I would catch you."

Piper laughed again. "Yeah, right after you behaved as a chicken slipping and struggling to regain balance."

Suddenly, both of them became aware of their close position and, blushing a little, they pulled away from each other.

"Well, you give good references, you know," Jason said, rubbing his neck, embarrassed, trying to clear the air. "Only when it isn't about me."

Piper managed a shaky laugh. "Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment." She turned towards the sea and began walking down to it. Jason followed without a word.

Piper sat down where they had sat earlier, on the huge rocks by the side of the beach. They could see miles and miles of blue waters advancing and receding crashing over each other. It seemed violence, yet peaceful.

Without looking at him, Piper said, "You know, I always love beaches. They give you some sort of hope. Like, something special is going to happen and you shouldn't lose hope. You should keep holding on."

Jason turned to her, confused, but not saying a word. She continued, still staring at the ocean. "Every time I visit a beach, something special happens. And I'm feeling that something special is going to happen very soon." She stopped talking for a moment and then looked at him. "I had visited a beach way back when I was barely seven years. I had wanted a bicycle so dearly and the next day I had one for myself. It was like magic. And there were so many instances like that."

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I must seem like a fool talking about all these childish things to you."

Jason shook his head seriously. He had found this conversation a bit puzzling because he couldn't figure out where it was going. But he didn't find it childish. "Of course, not. Believe it or not, I've had my share of instances too. You can't help but believe in miracles, you know."

"Hmm."

Jason asked, not able to contain his curiosity. "What's going on in your head, Pipes?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering if I will get what I want this time." Piper sighed and turned to him with a smile.

"Well, what do you want?" Jason asked, returning the smile.

"I don't ask things from people if I want miracles to happen, Jace." Piper grinned and looked above at the clouds. "Can you spot a dog?"

Jason had no choice but to leave the topic, but nevertheless he was happy to be back on something cheerful again. "No. Can you?"

"Uh-huh. Not me." Piper answered.

Jason turned to her with a frown. "Then, why did you ask me?"

Piper grinned again and lay down on the rock, her arms behind her head. "For fun." She looked at his face, which had disbelief written all over. She laughed. "Listen, Sparky. Sometimes you have to imagine things. If I imagine that cloud should look like a dog it looks like one to me after a few seconds. Try it. Can you spot a fish?"

He laid back beside her, too and observed all clouds. He chose the most triangular-looking cloud and tried to imagine its fins, its eyes. Finally, it came to him. Delighted, he exclaimed. "I got it! See, it's over there."

Piper looked and sure enough she could imagine a fish. "Yeah, nice one." And there they lay, spotting all different kinds of animals, talking and laughing, until a voice was heard.

"Piper?" the voice called out. Piper sat up and turned in the direction of the voice. It was Hazel. The latter ran up to her and Jason, who had now got himself in a sitting position too.

"What are you two doing here?" Hazel asked staring at the pair.

"We were just... What are you doing here, Hazel? How did you get here?" Piper posed the question trying to stop herself from going red.

"Well, I obviously knew you were lying when you told me you were going round the garden. I searched for you but I couldn't find you. I know you can't leave the hotel campus unless you get permission, so you had to be inside the hotel. Yet, I had seen you going outside the hotel. So I searched about the garden till I found your footprints in wet mud and followed you till here." Hazel finished with a smile.

"Hmm. So, you were sneaking up on us, huh?" Jason said, trying to put the whole thing as a joke.

Hazel smiled an impish smile. "I thought it would be nice to find out her secret if she was alone. But now, I see there are two who share the secret of the beach."

Piper and Jason both blushed. "I was going to tell you this evening so that we could all come here and have fun." Piper said.

"Yes, but not before you two enjoyed your private share, huh?" Hazel said, suppressing a smile. Then, she laughed such an infectious laugh that the other two couldn't help joining in as well.

"Oh, dear," Hazel said, finally. "I'm so sorry to have snuck up on you like that. But I hate mysteries that can't be solved. So, I had to solve this one. You can have your time and I won't disturb you again or tell anybody-"

"No," Piper interrupted. "It would be more fun with all of you than the two of us alone. We'll come along in a sec. Till then you tell everybody."

Hazel nodded and made her way back to the hotel. Piper turned to Jason. "Well, we'd better get going," she said to him as she jumped off her rock. Before she had taken one more step, Jason had caught her hand. She turned around surprised.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked her.

"You have already." Piper laughed but then nodded. "But yeah sure."

"What is the thing you want most, now?" Jason asked the question his heart had been asking him since that conversation.

Piper's smile faded from her face. "It isn't a 'what' so much as a 'who'." And she turned around ran not giving him a chance to say anything more. Jason frowned and stared at her disappearing figure. Then, realization dawned on him. He grinned.

THAT'S IT! OH I FINISHED! SUCH A LOVELY CHAPTER OMG! I never believed I could write something like this... What do you want next Frazel or What has been happening to Annabeth?!1 Comment below please do!