Hey guys! So this chapter has been split into 2 parts. Reason being I honestly ran out of ideas for the next part and I didnt want to prolong the uploading of this chapter. Anyways hope you guys enjoy it! I wont lie, it was tough to write for certain parts. Also thank you to everyone that has reviewed this story at any point. It means the world that people actually enjoy my story. Once again, if you have any suggestions for the story (I could use some for chapter 10) than please leave a review or pm me :) Now enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 9 – Merry Christmas!
Percy's POV:
I woke up a few hours later to Annabeth staring at me.
"What?" I muttered as shifted onto my side.
"You drool when you sleep," Annabeth stated, still staring at me.
I glanced down at my pillow expecting to see a drool stain, but there wasn't.
"Uh I don't see a stain on my pillow."
"Ghee I wonder why Seaweed Brain," Annabeth held up her arm which was damp.
"Merry Christmas Wise Girl?" I said, trying to sound innocent.
I expected Annabeth to smack my head for drooling all over her while we slept. I even closed my eyes in preparation for it, but instead Annabeth's lips found mine.
"Merry Christmas Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said as she pulled away.
I turned my body so I was lying in bed on my back again and let out a sigh of relief.
"Why the sigh?"
"Because I thought you were going to smack me for drooling on your arm," I said sheepishly.
"Ya know, I can be a nice person Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied as she lay on her back like me.
"So how'd you sleep Annabeth?"
"Once you were beside me I slept a lot better. What about you?"
"Obviously pretty good, I mean I was drooling," I started laughing at the thought of Annabeth waking up to me drooling all over her.
I glanced over at my alarm clock that read 12:19pm.
"I guess we should go out and see my mom. Open our presents and what not."
"I bet you got coal Seaweed Brain," Annabeth teased.
"Probably. I've always gotten coal for Christmas," I sarcastically replied.
I walked over to my closet and pulled out a sweater.
"Ahem." Annabeth said behind me.
I turned around to see her standing up with her arms crossed and her foot tapping the floor.
"What?"
"You didn't think to offer me a sweater?"
I looked down at my sweater and then back at Annabeth, "You brought sweaters didn't you?"
Annabeth face palmed, "Percy, Percy, Percy. Don't know a thing about girls."
Okay now I was really confused and I hoped my facial expression showed it.
Annabeth walked over to me and snatched my sweater out of my hands.
"Girls love to wear their boyfriends' sweaters Seaweed Brain."
I watched as she put my sweater on. It didn't even fit! It went down to her knees.
"It's not supposed to fit us. The bigger they are, the comfier they get," Annabeth said as if she read my mind.
"Girls," I muttered as I turned to grab another sweater.
- PAGE BREAK -
"That was a lovely breakfast Sally. I didn't know blue food was so good," Annabeth exclaimed as I carried our plates to the kitchen.
"Oh that's something I started for Percy way back when he was little."
"That would explain his love for the colour blue then."
"His father didn't believe in abnormal things. So one day I made blue cookies for Percy and he freaked out. From that day on, I've been adding blue food colouring to just about anything.
"Okay mom, I'm glad we could reminisce and all, but can we open our presents?"
My mom laughed, "Of course Percy."
We migrated over to the living room and handed out our presents to one another.
"So how'd you sleep Annabeth?" my mom asked.
We both looked at each other and laughed, "Good, Percy kept me company."
"Hmmm, I saw," my mom playfully glared at me.
I shook my head in self-defense, "Annabeth begged me to sleep next to her."
Now it was Annabeth's turn to shake her head, "Uh huh sure. We all know I'm irresistible."
"Open those presents before I return them," I said between laughs.
Annabeth grabbed one of her presents from me and opened it. I was a little nervous that Annabeth might not like what I got her.
"Percy! How did you know I've been looking for this book?"
I breathed a sigh of relief, "Uh lucky guess?"
"Well thank you! It's the only book that has the building plans for the Parthenon in Greece."
She put the book on the coffee table and opened the smallest present.
"Ouu a black box," Annabeth mused.
"Open it."
When Annabeth opened the box, her mouth dropped in shock.
"Percy I… I love it. Seriously I really do."
I motioned for her to turn around so I could put it on. When I closed the clasp my mom clapped her hands together in delight.
"Oh Annabeth! It looks great on you! Really brings out your eyes."
Annabeth blushed.
"Alright Wise Girl, you saved the best gift for last."
Annabeth flashed me a grin before opening her last present.
"A camera? Percy I don't do photography."
"I know. I got the camera for both of us actually. Nico actually came up with the idea… sort of."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "Nico. Really."
"Yeah. See he wanted me to get you a scrapbook so we could keep our fondest memories inside it. But I realized we had no way of getting photo's so I opted for the camera instead."
Annabeth's face suddenly brightened, "My mom got me picture frames for Christmas and now you got a camera! Oh Percy it's perfect!"
"Oh you guys are so adorable. Let me take a picture of you 2 together," my said as she took the camera.
