I'm going to be honest with all of you: I'm super nervous for the Beckendorf and Silena ship week entry because I don't want this year's story to be compared to last year's (which is, to this day, one of my proudest stories). But all of you are good, romantic little souls so I'm feeling better. Plus this story was fun to write. I hope that you enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters portrayed below. The judges of the Underworld are all real.

Living in Sin

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
Sinners are much more fun...
You know that only the good die young

-Only the Good Die Young

"A conundrum," Minos said. "Isn't that right gentlemen?"

The judges of the Underworld nodded. It was true.

"When the boy came by we swore we'd forward him straight to Elysium," Rhadamanthys said. "He requested that wherever he may go, he wanted the girl with him when she died. It was like he knew that she was going to pass only days later..."

"Yes, but he didn't know that the girl was the spy when we made that promise!" Aiakos said.

"Regardless, we agreed. And he probably knows by now- you know how the newly dead are, so eager to tap into the ethereal knowledge coursing through the Underworld…" Rhadamanthys said.

"But he is well settled in in Elysium, isn't that what you said?" Aiakos said.

"Can we put the girl in Elysium with Charles Beckendorf?" Minos asked.

"I won't have it!"

"She died a hero!"

"After the life of a coward!"

"A life full of mistakes which she admitted to us during our audience with her," Rhadamanthys said. "Besides, aren't I Lord of Elysium? Shouldn't I get to decide this?"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," Minos said. "I think that we could argue over this for hours. Unfortunately the war has created quite a line-up for us and we don't have the time. I suggest that we gather more evidence and then vote."

"More evidence?" Aiakos said. That was rare.

"Yes," Minos said. "Let's summon Mnemosyne, Titanness of memory, and ask her to show us certain memories of Charles Beckendorf and Silena Beauregard."

"Can she do that? Usually we use the faith..."

"Oh absolutely," Minos said. "We just need to give her a key word that she can search for."

"And what words will we use?" Rhadamanthys asked.

"I know," Aiakos said. "Words that they know better than to succumb to."

Minos smiled, reading his mind. "The Seven Deadly Sins. Excellent."

Envy

"She went with Luke?" Will asked him, looking at the beach where a crowd was gathering in preperation for the f. He could see him, tall enough to stick out over the crowd, and if he looked for her he could even spot Silena's black hair. They were close enough to be holding hands.

He nodded. His mouth was full of venom. He didn't like the way that Castellan looked at Silena. He looked at her like she was… plain. He didn't look at her glittering eyes or a smile on his lips and he didn't always listen when she talked to him. He treated her like she was disposable. Which, for a guy with a heartbreak track record like him, anyone was. Silena shouldn't be with someone like that.

"I told you," Will said. "You had to ask her first. She's pretty and smart and she has too much love to give. I told you that you had to grow a pair and ask her. Now all that you are is jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"Really?" Will asked. "In that case someone better tell the little green monster hanging out on your shoulder that it's lost."

Beckendorf chewed his lips.

"I'm with Mason for the night, but you could hang out with Fletcher," Will suggested. "Annabeth and Malcolm too- although I know that it pisses you off how she always lists out all the chemicals in the fireworks... I don't think that the Stolls had any huge plans either."

"I'm going to go supervise the fireworks being set off," Beckendorf said.

"Jake told me that it's all automatic," Will said arching an eyebrow. "Done by a specialised automa-"

"I'll supervise anyways," Beckendorf said, turning around and breaking off of the mass of half-bloods.

Pride

"Yoooooooou like him," Drew said, dangling off her bunk, her hair flat against the ground.

"Will you stop," Silena said as she reorganised her trunk. Again. She'd had her clothes folded up seasonally but that was all wrong. She had to do it by colour. Colour was the way to go.

"I saw you with Luke at the fireworks," Drew said. "Most girls would give an arm to go with him. You weren't having fun."

She'd changed her trunk from colour-coded to seasonal last time that she'd gone to some big camp event with a random boy that didn't matter.

"Yes I was," Silena said. "Luke is funny."

She shouldn't be so mean. She'd had a huge crush on Luke at some point, and he was nice. A good catch. Tons of girls had wanted to be in Silena's shoes last night.

"Yeah, but most of the Hermes kids are, it doesn't mean he's special," Drew said. "He doesn't make you laugh as much as…"

"Drew, stop."

"You're being evasive," Drew pointed out. "That's not making you look all that innocent."

"Drew."

