I actually did a holiday story? I did one two years ago but it wasn't that great and if I had more time on my hands, I would've made this a multichaotered story, but this'll have to do. Enjoy and merry Christmas/whatever you celebrate!
Two days before Christmas, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper were wandering around the city, admiring Christmas decorations when it began to snow heavily. Percy was already coming down with a slight cold, it seemed, so he and Annabeth suggested that they go back to Sally's apartment, which wasn't too far of a walk, but by the time they made it there, they were almost completely snowed in; there was no hope of making it back to Camp Half Blood until some of the snow was either plowed from the roads or melted. It wasn't too big of an inconvenience; Sally had warmed up all four of the shivering demigods with hot chocolate and blankets.
Percy sneezed, and blew his nose. "Who even gets a cold over the holidays? This is so stupid."
"You're stupid." Piper retorted, her eyes joking. Percy stuck his tongue out at her. On either side of Percy sat Annabeth, who was reading a book, and Jason, who was watching the whole interaction between Piper and Percy in amusement as he sipped his hot chocolate.
"Let's do something." Jason suggested. "I'm bored."
"Hi bored, I'm Percy." Percy replied. Jason rolled his eyes.
"Christmas movies?" Piper suggested. "I'll get it set up."
After a few hours of Christmas movies, cuddling, and- in Percy's case- sneezing, Percy and Jason relocated to Percy's bedroom to sleep while the girls would sleep in the living room.
"Sorry if I keep you up." Percy said as Jason rolled out a sleeping bag on the floor. "I just took some cough medicine, but just in case..."
"Oh, don't worry." Jason replied. "I'm a heavy sleeper."
Sure enough, Jason slept through all of Percy's persistent coughing, until he woke up sometime in the middle of the night with a stuffy nose and a sore throat.
"Are the boys still asleep?" Annabeth asked, the morning of Christmas Eve. "It's almost nine."
The girls were waiting for Percy and Jason to wake up while they made breakfast, but they'd been waiting for almost two hours now, and this was getting ridiculous.
"If neither one of them is awake in ten minutes, I'm waking them up." The daughter of Athena decided.
"We're still snowed in." Sally reported, entering the kitchen. "You already made breakfast? I wonder why the boys aren't up yet."
Piper was wondering the same thing. The smell of bacon and pancakes was usually enough to rouse those two.
Eventually, Jason emerged, looking exhausted. "I think I'm sick."
Sally put her palm to his forehead and smiled sympathetically. "You're warm. What hurts?"
"My throat is the worst." Jason said. Piper wrapped an arm around him and led him to the couch.
"You lay down, and I'll get you some breakfast." She ordered. "You hungry?"
"Sure." Jason coughed so violently that he fell back onto the couch.
"Gods of Olympus, Grace." Percy croaked, entering the room. "You look awful."
"You don't look great yourself." Jason replied hoarsely, gratefully taking the glass of water that Piper was handing him.
"I'm beautiful." Percy joked, his chuckle quickly turning into a cough.
"How did both of you manage to get sick on Christmas Eve?" Annabeth asked.
"It's Christmas Eve?" Jason sat up abruptly, then coughed and returned to his previous position slouching against the back of the couch. Annabeth nodded.
"Yeah. Let's hope this is a twenty four hour bug of some sort so you and Percy aren't sick on Christmas."
"Yeah." Percy agreed. "Can we crank up the heat in here?"
"Percy-" Annabeth started.
"It's definitely freezing in here." Jason seconded. The girls exchanged worried looks.
"Let's take your temperature," Sally decided, handing the thermometer to Percy.
"101.1," Percy announced halfheartedly, handing the thermometer to Annabeth, who washed it off it the kitchen sink before handing it to Jason.
"100.9." Jason coughed as he passed the thermometer to Annabeth. Piper handed both of the boys plates of food, and while Percy was all over the pancakes, Jason could barely manage to eat without wincing every time he swallowed.
"Throat hurt?" Piper asked. He nodded miserably.
"I hate being sick." The son of Jupiter complained. He took a tissue from the box sitting on the coffee table and blew his nose.
Percy, meanwhile, was complaining to Annabeth.
"My throat hurts and I can't stop coughing and my head hurts and I can't breathe through my nose!" He lamented. "All I want is to breathe out of my nose in peace, but the gods won't even let me have that!"
"Percy?" Annabeth said.
"Yeah?"
"I love you, but shut up." She told him. "I think you're giving Jason a headache."
Percy shut his mouth defiantly and sniffled, letting his eyelids drop as he slumped against the couch. Jason didn't look much better. He was laying down on his side, with his head on the armrest and his legs curled up, making space for the others on the couch. It was clear he was miserable; he had a horrible hacking cough that made itself evident every five seconds or so, and his cheeks were growing increasingly flushed as his fever rose. When Jason coughed again, Percy's eyes opened lazily and he shot a concerned glance at his friend.
"You alright, man?"
The son of Jupiter hesitated, then shook his head. "I really don't feel good."
"I'll go get you both some medicine, then you are resting." Annabeth decided.
After taking some cough syrup, the boys were both asleep on the couch, so Piper took the opportunity to go take a shower. When she returned, Annabeth was giggling and pointed in the direction of the couch.
Jason's head was resting on Percy's shoulder as he hugged a throw pillow to his chest. Percy was more sprawled out, all of his limbs splayed randomly on the couch. Both of their lips were parted and their hair disheveled.
"Oh my gods." Piper laughed. "We are so going to tease them about this when they wake up."
