𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐚 ₊ ⊹₍ᐢᐢ₎

© use of oc /// ® use of reader (y/n) || 🩷 fluff /// 🩶 angst /// 🤍 suggestive /// 🖤 smut

𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧:

Series:

⋆ Mine © 🩷

One-shots (ish):

⋆ Boy Toy © 🩷

⋆ The other way around ® 🩷

⋆ Hedgehog ® 🩷

⋆ Lost (The Door) ® 🩶

⋆ His type / Her type ® 🩷

⋆ unaware || pt.2 ® 🤍

⋆ My girlfriend is a witch ® 🤍

⋆ Love Drunk ® 🤍

⋆ See through ® 🤍

⋆ That Nerd ® 🩷

⋆ Dense ® 🩷

Blurbs:

⋆ Her father's daughter ® 🩷

⋆ Hold eye contact ® 🩷

⋆ A worm? ® 🩷

⋆ Cookie dough ® 🩷

⋆ Promise ® 🩷

⋆ Take a pic ® 🩷

⋆ Big stretch ® 🖤

⋆Frankenstein ® 🩶

⋆Careful Distance ® 🩷

⋆ Ripped at the sleeves ® 🩷 (🤍)

You played around, softly caressing tired leaves and bringing them back to green youth, the moonlight and the faraway lanterns against the porch of the Big House the only things helping your eyes discern anything.

And the Moon, full and bright, suddenly seemed to light up the sky like daylight itself.

Well, that’s what your blinded eyes believed for a second, before catching the thunderbolt print that streaked the black sky before disappearing just as quickly, like it was never there. The spots in your vision, though, were still very much there.

The bolt had hit somewhat in direction of the forest behind Half-Blood Hill, far behind it, and as weird as a random thunderbolt, loud and blinding and streaking a clear sky, sounded in this moment, you just decided not to look into it. That is, for the second of silence that hit right after. Because the next was pierced by a shrill cry.

Your head whipped back in direction of the hill. And even in the darkness you could suddenly make out the outline of a…tree? Since when was there ever a tree on top of Half-Blood Hill?

Your body reacted on instinct to the confusion, walking towards the foreign tree—thankfully the strawberry fields weren’t too far from the bottom of the hill. Your steps quickened as you approached, hearing faint voices over on the other side that somewhat worried you.

You were halfway to the top when figures emerged, 3 silhouettes stumbling down the hill in the tall unkempt grass. And one of them had small horns poking out of its curly hair, and a high-pitched panicked voice you could always recognize.

“Grover? What is happening?” You shouted out, halting in your step, and the satyr’s head snapped to you so fast you thought it would twist off like a bottle cap.

“Oh, Great Pan, finally a known face!” Grover bleated loudly before turning back to the other two and urging them quicker down the hill.

You met them halfway, finally seeing the silhouettes better: a little girl, so young it broke your heart, and a boy about your age, beanie pulled low over his brows that did nothing to hide his expression, one you knew too well. Without hesitation, you helped Grover carry the seemingly hurt boy, helping the trio down the hill and to safety in the nearby—more or less—infirmary.

Grover had quickly gone to fetch one of the children of Apollo in cabin 7 and come back with Lee, one of the only year rounder in his cabin. Getting to camp middle of the year wasn’t fully unusual, but it was always harder to deal with injuries when 80% of the campers were back out into the real world and not here to help like during the few months of summer.

Meanwhile, you’d helped the boy get set up onto a bed. Not that he was so physically hurt that he wouldn’t be able to do it, but he was…absent. His expression had turned numb, he’d gone mostly unresponsive and even the little girl at your side—Annabeth, from what you’d caught Grover call her—couldn’t seem to shake him back to the present.

By the time Lee had joined, you’d cleaned up Annabeth’s wound, mostly a scrapped knee and elbow, and a small cut on her left cheek. And as soon as you’d fixed her up, she’d gone running to the other boy’s, hugging his middle so tight he winced.

You tried to pull her away, let the wounded have a semblance of peace, but she wouldn’t let go.

“No! I’m not leaving him!” she screamed in a shrill voice—it was clearly the voice from earlier, back on the hill—, just as Grover and Lee pushed open the door. “Luke! Why is Thalia- I want Thalia!”

A flash of hurt shot through Luke’s face—you assumed that was his name, now—, swallowing thickly as a tear rolled out from the corner of his eyes. And even in your sheer state of confusion, not at all understanding what was happening or what had happened, you couldn’t help but feel the poor little girl’s cries tug at your heart as they worsened.

But as Lee asked you to get Annabeth out of the way so he could properly treat her companion—they didn’t exactly look like brother and sister, maybe cousins? that would be a weird demigod family tree—, you swiftly pulled her up into your arms, holding onto her tightly as she cried and thrashed around.

But you kept her turned away from Luke as Lee checked his injuries, nasty, dark bruises blooming on his abdomen that clearly hurt like Hells, deep cuts streaking his arms… You couldn’t imagine just what they had been through, both of them, and you definitely couldn’t see little Annabeth suffer this sight.

You held onto her tightly, shushing her through every weak punch and kick, until she was so exhausted she eventually fell asleep against your shoulder. You carefully laid her down on a bed as the infirmary was suddenly quiet, only the soft hiss that made their way past Luke’s lips with every dab of Lee’s cloth against his dirty wounds.

“Just eat that, you’ll get better,” the son of Apollo finally said as he got up, fetching a cube of ambrosia from a nearby clay jar.

Luke didn’t even spare him a glance, seemingly uninterested or maybe too out of it, but you could see in his face this barely noticeable expression, this small glint that meant maybe he just didn’t want to get better anymore.

But Lee clearly wasn’t having it. “Ok, dude, I’m not gonna bother to put it in IV for a newcomer who doesn’t even have the decency of a greeting, so believe me you’re gonna eat this. I’m not gonna have Mr. D on my back just for your pretty eyes.”

Just as he said that, Lee somehow shoved the jelly-like cube in the other boy’s mouth, pinching his nose shut and forcing him to swallow it down in one go be able to breath again.

“See? Wasn’t that fucking hard.”

He didn’t stick around after that, grumbling something about being disturbed in his sleep—and you swore to yourself you’d never wake up the usually oh-so-sweet son of Apollo during the night again, Gremlins apparently were real— and going straight back to his bed, probably.

There were still a few things to clean up in the infirmary when Grover nearly bolted out of the room, apparently realizing he was supposed to go to the Council the minute he came back from his duty, which he obviously hadn’t done. And like the ever-scared goat this young satyr was, he let you finish the clean up by yourself.

It didn’t take much more time, placing everything back on the shelf and making sure there weren’t still bandage bits flying on the flooring, but even after all of this you still couldn’t find it in yourself to go to sleep, the adrenaline stronger than the exhaustion running through your veins.

So instead of going back to your cabin for long hours of restlessness, you picked up a chair, placing it next to the head of Annabeth’s temporary bed, Somehow, watching her sleep so peacefully, like earlier’s harm was no more, brought you a sense of calm too, something you always craved around this place that was Camp Half-Blood. You’d been there for so long sometimes you forgot there was actually any other way to live than the constant noise that only stopped on your moonlit strolls.

You didn’t register it as time passed, simply caressing the young girl’s hair and finding peace in the steady sound of her breathing. Eventually, your eyes started fluttering close too, head lazily falling to the side…

“Thalia! Come back!”

You startled at the loud cry, eyes shooting open, awake and alert trying to find who that just was, and felt relieved that at least it hadn’t seemed to wake up little Annabeth who really needed sleep.

Turning around on your chair, Luke was on the contrary wide awake, breathing heavily and sweat beading on his forehead. Thinking quickly, it felt pretty clear the boy was feverish, his gaze hazy in a way unlike earlier, probably too much ambrosia for his body.

“Shit, what 14 year old guy can’t handle just a freaking cube of ambrosia…” you muttered under your breath, fetching a cloth from a shelf and going to dip it in cold water as Luke kept on ranting about monsters and running away.

“Thalia, please…”

Your heart broke just as his voice did, the energy suddenly draining out of him as you came back to sit on your chair. His brows were scrunched up, a tear rolling down his cheek as his hair stuck to his forehead from the sweat. For a second you cursed your uncontrollable sense of empathy, tears welling up at the heartbreaking sight, before shaking back to your sense.