"Plus you've been cleaning since last night. You even did the bathroom. You always clean when you're upset. Come on. It's not even a secret that you and Beckendorf like each other..."

"Drew." Silena said spinning around. Drew didn't even stir.

"What?" She asked. "It's true. Admit it. Don't make me charmspeak it out of you."

Silena turned around, frustrated and thrust a folded pair of jeans in the chest at the end of her bed. That made it messy. She picked the pants up and refolded them.

"Why is this so hard for you to admit," Drew said pushing herself up. She propped herself on the bed like a mermaid. "You've had crushes before. Is it because he's Hephaestus?"

"Go away."

"It's not incest, if that's what you're worried about. Plus it'd be really cute, you know."

"Drew I said go away."

"My foot's broken, I'm on bed rest," she said. She examined Silena with critical eyes, as if she was reviewing an equation. "It is because he's Hephaestus. That's why you aren't making a move. Oh my gods, Si. Don't be that prideful."

"I'm not being prideful."

"Nobody in the cabin will judge or even remotely care if you go for a Hephaestus kid. Sure, most of them are disgusting, but Beckendorf genuinely likes-"

"Drew Takana, I will break your other foot," Silena said losing her patience. Drew looked shocked. Silena never threatened anyone.

"Suit yourself," Drew said. "But then I'll be on bed rest even longer."

Wrath

Silena was on the edge of a shouting match with a son of Ares by the volleyball courts. He hadn't heard them from inside the forge, but he couldn't miss them now.

"If you ever go near my sister again I swear on the Styx I will end you," Silena said, fire in her eyes.

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Is that a challenge?" Silena huffed.

Beckendorf had a vague idea what this was about. Lacy (that short and cute kid from Aphrodite with the pig tails, the one who always seemed to be helping someone out as if she was a futuristic robot servant) had been going out with a guy from Ares- Beckendorf hadn't really paid attention to which. Probably John since that's who Silena was yelling at. After they'd broken up, rumours had exploded that John had smacked Lacy when she'd told him it was over. Some people said it'd been going on before too. Chiron had no idea of course, but apparently Silena had all the evidence she needed.

"I could literally go to Chiron with this and get your ass kicked out of camp," Silena said. "And then I could go to the cops and get you locked up. And then I could break into jail and murder you in your fucking sleep."

He'd never seen Silena this pissed, which wasn't saying much on one hand since Silena was so patient. But then again, it made this entire thing scary.

"I don't have time for this," John said, squeezing disgust and belittlement in his last word.

"What do you mean 'you don't have time'?" Silena asked. "What do you mean 'this'?"

"For a little whore's crazy talk, I didn't do nothing!" John said.

Beckendorf crossed the grass between the forge and the fields like nobody's business. He grabbed John by the back of the collar and pushed him against the volleyball net's post.

"What was that?" Beckendorf asked.

John's eyes widened. It occurred to Beckendorf that John had never heard him talk before.

"Hey man, I didn't mean nothing to you, I-"

"What did you call her?" Beckendorf said. John was trying to squirm out of Beckendorf's grip. He blubbered. Beckendorf pushed him into the bar more.

"I think you insulted her. I think you're going to apologise."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," John said. He was choking.

"What are you apologising to me for?" Beckendorf asked.

"I didn't mean to mess with your girl-"

Beckendorf threw him to the ground.

"She's not my girl. And even if she was, you apologise to her for calling her a whore, not me." Beckendorf said. "Make sure I don't see your face again. And that you stay away from her sister. Or I might not let go next time."

John got up and scrambled off. The crowd moved on and took camp life with it. Fights weren't rare enough to be exciting, and no blood had been drawn.

"Charlie-" Silena said touching his elbow, making the bangles on her wrist clink together. Her dark hair tumbled over her shoulders and her eyes were all on him. Her big crystal blue eyes- clear and honest and all on him right now.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine; he wasn't actually going to hurt me," Silena said.

"He shouldn't talk to you that way. He's an ass."

"That he is, yes," Silena said. She'd calmed down. "My main question is actually how are you?"

"Me?"

"Yes you, I've never seen you so angry," Silena said. "I thought you were going to snap him in two."

"Me? You're the one who actually said that you were going to kill him." Beckendorf said.

"Oh please, I don't have it in me to kill anyone," Silena said.

"And I do?"

She smiled. "You're too nice. You were angry earlier, but really you're a big softie," Silena said hip-bumping him.

"Meanwhile, you're vicious," Beckendorf said.

Silena shot him a look. "Anyways, thanks for helping me out."

