The Christmas Wish List

by Allstarry707

Annabeth's wish list was not a list of toys or books or anything like that. No, it was her wish list for the perfect Christmas, only she had never checked off a single item. That is, until a certain green-eyed, black haired boy was determined to give Annabeth Chase the perfect Christmas. Percabeth. Christmas style One shot.

The Christmas Wish List
Summary: Annabeth's wish list was not a list of toys or books or anything like that. No, it was her wish list for the perfect Christmas, only she had never checked off a single item. That is, until a certain green-eyed, black haired boy was determined to give Annabeth Chase the perfect Christmas. Percabeth. Christmas style One shot.

Word Count: 19,500+
Cover Thanks: Thanks to Argo2 & Burdge on tumblr. The title on the picture is mine.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

A/N: Merry belated Christmas and Happy Holidays. I wanted to post this yesterday, but I didn't have it done sadly. It's sort of monstrous (this is what kept me from updating Only Thirty Days), so I commend you if you read the entire thing. Hope you guys enjoy, and well, there is a bit of fluff thrown in because it's percabeth.

---

The Christmas Wish List

~.~.~

Annabeth frowned, adjusting the Santa hat that was sitting on her head. It wasn't even two days after Thanksgiving, and they were already pushing out Christmas at the coffee shop she worked at more than half the days of the week. Now, if you asked her, this wasn't her perfect, dream job. Annabeth had always aspired for more, but she couldn't argue with the money. Unless she got a full year scholarship, which was completely possible at the rate that she was going, she would need the money for college. Since it was extremely likely she'd be getting a full year scholarship, she would need the money for moving out of her dad's house.

Annabeth was always planning for the future; she never seemed to be living in the moment.

It was for that reason that worked well with the black haired, green eyed boy who casually walked into the coffee shop, a goofy grin spreading across his face. Unlike normal, she didn't smile back because she was too lost in her own thoughts. "Hey," the boy said, standing in front of her, with the grin still on his face.

Scaring Annabeth, she jumped, glaring at him while he continued to grin. "Hi, Percy," she sighed, grabbing a cup to her left and waiting to write out his order on it. Unlike many people, Percy never got the same thing each time he went to the coffee shop. He liked to change it up, much to the interest of Annabeth. She, on the other hand, always got the same drink, every time.

His eyes rose to the menu, running over it for a couple of seconds, giving Annabeth the chance to run her eyes over him. His black hair hit half an inch above his eyebrows, signaling that he had gotten his much needed haircut. For that reason, she could see his brows furrow together as he seemed to read each and every drink choice that was on the menu. "I'll try the mint chocolate hot mint chocolate," he finally declared, directing his gaze to Annabeth who was still frowning slightly.

"Mint hot chocolate," she half-repeated, half-corrected, rolling her eyes when Percy just shrugged and tossed her a smile. "How was your Thanksgiving?" She asked, trying to create conversation while making his hot chocolate. Unlike Percy, Annabeth always felt awkward in any and all silences that were going on between them.

He scratched the back of his neck, "Good. Yours?"

"Okay," she stated, dropping her gaze away from his sea green eyes. She knew quite well that he could read her emotions from her grey eyes. It didn't matter how much she tried to block it; he could read her eyes as well as he could read the ocean. And to clarify, that was extremely well.

"You sure?" He questioned, knowing full-well that something was definitely bothering Annabeth. Now to know what it was, he would need Annabeth to tell him that one. Percy was no mind reader.

She nodded, knowing that her voice would give away just how wrong things were at that time. It wasn't that Thanksgiving was particularly bad; it was just the same as each and every year. And that, that was the problem. Even though she desperately needed some form of normalcy, Annabeth desired change, change that she was certain she would never get. Why is it so hard? Annabeth wondered, glancing at Percy who was tapping on the counter while waiting. She knew he wasn't being impatient; it was his ADHD showing through as there wasn't much else to do at the moment. But when he noticed that she was looking at him, he grinned, halting his drumming for a few seconds before starting it up again absentmindedly. Why can't I just accept things like he does? She wished he would talk but knew he was content with the silence, would accept the silence, and she couldn't seem to think of anything good to say.

Annabeth pushed the hot chocolate in front of him, but not before assuring that the cap was secured to the cup. "Can I steal you for a few moments?" Percy finally said when Annabeth leaned against the counter.

"Um," she hesitated, knowing that she wasn't off of work for another couple of hours.

"Come on," he smiled, watching the inner conflict cover her face, "the shop is empty right now. Everyone is Black Friday shopping. And plus, what do you have to lose?" Knowing full well how she would rationally respond, Percy rebutted the comeback that she was about to voice, "I know Silena's here working too, so you can't say that there would be no one else behind the counter."

"Fine," she sighed, walking to the end of the counter before swinging up part of the counter and walking through. Without even glancing towards Percy, she made her way to their normal table, smiling inwardly when Percy took his normal spot next to her. She had always loved how Percy chose to sit next to her instead of across from her, even though there were only two of them. "Well…?" She snapped lightly when Percy opted to continue to bang on the table and glance at her out of the corner of his eyes instead of talk.

Turning his seat to face her, Percy leaned forward while resting his elbows on his knees, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Annabeth answered back quickly, cursing in her head at the fast reply. It was too quick; Percy would know she wasn't being truthful. Biting her lip, Annabeth saw his expectant expression out of the corner of her eye. "It's dumb," she muttered under her breath before tugging on the end of her curl that fell out of her ponytail for comfort.

Although Annabeth didn't see it, a smile formed on Percy's face at her involuntary action, "Doubt it." He was certain that Annabeth couldn't really be upset over something dumb. To Percy, if it upset Annabeth, it was of the utmost importance.

"It's dumb for someone who's 17," Annabeth said quietly, twisting the curl between her fingers as she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth.

Percy chuckled, causing Annabeth to glare at him; he ignored it, "You act like we're really old or something." They were only 17, not 87. Still, Percy would probably consider himself to be a kid then, too.

"Shut up," she said without any real bite behind her voice, "it's just… I don't know. It's dumb."

He shrugged, watching her befallen face, "Try me."

And she did, "I know it's dumb, but I've always had this Christmas wish list." Annabeth glanced towards him, pursing her lips as she regretted all that she had already disclosed. It's stupid, and that she was certain.

"So what?" Percy raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue, "What's so bad about wanting stuff?"

"It's not a normal wish list, Percy," she sighed, bringing her attention back to the curl between her fingers. Yes, she definitely regretted even attempting to try to tell him. She was not one to make a fool of herself.

"Okay, so then tell me about it," Percy simply stated, not realizing that Annabeth had no plan of continuing onward.

Yet, he looked so eager, so interested to know as his green eyes met the grey of Annabeth. How could she not trust him when his eyes told her that he would keep any and every secret that she asked of him? When his eyes told her that he cared more than anyone else… "I wanted a perfect Christmas when I was six. So, I wrote this wish list about the things I would need to have a perfect Christmas. It has sort of grown over the years, but…" and she whispered the last part, "I haven't even crossed off a single bullet point."

"So let's do it," Percy stated confidently, determination filling his green eyes.

"Wait—what?" Annabeth snapped back to attention, noticing the serious expression on his face. She had expected him to laugh or chuckle or make a joke or something, not to be adamant on helping her fulfill her Christmas wish list. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he answered quickly, leaning back slightly in his chair. "What do I have to lose?"

"Your time," Annabeth replied, still not sure as to why he was so quick to want to help. Sure, they had become friends due to the many times he stopped in the coffee shop and pestered her to talk with him, but it wasn't like they even went to the same school.

"Big deal," he shrugged, rocking on the back legs of his chair. "There's nothing impossible on there like flying with Santa in his sleigh, right?" She nodded timidly, running through the Christmas wish list in her head, "Alright, let's do it."

Annabeth glanced towards him skeptically, "Why would you do this for me? Waste your time on this stupid wish list that I have?"

Percy regarded her with surprise, "It's not stupid, and plus, you deserve the perfect Christmas. It's what best friends do." He said it all as if it were obvious fact.

"We're best friends?" Annabeth wondered aloud, mainly asking that of herself.

"Yeah, of course," Percy said easily, sipping his hot chocolate. "Figured you already knew that since you're the 'Wise Girl'."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," and that, of course, was accompanied with a good shove.

Best friends? I could get used to this, was the last thing Annabeth thought before laughing as Percy fell back on his chair to the ground, sending her a sour look. Yes, she could definitely get used to that.

…

"Percy, can I get a ride?" Nico called to him as they got ready to exit the school that following Monday. Because Nico was younger and didn't have his license, he normally depended on Percy for his rides home. Plus, they didn't really live too far away anyways.

Percy threw a couple of binders into his backpack, "Can't, I have to go somewhere today." Picking up a binder, he tossed it back into his locker, figuring he could do the homework during free period.

Nico raised his eyebrows, "What? Gonna go hang out with the girl at the coffee shop?" Percy just shrugged, pulling his jacket over his shoulders. "Is little Percy, finally gonna ask her out on a date?" Nico teased, making his voice high like the people who coo to little babies.

"Shut it," Percy groaned, slamming his locker and pulling his backpack over his shoulder as he made his way towards the front entrance.

Nico called after him, "How am I supposed to get home?"

Percy shrugged, cooing towards, "Is little Nico gonna have to walk all the way home?" But, Percy being as nice as he was wouldn't just leave Nico there without a ride, "Try Thalia."

…

Annabeth pulled the crinkled paper out of her back pocket, unfolding it to inwardly read the title, "Annabeth's Christmas Wish List." She glanced up towards the door, making sure no customers were coming towards her, "Tobogganing…Tree-lighting…Write a letter to—"

"Hey," Percy startled her, breaking Annabeth from her reading. He chuckled as she snapped her head up to him, surprise evident on her face. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," Annabeth lied, somewhat smoothly before realizing that it was the most common answer she told when she lied, "just waiting for customers. It has been kind of slow." When Percy nodded, she was pleased with herself for smoothly covering the original lie. It was the truth; it had been kinda slow, Annabeth appeased herself, carefully folding the list and slipping it into her back pocket.

"I thought those were your favorite days?" Percy asked, watching as she grabbed a cup to take his order. "Surprise me," he answered the question he knew she was about to ask.

She raised her eyebrows before turning to look towards the menu to choose Percy's drink, "They are, sometimes. They can get boring, though." Sometimes, she would spend the slow days reading, but that ended when the boss came in and said it wasn't appropriate. Her boss was fine with all the employees gossiping in the back but not with her doing something educational.

Percy grinned, "Good thing I'm here?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, picking a drink off the menu that she was certain he would like, "Yeah, sure, don't get too full of yourself." Moving to the side, she began preparing Percy's drink, inwardly smiling at the thought of his reaction when she gave it to him.

"So," Percy paused, beginning to drum on the counter, "can I see the wish list?"

Annabeth froze for second, feeling the weight of the paper in her back pocket, "Um…no." She muttered, still somewhat embarrassed over the wish list itself and definitely over some of the items she had on there. There was absolutely no way she would sacrifice her pride for it.

"Alright, okay…" She could imagine the contemplative look on Percy's face, although she couldn't see it due to the obstruction from all of the coffee makers and drink machines. "How about you tell me an item on the list each day, then?" She pondered it, absentmindedly shaking the whipped cream and squeezing it over the top, "Hey, that sounds like whipped cream!" Percy quickly stuck his head over the counter, causing Annabeth to cover the drink her body. He pouted, "Why can't I see it?"

Annabeth shook her head at his impatient whining, "The faster you stop trying to see it, the quicker you'll actually get to know what it is." She snapped lightly, secretly enjoying the cute expression his face made whenever he pouted.

