653Love Is the Strongest of All
Charlie,
The end of the summer was dawning too fast.
For something that my entire life had led up to, it was over with quickly. Before I knew it, my story was an old one, and it was fading away with new adventures. The days were starting to get shorter and the clothes longer. School supply lists were being sent out.
Everyone was just acting like it had been a normal summer, but it hadn't.
This summer had changed my life. I didn't have a prophecy looming over my head. My brother was dating the girl he had been in love with for as long as I could remember. I had been betrayed by Chester Raven, and I had accidentally killed him after he tried to sacrifice me to his mother, the woman in stone who had been trying to kill me for as long as I could remember. And I had met Aiden Cinna.
Maybe it sounds odd that I would put meeting a guy in the same ranking as Chester Raven being a traitor who tried to kill me, but you don't know Aiden Cinna.
Aiden Cinna had become my best friend in the few months we had known each other. He was two years older than me and a Roman general, but, despite our differences, we just seemed to bond together. It was something like my mother had described years ago. My father was the complete opposite of her, a complete Seaweed Brain, but, during that summer where they met, they just clicked.
I didn't necessarily like the idea that my parents relationship was similar to the one I was going through right now though.
I was the baby that no one had ever thought would be born. I was the daughter to Annabeth and Percy Jackson. It wasn't just that they were doomed to have most likely died when they were young. They survived that, and they were riding off into their happily ever after when something life changing happened.
When my parents were twenty three, they had a fight, and my mom moved out for a month. Depressed and sad, my dad was taken out by Uncle Grover to get over it, and he ran into JoJo, his old college friend who had always been in love with him. They got drunk, and, nine months later, my big brother, Noah, was born. I adored Noah, loved him to death. He was my brother, and that was it. My mom was his mom. He didn't even see JoJo as his mom after my parents got back together when he was four. They got engaged, married, and then I came along that May.
My family was odd, and it was very hard to explain it to everyone. The fact that Noah was my half-brother but that he saw my mother as his mom wasn't too hard. I lived in New York City after all. There was so much weirder everywhere else.
It was the fact that Kate, Uncle Malcolm's daughter and my cousin, who had been featured in all of the reports over our family as a cousin just like a sister to Noah, was now his girlfriend. I couldn't say that "god blood" didn't really count to us, and the magazines just didn't try to mess with it. It was much easier for them to put in pictures of my famous soccer-star brother and his beautiful girlfriend, talking about how they had been friends their entire lives, and for teen girls all over the world to wish they were Kate.
After all, Noah and Kate were absolutely perfect. They had always loved each other, though it had been in a sibling way. Noah took Kate to the middle of nowhere and taught her how to drive because she got nervous with other cars all around her like in New York. Kate went to every single one of his soccer games, even rushing to pull on a tee shirt and shorts over her swim suit after a meet so that she could at least make part of his game. When my brother moved out and Kate realized she loved him, she tried to cut him out of her life so she could move on.
It did just the opposite. During my quest, Kate got hurt, and, thinking it would be the last thing she would ever do, she confessed her love for Noah. She survived, and he hasn't stopped grinning since.
Everyone loved what we had gotten out of the quest.
My cousin and Kate's brother, Sam, was ripped away from his playboy ways. After years and years of being a self-proclaimed "player", he met Aiden's sister, Swift. She was in the Roman military, was tough as nails, and loved him with all of her heart. And Sam was utterly head over heels.
I got my safety and my feeling of security back, no matter the scars and trust issues I would hold with me for the rest of my life. And I also got Aiden.
He was everyone's dream. Girls all over the world wanted an Aiden. A gorgeous, mysterious solider who would protect the people he loved with his life.
He had almost lost his life for me…
As he sat across from me on the dock, a soda can pressed to his lips, I caught sight of the scar as he stretched out and his shirt rose.
It sent chills down my spine as I remembered sitting by his bedside after he got hurt. The feeling of dread and guilt suddenly consumed me as I thought about those hours that had ticked away as I prayed and prayed he would just open his eyes.