“Be quiet, you’re gonna wake up your little friend,” you whispered, trying to hush him back to calm as you set the cold cloth on his forehead.

That seemed to get his attention, his hand shooting out to wrap your wrist in a tight grasp as his eyes looked like they focused on you through the haze.

You immediately tried to pull your arm back, but his grip was too strong, adrenaline shooting through the boy’s body in response to whatever fever dream he was clearly having. “Let- Ow! Let go of me!”

You tried to fight back, tug his fingers off and pull yourself free, but you were too afraid to hurt him to actually do anything..

And as he spoke, his voice seemed in total contrast with his action, sounding so…fragile.

“Thalia, is that you? I can’t… Please, stay, I can’t do this alone.”

Another tear rolled down from his eye, creating a small damp patch on the white pillow case, and your chest tightened. You had no idea whomever Thalia could be, why she wasn’t there —or if she even remotely resembled you, honestly—, but you thought it was probably best for him to play along, at least until his fever would finally break and he could go to sleep. So you did.

“Luke,” you started, whispering hesitantly and leaning slightly in. His grip loosened, instead moving to hold onto your hand, and you let him. “It’s alright, I’m here, I’m not going anywhere.”

His eyes glazed over again, swallowing hard. “You promise.”

“I promise. Try to get some rest.”

Luke’s breathing quickly evened out after that, his heartbeat settling but his hold on your hand not weakening. You kept dabbing the wet cloth on his face, although you couldn’t even go freshen it up with how tight he was holding onto you, and you drifted to sleep just about the same time as he did.

___

Over the next couple days, you kept coming into the infirmary, each morning with a small new bouquet of fresh flowers, the one you nurtured in your small garden in front of cabin 4. Each morning, you put them into a small vase on the bedside table between Luke and Annabeth’s bed, before sitting on the chair by Annabeth’s side. She had quickly healed up, her wounds rather superficial, but had insisted on staying with Luke until he was better.

It took his almost a full 48 hours of sleep before he woke up again—probably because of the slight over-dosing of ambrosia and the sheer amount of built up exhaustion in his body both—, and the little girl nearly toppled him over when she jumped to hold him. She didn’t leave his bed for a few hours after that, chatting his ears off about all the things about camp you’d taught her one your morning visits while you’d gone to tell Lee it was probably best to let them catch up before checking in on Luke again.

While the boy had to stay on bed rest, forced to take a well-needed time off from any distraction, you finally took Annabeth around camp. You showed her everything, from Canoe Lake to the bustling training grounds, giving her a tour of your favorite places around camp and finally stopping at the cabins.

Taking her inside cabin 4 to show her where you lived, she asked you a question in a voice so soft you could’ve almost missed it as you laid on your bed. “So…where do I live now? Do I have to leave Luke? I don’t want to leave Luke…”

You shifted on your duvet, balancing on your side to look at her, feeling your heart tighten as you took in her pained expression, something that didn’t fit on someone this young but that was almost normal in this place.

“Well, do you know who your godly parent is?” She looked at you with a puzzled expression. “Well, who are your mom and dad?”

“Oh, umm.. My daddy is…” Her eyebrows knit together, forehead creasing in an effort to remember a name she so little used. “Frederic! My daddy’s Frederick, and my mom… I don’t-”

Tears welled up in her small eyes, already wetting her lashes as she cut herself off with a sob. You immediately reached out for her, bringing her in a tight embrace and softly caressing her hair. “It’s alright, it’s alright, most people are like you here…” you murmured in her ear, trying to sooth her back to normal. “Is it the same for your friend?”

“Luke?” Annabeth pulled her head away from your shoulder, rubbing her eyes with the back of her fist. “I don’t know his mom, but I saw his dad once. He’s some mail person, but he was kind of glowing, and he was saying weird stuff…”

Hermes, you thought, reaching for a tissue on your bedside table and lightly dabbing under Annabeth’s eyes. “Well then, don’t worry, you’re gonna stay with Luke in cabin 11,” you simply said, booping her nose playfully with your pinky.

The little girl visibly relaxed, her mood changing drastically as she suddenly exclaimed, “Can we visit it? So I can show Luke I already know everything when he can get out of bed!”

You joyfully followed her as she nearly succeeded in pulling you out of your bed. “You’ll let me braid your hair with flowers afterwards?”

___

The next few years weren’t really unlike those few days now years ago. You and Annabeth had only become closer over time, probably her way and yours of filling the void left by Thalia’s sudden absence—Annabeth had never talked about it directly, but somehow you knew—: you had been the one to help her settle in the first time, then the second one when she’d changed cabin after her very first Capture the Flag, and overall helping her connect with other kids around camp; you’d never seen it as a chore either, you’d just always enjoyed the little girl’s company.

Of course, you weren’t the only one who’d been with her from the start, Luke hadn’t just disappeared: he’d let her tug him around camp to show him everything you’d first shown her when he’d finally gotten out of the infirmary, he’d swapped with her when they settled in cabin 11 and made sure she got the bunk bed and him the flimsy mattress on the floor of the overcrowded cabin, he’d spent her first night with her in cabin 6 even when the few children of Athena eyed him weirdly and Chiron scolded him the morning after.

For months you didn’t understand their bond, some closely-knit relationship between two people who didn’t look a thing like each other, simply accepting it as it was without bringing it up. It wasn’t until some random night in late summer, over a year after they’d arrived, when the summers campers had all left but the air was still heavy and warm during the late hours, that you found Luke being suddenly open about the subject.

You were laying down in the strawberry fields under the moonlight once again, probably still your favorite place to hang out at night when everyone was asleep and you couldn’t join them, dirt on your clothes and leaves stuck in your hair. The moon was full once again, shining down on the ripe strawberries and giving the field an whimsical glow you could never get tired of.

You were lost in the view when soft footsteps startled you out of nowhere, tilting your head back in the strawberry leaves to see who it was.

“Shit, sorry, didn’t see you there,” Luke said quickly, raising his hands in front of him in surprise. “I didn’t- I mean, it’s pretty late.”

“Yeah, didn’t think anyone would be up either,” you simply replied, giving him a reassuring smile. There was a second of silence, Luke swinging his balance from one foot to another awkwardly as you looked up at him, still laying on the ground. “You can join me if you want, I’m not gonna bite your head off.”

After that eventful first night, you and Luke had barely ever talked, only sometimes brought together by Annabeth. He’d been closed off for a while, suspicious of everything camp-related, probably processing in his own way what had happened that had rendered him the way he’d been when he first arrived. Eventually, Luke had started opening up in some ways, participating in training, quickly receiving praises for his talent even when as young as 15 and turning admirers into friends. But his friends weren’t really your friends, and you never really went out of your way to befriend him so you were just…whatever you two were.

Luke muttered a small thanks before lowering himself to the ground, a few feet away from you. For a while he just sat there, looking up at the sky and the stars twinkling softly with his knees loosely tucked to his chest, silence stretching between the two of you. Until he spoke up.

“You…come here often?”

You almost let out a small laugh. “You mean here exactly? Kinda, yeah,” you simply answered, tilting your face to the side to watch him from the corner of your eye. “Since it’s right in the middle of the fields, it always smells so much of strawberries, it’s pretty dreamy.”

“I know, right?” His voice was calm, but there was a sudden undertone of…interest? “I’m not really the gardening type, but Annabeth brought me here and it’s really…”

“Calming.”

A small smile stretched on his face as he looked back at you, just for a second, before going back to the sky, sighing. “Yeah…”

The night was still and you were too, staying in this comfortable silence for a time and just taking in the soft breeze of the evening and the view of the stars above, until Luke eventually broke that silence.

“I’m glad Annabeth has found someone like you here.”

And it was the way he was saying something so serious like he just stated the sky was blue, so casually, that made your brows slightly furrow and your eyes narrow with a smile as you turned your face toward him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… It’s understandably been pretty hard for us, after loosing… well,” you could barely see him in the dark, but you could still make out the way his face suddenly hardened, “since arriving here.” Luke took in a slow breath, shaking his head before looking back at you. “I never got to thank you, for…everything you did for her. So I’m telling you now, I’m very grateful. You got her to open up and everything… It’s really nice to see.”