"Fine," Percy muttered, standing upright again and drumming on the counter. "You suck," he added in, with no seriousness in his tone at all.

"Yeah, yeah," Annabeth stated under her breath, concentrating on dripping the liquid over the whipped cream. When she was satisfied with the results, she pressed the top over it and began walking it over to him. She merely hoped the look she imagined in her head was as good as the one that was going to be on his face.

It was better.

"It's blue!" He exclaimed, when Annabeth presented the drink to him.

She smiled slightly before chuckling, "You're such a little kid."

"I think I love you," he stated before turning away and grabbing a straw for his blue drink—he would have preferred it to be a blue straw but settled for red.

Annabeth was thankful that he went to grab a straw for he couldn't see her cheeks starting to heat up at what he said. Sure, she knew he wasn't being serious, but for some reason, her stomach still seemed to be on a rollercoaster ride, an oddly nice sensation, to be clear. Seeing Percy sit at their normal table, she glanced towards the front door before leaving from behind the counter to take her normal seat; he was already devouring the blue drink.

"I'm surprised you remembered," he said between sips, his eyes not leaving the blue drink.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "When we first met, you asked for a blue coffee. How could I forget?"

He shrugged, grinning towards her before slowing down his sipping to a normal pace, "So, you never answered the question."

"Hm?" Annabeth watched as he used the straw to stir the whipped cream into the rest of his drink. She quickly glanced upwards to see that he was doing it absentmindedly, his green eyes trained on her.

He kept stirring, only occasionally looking down at what he was doing, "If you won't tell me the entire list, will you at least tell me one thing each day?" Now if she was honest, Annabeth hadn't thought much ahead this time (which she attributed to be around Percy so often). Her thoughts had stopped at the part where he agreed to help her complete her Christmas wish list. She certainly had no original intention to divulge a single part of it; however, she had realized that she would need to tell him what was on it to complete. Otherwise, how could it even be completed? She reasoned in her mind.

Percy's slurping of the bottom of his drink brought her back to his question, "Yeah, that sounds good to me." She sighed, realizing that he wouldn't stop doing that until he sucked up every drop. This time, it was her fault since she chose a drink that involved a straw, "Could you stop that?"

Percy glanced up at her, raising his eyebrows, "Nope," and then continued to slurp the last few drops. He had perfected the art of getting on her nerves. "So tell me," he paused his slurping for a second but only long enough to talk, "what's the first thing on your list?"

Instinctively, Annabeth hand went towards her back pocket, but realizing where it was going, she instead used that hand to brush off the invisible dust on her jeans. If Percy had actually been paying attention to her actions instead of slurping, he would have said something about her odd actions. She was happy, for the first time that day, that he was actually slurping. Okay, she closed her eyes briefly, imagining the list in her head. "Annabeth's Christmas Wish List," she mumbled under her breath, the bullet points and slanted red ink coming into view, "Tobogganing." When she opened her eyes and saw Percy still slurping, she presumed she had not said it loud enough for him to hear, "The first thing his tobogganing."

Slurping the last drop, Percy raised his eyebrows, letting the words slip in. "Tobogganing," he repeated, glancing out the window to see no snow. Opening his mouth, Annabeth interrupted him.

"I know, this is already hopeless. There's no snow, and we're not supposed to get any for a while, right?" She sighed, letting her eyes drop to the stack of napkins that were on the table.

Percy chuckled, "Nah, I was just gonna say that it's weird that you haven't been tobogganing before."

Annabeth glanced towards him, a slight scowl on her face, "Before this year, I lived in California, Seaweed Brain."

He nodded, grinning, "Right, forgot." He shrugged, tossing his drink into the nearby garbage can before standing up and extending his hand towards Annabeth. She looked at it skeptically, "Come on, Wise Girl, we've got some tobogganing to do."

A ring of the bells signaled that a customer had just walked in, "I have to work." Annabeth bit her lip, thanking whoever had just walked in the door.

"No, go on!" Annabeth turned towards the counter to see Silena who winked at her, "I've got it covered."

Annabeth shook her head, "But, I'm not done for a couple of hours, and the boss…"

Silena rolled her eyes as if it were the dumbest excuse she had ever heard, "Don't worry about it. I've got you covered."

"Yeah, she's got you covered," Percy added in, grinning towards Silena and silently thanking her for helping him.

"There's no snow on the ground," Annabeth continued to protest, looking out the window to make sure that it hadn't randomly started snowing. It hadn't. Too bad, Annabeth's inner voice said sarcastically, looks like there's no tobogganing for me. Secretly, she was happy because it meant she wouldn't have to go through the letdown of not completing the enter list if they had never started it.

Percy's grin never faltered, "Who said anything about snow?" The grin only got wider.

…

"Nope. No. No way. No. No. No. NO," Annabeth protested, rattling off negating words. "There's no way I'm doing that."

Percy merely shrugged, still holding onto the rope of the toboggan, "You said you wanted to toboggan."

"You don't toboggan inside a store," Annabeth claimed, shaking her head at Percy's ridiculous idea. "You need snow, and you have to be outside."

"Ever heard of imagination?" Percy teased, watching as a glare and scowl became permanent on her face. He sighed, "I thought you wanted to complete your Christmas wish list."

Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed, "I do?" However, she wasn't too sure.

"See, this is your problem," Percy stated simply, walking towards her with the toboggan in tow. "You're just too worried about what everyone else will think about you."

"I'm not going to make a fool of myself," Annabeth said, crossing her arms as Percy came to stand in front of her.

Percy regarded her words. "Who's going to think you're a fool?" He questioned quietly, glancing around the aisle.

Annabeth did the same, noticing how everyone around them seemed to be busy shopping for who knows what. "Everyone," she muttered, swinging her eyes back to Percy.

"I won't think you're a fool," Percy smiled, tugging on the end of one of her curls.

Annabeth slapped his hand away, not in the mood for him to be cute. "That's because it's your idea," she stated, glancing around again at all the people who would think her to be stupid and crazy if she listened to Percy.

"Okay," Percy said, sounding resigned. Annabeth glanced towards him, knowing that Percy never gave up too easily, "Who's that lady?"

She looked towards where he pointed. There was a woman juggling quite a few shirts in onto hand, a coffee in the other, and a phone pressed to her ear with her shoulder. Her mouth moved quickly while a scowl appeared on her face, making her seem to be angry as she stood next to a rack of clothes. "I don't know," Annabeth said, directing her gaze back towards Percy.

He nodded. "Ever seen him before?" Percy pointed towards a guy who was holding up two different pairs of green socks against a turquoise jacket.

Annabeth chuckled lightly. "No," she smiled slightly at the man's ridiculous color coordination before returning her attention back to Percy.

"And her," Percy pointed towards a woman who shook her head at her kid who presented to her a bag of candy, "think you're ever gonna see her again?"

Annabeth watched as the kid started to cry, and the mother simply scowled, grabbing the bag out of her child's hand. She winced before answering Percy's question, "I hope not." Looking at him, he raised his eyebrows. She sighed, "No, I probably won't see her ever again."

He grinned, "Exactly. So, what difference does it make if they think we're crazy? It'll probably just lighten up their mood anyways. Especially the lady who wouldn't let her kid get candy."

Annabeth quickly rebutted, "They'll still we're crazy, Percy."

"And…?" He cocked his head to the side, gesturing with one hand to the space between them. The other held on tightly to the string of the black toboggan.

Annabeth huffed, "And, they'll still think we're crazy!" She obviously saw the flaws in the plan, but it did not appear that Percy did.

He shook his head, a small smile apparent, "We have no idea who that lady is, Annabeth. We both think she's nuts for taking the candy away from her kid, but she's still going to go on her day like normal, taking candy from her kid. That guy is still gonna match his socks to his jacket, and that lady will probably drop her coffee no matter what we do."

"It's embarrassing," she murmured, glancing away from Percy to the lady who was still juggling the shirts, coffee, and phone.

He shrugged, walking until he was next to her, "What do we have to lose?"

"Pride," Annabeth answered quickly, meeting his smiling green eyes. She, on the other hand, was slightly scowling.

He nodded, "I don't think losing a tiny bit of it is gonna hurt you…" His trailing off, signaled just how much pride he thought Annabeth had.

"Shut up," she punched him lightly, knowing that it did nothing to harm him.

Teasingly, he rubbed his arm, saying under his breath, "Your pride is going to be the death of us." Clearing his throat, he pulled the toboggan in front of Annabeth, "I'm not going to let this Christmas be ruined for you just because you won't get on the tobaggon."

"You can't make me," Annabeth lifted her chin slightly, still glancing at Percy from the corner of her eye.

He chuckled, running his eyes over her before shrugging. "You can't be that heavy."

Annabeth's eyes widened. Putting his arm around her mid-back and crouching down to put his other around the back of her knees, Percy prepared to get Annabeth into the toboggan, one way or another. "Okay," Annabeth took a step away from him, not wanting to be forced into the toboggan. It was bad enough that she would be in it in the first place. However, she made it clear her great disdain, "I hate you." Turning on her heels, she awkwardly sat in the toboggan, much to Percy's amusement. "What?" she snapped, watching him laugh at her.

When he finally stopped, he told her with a grin, "You act like the thing is gonna eat you. Just sit normally with your legs out in front of you or somethin'." She did so while Percy nodded in approvement. "Prepare to have the most fun of your entire life," he announced, before standing up straight and grabbing the front rope of the toboggan in his hand. "On your mark," he lounged, one leg behind the other. "Get set," he bent both knees. Turning his head to smile at Annabeth, he proclaimed, "GO!" and took off down the aisle towards the front of the store.

Gripping the edge of the toboggan, Percy pulled her around carts and weaved from aisle to aisle. As much as Annabeth was prepared to hate it, she couldn't help but smile as they moved fast pace around the Christmas trees and fake snow. Now, whether or not that was the most fun of her entire life? She wasn't sure. However, she was certain that this would rank at the top of her list.

Glancing behind herself, Annabeth noticed a couple store employees following them, yelling a multitude of words such as, "Stop… Security… Damn… Kids… Ridiculous…Crazy." Her smile soon fell, realizing just how much trouble they would get in if they were caught.

Turning back around, she called to him, "Percy!" He didn't turn around but nodded, showing that he heard her, "We have to get out of here… Now."

Noticing the alarm in her voice, Percy glanced behind him to see the store workers following behind them, starting to close the gap. Bringing the toboggan to a stop, he grabbed Annabeth's hand and said one word, "Run."

Together, hand in hand, they ran towards the exit of the store, dodging customers and purposefully taking a convoluted root to slow down their chasers. That part, of course, was Annabeth's idea. With the door soon in sight, they pushed their tiring legs, Percy's especially, forward until they cleared the exit and continued to run into the head of the mall, dodging couples, strollers, and crowds of families, finally stopping to blend in with a group of teenagers who were making their way to the food court.

Breathing hard, Percy glanced over his shoulder, their pursuers no longer in sight. "I think—we lost—them," he managed out between breaths, glancing down to see his hand still intertwined with Annabeth's. He goofily smiled, leading them away from the food court to the exit of the mall where they have originally come in.

"Good," Annabeth stated, still taking in large gulps of air. Noticing that she was still holding Percy's hand, she glanced towards him quickly before dropping, noticing that he then pressed his hands into his front pockets. She hoped he wasn't repulsed from holding her hands.

Percy glanced towards her, wondering if the red tint on her cheeks was from the running they had just done, "So, how many things left on that list? And, what's next?"

