(A/N: Here's a really, really long alternate ending. Glitch is back, doll face.)
Your Point of View:
It was a surreal feeling; The cool breeze that drifted across your skin from the open window. The soft, golden midday sunlight that spread like molten gold across the floor beneath your feet. You could see small white specs of dust drifting lazily through the warm glow, no set destination and no reason to hurry. You could barely remember a time in your life when you felt like those tiny dust motes. Living as a demigod doesn't exactly make easy-going life a possibility. But in all honesty, from the bottom of your heart, you wouldn't trade a second of your life for even a fragment of normalcy. Every hardship you've endured, every monster you've fought, and every nerve-wracking quest you've completed have lead you to where you are today--made you into the person you are today.
The harshness of your reality brought you a group of people with whom you would--and frequently do--trust your life with. Just the thought is enough to bring a soft, nostalgic smile to your lips, an almost silent chuckle passing through them. Man, you really do enter life-threatening situations more than you'd care to admit. The amount of idiotic, though necessary, things that you've done in your life are astronomical. But, once again, you had no regrets. Its good to live with no regrets. Never question what gives you happiness, and, especially, never let anyone else dictate what should make you happy.
If it makes you happy right now, then do it. It if ever stops making you happy, stop doing it. Life seems a lot simpler if you think about it that way.
Hell, you were almost happy to struggle through life. You liked the thrill of the fight, the almost euphoric adrenaline you got when you knew you really had something to fight for. Your drive was your friends; but at this point, they were more appropriately titled as your family. You would more than gladly give your life to them.
Ironically, you were giving your life to one in particular on this very day.
Planning out events was such a pain. Paying for said event was even more of a pain. It took months for you and your family to scrape up enough money to pay for catering, ballroom rental, and the perfect attire. You definitely couldn't have done it without their help, and you will be eternally grateful to whatever otherworldly force that gave these wonderful people to you.
Let's get back to the present. You can happily reminisce later, (Y/N).
It was a quarter past noon. You stood in the center of a large, open room, the French doors swung wide open to let the warm summer breeze waft in. You could see a multitude of cars, chariots, and even pegasi parked outside of the grand ballroom. The familiar, indignant whinnying of the pegasi and magical forms of horses brought a stupid grin to your lips. You let out a short burst of laughter, like the quick firing of a canon. Demigods really did know how to arrive in style.
Your eyes trailed down from the window and to your feet, which were obscured by the long, almost dragging hem of your dress. It was brilliantly white, your waist decorated in small, tasteful jewels. It hung around your hips elegantly, the sweetheart neckline just low enough so your chest could proudly display your necklaces; on one silver chain sat a familiar ring made of intricately woven copper wire--your promise ring. The other necklace, a leather chord, held every Camp Half-Blood bead you'd earned in your surprisingly long lifetime.
You let your gaze trail back upward to meet the tall mirror in front of you. You were absolutely glowing. Your (H/L), (H/C) hair was put into an elegant up-do, tiny golden hoops hanging from your ears. Your makeup was immaculate--courtesy of the Aphrodite cabin, of course. Highlights and shadows were in all the right places. Your lips were a lovely matte, full and perfectly lined. The wings of your eyeliner were sharp enough to fight monsters, you'd reckon.
Behind you, you heard the door to the main hall creak open. You turned around, being careful not to get tangled in your lacy, transparent veil, which draped many feet behind you. The door opened wider to reveal none other than Piper McLean, clad in her pre-chosen dress; a simple wrapped gown that faded from a soft sunset orange to a deep rose red, almost like a soft flame. Her grin was broad, her hair pinned into a bun with a yellow feather sticking out from the mass of hair. You couldn't help but match her smile, despite the growing pool of anxiety in your stomach.
"Hey, there," she entered the room quickly, being sure to shut the doors behind her. "Well, don't you look stunning? Man, I wish I were the groom right now,"
You let out a sweet laugh, walking over to wrap your arms around her. She curled her arms around your midsection, being careful not to mess up your dress or makeup.