You let his words float between you two for a second, but his gaze felt very intense for some reason and you felt the need to avert your eyes.

“Damn, I didn’t know you so sappy, Castellan!” You let out a laugh, maybe slightly nervous at the edges, but nothing you couldn’t hide with a practiced smile.

“Gods, I don’t even know why I’m talking to you about this…” he grumbled, rolling his eyes and looking away towards the one lantern hung outside the Big House.

You gently nudged his shoulder with your fist. “Because Annabeth really wants us to get along and you do whatever she tells you to.”

“I-” You pinned him with a gaze that dared him to deny, and he pressed his lips together. “Whatever… Oh, and before I forget,” he started looking down at his arm and tugging a beaded bracelet off his wrist, “she wanted me to give you this. Well, I think she told me not to tell you it was from her, but that’s way weirder.”

You took the small bracelet as he held it out, painted wooden pearls with a small heart-shaped one in the middle.

“Well, little Annabeth could be a daughter of Eros with her matchmaking skills,” you joked, before pulling the bracelet over your own wrist. “You did it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you during my shifts in Arts & Crafts…”

“Yeah, no, I don’t really do…crafts.”

“Hm, try to look more judgemental next time, really sell your point.”

Luke let out an amused scoff. “And so what? I don’t really see you in the training grounds often either.”

“Well I’m sorry I don’t fancy sweating my body off under the scorching sun in the middle of the afternoon,” you shot back, a smile tugging at your lips.

“Mmmh, that’s very you, being this dramatic.”

“That’s actually me being a good soul and not stealing Annabeth from you completely by being her friend, he favorite counselor, her favorite Arts & Crafts supervisor and potentially her favorite sparring partner.”

“And very humble, at that…” he breathed out with wide eyes, earning himself another, more violent, shove. “Damn, good luck Annabeth in your plan to make us friends.”

You gave him a pout, batting your lashes with a saddened expression. “Wow, you’d really disappoint your little sister like that?”

The boy looked disarmed for a second, blinking repeatedly and straightening his posture as his gaze flickered between your eyes. “I- What…”

Your teasing expression slipped on just as quickly as it had disappeared, flicking your hair behind your shoulder. “Calm down, Luke, we’ll survive a 9 year old’s wrath.”

He just huffed out a tense laugh, turning back to the view of camp spreading in front of you two. “Probably won’t stop her, though.”

“Yeah, that little shit isn’t easily deterred.”

“No, it’s more-” Luke cut himself off, thinking for a second and seemingly relaxing. “I think after Thalia, she just wants what she had back.”

“See, you keep bringing up a Thalia person, but you never tell…” The words died down halfway through as you registered his sad eyes and the tone of his voice. “You… did something happen to Thalia?”

He let out a laugh, but it sounded fake. “Well, see the tree on top of Half-Blood Hill?”

Luke twisted his torso to look behind him, pointing at the top of the hill. You looked over your shoulder, following the direction.

“The pine tree?”

“That’s Thalia.”

“…What?” You looked at him, both incredulous and openly suspicious, confused by his matter-of-fact tone. “Well, no. Chiron said it was a gift from Zeus, to protect camp when you and Annabeth came here chased by monsters…right?” But his gaze as he looked back into your eyes was telling something else. “But why would Chiron…”

Luke took a deep breath in. “Because I asked him to. I mean, I didn’t think either Annabeth or I would love to be reminded of what had happened everyday in people’s looks of pity, so… I asked him to twist the story.”

“So then, your…friend,” you started tentatively,” Thalia is a pine tree.”

“I- well, yeah.” His fingers scratched his nape awkwardly, but his eyes still carried that heavy emotion.

You bit your lip trying to understand, trying to put the pieces back together, while Luke stayed silent by your side, and you wondered if he even wanted to talk about it.

“You can…you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but what happened?” you asked, looking at the ground, suddenly interested in the growing strawberries, grazing a drying leaf to bring it back to its full strength.

The boy turned his face to look at you, then back at the starry sky. “Well, most of Chiron’s story is true, technically, we were chased up the hill by monsters.” A crease appeared on his forehead, his brows casting deeper shadows over his eyes as he frowned. “But, um,” he started, but emotion seemed to bubble in his throat at the memories and he had to swallow it down. “She wanted to buy us some time, so she tried to fight them and told me and Grover to get Annabeth safe first. But before she even got the chance, this giant-”

“The lightning bolt…” you breathed out, looking his way and this time he was the one looking away.

“Yeah… Turns out Zeus wanted his daughter to die a hero’s death, and his version of that was turning her into a tree to protect everyone else.”

You could’ve sworn you saw a tear rolling down his face, catching the light glow of the moon.

“It’s beautiful… Wait- Zeus had a daughter our age?!” you exclaimed, your eyes widening noticeably as you straightened instinctively.

Luke let out a soft fit of laughter, and for some reason it was a little relief to you. “Yeah, apparently even gods have some issues keeping promises.”

There was an other short silence, and you could hear him clearing his throat after he brushed the single tear off with the back of his hand. Then, slowly, he stood up and brushed the dirt of his cargo pants.

“Anyway, I’m glad you were here that day, and I’m glad you’re still here for Annabeth, I think she really needs that,” he said, so casually again like he was talking something that wasn’t anywhere as serious as what he meant. “I’m gonna go back and…try to get some sleep.”

“Sure,” you simply replied, sensing the moment was over. “Try not to get eaten by a harpy on the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, I think by now I smell enough like strawberry to keep them at arm’s length for a little while,” he joked back, looking down at you as you still sat on the floor. “Guess it’s because you hangout around here so much that you really smell like strawberry, now that I think about it. Left a permanent scent on you over time.”

You looked back at him, a little surprised. “Wait, do I? Really?”

Luke simply nodded, his lips tilting into a smile, like you shared an inside joke now. “Goodnight, strawberry girl.”

And just as he turned around with a small wave to walk back down to the cabin area, you felt thankful for the darkness of the night, a blush creeping up your face.

“I have a name, you know?” you exclaimed, watching him walk away with his hands in his pockets.

He didn’t even turn around when he shouted back. “I know. I don’t really care.”

What the fuck.

___

Being counselor was taking up almost all the time in your day. Even if your siblings, other children of Demeter, were never as troublesome as, for example, the Hermes cabin campers, there was always something that needed your attention—supervising a pegasus riding lesson, leading your half siblings to the dining hall, working shifts in the Arts & Crafts activities…always one thing or another.

So you had your habits to make up for the lack of hours in a day, either waking up early or going to sleep late—at least when you weren’t too tired to.

Some night, when you couldn’t find it in yourself to sleep, you went to your spot in the strawberry fields, the ever clear sky above you showing off all its stars and allowing you to relax in the comfortable silence. Some times even, you would close your eyes, laying back in the dirt between the rows of strawberry bushes, and the memory of the one time Luke had joined you would crawl back to the front of your mind, and you’d remember how young you two were a couple years ago when it had happened… And then your heart would do this little flutter thing you buried deep down before shaking off the thought and clearing your head.

Some mornings, when you had slept well enough to wake up extra early, you would quickly put on a sweater over your pajamas—the spring air was never really kind in the state of New York—, stepping outside into the chilly breeze to watch the sunrise from the cabin porch, or the small patch of grass you’d made your dedicated garden. You loved the feeling of nurturing your flowers in real time, white chrysanthemums and pink sedum growing slowly with the passing of time, barely ever using your abilities on them because they felt more intentional that way. So on those mornings, you would sit on the steps of the cabin, or sit in the grass and tend to your flowers, while the sun made its way up from the horizon line, painting the sky a hundred mesmerizing hues.

And somehow, since one morning a couple months ago, you hadn’t been alone watching the sunrise.