Annabeth quickly ran through it mentally, raising one finger for each bullet point, "One down, eight to go. And, you said I was only telling you one thing per day"

He nodded, "Some things might take some preplanning, unless everything involves going into a store and grabbing something off the shelves and rolling with it." She smiled slightly at the fact that Percy was doing some sort of planning. Noticing her smile, Percy added in, "Don't get used to all this planning ahead."

"I won't," Annabeth replied quickly, before answering his original second question. "Um, next is a tree-lighting," she said simply, wondering if this would lead to something that would have more employees chasing them.

Percy grinned, "Oh, I can easily do that."

…

Although Annabeth had seen Percy numerous times within the next few days, he had made no mention of finishing her Christmas wish list. In fact, she was constantly contemplating whether or not she should bring it up since he was a Seaweed Brain and all. It wasn't until that Friday that she was certain that she would do it when he told her to meet her down at the Plaza to "mark the next one off that list of yours". When she rolled her eyes and asked which plaza, he looked at her as if it were obvious and said, "The one with the aquarium of course. P & S's," he then clarified even further.

So, that is why Annabeth was standing in the freezing cold on a Saturday outside a closed aquarium.

"Hi," Annabeth jumped, turning to see Percy walk out of the aquarium, pulling a black jacket over his shoulders. She noted the common blue collared shirt that all of the employees wore at Poseidon Aquarium.

"You work here?" She asked, more to be assured that her educated guess was indeed correct.

He nodded, making a confused expression. "Where else would I work?"

"Um, there are other places to work, Percy," Annabeth replied, squinting her eyes at him in disbelief.

Percy opened his mouth to talk before closing it again and then opening it once again to say, "I never told you…" It seemed like he said it more for himself than Annabeth, but she still nodded. "Come on, we have to go back here," he stated simply, walking off towards another building that sat by itself, nearby on the plaza property.

Following behind him, Annabeth fought the urge to ask him what he meant. However, she was extremely curios and rather unsuccessful, "What didn't you tell me?"

He glanced over his shoulder, Annabeth noting how his sea green eyes seemed saddened. She picked up her pace to walk next to him, desperately wanting to comfort him but not knowing how. She truly never was good at that stuff. He sighed, "My dad owns this entire plaza. He's the P, Poseidon, and I'm the S, son." His voice was bitter when saying son as he kicked a stray rock into the parking lot, "It's not something I like to run around telling people about, but I guess it has its perks."

Annabeth paused, letting a slight silence wash over them (she was too busy thinking to notice the silence) as she realized that the pieces didn't add up perfectly, "I thought you said your dad was a teacher?"

Percy shook his head, a sad smile on his face, "No, that's Paul. He's my stepdad, but a lot of times he's a better dad to me than my own dad." He shrugged lightly, noticing the sad expression on Annabeth's face; he didn't want to sadden her with his family story. This was supposed to be about her and crossing off another bullet point on her wish list, "Come on, let's go light up a tree."

Widening her eyes, Annabeth realized just how horrible Percy's plan might be, "You're—you're not planning on literally lighting up a tree, right?" He sent her a confused look before fishing for the keys in his pocket which would presumably open the door to the small building, almost a shed, in front of them. Annabeth clarified her original question, "Fire, you're not planning on lighting a tree on fire, right?"

Percy laughed, finally pulling the right key out of his pocket and unlocking the door. "I may not get along with my father all the time, but I'm not crazy or anything." Annabeth just rolled her eyes. "So no but I can probably arrange that for you if you'd like?" He turned to her grinning before holding the door open and letting her in first.

"No thanks," Annabeth quickly shot down the idea before entering into the small building with Percy close in tow.

As he closed the door, Annabeth could hear him shuffle around a bit before the lights flickered on, illuminating the place. It was full of rain gutters, salt to melt ice, wooden siding, and other random construction materials. Seeming out of place, there were many computer screens, Annabeth noted, that lined one wall as well as a control panel that accompanied them. Noticing where Annabeth's focus was, Percy sighed before muttering, "Come on."

Walking them to the wall adjacent to the computer panels, he stopped in front of a lesser control panel that was right in front of a large window looking out into the street. "Press the red button," Percy said, pointing to the right side of the control panel.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "That's a lever Percy. You don't push a lever," Annabeth corrected him, making note of all the other levers, switches, and buttons that were scattered across the board.

Percy shrugged, "Same different. So, pull the lever." He smiled smugly, waiting for her to do it, "And, while you do it, look out the window."

Moving her hand towards the lever, Annabeth paused it midair, "You're generally not supposed to push or pull the red one."

"Just do it," Percy insisted, drumming against the edge of the control panel.

Annabeth frowned, "Do you even know what this does?"

"Of course," Percy stated, nodding his head adamantly. "Why else would I tell you push the red one?"

"Pull," Annabeth corrected him once again, rolling her eyes, "and because it's the only red one here, process of elimination."

Percy shook his head, chuckling, "It's not going to blow anything up. I promise." He stuck his pinky out, grinning when she rolled her eyes at it before latching her pinky to his.

Before letting his pinky go, she added in, "If anything bad happens, this is your fault."

"Isn't it always?" He questioned before nodding to the control panel. Sighing, Annabeth brought the lever down on the control panel, audibly gasping at the lights that flickered on all the trees outside on the plaza. Percy smiled, watching the different shades of light colors flicker across her face. She looks nice when she's surprised, he made a mental note, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She glanced up towards him, a large smile on her face before making note of the different colors of lights again. Percy whispered, "December 1st, tree-lighting is complete," and secretly enjoyed just how happy it made Annabeth to do it.

…

"You're trying to tell me you've never written a letter to Santa?" Percy practically yelled, looking at Annabeth, completely astonished.

She quickly shushed him before glancing around the coffee shop, relieved to see the last customer had already left. "Yes," she snapped, not appreciating his reaction to the next item on her list.

Percy shook his head, his mouth slightly agape. "Man, there must be something wrong with California, then."

"I'm not a man, Percy," Annabeth corrected him, before muttering under her breath, "and there's nothing wrong with California." On the other hand, after Percy's reaction, she wasn't too certain if there wasn't something wrong with her… She ultimately concluded that there wasn't something wrong with her but black haired boy who sat across from her.

Percy shrugged, "Well this won't be too hard to take care of, then. Just be at my house at 6."

Annabeth rolled her eyes before saying, "I don't know where you live, Seaweed Brain."

Smiling timidly, Percy pulled out a pen to scribble some words on a napkin. When he finished, he slid it in front of her standing up. "I have to go," he glanced at the clock quickly before cursing under his breath, "but go to that address. Um, it's my house, at 6, okay? Then we'll be one step closer to your perfect Christmas." He grinned goofily, tossed her a wave, and turned to leave the coffee shop.

Sighing, Annabeth grabbed the compressed paper from her pocket, unfolding it to read the words that she had already memorized under her breath, "Tobogganing, check. Tree-lighting, check. Write a letter to Santa, soon to be a check… Drink Eggnog and eat Christmas cookies. White Christmas. Ugly Christmas Sweater. Take a picture with Santa. Mistletoe Kiss. Christmas romance." Shaking her head, she folded the paper back into her pocket running through the list again from memory.

Quietly mumbling, she made her way back behind the counter of the coffee shop, "There's no way we're going to complete this list before Christmas is over, not if I want to keep my pride intact." That she was certain.

…

Annabeth tapped her foot nervously, waiting for the door to open to the apartment. Glancing down at the napkin in her hand, the address on it matched the address of the door.

Quickly, the door swung open to a young boy with soft brown hair and brown eyes who peered up towards Annabeth. Not too long after came a familiar voice to Annabeth saying, "Tyson, you're not allowed to open the door."

The young boy, presumably Tyson, said sweetly, "Hi."

Annabeth smiled, "Hi. I'm guessing you're Tyson." He nodded, a small smile on his face.

"Sorry about him," Percy said, causing Annabeth to glance upwards and note how he must have just gotten out of the shower because his hair was wet, lying against his forehead. "He's not supposed to open the door, but now that he's tall enough to reach the doorknob, he doesn't listen."

"Sppsh, Percy," Tyson whisper yelled, gesturing for his brother to crouch down. Percy sent Annabeth an apologetic smile before bending downward, "Is this the girl you always talk about that Mom thinks you like?"

Percy groaned, causing Annabeth to chuckle, standing back up, "Tyson, just let her in the house, alright." Percy stood up, walking further into the house, his cheeks turning a light red. If Percy had looked at Annabeth before he left, he would have seen her cheeks turning the same shade.

Tyson grinned, opening the door wider for Annabeth, "Do you want to come in?"

"Just her let into the house, Tyson." Percy's yell could be heard from somewhere further in, and Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

She smiled, "Thanks, Tyson," before following him into the apartment and closing the door behind herself.

As much as she would have liked to look at the pictures that lined the walls, she felt herself picking up her pace to match that of the young boy who went bounding into the house. It would be beyond embarrassing if she were to get lost. Coming into an opening, what appeared to be the living room, Annabeth noted the array of pictures that lined the walls, many of them of the ocean or other places such as New York cars and skyline. She smiled slightly at a picture that could only be a young Percy in a pool with floaters for buoyancy.

"It's an embarrassing picture," Percy remarked, watching her gaze at the younger version of him.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at his 'logic,' if one could even call it that, "And, tobogganing in a store isn't?" She question, raising an eyebrow, before taking a seat on the couch next to Percy.

Tyson's mouth dropped in disbelief. "You tobogga—"

Percy cut him off, "Tyson, don't you have something to do in your room?" His voice was stern, sending his brother a look that said not to argue with him this time.

Tyson, of course, did not pick up on that look. "You can't watch me if I'm in my room, and you're s'posed to be watching me," Tyson explained, putting his hands on his hips

Annabeth smirked at the annoyance evident on Percy's face. He sighed, "You don't want Santa to give you a piece of coal instead of that sword, now would you?"

Tyson shook his head quickly before scurrying up the stairs. Percy breathed out a frustrated breath before smirking, focusing his attention back to Annabeth, only to be punched by her. "That was so mean," she emphasized by punching him in the arm once again.

Percy groaned, "He was being annoying and wouldn't leave."

"Still mean," Annabeth protested, shaking her head at the pout Percy put on his face.

He shrugged. "I did it for you," he explained, sitting forward to pull out two pieces of green paper for the two of them.

"Oh no," Annabeth shook her head, watching as Percy ruffled through a box of markers, "you're not pinning this one on me."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy muttered, digging down into the bottom of the box and coming out with two red markers, "course not. Perfect," he said under his breath, laying one out on the table in front of Annabeth and keeping the other in his hand. "So, let's write some letters to Santa." He grinned, glancing towards Annabeth before sitting forward and beginning to write his letter.

Annabeth scooted forward, watching as Percy quickly scribbled red words across the green paper. Uncapping her marker, she wasn't even sure where to start. Would she write to or dear? Would one be too formal and the other too informal? She sighed in frustration, glancing to see that Percy was well on his way with his letter. "How do I start?" She asked timidly, knowing that sitting there doing nothing wouldn't have done much better.

Percy glanced up, the marker cap in his mouth, furrowing his eyebrows, "Um, try Dear Santa. That's always how I always start." He sent her a large smile, watching as she uncomfortably wrote Dear Santa and looking as though she might want to cross it out. "Need some help, Wise Girl?" He asked.

Annabeth glared at him, ready to snap at his sarcastic response but noticed the sincerity in his eyes. She sighed, nodded, and waited for Percy to do something, anything, "Yeah… I guess I just don't know what you say in this case."

Percy smiled knowingly, something that he only ever seemed to do around her. He nodded before saying, "Well, I always start by telling Santa that I know he's busy and everything." Annabeth nodded, writing down the beginning of her paragraph while Percy went back to finishing his letter.