"Thanks, Pipes," you take in the lovely scent of her perfume and give her a quick squeeze.
"Now, I didn't just come in here fawn over your incredible beauty," she grinned as she straightened your headband, which was the base of your veil. "I came to tell you that the reception starts in three minutes. Are you ready?"
The question momentarily stunned you. Were you ready? Did really think that you were prepared to open a completely new, more dangerous chapter of your life? This was more risky than any monster you've ever encountered. This was more treacherous than any quest you've ever endured. The pools of commitment were deep enough to drown you in this situation.
But the more you thought about it, the more the fear drained out of your system. You didn't regret anything about your life. You especially didn't regret falling in love.
If there was one thing in your life that you did more than anything else, it was feeling. You have felt fear. You have felt grief. You have felt excruciating pain, mind-numbing sorrow, and incomprehensible emptiness. You have given up on the world before. But along with these soul-ripping feelings come ones that drown out the constant static of agony.
You have felt pure, unadulterated happiness in the darkest, most desperate of times. You have felt hope that was so strong, it was intoxicating. The muscles in your face have been in such pain from smiling year after year after difficult year. Most of all, you have felt the love of friendship and romance, both of which are emotions that roll off of a person in spine-tingling waves. Love in its purest form is almost tangible. Its warm and soft to the touch. It smells like your favorite scents and sounds like the most beautiful music you could fathom. It's funny that you found that exhilarating music in an instrument so crudely named the Valdezinator.
Your thoughts of doubt trailed off in a pool of sweet nothings and loving embraces shared over the years of a laborious life, successfully drowning them in a feeling of unshaken confidence.
"Yeah," you finally respond, your thoughts untangling themselves from that previous knot. "Definitely ready."
Piper gave you a sweet smile and spared you a kiss on the cheek. "Get ready," she advised you, walking backwards towards the door. "Percy's gonna walk you down the aisle. We're waiting, pretty lady!"
With that, she slipped out of the room and closed the door, the only sound being the distant classical music in the ballroom.
The three minutes that stood in between you and the waters you were about to tread in felt like an eternity. The world had paused just for you. But you had made up your mind.
When Percy opened the door with that happy, brotherly smile, you brightened tenfold. He opened the doors of the side room in which you stood, holding out his arm in a gentlemanly manner.
"I think you know what time it is, (Y/N)," he said with a small chuckle as you took his extended arm.
"Come on, Perce," you grinned, bumping his hip with your own. "I wanna get out there. That cake is calling my name, man."
With one last laugh, he pulled you to the doors of the ballroom. Two attendants on either side opened the doors. All talk in the ballroom immediately silenced, the remaining sound coming from the music drifting through the air. The room was ginormous, golden streams of light pouring into the expanse of space from large windows in rows. A stained-glass window at the end of the room caused colors to dance across the floor in a watery manner. You could smell the freshness of the flowers decorating the room in various pots and vases. Circular tables were set up across the room, and sitting at each you could see familiar faces and loving smiles. You spotted Chiron, in all his centaur glory, standing and scuffing the ground with his hooves. He was smiling proudly, the wrinkles around his eyes more pronounced than ever. Its not every day he gets to attend one of his campers' weddings.
All eyes were on you as you were lead down the aisle, your veil trailing what seemed like miles behind you. When you finally looked to the arch standing at the far end of the room, you spotted the idiot you were planning to give yourself to.
His hair was still that tousled, curly chocolate brown that was a perpetual mess. His still-scrawny frame was cloaked in a black tuxedo with a rose pinned to the lapel. You saw his hands fiddling with a silver washer and a screw, rapidly twisting and untwisting the two from each other; he never could keep still. Finally, you trailed your gaze up to meet his caramel-colored eyes, which were zeroed in on nothing but you and your radiant beauty.
As soon as your eyes met, you could see the dam inside him break. His eyes glossed over, tears threatening to spill as that goofy grin took over his features. He quickly slipped the washer and screw into his jacket pocket, rubbing his eyes furiously as he let out a boisterous, happy laugh. You could feel him just radiating exuberance. He was even more jittery than usual. Leo Valdez stood before you, crying with the most jovial smile that ever graced his lips.