Luke had started training early in the morning, for about the same reasons you woke up extra early on some days, and he always passed by Cabin 4 on his way to the training area—which you’d pointed out was a little bit of a detour, but he’d simply shrugged it off as a longer way so he had time for all of his pre-training warmup. Sometimes he stayed up for a little while to chat with you, his arms on the railing of the porch while you watered your small patch of flowers and cut off worn leaves; sometimes he stayed silent, joining your side where you sat and lazily laying back to watch the sun rising in the sky, the warmth of his body traveling to your sides.

And that morning was no exception.

You’d rolled out of bed, still a little sleepy, and quietly made your way out of the door. You’d gotten quite good at not waking up anyone over time, remembering the creaky parts of the flooring, knowing the quickest way through the few rows of beds, although those were mostly empty until June. You didn’t necessarily do that every day, usually taking care of your beloved plants only twice a week this time of year, but you did love the occasional sunrise here and there.

When you pushed the door open, the wind was slightly colder than you’d expected as you stepped out, sending a chill up your back as it brushed your bare arms. But instead of going back inside, you just convinced yourself it wasn’t unbearable and you’d eventually just get used to it in a few minutes.

So you ignored it, walking down the few stairs to the front yard and sprinting the few meters to your flowers. You’d added a few different seeds in the early spring, this year, so there were short, pretty daisies blooming low to the ground and a couple of vibrant red poppies still standing next to the stems of burgeoning chrysanthemums.

They smelled amazing as you crouched down, pressing lightly on the dirt covering the roots.

“Still damp…” you muttered to no one else but you. “Guess I can skip watering for today, wouldn’t want you guys to drown, would we?”

“Gods, still talking to your plants, berry?”

You quickly rose back up, head whipping in Luke’s direction. “I’m not-” You stopped yourself, softening the defensiveness of your tone. “Actually, yes I am, I talk to my flowers. Is that a problem, Castellan?”

“Nope,” he replied with a smile, making the word pop.

“And I still have a name that is actually made to be used.”

Luke took a slow breath in. “See, you always say that, yet I’m still calling you Berry, and you still talk to me.”

“Barely.”

“I make it work.”

You rolled your eyes, so far you felt like they could’ve dropped back inside of your skull, before turning away and walking to sit on the steps.

The nickname didn’t bother you as much as you let it seem, honestly, or maybe only at first? But over time, just as the boy switched from strawberry girl, to berry girl, to just berry, it started making a warm, familiar feeling spread through your chest every time he said it.

You looked back up at him as you sat down on the higher steps, where he still looked back at you from behind the ivy-covered fence. “You coming or do you need a proper invite?”

Luke walked lazily until he reached your side, flopping down on the highest step with his arms outstretched behind him. His grin was the same laid back smile he always sported as he looked up at the sky.

“Your little plants don’t need any tending to today?” he asked, and if at first this sort of remark made your skin crawl from the concealed teasing, now it was just…usual.

“My flowers,” you emphasized, “have already been taken care of two days ago, it’s not warm enough to need daily watering yet.” A shiver ran through you as a faint breeze brushed past you. “Talk about not warm enough… At least the sky is extra duper pretty this morning.”

“Extra duper,” Luke scoffed under his breath, before unzipping his hoodie and shrugging it off before draping it over your shoulder in his usual nonchalant way.

“Hm? What are you- No, keep it, it’s cold,” you said, immediately tugging it off, only to have him pull it back on.

“Exactly, and I don’t wanna hear you complain this morning, so just keep it.”

He was holding it down on your shoulders as you kept protesting. “But- Ew, it smells like sweat, keep it-”

Luke cut you off by pulling the hood down over your face, somewhat muffling you. “Liar, I just got it out of the dryer.”

“But-”

“Keep it.”

You pursed your lips in a silent disagreement, before eventually giving in, looking away from Luke’s prideful smirk and pulling his hoodie tighter around you. And he was annoyingly right, the fabric smelled like clean laundry with a distinctive touch of his scent you wished made you gag instead of…whatever that was in your stomach.

The boy huffed out a laugh as you finally stopped fighting him, laying back on his hand. “You’re right, the view really is nicer than a couple days ago…”

You didn’t bother answer, simply bringing your knees to your chest to keep your warmth, toying with the worn bracelet around your wrist as you looked up. The sky was magnificent that morning, painted in mesmerizing hues going from a vibrant orange to a clear blue, the sun barely halfway up the horizon line and already warming up the air.

You two spent a few minutes like that, silently watching the sunrise together, barely a few inch of space between your shoulder, both unknowingly wanting to ditch that distance for just a small contact and doing nothing about it.

Eventually, Luke turned his face towards you, watching your profile for a few seconds that felt like an eternity when you could see him from the corner of your eyes and had to do your best to ignore it. He finally stretched his arms up above his head before standing up.

“Well, duty calls.”

“Training?”

“Every morning.”

“Every morning…” you breathed out, finally looking up at him. Your eyes met, and the chilly air suddenly felt charged with an unknown tension, neither of you breaking contact yes. Until Luke’s lip parted, jaw tensing like he was going to say something…only to clear his throat awkwardly.

“I should…I should go, before I miss my window.”

You still weren’t looking away, your eyes shifting between his, and Luke felt a tingle at the tip of his fingers. “Yeah, right. Have a nice…training.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile, almost looking fond for half a second, before he turned around with a wave. “Have a nice day, berry.”

You didn’t answer anything, curling up a little into yourself for warmth as you looked back at the now purple sky.

___

Later in the afternoon, you were in the Arts & Crafts cabin, teaching some fairly complex origami figure—a drakon you’d designed yourself—to a group of kids too young to participate in that day’s Capture the Flag.

Suddenly, you heard faint cheers slipping in the room from the open windows, smiling to yourself. “Guess the game’s over,” you muttered, walking to a corner of the room to get more paper for a little boy who’s ripped his at the edges. “He probably won, huh?”

Over on the other side of camp, near the beach, Luke was absolutely celebrating, red team’s flag in hand while a couple other guys held him up in the air.

He’d just had one of his best performances yet, proud of himself and how he’d led his team to victory through a good strategy—Annabeth’s, obviously, they always made the best team—and an even better execution. And yet, the one thought that had been the first to come to his mind the moment he got that flag over the narrow river was searching for you in the armor-clad crowd to tell you everything.

Which a couple months ago would’ve felt weird, foreign, but nowadays it was more of a constant buzz at the back of his mind, working overtime trying to guess where you were, what you were doing, if you were having fun, if you thought about him too…

And as used to it as he was, he still couldn’t help the tinge of disappointment when he realized you weren’t there, probably teaching some young kids whatever new craft you had up your sleeve instead. Luke knew how you didn’t like the principle of the game, still he found himself hoping once again you’d be there.

So instead, he let himself be carried back to camp by his teammates, protesting as Connor almost dropped him for a second and bragging right in front of Clarisse when they finally got back—and almost getting his teeth knocked out in the process, gods know she wanted to.

The few hours left in the afternoon trickled by quickly, Luke tasked with inventory of all the armors and weapons that had been borrowed from the armory for the game—strangely not a chore he despised, he liked the calm and being able to shut people up and send them away when they bothered him for something useless—, while that afternoon was your dedicated cabin chores repartition time, finishing up the list—you always custom-made it, assigning people their preferred tasks—and informing everyone of your half siblings of theirs.

And the sun was barely even past the horizon when noisy chatter and loud laughs started around the bonfire. By the time you joined in on the fun, Luke already had his usual court around him, maybe an even larger circle of people hanging onto his every word now that he’d won once again. He was sitting lazily on a log near the fire, flames casting soft shadows that only seemed to heighten his looks, one hand resting behind him while the other ran through his damp curls.

As you approached one of the seat more on the outer circles where Silena was waiting for you, chatting animatedly with Lee about something, your gaze suddenly caught Luke’s across the burning fire, and it was like you couldn’t look away. You held his gaze, still walking in Silena’s general direction, and when you quirked your brow in a ‘what?’ expression, your shin collided with a thick log, your face contorting in a concealed hiss of pain.

Luke immediately burst out in laughter across the fire pit, the circle of campers around him somewhat confused as he hunched over in an attempt to calm down. On the other side, your face was burning as you sat right next to Silena, burying your face in your hands.

“I’m mortified.”

“Hm? By what?” she asked, turning her attention to you.

At least one person you valued had not seen it. Less mortifying.