After the first two sentences, Annabeth was stuck again as to what to write to Santa. She had never endured any sort of problem before when it came to what to write in a school paper or essay. She wasn't sure why that was such a problem this go around. Why can't I just write a letter to Santa? However, she didn't want to ask Percy again for help while he seemed to have no problem, so she merely bit her lip and watched him write.

Occasionally, his eyebrows would furrow together as he paused to contemplate what was best to say next. When he seemed to decide, his sea green eyes would light up and more words would spill from the tip of his marker. Each and every time, she would smile lightly, enjoying the way the green became lighter with excitement. It's cute, she thought quickly before dispelling the thought and feeling guilty for watching her best friend in that manner.

"You done too?" Percy asked, capping the marker before looking down at Annabeth's two sentences. "Oh," he said simply, "having trouble still?"

She sighed. "Maybe I'm just not any good at this," Annabeth answered dejectedly.

Percy shook his head. "If you want, I could read you mine? Give some ideas?" He offered, glancing towards his letter and back to Annabeth.

"If you wouldn't mind?" Annabeth asked timidly, not liking that she was basically admitting that she couldn't even write a simple letter to Santa.

"Sure, why not?" Percy shrugged, picking up his letter and clearing his throat before reading it, "Dear Santa, I know you're busy and everything with all the letters from all the other kids and making the gifts that everyone asks of you. So, I'll make it a little easier. You don't have to even reply to this. In fact, I'll leave my name here (Percy) just to… I don't know. You just don't have to reply. I'm 17, and my brother Tyson, he's 6, still believes in you. I guess I still sort of believe in you too. What I believe in is how happy you make my brother, even though I threaten him about getting coal in his stocking whenever I want him to just listen to me. Don't give him coal, though. He'll be heartbroken. I guess I just wanted to say thanks for being there for him and me and every other kid who has even believed in you. It meant a lot back to me then, and it means a lot to me now, seeing how excited Tyson gets every time he opens a present that was on his list and reads your response to his letter. (He still needs a bit of help with that. That's where I come in.) So yeah, thanks for that because I could never go out to the store and buy it for him. But really, thank you to whoever replies to these letters because it's you who keeps that happiness alive. Merry Christmas or I guess I should say Happy Holidays." Percy glanced up from his letter, absentmindedly folding it in his hands. "It's nothing special," he explained.

Annabeth groaned, rolling her eyes at Percy's response, "It's perfect and really sweet."

"Thanks," Percy mumbled as if embarrassed by his letter. "If it makes you feel any better, it doesn't matter what you write," Percy stated sincerely, wanting for anything to make Annabeth stop beating herself up about the letter to Santa.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"You'll understand when you get the letter back," Percy explained, dismissing the question. "Can I do anything else to help or do you mind if I check on Tyson?" Annabeth shook her head, twirling the marker in hand before beginning to write again, barely registering Percy's footsteps going up the stairs. "Oh yeah, when you're done, just write the return address in the top corner of that envelope, and I'll take care of the rest."

For some reason, this time, writing the letter came easier to her as the red words flowed from her mind onto the green paper. Maybe it was because of hearing Percy's heartwarming letter or maybe it was due to the fact that she no longer felt the pressure of possibly being judged for whatever she wrote down on the paper. Whichever it was, it was Percy who helped her come to that understanding, to be able to actually craft the letter.

It wasn't long before Annabeth had finished the letter and carefully printed her return address on the top corner of the envelope. Slipping it into the envelope, she quickly sealed it, wondering who to make the letter out to, or to be more specific, where exactly Santa "lived."

"You done?" Percy asked from the top of the stairs before jogging down them and towards the couch. "Looks like it," he surmised before Annabeth could properly answer. "Tyson says hi, by the way," he added in, taking his seat again from the couch.

Annabeth smiled. "I say hi, too," she stated, watching Percy place another envelope on the table before putting his letter in an envelope and sealing it shut.

"Well, I'll just send these out tomorrow, and we should get a reply in a few days or so… Guess it depends on how busy it is right about now," Percy explained, grabbing the nearest writing utensil which just so happened to be a pen. Glancing at the time, he cursed under his breath causing Annabeth to raise her eyebrows, "Uh… Can you leave?" Percy asked, glancing back towards the time again.

Annabeth wasn't sure how to react, ultimately deciding to roll her eyes. "Are you this nice to all your guests?" She sarcastically asked, standing up from the couch and making her way to the front the door.

"Annabeth, wait," she heard Percy's footsteps coming closer until he was next to her, "my mom and dad, er stepdad, are about to be home, and I'm technically not allowed to have any girls in the apartment unless they're around."

Annabeth smirked. "Breaking the rules, Seaweed Brain?" She teased, continuing to make her way towards his front door.

"Only for you, Wise Girl," he half-joked, stepping forward to fumble with the lock before altogether stopping and leaning against the door. "What's next on the list?" He asked, blocking the exit that he had before been rushing her out of.

Quickly running through the list in her head, Annabeth answered, "Drink eggnog and eat Christmas cookies." She glared at the goofy smile that appeared on Percy's face. "What?" She snapped, not entirely enjoying the way he was looking at her.

"Nothing," he said quickly, "it's just that it's way too easy."

"I'm sure you're going to have some big idea to make it complicated," Annabeth explained, shaking her head at how Percy already seemed to be in thought regarding that next item.

"Yeah, probably," he grinned again, before taking notice of the time that the clock on the wall told. "So yeah, can you get out now?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You're blocking the exit, Percy."

"Oh yeah," he said, grinning timidly, "moving might help."

"Yeah, you should try it sometime… like now."

…

Annabeth had expected to see Percy within the next two days. However, come the second day, Percy had still opted to not show. Continuously throughout her shift, Annabeth glanced towards the door expecting to see his black hair and green eyes come through the door. Each and every time, however, it was either some other person or no one at all. The weirdest part of that circumstance came when it was time for her to take her break. She had listened to the numerous girls' gossip about who was dating who in the celebrity world. They then decided that it would be a splendid idea to pester Annabeth about Percy. At that point, she left, deciding that someone needed to man—or should I say woman—the counter.

"Can I borrow one of the drink machines?" A voice asked, causing Annabeth to look up and smile at Percy who approached her with a brown paper bag under his arm.

"What's under there?" She asked curiously, noticing the way he held the bag tightly to his body. Never before had he come into the shop caring a brown bag, so of course it peaked her curiosity. And well, Annabeth had always been rather curious.

Percy shook his head, moving it to behind his back. "You can't answer a question with a question, Annabeth," he stated in a horrid impression of Annabeth which made her sound like she had the worst head cold known to man, woman, and beast.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I sound nothing like that," but Percy merely shrugged nonchalantly, not caring that he didn't get the impression spot-on. "We're about to close," Annabeth continued onward, wondering what brought him around so late. He had never before opted to come a minute before closing just as he never brought with him a brown paper bag. If it were a random stranger, it would have been rather alarming.

Percy nodded, "That's why I'm here," before placing the brown paper bag on their normal table and hopping over the counter to be back where Annabeth stood.

"You do know you could just pull it up," Annabeth explained, though she was thankful that he didn't get dirt all over the counter. She would merely have to clean that up, "Or, are you too cool for that?"

"Exactly what I was gonna say," Percy stated with a smug grin before wandering towards the drink machines. "Which one is for eggnog?" He asked curiously, not taking the time to read any of the labels.

Annabeth's eyebrows rose in understanding before she pointed to the one that was directly in front of Percy, "Do you know how to use it?" She watched as he grabbed one cup and set it under the nozzle.

Percy nodded, scratching the back of his head before selecting the temperature and pulling the lever down. "O'course," he stated, glancing up to see the surprised expression on Annabeth face. He had always enjoyed that expression, so it was no surprised when he grinned at her before returning his attention to the machine, "My dad at one of his offices decided that a normal coffeemaker would be way too cheap for him. So, he bought one of these. I basically learned through trial and error and a couple of burns. Not too many trials or burns, though," he added in, pushing the lever upright before the eggnog began to overflow.

"I'm impressed," Annabeth genuinely expressed, watching him place the top on the cup and wrapping a napkin around the base.

"It's really not that impressive," Percy dismissed the compliment, walking over to the other side of the counter and opting to actually go to the front of the store like normal people to say it as Annabeth thought.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Do you ever take a compliment without debasing it?" She wondered aloud, sending him a smile when he held the counter up for her to walk under as well.

Percy cocked his head to the side, running the question over in his head. "Uh, I'm gonna say yes, but I don't know if that's the right answer since I don't know what debasing means…" It sounded like removing the base of something, but he would bet that it wasn't the correct definition, maybe in another case, though.

"Debase, like belittle, to lessen," Annabeth explained, sitting down in her normal seat with Percy echoing her action only a few seconds later.

"Ah," Percy rubbed his face, placing the cup on the table in front of Annabeth, "I didn't know I do that."

"Well you do," Annabeth assured him, holding the warm cup in her hands. She was certain that Percy wasn't done setting up for this next item on the list so she waited.

Percy, however, was still thinking about what Annabeth said, "How do I do that?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, seeing that he asked in all seriousness. She sighed lightly, "Whenever I give you a compliment, you either say that it's not that big of a deal or act like I never gave it to you at all. Why?"

He nodded, drumming the table absentmindedly, while glancing quickly towards Annabeth. "Well," Percy began, cocking his head to the side in thought once again, "I guess I'm just not that used to compliments and whatever that are actually meaningful." He shrugged, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably, "Either they're from girls that say that I'm hot or whatever, or they're people being sarcastic and taking a punch at me. I never really noticed that I lessen the compliments. I don't think much about them, I guess… Not really used to them," he further explained, messing with the front of his hair that lay on his forehead for something to do.

Because Annabeth liked things in place, she quickly fixed the hair on his forehead (he sent her a thankful smile) before replying honestly. "You know, you're not half bad most of the time."

"Oh, thanks," Percy stated sarcastically, thinking that she wasn't giving him a true compliment.

Annabeth shook her, realizing that she may have needed to use better wording. "What I mean to say," she paused, deciding how best to phrase it, "is that sometimes I wonder why you're my best friend because you're so great." Biting her lip, Annabeth hoped to push back the tears that she felt beginning to pool in her eyes. Although she had felt that way since the first time Percy told her they were best friends, she had never actually voiced it.

Percy regarded her quizzically, letting a sad smile form on his lips. "I'm not that great," he lamented, rubbing the back of his neck.

"There you go again belittling yourself," Annabeth stated, rolling her eyes more out of habit than feeling his statement was dumb or anything. She sighed, knowing that she would need to divulge more than what she already had, "Percy, most people wouldn't go through this whole wish list with me, and they definitely wouldn't take the time to come up with ways to make the items actually work. No one that I know would write a letter like you did to Santa thanking the post office workers for just writing back and making your brother happy. You're ridiculously sweet, and that's honestly what I love about you."

"Love you too, Wise Girl," Percy grinned, before adding, "as a best friend, and thanks." Annabeth merely rolled her eyes, watching as he grabbed the brown paper bag and unrolled it. "Wait a second," he said before unfolding two napkins and placing one in front of each of them. Grabbing the bag once again, he placed one gingerbread cookie on each napkin, grinning thereafter with satisfaction. "Bon appetite," Percy commanded in French-English that only caused Annabeth to chuckle.

Taking a sip of the eggnog and eating the piece of gingerbread cookie that was broken off, she was certain that she had just eaten the best thing on Earth. "I think I just entered food Heaven," she moaned, yearning to stay there forever.

