Hey guys, sorry for the long wait but I'm back at school now so updates will be slow. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, please let me know what you think.

The time before summer started seemed to go very quickly. Dionysus was now back at camp, he was grumbling more than ever about the extra duties he had to do but I just ignored it. He had earned that punishment, I wasn’t about to let him off of it just because he was moaning and sulking like a three year old. I got a call from Chiron every few weeks, he liked to check up on camp to make sure the place had survived with me and Dionysus in charge. Apparently he was still watching this Perseus kid, but he agreed with Grover that he could be something special. They were going on a school trip next week to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at their ancient Greek and Roman collection. No one else seemed to find it ironic that Chiron was going to be showing a bunch of human kids (and a possible demigod) the relics that told the stories he helped to create, after all, the heroes of the legends were demigods that he had trained.  

Also whenever Alex came to visit me now at camp, instead of just appearing in my cabin, he would purposefully appear in the middle of camp instead, so that the kids would see him. After that one day when he looked after them, he was all that they could talk about. They loved him, and although I never mentioned it to him, I could see that he loved them too. His eyes would always sparkle whenever he saw the mass of children running towards him, to tackle him to the ground. Of course he pretended that he didn’t really care, and I didn’t want to embarrass him by admitting to him that I knew he loved the campers almost as much as I did.

Alex and I were going great! He was so sweet, and a real gentleman. He still took me on dates every few weeks, but now that I was running camp basically by myself I didn’t have as much free time to go on dates as I used to. So he ended up spending a lot more time around camp with me, which the kids loved. Just watching him playing with some of the younger kids at camp tugged on my heartstrings. He was really great with them and always let them win. 

The only down side to having Alex at camp half-blood was that it gave Dionysus the opportunity to spy on us. I could feel his eyes on me whenever Alex was around, he was watching us. Although my parents had given their approval of Alex I knew that after the Connor incident they didn’t trust him at all and they were watching us together very closely. So I knew that Dionysus was jumping for joy at this new arrangement and I was sure that he was reporting his findings back to the other gods, even if they were in the largest argument that Olympus had seen for a thousand years, they still put my well-being first. I wasn’t sure whether to feel loved and cared for or indignant about the complete invasion of privacy. I settled for feeling loved, even if I was slightly annoyed to know that I could never be really alone with Alex as Dionysus would always be following us, I figured that it wasn’t worth starting a fight over. What with all the other things going on in Olympus right now, the last thing we needed was for me to throw a teenage tantrum about my boyfriend.

Dionysus’ spying was a constant reminder to me of how my previous relationship had failed and without even meaning to I found myself comparing Connor to Alex. Would Alex turn out to be the same as Connor? I didn’t think so, but then I hadn’t expected Connor to turn out the way he did either. No. Alex was nothing like Connor. He was sweet and kind and great with the campers and seemed to really like me for me, everything that Connor had only pretended to be.

It was one of those rare moments in my day when I didn’t have to do anything. The activities were all being dealt with by others, there were no parents complaining and the kids all seemed to be getting along, in short everything was perfect. I was sitting in the stands of the arena, watching Alex taking a sword fighting class with some of the older campers and running them through some drills. Alex glanced up, caught my eye and grinned, making me catch my breath. He was heartbreakingly beautiful when he smiled, and it always made my heart beat wildly in my chest. I was seriously falling for this boy and there was nothing I could do about it.

Even though my head told me to be cautious with Alex so that I didn’t end up hurt, like last time, my heart didn’t seem to listen. Whenever Alex looked my way my heart rate would take off and I’d get butterflies in my stomach. It was never like this with Connor. No, this was so much more than what had happened between Connor and I, this was serious. I was falling in love with Alex.

“Pfft what do you mean ‘falling’?”  A voice inside my head asked “You’ve already fallen. Hook, line and sinker.”

Oh my gods!!! I’m in love with Alex! What do I do? Do I tell him? What if it scares him away? What if he doesn’t love me back? Aaaaagh! Where’s Aphrodite when you need her?

