Chapter 29

"Tonight I'm gonna dance for all that we've been through
But I don't want to dance if I'm not dancing with you"

- Holy Ground, Taylor Swift

Percy feels like he's going to throw up.

"You guys will be amazing," Annabeth tells him. "I promise. And whether you win or not, we'll be with you through every step of it, okay?"

Percy takes a deep breath, and then exhales. "Okay."

Annabeth smiles at him softly, and then loops his tie around his head. It's an ongoing joke they have – what do you mean you can't tie a tie, you're a celebrity, you literally wear a tie for a living. Every single time there's a carpeted event the band needs to be at Percy comes into the living room with a sheepish look on his face and his tie in his hand, or tangled unpleasantly around his neck, on the rare occasions he tries to do it by himself ("I think you've managed to create a new type of knot, congratulations") and Annabeth just rolls her eyes and does it for him. They never address that he has a stylist to do it for him. Annabeth doing his tie has become an almost ritual. It calms him down, knowing he has his wife with him, even if she can't be with him physically for the event, in something simple as her doing his tie.

It's also ridiculously domestic and Percy is a bit of a sap, so.

Annabeth ties it for him and then tightens it a little around his neck, patting his chest and stepping backwards to admire her handiwork. "There we go," she says. "Dashing, as always."

"Dashing enough to warrant a kiss?"

"Absolutely not," Will says, breezing into the room. "I've just had her makeup done and if you even think about smudging it I will put glue in your shampoo and tattoo dye in your moisturiser, are we understood?"

Percy nods, slightly petrified. He and Will have become very good friends over the years, and they've both seen in each other in vaguely compromising situations, which is enough to cement any friendship, but whenever he's in Stylist Mode, and has a worryingly large arsenal of hairbrushes and hairspray cans that hurt when sprayed in the eyes, at an arm's-length reach, Percy has learnt to respect him and just do what he says.

"Yes, sir," he says.

"Good," Will says, appeased. He steps forward and flattens the lapels of Percy's blazer. "Nice choice on the tie. Flatters the eyes."

"Thanks," Annabeth says. "I picked it out."

"I know," Will says. "As if a straight man chose that."

Percy says, "Hey, that's rude", but it's also slightly true, so when Will grins at him he just rolls his eyes and takes Annabeth's hand.

At that moment, Nico dances in the room. Years of living with Will have thankfully upgraded his wardrobe from no-mom-it's-not-a-phase to something that could pass off as 'mysteriously monochromatic' ("finally!" Nico had cheered. "Look! They wrote an article about me and my mysteriously monochromatic clothes! I've found a magazine with an editor who has a crush on me!" "That's not something you should be saying with your boyfriend in the room," Will had commented mildly) so he looks rather dashing. Percy almost pats him on the back.

"Hey!" he says. "We ready to go?"

"I think so," Will says. "Where's Thalia?"

"I'm here," Thalia says, coming in from the bathroom. She beams at them all. "Let's knock their socks off."

"Percy, do you have a good feeling about tonight?" one reporter asks.

"I mean, I'd hope so," Percy says. "I don't want to say anything in case I jinx it or whatever, but this album is probably my favourite thing we've ever put out. It's like– what we are, and what we represent, as a band, and if that's good enough to bag us a Grammy, then that would be pretty cool."

From where she's tucked into his side, Annabeth smiles up at him. For a few moments, Percy forgets he's being filmed, and smiles back just as dopily.

What can he say? She's in a beautiful turquoise dress and there are camera lights flashing in the background, and her blonde curly hair is hanging loose around her shoulders, and she just looks so much like the pretty nineteen-year-old he saw on the red carpet at the TCAs all those years ago that he almost can't help himself.

"Of course," Percy says, "I do have my lucky charm here, so, you know, nothing can go wrong."

Annabeth laughs, and buries her face in his shoulder. "You're so embarrassing," she says.

"Embarrassingly in love, babe," he tells her with a wink. The reporter laughs, delighted.

"You got that right," Thalia says, appearing from nowhere. She slings herself in between Percy and Annabeth, and they have to quickly untangle their arms so she doesn't snap them in half. She grins at both of them, giving Percy a mischievous look that he pinches her shoulder blade for. "Sorry if they're being disgusting," Thalia says to the reporter. "They can get a bit much sometimes."

"I thought you were staying with Nico and Will," Percy tells her, slightly snippily.

"Well, I had to say hello, didn't I?" she says, beaming. "And I also recognised this poor reporter beginning to look a bit desperate, which meant that I had to pop on over and get the interview back on track. You have a habit of tending to steer conversations in the direction of Annabeth, which I can tell you with absolute certainty no one cares for."

Annabeth laughs again, her cheeks pink. "Thank you, Thalia."

"I'll have you know we were actually talking about the music," Percy says.

"It's true," Annabeth says. "He'd only talked about me for like four seconds before you appeared."

"Four seconds too much," Thalia says. "I love you, Annabeth, but God, Percy, get a grip."

