Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. It was fun writing it.

When I woke up this morning, the last thing that I expected myself to be is on a ship with Nico. This was suppose to be an individual activity. I just wanted to spend some time alone with my thoughts and the big blue ocean. Was that just so much to ask?

I suppose it wouldn't have been so bad if he learned to shut his mouth from time to time.

Do you think it was wrong of me to have these urges that every time he asked a question, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, I just wanted to just knock him out?

"What are we doing here Percy? And what's with the strange getup? I think I hear phone ringing and wait, it's the seventies calling and they're demanding that you give them back their outfit."

I sighed and moved my finger in a back and forth motion between myself and my cousin. "Look Nico, we aren't here together. I am here because I'm on vacation. You are here because you believe this is a coincidence, a meeting decree by the fates but let's not forget the obvious. You. Followed. Me."

Nico faked a gasped and his hands went to clutch his heart. What a drama queen. "Why would I stalk my own cousin? Come on Percy, don't be so paranoid. We are two human beings who just happened to walk into the same establishment together and boarded the same vessel. If that's not a coincidence, I don't know what is."

I rolled my eyes, disagreeing with him. I know that I was not paranoid, I was merely observant of my environment. Years of being in the service will do that to a person.

It's like that feeling you get when you think someone's watching you and then you look up to see that no one is watching you and then you dismiss it without a second thought. Well you're wrong. You shouldn't be dismissing it so easily. I've learned through many, many experiences that when you get that feeling, it is usually someone watching you but you're just not noticing where it's coming from. For me, I felt it this morning and I decided to react like what any off-duty military personnel would.

Walk towards a populated area filled with people and pretend to look through the glass of a bakery. It didn't take me long to recognized the familiar dark clothing of my stalker.

In fact, it only took me a second to identify Nico when he accidently knocked over a bushel of apples. It was a rookie mistake that I found amusing. He continued to take his time ducking in and out of alleyways and storefronts in an attempt of being seen but it didn't help when several store owners started yelling at him for his childlike behavior.

I pretended to not notice and grabbed a cab to Chelsea Piers which was my destination. I found it funny that the moment I jumped into a cab, Nico ran into the streets waving his arms frantically to grab one as well. Even my driver was amused when I told him that we were being followed. The moment I knew he was following me, I brought a ticket and boarded onto the ship, waiting to see what he would do next. From the deck, I could see some hesitation on his part before buying a ticket.

"Percy. Why are they giving us buckets of fish guts? Tell me this isn't what I think it is. Percy? Percy!"

I didn't answer him, enjoying the expression on his face. It was just priceless. I bet he was regretting that he didn't carefully read what this trip was about.

I took out my phone and snapped a picture of Nico, sending it to Annabeth. I thought that due to her hectic work schedule, she would enjoy these funny moments. I also included the MasterCard excerpt about priceless moments at the bottom. I found myself smiling as the text was sent and I imagined what her expression would be like.

It's pretty obvious that I find Annabeth very attractive. Who in their right mind wouldn't? She's everything that any man would want. Strong, independent, witty, sexy and very smart. With all those qualities, she has to be on every man's radar. She could have any man she wants so I don't think someone likes me has a chance. Hell, I don't even think I'm her type. I mean look at her, she's clearly out of my league. Ugh, just thinking about it depresses me.

As much as I wanted to at least give it a shot, I found myself hesitating every time I see her. I know that it's been years since Rachel and I broke up but even to this very day, her words still continue to haunt me. How can it not? When you hear that you're not boyfriend material, it completely changes you as a person. It forces you to examine yourself from every angle just to justify your own actions and when it comes down to that final second, when you realize that you can't. That's when it hits home and you realize that, you were indeed a horrible boyfriend.

For me, that was self defining moment. I threw myself into work, using missions and debriefs as a way to keep myself occupied. When I wasn't out in the field, I was working the obstacle course.

Her words...

Those words...

I'll never forget it...

