~Playlist: "All I Know" by Beth Crowley~

This is such a beautiful song, and it's so perfect for this chapter. I urge you all to listen to it at some point in your lives. I love it so much.

"I've been burned too many times. I've made mistakes, god knows I've tried. But now I think I've got it right with you. I can't say that I'm not scared, I'm terrified of how much I care."

Hazel's POV

"Do you know what I want?" I ask suddenly, breaking the silence as everyone tries to fall asleep in Percy's room.

It's far past midnight. We watched two movies before calling it a night, and we ate multiple bowls of ice cream, which I'm beginning to regret.

"I want to sleep," Leo grumbles from his sleeping bag a few spaces away. I hear him grunt in pain, and I know that someone just kicked him. Hopefully painfully.

"I want to stop this moment and live in it forever," I say wistfully, ignoring Leo. "Because who knows when this kind of normal might happen again."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asks.

"It's just...Daphne told us that we're demigods, right?" I hear Rachel take in a sharp breath, and realize that she's the only one who isn't. "That we're all special," I quickly amend. "And special always comes with a steep price. What if we never see each other again after the Selection is over?"

"We're all going to the DI," Reyna reminds me. "We'll be there together."

"But it won't be like it was here," says Piper sadly. "It won't be the same."

"I'm going to miss it," I say. "Everything about this place. Even with the knife-throwing psycho."

That's when I hear the door open with a long groan. We're all suddenly on high-alert. By acknowledging her, I've summoned Willow here!

Then, I hear a familiar voice curse as she trips over someone's sleeping bag. "Why is there a person laying on the floor?"

"Thalia?" Jason and Annabeth ask at the same time. Annabeth stands up, as if she can't believe that the girl is really here.

"What are you doing here?" asks Percy.

The lights turn on suddenly. I squint as my eyes try to get accustomed to the new lighting. Percy is standing up by the light switch. Sure enough, Thalia Grace is standing over Leo.

"A person is on the floor because he's trying to sleep," Leo grumbles. "Why is there a person walking around?"

"Because I came here to apologize."

"For what?" Percy asks.

"For what?" she repeats. "For everything! I don't even know what I was thinking-"

Annabeth holds up her hand, and Thalia stopped talking. "Thals, there's nothing to apologize for. You didn't do anything wrong. Willow forced you to cooperate, and you agreed just to protect me. If anyone needs to apologize, it's me for not believing you. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me, Thalia."

"I never meant for anything like this to happen," Thalia says.

"I know."

The two girls embrace warmly over Leo's body.

"It's fine, there's not a sleeping person under you!"

Thalia kicks his laying figure before settling onto Jason's sleeping bag.

Though it's somewhat amusing as to how everyone seemed to easily forgive her, I can't helped but be confused. She threw a knife at Reyna, yet everyone is completely fine with her sitting with us. Maybe I missed something. Something huge.

Jason and Thalia are talking softly, providing the only noise in the room. The rest of us bury into our sleeping bags and try to fall asleep.

"I think we need to talk," Percy says suddenly. "All of us. About what's going to be happening here soon."

Everyone struggles to sit up in the sleeping bags. Percy returns to his, and sits down on top of it. Once we're all settled, he speaks again.

"I'm going to announce two eliminations tomorrow morning," he says slowly. "That will leave three girls left in the Selection. So, the question is, who wants to leave tomorrow? And by leave, I mean leave in a giant limo for the press and cameras before turning around and coming back here. Thalia, sorry, but you've already been eliminated. Little details like kidnapping the Prince, or something like that."

She shrugs. "I wasn't expecting to stay this long, anyways. But have you made sure that I've been properly eliminated?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Percy asks, dumbfounded.

"I mean, was Willow ever officially eliminated? Did you ever check the paperwork?"

"Of course I checked the paperwork, I'm the Prince of a country, I know what to do when this things come-"

Percy stops his rant, a horrified look creeping over his face.

"You didn't check to see if she was properly eliminated?" Annabeth asks.

"I didn't check to see if she was properly eliminated," he repeats.

