You're sort of mine, Clarisse la Rue

"Hey Beckendorf!" Percy called when he saw him and Chris passing by the arena. "Any chance to have the Hephaestus cabin on my side for the next CTF?"

"Hey, don't even try Jackson!" Chris intervened "Cabin 9 is on our team this time."

"Oh, if that's how you want to play it, bring it on Hernandez! Blue team is going to eat you."

Both boys laughed cheekily, and Charles rolled his eyes because of their competitiveness.

"I didn't promise anything to the Hermes cabin yet, Chris."

"What? Oh no come on Beckendorf, don't join the dark side of the blue team!"

The three sat on one of the benches surrounding the training arena when they heard two boys behind them:

"Dude you got to be kidding me!" said one camper that Chris recognized as Ed, a son of Demeter.

"No, I swear I'd totally drag her into my bed." said his brother Kyle.

"Seriously? Clarisse La Rue?"

All the sudden, Chris froze, unsure of if he heard right. Beckendorf and Percy frowned as well. The two campers were sat on the grass behind another bench and didn't seem to notice their presence.

"C'mon Kyle, that girl's a turn off. Her best friend, the daughter of Aphrodite is way hotter."

Beckendorf growled at the mention of Silena but Chris hushed him, wanting to hear the rest of the conversation:

"It's not about being hot, man. Like, okay La Rue isn't all prettiness and flowers but that's the point. She's fire! Must be a freaky girl between the sheets, I'm telling you."

Chris gritted his teeth, his fists curled so tight that his nails left marks on his palms. He was going to kill these pigs for speaking of Clarisse in such way!

"Mmh fine, you got a point on that. Besides, the girl is a daughter of Ares and train nonstop, so she has a killer body."

"Exactly man, see! Oh, what I would do for having those legs wrapped around my waist."

"And I would kill for seeing such a headstrong on her knees for me." Kyle's brother nearly moaned.

"THAT'S IT!" Chris exploded, and the two idiots finally noticed his presence.

Chris stood up, ready to throw himself on them, and Percy and Beckendorf had to hold him back at some point or else he was going to kill the two sons of Demeter.

"Shit, it's her boyfriend!"

"Chris, man, calm down" Beckendorf uttered, struggling with his hold on his friend, despite his muscular figure.

"Who do you think you are?! You fuckin' pigs!" Chris screamed at the top of his lungs.

Kyle and his brother fled towards the cabins and Chris was about to chase them, still grunting of wrath.

"Chris, take it easy, they're not worth it." Percy said, trying to talk him down but if he was honest; he'd be the same if not worse if some guys said shit like this about Annabeth.

"Wow, what's going on here? Chris?" asked a feminine rough voice. Clarisse.

She was sweaty and breathless from her training, Laimer in her right hand. Instantly, Chris cooled off.

"Nothing. Just some idiots on the way." he mumbled, eyes fixed on the ground.

His girlfriend frowned but he didn't want to tell her what happened. It would just make things worse.

During the rest of the day, Chris was on edge, not able to stop thinking about those morons' words. The fact that they disrespected her was beyond him already, but what really annoyed him was that they... noticed.

He knew it was stupid, but it truly disturbed him: most people were, um, how to say... terrorized by Clarisse. She does have her temper and she's not a daughter of the war god for nothing. She was the drakon slayer. But he's always been the one to notice details about her... Like how she's always radiant of confidence, how she fights so gracefully that it looks like a dance. And she might not be as eye-catching as Aphrodite's or Apollo's daughters, but she had some soft features that Chris loved to tease her with: her long eyelashes, her cute nose and those freckles on her neck that she will forever deny having... These details made him fall in love with her. He always preferred tough girls anyway.

So now that Chris knew how some people were lurking at her, he was feeling possessiveness rushing through his veins.

"Okay, what on Hades is going on?!"

Chris jumped when Clarisse herself popped up in front of him while he was sitting in front of his cabin. He almost forgot the "sweetness" of her voice when she was upset, and arms crossed just like now.

"You've been avoiding me all day long and I'm sure it has something to do with those two Demeter dummies at the arena."

"Er, it's, nothing Clary, don't worry 'bout it."

"Don't call me Clary! You do it only when you want to distract me from something."

"Oh, so it does distract you huh?" he smirked.

"Chris!" she scolded.

"Fine, fine... I got mad because they were, well... talking crap about you."

"So? I'm used to useless jealous boys with an inferiority complex."

"No, you don't understand they were... leering at you like you're some piece of meat! Freakin' Kyle was making comments about your looks and implied that he wouldn't mind you in his bed."

With a raised eyebrow, Clarisse didn't respond at first.

"Well, this is a first."

"Look I know you don't need anyone to defend your honour or something, you're perfectly able to do it yourself but, I... yeah. I guess I just don't like to share" he chuckled.

"I'm not some thing that you get to share, Hernandez!" Clarisse griped but Chris could see the smile she was trying to hide.

"Um, you are, kinda."

"Excuse me?!"

Laughing out loud now, he rose up from the cabin's stairs and grabbed her up around the waist. She yelped at the sudden embrace.

"You're sort of mine, Clarisse La Rue. My girl." Chris whispered in her ear.

Her cheeks reddening, the daughter of Ares let her guard down and wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him. If she was being honest with herself, Clarisse never saw her as beautiful or attractive and didn't need to. She was a daughter of the god war, she needed strength that's it. But at rare times of vulnerability, she wished she was more than that... more like a girl.

But then, Chris Rodriguez happened. He makes her feel more like a girl, beautiful and loved.

'I guess I'm okay with being his girl...' she mentally tells herself when he kisses her back.

The next day, they find Kyle and his stupid brother each with a hand-shaped red mark on their cheek. Because of course, Beckendorf told Silena and Silena had to defend her best friend's honour as well. Apparently, a slap hurts more with false manicured nails.