You're just not boyfriend material Percy. You don't understand what it means to be a boyfriend. You're suppose to have my back, to challenge me, to pick me up when I'm down but how can you do that when you're never here? I want someone who will always be there for the moments in our life but how can you do that when you chose the life that sends you all over the world? Do you think I want to wait for that call when they tell me that you died in a classified region of the world doing god knows what? I just can't live like that.

It is still a bittersweet memory for me but she was right. Rachel was always right when it came to things like this and I had to accept the fact that I will never be a good boyfriend. To her or anyone else.

I couldn't do that to Annabeth. She deserves someone who can actually be there for her. Someone who can give her a hug when she's feeling down, tell her she's beautiful even if it makes her blushes. She deserves someone who can give her the world. It hurts that I can't even give her any of that.

Despite the feelings that I have for her, nothing serious can ever happen between us. At most, all we can ever be is just friends. It was for that sole reason why I told her the truth, to let her know what I really do instead of lying about it. I wasn't doing it to impress her but to show her why it will never work out between us.

She was a civilian. I was an active SEAL.

There was an obvious reason why most active SEALs remained unmarried. Some have girlfriends but to have a wife and kids? That's some serious stuff. I've been with Chiron multiple times when we had to break the news to the family and it wasn't pretty. We always come out looking like monsters when we couldn't give any closure other than our deepest sympathies.

It was a choice that each of us made when we enlisted. To serve our country first and foremost. Everything else was secondary.

With Annabeth, I had hoped that she would realize it on her own. To stay away from me because nothing good will come out of it but she was determined to stick around. Why does she have to be so damn perfect!

I can't believe that this all started from that lunch date a few days ago. It ended up with us going in different directions since her office was across the street but we kept in touch through texting. She asked me what my plans were and I told her that I was going to go see the naval base here in NYC. I haven't seen it since I first joined and wanted to catch up with my old instructors. We went back and forth throughout the day, her questions more random than mine and we haven't stopped since. I enjoyed the company as I sat in coffee shop right outside the naval base since Chiron's threat about me being banned held true.

I didn't appreciate the fact that there was a poster of me on the wall with the words 'Do not let in.' That old man was going to get it when I get back onto the ship.

I heard a loud retching sound on the side of the ship that shook me out of my memory and I realized that Nico was over by the side of the ship, puking his guts out. I smiled and walked up to the poor guy.

"How are you holding up buddy?"

My hand went to my phone and took another snapshot, sending it over to Annabeth. An earlier text from her told me that she was enjoying these pictures and warned me that Thalia might be up to something. Apparently this morning during breakfast, my dear cousin decided to be coy and gleam information about me from Annabeth. It was fine with me so if she wanted to play spy, I would gladly comply. In fact, it might even be fun. I guess Nico stalking me this morning was Thalia's way of gathering Intel.

I smirked. It was a poor choice to send him in. Like the old saying goes, never send a boy in to do a man's job.

"Do you want me to get you your chum bucket?"

He didn't respond but he did give me the one finger salute.

Let the interrogation begin.

"You know, you could have just asked me what I was doing today if you and Thalia was curious."

Nico looked up, his face pale and sweat was coming down his forehead. "I don't know what you're talking about." He weakly replied. "This is the work of the Fates. They wanted me on this ship and I just happened to be here the same time as you. On this god forsaken fishing boat..."

"You know those tiny hearts in your bucket is still beating right? The blood that's still oozing out means that it's still fresh. Can you smell it? That rich iron smell."

He turned his head over to the side and puked again. I know it's cruel but after so many years in service, I might have picked up a thing or two about extracting information.

There was two ways of doing this. The easy way or the hard way.

The easy way would have been for him to come clean when I saw him earlier in the day, before we boarded the ship. The hard way, well, let's just say this is the part where I have to be a little creative.

"Thalia told you didn't she." I asked. "All you have to do is tell me and maybe I'll give you some seasick pills." I held up the pack of pink tablets for him to see.