"I can second that," Annabeth says.

The reporter is enjoying this far too much. She holds her microphone to Thalia. "Well, how are you feeling about this evening?"

"Really good, actually," Thalia says. "We're performing later on, which is really cool, and even if we don't win, I'm really pleased with how this album came together. I think it's our best yet, which I know I say every time, except I really think it is. I think it's enough of an award for us to even make it here."

"You're up against some big names," the reporter says. "Does that intimidate you at all?"

Percy takes the helm of this one. "At one point it would have," he says. "But I think we're confident enough as artists, and a band, and as family, that if we deserve to win, we'll win, whether or not we're against the biggest or smallest artists of the industry. Like Thalia said, it's– this is just madness, to even be invited here. I think we'll probably still celebrate if we don't win."

The reporter nods. "Well, best of luck to you guys. Have a good evening!"

"You too," Thalia says. The reporter gives them all one last smile, and then she moves away, on the prowl for any more celebrities she can catch on camera. As soon as she's gone, Thalia turns to Percy. "Percy. I get it. You're in love. But you've been married for four years. Surely the novelty's worn off by now."

"I didn't say anything too sappy," Percy says. "I just said she was my good-luck charm."

"That's kind of sappy," Annabeth says. "I mean, sweet, but sappy."

"Besides," Percy says. "If Reyna were here you'd be the exact same."

"That's entirely different," Thalia argues, but her cheeks flush a little, and Percy smirks. "And just her not being here is proof that I'm not that dependent on her."

"She's not here because she's in Canada with Jason," Percy says, "and you've been grouchy all evening."

"I have not."

"Yes you have," Annabeth says. "It's okay, everyone's in love, we can celebrate."

Thalia scowls. "At least you guys have your boyfriends here. My girlfriend's halfway across the world."

Annabeth soothingly rubs her shoulder. "I understand. But she's also in Canada, and she said you can Facetime her at any point."

"I guess," Thalia says. "Ugh. Well. I guess for now I have to stick around with you disgusting married couples."

"Speaking of," Percy says. "When are you going to pop the question?"

Thalia's cheeks flame. "This is a very inappropriate question to have here."

"I disagree," he says. "I mean, there's already going to be one p–"

His eyes widen, and so do Thalia's. Annabeth furrows her eyebrows. "One what?"

"One proper married couple," Percy says quickly. "One married– yeah. 'Cause. Us. We're the married couple. We're married. We're a couple. No one else here is married or planning to get married, what a preposterous thought."

Annabeth frowns. "You're being nonsensical."

"You're being nonsensical," Percy says weakly.

"Wow, look over there!" Thalia says. "There's Nico and Will! We should get them over so we can have a group interview and then go inside, doesn't that sound great?"

She darts off to where they're stood before Annabeth can say anything. Annabeth turns to Percy with an eyebrow cocked.

"What's going on?" she asks.

"Nothing," Percy says. "Nothing entirely."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Not at all," he squeaks. "Come on, let's go."

The Grammys are crazy.

Percy's been here a few times before, but they've never won anything before. He still remembers the first time they went. Twenty-two, and nominated for Best Pop Group Song, for What If (he's still smug about that, despite losing). Annabeth had tied his tie that night, the first time she'd ever done so, and Thalia panicked and wore a dress and Nico accidentally tripped over his shoelaces on the red carpet. Six years later, it's still just as hectic, but Will and Annabeth are here, and Thalia is in a pantsuit, and they're up for Pop Album Of The Year.

Which means that the Grammys didn't just think one song was enough, but fifteen. Which is nuts.

They find their seats rather quickly, and they mill around them, absently talking amongst themselves. At one point, Annabeth tenses up and when Percy asks her what's wrong she squeaks, "I just saw Beyoncé" and Percy has to hold her hand for the next ten minutes for her to stop shaking. Some contemporary artist Percy has never heard of opens the show with a performance that is simply incredible, and Annabeth practically vibrates in her seat.

"What's up?" he whispers to her during a short pause.

"Nothing," she whispers back. "I'm just so excited to be here."

Percy rolls his eyes. "Lame."

"I'm your wife, be respectful."

The show zooms past. Percy keeps his hand on Annabeth's knee the entire time, because he's married and damn it if he's not allowed to want to be close to the love of his life, and they laugh and marvel and gasp at all the performances and wins. At one point, when Adele is performing yet another heartfelt piano ballad, Percy glances over and sees Annabeth snuffling, which isn't unusual, because she's been crying a lot these days, but she's not the only one shedding a few tears.

"Thalia?" he hisses.

Thalia stubbornly wipes her eyes. "Shut up, I'm not crying."

She so is. Percy sneakily takes a picture and sends it to Reyna with the caption what have you done to her shes crying at adele now. Reyna responds with the laugh-cry emoji and another text message that says I loved her, which makes Percy simultaneously aww and feel slightly affronted, because he loved her, and he loved her a lot longer than Reyna has, but then again he mainly showed his love through using up all the toothpaste and leaving his wet towels all over the floor and Reyna gets to truly be mushy, so he lets it pass.