Percy chuckled lightly, enjoying the content look on her face. "You can thank my mom for that, well and Tyson, since they made the cookies," he responded, pushing the bag in front of her and putting his uneaten cookie on her napkin.

Annabeth shook her head, taking another sip of the eggnog. "Percy, you have to try both," she insisted, moving the napkin and cup of eggnog in front of him.

He, instead, lifted his hands in mock surrender, signaling that he wasn't going to eat or drink either. "It's all yours," he stated, knowing that Annabeth would protest if he didn't say anything more. "We have more cookies at home, and I hate eggnog so much."

Raising her eyebrows, Annabeth thankfully took back her pieces of utter food perfection. "You're really missing out," she added, quickly downing the rest of her eggnog, not seeming to realize that Silena had already turned off the machine for the day. Glancing up from her food, she took in the expression on Percy's face. "What?" She asked with absolutely no snap in her voice since she was still on cloud nine from the eggnog and cookies.

Percy shrugged, his entire face lit up from amusement. "You're cute," he disclosed, adding more to his original statement, "all the time really but especially when you're happy."

If he had noticed the blush on Annabeth's face, he made no act of recognition. "Thanks," she mumbled, wanting to stop the heat from rising in her cheeks. For that very reason, she felt it imperative to change the subject, "You have to thank your mom for me."

Percy rubbed his hand on his face in thought, "You could do that yourself, you know." He saw no reason for her not to, and plus, his mom had been dying to meet Annabeth ever since he first mentioned her months ago during the beginnings of their friendship. Percy made her promise not to walk into the coffee shop as to not embarrass him. Whether or not she kept the promise, he wasn't sure. But if she hadn't, she at least didn't introduce herself as being Percy's mom and embarrass him.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Annabeth wondered aloud, more to herself than as an actual question begging to be answered.

"Not possible," Percy retorted quickly, shaking his head. "She'll love you, especially because you love her cookies."

Annabeth frowned, not entirely convinced of that fact. "Are you sure?"

Percy grinned, amused that Annabeth really wanted to make that great of an impression. "One-hundred percent."

…

Annabeth and Percy's mom could not have gotten along better, not even in his wildest dreams. In fact, Percy was beginning to believe that they may have been getting along too well. He became certain of that when his mom decided that she should tell embarrassing of stories so that the two could laugh at his thoughtlessness and naivety. Percy, on the other hand, really wasn't at all amused by the topic matter.

"I'm still in the room," he groaned once his mother finished yet another embarrassing story, this one about how Percy thought the goldfish might have enjoyed swimming in the toilet more than its own bowl.

"You haven't changed much," Annabeth cooed, ruffling the hair on Percy's head as he leaned away from her touch. "He really is, basically, the same, Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth divulged, returning back to the conversation that she seemed to be having with Percy's mom, not including Percy except as being the topic matter.

"Call me Sally," Sally said warmly, enjoying being in the company of Percy's friend whom she still believed he liked as more than a friend.

Annabeth nodded, noticing that she had a stubborn look in her eye just like Percy; there was no point in arguing. "Okay, I will."

"So, Annabeth," Sally began, placing a lock of hair gently behind her ear, "I've heard quite a bit about you."

Annabeth raised her eyebrow towards Percy who placed his head on his head. She smiled lightly at his reaction, knowing that he must have regretted whatever he said. "Oh, really?" Annabeth asked in shear amusement, wanting to prolong the small amount of suffering that Percy was enduring. It wasn't often that she saw him squirm like he did in the midst of his mother, and she greatly enjoyed it.

"Yes, quite a few things, I must say. Much more than any other 'friends' that Percy has ever mentioned," Sally explained, winking towards Annabeth knowingly. Annabeth blushed slightly, becoming bashful under the knowing gaze of Mrs. Jackson; she had not expected this turn in the conversation.

Percy noticed the way Annabeth began squirming next to him, deciding that he would come to the rescue of the two of them, "Mom, I think Annabeth has to go now…" He trailed off, hoping that his mom would take the bait.

Sally glanced towards the clock, only then becoming aware of just how late it was, "Oh no, Annabeth can't possibly drive back home this late."

"It's okay," Annabeth dismissed, before looking towards the clock and realizing that it was almost one in the morning. She cursed under her breath lightly, causing Percy to snicker, before pulling her phone out of her pocket and realizing that there was not a single text or missed call notification. She sighed, placing it back in her pocket once again. "It's alright," her voice was now emotionless. "I can make it home safely," she managed to let out before a yawn escaped.

Percy shook his head, standing up from the couch and blocking her exit. "There's no way we're letting you go out this late, Annabeth. You could fall asleep at the wheel and die, and I would never forgive myself for that," he protested adamantly, knowing that there was no way she was leaving his house until the next morning, or, to be technical, until earlier in the morning.

Sally nodded, inwardly smiling at how protective her son was of Annabeth. "I have to say Percy's right, Annabeth," she stated, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. "If you would like, I can call your parents and explain what happened. It really is my fault."

Annabeth sighed, knowing that there was no way she would be leaving their house between Sally and Percy. "It's okay," Annabeth explained, resigned and standing up. "I can take care of that."

Percy lifted a fist in victory, before placing his arm around Annabeth's shoulder. "Looks like you're spending the night then," he stated simply before realizing the connotation of his words. "You know, you'll be sleeping over here… Like a sleepover. You know, like friends have," he stumbled over his words, trying to make it sound completely platonic, especially with his mother in earshot.

Sally pushed her head out the kitchen doorway, raising her eyebrows at her teenage, hormonal son. "And just like friends, you will not be sharing the same bed, understood?"

Percy groaned, slightly embarrassed and realizing that he would be without his bed. "Can I camp out on the floor then?" He whined, not wanting to wake up with neck cramps from sleeping on the couch.

"Only if you keep the door unlocked, young man," Sally decreed, before smiling sweetly at how cute her son was with his arm around Annabeth's shoulder.

"Deal," he said quickly, walking over to his mom and giving her a kiss on the check. "Love you and goodnight."

She patted his cheek lovely before addressing Percy and Annabeth, "Goodnight to both of you."

Percy walked towards the stairs, gesturing for Annabeth to follow suit. He waited to embark the stairs until she was behind him. Whispering softly, she made sure only he could hear, "Mamma's boy."

Percy merely shrugged, taking the stairs two at a time. "Guess I can't argue that one."

"You can never argue with me," Annabeth rebutted, smiling smugly at the back of Percy's head.

Percy shook his head, a smile upon his face even though Annabeth couldn't see it. "Next time you go to the doctor, make sure they check your pride. I think it's a bit swollen. Might want to get it drained," he joked, taking a right at the top of the stairs.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, secretly admiring how Percy's comeback skills had improved. "Enjoy the floor, Percy," she teased lightly in a hushed tone, aware of the fact that Tyson must have been sleeping somewhere near.

He groaned, remembering how he would be camping out on the cold floor and wondered if getting neck cramps from the couch really was worse. "Be prepared to be surprised," he muttered before twisting his doorknob and letting Annabeth into his room.

Although she was completely prepared for his room to be a big pile of mess, she was not prepared for the converse. So to put it simply, she was surprised. "It's clean," she said in utter disbelief, making note of how everything seemed to be place.

He nodded, grabbing a sleeping bag from the corner of his room and laying it on the floor. While he did that, Annabeth made note of how each thing seemed to have its own place from the posters and pictures, mainly pictures, which lined his walls to the three blue pillows that were on his bed. "Close the door, will ya?" Percy asked, when he noticed that Annabeth was still rooted to the spot, observing his room with widened eyes. "My mom never let me have a messy room when I was a kid," he further explained, walking over to his closet to grab a pillow and sweatshirt then old pair of shorts from a drawer. Tossing the shorts and sweatshirt towards Annabeth, he shrugged. "I figured you don't wear pajamas under your clothes so those will have to do, I guess."

"Nice guess," Annabeth retorted, now out of her stupor induced by the meticulously clean state of his room. "Um," she began, causing Percy to glance up towards her, "where do I change?"

Percy's cheeks tinted red before he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, I have to brush my teeth, so um, you can change in here," he stated before quickly leaving his room and closing the door after him.

Not certain as to whether or not Percy brushed his teeth for the normal three minutes, shorter, or longer, shorter being the main concern, Annabeth quickly changed into his old shorts, which must have been rather old since they fit her waist, and his oversized sweatshirt. Carefully folding the clothes she just took off, she placed them on the edge of his bed, feeling that they were completely out of place in Percy's painstakingly perfect room. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she felt as though she was messing up the room and quickly stood up, decided it was best to just have a look around the room.

What caught her eye the most besides the many posters of swimmers and pictures of water was an almost completely covered bulletin board that lay on the wall next to his, unsurprisingly, blue desk. Moving towards it, Annabeth grinned at the pictures of Percy throughout the years. In some were Sally, others Tyson, some Sally, Tyson, and Paul, and in two there was Percy with a man who must have been his father due to the fact that Percy resembled him almost perfectly besides the fact that Percy's green eyes held more of a blue tint. On what appeared to be a second board were more pictures of Percy, these ones scattered with Percy and kids who seemed to be his age. In almost all of them, Percy seemed to have his normal goofy grin. However, one picture specifically caught her eye in which Percy had a crooked grin on his face while a girl with rich brown hair kissed the corner of his lips. Annabeth wasn't sure why, although she had an inkling as to why, but it was certainly her least favorite picture of them all.

"I don't have any pictures of the two of us," Annabeth turned to the sound of his voice, seeing Percy leaning against the doorframe. She wasn't certain as to long he had been watching her, but he had an amused expression on his face. "You look nice in my clothes," he added with a crooked grin, one that matched that of the grin in the picture that Annabeth despised.

Ignoring the compliment, she impulsively asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?" and regretted it the second the last word fell out of her mouth.

Percy furrowed his eyebrows, walking towards Annabeth with confusion. She turned on her heel back towards the board, letting her eyes run over all of the pictures in an attempt to distract herself. Feeling his presence, Annabeth knew that he had just come to stand next to her and figured he was gazing at the picture she despised. "No," he said simply, unpinning the picture from the board and haphazardly tossing it into a box on his desk.

"You didn't have to take it down," Annabeth whispered, feeling bad for making Percy remove the picture even though she was also happy that he so easily removed it.

He shook his head, scanning over the board to see if he had missed any other pictures of her. "She's the ex I had told you about," Percy explained, moving towards his desk and grabbing his phone off the charger.

Annabeth searched her memory bank, recalling how Percy had mentioned that there was a girl who he had dated over a previous summer; she didn't live in New York, but during the time they dated, she monopolized the time Percy had, not allowing him to spend it with his friends. To explain it simply, it didn't work out well when Percy chose his friends over her. "Calypso," Annabeth mumbled the name under her breath, the last bit of the conversation having replayed her head.

"Come over here," Percy gestured toward his desk where he stood with his phone in his hand. She raised her eyebrows but did as he said, "I think we oughta change the fact that you're not on my bulletin board."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, already seeing the flaw in Percy's plan. "Percy, you're too tall for us to take a good picture," she explained, remarking on the height difference between the two of them.

"Want me to get you a box?" Percy teased lightly although he would kindly get Annabeth a small box to even out their heights.

"Shut up," Annabeth muttered, punching his arm lightly yet still chuckling at his response. "I'm not that short."

Percy held his hands up in surrender before sitting in his desk chair. "Sit on my lap," he stated, a goofy grin appearing on his face. Annabeth was about to protest, but Percy continued before she could, "We'll be closer to the same height, and it's not gonna work if we sit anywhere else."

She pursed his lips, knowing that his logic was surprisingly correct. "First time you've ever been right," she snapped lightly before awkwardly sitting on the edge of his lap.