I looked back up at Alex and panicked, he was looking right at me. Could he see it on my face? Could he tell that I loved him? Surely it was written over my face. But Alex didn’t seem to notice and he turned back to the campers a second later after sending me one of his crooked smiles. How could he not tell how I felt? Surely I looked different, how could I not? I felt completely different on the inside, how did I not look it on the outside?

Okay Izzy calm down! Breathe. Relax. Everything will be okay. Just stay calm. Oh Styx! He’s coming over here. I’ll end up blurting out something ridiculous, I know I will. Oh gods help me! What do I do?

“They’re getting better.” He said with a cute half smile on his face.

“What?” I asked, not understanding what he was talking about, my thoughts were miles away.

“The kids. They’re getting better.” Alex explained, obviously amused by the dazed expression on my face. “And I’m going to take full credit for it. Because it’s clearly my brilliant teaching technique that’s bringing it out of them.” He teased.

“Hey! You can only build from the foundations that I created.” I protested grinning, forgetting my earlier panic. Alex just made things easy, and I relaxed whenever I was around him.

“Those foundations were weak! Their talent is due to my teachings!” He said grinning.

“Is not!” I cried childishly, giving his shoulder a light shove.

“Is too!” He said, pushing me back.

“Is not!” I said pushing harder on his shoulder, but he still didn’t move.

“I wouldn’t do that again if I were you.” Alex threatened playfully.

“Or what?” I challenged, shoving him again. “What are you gunna do weather boy!” I teased.

I couldn’t stop myself from gulping nervously from the wicked glint that appeared in Alex’s eyes when I called his bluff. Alex playfully stalked towards me, grinning evilly. I tried to surreptitiously step backwards without him noticing, but the widening of his smirk told me he saw my movements. It was now or never, if I didn’t try and make a run for it now I would be doomed, so I turned and sprinted towards the exit of the arena. If I had been trying as hard as I could I would have easily outrun him, but I was laughing as I ran which slowed me down and although I would never admit to it aloud, I wanted Alex to catch me.

I was halfway to the escape when two strong arms snaked around my waist and lifted me off of the ground, causing me to squeal like a little girl. Alex spun around a few times before setting me back down on my feet and putting his lips so close to my ear that I could feel his warm breath on my neck, sending shivers through my spine.

“Got you.” He whispered quietly, before lightly kissing my neck. I was kind of glad that I wasn’t facing Alex right now because I was sure that I had a stupid grin on my face that he would tease me about if he could see it. Alex’s hands on my hips turned me around so that we were now face to face and a small smile made its way onto his face. He started to lean in, his eyes focused on my lips, and I felt my eye lids flutter closed out of instinct. My breath was coming in short quick pants as I waited for the feel of his lips on mine. But my eyes jolted open and I let out a shocked yelp as Alex started to tickle me instead.

“Stop! Stop it!” I pleaded in between my bursts of hysterical laughter.

“Tell me I’m a brilliant teacher!” He said whilst beaming, not letting up on the tickling.

“Never!” I cried out stubbornly.

“Fine. Have it your way then.” Alex said with an evil smirk as he tickled me harder.

“No! Stop! You’re a brilliant teacher, okay! Are you happy now? You can stop tickling me now.” I demanded, pretending to be annoyed.

Alex’s hands stilled and I was finally able to catch my breath back. It was then that I noticed we had drawn a small crowd. The demigods Alex had been teaching were all watching us.

“Thanks for the help guys!” I said sarcastically. They had just been standing there and letting Alex torture me. Shouldn’t their loyalties lie with me, not Alex? After all I am their goddess.

“We would have helped, but you seemed to be enjoying it.” Annabeth said with a small smirk on her face. I just glared at her. Traitor. She should be on my side!

“This is all your fault!” I accused Alex, pointing at him. “You’ve turned them against me!”

“What can I say? They recognise me as the superior teacher.” Alex said smirking.