“Nothing, just whatever,” you replied quickly, setting down the small bag you were carrying with you.

She eyed you suspiciously for a second, before deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble. “Anyway, Lee and I were gonna get a drink or whatever… you want something?”

“Hmmm,” you thought about it as she got up, dusting off the back of her skirt, “I’d take a lemonade.”

“Boooring,” your friend teased before turning around. “Coming right up!”

You closed your eyes after she left, taking in the animated vibes as everyone seemed busy in conversation. The air was still warm from the earlier sun, smelling faintly of ashes and burnt sugar from the people roasting marshmallows close to the fire, and even from a distance you could feel the warm waves emanating from the flames.

But your eyes shot open and a startle ran through you when a voice rung right next to your ear.

“Does it still hurt?”

When he came into view, Luke had that smug smile on his face, the insufferable one that made you want to rip it off his face one way—or another maybe—, plopping down right beside you on the log without even bothering to ask. He even gave you the look that came with it, the one that said ‘what are you gonna do about it, huh?’. And you were very aware of how close he suddenly was.

“My ego, yeah. Deeply bruised,” you nodded, inching just a little away from him. Luke pretended he didn’t notice.

“Well, try not to break a leg or anything, we don’t want you participating in Capture the Flag already wounded.”

“And as I told you multiple times, I’m not ever playing that,” you stated, rolling your eyes and crossing your arms. “I don’t really do conflict.”

“But why?” he quickly replied, leaning into your space. “I mean, I’ve seen you with a sword and you can clearly handle yourself, and-”

“I don’t do violent confrontation, Luke,” you interjected, and if his heartbeat quickened a little when you said his name, he didn’t stop.

“-I’m sure you have those great chlorokinesis powers too!”

You huffed out a laugh. “I heal leaves, dude, I’m not a fucking satyr.”

Luke looked at you directly, some kind of amused frustration passing on his face before he started giving you puppy eyes. “Come on, berry.”

You gave him an unimpressed look, even when your breath caught for a second and you felt suddenly very aware of your heartbeat. “I’m sure you’ll be man enough for the both of us,” you simply replied, giving him a paternalist pat on the shoulder.

Luke’s face turned exasperated, amused by your antics, as he repeated your words in an impression of your voice.

“Don't hate the player, hate the game, Castellan.”

He simply rolled his eyes at that, looking back at the fire and leaning back a little on the log as the discussion died a little between you two.

You were melting in this comfortable silence when you remembered the bag sitting at your feet.

“Oh, by the way, here’s your hoodie back, thank you again,” you said, fishing through the back to pull the grey hoodie out, cleanly folded and smelling faintly of something floral.

Luke seemed to hesitate for a second before eventually taking it from your hands and putting it down on the other side of him. “You didn’t have to,” he said softly, looking into your eyes.

You felt a shiver run through you from the thing in his eyes you couldn’t quite understand. “Well, I mean…I wasn’t really just going to keep it, so..”

“Oh no, I didn’t-” he quickly tried to explain, hands flying animatedly in front of him. “I just meant- You didn’t have to rush just to give my hoodie back, it’s really alright.”

You hesitated for a second, watching him ramble on. “Sure, ok.”

“So like, you know, next time, you don’t have to rush or anything.”

“Next time?”

His eyes widened, and your smile turned fond absentmindedly. “Well, like- If you get cold again or-”

“Slow down, Castellan, I’m messing with you, I get what you meant,” you said with a smile, turning back to the bag and pulling out-

“A flower?”

“A chrysanthemum,” you corrected, leaning into him and gesturing for him to do the same. “Come here.”

Luke’s brows furrowed but he didn’t ask, just inching closer on the log. “Why did you just pull a random flower out of a bag like you’re Mary Poppins?”

“Because you won Capture the Flag and I wanted to be nice.”

Luke pressed his lips together in an attempt to not let his jaw drop like and absolute idiot, feeling a slight blush creep up his neck. Suddenly he didn’t really know what to do or say, his hands unable to find a position that didn’t feel awkward. “Oh.”

“Don’t act so surprised, you sound like it’s out of the ordinary.”

Again, Luke was going to reply something—probably one of his usual witty comebacks—, but it died on his tongue as your fingers brushed his skin, pushing the flower past his ear, the short stem tangling in his curls.

“See? Fits you. A peachy chrysanthemum for energy and enthusiasm, for the guy who just once again showed off in battle.”

Your soft smile, to him, was disarming, too close. And he had to hold himself back from looking down at your lips.

“Berry, you can’t just put a flower in my hair like that,” Luke said, his voice a little rough. “I’m gonna look like a… like a g-”

“Like a girl?” you immediately cut him off, brows raised in what could be interpreted as irritation.

He pressed his lips together, eyes guilty yet still shining with mirth.

“You have three seconds to come up with a better answer, or, by the gods, I’ll grow ivy around your limbs and you’ll stay here looking like an idiot all night.”

Luke’s mouth split into a teasing smile. “See? I knew you had kickass powers,” he said, clearly playing with fire given the look you were giving him. “You have to join next week’s game.”

“That’s it, I’m leaving.”

Luke’s hand shot out, curling around your wrist as you stood up and pulling you back even closer, his knee knocking against your leg. “Come on, berry, don’t be like that. Not even for me?”

You wanted to shoot back something bright that would shut him up, but looking down at him you mouth went dry. He was looking up at you with those brown eyes, the firelight creating those golden flecks you couldn’t look away from, his hair falling in the effortless, messy way that somehow made him look just that much softer, and his teasing smile made you feel differently than usual. You were all too aware of every point of contact between you two, calloused fingers lightly holding onto your wrist and fabric from his pants brushing against your leg.

“Um, I…”

Very perfect, very smart, great job.

“You?”

You had to tear your eyes from him to get back a semblance of functioning brain. “It’s still a no. You could be my mother and I’d hesitate before accepting.”

“Well, thank the gods I’m not your mom, or that would be awkward,” he mumble in response, his fingers still lingering on your wrist for a short while before he eventually let go. “Anyway, I’m gonna go, I think,” he continued, scratching his nape with his hand, the other still tingling where his skin had touched yours.

“Yeah, I think Chris wants you back,” you said, gesturing to the other side of the fire. When Luke looked in the direction you pointed to, he could clearly see a very energetic Chris signaling for him to come back with a giant smile, like he was trying to direct an aircraft from the tarmac.

The boy let out a short laugh. “I’m gonna… I’m gonna go, then.”

You smiled as he adjusted the small chrysanthemum over his ear, pushing it back so it wouldn’t fall. “You better keep the flower, if you throw it somewhere I’ll know.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you around?”

You nodded with a smile and he turned around. Your hand instinctively wrapped around your wrist where his fingers had been moments ago, missing the feeling.

You plopped back down on the log when Silena and Lee basically materialized next to you, and she let out the longest, most dramatic sigh.

“What took you so long to get drinks, Sil?” you joked, and the look she threw you was so nasty it shut you up. You turned to Lee. “Did I…say something wrong?”

But even he simply shook his head in disappointment.

“Girl, I love you,” she started, her eyes fluttering close, “but you’ve got to get your shit together.”

“What?”

Silena gave you a smile, but her eyes betrayed an intense frustration. She turned to Lee. “Actually, I’m not thirsty anymore, I think I’m just gonna go to sleep, only my night routine can calm me down at that point.”

“What do you mean?” you asked, genuinely confused as she handed the soda cups to Lee—who clearly struggle to hold three and almost spilled one all over his shoes.

“You’re just so fucking blind, he-” she exclaimed, cutting herself off halfway through and taking a deep breath as she started walking away. “Another time, I need my jade roller.”

___

It had been a week and you could still feel the ghost of his hand, which by your standards was relatively concerning, so you’d made the simple decision of pushing it at the back of your mind, like… almost everything else Luke related, which was starting to pile up a little too much now.

But at least, to relax, Chiron had agreed to a rare slumber party in cabin 10, some of the older girls allowed to gather in the almost empty cabin before the seasonal campers would arrive. You all had stayed up a little late, snacking on some things Clarisse had bought on her way back from a quest a couple months earlier and saved for this particular occasion, sharing gossip—mostly ones starting with ‘I promised I wasn’t gonna tell anyone, so don’t spread it, but…’— and cuddling in the empty beds—except for Clarisse who’d basically kicked that poor daughter of Apollo out of the bed halfway through the night.