"Look," Annabeth pointed out, smiling nostalgically. "He's drooling."
Percy's eyebrows knit in concern suddenly, then he started trembling. The girls exchanged concerned looks.
"He's having a nightmare." Annabeth realized. She knelt next to the couch and gently shook Percy awake. "Hey, you were having a nightmare. Shh, you're okay."
Percy opened his eyes and sneezed loudly enough to wake Jason. The son of Jupiter opened his eyes blearily.
"Sorry." Percy croaked. Jason looked confused.
"Was I..." he coughed. "Was I using you as a pillow?"
Piper burst out laughing. "Yes, you were. It was hilarious."
"Shut up," Jason smiled weakly. "You know I like to cuddle when I'm sick."
Percy grabbed a tissue and blew his nose while Jason let out a few hacking coughs.
"You two are a mess." Piper said. Annabeth put her palm to Percy's forehead.
"Your fever hasn't gone down." She frowned. "How are you feeling?"
"Lousy." Percy tossed his used tissue onto the floor. Jason nodded in agreement. "How did I even get this sick? I was totally fine a few days ago."
"Yeah, I know." Jason groaned. "I was perfectly healthy yesterday."
Sally baked a batch of her famous blue chocolate chip cookies as the four demigods curled up on the couch to watch Christmas movies before bed. Percy still looked and sounded awful, and Jason was still coughing his lungs out on the couch.
"How are you feeling?" Annabeth ran a hand through Percy's dark hair, which was messy on a good day, but right now slightly resembled a bird's nest. He was laying on his side, with his head in her lap.
He smirked tiredly. "That's like, the fourth time you've asked me that today."
She laughed. "I'm sorry! I just really don't know how to comfort sick people."
Percy's eyes slid shut, but a smile remained on his face. "I love you."
"I love you too." Annabeth couldn't fight the giddy smile coming over her face. "Now get some sleep, Seaweed Brain. You need it."
"Mm." He murmured. "I'm not moving. I'm too weak."
"You have a cold." She stated, rolling her eyes. "You can make it from here to your bed."
"For all you know, I have the plague and I might not even make it through the night."
"Shut up." Annabeth slowly got up from the couch, then grabbed Percy's hands to help him up. "Let's get you to bed."
She led him to his bedroom, then threw the blanket over him as he flopped down onto his bed, kissing his warm forehead. As she turned to walk out the door, her boyfriend eyed her expectantly.
"What?" Annabeth asked.
"Kiss me." Percy smirked.
She rolled her eyes. "I just did."
"No, I mean like a real kiss." He said, still smirking.
"Percy, you're sick." Annabeth told him. "I don't want your germs."
He broke out the baby seal eyes. "Please?"
Annabeth gave in, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Goodnight. Love you. Get better, alright?"
Percy smiled at her and fell asleep almost immediately.
Meanwhile, Piper was taking Jason's temperature in the kitchen.
"I feel so out of it." Jason complained, swaying slightly as he stood. Piper handed him the thermometer, which he put in his mouth.
"That's probably all the cough syrup you've had." Piper resisted the urge to laugh.
"Wha' day i' it?" Jason tried to talk around the thermometer.
"It's Saturday." Piper replied. "Christmas Eve. About eight P.M. And don't talk, you're gonna mess with the reading."
Jason frowned. His blue eyes looked glazed over and tired, while his cheeks were flushed. Piper took the thermometer from him.
"Hey, it went down." She said. "That's good. You tired?"
Jason nodded, and she lead him into Percy's bedroom, tiptoeing. Piper kissed his cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Sparky. Feel better."
"Thanks." Jason said halfheartedly. Percy was passed out in his bed, snoring loudly, and Jason was curled up on the floor with a sleeping bag and a few extra blankets.
Piper then returned to the living room, where she found Annabeth laying across the couch.
"Is Jason doing better?" The daughter of Athena asked.
"Somewhat." Piper shrugged. "His fever went down, but he's still pretty out of it. What about Percy?"
"He's slowly feeling more like himself, so that's good." Annabeth yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Merry Christmas, Piper."
Percy opened his eyes and yawned. Sunlight peeked through his curtains, but Jason was still very much asleep. From the days on the Argo II, Percy remembered that Jason was always up at the crack of dawn. Funny how illness does that to a person.
Percy realized that he felt better. His nose was still stuffed and he was not at one hundred percent yet, but his head had cleared. He swallowed once, to test his throat, which ended up still being a little sore, but nothing compared to yesterday.
"It's Christmas." Percy realized.
On the floor, Jason groaned. "Shut up, Jackson."
"It's Christmas," he repeated. Jason sat up, rubbing at his eyes. "Come on, let's go wake the girls if they're not already up."
"Fine." Jason coughed and slowly stood up. "Dude, my throat is killing me still."
Percy smiled sympathetically as the two made their way into the living room. Jason sat down on the couch next to where Piper was still asleep, but Percy knelt on the ground, making his face level with Annabeth's.
"Wise girl!" He said excitedly. "It's Christmas!"
Annabeth opened her eyes blearily, then sniffled. "I think you got me sick, Seaweed Brain."
Percy coughed, then murmured, "I'll take care of you."
From the other side of the couch, Jason croaked, "Let's just get some hot chocolate and get on with the gift-opening already so I can go back to bed."
"Agreed." Annabeth and Piper chimed in.
I had so much fun writing this, I just love all of them. If I have time, I'll do another holiday one-shot soon, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. :)