The Second Meeting

Streams of people poured into the amphitheatre, taking seats near their friends and creating a general din of normality. One girl was hovering at the top of the stairs, searching the crowd for the tell-tale flaming hair. She had only met him earlier that day, but she already felt a flutter in her heart as she caught sight of warm copper eyes staring at her. Smiling to herself, Ari made her way down to him, slipping between Matthew and a blonde girl talking to someone in the row in front of them. "Hi again," she said, noticing that he had carefully chosen to sit far from the place they had met earlier.

"Hi," he said, smiling shyly. "How was the rest of your day?" He asked tentatively, concerned after their first meeting. Self-consciously he noted how close he was sitting to Ari.

"Fine," she replied, understanding his meaning perfectly. "You?" Nervously, she tucked a strand of chocolate hair behind her ear, averting her eyes from his face. She didn't think she could look at those eyes without melting. And melting would not be good.

"Good," Matthew replied, his eyes drawn to her hand as it pushed away her hair. Mentally shaking himself awake, he glanced toward the stage, waiting for the Apollo campers to start. He needed something to do, or he was scared he was going to do something stupid and drive Ari away.

Ari fidgeted, twisting her fingers into vicious knots and untwisting them again repeatedly. She wished the Sing-A-Long would start already. As if in answer, the first chords of a traditional Camp Half-Blood campfire song danced up from the stage, twisting their way through the throngs of people, worming their way up into the night, finally coming to a gentle rest as the next notes took their place. Soon the amphitheatre was filled with raucous laughter and singing as friends tried to sing louder than each other.

Matthew chuckled at the sudden burst of singing, hoping he would hide his flustered face by doing so. Suddenly, from behind them, came an outburst of the loudest - and worst - singing he had ever heard. He laughed for real this time, a warm, clear sound, so rare for the past five years. Before his father died, before he had come to camp, Matthew had been happy. He had laughed all the time, he had had a permanent smile on his face, but that had all been ripped away. His father was dead, and he plunged deep into depression. Everyone who had known him had been astonished; Matthew was the last person they had thought would get depression. It had ended, eventually, when he came to Camp Half-Blood, but he was never he same happy, smiling person he had been. Now, with Ari, he was returning. It was the first time he had laughed, truly laughed, in five years. It felt good, like a weight had lifted from his shoulders, a weight he hadn't even known he carried.

Matthew's laugh was contagious. She laughed along with him, not feeling as if she should talk, just enjoying his company and the laughter she was sharing with him. It was a wondrous feeling, as if she had a friend. The sensation was completely new to her. She had never had a friend before. She laughed again, feeling as if she could do anything. And so she did something she would never have done. She reached out and took Matthew's hand. A second later, she realized what she had done and dropped it, looking away, ashamed of herself. Her laughter died out quickly, like mist dissipating in strong morning sunlight.

OOC: Have you noticed that their attraction to each other has grown since the first post? I mean, it started out as a fluttering heart, then noticing how close they were to each other, then suddenly there's these deep feelings and they're starting to hold hands and it all went rather quickly, don't you think? I'm sorry, I just noticed that and I had to point it out.

OOC: Haha you're right, it has. That's really strange...

Matthew's laughter stopped abruptly, and he stared at her hand in his until she let go, then stared at her. Making a slit-second decision, he reached out and placed his hand gently on hers.

Ari twisted her head back around to stare at him, but he didn't move his hand away. Eventually, slowly, she smiled faintly at him, flipping over her hand under his so it fit comfortably against the curve. As the song ended, she took a daring chance and leaned her head tentatively on his shoulder. He stiffened, but made no move to change it.

Matthew was flustered. This had never happened to him before, and it was clear Ari was new to it, too. He hoped fervently that his hand wasn't sweating. As the crowd began to disperse, he thanked the gods that he and Ari were in the shadows on one side of the amphitheatre, because the inevitable sniggers would do nothing for either him or Ari.

Ari lifted her head, looking around at the emptying amphitheatre. Sighing, she released Matthew's hand and stood up. "It's almost curfew, we'd better get a move on before the harpies come," she said, wishing she could have stayed there all night.

Matthew scrambled up as well, glancing at the rest of the amphitheatre. They were the only ones there now; Ari was right, it was almost curfew. He knew he would get back to his cabin fine, being a son of the good luck goddess, but he didn't want to put Ari in danger of the harpies. "Okay, let's go, then," he replied, turning his attention back to Ari. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Ari smiled and nodded. "Bye," she said as she started to climb the stairs back up to the top of the amphitheatre. She stopped at the top, turned around, and looked down on Matthew. He was standing in exactly the same place, staring up at the moon. She felt her heart flutter as the moonlight caught his hair, having an entirely different effect than the sun. It looked to Ari as if he wasn't really there, as if he was just a figment of her imagination come to torture her and if she blinked he would disappear. But he didn't. Instead, he looked up at Ari, grinned, and started climbing the stairs toward her.

Matthew stopped next to Ari. "Thought you could use some luck getting to your cabin," he said, flushing in acute embarrassment.

Ari smiled and slipped her hand into his, surprised at how easy it was for her to do that now. She started to walk toward the cabins, wondering how well Tyche's blessing would work for her. She supposed that if she was with Matthew it would be pretty hard to notice her and not Matthew at the same time.