"You're staring," his voice was soft, a sympathetic smile on his lips as he tugged his shirt back down.
"Why are you never mad at me? I gave you that scar," I motioned towards him, and he shook his head. I said it in a casual way, maybe even teasing. But we both knew it wasn't like that. I was serious. Every time I saw that scar, I was flooded with new guilt.
And it was hard to miss.
"You didn't. Chester did. And I would do it over again, Charlie," he lifted up his shirt to show the only thing that could truly be considered an imperfection with Aiden.
A scar on his torso, not very wide or too large. Raised from his skin. Painful even to look at.
It sat on his golden abs as if it was a pen mark on that perfect paper you had just written.
I had heard girls talk about it before. Some of them thought it was sexy, just added more. Others claimed that it was the only thing they considered a flaw on him.
I wasn't sure why I loved it. If it was the fact that the scar was one of the only reasons I was still alive. If it brought back memories of how he was willing to die for me. Or if it was the only thing that made him less perfect, more approachable.
"Are you really going to leave tomorrow?" I frowned, running my hands over the uneven dock.
Aiden laughed, shaking his head.
"I have a job."
"Quit," I pouted.
"I can't, Kiddo. I'm in the military. I'm on my way to being Praetor. And I have two more years. I can't just quit," he nudged me with his foot.
The fact that Aiden had taken the entire summer off to stay at Camp Half-Blood with me was big, and I knew I couldn't really get any more out of him. It would be too far for that workaholic.
"What time do you leave again?" I asked, taking a sip of our contraband Coke.
It had been a farewell gift from a daughter of Hermes. Her idea was that she and Aiden would go sit on the docks or some hidden spot that Aiden may have found, and they would talk as they enjoyed the pack of Coca Cola. By the end of the night, either Aiden will have kissed her, or he would be in love with her and would carry on a relationship with her until he could tell her how he felt the next summer.
Instead, she got a thanks, smile, and very short hug from him before he walked back to his cabin.
Now, he was sharing it with me.
Aiden didn't notice it like I did. Then again, I was slightly jealous of all of these girls that were after him. Yes, I was always the one that he ended up hanging out with when all of the other girls fought for his attention, but it made me wonder about what it would be like when I couldn't be right there with him.
If Greek girls loved him like this, I knew that Roman girls must love him even more. With me on the other side of the country, I worried about the time when he couldn't claim plans with me when a girl tried to ask him out. I was already preparing myself for the iris message where Aiden would tell me all about her, whoever her was.
Just the thought was making me jealous, something that was sadly no longer uncommon.
I used to never get jealous, but sometimes I just couldn't help it. Especially when it came to Aiden.
"Five am," he said, his voice calm and placid. As he always did when it was a serious subject, his word seemed careful, spoken in an emotionless monotone. His eyes showed nothing more than he wished them to convey, and his body language seemed almost obsolete. He was sitting across from me on the dock, holding a can, and not doing much of anything.
"That's early," I tried to recreate what he was doing. My eyes tried to cloud the emotion behind them. My voice tried to even itself. My body language tried to show nothing.
But Aiden was much better than me at it.
"It was either leave tonight or early tomorrow," he cracked a smile.
"Fine, fine," I rolled my eyes, and I glanced up at the sky. It was night now.
How did that happen?
If I closed my eyes, it felt like I was back at breakfast this morning. Tired from getting up early to enjoy the entire day with Aiden. I expected to open my eyes and be taking a sip of my soda for caffeine. Or maybe it would be later in the day when he was helping her with archery. Or the arena when he was working her hard. Maybe the lake when they went swimming.
Anything but now.
Anytime but hours before he was supposed to leave.
"I should probably go to bed, you know," Aiden said awkwardly, running the now empty can through his hands as if he was trying to find a secret to it.
"Yeah," my voice was absent, staring at the stars.
Aiden looked away, biting his lip, and we stayed like that for a little while before Aiden stood, towering over me. With the moon behind him, it almost looked like a halo.