“Shut up.” I said, narrowing my eyes at him, but the effect was kind of lost by the giant grin on my face.

“Never. Now come on or we are going to be late.” Alex said, tugging on my hand. I frowned at him, as far as I knew I had no plans for tonight.

“Late for what? Where are we going?” I questioned as he pulled me out of the arena, waving bye to the campers as he left. They all just had grins on their faces, they were in on this too. Whatever was going on, they knew about it.

“You’ll see.” Alex said secretively as he kept on walking, towing me behind him.

We came to a stop outside of the Aphrodite cabin in camp. To say I was confused would be an understatement. Why were we here? But I didn’t even have time to open my mouth and question Alex, because as soon as we stopped, the door swung open and Selena came out grinning. Followed, shortly afterwards, by a few other Aphrodite girls, all with the same maniacal smile on their faces and it was starting to creep me out.

“We’ll have her ready in half an hour.” Selena said, talking to Alex as if I wasn’t there. Alex just nodded at her, dropped my hand and walked off, but not before he sent me one of his half smiles and a wink over his shoulder, causing my heart to flutter wildly in my chest.

“Come on lover-girl! Stop grinning like an idiot and come in here, or you’ll scare all the little kids away.” Selena commented.

“Hey! I will not!” I protested weakly, knowing that she was right and that I was grinning like a fool.

“Whatever you say, Lover-girl.” Selena smirked knowingly. “Now come on, we don’t have that much time. Didn’t you just here me tell your Romeo that we’d have you ready in half an hour? We need all the time we can get, especially if we’re going to tackle that haystack on the top of your head that you call hair.” Selena teased, and I decided to just let that comment slide.

“What’s happening tonight? Where am I going?” I questioned her, knowing that she knew the answers.

“Nuh-uh, I’m not telling you a thing! I am under strict orders to keep tonight a surprise,” She said whilst miming locking her lips and throwing away the key. I just rolled my eyes at her and let her pull me down the hall into a room with a dresser covered with every cosmetic product imaginable. She pushed me down into a the chair in front of the dresser and stood behind me, appraising my reflection in the mirror, looking as though she was trying to solve a hard maths question. Suddenly her face cleared and she clapped her hands together with a small smile on her face.

“Girls, we have work to do.”

Selena was true to her word and almost exactly half an hour later they were done and I was ready to go. Where, I still had no clue, but wherever I was going I was ready to go there. They had dressed me in a long red evening gown and black wedged heels. I had insisted on the wedges, they had tried to get me in stilettos but I had put my foot down, I didn’t want to have to worry about breaking my ankle tonight. I looked at myself in the mirror and had to admit that the girls had done a good job, my make up was applied expertly and my hair was styled to perfection.

“Am I good, or am I good?” Selena asked smugly as she surveyed her handiwork. “Tell me I’m good lover-girl.”

“You’re brilliant.” I said gratefully, giving her a tight hug.

“I know.” She said arrogantly. “Now come on, or you’ll ruin your hair undoing all of my hard work.” She pulled out of the hug.

Suddenly Rosanne, another Aphrodite girl, charged into the room squealing. “He’s at the door! He’s here! Izzy, Alex is here!” I followed her to the door and opened it. There stood Alex, dressed in a tux, looking every inch the Greek god he is, and carrying a bunch of red roses which perfectly matched the colour of my dress.

“Hi.” I whispered breathily.

 “Hi yourself.” He said with a boyish grin spreading across his face. “These are for you.” He handed me the roses, and a warm blush spread across my face.

“Thanks.” I said quietly sniffing the bunch of flowers, trying to hide my face in them, hoping to camouflage my red cheeks amongst the equally red petals. “They’re beautiful.”

“Yes, they’re gorgeous. I’ll put them in some water and you kids go enjoy your night.” Selena said, grabbing the bunch from my hand and forcing me out of the door.

I turned around to see the door slam in my face, but not before Selena’s face peeped around the corner and winked at me.