"I don't bite," Percy snickered, before pulling Annabeth more comfortably onto his lap and willing himself not to make anything awkward.

Holding his phone in front of them, they smiled for a couple of pictures then made funny faces for another few. Deciding that he wanted a genuine smile from Annabeth, or if not a smile then a genuine expression, he pressed his lips to her cheek, snapping the picture before she could punch him. Going into his gallery, he went through each of the pictures, ending with the one where he kissed Annabeth's cheek; he grinned. "I like this one the best," he declared, enjoying how Annabeth had a soft, genuine smile on her face.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, standing up and moving towards his bed. "Goodnight, Percy," she said as a dismissal, ignoring what he previously proclaimed as being his favorite picture.

Placing his phone back on the charger, he stood in front of the bed, causing Annabeth to send him a questioning look. "Annabeth?" She gave a sound of acknowledge, truly wanting to roll her eyes but opted not to when she noticed Percy's being uncomfortable. "Um," he began, fumbling with the thoughts in his head, "I normally sleep in just boxers."

"Oh," she replied, an answer that did not display just how smart she was, "So…" She paused, willing her wits to come back in place while she pushed the thought of Percy in just boxers from her head. "Think you can sleep in pants or something?"

"Oh… Yeah, sure," Percy responded, muttering something about how he should have thought of that. Grabbing a tshirt and sweats from his drawers, Percy went into his closet, only to come out a few seconds later changed. Annabeth reasoned that he must have had a hamper in his closet. "Well, um," Percy began, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "night then."

Flicking the lights, he went back to his sleeping bag, attempting to get comfortable while Annabeth drifted in and out of consciousness. "Goodnight, Seaweed Brain," she mumbled before her eyelids forced her to close them once again.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked a few minutes later, not sure if she had already fallen asleep or not.

She hadn't. "Hm," she sounded, with as little effort as possible. She many not have fallen asleep, but she was on the brink of it.

"Love you," Percy said into the darkness, secretly enjoying that it would be the last thing his best friend heard before she fell asleep at night.

A sleepy smile shone in the darkness on Annabeth's face, "Love you too, Seaweed Brain."

"Like a best friend," Percy amended thereafter, always feeling as though he was skirting the line between best friend and more when he said that.

Annabeth echoed back, "Like a best friend," before Percy's deepening breathing lolled her to sleep.

…

"Percy! It came!" Tyson shook his brother, willing him to finally wake up. Percy, however, had other plans, rolling onto his side so that his back now faced Tyson. "Percy, you have to get up. Santa replied. Get up! Get up! Get up!"

Pushing his hand against Tyson's face, he mumbled, "Why won't this alarm clock turn off already?" Rolling onto his back, but keeping his eyes closed so that Tyson still believed him to be asleep, he began poking Tyson, ensuring that most fell on his ticklish stomach, "Maybe I'm just missing the button then."

"Per..cy.. Sto..op" Tyson managed between giggles, realizing that his brother must have been faking now that he became showered with well-placed pokes to the stomach.

Opening one eye, Percy smirked at the grinning form of his brother who held a rather large, already opened, envelope in his hand. "What do you have there?" He asked, opening both eyes and already knowing what was in the envelope.

Tyson grinned, displaying his two missing teeth. "Santa replied, and I already read the letter. I didn't need much help 'cept for a couple of words that mom and dad helped me with," he explained, the joy radiating out of him.

Percy smiled, smoothing the messy hair on Tyson's head absentmindedly. "Did Santa give me any candy?" Percy asked, moving his hand towards Tyson's envelope which he was certain must have held candy.

"No," Tyson whined, snatching his envelope away and dropping a second in front of Percy, "this one's yours, and this one's mine. And, I'm leaving before you eat all my candy." True to his word, Tyson left right after, closing Percy's door after him.

"He's a lot like you," Annabeth mumbled from the bed, having been woken up as well by Tyson-the-alarm-clock as well.

Percy sighed, crawling out of the sleeping bag with his enveloped and flinging himself onto his bed next to Annabeth. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not," he muttered, not enjoying that Tyson decided it would be a great idea to wake the whole house up the second the sun is up.

Annabeth chuckled lazily in her sleep. "I just meant the way he pesters you until he gets what he wants," she teased, laughing with her eyes still closed.

"Gee, thanks," Percy retorted, glancing over to see Annabeth still with her eyes closed, almost completely asleep. She looks exactly like a California girl, Percy thought, knowing that the one thing that broke the look would come when she opened her eyes.

"Stop staring at me," Annabeth muttered, keeping her eyes closed. Percy raised his eyebrows. "I know because you stopped talking, and I didn't hear any other noise," she further explained, knowing that Percy was about to ask how she knew.

"What's next on the list?" Percy asked, glancing at a sticky note on his envelope from his mom before opening the letter from Santa. He wasn't expected much different from the previous year but was mainly looking for the candy.

Annabeth rolled on her side to face Percy, pulling her legs towards her chest. "Mm, a white Christmas," she answered, lazily opening her eyes to see Percy fishing into his envelope.

"Oh," he remarked, glancing at her quickly, "I think that one is gonna take a lot of thinking. Ever had a white Christmas before?"

Annabeth shook her head. "California… San Francisco, remember?"

"Right," Percy nodded, pulling out a piece of paper from the envelope, "so then, what's after that?"

"Ugly Christmas sweaters…" Annabeth mumbled, wincing in anticipation of Percy's reaction.

He merely grinned. "You make it too easy, Wise Girl," he remarked, now reading the letter from 'Santa.' "Wait, Annabeth," he stated slowly, running his eyes over the letter a couple of times before talking again, "you're not going to belief this."

Her eyebrows rose, "Try me."

"Percy, I just wanted to say thanks for all that you do. So you know I really read your letter, I'll leave my name here (Jim). It means a lot to know that what I do has meant so much to you. You're a good kid, and I bet an even better brother. For that reason, I threw in a little extra candy for you. Thanks for taking the time to thank us. We appreciate it. – Postal Service," Percy read from the paper, grinning towards Annabeth who was rather amused. "You see, normally they just send some typed letter and right in your name after 'Dear' and sign it Santa," he explained, carefully placing the letter on his bedside table.

"Looks like it does make a difference what you write," Annabeth said with a smile before climbing out of bed. "Do you know where my clothes went?" She asked, glancing around the room to see that they were no longer at the foot of the bed.

Percy nodded, getting off of the bed and moving towards the door. "My mom took them to wash them, but she said you can borrow some of her old clothes. I'll show where to get them," he explained before opening the door and heading out of his room.

Following him, Annabeth didn't want to be the intrusive guest. "Are you sure your mom is okay with that?"

Stopping in front of his mom's room, Percy faced Annabeth, rolling his eyes. "It was her idea, so of course she's okay with that."

"Shut up," Annabeth mumbled, punching his arm, a normal accompaniment for such a phrase.

"Oh, the agony," Percy yelled, clutching his arm and tossing his head back. Now looking upwards, Percy caught sight of something hanging on the doorframe of his mom and Paul's room. "Mistletoe," he stated, looking down at Annabeth who sent him a confused look. Glancing upwards herself, she noticed the curious green plant hanging above the two of them. "Paul must have put it there for my mom and yeah…" He trailed off, considering what exactly he had to lose.

Annabeth could feel her cheeks heating up, lowering her gaze in time enough to meet Percy's eyes before his lips became acquainted hers. Had Percy's brain not turned to mush the second his lips touched Annabeth's, he probably would have been concerned as to whether or not his breath smelt good. Yet when one's brain is mush, there isn't much rational thinking that is occurring, at least not that of which one is aware. Annabeth, on the other hand, felt her brain going into overdrive, processing how her hands how somehow found their way around Percy's neck, and Percy's strong hands rested gently on her waist. After a few seconds, or maybe minutes, as neither one was quite sure how much time had elapsed, they pulled away, only for one of them, neither sure again as to who it was, to brush their lips against the other's once again, not wanting the kiss to end.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas. Santa is just all I want," Tyson sing, taking the stairs two at a time as Annabeth and Percy untangled themselves from each other. When he finally made it up the stairs, still singing his rendition of All I Want for Christmas Is You, he paused at the sight of Annabeth and Percy, grinning. "Did you get your letter, Percy?" He asked, not aware of the red blush that highlighted both Annabeth and Percy's cheek.

"Um, yeah, Tyson," Percy muttered, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Cool," his younger brother said, grinning before he began singing again and went into his room. "Make Santa come soon. Rudolph all I want for Christmas is presents…"

Percy turned towards Annabeth who was twirling one of her curls between her fingers. "So, yeah… The clothes are… You know, in… I'll go get those clothes for you."

…

Although it had been several days since the kiss, neither Annabeth nor Percy truly acknowledged that it had ever occurred between them. Basically, everything had gone back to the way it was before the mistletoe encounter. Except, Annabeth noticed, Percy had taken it upon himself to hold her hand as they looked through stores to find the ugliest sweaters ever made. Of course, Percy decided everything that Annabeth picked out was not close to being ugly enough.

"Perfect," Percy said, pulling out a sweater with his free hand, "this, Annabeth, is the kind of sweater that you have been missing out on your whole life."

Annabeth wrinkled her nose, taking in the embossed reindeer head with a light-up red nose as well as the red and green stripes and candy canes that went in circles around Rudolph's head. It definitely was not something that she would generally pick out. "I think that's a fire hazard," Annabeth said, lifting the bottom of the sweater to see the wires that lined the sleeves. "I'm not going risk catching on fire just to cross off a bullet point on the list."

Percy shrugged, holding the sweater further away. "It probably wouldn't make that big of a fire…"

"That's reassuring," Annabeth remarked sardonically, grabbing the sweater out of his hand and putting it away. "I'd prefer not to even have the chance of catching on fire, Percy."

"You're no fun," Percy muttered, walking, with Annabeth in tow, over to a table of Christmas sweaters, hoping to find one ugly enough as well as safe enough for Annabeth to possibly consider wearing. "Pick out your favorite," he paused, knowing full well that it would definitely end up being something that wasn't ugly enough. "Actually, pick out the one you hate the most. Then, it'll actually be a good ugly sweater."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, scouring over all of the sweaters on the table. To put it simply, there were quite a few. Finally, settling on one that she thought was the ugliest thing she had seen in a while, she point it out to Percy. "Um, what about the maroon ones with Santa and candy cane trees?"

Percy grinned, shaking his head in disbelief. "You finally picked an ugly sweater."

Grabbing two, he dragged them to the checkout, the clerk saying the total would be $50.95. Fishing into his pocket, Percy went searching for the three twenties he was certain he had placed in there. "I'll pay for myself," Annabeth insisted, placing a twenty and five on the counter only for Percy to swipe it back towards her.

"I've got it," Percy told the cashier but was really directing it towards Annabeth who, with so much pride, would not allow Percy to buy her a simple sweater.

"I can pay for myself, Percy," Annabeth asserted, not taking the money off the counter but smiling at the cashier who merely huffed and raised an eyebrow at the two of them. For the cashier, it was probably the highlight of her long working day.

Finally having found the three twenties, Percy gave it to the cashier before Annabeth could truly completely protest. "Yeah, I know, but I'm paying this time."

Annabeth shook her head, not at all amused with Percy's actions. "At least take the twenty five dollars then," she sighed, watching the cashier bag the sweaters and hand Percy his change.

"No, I'm good," Percy said, annoying Annabeth to end. He had no intention of letting Annabeth pay for herself when he could take it of it just fine. "If you have to, you can think of it as a Christmas gift from me," Percy muttered, pulling them out of the store before Annabeth figured out some way to pay the cashier herself. "Or, do you pay for all the gifts people get you?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, punching him lightly, "No, I don't pay for the gifts people get me, Seaweed Brain, and the sweater was not a gift. Therefore, I should have paid for it."