These guys are lifesavers to people who get sea sick. They come in a pack of six and can be swallowed with or without water.

Nico shook his head but his eyes were focused on the pills. "Why are you trying to bribe me Jackson? I told you that I didn't know anything."

Weak. If that's the way he wanted to play it, that's fine with me.

I tried it the easy way but he didn't give me any choice but to do it the hard way. I popped out two pink pills and dropped them into the water. Nico's eyes widened and he turned back to the side, trying to see if I really did toss them overboard.

I heard him cursing my name as the sea turned a little pink from the pills.

I popped one more and threw it into the chum bucket. One more came out and just before I was able to throw it overboard again, Nico grabbed my hand. "Wait! I'll talk. I will talk damn it."

I smirked and crushed the pill into fine powder. "So talk Nico. There's only two pills left. I'm afraid that with my ADHD, my attention span might make me do irrational things without thinking. Such as stepping on these last two pills."

I could see the panic in his eyes and he spilled everything. And I mean everything. From the first time he wet his bed to how they found out about me. It was more humorous than I thought but he did confirm that Thalia called him this morning about me. It was just as Annabeth suspected. Looks like I owe her some donuts on her next break.

Somehow, I'm not bothered that these people wanted to know more about my life. It came as a relief actually. There was something about them that made me want to trust them and that scared me. Pushing those feelings aside, I continued with my friendly questioning.

"Why are you following me then?"

"It's because I wanted to see if it was true that you were in the Navy. Thalia wanted to call you but I wanted to see it for my own eyes. The life of a Navy man."

I snorted and threw a pill at the poor guy. "Just ask next time." I muttered.

Nico graciously accepted the medicine but before he could take it, the waves crashed against the ship a bit too hard and knocked the pill out of his hand. His eyes widened and he jumped for it.

"Wait, I have one more Nico!" I shouted but it was too late.

My cousin, the idiotic sea sick man that he is, jumped after a pill without looking. He ran head first into a metallic pole and I cringed when he made impact. I rushed over and saw that he was unconscious with a bump the size of a baseball on his forehead. That's not going to be pretty.

My options are slim at this point. Either leave him here and hope he'll wake up soon enough or take him home.

"Nico, wake the hell up! I don't know where you live!" I demanded, shaking his shoulders. Nothing. I reluctantly searched for his wallet for any identification but it was empty. Who doesn't even carry a driver's license in this day and age! The ship was already turning back around and I sighed. There was only one place to go and there was no way in hell I was taking him over to my apartment.

"May the gods help you if you puke on me Nico."

1800 hours

Annabeth and Thalia's apartment

After one crazy taxi ride and explaining to three different police officers, a doctor and an EMT worker about my situation, I finally made it to Annabeth's apartment. I wanted to just ring the bell and walk away but seeing that Nico was still unconscious, I reluctantly stayed in front of the door as I rang the bell.

My heart did a little skip when Annabeth opened the door, a smile on her face when she saw me.

"Percy!" Annabeth greeted. "How was your fishing trip?"

I gave her a small smile in return before sighing. "It was eventful up to the point when Nico decided to test out just how hard his head was. He went up against a metal pole and lost. Horribly."

I heard Annabeth giggle and she nodded her head. "For as long as I known him, he never did favored the sea. He did simple things, like going to the beach and nailing Thalia in the face with a water gun but he never did enjoy swimming. I guess this explains why."

"No kidding and I just want to apologize for dragging him here but I didn't know where he lived and it would have been very suspicious if I left him out on the streets."

"It's okay, he can crash here like always. Thalia should have known better than to send him on a recon mission."

I laughed and agreed with her. I haven't heard anyone speak military lango to me in a while and it's refreshing to hear it come from Annabeth's mouth. I easily picked Nico up and looked at Annabeth to see where I can put him down. She led me over to the sofa and quickly made room.