"No problem," Beckendorf said.

"I didn't want to make a scene," she said. "All of this is already hard enough on Lacy, you know?"

"Yeah," Beckendorf said. Silena ran a hand through her hair.

"Fifteen years old and she's already gone through that," Silena said. "That disgusts me."

"It's horrible," Beckendorf said.

"I believe in my mother's powers, unlike a lot of people," Silena said. "I believe in goodness and beauty in the world and above all, in love. But when this kind of thing happens… sometimes I doubt it and I just don't see it anymore."

She smiled at him and turned around, probably back to Cabin 10. Beckendorf grabbed his courage and called out after her.

"I could show you," he said. "You know. At the fireworks, if you'd like."

Silena turned around and smiled.

"Could you now?"

"I think I have enough to base myself on," he said bravely. Silena smiled.

"I would like that," she said.

Gluttony

So they'd been on dates at camp before. To the fireworks, notably. They'd sneaked around the amphitheater to sit next to each other at campfires, and she'd leaned against him during the soft songs. They'd manipulated the schedules (their gods given right as counsellors) so that their cabins would be stuck doing activities together. Silena had sat on his worktable in the forge and they'd talked for hours as he worked, pausing only when the use of a power tool overrode the decibels of their voices. When Silena had gotten a concussion and Chiron had moved her into the infirmary, Beckendorf ducked under her bed whenever Chiron came to check on her and spent the nights with her to stop her nightmares. And they'd taken walks. Long walks, short walks, walks in the woods, walks around the lake, walks in the afternoon, walks in the sunset, illicit walks at night, in the sun, in the cold, in the rain. They had taken every kind of walk there was to take.

But this was their first date outside of camp.

And maybe they were both nervous since neither of them was used to being outside of camp borders, and they were only halfway before the adds which advertised movies that they weren't going to see and stores they weren't going to go to. But they weren't going to give up on it now. They were sitting in a movie theater and holding hands just like the couple three rows in front of them that had probably done this a thousand times. They were cute and normal.

"Charlie?" Silena said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"You know how I say I stress eat?"

"Yes," he said.

"And you say I don't stress eat?"

"Yes."

"Well I'm stressed right now."

"Yes."

"And I ate all the popcorn," Silena said.

"It's okay. I got the family size. Free refills."

Greed

"I'm not kissing you until you clean up your hands!" Silena said backing up. Charlie froze and looked at his hands, which were covered in motor oil. He pulled the rag hanging out of his back pocket and wiped his hands clean. He showed them to her before she accepted to burrow in his chest.

"I haven't seen you all day. You spend too much time in there," she said nuzzling against his chest.

"No I don't," Beckendorf said. "I spend just enough time there so that I don't go crazy everywhere else!"

"I know," Silena said. "I just want you all to myself, is all."

Sloth

They were lying in the strawberry fields, their hands laced together across a bush.

It was a beautiful day for canoeing, hiking, rock-climbing, sparring, or a game of volleyball.

But Beckendorf and Silena were doing none of that.

Because it was fucking hot.

So fucking hot, that Beckendorf couldn't fathom how other people were moving.

"We told Will we'd be on his team for volleyball," Silena said. She didn't sound too enthusiastic.

"He'll understand if we just lay here instead of showing up."

"That we wanted to relax?" Silena asked.

"No, that we're lazy," Beckendorf said. Silena let go of his land to gently wack him on the arm. She swung herself up, strawberry bush leaves in her hair.

"Nice try, bright eyes," Silena said. "Get moving."

Lust

Never before had so many half-bloods been home for Christmas. It was probably the war, reminding them of their mortality and the associated importance of their mortal families. Whatever, Silena wasn't thinking much about that.

She was thinking about how great it was that she and Charlie could make out just about anywhere thanks to the relative emptiness of camp.

Like right now? Charlie had been "walking her home" after the counsellor's meeting except they'd taken a huge detour (a walk around the lake) and now she was pressed against the side wall of her cabin and her arms were looped around his neck, her legs around his waist. One of his hands –infinitely and surprisingly delicate- was in her hair, the other was at her hip and not going anywhere as her shirt rode up…

"Drew has about fifty sleep disorders," Silena said, pulling away for a second. Charlie smashed his lips to hers again, which momentarily distracted her but she did get around to finishing that idea. "

"If she sees us she's going to freak and think she's having another night terror or I'm not even sure anymore. She watched Castor die," Silena said. "It still weighs down on her heart too much."

"Rough," Beckendorf said- which was as much compassion as he could easily show.