Percy shrugged, stopping them at one of the benches near the railing that kept one from falling onto the first floor. Pulling out the Christmas sweater, he ripped the tag off before sliding it over his tshirt. "Good day for an ugly sweater, don't you think?" He asked, watching as Annabeth gave him a skeptical look. "What's next on the list? This one was too easy or would have been if you could've picked out an ugly sweater quickly," he muttered the last part, knowing that if Annabeth heard it he would definitely receive a well-aimed punch.

She chose to ignore it. "Um, getting a picture with Santa," Annabeth answered, having run through the list in her head.

Percy grinned, grabbing the bag from her hands and pulling out her matching ugly sweater. "Perfect, now you won't forget this day."

"I don't think I could even if I wanted to," Annabeth mumbled, hesitantly taking the sweater from Percy before slipping it on over her shirt and placing her jacket in the bag. She rolled her eyes at the goofy grin on Percy's face. "What?" she sighed, not enjoying the fact that Percy was still looking her with the same grin.

He shrugged before taking her hand and leading them towards Santa. "I just never thought you'd actually wear the sweater."

"What else would I do with it?" Annabeth shot back quickly, pushing a spare curl from in front of her eyes.

"I don't know," Percy paused, maneuvering his way around a lady who was racing a stroller as if her kid wasn't sitting in it (the kid was), "frame it or something? Let it collect dust in your closet? One of those would be my guess." Annabeth bit her lip, realizing that she probably would have done exactly that. Sometimes, she wondered how he could possibly know her so well. "I'm right, aren't I?" Percy asked, glancing towards Annabeth quickly.

She nodded before realizing that he couldn't see her. "Yeah, you were right," she affirmed, twirling on the end of a curl for something to ease the nerves she was feeling. Why she was nervous? She wasn't entirely sure, but she had an idea that it may have had to do with the warm hand encompassing her own.

To say the least, the line was long, extremely long as the kids wound their way inside the marked off areas waiting to get to take their picture with Santa. Percy grinned, remembering the days when he was one of those kids, telling Annabeth all about what it was like to be that young and just want to see Santa. He mentioned Tyson and how excited his brother got whenever they were in line; it wasn't too bad waiting, he said, once he saw the result on his brother's face. Annabeth on the other hand had no meeting Santa stories, but she did tell Percy that she would not be sitting on Santa's lap due to the fact that she had no idea who that Santa was and whether or not he was a creep. Percy merely rolled her eyes, teasing Annabeth for being overly cautious and no fun. That, of course, deserved a punch.

"Okay, you're next," an elf instructed Percy and Annabeth after almost thirty minutes later. Percy had explained how most of the kids told Santa their life wish lists, knowing that they may never have the chance again.

"Hey, can you also take a picture with my phone?" Percy asked, breaking his intertwined hand from Annabeth's to pull out his cellphone. Quickly explaining how to do it, he pulled Annabeth towards Santa who grinned at them happily. "Hey, big guy," Percy stated, giving Santa a high-five.

Annabeth merely rolled her eyes at the childish antics of her best friend. "Hi," she said politely, just wanting to get the picture over with.

"Ah, now what can I do for you two, kids," Santa asked, his rosy cheeks bugging Annabeth slightly.

"Just a couple pictures for us, Santa," Percy replied, setting himself on the opposite side of Santa than Annabeth.

Santa grinned into the camera, placing his arms around Percy and Annabeth. "Alright, on the count of three then, one, two, three." And, both camera flashed, a polaroid coming out and a couple pictures taken with Percy's phone. "Nice meeting you two," Santa winked, waving to the next kid in line.

"That wasn't as exciting as I expected," Annabeth whispered to Percy as he took her hand and walked over to the elf with his phone and pictures.

Percy shrugged, thanking the elf before replying, "You know, it would be a lot better if you were six or something. We could always get in line again, and you can tell him what you want for Christmas, if you'd like." He teased lightly, stuffing the polaroid into his pocket and showing Annabeth the other pictures. "I think this one is profile pic worthy," he decided, settling on the second picture taken by the elf.

"Go for it," Annabeth suggested, still wanting to have the pictures herself, though.

"I would," Percy replied timidly, stuffing his phone into his pocket, "but you see… I already have a picture of us… You know… the one where I kissed your cheek…" Percy explained, his cheeks heating up lightly as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Annabeth nodded, biting her lip for a second. She hadn't been on facebook for a while, so there was no possible way for her to know. "Think you can send me those pictures?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Percy grinned, happy to have the change in subject and thankful that Annabeth realized he was looking for it. Some things he was just not ready to face yet, but he would be soon.

…

"Annabeth?" Percy asked the second he heard the dial tone end. It was December 17th, only eight days left to give Annabeth the perfect Christmas, and Percy was starting to doubt if it was possible. Of course, he wouldn't let Annabeth know that.

"Nice guess," she snapped lightly, Percy smiling at her reply.

He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright," she answered, pulling on the end of one of her curls absentmindedly, "you?"

Percy sighed, knowing that he might as well tell her right away. "I don't think I'll get to see you until Christmas, assuming that we can even see each other that day. My dad wants me to go visit him down in Florida. I'll get back late Christmas Eve."

"Oh," Annabeth said, having become accustomed to their normal meetings, "you don't sound too excited."

"I don't know," Percy lamented, scratching the back of his neck. "I guess it's cool that my dad wants to see me, but he always does it on short notice."

"He's trying, though," Annabeth offered, but having been in that situation herself before, she knew that nothing she said could really make him feel much better.

"Sure, I guess," Percy muttered, glancing at the pictures of his father on his board amongst the ones of his mother, Paul, and Tyson. "I'll text or call you every day, though."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Is that supposed to make me feel better or you," she teased lightly, thankful that she wouldn't be completely out of contact with Percy for a week.

"Both I guess," Percy answered, flopping back onto his bed. "So, I would offer that you come over my house Christmas, but I don't know what stuff my mom would start saying…" He trailed off, pulling at the end of his hair before drumming on the edge of his bed.

Annabeth chuckled lightly, remembering how she and Sally were able to talk forever. "I love your mom, though," she said honestly, though she too did not want to have the conversation with Percy's mother about 'feelings.' "Um, you could come over my house…" Annabeth offered, not entirely certain if having Percy over would be the best idea considering how her father may or may not react.

"Perfect," she could practically hear the grin in Percy's voice. "Does eight-ish sound good to you?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Annabeth replied, wondering how she would go about asking, well telling, her father that she was having another guy friend over.

Percy sighed, not wanting to get off the phone. "I love you," he stated, wishing that he could stay on the phone with her for seven days instead of visiting his dad. It's not that he didn't love his dad, but he just didn't want to be away for that long.

"I love you, too," Annabeth echoed, shifting the phone to the other shoulder.

"A lot, as a best friend," he amended like normal, causing Annabeth to laugh on the other side of the line. "I'm still giving you your perfect Christmas," Percy instructed, glancing towards the corner of his room where he had a suitcase and travel bags packed for the trip.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course you are, Seaweed Brain." She was certain that he would do nothing short of that or at least fail (she could not fathom him dying) trying.

"Wise Girl?" Percy mumbled into the phone, closing his eyes at the thought of leaving for the next several days.

"Mhm?" She affirmed her still being there, still listening.

"I'll miss you," Percy mumbled, a goofy grin appearing on his face even though he knew Annabeth couldn't see it… Wait, he had an idea. "Do you have skype?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, wondering where the question came from. "Yep, I do." She had a feeling what he was going to ask of her next but decided she'd let him ask.

Percy sighed, knowing that his time was ticking away until he had to board the plane. He didn't want it to come any faster because sleeping would only make the time seem that much shorter. No, he wanted to spend his time, elongate it, be happy at least instead of spending it sleeping. "Skype with me all night?"

She smiled. "I wouldn't do it for anyone else."

…

"Aren't you a bit old for letters from Santa?" Frederick Chase asked his daughter, reading the typed letter from over her shoulder. Although he had known her all her life, he was certain that he would never truly understand her.

Annabeth nodded, finishing reading the letter for the fifth time that day. It reminded her of Percy, and that was why she loved it. "It's the first time I ever wrote to him," she explained to her father, not seeing the smile on his face.

"I thought you no longer believed in Santa," he stated, sliding the glasses up his nose.

She shrugged, placing the letter down and turning to her father, "Sometimes it's not about believing."

Frederick nodded, pushing a curl from his daughter's face. "Sometimes I forget that you're no longer my little girl. And when I don't, I think I give you too much space."

"Speaking of space… Can I have a friend over Christmas?" Annabeth asked, knowing that there never would have been a better time.

He raised an eyebrow, wondering why his daughter even felt the need to ask. "What's her name? And, yes you may. You generally don't ask, so what's the catch."

Internally wincing, Annabeth prepared to divulge the truth to her father. "His name is Percy…"

"A boy," Mr. Chase tossed the idea around in his mind, knowing what a boy at his daughter's age was like. He had been one after all. "I know what boys are like at that age, Annabeth…"

She rolled her eyes, knowing her dad was preparing to give her a lecture about how boys are never truly mature until after their hormones are in check, and even then, they could be 'unpredictable'. "You'll like him."

"And, why is that?" Mr. Chase wondered, being prepared to have to kick the hormonal boy out of his house the second he came in with a leather jacket and motorcycle boots.

His daughter smiled slightly at the thought of Percy. "Because he's my best friend, has manners, and would do almost anything for me."

Frederick Chase barely smiled, barely, but a smile nonetheless. Maybe the boy won't be so bad afterall.

…

Annabeth groaned, waking up from a nice sleep only to hear her phone ring. With her eyes barely opened, she haphazardly went for her phone, missing it a couple times until she completely grabbed it. Bringing it towards her face, the clock read 2:17 am, and the smiling faces of Percy, Santa, and herself were radiating back at her in the darkness of her room.

"Hello?" She answered, knowing full well who was going to be on the end of the line. Who else would be crazy enough to call someone at 2:17 in the morning? Besides, the contact picture was a dead giveaway.

"Merry Christmas, Wise Girl," the muffled voice of Percy replied, seeming as though he was whispering into the phone.

Pushing herself into a sitting position, Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You called me at 2:17 to wish me a Merry Christmas?" Although it may have been weird for anyone else to do, she truly wasn't surprised that Percy did it.

She could hear his light chuckle. "Yeah, something like that. Maybe I wanted to be the first one," he shot back, muffled noises coming from the background that sounded a lot like Percy walking around.

Annabeth nodded, closing her eyes again as she propped herself more comfortably against her pillows. "I can assure you that waiting a couple of hours wouldn't have made a difference," she sighed into the line, wishing that she was sleeping.

"How can you be sure?" Percy muttered, more noises continuing to come in from his end, a lot like metal hitting metal.

If she wasn't so tired, she would probably have been concerned. "Percy, no one calls anyone at 4 a.m. to wish them a Merry Christmas except for maybe you, but here you are doing I two hours earlier. What are you doing awake anyways? Waiting to hear Santa come?" She teased lightly, a ghost of a smile forming on her face.

"No, no," Percy mumbled before all the background noise finally stopped. "Hey, are you awake?" Percy asked not even a minute after Annabeth had asked her question.

She rolled her eyes, wondering if Percy was truly awake. "How do you think I answered the phone?"

She could imagine him shrugging with a goofy smile on his face. "I don't know. Maybe you sleep call?"

"You're the one who called me," Annabeth snapped back, but any bite in her voice was not at all noticeable.

