"Why do I put myself through this!" Annabeth screeched.

I cackled. "Because I'm the best?" I suggested selfishly.

She pouted, angrily screwing her fists into her eyes.

We had just arrived at the beach. The second that Annabeth stripped off her over-clothes, I ran over and grabbed her by the waist. Then, I carried her to the water and dumped her in. Clearly she didn't like that.

I dove into the water, reveling at the refreshing cold of the water. After a moment, I stood back up and ran my hands over my face.

I grinned at Annabeth. "Hey."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a jerk."

"But I'm your jerk," I sang.

Annabeth pushed me, hard, taking me by surprise. I stumbled back, almost falling.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I drawled. "Hold your horses. Was that necessary?"

She nodded, smiling mischievously. "Yes, you deserve to be punished!"

I looked over my shoulder and saw Calypso casually watching from a safe distance on the beach.  I whirled around and thrashed through the water, running away from Annabeth and to Caly.

"Save me!" I shouted at her, laughing.

She went wide eyed. "Slow down, Perce!" she warned nervously.

I came to a screeching halt right in front of her, kicking sand onto all of our stuff. I burst out laughing at the surprise on her face.

"Chill," I said in between gasps for air.

Caly rolled her eyes. "You should be punished by your girlfriend," she retorted, "because you're mean."

I stood straight and frowned. "Aw, I didn't mean to be mean." I held back a smile, keeping the sad, vulnerable mask intact. I stepped closer and squeezed her into a super tight hug. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I chanted, lifting her up a little and shaking her around.

She planted her hands on my shoulders. "Put me down, you mongrel!"

I laughed and set her down, admiring the mass amounts of damp sand I had transferred to her sundress. I smirked triumphantly, turning around to run off and bumping straight into Annabeth.

"Well, you took a while to come back to shore," I murmured teasingly, rubbing my nose against hers.

She rolled her eyes, settling her gaze on my own. "I was admiring the show...and plotting."

"Yeah? Like what you see?" I whispered cockily, brushing my lips against hers.

"Nope." She stepped back, grinning.

I gasped. "How rude," I marveled, cupping her face.

Annabeth laughed, and I heard Caly's muffled giggles behind me.

"You guys are ganging up on me!" I complained, stepping back.

The two girls stood next to each other. I noticed Annabeth subtly give Calypso a once over. She was a couple inches taller than Caly, as well as tanner and more muscular. Annabeth gave off a fiercely gorgeous vibe, while Caly looked delicate and pretty.

I smiled softly as I looked at my two great friends - although Annabeth was a bit more than a friend at that point - become friends of their own.

"How do you suggest we attack?" Caly asked. "You are the master planner.

"Why thank you," Annabeth joked. "I suggest a...tickle fight."

"Ooh, the best way," Caly agreed.

I bit my lip. They weren't serious, were they? They were joking...right?

Wrong.

I pivoted and sprinted across the sand, although the uneven landscape and my laughter at the realization of two girls half my weight chasing me vengefully slowed me down. Eventually, I slowed down, and soon after Annabeth hurdled onto my back.

I sunk to my knees, laughing. "Get off, you monkey!"

She squeezed her legs around my waist, saying, "Never! Get him, Caly!"

That was followed by a long tickle war, which we won't announce the winners of.

Once the war had come to a close, the three of us wandered back to our belongings. We spent the rest of the day and late into the night there, either swimming or eating or just chatting along the shore.

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"So are you and Caly...good?" I asked curiously, munching on a fry.

Annabeth smiled. "I think so. We had a look...like, I was saying, 'You aren't going to take him?' with my eyes, and she was saying, 'No way, I'm too scared of you to ever do that!' with hers."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "That seems like more of a dictatorship than a democracy."

She laughed. "Did you see the way she looked at me as I plotted our tickle attack? She's my minion now. Get used to it."

I rolled my eyes, sipping my chocolate shake. After the beach, around seven P.M, the three of us walked down to a tiny café downtown. Caly's dad picked her up when we arrived, so Annabeth and I were having an impromptu date.

"If I can ask, why was there so much tension between you two in the first place?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "Well, like I said yesterday, she clearly had a thing for you from the moment she laid eyes on you. I could just tell that day, and that's why I went to class instead of helping you give her a tour. I guess I felt...threatened, which is really weird to admit. But she's so pretty, and I was convinced that you were going to choose her over me, especially since we were only best friends. But now that we're together, I guess that I shouldn't worry about that."

I smiled and held her hand across the table. "I'm not going to leave you for any body, Annabeth."

She smiled softly back, and I had to look away. With those big grey eyes, pouty pink lips, and perfect button nose, I had no idea how she ever doubted her beauty. She looked like a goddess, and I was so lucky that she chose me out of everybody that she could have had.

"Let's head back to the beach," I suggested out of the blue. "I can call my mom and we can see if she can pick us up down there. Or maybe...I don't know. I don't really care how it works, I just want to spend more time with you."

Annabeth grinned. "Sounds great."

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"She's so beautiful," I murmured under my breath.

My mom smiled at me through the rearview mirror. "Yeah, she is. You picked a good one."

Annabeth was laid across my lap, facing away from me, asleep in the back of my stepdad's Prius. I was haphazardly toying with her crazy blonde curls when my mom asked me a question that jolted me out of my seat.

"Do you love her?"

"Me?"

Mom laughed. "Yes, you, silly."

"Oh. Um..."

She smiled. "It's not that crazy to think about, Perce. It's not like you just met each other. You've known each other for years. You might not be there yet, but it wouldn't be weird if you were."

I looked down at Annabeth and bit my lip. "Did you love my dad?" I asked quietly.

Mom sucked in a breath. After a brief pause, she said, "Yes. Yeah, I loved him. I still love him, even though I also love Paul. It's just different. He was my first love, though, and I'll always love your father."

I smiled. "How do you know when you love somebody?"

She laughed quietly. "Oh, it's just this great feeling. Suddenly, absolutely everything they do makes you inexplicably happy. You want to be with them all of the time, and when you're apart you feel empty. Anything they say makes you smile. You want to make them as happy as they make you. Their touch feels almost...electric. And most importantly, you'd do anything to help them, no matter what they did to get into a mess."

I brushed a strand of hair from Annabeth's face, pondering.

"Yeah, I love her. I love her a lot, actually."

But how did I tell her that? 

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