𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒 - luke castellan.

xxiv, back at camp

b a c k  a t  c a m p
venus's pov.

━━━━━━━

The ride back to camp had got to be one of the best feelings I had ever felt -- apart from having my first kiss with Luke. I was going to be with him. Once and for all. I was going to be able to sleep in my own bed, eat food, and just relax.

I'm going to make Luke my every single work. 

I have faith in Percy. I know he is going to stop this war. Once it is over. Our lives will finally be at peace. 

Maybe.

When we arrived, we were greeted with campers asking us for an update and asking if we were okay. I looked around, looking for my favourite person when my eyes stopped at the girl glaring at me.

"What is she doing here?" I asked, making Annabeth stop and look where I was looking. 

"How is she still here?" I asked, looking at Annabeth. 

"I don't know," Annabeth answered. 

"Venus!" I turned around and saw Luke. I smiled, presumably my biggest smile ever, forgetting about Clarisse, and walked towards him, quickly. I hugged him, tightly feeling tears form in my eyes. Because I missed him. I missed his scent, his warmth, his hugs, and just everything. 

I felt as if I was right where I belonged when his arms wrapped around me. A puzzle piece fitting into its right place. I was finally home. In my home's arms. 

"I have so much to tell you! Do you know what the craziest thing happened in this whole quest?" I asked, pulling away and looking up at him after blinking away my eyes. 

"What?" He laughed.

"I almost got pulled Tartarus," I said and watched as his smile fell and the color drained from his face. 

"What?" He asked.

"Yeah, I know, crazy!" I said, shaking my head. "I'm going to take a shower and then explain every single detail to you," I said and walked away. He didn't smile, just gave me a single nod. I walked as Annabeth walked to him to greet him.

I jumped in bed with a relieved sigh. I missed this. I missed my normal life. I had taken a long shower, brushed my hair, and now I was planning on sleeping for an eternity. I lay in bed, resting for a while when my door opened. 

I looked and saw Luke. I smiled and sat up. "Are those for me?" I asked, noticing the flowers in his hand. 

"Of course," He said, handing me them and sitting down on the bed. "So, how was it?" He asked, lying down. 

I took a sniff of the flowers, the sweet fragrance filling up my nostrils. "Hectic. Obviously. We met Medusa, you know. I liked her a lot but then she threatened to kill me. I lost the bag of candy you gave me. We starved, and we survived sleep deprivation. Ran away from Echidna and her puppy monster. Percy fell off the Arch. We met Ares, I ordered a milkshake using his money..." I chuckled and he smiled.

"We met Her- Hades," I stopped myself last moment. "Oh, and your shoes almost dragged me into Tartarus. But you knew that,"

His smile faltered and he looked away, "I gave that to- to Percy... why were you-"

"I wanted closure," I said, without being embarrassed. He looked at me, confused, and sat up, leaning against the wall.

"I missed you so much. A lot. I have never been away from you ever in these last two almost three years and I wanted closure. Your shoes and that bag of candies were the only things making me feel closer to you," I said, looking into his eyes. 

"I was counting every minute on when I could be close to you. I'm so attached to you to the point, I feel so dependent on you. And for some reason, I don't mind it all," I laughed.

"And I think it's because I know I can trust you with my whole being that you will be with me, always, to protect me," And as I finish saying the last word, he kisses me.

I felt comforted, I felt relaxed. There's nobody more important than us. My mind is blank. there are no thoughts present and I feel at peace with it. I feel complete and I just know this is where I belong.

Shivers ran down my spine as I deepened the kiss. There are butterflies in my stomach, my heart feels warm, and I want to never pull away.

I wrapped an arm around his neck, my other hand resting atop his heart, feeling it beat rapidly.

The kiss was innocent and pure. There were no secrets between us -- apart from the fact that I met his dad and I know what happened to his mother -- we were completely bare to each other.

Not in a sexual way.

Ew.

We pulled away and breathed heavily, my eyes slowly opening.

"You're birthday is coming up. What do you want?" He asked, as I sat back and wrapped my blanket around myself.

My birthday isn't actually my birthday. It's the day he found me in the woods and I came to camp.

"Hmm, let me think. I really want to watch a... mo-movie," I said. "Percy kept talking about wanting to show us that."

His eyes slightly widened before he chuckled, "You want to watch a movie for your birthday?" He asked. I nodded, confused.

"We can do that anytime, Venus. What object do you want as a gift for your birthday?" He asked again.

I smiled before saying, "Maybe some more candles? Um... makeup. And... oh, I really want a new book for my collection."

He nodded. "Well, I gotta start preparing for your birthday from now. I wanna make it extra special," He said. I smiled.

I'm so in love with you, Luke Castellan.