"Right," Percy muttered, not talking for a couple of seconds. "Do you have a window in your room? Well, I mean, I'm guessing you're in your room…"

"Yep," Annabeth replied, noticing that he seemed nervous for some reason.

"I hope this works," she heard Percy mumble under his breath before her officially addressed her. "Think you could go to it?"

Annabeth's eyes widened before she quickly said, "Please don't tell me you're waiting outside my window." She knew it would be basically impossible for Percy to be waiting outside her window considering the fact that he would probably have complained about the cold already. However, she still wouldn't put it past him. Nevertheless, Annabeth made her way out of her bed towards her window.

He chuckled, "No, I think this is going to be a bit better." A few seconds silence as Percy listened to Annabeth's footsteps. "Are you at the window?"

"Yes," she affirmed, starting to open the blinds. Her gasp was audible.

"I present to you a White Christmas, Ms. Chase," Percy chuckled on the other end of the line, watching the snow fall onto the white blanket himself. Because this was Annabeth's first snow, she didn't say anything while she took in the way the white flakes were blown in the window until they fell onto the white blanket of the other snow. Percy, however, wasn't aware of the fact that she was just taking it all in and became concerned. "Annabeth, you there?"

"Mhm," she mumbled, transfixed by the image in front of her.

Percy smiled into the phone although Annabeth couldn't see it. "I'll see you later?"

She smiled lightly, knowing that Percy couldn't have made it snow but did all that it took to let her see it. "I'll see you later, Percy, and Merry Christmas."

"Love you," he said into the phone, background noise becoming louder again as she assumed he moved back to his bed.

"Love you too, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth chuckled, bringing her attention back to the falling snow and the serene scene it made out her window.

This time, he didn't amend as a best friend.

Percy sighed, not wanting to get off the phone but knowing he needed sleep. "Merry Christmas, Annabeth," he said before ending the phone call and leaving Annabeth to take in the beauty of her first snow, something she may have only seen because of Percy.

…

By the time Percy arrived at Annabeth's house, the snow had already melted, leaving only slight traces where it had been blocked from the sun. He had wanted to give her a white Christmas and wasn't certain as to if he had truly succeeded. It was something that he knew would be hard, and had the plan to bring her to fake snow, but he put his trust into the weathermen when they all said that it would snow late Christmas Eve into early Christmas Morning. It was because of that he stayed up until two in the morning, deciding that the amount of snow was sufficient enough to tell Annabeth. If he was honest, he would do anything for that grey-eyed girl to give her the perfect, no, her perfect Christmas.

Knocking on the door, he pressed the sloppily wrapped gift into his jacket pocket, becoming uncertain as to whether or not he should give it to Annabeth right away or wait a bit. Expecting to see Annabeth, he was rather startled when a man who looked to be nearing fifty opened the door with glasses slid down slightly on his nose.

"Hi," Percy mumbled, wondering if he had the right house or not. He was almost eighty percent certain that he had gone to the address Annabeth had sent him but wasn't too certain anymore. Eighty percent was pretty high for Percy, anyways.

"Who are you?" The man grumbled, taking the glasses off his face and folding them carefully into his shirt pocket. Ah, no motorcycle boots or leather jackets, the man remarked in his head. It was already a step in the right direction.

"Um, I'm Percy," he said carefully, wondering if he had met the ultimate Scrooge or not.

"Dad," Percy heard a familiar voice say from behind the man until he saw her grey eyes, "this is my friend that I told you I was having over." Annabeth then explained, hoping her dad wouldn't do anything to embarrass her.

Mr. Chase nodded, looking at Percy skeptically, "I thought you said it was a girl. Prissy or something. Priscilla, was it?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, sending Percy an apologetic smile. "I said his name was Percy. You probably just weren't listening," she mumbled, beginning to wish she suggested they meet at a coffee shop instead of her house.

"I see," Mr. Chase stated, stepping to the side to allow room for Percy to come in. "Well, you're here now, so why don't you come in young man. I expect you to behave yourself in my house because you do not have extraterritoriality under my roof. So, no funny business. I was a teenage boy your age once." He raised an eyebrow, giving Percy a closer look, "You are a teenager, right?"

"Yeah, seventeen," Percy answered quickly, having not budged from the doorstep where it felt a lot safer than being under Mr. Chase's roof.

"Horrible, hormonal age," Mr. Chase grumbled before turning and walking into the house, his footsteps audible as he ascended the stairs.

Annabeth smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry about him. He's skeptical of any guy friends I have, saying how he knows what they're truly thinking when they're around me." She rolled her eyes, gesturing for Percy to come into the house. "Just disregard everything that he said. He's really not that bad once he gets to know you. He just tries to scare all the guys away, which he's pretty good at, saying that the ones who don't come back never had good intentions in the first place."

"What intentions did they have?" Percy asked, cautiously walking into the house, waiting for something at his feet to blow up or be tossed at him. He was pretty certain that Mr. Chase might not have decided that he had good intentions considering how he felt about Annabeth.

Annabeth shrugged, realizing that she must have picked up that mannerism from Percy. "They probably just looked at me for too long or something."

"I'll be sure not to do that," Percy grinned, only semi joking because Mr. Chase honestly scared him.

Annabeth smiled lightly, enjoying the fact that Percy didn't want to get on her father's bad side. "Come on, I've got something for you," she said before leading the way through her house, not giving Percy enough time to notice much about it.

What he did see, though, could be summed up pretty quickly as plants, white walls, and pictures of either Annabeth, Mr. Chase, a woman who looked remarkably like Annabeth minus the blond hair, and pictures of planes and buildings as well as what looked like Greek mythology to him. He felt it was a mix that summed Annabeth up perfectly. "The pictures of buildings are from you, aren't they?"

Annabeth glanced towards him quickly before continuing her quest to her kitchen. "Yeah, a lot of them my mom or dad took, though. Most of them were taken while they were away traveling when I was a little kid. They tended to feel bad, so they tried to make it up to me by bringing me pictures of buildings that they knew I loved. It was their way of showing that they loved me, I guess," she lamented, sliding a random curl between two of her fingers.

"You wished they were around, though," Percy surmised from the way that Annabeth spoke of the pictures even though he couldn't see her expression.

She nodded, slowing down her pace when she finally made it into the kitchen. "It's hard with their jobs and all, but sometimes I wish they would try," Annabeth explained, sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen bar, and no, there weren't any alcohol beverages out.

Percy echoed her movements, sitting next to her, noticing a box in front of Annabeth. "I bet they try," he replied honestly, watching the way her grey eyes fell.

"How can you be sure?" She whispered, fiddling with the ribbon around the box in front of her absentmindedly.

He smiled slightly, "Because how could they not try with a daughter like you?" Annabeth glanced up at him, noticing the way he looked at her fondly. "I like you," Percy blurted out accidentally, not realizing exactly what he was doing until it was too late.

Annabeth tried not to smile. "Oh really?" She asked, inwardly laughing at the pained expression on Percy's face.

"Well, yeah," he paused, furrowing his eyebrows slightly, "I mean that's… You like your friends, right?"

"I don't know," Annabeth drawled, biting her lip so as not to smile. "I don't go around blurting out that I like my friends."

Percy glanced towards her, seeing that she was trying not to smile. "I hate you," he muttered, causing Annabeth to now freely laugh as he smiled despite himself.

"Nope," she laughed again before continuing, "I'm pretty certain you like me."

"So what if I do?" He retorted, knowing full well that there was no point in arguing it anymore. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the Seaweed Brain across from her. "I think the better question is what are you going to do about it?" She cocked her head to the side, a smile still on his face.

Percy shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't really think that far ahead," he mumbled, still not certain as to whether or not Annabeth liked him as more than a friend or not.

Annabeth shook her, giving a frustrated sigh before saying, "You're such a Seaweed Brain," and pressing her lips to his. If Percy couldn't get the signals, she figured she might as well make it obvious to him.

And well, there was no more obvious way to do it except spell it out for him.

Percy grinned into the kiss before bringing his hand to her waist and rubbing his thumb along her hip. His other hand found the bottom of her curls, pulling on the end of them lightly; Annabeth echoed the same thing, letting her hands tangle into his dark messy hair, pulling the ends of the strands lightly. If it hadn't been for the loud slam of the fridge door breaking them apart, the kiss probably would have lasted until both their brains turned into mush.

"I wanted some water… to cool down," Mr. Chase stated, raising his eyebrows at the two of them as he leaned against the fridge in front of the two of them.

He uncapped the bottle, glaring at Percy with a look that resembled Annabeth extremely well. "Yeah, water is a good, uh, drink for that," he said stupidly, or at least Annabeth thought he said it stupidly. Percy on the other hand felt it was fairly good thing to say at the moment.

Swigging a couple of sips from the bottle, Mr. Chase titled the neck of it towards his daughter and her 'friend.' "You would know, wouldn't you, son?"

"Well, yeah," Percy replied as Annabeth groaned to his left, "I'm a swimmer and basically love the water."

Mr. Chase nodded, letting the information be filed into his brain for later. "Remember what I said about behaving yourself," he said, deciding the boy couldn't have been much harm at all to his daughter seeing how he appeared to be rather clueless. Walking around the corner of the counter, he clasped Percy's shoulder, shaking his head. "You're not half bad."

"I think he likes me," Percy grinned towards Annabeth when her father's footsteps could be heard going up the steps. Annabeth merely rolled her eyes, tucking a curl behind her ear. "So yeah," Percy continued, clearing his throat, "I was wondering… If, you didn't mind… Or well, if you're not busy… Do you maybe want to…"

"Is this your way of asking me out, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow at the rambling boy across from her.

He nodded, absentmindedly flattening out his messy hair. "I'm not doing a good job at it, am I?" Annabeth shook her head, chuckling lightly. "Let me try it again," Percy muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Took you long enough," she muttered, pressing her lips quickly to his before Percy pulled apart. She raised an eyebrow.

"We still have two things on your list," Percy told her quickly, running a hand through his hair. "We only have four hours, and if we don't do it, then you're not going to have your perfect Christmas. Then, I will have failed yo—"

"Percy," Annabeth interrupted him, fixing the hair he had made even more unruly, "we finished the list already. You took care of the other two things without even knowing it." She smiled slightly, flattening the last unruly hair on his head. "Thanks for that." Mistletoe kiss. Check. Christmas romance. Double check, Annabeth silently ran through her head, a slight smile on her face.

Percy grinned, pressing his lips to Annabeth, forgetting the present that he had brought for her. He could always give it to her later since he was certain he would be seeing her around. Plus it didn't matter because while Annabeth may have gotten her perfect Christmas. So did he, and that was all that mattered to him.

He knew that if it were some perfect, cliché ending, it would start snowing again, letting the white cover the ground once again; it didn't because he didn't need the snow on the ground to make it perfect. Because as long Annabeth was around, he knew he had more perfect endings to look forward to, and that was enough, wasn't it?

xx

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Annabeth's Christmas Wish List

Tobogganing (check)

Tree-lighting (check)

Write a letter to Santa (check)

Drink Eggnog and eat Christmas cookies (check)

White Christmas (check)

Ugly Christmas Sweater (check)

Take a picture with Santa (check)

Mistletoe Kiss (check)

Christmas romance (check)

Completed December 25, 2012

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A/N: Woohoo, you made it… Some parts I still need to reread again for editing, but I really wanted to get it posted today before I had to go out. Sorry about any mistakes for that reason. Really sorry if there were any! And, I hope you guys enjoyed and had a great holiday with your loved ones. Oh yeah, so now you guys know, for those who read Only Thirty Days why I didn't have the chapter up this past weekend like I said I would.