"You okay?" he whispers to Annabeth.

She sniffs. "This song is so beautiful."

"Yeah, but you're, like– really crying."

"It's that beautiful."

Percy just chalks it down to a hormone imbalance, so he leaves her alone. Still, when she picks up his sleeve and surreptitiously uses it to wipe her nose on, he decides he should proper offer some comfort, so he pats her shoulder.

Eventually, there comes the break in the show when they get ready to announce the winner of the Best Pop Album. Percy grabs hold of Annabeth and Nico's hands and holds them tight, and he sees Thalia grip Annabeth's arm. The people presenting the award are two musicians Percy doesn't recognise, or probably does but is just too nervous to properly process them, and their mildly amusing monologue leading up the award feels far too long, even though it can't have been any longer than maybe a minute.

"Remember," Annabeth says. "Whatever happens, we love you, and the album was incredible."

Percy nods stiffly, not really hearing her. Whatever he said about not winning was not really applying here. God, he's going to be gutted if they don't win.

"And now," one of the presenters says. "The Grammy for Best Pop Album goes to..." Together, they open the card. "Rainbows In Concrete Jungles by The Demigods!"

The world around them explodes.

Percy stands up shakily, and he hears everyone erupt in cheers around him. Artemis, sitting in front of them, wraps him in a hug, and then when she lets him go Annabeth throws her arms around his neck, crushing him against her. He grabs Nico and hugs him, too, and then he and Thalia fist-bump, because they can't quite reach each other.

"You won!" Annabeth shouts.

"We won!" Nico shrieks hysterically, and then he grabs Will AND kisses him, and turns to Percy, looking like he's considering kissing him, too. "We won!"

"Come on, get up there!" Artemis calls.

They all stagger out of their seats, giggling like giddy children. Thalia is practically hopping as they move towards the stage. Fricking Taylor Swift leans out and offers Percy a high-five, and, dizzied, Percy accepts it, and then stares at his hand because that just happened. They climb the stairs to the stage, Nico almost falling flat on his face, and hug the presenters, and then suddenly it's just the three of them, alone onstage, in front a sea of other musicians, musicians who they beat out because their album was better.

It's all so overwhelming Percy thinks he might throw up.

"We did it," Thalia says, and her voice reaches the microphone and it echoes around the room. Someone cheers. "Oh my God, we did it."

"Sorry," Nico apologises to the crowd. "We're still in shock."

That gets a laugh. It manages to jerk Percy out of his reverie, and when Thalia hands him the Grammy he just stares at it, stepping up the microphone, cradling it in his hand. "Uh," he says. "Wow. Okay. This is incredible. Thank you all so – so much, wow, oh my God." He puts a hand through his hair. "Uh. Okay. Um, wow, okay, I'd like to thank our team, Apollo and Artemis, you guys are the best, and literally are the reason this album even came together in the first place, and – uh. Thanks to my mom, for being awesome, and thanks to the fans, too, you guys are also seriously awesome. Uh." He gestures awkwardly to Thalia and Nico, who are vibrating next to him. "Thanks to these guys, too. You're all pretty cool. Thanks for being in a band with me." He squints at the crowd. Will's metallic purple suit stands out like a lightbulb. "I'd also like to thank my wife for, uh– being my wife? You're awesome and you helped this album a lot, so thank you."

"Thanks to everyone at Olympus Records, too," Nico says, and Percy almost hits himself because whoops he forgot to mention his own record label. "Uh. Thanks to my boyfriend, you're awesome, and Thalia's girlfriend, you're also very cool, and all our friends and family back home, you guys are amazing and we love you. Uh."

"Just thanks," Thalia says. "To everyone." She takes Percy's hands, with the Grammy in them, and lifts them up a little. "We did it!"

Everyone cheers. Percy sees Will and Annabeth both stand up, clapping. They're clinging onto each other like limpets and the look on their faces is just so beautiful, because they're both so proud and earnest, that Percy's heart swells three sizes. He's got himself a pretty amazing little family here. His cousins, his siblings, are standing next to him, sweating in their suits, with a Grammy in their hands, over an album they wrote at their kitchen table, and the love of his life is standing with the love of Nico's life in the audience, looking radiant, with his wedding ring on her finger, and the love of Thalia's life, and his mom, and Piper, and Jason, and everyone, are all back home, crowded around the TV, watching them win the biggest award of their lives, and he feels like he may just burst.

But it's not over yet.

There's an afterparty that happens. It's quite lowkey, because by "afterparty" Percy means someone hired out a restaurant that everyone has trooped to, and all the blinds have been drawn so none of the paps can get a picture of anything that happens in them. At first, Percy contemplates even going, because they've got themselves a hotel room, and there are several pots of yoghurt ready to be bought and eaten, but because the restaurant is so large and the five of them get their own table, Percy doesn't mind. It's weirdly intimate and private, in a weird, not-at-all kind of way, but Percy loves it. To be obnoxious, he balances his Grammy in the middle of the table.

