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1. Her First Robbery
"Luke I'm not so sure about this..."
"You'll be okay, just run in, grab the stuff, and run out."
"I can't so this! I don't wanna be a criminal!"
"I do this all the time, Thalia, calm down, you're going to be okay."
Luke put his hand on Thalia's shoulder as she looked at him with worried eyes.
Thalia was about to rob a drug store, and she was not ready.
Luke felt that she needed to learn how to do this, you never know when something could happen to him, so here they were, crouching underneath the flickering yellow light outside the back door of a CVS. Luke had shown her how to disable the cameras and was now trying to convince her to go in.
Thalia took a deep breath and stood up, grabbing the grey tote off the ground and yanking open the metal door and then she had disappeared inside.
Thalia immediately wanted to turn back. She wanted to run out and not do this and force Luke to go inside.
She took a delicate step forward. She was in a back storage room filled with boxes and racks, it was dark and the only light was a single light bulb hanging by three thin wires, one of which had a small break in the casing exposing the golden wire.
walking into the main store Thalia looked around. She walked down the isles, beginning to collect supplies she knew they needed, and a few things she wanted for herself, nail polish, eyeliner, chocolate, you know the necessitates.
She was quick and ran out as soon as she had grabbed everything she thought the needed.
Thalia stepped out into the light, smiling at Luke who was still sitting against the brick wall.
"You did it!?" He asked, springing up from his seat.
"I did, Here's the bag!" Thalia smiled as she held out the tote bag to Luke.
"Great job, Thals, I'm so proud." Luke hugged her after he took the grey bag full of supplies from her delicate hands.
Luke pulled away with tears in his eyes.
"Luke what's wrong?!' Thalia asked, worried she had done something wrong and they would get caught.
"My little baby is growing up so fast." Luke put a hand over his heart as he looked up to the night sky.
Thalia giggled and jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.
"Let's go, Idiot," Thalia said as she linked her arm in with his.
They laughed as the walked off into the woods, headed back to their campsite for the night.
2. His First Realization.
Thalia laughed as Luke ruffled her hair. They were hiding out in a safe house they had made somewhere in southern Arizona.
Luke smiled at Thalia. He loved seeing her so happy.
"We should go to bed, it's getting late," Thalia said as she stretched and yawned.
Luke nodded and climbed over to his sleeping bag.
Thalia crawled over to her own sleeping bag and climbed in. Her eyes closed and she was asleep within minutes.
Luke laid down on top of his sleeping bag staring up at the top of the shelter. thoughts ran through his head as he struggled to fall asleep.
He then heard a small voice come from across the shelter,
"Luke? You awake?"
He turned to look at Thalia. She was sitting up in her sleeping bag looking over at Luke with scared eyes.
"Yeah. What's wrong Thalia?" He asked, crawling over to her.
"I had a nightmare." She whispered, curling into herself as he wrapped his arms around her.
He leaned against the back wall of the safe house and pulled Thalia into his lap.
Thalia leaned into his touch. Luke wrapped his arms around her middle Thalia buried her face into his shoulder.
With his free hand, Luke reached over and grabbed an extra blanket. He unfolded it and wrapped it around him and Thalia.
Her fast breathing began to slow as she calmed down. He rubbed his hand up and down her back and she snuggled into him closer.
Luke then realized this was the first time he had every held Thalia like this outside of a hug, much less cuddled with her.
Luke held Thalia closer, beginning to like cuddling with her more and more.
It was that night Luke realized that he was in love with Thalia Grace.
3. Her First Period.
Thalia and Luke were freshening up at a park somewhere in Iowa. Luke was brushing his teeth at the sink in the boy's bathroom, while Thalia was trying to tame her wild hair in the girls'.
Thalia was changing clothes when she noticed the blood in her underwear.
She saw it and immediately wanted to start crying. She had learned about this stuff back in school, but she didn't know it would be now.
Thalia tried to rack her brain, attempting to remember what to do in this situation. T was really early in the morning, maybe 4:15, she wondered if Luke would sneak into a drug store and get some stuff for her.
Just thinking about having to talk to him about it made her shiver. This was supposed to be something boys didn't know about, is what her health teacher said, but now Thalia saw no other option.
Thalia quickly redressed and exited the bathroom. Luke was waiting for her leaning against the brick wall. He smiled at her when she came out.
"Hey Thals, you ready to get moving?" Luke asked watching Thalia walk past him as she shouldered her backpack.
"He,y Luke...?" Thalia mumbled quietly letting hanging her head low.
"Yeah...? What's wrong?" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Can you get some stuff from a drug store for me?" She asked, keeping her head down as her shoes suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world.
"What stuff?" Luke asked, becoming worried about what had Thalia so upset.
"Period stuff..." Thalia mumbled, her voice barely rising above a whisper making it difficult to hear her.
Luke understood her quiet words and blushed slightly. She looked at the group sheepishly. Luke put his left hand on top of her lightly shaking shoulder.
"Whatever you need Thals." He smiled at her as Thalia looked up with slightly watering eyes. She smiled back at him with relief.
Soon the two runaways were outside a nearby Walgreens. The store had just opened and Luke had dug up enough change from their two bags to buy some stuff for Thalia.
He handed her the Ziploc bag filled ten dollars in assorted change and a few dollar bills. She took it in her shaking hand and stared at the door for a second before slipping inside.
Thalia stood in front of the feminine section for a good five minutes before she touched anything. Thalia's hand shook as she reached out hesitantly to grab a box.
Pads, she knew they were called. Her fifth-grade class had been given 'The Talk' two weeks before she ran away, so she knew some stuff.
She turned the box over in her palm. It was a pack of forty for six dollars. She knew that forty could last her a while depending on how long her period lasted. When she looked up she saw another box.