"So where's the other half of the devious duo?" I asked, looking around the apartment. It was different from the last time I was here. It was more... comfortable, warmer I guess.

"She's picking up Chinese tonight. I was too tired to make anything and she can't cook to save her life." Annabeth explained. "Do you want to join us?"

I shook my head and politely declined. I didn't miss the look of disappointment in her eyes though. "I can't. It would be rude to stay and you guys didn't take into account of me dropping by on such short notice."

"Percy stop. We're friends right? Didn't I tell you to stop being so formal when we talk to each other?"

I blushed and looked away. "Sorry, years of being in the Navy will do that to you. Just be glad I'm not shouting yes ma'am or no ma'am" I replied.

"Mhm, I wouldn't mind if I was your commanding officer Percy. I'm the one with the brains anyway." Annabeth said with her tongue sticking out at me.

"Real mature miss CO." I said, chuckling as I walked into the kitchen.

I helped her with getting out the paper plates and we sat down in the kitchen table discussing about our day. I found out that she was currently working on a project with a senior team member but according to her, he was the biggest moron to have ever lived. I wanted to disagree since I've seen people who were more idiotic but I couldn't comment.

Breach of contract and all that.

I merely smiled and remained content with her describing everything. I could tell that she's very passionate about her job and the way she blushed when she told me that her dream was to design something that would be permanent.

To design something permanent. That's a good dream. "Like a building or a monument perhaps?" I asked.

"Yes. I haven't decided on what yet but I just want it to be perfect you know. Something that people will continue to talk about years down the line."

"Get ready to stuff your face Annabeth! I got all of our favorites! 4 boxes filled with nothing but Chinese goodness." The door suddenly opened with Thalia yelling at the top of her lungs.

I chuckled and stayed where I am while Annabeth went to help her roommate. I wanted to be in a good position when I see the look on Thalia's face when she saw me sitting here.

"What the hell is Nico doing on our couch? Did he not do -" Thalia stopped herself midway through that sentence and I smirked.

"Bad day for him I guess."

She narrowed her eyes and dropped the food in front of me. "Is he ...?" Thalia asked, the question lingering in the air.

"Dead? Humiliated? Sang like a little canary? Who knows." I answered. "Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. Hello to you again too Thalia."

Thalia looked at me suspiciously quickly walking out of the room. I could hear her yelling at Nico to get up and the quiet slapping sounds only added to my amusement.

"You shouldn't really be playing games with her Percy." Annabeth said, shaking her head. I could tell this was amusing to her because she had a million watt smile on her face. "When it comes to winning, she'll do everything she can just to come out on top. I remember playing monopoly with her and it was about 3 AM in the morning and everyone wanted to get some sleep but she made us play until she won. That was the reason why we don't do game night anymore..."

"You forget that I'm a specialist. This isn't a problem for me."

We ignored the weak moans from Nico and started to eat. Chinese food was never good when it's cold. Thalia came back in a few minutes later with a calculated look on her face. The same one that I usually see on tigers before they're about to jump on their prey. I scooted a little back in case she did want to pounce across the way. Annabeth snickered under her breathe but she moved her chair closer to me as well.

Our shoulders touched briefly and I resisted the urge of putting my arms around her. Damn it Jackson, get your mind in gear.

"Is Nico okay?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia didn't break eye contact with me as she nodded her head. "He'll live but he might regret it later."

"Cut him some slack Thalia." I said, defending the poor guy. "You know he did cover for you when you accidently peed in your neighbor's yard when you were 10."

I smiled when her face turned red like a tomato. Annabeth started choking on her Kung Pow Chicken and quickly drank some water. "You're not serious are you Percy? Thalia?"

"How-how the hell do you know that Jackson?!" Thalia stuttered.

"A little bird sang for me today." I replied. "In fact, you would be surprise just how many songs it sang."

"That's it! You're dead!" With that, Thalia leaped across the table and her hands found their way to my neck.

