The Christmas Rush:

Summary: Working in the mailroom at Camp-Half-Blood is very stressful. Get the Christmas shift and you're basically guaranteed to be ripping your hair out. Especially when all you have is Seaweed Brain, a hundred desperate demigods and a piece of freaking mistletoe that keeps hitting me in the face...

Annabeth's POV.

Percabeth Christmas fluff. Enjoy.

"Oi, Stoll! No cutting!" I shouted but Travis took no notice. No one did. If anything most of them surged forward, desperate for anything wrapped in gaudy green wrappings that was shaped like toys. Also, Christmas is the only time at Camp when Chiron and Mr. D usually let the "no outside food" rule slide for a day or two. Of course, most parents, like mine, dropped us off here whilst they went off clubbing in Ibiza and sent their gifts in the post which might seem thoughtful and cautious (as most of us, I'm looking at you Stoll, will do anything for presents) but turns out to be the mailroom organisers worst nightmare. And who does Chiron assign this head-wrecking chore to? Yeah, you guessed it.

He told me that I was trustworthy enough to leave in charge of gift handling and I'm sure it was not intended to be an insult, but it sure as Tartarus sounded like it. It was a poor decision on his part. Not that I didn't think I could handle it, but it was down to my dyslexia. I mean, sure, a lot of us have reading problems. Some more than others. On a scale of one to ten I'd say mine would be around the six mark. Some people would be threes and fours and it would be much easier for them to read off the names and shout them a few times but I decided to stick it out. Although I could think of plenty more inspiring things to do on Christmas Day. Like sitting in front of the campfire, with a good book, unwinding in the calm atmosphere, letting yourself drift into ecstasy...

"Hey, can we get a move on here? I want my present!"

I turned and glared in the general direction of the interrupter of my day-dream.

"Whoever said that, back of the line!" I shouted and grabbed a package.

"Linda Miller, Aphrodite!"

She stood forward and shot me a smile. Before I could tell her to move, she spoke.

"Careful, Annabeth. " She pointed above my head, and I looked up confused. But there it was, the small plant staring down at me, its small white flowers in full bloom. Mistletoe.

"It's enchanted, by the looks of it. You know the tradition, right? Well, I wouldn't avoid the plant for too long. They tend to be very temperamental."

Before I could ask how in the name of Zeus a plant could get angry, she snared a tall looking boy from the Apollo cabin and kissed him quickly.

"I'm covered!" I smiled, tapped his hand and left with her present in her hands.

He looked completely dazed so I handed him a present and he stumbled away.

"Great. I'm stuck here, with an angry plant above me." I muttered reaching for the next present.

"Fletcher Marks, Demeter!"

It took about five minutes for him to push through the crowd, in which time, I was seriously regretting the line idea but it was too late. I handed him his present and he and a few of his cronies stalked off in the general direction of the strawberries fields. I took a breather whilst people at the start of the line began a verbal fight with the people behind. In the end, I broke it up by shouting another name. In fact, I managed to call five names without being stumped. Until I reached 'Melinda Potergeé (Why?)

She thanked me gently. I nodded and began to call another name as I felt something tickle the back of my shirt. I turned sharply and got a fierce twack in the face. The mistletoe then raised itself up again and continued to stare down at me tauntingly.

"The plant just attacked me!" I said in disbelief.

"That's what you get when you don't obey the rules." Someone mumbled from the line, I ignored them and called the next few names, though I had to shout seeing as there was far too much talking going on for my liking.

"Oi!" I slammed my knife down on the table and everyone went silent. That's right. They don't play around when it comes to knives being beside their presents. I received another hit at the back of my head but as I turned, the plant had risen. I turned back viciously and continued my rampage as I grabbed another present.

"Percy Jackson, Poseidon!"

Then it hit me.

"Wait, Percy?" I called and I looked around. That was strange. Percy had told me he was staying at home for the holidays. Why would Sally be sending him gifts here?

"Yep, reporting for duty."

I turned to my side, expecting some idiot to come into the range of fire but no, it was he, his face twisted in an expression that could only be Seaweed Brain's. I swallowed.

"Wasn't expecting you, Seaweed Brain. I thought you were off on a boat in Morocco with your parents."

"Nah, those two went off on their love cruise. I decided my time would be better spent here training."

I nodded and handed him his present, but instead of taking it and leaving, he placed it under the table and grabbed a present from the pile.

"George Wilkinson!"

Someone started moving forward but instead of letting them come up here, Percy flung it in the general direction. I caught myself smiling.

The two of us working together made the time fly much easier and we were done quite quickly, before eight o'clock, talking quietly and making small jokes. Really, I think I kind of enjoyed myself until we were done and that was when the mutant plant struck again, this time hitting me full on again.

"That's it. The plant's going to die."

I picked up my knife and flung it at the stem of the plant but instead of slicing through the plant, it bounced off.

"The dumb thing is enchanted!" I snarled but stopped at the look Percy was giving me.

"What?" I demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Except for the fact that you're talking to a plant, I mean normally that would be a cause of concern for your best friend."

"Well, if you feel like making my day, get rid of it."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It's a plant..."

"Nicely observed, Captain Obvious but the plant has a demon inside it."

Percy sighed and went forward to inspect the plant with his expert skills before turning back to me and looking as if I had three heads.

"It's mistletoe, Annabeth, I highly doubt it's dangerous."

"I know what it is! I just...it's been bothering me all day because I avoided kis...the tradition."

He raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to get rid of it?"

"As a Christmas present to me, please. Do whatever you want, shoot it, stab it..."

My words were cut off as the space between us grew smaller and smaller until it was non-existent. My arms went numb as he held me in place, our lips gently rubbing off one another's, his hands at my waist. I'd been in this situation before but it was I who instigated it. This caught me completely off guard. And I realised that the kiss hadn't stopped. He was still kissing me as I stood limply, trying to analyze the situation, trying to gain the courage to do something, anything but nothing came to mind. Not until the kiss grew deeper and I slid my hands into his trouser pockets and pulled him towards me as my back hit the wall behind me. His hands moved to my neck and embarrassingly, I got shivers.

He pulled away suddenly, and I took a deep breath.

"The plant should leave you alone now." He smirked. I wondered how he could be so natural at this, when there I was, barely able to breathe seeing as the air had been sucked out of my lungs. I merely nodded and for second we just stood there facing each other. And all I could think was "What the hell did we just do?"

"Merry Christmas, Wise Girl. Hope you liked your present."

He turned to leave until I spoke.

"Hope you like yours too." I said. Confusion swept across him.

"My.."

I dragged him by the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him in. I could feel his smirk against my lips but I also felt it disappear as I deepened the kiss quickly, tightening my grip on his collar. There was a faint groaning sound and I wasn't sure if it came from me or from him but it didn't matter.

I pulled away and uncurled my fist carefully from his shirt. We were both breathing heavily and I dropped my hands to my side and wiped them awkwardly on my shorts.

"We should...we should go. They'll be waiting...special campfire." I whispered. His eyes flickered with recognition. He didn't say another word but he picked up the package from the ground, turned back to me and kissed my forehead. He left and headed towards his cabin. And I was left, looking gormless, staring at the footprints he left behind.

It's a little bit OOC but it's a holiday story!