And after a mere few hours of sleep, as the birds were chirping outside the window of the Aphrodite cabin and the air was still a little chilly outside, you felt hands gently shaking your shoulders.

“Girl, please, you have to see this,” a faint voice seemed to whisper next to your ear. “Come on, you can go back to sleep afterwards.”

You cracked one eye open, tiredly making out Silena’s face hovering right over your. You let out an unintelligible groan, rolling to the other side.

“Please, you really want to see this,” she said in a hushed exclamation, running her fingers through your hair. “For me?”

You sighed, savoring your last few seconds of sleep, before rolling on your back and rubbing your eyes. “You’re so fucking lucky…”

Your friend pumped her fist in the air in a silent celebration before ushering you out of bed, throwing you a pink fuzzy zip up jacket and gesturing to come to the window in front of her vanity.

“What are we looking at?” You yawned wide, hiding behind your hand and blinking slowly. You looked outside the window, the placement giving a perfect view of the rows of cabins. “Is it about Travis’ morning walk of shame? We talked about this last night, I believe you, you don’t have to pro-”

“Shut up and look,” she cut you off excitedly, pointing outside the glass. “It should be any minute now… Here!”

You followed her gaze, seeing Luke come out of cabin 10—that sat right across the gravel path from the one you were in— and take his usual way, crossing to the other side and following the trail up the even cabins.

You turned to Silena, unimpressed. “That’s what you’re trying to show me? Luke going to his morning training? If that’s it, I’m going back to sleep…”

But her arm shot out just as you were about to turn away. “Stop right here. I see him every morning, this is not just- Look!”

You rolled your eyes, reluctantly looking back at the boy’s figure. “What?”

“It’s- Girl, don’t play with me,” she exclaimed in a whisper, still mindful of the other sleeping girls, the ones you desperately wanted to join. “I mean, he’s- This is freaking obvious!”

And it was, freaking obvious. It was just weird admitting it to yourself. Because Luke had obviously slowed down right in front of your cabin’s fence, crouching right next to your flowers, and even from a distance you could see the fondness in his eyes as grazed the delicate petals, once again being very obvious as he kept throwing glances at the cabin’s door.

Fuck.

“What? What are you trying to show me, Sil?”

Your friend threw you the nastiest, wriest look as you curled up in her pink jacket and yawned. “Please tell me you’re being oblivious on purpose, or I’m gonna hurt someone.” You just shrugged. “Oh come on- Every morning I do my morning routine early, and every morning this guy-dude-bro comes out, almost runs up to your cabin like a puppy dog, and either gets this sad, disappointed look and drags his feet while he goes gods know where, or beams when he notices you’re out and follows you around for the next ten minutes.”

“Take a deep breathe, Sil, everything is gonna be alright,” you chastised, taking a deep breathe in to lead her. Except she only slapped both hands on the slides of your face, turning you back to the window so you could see Luke eventually walk away.

“I don’t care about breathing, dumbass!” She did take a short break, following your lead and taking a deep breathe in, then a steady exhale. “You know where the arena is, right?” You nodded, pointing towards your left. “Exactly. So why is he going in the opposite direction?”

You looked back at your friend, trying to articulate with her hands squishing your cheeks. “He said he takes the long way so he can do his warm up on the way.”

Silena rolled her eyes up so high you swore she was trying to make them fall back inside. “Gods, give me the strength so I don’t hurt anyone,” she muttered, looking up at the ceiling dramatically. “The only thing he’s warming up is his face muscles with how much he smiles when he’s around you.”

“Silena.”

“Do not even,” she riposted instantly, her hands falling from your face to your shoulders. “I know you notice everything that goes on around this place, and I know you’re not stupid.” Silena’s tone had softened, but there was still this edge of frustration. She pointed to where Luke had stood just moments ago. “I mean, homeboy doesn’t even hide it, at that point, and you just keep feeding with interactions. So stop lying to yourself, and admit it.”

Her tone was firm, no room for negotiating. But you liked getting on her nerves a little sometimes, she needed the exercise. “Admit what?”

Her eyes widened like she was gonna implode, before she closed them and took a deep breath, exhaling softly. “Don’t play with me right now.”

“I’m not playing,” you said with a smile you couldn’t conceal.

“You know what, have it your way.” She let go of your shoulders dramatically, crossing her arms over her chest. “But you like him, you can’t really hide it. So get over yourself and just do something about it.”

You gave Silena a tight smile and a grandiose eye roll. “I’m going back to sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah, sleep your problems off. That’s healthy!”

You had already turned around, giving her the finger as you climbed into bed and didn’t even hesitate before falling back asleep.

Well, you did hesitate a little when the only thing you could see when you closed your eyes was Luke’s figure waiting outside your cabin, but you didn’t let it keep you up for long.

That same day Luke left for a quest, some non-dangerous, item-seeking quick in and out that the best swordsman in 300 years could come back from without a scratch.

Over a full week passed by before he, Annabeth, and a guy from the Ares cabin—the two he’d chosen to accompany him, a mix of strong and smart— eventually came back, mostly unscathed save for a shallow gash on the son of Ares’ arm, something Luke was still teasing him about.

You wouldn’t say you’d worried during that week, you knew Luke would never let himself die on some stupid quest—he had too much ego for that—, but still you woke up early every morning, watching the sun rise a little earlier each day and catching yourself wondering if he was watching the sky where he was too, if it was the same colors…

A full week of expecting him to walk in on your quiet time and make it both of yours, and of being disappointed every time he didn’t show up.

At first, you pushed the thoughts aside, kept denying what you new all too well like it would go away. Then, you blamed the way Luke occupied your mind on the conversation you’d had with Silena, leaving you to overanalyze any detail about your interactions you could still remember and convince yourself you were just trying to make sense of what Silena thought.

By the end of the week, you’d accepted you were way more involved than you thought you were, and it was no use trying to fight it: that boy had already settled in your mind a long time ago.

So when the news broke around camp that three figures had been seen walking down Half-Blood Hill and people started gathering around the Big House to give them an enthusiastic—and definitely curious—welcome, you followed the flow of people. Somehow, despite knowing him and his obvious ability to defend himself, there had still been a tinge of worry at the back of your mind ever since he left. So you casually made your way to the Big House, catching Silena’s eyes and joining her in the small crowd in front of the porch.

Chiron was opening the front door just as you arrived, standing tall on his horse legs and making the three half-bloods look almost ridiculously small as they walked past him with a thanks. It didn’t take long before the other teens were on them, going in for hugs and strings of ‘you okay?’ ‘how big was the monster?’ ‘did you get me those candies i asked for?’

And you couldn’t help the way your smile turned fond as you watched this boy laugh and smile with everyone, scratching his nape awkwardly at some people’s praises and searching for someone in the crowd…

You froze with a look of slight surprise as his eyes locked with yours, but he only gave you a nod, like a question. You blinked fast, your lashes fluttering in an obvious display of confusion, and tilted your head in response, only for Luke’s smile to widen, looking a little different from the usual teasing grin he gave you.

He seemed to quickly excuse himself from whoever he was talking with just as Silena gave your shoulder a knowing shove, whispering. “Go get him, tiger.”

“Ew, Sil, no,” you protested, throwing her a disgusted look.

She only sighed mockingly. “Come on, you’re not fooling anyone.”

“I don’t-”

“Yo.”

You quickly cut yourself off as Luke appeared suddenly in front of you, hands in his pocket and navigating in a small crowd that quite literally parted for him.

“Hey, Luke,” you finally got out after a second that seemed to last forever, cursing yourself for the way your voice cracked on his name.

Your eyes shied away under his gaze, but he still looked right at you. “What’s up, berry?”

You hated the way hearing him say that nickname so casually, just like he’d done for years, now made a small shiver run through you. But you just wanted him to say it again, and you felt crazy for it.