Tampons. Thalia stared at it for a few seconds before reaching out and grabbing the box. She looked at the box of the box, reading the directions. She became kind of scared as she learned more about how these things worked.
Thalia left the pharmacy that day with a box of Midol for cramps, A box of forty pads, and a new pack of underwear. Thalia had been too scared to try tampons, she decided she would try them another time.
When she rejoined Luke after putting on a pad in the bathroom and downing a midol tablet, she suddenly saw him and wanted to punch in his face, and she wanted pancakes. For some odd reason, Thalia had no idea why.
"Why do you look so angry Lia?" Luke asked, touching her shoulder gently.
Thalia yanked away from his touch and stormed down the steps of the small patio area that the bathrooms were sat on. She sat down on the bottom step and crosses her arms.
"I ain't know why I'm so freaking mad all of a sudden, " Thalia said, looking up at him when he took a seat next to her on the step.
"It's hormones, Thalia. All girls get them. It'll pass." He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She snuggled into his warmth.
It was that day that Thalia knew Luke would always be there for her, even in her worst times.
4. Their First Kiss.
It was storming outside the small cabin Luke and Thalia were camped out in. Thalia was asleep as she rested her head on his chest.
Luke held her close and watched the rise and fall of Thalia's small chest. He noticed her hair was tangled together in knots, he couldn't even remember the last time he had washed his hair. They had been running so much and so fast lately as Hades began to send more and more monsters after his niece.
He started counting the freckles dusted across Thalia's pale face. Luke had counted at least ten dozen freckles when a loud crack of thunder stormed above their heads.
Thalia jumped in her sleep causing another roll if thunder to hit. She then let out a cry in her sleep and Luke noticed it begin to rain harder.
Thalia began to steadily cry as she slept, thrashing around and rolling her bead back and forth and she moved.
"Thalia!!" Luke tried to shake her awake.
"Thalia!!!" He shouted a little louder, grabbing her and holding her still.
"THALIA!! Wake up!!!"
It was now that her eyes flashed open. Her blue eyes were filled with fear and lightning. Another crash of lightning followed by a long roll of thunder as she awoke.
"Luke!! It was- you were- everything happened so fast!" Her words were scattered just like the fear in her eyes. Luke pulled her closer to him and held her tightly in his arms.
"Thals, calm down. You're making the sky go crazy." He whispered to her softly and he stroked her short jet black hair. She snuggled into him and nuzzled his arm with her forehead.
After a few minutes, Luke started to feel tired as the rain lulled to a steady pace. Thalia looked up at him and tapped his arm with her finger. Luke opened his eyes and looked at her.
"What's going to happen?" She asked. Her eyes were full of wonder but also some fear.
"What do you mean, Lia?" Luke asked being confused by her question.
"What's going to happen to us, Like, are we going to get found, or get killed by a monster one day and have no one know?" Thalia's question hit Luke hard.
"Whatever happens, well be okay. I promise you." Luke's statement was strong and sounded truthful, but Luke was very unsure of his answer.
Suddenly, they realized that their lips were very close together.
Thalia then leaned up and brushed her lips against Lukes. Her lips were dry from her lack of lip balm due to her having.run out the past week. Luke didn't mind though.
Luke deepened the kiss, pressing harder against her soft gentle lips.
'She tastes like strawberry.' Luke thought. Her lips had a lingering flavor from her old lip balm. There was an angelic like feel to her lips, Luke felt like he was in heaven.
When they pulled away, Thalia smiled brighter than he had ever seen come from here. Luke smiled too.
And that was what Luke and Thalia both declared was the best moment of their lives.
5. Their Final Goodbye.
Darkness. Monsters. Cries.
Those are the three words Luke would use to describe the last night he saw his best friend.
It had started with them getting lost in New York as they made their way to Long Island Sound.
Thalia, Luke, and Grover we're hung by their ankles and about to end up as Cyclops dinner. That's when Annabeth swooped in and rescued them. Thalia as thankful for Luke giving Annabeth that knife.
They were running up the hill as fast as they could, but it was dark and wet and monsters attacked from every direction. Luke killed a Dracne with his newly found sword. Thalia striker at a fury with her first. Annabeth hit an unknown monster (it was too dark to see what she had killed) with her knife as Grover ran as fast as he could to get to the camp border and find reinforcements.
Luke grabbed Thalia by the hand when she slipped, keeping her on her toes. Thalia gave him a quick smile before stabbing at another monster hidden in the dark.
They were twenty feet from the camp border. Twenty feet. That takes about a minute to walk, half that when running. And you were lying to yourself to say that they weren't running.
Thalia slipped. She knew that she was toast right then as a Dracne pounced at her. She hit the monster with her shield and Luke stabbed it. Thalia tried to get up but a fury attacked her and pushed her down to the ground.
"THALIA!!" Luke screamed.
The fury found the daughter of Zeus backward. She slammed into the mud hard. Luke ran to her side.
"Thalia, no. NO!" Luke was crying now. Thalia shook with her own tears. She could feel herself dying.
Luke hugged the shaking girl. He could almost feel her slipping away from him. It was like the whole world has stopped and it was only them.
"I'll miss you, Luke." She said quietly into his shoulder.
"No. Don't say that." Luke pulled away from her dying body.
"I love you, Luke. I always have." She grabbed his hand and gripped it tightly.
"I love you too. There will never be someone better than you." A single tear fell from Luke's eye a d onto Thalia's cheek, mixing with her own.
"You were my best friend." She whispered.
"And you were mine." Luke couldn't believe that this was goodbye.
"Goodbye, Luke. Never forget me." Her voice began to drop off.
"Goodbye, Thalia." And Luke held her hand as something magical began to happen.
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