As to the questions about Percy's behaviour towards Annabeth in the last chapter, I feel like she's more of a mom to Percy then a girlfriend. Therefore, his reaction was supposed to be how people react when they know they're about to get in trouble with their parents. Sorry if they seemed OOC.

So bad news, it just got even more difficult to update my stories. :-( I now have to write everything on a computer, email it to myself, and then assemble all the pieces of every chapter on my phone. (I usually write a chapter in 2-3 different sittings.) I really need to buy my own computer...

Starts as Percabeth, will eventually be Percy x Apollo

Important thing to note... this will be yaio (boy x boy). Don't like? You do not have to read.

Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

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December 15th

Percy POV

It wasn't even ten in the morning and I was already bored out of my mind. I suppose that was what I got for waking up so early.

I was sitting in our seldom used living room, trying to think of something to do. I was coming up blank. I had even thought of attempting to read one of the books on the shelves but, no matter how bored I was, architecture would never be interesting enough to make me read. I didn't really want to stay in the house either, but I was doing my best to ignore the reason why.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I was at that point where I was so tired of having nothing to do that I was contemplating just taking a nap. Our couch wasn't as good as Apollo's but it was pretty comfortable, especially with the sunlight coming through the window. I had always loved lying in the sun, it was so warm. I think it had something to do with the fact that I was a son of Poseidon. After all, what goes better with the ocean than the sun?

I chuckled to myself at the thought. No wonder I always got along with Apollo so well. I opened my eyes as a thought crossed my mind. I just had an idea of something I could do. I bit my lip as I contemplated the pros and cons of my idea.

Ah what the hell, it's worth a shot...

I stood up and headed out the door. I had to go and see if Apollo was free.

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Apollo POV

I was just walking down the street, minding my own business, when I was ambushed.

One moment I'm smiling at the beautiful cloudless sky, the next thing I know, I feel an arm being thrown around my shoulders. I looked to my left and was greeted with the sea-green gaze of the son of Poseidon.

He flashed me a smile but it didn't quite reach his eyes. I was curious as to what was wrong but he spoke before I could inquire.

"Hey Fred, ol' buddy, ol' pal," I barely kept myself from snorting at the ridiculous greeting.

"Hello Perseus. What is it you need today? Don't lie, I can tell." I knew that it was going to be something bad when he didn't even roll his eyes...

"I'm calling in a solid you owe me."

I raised one eyebrow. "And why, pray tell, do I owe you?"

"You made me go carolling."

Ah, that made sense. "You had fun."

He gave me an incredulous look, "They made us where elf costumes."

I winced at the reminder. "I thought you said that you wanted to go swimming."

He shrugged. "I changed my mind. I need you to do something else. Besides you already agreed to it."

I frowned, trying to think of what I agreed to, before my eyes widened in realization. "You want to do that today?"

"Why not? The malls are only going to get busier."

"You never even asked if I had other plans."

He raised an eyebrow. "You would have told me if you had but for the sake of courtesy, did you have anything planed to do today that can't be delayed?"

I swore under my breath. Sometimes I really hated being the god of truth. "No..."

"See? Then there is no problem."

I ran a hand though my hair as I tried to think of a way out of it. I had agreed but that didn't mean I actually wanted to go. Agreeing and wanting were to very different things.

My thoughts must have been pretty clear on my face because the son of Poseidon chuckled, "Oh come on Apollo. It'll be fun... maybe... Probably not... But you already said you would, so it doesn't matter." When I still didn't agree he raised one eyebrow. "Oh just say yes already. Or should I just take a page out of Hades book and kidnap you?"

I rolled my eyes before sighing in defeat. "Fine, but that doesn't mean that I'm looking forward to going Christmas shopping."

He laughed. "I don't blame you. I don't want to go Christmas shopping with me either."

I shook my head. "So how are we getting to a mall?"

The look he gave me told me I was not going to like his answer...

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I was right. I really did not like his answer.

The pegasus, Porkpie if I remembered correctly, reared in midair and tossed his head. I instantly dropped the rains and wrapped my hands around his neck to make sure I didn't fall off.

I heard peals of laughter and I turned to glare at the young god of the sea. "I really don't think this is as funny as you do."

He shrugged with a smile, "Hey, I once road in the sun car while Thalia was driving. This is nothing compared to that.

I winced, "She was bad, but not the worst I've ever let drive. At least she wasn't as bad as that time Phaethon drove. I'm just glad that the sun car wasn't mine yet during that fiasco."

I looked around and saw that we were already flying above San Francisco. I slowly loosened my grip from around the winged horse's neck. The last thing I needed was him dying midflight.

Percy flashed me his trademark grin before he too looked around at the city sprawled beneath us. "So... you've been around a long time. Where is a good place to go shopping in San Francisco?"

I shrugged, "I don't really know. Miami is more my scene, beaches and sun everywhere. I haven't spent much time here in the last 40 years or so. I imagine that what I knew of it has changed. One mall is probably pretty much the same as all the others though."