"Bet you're glad I mentioned that," Thalia says with a smile.

"Oh god, I have to do something about that," Percy continues to say in his horrified voice. "Eh, I'll worry about that tomorrow."

And with that, he buries into his pillow and sleeping bag. "Anyways, what were we saying? Oh right, the eliminations. Who wants to leave tomorrow?"

Butterflies fill my stomach. I lock eyes with Rachel, then Piper. I know that I won't be the One, but that doesn't stop the nerves from filling my body.

"Well," says Reyna carefully. "That all depends. Who are you going to...propose to?"

"Fine, I'll make the decision by myself," he says with a giant sigh. "Load of help you people turned out to be. Okay, Piper, will you be okay with leaving tomorrow?"

She breaks into a large grin. "Yes! It'll show those dumb polls that me being a Two wasn't that important."

"Yeah...that's exactly what I was going for," Percy says with an unconvincing nod. "And Hazel, would you be alright with leaving with her?"

A sense of relief floods through me. "Yeah, that's fine."

"So, that leaves Rachel, Annabeth, and Reyna. I'll eliminate someone the day after that, and then I'll reveal my engagement."

"To who?" Frank asks from next to me.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asks with a crooked grin. When no one replies, his smile fades, as if he's disappointed that we haven't figured it out. Suddenly, he stands up from his sleeping bag, and onto his bed.

"There's only one girl," Percy sings dramatically. "That makes me feel the way I do!"

Rachel covers her laugh with a hand before standing up, joining Percy on the bed.

"There's only one girl," she sings the popular song along with him. "That makes him do the things he dos!"

"Dos?" Jason asks, looking perplexed. "That's not even a word."

"Shut up, I had to make it rhyme, and that's the original lyric. I just have to sing in third person," Rachel says to him before breaking into song with Percy once more.

"There's only one girl that makes this boy fall hopelessly in love," they sing, sounding off harmony. "And she's sitting right in front of me!"

"I used to love this song," Annabeth muses from her place on the ground. "Carlos de Sol used to be my favorite singer. But now, I'm not so sure."

But she allows Rachel and Percy to pull her up onto the bed along with them.

"Her smile lights up the stars in my eyes," the three sing, all horribly off key. The rest of us are too busy laughing to notice it, though. "Her laugh makes me want to try to be a better guy! And I'll give her the sun, if she'll be the one."

"Annabeth Chase," Percy says, getting on his knees on the bed. He pushes Rachel off, and she lands laughing on the floor. She scoots over to her sleeping bag and watches the two on the bed. "Will you light up the stars in my eyes by marrying me?"

I hold my hands to my mouth as I realize that, though they're laughing and singing, this is all too serious. I lock eyes with Piper, and see that she's just as surprised.

"Perseus Jackson," she says, just as dramatically before going on her knees as well. "That proposal sucked. I'm in my pajamas with no makeup on, and chocolate stuck in my teeth."

"I didn't hear a no," is all Percy says.

Annabeth hits his arm. "Seaweed Brain! That's not how you propose to a girl!"

"I've never done it before!" he complains. "No one told me what to do. There's not really a guide to this kinda stuff?"

"Not to ruin your moment," Jason says, looking all too happy to ruin their moment. "But you're supposed to propose on television. For the first time."

"Well, I'll have to be a rebellious prince, then, now won't I?"

Percy jumps off of his bed and goes padding over to where a wooden dresser stands as we watch in amused confusion. He digs around in a drawer before pulling something out. Then, he gets down on one knee.

Everyone in the room gasps, even the macho, tough guards.

"Annabeth Chase," he says, the joking tone in his voice gone. "You are the most beautiful, intelligent, stubborn, and determined girl that I've ever met. Ever since you told me that I drool in my sleep, you made me want to kill you." Annabeth laughs, but I can see tears shining in her eyes. Heck, I can feel tears shining in my eyes, and I'm not even the one getting proposed to. "You saw in me someone that I didn't even know I could be. You make me want to be a better person, Annabeth, and you've made me into a better person. With you, I feel like I can do anything, like I can be anything I want, just from you standing by my side. And I want that for the rest of my life.  I want you, Annabeth, for the rest of my life."