Annabeth scooted closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder for the picture.
My mom probably took 11+ pictures of Annabeth and I in different poses.
"There we go Wise Girl, our first documented moment together."
Honestly, nothing made me happier than the fact that Annabeth liked what I got her for Christmas. Just seeing her expressions were priceless and justified all the money I spent on her. I prayed that there would be many more Christmas's like this one in the future.
"First of many Seaweed Brain. Now open your presents!"
I laughed, "Right."
Like me, Annabeth had bought me quite a few presents. I guess we really liked spoiling each other.
All of my presents were roughly the same size so I got Annabeth to give me the presents in the order of importance.
"Alright, what do we got here?" I opened the first box.
Inside the box was 4 dress shirts and colour coordinated ties. Annabeth had gotten me a royal blue shirt with a white tie, a dark purple shirt with a black tie, a traditional white shirt with a rainbow coloured tie and a red shirt with a NYR tie. That NYR tie is definitely going to be my favourite one pretty soon.
"You like them? If you don't I could always take them back."
I looked up at Annabeth, "Don't, I love them. How'd you know I needed some more dress shirts?"
Annabeth blushed, "Lucky guess?"
We both laughed at that.
"Alright Seaweed Brain, present #2!" Annabeth tossed me my 2nd present.
After shredding the wrapping paper, I came away with a brand new Under Armour sweater.
"Uh Annabeth, this is a large sweater. You know I'm a medium right?"
"Exactly, you're never going to wear that sweater," Annabeth whispered into my ear.
When she pulled away it dawned on me that the sweater wasn't for me. It was for Annabeth. That sneeky child.
"Last present think fast!" Annabeth exclaimed as she tossed me my final present.
"There's 2 parts to this present."
I nodded as I opened the box. I was honestly expecting something like socks and boxers, or some dress pants to go along with all the shirts I got. Never in a million years would I have expected what was actually inside.
"You got me my own NYR jersey?!" I exclaimed as I held it up.
"Yeah! It's a custom one too, got your name and number on it and everything."
I turned it around and Annabeth wasn't kidding. There it was. "Jackson 91" written on the back.
"Annabeth I… I'm speechless. I don't know what to say."
"Then don't talk," Annabeth leaned in and kissed me. I guess that's one way to say thank you.
"Now the 2nd part Seaweed Brain, is that envelope in the box."
I grabbed the envelope and carefully opened it. Man I thought the custom jersey was the best thing ever, but Annabeth really out did herself.
"Tickets to the Rangers game!" I almost fainted on the spot.
"My dad won them at work and he thought they'd be a nice addition to your gift."
"Well tell your dad he's the best," I leaned in and kissed Annabeth again.
"Thank you Annabeth, this has been the best Christmas ever."
"Same here Percy. Same here."
I glanced over at my mom who was sitting there smiling at Annabeth and I.
"Oh mom! Annabeth and I got you a gift."
My mom blushed, "Oh you guys didn't have to."
I handed my mom her gift. My mom opened it and looked up at us.
"What is this for?"
"Percy told me you like to write, so I thought a new notebook would be the perfect gift."
I'll have to admit, Annabeth was right. The notebook was a custom one that Mr. Chase helped order. It had a leather cover and my mom's name engraved onto the front.
"Oh guys, it's perfect! Thank you so much," my mom said as she checked her watch.
"Alright guys, don't forget we have company coming over tonight. I'll be in the kitchen cooking so just don't make a mess in the house."
"Sounds good mom," I said as Annabeth and I walked back to my room.
"So who's coming over?"
I sat on the edge of my bed, Annabeth following suit and sitting beside me.
"Uh Nico and his sister Bianca, Thalia, my agent Nike and a surprise guest."
"Ok first off, Nico has a sister? And secondly, why the surprise guest?"
I laughed at Annabeth's questions, "Right you've never met Bianca. She's our age but goes to some all girl's school. As for the surprise guest, I actually have no clue who it could be."
"Maybe your mom's got a new male friend," Annabeth bumped my shoulder.
I let Annabeth's words sink in a little bit, "That's true. If it is I think it'd be good for her. As long as he likes me and makes her happy than I'll be happy as well."
Annabeth laced our fingers together and rested her head on my shoulder, "How come your agent is coming?"
"Ever since dad died she's been a huge help. She's basically a part of the family now."
Annabeth didn't say anything but I figured she understood.
"Soo, what do you wanna do? We have some time to kill before everyone gets here."
"Hmm. How bout we talk?" Annabeth offered.
"Isn't that what we're doing?"
"Okay smarty pants, how about we talk about us. We haven't really done a whole lot of that."
I suddenly had a sickening feeling within my stomach. Did I do something wrong? I've watched enough movies and TV shows to know the 'we need to talk' phrase is never good.
"Uh sure, am I in trouble?"
Annabeth laughed, "No… well maybe, depending on how this conversation goes."