No one calls him out on it.

"I'm so happy for you, Percy," Annabeth tells him, squeezing his leg under the table. "I'm so, so proud of you. You earned this, and I love you."

"God, I love you, too," Percy says. "I don't think I've ever been so happy."

"A toast," Thalia says. "To us."

"All of us," Nico corrects.

She rolls her eyes, but she's smiling. "To all of us."

They clink glasses.

The night passes smoothly. Whoever hired out the restaurant is also apparently paying, which means they get endless refills and also endless food, which Percy takes great advantage of. He eats like a king, ordering plate after plate of chicken wings.

("You're so unclassy," Thalia says.

"You haven't tried these chicken wings," he says, his mouth full. "I think they were handcrafted by God himself.

"Get over yourself, Jackson.")

The party lasts hours. By the time it's reached eleven pm, all the chairs have rearranged, and so have all the tables, so everyone is mingling with each other comfortably. Annabeth was next to him for a good hour or so, excitedly FaceTiming Piper and Jason in LA, but now she's off, talking to some hotshot director about something or other. Thalia is talking to someone, too, but then Nico awkwardly clears his throat and stands up, and she meets Percy's eye, and he nods.

It's time.

Percy stands up to find Annabeth, and gently brings her back to the table. She asks him what's happening, but he just kisses her and tells her to stay put, and then he scopes out Will. Thankfully, he finds him relatively quickly, talking to a man in a suit almost as eye-catching as his own, but Percy politely butts in, and drags Will back.

"What's happening?" Will asks. "I was having a good conversation."

"Trust me," Percy says. "I think you're going to appreciate this more."

Confused, Will allows himself to be seated back at his chair. They've attracted a fair bit of attention, which Percy feels almost giddy at. He practically skips back to his chair, and takes Annabeth's hand.

"What's going on?" she asks.

Percy is so smug is almost hurts. "You'll see."

Thalia stands up and clinks her glass with her spoon. If everyone's eyes weren't on them before, now they are. "Hello, everyone," she says. "If you'd kindly shut up, my dear cousin Nico here would like to say something."

That gets a laugh out of everyone, and they fall relatively quiet. Nico meets Percy's eyes, and Percy nods encouragingly. He can spy several very familiar faces in the crowd, which unnerves the hell out of him, but he wants Nico to be as at ease as possible, so he puts on a brave face and gives him a thumbs-up.

"Uh, thanks," Nico says. He nods at Will. "Will."

Will looks a bit confused. "Nico?"

Nico takes a deep breath, and then goes down on one knee.

Annabeth gasps.

"Oh my God," she says.

"Oh my God," Will says faintly. "Nico."

"Will Solace," Nico says, in a loud clear voice, his eyes sparkling. Percy almost crushes Annabeth's hand in his. "We met exactly nine years ago to this day. We were at a photoshoot, and I saw you across the room, wearing purple pants and a matching bow tie, and you were telling someone in the nicest, most pleasant voice I think I've ever heard someone use when insulting, that their views on fashion and photography were just so 2014 and that they should just retire then and there at the ripe age of eighteen because that was their peak and there was no coming back from saying a statement like sweater vests should burn in Hell and that was the moment I think I fell in love."

Will lets out a wet laugh. Percy is on the edge of his seat.

"Then I invited you back to ours for dinner," Nico says. "I said it was so we could compare creative differences and find a nice medium, because I was considering getting you to do our 2018 album cover, which wasn't wrong, except I was also being a bit selfish because I just wanted to be around you for a bit longer. I think you might have known my intentions were slightly less than work-related, though, because of the candles. And the fancy pasta dish. And the fact that we made out for like half an hour."

Percy thinks he hears Thalia whisper something like, "on my couch how dare they" but he completely ignores her. Will laughs again, but his eyes are filled with tears, and when Percy glances to his left Annabeth's are, too.

"You have been with me through everything, Will," Nico says, and then he takes Will's hands in his, and Will lets out a happy sob. "And I love you so much for it. You were there through all of Percy and Annabeth's nonsense, and through Thalia's, as well, but more importantly you were there through mine, when I'd get those sad days about Bianca, or my family. You were there through everything and you stuck by my side and you've made me a better person because of it. I love you so, so much. So–" He lets go of one of Will's hands, and looks at Percy, who grins broadly and hands him the ring box – "you knew?" Annabeth hisses –; with a bit of manoeuvring, Nico gets it open, and then holds it out. "Will Solace. Will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?"

Percy holds his breath. Annabeth's grip on his hand tightens.

And then Will's nodding, so hard that Percy's afraid he's going to nod his head off. "Yes, yes, yes," he says, and he's really crying now. "A thousand times yes."