"You said you wanted me to take you flying sometime, right?" he said anxiously, and I sat up, slowly standing.
"Yeah…" I looked at him a little warily.
"Now is sometime."
And, just like that, the golden glow of the tattoo on wings on his neck sprouted out to be real wings. They were small, growing at a faster pace than ever before. When they reached the right size, the pristine, snow white wings flapped once.
Aiden's lips formed a smirk.
"Wanna come?" he held out his hand, and I smiled as I took it. In one swift move, both of his arms wrapped around me, pulling me close, and he said softly into my ear, "Hold on tight."
Then we were off.
Aiden's wings flapped as we flew into the sky as I let out a terrified and delighted yell as we first flew up, and he began to laugh as he threatened to drop me.
"Aiden!"
"Don't worry," he laughed harder, bringing me closer to the lake as we sped in circles, "I gotcha, I gotcha."
Noah,
There was something about the last few mornings of summer. Maybe it is that this is your last chance to sleep really. That the nights will get longer and the days shorter. That the vivacious spirit of summer is about to end.
Whatever it was, they felt… better.
Of course, that might have come from my night before.
Charlie was always busy with Aiden, and the time for my girlfriend, Kate, and me to spend some quality time together before our schedules got crazy was getting shorter. Kate was going to be a sophmore in college this year, and I was going to continue playing soccer professionally in New York. Her roommate was Adriane, her best friend last year who didn't yet know we were together. Kate had lost touch with her over the summer when Adriane went on some retreat she signed up for last fall. Kate hoped that she had gotten over her big crush on me and that everything would be alright, but we weren't betting on it. I also lived with Kate's brother and his girlfriend who had moved in at the beginning of the summer.
When it was just the bachelor pad, this arrangement was great. Sam and I had been best friends since I was four years old, and we always would be. We worked together, grew up together, and lived together. During this summer though, things changed. Sam stopped being a party animal and a well-known player for a girl he met named Swift. She was the opposite of his type, serious, intimidating, a Roman, and a girl who was too smart to fall for his tricks. Somehow, though none of us can figure out exactly how, they ended up together. Happily even. Swift was great for Sam, and Sam was great for Swift. She left her secret job in New Rome and decided to move to New York. Until we figured everything out, she was staying here, but it didn't seem like she was leaving anytime soon.
Having to live with a couple was awkward enough. Adding in the fact that you are dating your roommate's sister makes it harder.
I had always loved Kate. It took almost losing her to realize it, but I didn't say anything for years. Then, one day, she was attacked by a monster. She almost died. With what she thought would be her last words, she told me she loved me. When she woke up, I told her the same, and we have been happy ever since.
I want to spend the rest of my life with Kate.
Yesterday, the two of us decided to spend the day together. We stayed in New York, doing all of the tourist things that we had never done before and things that we hadn't done since we were children. For lunch, we went to the ice cream shop that I adored as a little kid, where my parents used to switch me out for whenever one had custody. For dinner, we went to the pizza place we went to as teenagers.
Yesterday was one of those days I was convinced I must have seen in one of those romantic comedies that Charlie used to put on. It was perfect.
And it was made even better by waking up with Kate in my arms.
She let out a cute "Mmm" as her grey eyes began to blink open. Her light brown hair spilled onto the bed almost like a halo. My old tee shirt for my high school soccer team hung off of her. As her eyes greeted my room-and me-, her lips formed a small but happy smile.
"I fell asleep."
I laughed, nodding as my arms instinctively wrapped around her.
"I like it when you sleep here. You're cute in the mornings."
"I'm cute in the mornings?" she laughed, shaking her head, "Love is blind, my dear."
She kissed my lips softly and quickly.
I smiled, kissing her cheek, and she laughed. I began to play with her hair, looking at her.
"Why don't you sleep over more often?"
"Your roommate," she said softly, turning on her side to better look at me.