"We shouldn't do this here," Silena said. They were a bit classier than that.

"Nope, we shouldn't," Beckendorf agreed, kissing her ear. Silena was a total sucker for being kissed on the ear and he knew. She didn't stop him, of course. She just moaned a bit, like an idiot, and smashed her lips onto his. Her hands were under his shirt for good, tracing the lines and the muscles on his stomach and chest…

"We're so bad," she said when their lips were apart for a second. One touch of his lips and she'd forgotten all about Drew and the harpies and how loud they tended to be.

"I think that we do enough good to deserve it," Beckendorf said smiling.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Aiakos said. "What good?"

"Oh, so even you have gotten attached to this pair," Rhadamanthys said with a little smile of victory.

"No," Aiakos. "It's just that years of judging the dead have taught me to be patient and considerate with the decisions. What good is he talking about, except for their two sacrificial deaths?"

"I'm not familiar enough with these two to know," Minos said.

"Well, we used the seven sins," Rhadamanthys said. "It's only fair if we look through the Seven Virtues as well…"

Temperance

Beckendorf was practically bouncing as he told Silena about the tour he'd just had of NYU (where he was hoping to go next fall), and their engineering facility, and how he'd helped one doctorate student fix something and how impressed the dean had been. He was going on about how the wiring problem was like something that he'd had to face with Festus when he realised that Silena was subtly hiding a yawn.

He looked at his watch. It was past midnight. He'd driven back late and couldn't wait to tell her all about what he'd seen and done today, but he hadn't really thought about how she had her entire day on her back too. He wanted to tell her about the labs that he might get to work in next year, the robotics clubs that he could join, some of the future students he'd met, how beautiful New York was, all the history on how the buildings had been made, who had gone to the university and what they'd done in the world, how he hadn't even seen a single monster…

But she was tired.

His excitement would have to wait. He'd just tell her all about it bit by bit.

"It's late babe," he said. "I'll tell you in the morning."

"No, no- you were just going on about their aerospace program…"

"I'll tell you all about it in the morning," he said. "Sweet dreams."

Chastity

"Your mom doesn't know," Silena hissed.

"She would panic okay," Beckendorf said. "And you know I'm watching her blood pressure for her."

"Jesus," Silena said running a hand through her hair. "So who does she think I am?"

"She knows your name and everything," Beckendorf said. "She just doesn't know that we're…"

"Dating," Silena finished.

Beckendorf nodded. Silena's glare was practically killing him. "And when are you planning on telling her?"

"After she meets you."

"After she…" Silena sighed. "Charlie."

"She'll have fallen in love with you!" He insisted. "It'll go great."

"Okay," Silena said. "How good of friends does your mother think we are?"

"Good," he said. "But not that good. So…"

"No hand-holding, no kissing, no sitting too close together, no looks, no winking, no hair twirling, no hugging, no kissing…" Silena sighed. "Holy Hera, Charlie. It'll be the most chaste we've ever been."

"It'll be fine," he promised.

Without giving her the chance to answer, he rang the doorbell.

"How long are we staying?" Silena asked.

"The next shuttle back to camp comes to the city in about seven hours."

Silena just about died and the door opened.

Charity

"Jake, can I borrow a hoodie for the camp fire?" Beckendorf asked.

"What happened to yours?" Jake asked.

"I gave them all," Beckendorf asked.

"To those Demeter kids who were going to drop off bags at the Salvation Army?" Jake asked.

"No, to Silena."

Diligence

Beckendorf let out a long line of cuss words.

"You're lucky that Harley isn't in the forge," Nyssa called. Beckendorf wasn't particularly in the mood to answer.

"What are you working on that's so hard?" she said, popping up over his shoulder. She studied the project he was holding.

"What's that exactly?" she asked.

"It's a stained glass box," Beckendorf said. "Every side represents a scene -like, Venus on a seashell or Pegasi flying or a beach or something- and you can lower them to project a scene. The way the pieces are put, you can see 17 different scenes depending on the angle of the light and which scenes are propped up."

Nyssa whistled. "Ambitious."

"Hard."

"This is what you've been working on since Tuesday?" She said.

Beckendorf nodded. "I'm starting to think it's impossible."

"Then put it aside and go back to the drawing board," Nyssa said.

"Can't," Beckendorf said. "Silena's birthday is in a week. I've got to keep working."

Humility

In a stunning turn of events, they were making out behind a cabin after a counselor's meeting that couldn't have been uselessly dragged out more if Clarisse and Michael Yew had tried.