Annabeth steps down from Percy's bed and walks over towards him. She helps him off the floor before getting down on a knee herself.

I realize that I'm crying, and I can't stop. Frank notices, and wraps a gentle arm around me. I squeeze his arm appreciatively.

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth says. "The first time I met you, you had drool running down your chin, and you were attempting to flirt with thirty-four other girls. Luckily for me, you suck at flirting, along with other things. You were insufferable and immature, and I hated you for it. But ever since we went on that date by the pool, I realized that you were made me feel alive. Every time we touch, I can feel the sparks between us igniting. I love you, Percy Jackson, and nothing, not even the fiery depths of hell, can stop that. When I look at you, I see how much I've grown as a person just by being with you, and I want that for the rest of my life. I want you, Percy, for the rest of my life."

"That was an original ending," he muses. He holds out the thing that he retrieved from the dresser: two strings of leather. "When my father met my mom, he gave her a leather necklace. Every summer they spent together, they added a clay bead to it. It's no diamond ring, that'll have to wait for the cameras and all, but I want you to have this as a promise necklace of sorts. If you'll have me, that is."

"I'll have you, and I'll never let you go," she says as tears run down her face.

"As long as we're together," Percy says before pulling her into a kiss.

The rest of us burst into applause and tears. Thalia is crying, as is Reyna, and both girls aren't the type to easily cry. I bury my head into Frank's shoulder as I cry. He pats my back in an awkwardly reassuring way. By the way he's shaking, I know that he's crying too.

"Now, did that proposal suck?" I hear Percy ask Annabeth. "I kinda winged it, but it turned out pretty good, don't you think?"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"As you wish, Wise Girl. My Wise Girl, now."

"I don't think I'm your anything," she counters.

"My friend? My girlfriend? My fiancé? Pick whichever one you want."

"Oh my god," Thalia sobs. "My little Annie is engaged!"

"I'm not little!" she complains.

"You'll always be little to me," Thalia says, ruffling her hair.

I don't know why I notice it then, but I realize that Nico is no longer in the room. I don't know when he disappeared, but he's not here anymore.

"There's only one girl," Rachel sings again suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts about Nico. "That makes him feel the way he does!"

"There's only one girl that make him do the things he does!" the rest of us chorus in. "There's only one girl that makes this boy fall hopelessly in love, and she's sitting right in front of me!"

We're all singing, but suddenly, Frank's voice is right in my ear. "Her smile lights up the stars in my eyes," he sings softly. "Her laugh makes me want to try to be a better guy. And I'll give her the sun if she'll be the one."

I look up at him, and see that he's flushing red and smiling down at me. I smile at him before leaning in and pecking him on the lips.

For the first time, I don't even care if anyone sees us.

And my words from earlier come back to me. If there was a moment that I wanted to preserve in a jar forever, it would be this one. From the way it felt to have Frank's arm around me to the happiness shining in Annabeth's eyes to all of us laughing together: all of it makes me feel so happy. Despite whatever tomorrow holds, right now, we're all shining together. And I want to feel this way forever.

"Who can say what tomorrow holds, where I'll end up if I take this road? People come, and people go. I love you and that's all I know."

A/N
OH MY GODS IS YOUR FANGIRL HEART BEATING WILDLY? BECAUSE MINE IS! PERCABETH!

I meant to save the proposing until like chapter thirty. Obviously, that didn't happen. But they were having so much fun at then sleepover, I had to make it go longer.

Don't worry, the Selection is far from over. He still has to make announcements and deal with all those little things that are bound to happen.

The song in there is one I made up, as is the singer Carlos de Sol.

Today's shoutout goes to @ViktorSweden00 and @mzkmakeup for their giant pun train in a chapter of TDS. That was...something special.

What did you think about the proposal?

So now Percy and Annabeth are engaged. Everything is perfect. What could possibly go wrong?

If those words don't strike fear into your heart, then you're a warrior god made of stone.