“You know, the usual, mostly looking after little half-blood demons and watching the sunrise,” you simply replied, looking up at his eyes for a second before averting your gaze again. Silena, still standing right next to you, lightly scratched your arm, her way of saying ‘yeah, tiger!’ “You?”

“You know, the usual,” he started, shamelessly repeating your words with his usual teasing grin back in place. “Fighting off monsters left and right, not even breaking a sweat.”

“Wow, you’re such a brag.”

“And a liar, you reek,” Silena added with a look of disgust.

Luke let out an offended scoff. “Who talked to you, shortie?”

The girl wasn’t even remotely offended, brushing it off with a motion of her hand. “Believe me, Castellan, I am well aware of the way I’m third wheeling on you guys’ conversation, right now.”

Talk about dropping a bomb. You two immediately fell silent, eyes growing wider as you looked straight at Silena and her smug expression. You didn’t even know what to say anymore, too taken aback by her bluntness to find something witty to relax the tension. When you stole q quick glance in Luke’s direction, he looked just as distraught if not more, his fingers flexing by his sides while he gave your friend a look filled with confusion.

“I’m kidding, guys. Obviously,” Silena suddenly relaxed, though that grin did not leave her face. She gave you both’s shoulders a short squeeze. “Come on, what’s got you guys so speechless for?”

You let out an anxious fit of laughter, barely any relief in it as you caught Luke’s gaze searching for yours too. The air was undeniably electric now, eyes locking and scrutinizing each other, looking to read into any micro-expression.

“You sure have a deadpan humor sometime, Sil,” you said tentatively, eyes going from Luke to Silena and back, the girl shrugging next to you with one of the most mischievous smiles you’d ever seen on her.

The boy held your gaze for a second before one of his half-brothers arrived from behind, roughly wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He barely had time to congratulate him before jerking his head back.

“Dude! When did you last shower? This is-”

Luke simply shoved him off, his face turning wry and a light blush creeping up his neck. He scratched his nape awkwardly, throwing you quick glances. “Well, I think this is officially too humiliating to try deny it.”

You let out a breathy laugh, hiding a smile behind your hand. “Catch you later?”

“Definitely.”

The way he said it, like it was the most obvious thing, made you forget for a second the noisy and agitated crowd around you, his eyes all you could focus on once again.

Luke was the one to break the moment, giving you and your friend a nod before stepping aside, going back inside the Big House and retrieving his bags.

You waited a few seconds before turning to Silena, giving her what was meant to be a heavy glare but looked, at least in her eyes, more like a deeply embarrassed, cowardly look.

“You’re fucking helpless.”

“Helpless? You’re the one who just-”

“Gave you the biggest opportunity to flirt a little? You should’ve thanked me, instead you looked at him like a deer in headlight,” she said in a teasing tone, letting out one of her melodious chuckles that made at least one head turn.

Your face was burning as you pursed your lips. You took a second before replying, turning and walking away from her. “Actually I’m not talking to you anymore.”

But the amused lilt in your voice was unmistakeable, and Silena was quick to run after you, arms circling your waist and head on your shoulder. “Come on, you love me too much to ditch me. Who would annoy you the way I do?”

“You’re lucky you have good gossip,” you sighed, shaking your head.

“Just so you know, the hottest tea I have right now is definitely the you and Luke situation.”

That definitely earned her a loud groan and a shove.

Later, after the whole commotion died down and everyone eventually went for dinner, Chiron had seen it fit to hold a bonfire for the quest returnees. It was almost summer and the sun was still up in the sky, but the sentiment was there, the flames curling around each other in a mess of blue hues as some campers of the Apollo cabin sung along to a guitar.

You were sitting next to Lily, comforting her as she cried because the 4 years old girl had just dropped her marshmallow into the pit , and yet the only thing you could think about was him.

You’d been spacing out all the afternoon, unable to get rid of the image of Luke your mind kept conjuring, the way he’d looked at you with this smile that now had you catching yourself grinning at nothing, the way he’d become fidgety and awkward all of a sudden and was almost shy under your gaze… And denying was like fighting your own brain, it had proven impossible.

But you also knew another day waking up extra early because you couldn’t sleep, from the uncertainty of both the situation and what either of you felt it, was gonna be the last string.

So once Lily had stopped crying, giving her one last comforting pat on her oh-so soft hair, you gave a look around the campfire, trying to scan until you’d see him. Except where Chris sat, there was no Luke. He wasn’t with his usual friends, the usual place he always sat in directly across the pit from you, his usual court was scattered around the circles of log like their favorite topic just wasn’t there.

So you gave your half-sister Katie a signal to take care of the younger kids—she was 13 and freaking full of sass, rolling her eyes at you when you made her break away from her boyfriend to keep an eye on her siblings—, and got up out of your seat to go all the way on the other side of the bonfire.

Chris let out a long hum when you asked him where his half-brother had gone. “I don’t know… I think he left dining hall early to go back to the cabin, maybe he’s still there?”

“Ok, thanks,” you simply replied, turning around already.

“Good luck, tiger!”

You stopped in your tracks, slowly turning around and seeing him with two enthusiastic thumbs up and a big smile, surrounded by confused friends.

“Silena?”

“Silena.”

“Oh. Oh, I’m gonna kill that girl,” you sighed, turning back around and going to the cabin area with an equally decided and anxious feeling.

You were quickly stopping at the bottom of the steps that lead to the huge entrance doors of the Hermes cabin, the whole area the same kind of strangely empty it always was when a bonfire night was held, except for the fact that the sun hadn’t even started setting yet and the air was still warm like it was the middle of the afternoon.

Your feet suddenly felt like lead, pushing down into the ground and holding you back as you looked up at the door. You took a steadying breath, closing your eyes for a grounding second, before climbing onto the first step with much effort. The next moment, you found yourself knocking onto the door.

After a few seconds, there was no answer, no footsteps.

“Luke?” you said, loud and clear enough so anyone inside—if there was even anyone—could hear you.

Suddenly, there was a rushed rustling sound behind the closed doors, something knocking over loudly on the wooden floor and a muttered curse before the door opened to reveal Luke. He was a little short of breath, you could see his chest’s fast rise and fall under his orange tshirt, which was very unusual for him out of training. His hair was damp, droplets dropping from the tip of his curls and soaking into his collar, trickling down the sides of his necks… And his eyes looked like molten chocolate, immediately boring into yours.

Has he always looked like that?

“Hey,” Luke let out, a little breathy but with a smile in his voice. He saw your eyes running all over him, a wave of shyness taking over and he awkwardly scratched his nape. “I, uh… I felt like I deserved another shower, with all the…”

“Yeah…” you dragged absentmindedly, matching his tone. “Looks good on you.”

Had he been drinking, Luke would’ve probably spat it all out. “Huh?”

Your eyes widened significantly, words coming out instinctively. “No! Shit, that came out wrong, I meant-” The words were jumbling and merging on your tongue, and you had to take a deep breath and start again. “I meant it’s nice you’re like…clean.”

“I guess it’s nice, sure,” the boy answered, more than obviously still heavily flustered. “Did you…want something?”

You tilted your head to the side, brows furrowing slightly. “Hm?”

He ran a hand through his curls at the back of his head, shaking off some water. “I mean, you came all the way here, i assumed…? Not that I’m pushing you away or anything-”

“No I-” you cut yourself off, looking straight into his eyes and barely remembering to blink.

You thought for a second: how to word your interrogations, how to understand what was going on, why your feet had even led you here in the first place. And patience was usually your forte, taking care of small kids and putting up with punctually annoying friends. But apparently, this time, your mouth had made the decision of not waiting for anything before speaking.

“I think you like me.”

This time, Luke definitely chocked on his own saliva, coughing loudly before clearing his throat, his eyes wide, startled. He took a step back, knocking into the doorframe an wincing from the short pain.

“Ow- Wha- What?” Luke tried for a scoff, but let out something closer to a choke. “I don’t.. what do you mean?”

You didn’t exactly trust yourself to answer, as calm as you might’ve looked on the outside, so you simply tilted your head to the side, looking at him with an unreadable look.

Luke’s breath halted for half a second, his eyes unable to look from yours, and his resolve just drained out of him.