Beckendorf pulled away for a second. "You're beautiful."

Silena wasn't buying none of that. She was very mushy and gushy as a general rule, but she did not like being interrupted. She pulled him back to her and kissed him even more strongly. His lips wandered to his neck and Silena sighed and wove her fingers in his camp shirt.

"Gods," Beckendorf muttered. "I can't believe that a guy like me ended up with a girl like you…"

This time Silena pulled away.

"What do you mean 'a guy like you' and why do you say it like that? Someone kind? Someone strong? Someone soft? Someone skilled and talented? Someone ingenious? Someone intelligent? Someone loving and loveable? Someone calming? Someone with leadership? Someone honest? Huh?" Silena said with strict eyes. "None of those things deserve anything less than the best because those are all extraordinary qualities, you know. Jesus, Charlie. I'm going to have to unteach you some humility and show you how to boast a bit."

"Yes ma'am," Beckendorf said. "Can we wrap it up here though?"

Patience

"So you take the screwdriver –no don't hold it like that, like that. Move your fingers a bit to the- there you go. Okay. So hold your screwdriver like that and just notch it on the drill piece and… there you go… Other way baby, other way."

"How can you tell which one?" Silena asked. Her hair was put up in a hasty bun and she wore a pair of old, slightly scratched, protective goggles. The plan of the day hadn't been for Silena to learn how to use tools, but she'd been sitting with Beckendorf for hours and he figured that she'd started to get bored so…

"Righty tighty, leftie loosie."

"What?"

"It's the saying," Beckendorf said. "To remember that to unscrew something you... never mind. Just turn towards the right."

"Okay," Silena said. She was an enthusiastic learner, if not a noobie, overwhelmed and sort-of helpless one. Silena was pretty good at a lot of things. Dealing with difficult people, for example. Taming the horses at camp. Explaining the idea of demigods to new arrivals. Chatting with nymphs when they took loitering campers hostage. Untying knots in girls' hair and braiding even the most unruly hair into beautiful braids. But using tools was not one of them.

So Beckendorf was armed with Silena's weapon in most of those aforementioned activities.

Patience.

"Okay, stop. You don't want it to go completely in if we're going to tie a rope around it, right?" Beckendorf said.

"Oh. Right, duh… sorry…"

Lots of it.

"It's okay, babe. We just won't do power tools today."

Kindness

At the end of the day, this is what they rested on.

Beckendorf being nice enough to give the new daughter of Aphrodite a tour when she was scared of facing her sisters. Silena being kindhearted enough to think of Beckendorf during camp events and pull him into the light and action.

Beckendorf bringing her flowers at random times and Silena weaving them into a crown. Silena making Beckendorf's brothers and Nyssa fall in love with her.

Beckendorf holding doors for her. Silena saving Beckendorf some of the good snacks when he was late for counsellor meetings.

Beckendorf listening through long intense and sometimes hysterical raves and then telling Silena that everything would be okay while rubbing her back and playing with her hair. Silena putting on that popping red lipstick that he liked, kissing a piece of paper and tucking it in his bag when he went to the city or on missions for a few days.

Beckendorf forgetting an anniversary and Silena forgiving him. Silena being patient and supportive with her antisocial boyfriend as he stumbled his way through conversations with her family, her friends and sometimes even the ones between the two of them.

In the end if something atoned for the sins; it was kindness. And wasn't kindness a kind of basic love? The kind of basic love that you could use as a building block to build anything from a friendship to a long relationships that involved adults falling in love while listening to music a bit more with each passing day and each sip of wine, from dramatic summer flings that burned brightly enough to compensate their short duration and match the sun overlooking it all, to high school sweethearts reuniting.

So at the end of the day, it was love that got Silena accepted into Elysium and back to Beckendorf. Even though the judges hadn't paid much attention to that particular factor.. Silena and Beckendorf just seemed to ooze it. They seemed to breathe it and want it and crave it and live in it. Yeah, that was what they did.

Living in love.

Upcoming Ship Weeks

July

27 - 02 - Thalia and Luke

August

03 -09 - Free Week (author's pick)

10 - 16 - Free slash week (author's pick of a same-sex story)

17 - 23 - Free friendship week

24 - 30 - Chris and Clarisse

31 - 06 - Jason and Reyna

September

07- 13 - Jason and Piper

14 -20 - Frank and Hazel

21 - 27 - Calypso and Leo

28 - October 4 - Percy and Annabeth