Nico's face breaks out in a smile and he stands up, sliding the ring on Will's finger, and kisses him. Thalia cheers and pulls the string of the party popper that she had produced from her bra – "I had to tell Will I stuffed my bra with rocks to impress Reyna to get him off my chest about that one," Thalia later explains. "I had that party popper in there for hours" – and Annabeth squawks so loudly about the whole thing Percy's afraid his eardrum may have burst. Nico and Will pull away and then crush each other in a hug, and then Annabeth's turning to him and pulling him towards her, too, first in a kiss that takes all of his breath away, and then in a hug so fierce there's not an inch of space between them.

"You knew?" she demands in his ear.

"I was the first person he came to," he says, laughing, and she pinches his nipple harshly and he lets out an indignant screech. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was a secret! How would you feel if I pinched one of your nipples right now?"

"That's an entirely different matter, mine are connected to boobs. I'm just shocked you managed to keep this from me for so long."

"I'm a good actor."

"Don't kid yourself," Thalia calls over the table. "I threatened him with bodily harm if he so much as breathed a word about it."

"You knew, too?"

"Well, of course," Thalia says. "Why else would I have a party popper in my bra?"

The party splits off from there. Percy sees Will and Nico get congratulated by so many people he gets dizzy, and he's not even the one experiencing it, but for the rest of the night they don't let go of each other. They're anchored to each other in some way or other, holding hands, a hand on the back, their shoulders brushing, and they've got matching grins that could light up a house. Percy has never been so happy for him before. He allows himself to be dragged off in conversations with Artemis and some important-looking men he doesn't recognise but apparently are big successful producers who are interested in his work and want to know his writing process. He blushes a bit but allows himself to get carried away with the praise.

After a while, he finds himself trying to scope out Annabeth. So much wedding-talk has him looking for his wife, and he spots her outside, on the balcony. Politely, he excuses himself from the conversation, and makes his way over.

The night air is chilly and there's a nip to the wind that fluctuates between bearable and mildly unpleasant, but Percy still heads over to where she's leaning against the railing. She must be pretty cold, because her dress only has three-quarter sleeves and he's been absently running his hand up her arm all night so he knows that they're thin, but she doesn't seem to mind. Nonetheless, he shucks off his jacket and drapes it over her shoulders, before settling next to her. She starts at the sudden weight on her back, and then when she sees it's him and smiles softly.

"Hey," he says. "Why are you out here?"

She hums and turns back to look at the city, sprawled out in front of them like a glittery carpet. It reminds him of their first Christmas together, when they huddled together on the fire escape and watched New York turn to slumber. "It's nice and peaceful out here," she says. "I just needed to clear my head. I'm having fun, I promise."

"I wasn't worried. You and Carl James were certainly chatting up a storm."

She stares at him. "That was Carl James? Are you serious?"

"I'm surprised you didn't realise."

"He had a beard and was wearing glasses. Oh my God, I talked to Carl James."

"Fan?" Percy asks dryly, with a smile. He already knows the answer.

"Are you kidding? Carl James is like– my directing hero. He wrote his first film at sixteen! And shot it at seventeen! And it won an award! He's crazy good! My God, I can't believe I didn't recognise him. If I'd known it was him I wouldn't have told him I was just here as a plus-one. I would tooted my own horn like nobody's business."

"Good thing you didn't, then," Percy says, and she gently elbows him.

"This is my idol, okay. Tell me you wouldn't be the same if I put you in front of Pete Wentz."

"That's an entirely different story. And I thought I was your idol."

"Don't be lame."

"Sorry, sorry."

Together, they watch the night sky blacken. The sky is thick with smog and clouds, but if Percy squints he can make out the faintest hint of stars, and the moon, large and pale, casts silvery shadows across the entire city. Percy glances to his side, and sees Annabeth with her eyes closed, soaking it all in. She's wriggled her arms into the sleeves of his jacket, which is several sizes too big for her, and he has to suppress a smile, because she just looks too cute in it.

"I'm really happy for Will and Nico," she says.

Percy glances at her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. They deserve this. Was about time, too. They've been dating nine years." She sighs happily and then smiles up at him. "Kind of reminded me of when you proposed to me, actually."

He cracks a grin. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I saw you wipe a few tears away at that one."

"Which one, ours, or Nico's?"

"Both."

"In my defence, I did not expect you to pop the question at Christmas."

"It's when we became official. I felt like we had to honour the tradition."

Annabeth laughs, and then settles in against his arm. "Well, it was romantic anyway. Do you remember it?"

"Of course I do. That was one of the scariest moments of my life."

Percy remembers calling his mom months before it happened, panicking because he wanted to do it, but how and where to obtain the ring were different matters entirely. Sally had laughed at him, and then they'd had a long conversation together about if this was what he had really wanted.

"Of course I want this, mom," Percy had said. "She's– God, she's everything to me."

"Marriage is very different to dating. There are going to be times where you're going to resent her, and that's something I can guarantee."

