Of Fireworks and Annoying Boys

By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx

AN: Happy New Year's, everybody! Gosh, I can't believe it... where has 2011 gone?

Alright, so I had a mental battle with myself on whether I should post this up on my account, or on LegendsofLit. I ultimately decided to post it on LoL, obviously, so here I am. :)

I wish you all an amazing 2012, and be looking out for Do As They Do!

Disclamer: I don't own PJO/HoO.

Annabeth Chase stared out her window, frowning at the ocean slightly. The waves tossed gently against the shore, and the black sky was filled with the bright fireworks. Every few minutes the distinct POP! could be heard from the Hephaestus Cabin's famous fireworks show.

Things were different nowadays. For one, she was back at camp during for Christmas and such, just like when she was younger. It was a refreshing, yet bittersweet change. She had expected to spend this vacation with Percy—gods, she missed him. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that he was gone. It was too hard for her to believe, but at the same time, it was the evident reality.

She wanted nothing more than to be outside with the rest of her friends, sitting in the dining pavilion, or running around and playing in the snow like they didn't have a care in the world, despite that it was December(only for like a ten or so minutes,) and it was cold. It was like so many people hadn't died, or been injured this previous summer. Like Percy was still here.

Gods, even thinking about him made her hurt.

The door creaked open, and she glanced away from the window, seeing the figure of her younger brother, Rory, standing in the doorway. "Annabeth?" he said softly.

A fake smile made its way to her face. "Hi, Rory. Should you be outside with the others?"

"Shouldn't you?" he retorted with a slight smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "I have a nice view right by this here window, Markham. You don't need to worry about me."

Rory shrugged. "Well, I thought I'd try one more time to get you out there. At least come outside for the name of the…" His voice trailed off, but Annabeth could tell what he was talking about. The names of those who had lost their lives in the previous summer. Those names.

She merely stared at him, seemingly unfazed, but gods, how she wanted to go watch the fireworks with everyone else. But, at the same time, it would hurt to do so.

"At least do it for—" Rory's voice choked up, and his eyes shifted to an empty bunk that had once belonged to one of their younger siblings. The two, Annabeth recalled, had been very close, and Rory was taking her death hard.

"Alright," Annabeth said with a sigh, "I'll go with you, Rory." Here, she stood up and walked over to the doorway, where Rory stood, grinning.

"'Knew I could get you to."

"Keep walking, Markham."

To say that Piper McLean was annoyed was a bit of an… understatement. Right now, she was currently having her ear talked off by resident irritant, Connor Stoll. Why she had agreed to sit with him in the first place still boggled her mind. Maybe it was because she didn't want to have to put up with Jason's constant flirting with Annabeth. It would hurt too much to watch that. But, knowing her luck, Annabeth wasn't even watching the show. She was probably in her cabin, and Piper was stuck with Connor Stoll for the last few hours of the year.

Lovely, right?

It seemed like ever since she had kissed him just that once for Christmas, he suddenly figured she was in oh-so love with him. Please. She just did that to make him shut up and leave her alone! It wasn't like she had a crush on him; everyone knew that she liked Jason.

Except Jason himself, of course.

She glanced at her watch, frowning slightly. It was almost midnight, almost a new year. Gods, where had this year gone? It seemed like yesterday, she was that rebellious teenage girl that got kicked out of one school after another. Now, she was a beautiful, still rebellious daughter of Aphrodite that was known for kicking ass and still looking awesome. Or, at least that's what Connor said.

Not that she cared about his opinion, right?

Riiight.

"So, you are going to kiss me, right?" Connor whispered into her ear. His warm breath trickled her neck. "It's kind of tradition."

Piper frowned. "In your dreams, Stoll," she replied.

"Oh, come on. Don't act like you didn't enjoy kissing me on Christmas."

"I'm not acting."

Annabeth had about five seconds sitting down and talking to Rory before he got distracted by a girl—Andi, from the Hephaestus Cabin—and left her alone with Jason Grace. Also known as: The Roman version of Percy that just so happened to have an obvious crush on her. Just her luck. Spending the last couple of minutes of this year with a guy who wanted to be her boyfriend.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, except that gods, there was Percy, and she didn't, in any way, feel that way about Jason. He was a friend—a little brother, at the most. No way would she ever date him.

Of course, Jason was too much like Percy for his good, and that included his oh-so annoying stubbornness. Or maybe it was his obliviousness to the fact that she was irritated by him.

He kept asking her questions like, "How are you?" or, "Where have you been?" and so forth. It was getting a bit annoying, and she truly was regretting saying 'yes' to Rory.

Sneaky little boy probably had planned to ditch her from the very beginning.

"So," Jason said conversationally, "only a couple of minutes left 'till the new year. Crazy, huh?"

"Insane," Annabeth muttered dryly, hoping that he would see the fact that she wanted to be left alone. He didn't.

"Everything this year has been really crazy," he continued. "Coming here and all… finding out I'm a prophecy kid…" He sighed. "Crazy. Just crazy."

That was the fourth time that he said 'crazy' in less than a minute. Annabeth sighed, glancing up at the final fireworks, which show pictures and names of the… lost ones. This was what she came here for, not to listen to Jason try and make small talk.

"I bet you miss him," Jason remarked quietly, his blue eyes glued to the sky. His voice was sad, wistful, maybe. "It's hard not starting out the new year with someone you love."

Annabeth's eyes shut for a moment. "Yeah," she murmured, "it really is."

"One minute," Connor breathed, scooting awfully close to Piper. Too close for her liking, but strangely… it almost felt… nice?

Nonononono. No way did she think that Connor flirting with her and trying to kiss her was nice.

It's more like heavenly, a voice in the back of her mind cooed. Piper scowled, crossing her arms. Great. Start out the new year with someone she was about ready to gut like a fish, and with some crazy voice in her head. Next year was surely filled with promises.

Not.

"Have you decided whether or not you're going to kiss me?" Connor said casually, throwing her a grin.

Piper rolled her eyes. "No… I mean, yes. Er… no, I'm not going to kiss you, and yes, that is my final situation."

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on, Sacagawea. Be reasonable."

"I am," Piper argued. "It's you that's being unreasonable, Connie."

Connor scowled at the nickname and huffed. But before he could retort, the all too familiar chanting began, "Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

"Seven!"

"Six!"

"Five…"

"Four!"

"Three…"

"Two!"

"One!" At that exact moment, Connor turned and pulled Piper towards him, their lips meeting in sweet kiss. He held onto the back of her neck, refusing to let her escape. Her eyes were wide with shock and a bit of anger, but strangely… again, it felt… nice.

A moment passed, and Connor finally released Piper, grinning cheekily. Her cheeks were flushed, and his probably were too. An angry look forming on her face, Piper demanded, "What was that for?"

Connor just grinned, leaning into the table casually. "Oh, you know what they say, Pipes," he said. "If you kiss a person at midnight on New Year's, you're going to be together… forever."

Upon seeing Piper's shocked expression, he laughed, smiling. "Guess you're stuck with me."

AN: Oh, Connor. ;)