I moved to the middle of my bed and Annabeth sat in my lap, resting her head on my chest.
"Ok what's up Wise Girl?"
"Are you excited for next year?"
"Yeah of course! Aren't you?"
"I don – I… I'm scared for next year Perce."
"Why? I'll be playing hockey for a living next year and you'll be going to some prestigious school. What's so scary about that?"
"What's going to happen to us next year? When we watched the Rangers game yesterday it made me realize that that will be you next year. And I may or may not be by your side when it happens. Then my dream last night only added to my worries. I mean what if I'm not there with you and you find someone else? Someone better than me?"
I stared at Annabeth in awe. One thing I have learned about Annabeth is that she worries about a lot of things. Me? It still hasn't sunk in that I'll be playing in the NHL next year. I tend to take things day by day and very rarely worry about the far future.
"Annabeth why do you worry so much? There's no one else on this planet that I'd rather be with."
"I don't know, I feel so privileged to be dating you. It almost doesn't seem real ya know?"
"No I don't know what you mean Annabeth."
"Percy, you're basically a superstar. Me? I'm just nobody. I'm just that girl that almost played college hockey at most. You could have any girl at Goode. Heck any girl in North America, yet you chose me. That's why I worry Perce. Wherever you play next year, there's gunna be hundreds of girls trying to hook up with you. Hundreds of girls trying to replace me."
I looked down to see Annabeth clenching my shirt tightly.
"Annabeth look. You know why I chose you over everyone else? I chose you because you were different. I chose you because unlike everyone else, you didn't care that I'm the next best hockey player. You treated me like just another human being. Honestly if I could I'd ditch all the fame, I hate it.
"Is that really the reason why you wanted to date me?"
I realized what I said might be a tad bit offensive, "That's just one of the reasons. Like I've said multiple times, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I feel like you complete me. You're more analytical and I'm more reactionary. We complement each other."
Annabeth looked up at me and smiled, "So what are we going to do about next year?"
"You know, I've been meaning to get your opinion on that."
"Don't tell me you're going to quit hockey. Because I'm not letting you do that Seaweed Brain."
"Aha very funny. But seriously, what if I played NCAA hockey instead?"
Annabeth paused, probably to soak in what I said.
"Why would you do that?"
"Well I've gotten scholarship offers from everyone major University/College in the US. So whatever school you go to I could go with you."
"But isn't it your dream? Your goal? Your destiny to play in the NHL?"
"I can still play in the NHL after I play NCAA hockey. I'll still get drafted by an NHL team in June. Maybe not 1st overall, but I would still get picked. Besides, I want you to be happy Annabeth. I can't play professional hockey for forever. I'll have to get a real job sooner or later."
"You would do that for me? You would put your NHL dream on hold to keep me happy."
"Is it too early to say that I'm in love with you Annabeth? Because I think love has influenced my decision."
"Nonsense, because I think I am as well."
My stomach was suddenly filled with millions of butterflies. The power of love really is strong. I mean it just made me put my dreams of playing in the NHL on hold. But at the end of the day, it made Annabeth happy and I can live with that.
"So what schools were you looking at?"
"Uh Stanford, Harvard and Yale."
"We should go to Yale, stay close to home."
"I want to go to Harvard, but I don't know if they'll accept a Seaweed Brain like you," Annabeth teased.
"Aha very funny Wise Girl. What I lack in smarts I will make up for in athletics."
"Does Harvard even have a hockey team?"
"Yeah… but they aren't very good."
"What about Yale and Stanford?"
"I'm not sure about Stanford. Yale has a pretty good team. Best of the 3 anyways."
"How do you know so much?"
"I've talked to Luke about NCAA hockey."
Annabeth shuddered at the sound of his name.
"He's a nice guy when you're in a dressing room with him. At school…. Not so much."
"Yeah that's what everyone says. I'm just glad he doesn't hit on me anymore."
"You can thank me for that," I poked Annabeth's sides.
"Stop that tickles," Annabeth giggled.
I decided to take advantage of Annabeth's one weakness.
Before she could react, I wrapped an arm around her waist, stopping her from leaving and began tickling her sides.
"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed between laughs.
She tried getting her hands free but I kept them in check. Eventually she told me she couldn't breathe so I had to stop tickling her.
"I hate you," Annabeth said while fixing her hair.
"If you hated me we wouldn't be dating now would we?"
"Since when did you get all analytical Seaweed Brain?"
"As soon as you became the dumb one Wise Girl."
Annabeth turned around and started kissing me.
"Fair enough," she said as she pulled away.
Whenever we kissed, I always dreaded the part where we had to pull away. My lips longed for hers. I was about to kiss Annabeth again when the doorbell rang.
"Guess our companies here. We'll continue this tonight," I got up to answer the door.
"Fair enough, now let's go have some fun!"
Thanks for reading! Dont forget to review and all that jazz. I really need ideas or suggestions so please dont be afraid to voice your opinions. See yall in the next chapter! :))