"I want to do this. I want her to be my wife."

He could almost hear her smile across the line. "Then you do it."

He'd asked Piper for permission, before anyone, even before Annabeth's father. They were sitting on the sofa, sharing a can of beans, and trading Jason and Annabeth stories, when Percy had put the can down and taken both her hands.

"Piper," he said seriously.

Piper gave him a weird look. "We both have significant others, don't propose to me."

Percy laughed nervously. "Uh, funny you bring that up, actually."

"You're not actually going to propose to me, are you?" She watched him for a long time, before suddenly it hit her. "Holy crap, you're going to propose to Annabeth."

He'd explained his reasoning and had asked if he had her approval. She'd been quite confused at the beginning.

"Are you asking me for permission?" she said. "Why? Have you spoken to Frederick yet?"

"I was going to do it after you," he said. "You know me, Piper, you know me far better than Frederick does. And you know what makes Annabeth happy. I'm asking you because you'll be able to tell me if I'll be able to make her happy for hopefully the rest of her life."

Piper had looked at him long and hard. In that moment, she was no longer Percy's friend, who only minutes ago had been trading embarrassing stories about Jason with them, and had tried to put baked beans in his hair. She was Annabeth's friend now, Annabeth's best friend. And this was the moment where Percy would find out if he could, and if he would be allowed to, marry Annabeth.

Eventually, Piper had taken his hands. "You're a good guy, Percy," she said. "A little thick, sometimes, and utterly ridiculous, and you come with a whole lot of media baggage that will probably haunt you both until the day you either die or become unpopular, which, considering the trajectories you're both on, doesn't seem likely any day soon, but you're a good guy. Annabeth is happy with you. I haven't seen her so happy, since maybe– ever. She loves you. And you love her."

Percy had felt like a weight has been lifted off his chest. "So– is that a yes?"

"That's a yes," Piper said. She patted his knee. "Go marry her."

"I mean. I'll have to propose first. And she'll have to say yes. But after that, that's the plan."

Frederick had been a little harder to convince. Percy had to do it over Skype, which was not something he ever really wanted to do, because this was really a conversation that needed to happen in person, but he had consoled himself by saying if it went horribly wrong he could just end the call, which he couldn't do if he was in the same room as them.

"Percy," Frederick said when the call started. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Percy said, wiping his sweaty hands down his trousers. "Uh– you?"

"We're good, thank you for asking. Now, what did you want to ask us?"

Don't blurt it out. Don't blurt it out. Be graceful. Composed. Impress him with your incredible intellect.

"Annabeth's my wife in all my dreams so please let me marry her in real life, I'll give you ten bucks."

God.

They had ended up sorting through it like proper adults in the end, though. At first, Frederick hadn't even taken him seriously. He thought he was just fooling around. But once Percy had composed himself and stated that yes, he did indeed want to marry his daughter, Frederick had finally realised the extent of his request and had started listening properly. They had talked it out and Percy had produced a list that he and Nico had written together on all the reasons why he'd make a brilliant husband and treat Annabeth with all the love she deserved ("Percy, you can't put that on there, you're talking to her father"), and even though he'd been slightly reluctant at first, he'd eventually agreed.

"You make her happy," he had said. "And that's all I've ever wanted for her."

"Thank you so much, Mr Chase," Percy had said. "I won't let you down."

He, Thalia and Piper went ring-shopping together, and had found a beautiful wedding ring, a plain gold band with a small diamond in the middle of it, and it sat at the bottom of his underwear drawer for months. On a whim, he had put it in the back pocket of his favourite jeans after a while, and there it had stayed for three weeks. He didn't have a date planned. He was just going to do it whenever he felt like he should.

And that happened on Christmas. They were all around Annabeth and Piper's apartment, and Jason was there, too, and was so was Will, and Reyna, and they had all eaten dinner and were sitting just talking in the living room. Percy had looked across the room and saw Annabeth talking with Piper and Reyna and laughing, her head thrown back, in her hideous Christmas sweater, and Bradley strewn over her lap like a throw pillow, and then he had stood up, right in the middle of his conversation with Jason, and went down on one knee.

The entire room had fallen silent.

"Uh, dude," Jason had said nervously. "We're related?"

Will had smacked him sharply upside the head. "It's not for you, don't be obtuse."

Annabeth stared at him. Percy had cleared his throat.

"Annabeth," he says. "I'm– really not very good with words that I haven't mulled over for several weeks, so– this isn't going to be very romantic, or sweet, and I'm really sorry for that, but– you make me so happy. And I love you. And we've both been through hell and back, and we survived, and I think if we can do that then marriage should be a walk in the park, right? So– will you do me the honour of being my wife?"

There had been six long, excruciating seconds where Annabeth had just stood still, and with every second that went by, Percy got more and more anxious. His heartbeat simultaneously slowed down and sped up, because if she rejected him, he might just drop down dead on the spot, but he was also the most terrified he'd ever been.