“I just- I don’t know…”he let out, looking down at his shoes before hesitantly looking up again. “Why? Do you…like me?”

And for a few seconds, there was a silence between you two, punctuated by fits of laughter down at the campfire and the sound of crickets in the forest right behind the cabins. In the background, the sun had started to set, the sky going to a soft purple as the horizon line turned pink.

“…Yeah.” It was soft as it left your lips, just loud enough for him to hear but like you weren’t quite ready. “I’ve come to terms with it.”

“You’ve come to- whatever.” Luke shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, before taking a step closer. “You like me.”

You let out a laugh as he blinked repeatedly, noticeably dumbfounded, and a smile slowly formed on your lips. “I’m not making fun of you, you just look…”

“Absolutely fucking confused?”

“Yeah.”

“Well for the record, I am absolutely fucking confused. And maybe a little pissed too, honestly.”

You raised an eyebrow, now being the confused one. “You’re pissed I like you?”

His hands immediately shot in front of him, visibly panicked. “No! Oh no, definitely not, that’s probably the highlight of my short life.”

“Isn’t it winning your first Capture the Flag?”

Luke squinted at you, the wheels in his head obviously turning. “I… Maybe it’s a tie- ouch!” he exclaimed with a chuckle as you took a step closer and slapped his arm, his smile coming back instantly. “But your timing is just…”

“Is just what? You got a girl in here?” you teased, feeling your cheeks redden as you realized how physically close you two had eventually gotten.

“No it’s just… wait a second.” Luke quickly went inside the cabin then, the door still open. But you waited outside, because when you tried to take a peek inside he pestered until you stood back out the door.

He joined you outside after a couple minutes only, something hidden behind his back and a sheepish look on his face.

“I know it’s pretty fucking cheesy but…” Luke twisted his arm from behind him, handing you a small bouquet of white chrysanthemums, the flowers delicate and pristine.

You furrowed your eyebrows before looking up at the boy: his eyes were fixed on you, blinking slowly, carrying that hopeful look you’d rarely ever seen him sport. Something tightened even more in your chest, but the feeling just seemed…natural. Right.

“That’s for me? Where did you get them?” you asked, your voiced back to its usual softness, although tinted with even deeper emotions.

Luke scratched his nape awkwardly, still holding out the flowers with one hand. “Well, we were on the way back this morning, and in that city there was this kind of…flower shop? And so i just…”

“You bought me flowers?”

Luke’s gaze shied away from yours, feeling a blush creep up his neck and his ears burning under your attention. And it was not his first time under your eyes, yet it suddenly felt like way more than any time before.

“Well- I mean-” he started, trying to build a proper sentence while being entirely too distracted. “I see you giving people flowers all the time, like the kids who made their first finished bracelet, or your friends on their birthdays, even me when I won that Capture the Flag game a couple weeks ago… I thought maybe you’d like being the one getting them for once, berry.”

You stayed silent for a short while, trying to contain whatever emotions were trying to bubble up to the surface.

“Like you said, it’s pretty fucking cheesy,” you started.

“I- gods, I-”

“It’s also very thoughtful, Luke,” you continued, taking another step closer before finally wrapping your arms around him in a tight hug. “Thank you.”

Luke was stunned for a second, his arms hanging in the air like a puppet while his brain tried to catch up. He relaxed quickly, letting his arms circle you loosely while making sure to preserve the delicate flowers, and letting his head rest upon yours while whispering softly.

“Whenever you want.”

You two stayed like that for a while, entangled in a comfortable silence. He smelled nice, whatever unscented soap he used leaving this clean afterthought you liked, a single drop falling on your face from his still damp curls bringing you back. As you opened your eyes, you saw the vibrant warm hues the sky had taken, the sun already halfway down the horizon line.

“I think it’s the first time we’re watching the sunset together,” you simply said, your voice low, relaxed.

Luke turned, resting his cheek on top your head to watch. “Apollo sure knows how to put on a show… Feels like new beginnings.”

“Gosh, you’re sappy again,” you let out, rolling your eyes dramatically even when he wouldn’t see it.

“Again?”

“Well, yeah,” you started, pushing off his chest to look into his eyes. “Remember when you went to the strawberry fields one night and we talked for a little while?”

Luke furrowed his brows. “Berry, that was so long ago, how do you even…”

“You were being so sappy, talking about how you were glad Annabeth liked me, gifting me that bracelet.” You raised your arm, showing off the worn wooden pearls to prove your point.

“You keep a bracelet for literal years and I end up being the sappy one?” he shot back, tugging at the string of the bracelet to bring it closer, only earning himself a dismissive slap on the chest.

“Shut up, I wanna watch the sunset.”

You freed yourself from his arms and walked back to the stairs, sitting on the top one and twisting your bust toward Luke. “You’re not gonna join me?”

He shook his head teasingly but immediately followed, sitting next to you and hesitantly reaching up to make you rest your head on his shoulder. You sighed in contentment, melting into his side while he let out a small ‘always wanted to do that.’

The sun was getting closer to fully setting, and you wanted for this moment never to end.

“Why now?”

“I could ask you the same question, berry,” he replied quickly, resting his elbows behind him on the porch’s flooring. “If you’d found me at the bonfire you’d have done the same? With all the campers around?”

You groaned as he teasingly squeezed your shoulder before laying back on his arms.

“Of course not, it just… came out in the moment. I would’ve been more low-key,” you said with an amused lilt in your voice, emphasizing on the last work.

“Oh, low-key you say? How was that gonna go?”

“Don’t laugh, asshole.” This time, you were the one to elbow his side.

“Gosh, since when are you this violent?”

“Ask Silena, she’ll tell you the softness is only the exterior,” you shot back with a scoff, before turning your face toward him. “But really? Why did you… now? I mean, you even had the flowers,” you asked, pointing at the chrysanthemums laying behind you on the dark wood of the flooring like they were proof.

Luke let out a long hum, thinking almost audibly before looking back at you. “Well… No, wait, this is embarrassing.”

The boy reached for your face, looking up at him while half laying on his shoulder, before grabbing your jaw softly and turning you back to the setting sun. You’d never admit how much that move alone made you blush.

“I was speaking with Annabeth, during our quest

You turned back to face him, gesturing between you two before he moved your head again. “You mean about…”

“Yes, yes, about,” Luke replied, in that slightly rushed tone that meant he was frustrated but probably about himself. “Anyway, then Chris chimed in saying there was a guy from the Apollo cabin who’d asked him if you were single, so I guess that kind of…got me motivated.”

You let the silence stretch for a couple seconds, before speaking again in a soft voice that was maybe a little too amused. “So you bought me flowers because you were jealous? Piqued in your pride?”

This time, you caught his wrist before he could force you to look away again, and he didn’t fight. Instead, blush blossomed on his cheeks, his eyes looking past you while he seemed positively flustered.

“I wouldn’t use the word jealous, that seems a little extreme…”

“So piqued in your ego?”

“No I don’t- That doesn’t sound very noble of me.”

“I’m messing with you, Luke,” you chuckled, flicking his forehead playfully. “I really don’t mind, anyway… I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this flustered before, do I have that effect on you?”

“Berry, don’t play like that,” he let out dismissively, hiding in his hand.

“No but, you’re really cute like that!”

“Come on,” the boy groaned, letting his head fall back as he shied away from your attention. “This is…”

“A lot?” you suggested. “Too early? Believe me, Luke, this is a lot for me too, I’m just trying to make it a semblance of normalcy.”

“Then,” he started, using your weak hold on his wrist to pull you back further into his chest, one arm circling your waist to secure you. “Let’s just watch the sunset, huh? In silence so I can….process.”

“Process?”

“Process.”

You thought for a second, before melting back into him comfortably. “Let’s take it slow.”

The air was still warm around you, like a blanket wrapped tightly, the sun was merely a spot over the horizon like by now and campers were still loud around the bonfire. Still, watching the stars start to appear in the increasingly dark sky with Luke clinging onto you, you wished this moment never had to end.

Did you guys know this shiiiiii (nah i love it i’m sorry) took me freaking WEEKS to write? I was sooooo slow for no reason guys…. i hate corporate.

From this request heheheh i went a lil overboard, hope you guys liked it ~