I sighed, closing my eyes tightly as I began to remember through my Kate Haze that I had been living with her brother for a year.
"Swift lives here. It is a bit hypocritical for him to get mad my girlfriend slept over," I tried, and she shook her head.
"Being hypocritical really will stop Sam," she rolled her eyes, her voice drenched in sarcasm, and I had to agree, "Anyway, your girlfriend is his sister. That only works if you were Aiden."
"What is it with this family? We all like each other's sister!" I grumbled, and she laughed.
"Swift is good for Sam," she smiled softly, and I could almost predict what she would say next from the sight of that sneaky little grin.
She had been teasing me about Aiden and Charlie.
Charlie had always been like my baby. I was six years older than her, and I had been overprotective of her from the time she had been born. This summer, Charlie had been trying to prove to me that she didn't need me to treat her like a baby anymore, and it almost killed me. But I was determined I wouldn't do it anymore.
I was trying, I really was.
But Charlie liking Aiden? And Aiden obviously liking her back?
It was almost too much. I needed baby steps. This was a jump off a cliff.
"And you'll probably like Aiden one day, you know. When you realize that Charlie could have ended up with much worse guys."
I shook my head, trying to pull my thoughts away from Charlie with other guys.
"Like the ones you dated."
"You never liked one of my boyfriends. Not one. I dated your best friend, and you just began to hate him," Kate laughed.
"Because I knew a better guy you should have been with," I flashed a smirk, and Kate wrapped her arms around my neck like an excited kid. Her grin was so happy it almost seemed wild, and she kissed my lips. It wasn't controlled or gentle, when she was trying to control herself. No, she just kissed me.
I was sliding into it, losing my control as I kissed her deeper.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Suddenly, Kate's lips ripped away from me, and she almost fell out bed trying to get to her phone on the night stand. I propped myself up on my shoulder, grumbling. She held her cell phone up, turning off the alarm.
"I worried I might stay over tonight instead of leaving like I was supposed to," Kate threw her legs over the side of the bed, standing up. I tried to pull on her arm, but she rolled her eyes, "They will see me, and you know that is awkward."
"Stay," I whined.
She slid on a pair of jeans, still wearing my tee shirts, and I smiled to myself as I got out of bed. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants, zipping up a hoodie.
"You look good in my clothes," I pulled Kate towards me, kissing her forehead.
"Don't even," she shook her head, pulling away, and Kate began to laugh as she walked out the door.
I followed after her, deciding I would walk her home.
During the summer, she was usually at Camp Half-Blood. When she wasn't, she was back at her childhood home. If I didn't go along, she would just take a cab and get through the trip pretty quickly. If I went with her, it meant stopping on the way. Eating. Most likely deciding to do something else. Hanging out at her house. If her mom was there, it meant possible teasing and definite sweet treats. Her mom owned a bakery, and she loved making treats for her family.
"Crap," Kate muttered.
Swift was in the living room, decked out in her usual black. Her black hair hair was tied up in a tight ponytail, the kind that looked like it had hurt to make. Her long and lean body was leaned over, stretching to touch her toes. Her abdomen was exposed in her black sports bra, and you could see some of her tattoos. Swift was in perfect physical condition, and she wasn't letting it go of it. She was trying to kick her Roman ways, but she was still up at five in the morning and ready for a jog. By the time we were waking up, she had usually finished her entire workout routine and was already in the shower.
Her workout pants hugged her body, and I had a vague memory of Sam commenting he wished she wore them every day. She had rolled her eyes at the time, but I had noticed that she had since bought more and worn them more often.
"Walk of shame?" Swift laughed, stretching her torso as she looked at the two of us.
"Don't tell Sam," Kate shook her head hurriedly, and Swift nodded as she looked at the two of us, straightening up.
Swift was trying, but she still had her intimidating ways. Her stance wasn't that of war, but it wasn't peaceful. It was still calculating, preparing to strike whenever it was needed. She trusted us, I know she did. But she still felt out of her element here. She was supposed to be doing the dirty work that New Rome wanted unseen, not getting the laundry together.