And then, she nodded.

"Of course I will," she had said, in a voice no louder than a whisper. And then, louder, with tears in her eyes, she said again, "Of course I will."

Percy almost fainted right there. He scrambled up to his feet and kissed her, almost dropping the actual ring in his haste. She had tasted of tears and Christmas, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and when he pulled away she laughed into his chest.

"Oh my God," she had said. "Oh my God."

Percy had pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. She just stared at it, and then looked back at him, her eyes wide and glittering with tears and a happiness so great Percy felt the echo of it in his chest.

"I love you so much," she said.

"That's a relief," he said. "We can't really get married if you didn't."

She had just kissed him again.

He smiles fondly at all the memories, and then at Annabeth, in his blazer, tucked up next to him. "That was a good time," he says.

"This is a good time," Annabeth says. "We're living the good times. I mean, look at us. We're unstoppable." She laughs, her voice loud and clear, and beams at the gaping night sky ahead of her. "You guys won a Grammy. Nico's getting married, and us, I mean–" She cuts herself off.

Percy furrows his eyebrows. "Us what?"

Annabeth smiles up at him, slightly nervously. "Percy," she says. "I have something I need to tell you."

Percy feels his heartbeat quicken. "You're not– you don't want a divorce, do you?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous, that's the opposite of what I'm saying." She takes his hand, resting on the railing, and laces her fingers with his. His hands are so much bigger than hers it's almost comical. He just stares at them, and then back at her. "This– is pretty big news, so, uh– please don't freak out."

"Annabeth, you're scaring me."

She just smiles at him, and then takes their conjoined hands, and moves them yowards her. At first, Percy's confused at what's happening, until she rests them on her stomach, and suddenly he gets it. His eyes widen, and he stares at it.

"You're–"

"Percy," Annabeth says. "I'm pregnant."

Percy is so excited he almost flings himself off the balcony.

He just stares at her for a few moments, watches as she nervously bites her lip, and then he scoops her up in a hug so violent her feet leave the floor. "Oh my God," he says into her chest, and she laughs. "Oh my God, Annabeth, we're going to have a kid. Annabeth, we're going to have a kid."

"I got that part."

"Oh my God! Annabeth!" He rests her back on her feet and then lets go completely, throwing his arms out. "We're going to have a kid!"

Annabeth watches him, her eyes twinkling.

"Oh my God, this is so cool. Annabeth, oh my God." He doesn't know what to do. He just can't contain himself. He comes back to her and takes her face in his hands and kisses her, and then pulls away, with his hands on her shoulders. "What do we do? What shall we call it? Do we know the gender? No, of course we don't, it's not been long enough yet. Wait, how long have you known? Does anyone else know? Is that why you got so peeved at me when I didn't tell you about Nico? Were they the baby hormones? Where should it go to school?"

"Percy, breathe."

"I can't breathe, Annabeth, I am beside himself. We're going to be parents!"

He laughs into the night, and pulls Annabeth into his arms, resting the back of his hand against her tummy. "When will you start showing?" he asks.

"The doctor said anywhere between 12-16 weeks."

"What week are you on now?"

"Six."

"Six." Percy kisses the side of her head. "Six weeks, oh my God. That's – this is so cool. I can't believe it. We're parents."

"Hold your horses, Rockstar. We're not there yet."

"But we will be." Percy drops his knees in front of her. "Hey, baby."

Annabeth laughs. "Percy, it can't hear you. Its face is only just forming."

"Shh." Percy puts his hand on her tummy. "I know your belly is from eating all those cocktail sausages tonight, but until you start showing I'll just pretend it's the baby. Because the baby's in there somewhere, among those cocktail sausages."

Annabeth laughs.

Percy arranges himself. "Hello, child," he says. "It's me, your dad. You probably can't hear me right now, because your mommy got excited and ate lots and lots, and the food is probably being a good barrier between the two of us right now, but I'm still going to talk to you anyway, just in case you can." He pauses and looks up at Annabeth, who is already looking at him, with the fondest look on her face Percy has probably ever seen. He grins at her, and then looks back at her stomach. "I just want to say that your mommy is probably the best person alive. The best person who I've met, anyway, and I've met Usher, so that's saying a lot. I don't know who you are yet, and you might come out with three eyes and fifteen fingers, although I doubt that, considering the genetics you're inheriting, but I'll love you anyway despite all that. You could even come out green and I'll still love you. And– I just hope I'll be a good dad to you. Because I can tell you now that mommy will be fantastic to you. I mean, she's going to be carrying you in her tummy for nine months, so by default she's already incredible, but I just hope I'll be able to live up to her standards. Because you're ours, and you might be our only child, or you might be one in a long line of like, fifteen – by the way, Beth, we're not having fifteen kids, unless this one pops out an absolute angel, because if we have fifteen it'll increase the chances of one of them growing up prettier than me and I can't have that – oh my God, I'm kidding, we can fifteen kids if we really want – you're shaking your head, good, I don't want fifteen kids either – imagine what kind of car we'd have to buy with fifteen kids, crikey – sorry, off topic. I love you already, baby. You're going to be perfect no matter how you turn out, because you've got a part of Annabeth in you, and Annabeth is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Annabeth sniffles a little. "You're going to be such a good dad, Percy."