He nodded, "Fair enough. Come on Blackjack, let's go to that building. It looks like a mall."

The black pegasus whinnied in what I could only describe as some form of agreement before diving towards the expansive mass of concrete, my pegasus in close pursuit.

ΩΩΩ

Percy POV

I couldn't get over the fact that the god of the sun did not like flying on horseback. He still looked rather pale when we said good-bye to the pegasai and headed into the mall.

I also couldn't believe just how much the mist hid. How could you land in the middle of a crowded walkway on two flying horses and not get more than a quick glance from anyone?

I shook the thoughts off and focused on the stores. The two of us were just casually strolling through the mall, stopping to look at anything that interested us. I was trying to figure out what to get my friends but all I had bought so far was Jason's gift. I saw the Pikachu baseball cap and just couldn't resist getting the lightning Pokémon accessory for the son of the lightning god.

Apollo may have not had any valid ideas for me, but at least he kept me amused. I was glad that he decided to come with me. As crowded as the mall was, at least I had someone to joke with. We both had a good laugh at one of the jewellery stands in the mall.

We were looking at the different stones when we found a dark green one that neither of us could identify.

"You're a god, aren't you supposed to know everything?"

Apollo chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Oh, so you'll listen to the god when you don't know the answer but when I'm giving you advice you only half pay attention?"

I shrugged, "Pretty much ya."

"It's schist." I hadn't even noticed the saleslady approaching us.

The god of the sun looked up in surprise, "Beg your pardon?"

"The stone, its schist."

Apollo snorted, "That's its name?"

The smile she gave us said that she knew exactly what we were laughing at. "Yes. It's not particularly rare but it is known for its use in jewellery."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "I remember that stone! Hazel found a big pile of schist, right in the middle of a field."

Apollo sniggered. "You know, it's not that uncommon to find schist in a field."

I vaguely noticed the saleswoman shaking her head as she walked away but I couldn't control my amusement enough to care. "That's true. Frank and I found her standing on top a mountain of schist."

I could see the tears in the sun gods eyes as he answered. "Hum... I don't think you should buy a woman a necklace made of schist for Christmas though."

At that point, we both lost the ability to speak.

ΩΩΩ

It took probably a good half hour before either of us could talk without laughing. It was the elf costumes all over again. There was no one in the world that could make me laugh as much as Apollo could.

It didn't matter what was going on in my life, a few hours with the sun god and I was reduced to tears of laughter.

I had actually made a lot of progress on my Christmas shopping during that time. As long as I didn't look at Apollo, I could focus on my task.

I had decided to get Reyna a new knife sharpener. A strange Christmas gift sure, but I figured she would get more use out of that then a stuffed dog that sung jingle bell rock.

For Piper, I found her a new pair of earrings that had what looked suspiciously like harpy feathers.

Since Frank and Hazel were that adorable type of couple that couldn't get enough time together, I decided to get them a joint gift. I was going to wait until we got back to New Rome and then I would get them a gift card so that they could go out to dinner together.

The last gift I had to get was at the book store. I decided that I wanted to get Annabeth a new book on famous architecture. It may have been a lame gift to get your girlfriend but it was the only thing that I could think of that she would like. I tried not to think too much about that, it only made me feel worse...

Apollo apparently drew the line at shopping for books because he out right refused to come to the book store with me. He said that he had something that he needed to do anyway so we just agreed to meet up at the fountain by the entrance when we were done.

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Turns out, the architecture section of the store was a lot bigger than I had anticipated. I ended up braking down and asking a random person shopping in that section what book I should get. She encouraged me to go with one about famous European castles. It looked boring to me but she sounded pretty excited about it. I just hoped Annabeth didn't already own it.

I was on my way to the till when I passed the journal section. I hadn't even realized that I had forgotten to get Apollo anything until my eye caught on one that's cover was made of soft, light brown leather. There was a stylized sun embossed on the front. The leather tie that held it closed made me think of the journals from old movies. I could just see the god of music writing poems and songs in it.

Before I could over think it, I grabbed the journal and continued to the till.

I wasn't surprised to see that Apollo was already waiting for me by the time that I got to the fountain. I was surprised though to see him holding a bag with what was clearly a wrapped Christmas present in it. I raised my eyebrow in question by he just shrugged in response. I was slightly curious but I decided to drop it.

ΩΩΩ

Apollo POV

We headed outside and he whistled for the pegasai.

I was honestly rather surprised that he hadn't pressed to find out what was in the box. He usually acted like an over grown kid a lot of the time. I had prepared myself to listen to him wine about not getting to know. Perhaps godhood had helped him mature... or maybe he just didn't really care that much right now. He did seem slightly withdrawn. He had seemed a little off when he first came to find me this morning but, since it had passed by the time we left, I had assumed that it was nothing of consequence.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts when the pegasai landed in front of us. I reluctantly climbed into the saddle. I would have to keep an eye on him and see if his mood improved.