It would take her time, and she may never be absolutely calm.
"Don't worry, I won't tell him. Besides, I'm wearing these. He won't ask," she put her hands on her hips, motioning towards her black workout pants.
Kate clutched her stomach and wrinkled her nose as she thought about it, and I wasn't taking it too well either.
"Ew."
"On that note, let's leave before Sam wakes up," I took Kate's hand, and I began to pull her to the door.
"Why are you leaving before Sam wakes up?"
We all froze.
We looked back, and there he was.
Sam stumbled out of his room, ruffling his hair. He was shirtless, showing a tattoo on his waist that read Theodora. I had thought they had been kidding, but I came home home one day and they were both moaning and groaning about the pain of their latest had matching tattoos of each other's formal first name. Sam had Swift's real name, Theodora, and Swift had Samuel written in matching cursive on their waists.
He was pouring himself a cup of coffee as he looked back at us.
"Oh gods," he muttered, staring at Kate, and he looked away for a moment before going to the top cabinet. His hands wrapped around a bottle of Vodka, and he poured a bit into his coffee before taking a large gulp. He took a deep breath, looking back at the two of us.
Kate and I had been dating all summer, but I almost felt like I should be on the opposite side of this situation. While Sam took a shot of Vodka, I felt like I should have been preparing to kill the suitor of Kate. I should have had my arms crossed, my eyes fixed in a glare that could kill.
Instead, I was the boyfriend.
For the first time, Sam and I were at opposite sides of something. We wouldn't be the same again. He was still my best friend, and I was his. But things were different. For both of us. Sam was in love. He had grown up, and so had I. We couldn't go back to before this summer, and we never could.
We were happy in our lives, and it wasn't like they were completely separate. We would always be like brothers, and we would always be close.
But we could feel it.
"Alright, I know you two sleep together. I can handle that. I know you guys are together and happy. But do you have to come out of his room in the morning in his clothes?" Sam whined, and Kate smirked.
"Your girlfriend is telling us all about how you love her workout pants," Kate crossed her arms.
Sam turned a bright red, and his eyes moved to Swift with a questioning look.
"You're wearing his clothes!" he pointed at my shirt that was hanging on her body.
"Workout pants," Kate shook her head, crinkling her nose.
Swift rolled her eyes, and she took Sam's arm, wrapping it around her.
"Both of you knew your sibling was sleeping with someone in this room. Calm down," Swift rolled her eyes, and I smiled at Swift.
"I agree with her."
Sam rolled his eyes as his arm tightened around around his girlfriend, and his hand moved to rest on her waist.
"So, where were you two going when you said you needed to sneak out from me?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I was just taking Kate home."
"Are you going to tell Dad where you were then?" Sam laughed.
Kate rolled her eyes, her hand reaching out to mine. I accepted her hand in mind, squeezing it. I resisted the urge to bring her hand to my lips and kiss it as I usually did.
"Come on, Noah, let's go home," she started to pull me out of the door, and I closed it behind me.
As we got into the elevator, Kate stared at the door, shaking her head.
"Workout pants," she crinkled her nose.
"About that, have you ever considered wearing those short of pants?" I teased.
Kate turned and glared at me.
"You were looking at her butt, weren't you?"
"She was facing us!" I laughed, "How could I look at her butt?"
"But you do look at her butt."
"Good gods, your butt is my favorite butt, okay?" I rolled my eyes, kissing her cheek.
"Alright, but I know you like her butt…." she sang.
So, I will actually be skipping two years, but I wanted to show where they were at the end of the summer. I am not really sure why I did, but I did.
Also, for anyone new joining this line there have been two stories before this. You've Got Mail, which was the original. Then, there was All is Fair in Love and War, which was the sequel. You don't need to read either, but they are out there if you would like to read it. I hope you enjoyed this.
Also, I would love some help with the description? I have no idea what to put there to gain some new readers and just make people want to read my story. I would love feedback!