“You look stunning tonight, Izzy.” Alex said quietly, bringing my attention away from the cabin door.

“Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself.” I said with a small smile.

“Come on let’s go.” Alex said offering me his arm.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked as I slid my arm into his.

“That would spoil the surprise.” Alex said, still grinning.

“So spoil it! I can’t stand it any longer! It seems like everyone else here seems to know what’s going on here but me.” I huffed, getting slightly annoyed. I hated being left in the dark. Alex’s grin slipped off of his face, causing a guilty feeling to stir in the pit of my stomach. I shouldn’t have said anything, now I’ve ruined it. He was only trying to do something nice for me.

I opened my mouth to apologise, but the words got stuck in my throat when he leaned in so that his lips were barely an inch from mine.

“Trust me.” He whispered quietly, his breath fanning across my face. He then leaned in that last little bit, closing the gap between our lips, as his softly brushed over mine.

We were prevented from deepening the kiss when giggles interrupted our moment. My head snapped around quickly, searching for the source of the noise. It wasn’t hard to locate. I turned just in time to catch a glimpse of four heads diving for cover behind the curtains of the Aphrodite cabin. They had been watching us!

“We should get away from the prying eyes.” Alex suggested, his arm around my waist guiding me as we teleported to wherever it was that Alex had planned for us to go to.

We appeared outside of a fancy looking restaurant, you know the kind, where if you’re not wearing head to toe designer labels they won’t let you through the front door. It looked very posh and expensive. I silently thanked the Aphrodite girls for dressing me tonight, because I knew that if I had dressed myself I wouldn’t have been allowed within 100 metres of this building. Maybe I would let them off of the punishment I had in mind for them for spying on Alex and I.

Alex walked confidently up to entrance and we were met by a middle-aged man dressed in a smart suit.

“Reservation under Alex Weathers” I smirked slightly at the surname Alex had chosen, but didn’t say anything about it.

“Right this way, please.” We followed the man to a romantic table for two in a quieter corner of the restaurant. There were candles and a single rose in the centre of the table. In short it looked perfect.

Alex and I had a lovely dinner. The food was to die for. I almost moaned out loud when I bit into the chocolate cake I had ordered for dessert, but I managed to control myself. Just.

“So what was the special occasion?” I asked Alex once we had both finished our meals. I wasn’t complaining, I had loved the date, it was perfect, but Alex hasn’t taken me out of camp for a date in weeks.

“Does there have to be a special occasion?” Alex asked with a small smile on his face. I just raised an eyebrow at him, not believing his explanation for a second. “Okay.” He sighed giving in. “I wanted to have some time alone with you. Being at camp is great, but we aren’t ever truly alone. I feel like I’m always taking you and Dionysus on a date, when we’re there. I mean he’s a nice guy and all, when he’s in a good mood, but I don’t like him that way.” Alex admitted, causing me to chuckle lightly.

“I guess it’s a good thing for me that you don’t like him like that, isn’t it?” I asked.

“It’s a very good thing for you.” He said smugly, leaning over the table so that we were face to face again.

I was starring at his lips. I couldn’t help it, they looked so soft and warm and . . . well, kissable. I knew that he saw me starring, as the lips I couldn’t look away from tugged upwards into a smirk. I loved that smirk. I loved those lips. I loved him.

“I love you.” I whispered quietly. My eyes finally tore themselves away from his mouth to look into his eyes. At the moment they were wide with shock. Alex seemed to freeze, his smirk slightly faltering as he took in my words.

Oh My Gods! What have I done?! He wasn’t ready for me to say that! Now I’ve probably scared him away! What do I do? I’ve ruined everything. It was a perfect night but then I had to open my big fat mouth and destroy not only the evening but probably our entire relationship too!

It would be safe to say that I was panicking. I had no clue what to do. No idea how to fix the mess I’d just caused. I was seconds away from shouting that I didn’t mean it when Alex opened his mouth to speak.