I can't believe it's actually over. This is the story I've been nursing. It started on a whim, and grew into the first real story of my fan fiction career.

I'd like to thank- my reviews, you guys kept me afloat, my sister-beta, who gave me the real con-crit, and to all the music who influenced this story. Coldplay, the Killers, Simple Plan, Green Day, Caitlin Crosby, The XX, Океан Ельзи, Victor Morozov, Smash Mouth, the Beatles, Queen, OK Go, my favorite band-Paramore, and everyone else I missed! Music is one of my biggest muses. Thanks to everyone who helped with this story.

*Sniff* Well here it is. Thanks to Rick Riordan, who without knowing, started this all.

Please review if you haven't, or if you have!

Chapter 17- I was a teenage Halfblood

Katie's POV...

I sat on the porch of the Athena cabin with Annabeth. It was after dinner and dark, the bonfire going in the distance, campers running around and relishing the last hour of the day. I zipped my sweater higher and hugged my knees.

"So." Annabeth said, smiling at me. "Tell me about the quest. You know-" she poked my knee. "Girl to girl."

"Well you know about it already!" I argued jokily.

"But not from your point of view!" she replied. I ran my tongue along my bottom teeth.

"Well, I sent us to the desert." I smirked, thinking I wouldn't try those things any time soon. "Which turned out to be a good thing, I guess. Then we rode the Phoenix."

"How awesome was that?"

"Pretty scary, actually. It flies fast. And really... high." I paused. "Then Eric turned into a satyr. He didn't come out naked, thank gods." Annabeth put her head in between her knees, laughing.

"That reminds me of that time me and Percy were on Circe's isle. I was so freaking afraid he would be naked when he turned back from guinea pig form. Didn't happen..." she grinned into the distance, her golden curls spilling over her shoulder. I suddenly wished I could be as pretty as Annabeth.

"Pretty cool about Eric. I didn't even think of Hecate." I told her, rubbing my jeans.

"I did." Ryan said, coming out of the Athena. "It slipped my mind once but we were so busy I totally forgot about it." He blinked, smiling, and leaned up against the porch rail.

"Just where are you going?" Annabeth looked over at him.

"Taking a walk, I guess." He said, looking over at the forest like seeing more than dark trees there.

"Just be careful."

"Why are you worrying about me? I just got back from an oh-so-dangerous quest, right." He held out his arms in surrender.

"I'm your older sister. It's my job." She rolled her eyes, but I could see her smile.

"Okay then. Well, bye older sister. Night Katie." He said, looking at me once more with placid gray eyes before leaving.

"He needs a lot of time to think." I said, watching his retreating figure. "He stays up so late... just thinking sometimes." I cocked my head, wondering what went on in that Athena-born head.

"You watch him sleep?" Annabeth said, turning to me.

"No- I just notice things sometimes. You know." I was glad it was dark and she couldn't see me blush.

"Oh. I get it." She looked at me knowingly.

"Don't draw any conclusions, Annabeth Chase!" I crossed my arms over my chest. "We're just friends!"

"Not that he wants to keep it that way." She mumbled, rubbing her upper lip.

"What?"

"Oh gods, Katie. I'm not a mind reader, but I can see how he looks at you." She rolled her eyes.

"Me?" I looked at a lock of my own hair like it was different that the other million times I see it a day. Annabeth smiled and stretched her arms.

"I think my work here is done." She said, yawning. "I'm going to find Percy. G'night." Oh, so you can have a nice good night make-out. I though to myself.

She left. I sat on the porch for a while, just thinking. Like Ryan does so often...

Ryan's POV...

I was walking from my cabin, the next afternoon, when I saw Eric heading back from the arena.

"Hey Ryan! Meet me in my cabin! I just gotta shower up and stuff first." He said when we met.

"Sure." I said, grinning. I headed to his cabin.

It was made of slabs of the sort of very dark violet, almost black rock. There were two identical stone statues of a large dog, a Dalmatian, flagging the ornate doorway. Two crossed torches sat above the door, like the owl in my cabin. I stepped inside. It was a regular run of the mil cabin, beds and two big tables. There was a big window framed by blue curtains on the back wall, showing a view directly into the trees, up the creek.

"Wow." I whispered, touching one of the huge beautiful constellation charts on the wall, where the cosmos was a beautiful navy and the silver stars actually seeming to blink, like diamonds. Ancient Greek symbols were written in gold. There were a few scrolls lined up on the table.

I leaned against one of the tables. Eric's bunk was recognizable as the only one, as it was unmade and there was a small mess of clothes and things around it. It seemed like this cabin had just been sitting and waiting for him to come. I heard footsteps come into the cabin.

"Oh. Hey Ryan." Katie said, brushing her hair behind her ear. It slid foreword again. "Eric said-"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Nice cabin, huh?" She nodded, smiling a brilliant smile and looking out the window. "So what were you and Annabeth talking about last night?"

She scratched her nose and came to rest against the table, next to me.

"Oh, you know, stuff. The quest."

"What did she say about me?" I groaned. She gave me a look.

"Nothing!" She said, slightly defensive. She slid a curtain of reddish hair between us.

"You're lying..." I said, unknowingly leaning in. Her hair smelled like honeysuckle. She tossed her head, but stopped when she noticed how close our faces were. We just stood there; I just stood there like an idiot!

"Sorry." I mumbled, straightening up a little. Why do I always become this mess around her? Curse my inexperience with girls. I can take a computer apart and rebuild again, but I can't say what I mean to a certain girl.

"It's okay." She murmured. I looked into her eyes, soft and brown, with hazel rings like the inside of an aged tree. A few little freckles sat on her nose and under her eyes. Her lips- man, where do I start? Perfect, not too thin, not too full, a beautiful natural rosy pink.

If I could just... no. Why was I getting so poetic? Because I had no choice. Just like I had no choice but to fall in love with her. I looked away when I noticed blush creeping up her face.

"Sorry. I stare too much." I said, staring at the ceiling. I turned back, some sort of floodwall breaking.

"Do you think..." she said quietly. "Do you think this was meant to happen?"

"What was meant to happen?"

"This." We stared at each other again. And despite whatever social rules there were, our lips were suddenly on each other's. Kissing.

Every sense I had was maximized tenfold. She smelled like flowers. She put her arms around my neck, and I slid my arms around her waist.

Her lips felt like I had imagined, very soft and warm. In all my life, I would never have imagined this. Thanks, Aphrodite. I though to myself.

"Sorry I took awhile, the line was- WOAH!" I heard Eric's voice and his feet coming in, then a clatter of bronze. We came apart and started to laugh. Eric came into view, holding a hand over his eyes.

"I did not need to see that, I did not need to see that... are you guys done?"

"Grow up, Eric." Kate laughed. I grinned. Eric uncovered his eyes and picked up his stuff.

"Now that that's over..." He held up his hands like in surrender. "How do you like my cabin?"

Katie untangled herself from me and walked over to the big window. The sky was turning pinks and gold's over the trees, glistening off the creek. She sat on the floor. Eric and I joined her.

"The prophecy was fulfilled." I said. They looked at me. "We traveled to a home place. We used things learned and known. We grew and grew things, and of course, we learned our fate." Eric's dark eyes glistened.

I looked out the window again, thinking of my life since that faithful day I had actually listened to my step mom. Thanks, Michelle. And I finally found a girl, in your words.

Was I a normal teenager as I knew she and my dad wanted? No. Far from it. I wasn't normal, not a normal kid with normal friends. I looked over at them. They watched me with smiles.

I was a halfblood, with halfblood friends. It was all I wanted to be.

Fin.