The next few seconds were a complete blur to me. I'm not sure what exactly happened but I remember hearing Annabeth screaming at Thalia and my body reacted automatically. My hands went between Thalia's who was freakishly strong for someone her size and before I knew it, she shoved me through the door and onto the wooden coffee table.

Thirty minutes later

"I warned you not to mess with her."

I winced as she put some disinfectant on my arm. "She started it..." I muttered and winced again as she used some more rubbing alcohol.

"I don't care who started it." Annabeth answered, "I'm just glad you're okay Percy. Compared to the others, your injuries wasn't that bad."

"She's done this before?" I asked, my eyes widened. "How and with who? Not with you I hope."

"No, not with me. It's usually with Nico and once with Luke when she was drunk."

"Damn, remind me never to go one on one with her again."

Getting body slammed through a wooden coffee table is not fun. I don't care what anyone says. I got body slammed. She might not have lifted me up all the way but as long as one of my feet was off the ground, it was a body slam. I kept repeating that over in my head to make my ego feel better.

"You should be good now." I heard her whisper. She was looking down at her hand and that's when I realized that I was actually holding on to hers. They weren't interlocked but it came damn close. I didn't realize that I was gently massaging her hand with my thumb. I blushed and looked up.

"I'm sorry that this happened again Annabeth." I softly replied. "It seems like whenever I'm in your apartment, things seem to get physical."

"You know it's not your fault right Percy? It's not like you're cursed or anything."

I nervously laughed. With the things that's been going on recently, it's not hard to consider that. Maybe a shaman in Northern Europe was feeling particular nasty or a witch doctor down in Africa wanted revenge.

"Annabeth, I..." I heard myself speaking. "... I wanted to um..."

... Know if you wanted to go out with me sometime. That's what I wanted to say. No, that's what I should have said. Chances be damn. If I was going to get shot down, this would have been the ideal moment but I didn't say any of that.

"... Thank you for treating me. I think i'll be going now..."

Yup. I was a coward. I didn't bother looking back at her and just walked out the door. Walking pass Thalia who was still on the couch, she gave me a nod goodbye as we already hashed out our differences from earlier. Come on, we're cousins. Apologies weren't necessary.

I was one step away from the door when I heard footsteps rushing towards me. Annabeth pushed me out of the door while Thalia had a smug look on her face. What is with the women in this apartment and the need to push me through doors?

"That's not what you wanted to ask me was it?" Annabeth asked. She had a very determined look on her face. "Don't be a seaweed brain now."

"Seaweed brain?"

"Yeah. All that time that you spent underwater or doing whatever it is that you do must have turned your brain into seaweed."

"Huh?"

What the hell was going on here? I felt myself being pushed back against the wall as Annabeth continued to step forward. Now, I'm not a man who would cower in the face of danger but I sure as hell didn't want to take my chances with women. They are cunning, sly, scary and above all, unpredictable.

Annabeth furrowed her brow and shook her head. "Forget it Percy. It's my fault. I misread something."

Just as she was about to leave, I grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her back. I didn't miss the look of surprise on her face as I pulled her close to me. Everything in my head was saying that this was the chance to ask her out. This was the moment.

And so I did.

"How about dinner with me on Thursday Annabeth? I'll pick you up from work and we can go from there?" I asked and then I held my breathe.

Was she going to say no? I mentally yelled at myself for this.

I wanted to groan and bang my head against the wall but my eyes never left Annabeth's. She stood there, biting her lip and just stared at me.

"Are you going to keep me waiting?" I nervously asked.

Just when I didn't think my heart could take it anymore, Annabeth smiled sweetly at me before giving me a kiss on my check. "Next time, don't wait so long before asking me out." She coyly replied with a hint of red on her cheeks.

I stood there speechless. "So... I'll call you?"

"You better Jackson." Annabeth replied before walking back into her apartment.

As soon as she walked back in, I moved my hand to my cheek, touching the area where she kissed and I smiled. It was definitely the moment.

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