It made you walk faster. You just had to reach him, your grin matching his own. You both let out soft, excited laughter the faster you approached. Percy let go of your arm as you stepped under the arch, kissing your temple and retreating to his own seat. Leo immediately grabbed hold of your hands, tugging you right in front of him.
"Its excruciating," he started, "to have to wait to kiss you."
You smiled so wide that you thought your cheeks would split. Could feel that incredibly tangible love that poured out of his words, making you grip his hands even tighter.
"Same here, Flame Brain."
He laughed, but was quickly silenced by Chiron, who now stood beside them.
"The vows, Mr. Valdez?"
Leo looked you straight in the eyes. His gaze was locked in place. His hands held yours tightly, desperately, as he pulled them to his chest.
"(Y/N)," he breathed your name like it was even more important than oxygen. "I don't even know where to begin with you. There was a time when I thought that the only way I'd find love was by building myself a girlfriend."
The room erupted into soft giggles at the comment, but your attention was wrapped on his words.
"I'm mesmerized by you," he continued with a fierce passion in his tone. "I've calculated so many formulas and strategies and blueprints in my lifetime that I got a little cocky; sometimes, I even thought I could figure out anything immediately. But this all changed when you came waltzing right into my life."
His grin and eye contact never wavered as he spoke. "You were an enigma; all you had to do was walk by me, not even sparing me a glance, and I was defenseless. When we first started dating, I was completely hooked on every little detail about you. Your eternally happy eyes, the way your nose crinkles up when you're mad, and the way your fingers curl into my hair that just feels so good. There's so much more I could list. And I, Leo 'Hot Stuff' Valdez, could not for the life of me figure out why you, a real goddess, would even consider giving me a chance."
You squeezed his hands, tears stinging your eyes as you hung onto his every word. His eyes were locked onto yours.
"It took years. Years, I tell you, for me to really understand how I became so lucky as to have someone like you in my little world. You were the only person who really broke down every wall I had struggled to keep up and still accepted me. Years. But I realized that luck had nothing to do with my wonderful bride. I learned that it was because love is dumb and confusing and quite possibly the happiest feeling I have ever experienced in my entire life!" He laughed brightly, twirling you and bringing you closer. You brightly laughed, moving your hands to cup his cheeks.
"Love is love is love, and all I know is that I am so in love with you," he rushed the words out, cupping your cheeks as well. "And I know that this sounds like it makes no sense--you know I'm no good with words, babe--but I am just completely enamored with every little part of you. There is no one on the planet I'd rather spend the rest of my hopefully long life with than you. Please, (Y/N), I'll be your Repair Boy until the world ends. I'll be your Flame Brain even when we're both ghosts haunting our friends' old asses. As long as you're ready for this irresistible hotness."
His words filled up your chest with such joy and nostalgia, it was almost like a balloon that never, ever planned on deflating. Those words were from so long ago, but they had never left your memory. His vows were just so uniquely him, with his jumbled thoughts and incomprehensible analogies that only you ever understood. Because you were a part of his little world--no, right now, his entire world revolved around you.
You couldn't even stifle out any words at first. He left you speechless. Leo simply pulled you tighter against his chest, pulling out two small rings, which he presented to you in the palm of his calloused hand. They were both celestial bronze, a tiny diamond-shaped gem in the center of each. Inside of each one was the inscription: "You're mine, sucker."
Leo slipped it onto the ring finger of your left hand. Looking at you as if you were the answer to all of the world's problems. And you were--in his world.
The room was silent, waiting with baited breath for your response. He pressed his forehead against yours, eyes at last closing and shoulders relaxing.
You wasted no time in giving him a rushed, passionate kiss, barely giving him time to respond to it before pulling away. It left him breathless, panting and smiling with an incredible amount of admiration.
Only four words left your lips.
"Bring it on, Valdez."