He looks up. "You think?"

She nods. "I really, really do."

Percy clambers awkwardly back to his feet and cups Annabeth's cheeks in his hands, thumbing gently over her cheekbones. Her eyes are glittering – "baby hormones," she explains later. "You'll probably have to get used to that" – and in a turquoise dress like the one she wore when they first met and their child inside her, she has never looked so beautiful.

"I love you," Percy says. "You know that?"

She snorts wetly. "You've mentioned it a few times, yeah."

"I'm glad we're married. And I'm so, so glad we're having this child. We're gonna be pretty badass parents."

She nods. "We really are."

He kisses her, and he just knows that their life has only just started.

A/N and here we have the very, very last chapter of silver screen I hope you liked it

im feeling quite sad about this! this story has probably been my favourite thing to write so thank you all so, so much for enjoying it. it's honestly the best feeling in the world to do what you love and have people also love it? like that's so wonderful? thank you all dearly for joining me on this percabeth journey and I love you all for all reviewing and being so nice and wonderful and lovely and just ahh I don't want to say goodbye to this story but alas all things must come to an end

first of all – thank you so, so much for everything you guys have done. your reviews mean the world to me and I love you all. also thank you for all your birthday messages! you guys are the best! I had a wonderful birthday (my good friend Rachel [TheWritingManiac] wrote me a simply BEAUTIFUL story called when the sun came up [you were looking at me] and honestly it's my favourite thing at the moment go check it out she's incredible) and my friends didn't kill me for playing taylor swift all day, which is appreciated XD

some actual thank-yous:

Celticwolves – thank you so so much! that means a lot to me pal xx

JustARandomNerd – hehe thank you so much! yes im sad it's ending to :( but here's to lots of new percabeth fic woop woop!

cursedhazel – eeeek thank you so much! you're honestly too lovely thank you xxx and yes obviously promise rings physically hurt me what kind of romance writer would I be if I didn't include one

Qwertywerido – yes I am only 15 hehe! thank you for enjoying it! xxx

constipated garlic – (what a username good golly) I wish! unfortunately I felt like this was a good place to end it. also I think some of you were getting a bit sick of just fluff haha

RosettaQueen20 – aah thank you! and yes I do actually! I think it might be a gang!au? (I say that very tentatively but there is a big chance that's what's going to happen). thank you for being so wonderful! x

EmmaBloomFan22 – isn't she EXCELLENT

feelikeaunicorn – totally cool pal I get you

jodanfritz – ah thanks fellow 15-y-o! isn't it a glorious age

TriggedBleach – thank you so much! I hope this came through for you! x

Wisdomsqueen – ME TOO AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FRIEND XX

Athenachild101 [guest] – thank you so much for enjoying it! and yess I might consider a sequel I don't think im quite ready to give up this verse quite yet hehe

burnt up feeling – ily babe xxx

Hagbre5498 [guest] – ahaha that's what I like to hear!

Cheerra12 – thank you so so much! xx

Penny [guest] – YOU you're so wonderful ily so much thank you xx

thesweetscentofbooks – no don't worry im sad it's ending too! thank you for enjoying it so much I love you xxx

AnnabethGinevraJacksonPotter – ahh thank you! that means so much you're so sweet x

King of the Souls – thanks friend!

WiseGirl1609 – AH THANKS! and I most definitely wil not stop writing hehe it's my favourite thing to do

weatetheoriginal – thank you so much! and yess keep reading fanfiction it's good for the soul

allineedisabook [guest] – I don't even know where to start with you other than I love you endlessly. you are so lovely and kind and beautiful and I love you dearLY. thank you for being amazing and just altogether fantastic and im so glad you got snow! the uk really has been hit with quite the winter huh

boy [guest] – thank you!

MalasLaBro – youre welcome haha

Badgers101 – ah thanks! and yes I know it's quite sad but thank you for the birthday wishes!

HyperCharged – me too :(

06KoolKid101 – oh god 1000 can you imagine? I mean im not sure but if that happens ill be screaming with you haha

Just-Your-AAverage-FanGGurl – thanks! xx

Shadow3636 – thank you so much! and im sure you're very good, just keep working at it and it should all flow pretty nicely xx

GollyGeeWhiz – Helena you beautiful beautiful angelcake you already know how much I love you (also I may have stolen the theyna idea off you lolllL) (I love percy being the only straight member of the band it's my aesthetic)

Imaguest [guest] – you're so sweet! thank you so much friend xxx

Thank you to simply everyone who's ever reviewed, I love you all dearly! please tell me what you though and I shall hopefully see you all soon! xxx