We sat down at a table next to the window. The restaurant was fairly busy, so it presented us with a few minutes to look at a menu before a server approached us. She welcomed us to the restaurant and inquired as to what we wanted regarding drinks and food.

"I'll have a lemonade, please," I said, glancing at the menu. "And the BBQ wings and ribs."

"Pepsi Blue, please," Percy said. "I'll have the..."-he paused and stared at the menu-"...the bacon cheeseburger."

"You still love blue drinks," I said with slight smile, as the waiter departed. "I'm not surprised."

"What can I say? I love blue."

"So, anyway, I'm curious, why did you decide to come to CalTech? You said you always wanted to go to the University of Miami."

"I got a scholarship," Percy said with a shrug. "They were impressed by my research project on whales and offered me a scholarship. Since CalTech is a pretty prestigious school and has a marine laboratory, I accepted. What about you? I though MIT was your thing."

"I wanted to be close to my family," I answered. "They live in San Fransisco, and I also got a scholarship for mechinical engineering. It wasn't exactly architecture, but I still wanted to go."

"I thought didn't like your dad and stepmom. You said they hated you."

"We made amends. It also helped that my biological mother finally showed up."

"Seriously? After 12 years?" Percy said incredulously.

"Yep," I said. "She showed up one day a few weeks after camp ended and introduced herself as my mother, Athena Chase. She demanded to speak to my father and that she get part-time custody of me. My father refused, and they had a huge argument."

"Jeez. How did it end?"

"My dad finally agreed to allow my mom to have custody of me over my school breaks. They even went to court about it. I was at her house in New York before I left for here. Although, it's my choice where I go now since I'm eighteen. Did you ever meet your biological father?"

"Yeah, but wayyyy later. He showed up on sixteenth birthday at our front door and introduced himself as my father, Poseidon Jackson. When I asked why he hadn't shown his face, he made some excuse about how he had to raise his other children and blah blah blah."

"So he had an affair with your mom?"

"Pretty much, yeah. His wife, Amphitrite, was pretty chill about me. I only met her once, but she welcomed me. My half-brother, Triton, on the other hand was a complete jackass. He clamied that he was, and I quote 'Poseidon's one true son and heir.'"

"Gosh," I said. "He sounds like a complete asshole. My half-brothers are okay; we've never been that close, but they're always nice to me. They even bought my new computer with money they saved up for my birthday this summer."

Our drinks arrived as we delved into our elementary school years, bringing us to pause in our conversation. I sipped my lemonade; its tang reminded me sitting on the porch at Camp Pine Haven and just hanging out with my friends. Percy chugged down half his beverage in one gulp. I told him to slow down or he was going to choke.

"Don't you remember the chugging contests at Pine Haven?" He laughed loudly, making my stomach break into butterflies. "I never hurt myself then!"

"That's not true," I said with a mischievous grin. "I seem to remember several times when you chugged down a blue soda and then tripped."

"That wasn't my fault!"

"Mhm. And it was someone else's fault that you tripped over the soda can you dropped on the ground?"

Percy mocked a pout. "It was a test from the universe! It was impressed with my chugging skills."

"Ah, yes." I offered him a mock toast. "The universe testing the heroic chugger because of his superb abilities."

Percy crossed his arms, appearing to be indignant, but a smile tugged at the corner his mouth. "You know, I really missed this," he sighed. "Us aruging and laughing together. It was almost like we were an old married couple."

"Me too," I admitted.

Our server reappeared at our table, carrying our orders on a tray. My BBQ ribs and wings were covered in a rich sauce and looked very appetizing. Percy was pratically drooling by the time the server placed his plate in front of him.

"Gosh, this is delicious!" He bit a huge chunk out of his meal. "Yum!"

We continued to eat for a few minutes as we savored our food. Our conversation turned to the topic of our hopes and dreams for the future. I found out that Percy wanted two children he was older and wanted to name them Zoë and Charlie. I informed him that after graduating, I wanted to establish my own engineering firm.

"That's really cool," Percy said. "After graduation, I want to go work at the Belize Tropical Research and Education Center."

"That's a great goal," I said, glancing out the window.

The sun was sinking behind the buildings of Pasadena, coloring the sky orange, yellow, and purple. I felt something touch my hand and gazed at Percy. He, it appeared, had reached for the ketch up and casually placed one of fingers on mine. Surprisingly, I didn't move away.

"Do you want dessert?" Percy asked.

"Sure, why not?" I waited until the server walked back over and requested a dessert menu. She retrieved one, and I started to scan it over. "How about a chocolate sundae with peanut butter fudge?"

"Add sprinkles, and we can order it."

"Deal."

I placed our order, and within a few minutes, the server arrived back with a chocolate sundae smothered in peanut butter fudge sauce and topped with several sprinkles. The server handed us two spoons with a smile and told us to enjoy.

"Dig in," I said.

"Here, here," Percy agreed, shoveling a huge spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

We ate the ice cream in a very short amount of time. Mainly, it was Percy wolfing the cold treat down, but he did leave some for me. He randomly started laughing at me after I had just eaten one of the last scoops.

"What?" I said.

"Here." Percy picked up his napkin. "Let me get it."

He wiped some ice cream off my upper lip, and I chuckled slightly. Percy responded with a grin, his sea-green eyes twinkling. I looked deeply into his eyes, and he looked into mine. Then he kissed me.