PeaceMaker

The lady looked away shyly, bowing her head a bit. "Sorry… did I speak too much again?" she asked. "I tend to do that a lot… I don't really know when to stop talking at times… haha." 

Annabeth looked at the lady for a few more seconds before grinning. "No way, you're right. I guess I just didn't expect someone to point that out," Annabeth smiled. 

The lady blushed immediately. "I guess that was quite improper of me, wasn't it? I always keep on saying stuff that isn't expected from women… I really need to work on my words.. I end up saying a lot of unneeded words.." she looked up at Annabeth, a slightly hurt smile on her face, "no need to be so proper, I understand what you meant."

Annabeth cocked her head to the side, staring at the lady. "Hm? but that's not what I meant at all," she grinned. 

The lady turned to look at Annabeth, a slightly confused expression on her face. "Then what did you mean? I won't be surprised if it was that though," the lady chuckled lightly. 

"Nono, the complete opposite," Annabeth shook her head, "I didn't expect someone to be able to speak up about the heels situation. I always felt like it's something that remains unspoken about but something that needs to be talked about."

The lady looked at Annabeth for a moment, her eyes staring up at Annabeth blankly for a moment before sparkling, her cheeks blushing highly from excitement. "Rightt! I noticed that a lot of people don't speak about it a lot but just sit there quietly bearing it all by themselves. Then we'd get together for tea and the complaints could come pouring out," the lady nodded her head furiously, "I mean, if it's something we're uncomfortable about, then why can't we say it out loud."

Annabeth stared at the lady, a small smile forming on her face. She nodded her head, her smile growing brighter. "Yea... Lady Annabeth Crowly," Annabeth bowed, "nice to meet you." 

The lady blushed, immediately bowing her head. "Lady Addison Aloe," she returned, "nice to meet you too."

Annabeth smiled. "It's nice to meet someone who has similar views with you. I feel like most people in this event, ladies at least, would just sit quietly and sip on their teas, only talking when told to talk," she sighed, "it was a bit frustrating for me to have to be quiet all this time."

Addison nodded her head. "I thought it would be, I felt kinda bad for you guys when I first saw you," Addison sighed, "I assumed it would be a bit of a nuisance for you if you had to stay quiet for that long and even speak through your brother."

Annabeth looked at Addison, her smile growing more genuine. The more she talked to the lady, the more comfortable she felt. It was risky, she knew. For her to be opening up this slightly to someone that she just met, especially a woman at an event where there are a lot of people for the word to spread is really risky. Her entire reputation would be ruined when the wrong rumors start to spread. 

Yet… when she looked into the eyes of the lady in front of her, they seemed so innocent, like she could pour out the entire world to her. She smiled. She wasn't going to of course.

The idea of it was just very captivating, so interesting that she wanted to give it a try, to risk a bit. It was a shame she wasn't Maria. She could never put herself out there like that. 

But still...

"True true," Annabeth nodded her head. 'She referred to me and my sisters as 'You guys' rather than 'ladies,' Annabeth thought to herself. Her eyes gleamed even more brightly. 'An interesting one we have here.'

"Next time I'll make sure to be able to voice myself just a bit more," Annabeth jokes, to which Addison chuckled. 'Just this much…' Annabeth thought to herself as she looked at the lady, her lips smiling. 'Just this much information is enough.'

Annabeth looked up at Addison, looking at the person beside her. Her eyebrows raised in curiosity as her eyes ran up and down the man. Addison's gaze seemed to follow Annabeth's. She could sense it, the keen pair of eyes that were following her, the change in motive in those eyes. She looked down at Addison, a smile appearing on her face. "Is that your husband?" she asked. 

Addison's eyes seemed to turn blank for a moment before she blushed brightly again, growing a bit shy. "Ah.. yes," she smiled meekly, "he's my fiance, we're getting married in a few days."

Annabeth grinned. "You look beautiful together."

Addison's eyes widened once again, hiding her face a little as she blushed. "Thank you…" she bowed her head. 

"Compliments must be said when they are due," Annabeth laughed lightly, her smile capturing the gazes of a few outsides of the group who were walking past and others from the group. 

Addison stayed silent for a few seconds as she tried to conceal the hearty grin on her face. Finally, when her blush seemed to calm down, she looked up at Annabeth, "How did you know?" 

Annabeth smiled. 'Because you were staring at my gaze like you were going to kill me if I laid one finger on him,' she thought. "Because you looked so nice together. It was just a mere assumption of mine at first but when I noticed how close you were standing next to each other and how calm your atmosphere seemed to be, it clicked in my mind."

Addison blushed again, her head dropping to hide her blush. "Hehe.. is that so?" she muttered happily. 

Annabeth smiled as she watched the grin on Addison's face. It was so adorable. It was precious. 

"It is, if there was anybody in the group that I'd pine to be lovers, it would be you two. Even though you haven't said a word yet, the air between you guys seemed so sweet intimate," Annabeth teased, "not to mention the visuals… the future kids are going to look stunning."

Addison almost looked like her head had been blown off as she hit Annabeth on her shoulder. "Aish!" she blushed.

Annabeth peered down at the spot that Addison had hit and then up to Addison, her eye twitched slightly. Annoyance flashed through her eyes as the spot on her skin seemed to tingly slightly, a reminder that her privacy and space had been breached. 

Annabeth looked up at Addison, her head cocked to the side a bit. Her eyes twitched again in anger. Her mouth was about to open and snap when Addison spoke up.

"You tease me too much!" Addison blushed. 

Annabeth stared at her blankly, her eye twitching one more time before the glare in her eyes seemed to melt away so swiftly, almost as if it was never there before. She let out a sigh of forgiveness and smiled. "As I said, I only say things that are deserved."

Addison grinned. 

"You're keeping her all to yourself, I see," Louis pouted, placing his chin on Addison's head. He looked up at Annabeth, his eyes locking with hers. "We've all been looking forward to talking to all of them and here you are talking to her all by yourself. Trying to starve us aren't you?"

Annabeth remained in eye contact with Louis. They stared at each other for a moment before Louis looked away, his jaw clenching slightly. It was hard to keep contact with her, it felt like she was eating at his soul, staring so deep into his eyes that he couldn't even look away. He was paralyzed in her gaze at that moment, every part of him feeling like it was being read all at once. He had to look away. 

Or else it felt like his entire being would have been sucked into her gaze and she would read him completely.

His arms wrap around Addison's waist and he nestles his head in her hair. It was comforting, her scent. It was like taking a dip in a cool pool on a scorching hot summer day, or like the first lick of cream-ice on the first day of summer. It was refreshing, cooling him down until he felt calmed down. 

It was never him that comforted him, her presence was always his anchor.

Annabeth stared at Louis for a moment, an amused smile forming on her face. 'Is he?' she thought to herself as her eyes looked down at his arms wrapped around Addison's waist and remembered the stares that were exchanged earlier. 'Does he feel threatened by me?' she thought to herself. 'Does he feel threatened by my gaze?' she thought to herself, her eyes traveling back down to Louis' hands on Addison's waist. 'Or the way his fiance looks up to me?'

She chuckled, falling into genuine laughter. "How cute," she muttered. 

Addison, who was prying at Louis' strong hands looked up to Annabeth, a blush spreading on her face. "Excuse me?" she asked. 

Annabeth looked at Addison, smiling more when she realized she had spoken out loud. "Ah.. sorry, I just thought that you guys looked really beautiful together. His show of affection was cute."

Louis blushed, taken aback by Annabeth's words, Addison even more taken aback.. They both turned to look at each other, their eyes bright in surprise and happiness and cheeks both red.