Hello and welcome to no-ship day!

As you can see in the greeting, today we don't have a ship. We have a friendship! Okay... that was a little lame. Moving on!

Written by Ruth

Disclaimer: We are not Rick therefore we do not own these characters

Christmas Countdown: Today is December 15, which means there's only 10 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! WE'RE GETTING CLOSE PEOPLE!

Enjoy, and please review!

For the past 2 years, my family and I have had an ongoing Christmas light competition that's been unspoken. Ever since the family moved in, they've always tried to outdo us in Christmas lights. But I think we always won.

I saw the whole family once. A family of of six just like us. They all looked different, so they must be half siblings, also like us. Well, besides the mom who looks like the mother of one of the guys.

I've also seen some of the siblings separate at times during school. I've never talked to them though because well, duh, they're enemies during Christmas time.

"Piper, come downstairs. We're setting up lights," Lacy says, coming into my room.

I turn to look at her. "Okay, I'm coming." I'm tell her.

I follow my little sister down stairs. We put our coats and things on before walking outside. Dad, Drew, Valentina, and Mitchell are outside with boxes and boxes of decorations. Along with decorations that don't go in boxes.

"Okay, Mitchell, grab the stapler, and let's go up on the roof," Dad instructs. "Girls, start the lights on the columns and porch area."

My brother follows Dad with the stapler gun as they go up on the roof to put the lights up.

"Alright, let's do this," I tell them.

The four of us split up, Drew and Valentina going to the left side of the wrap around porch, and Lacy and I going to the right side.

"You know, as much as I love Christmas, I really hate putting up all these lights only to take them down in a few weeks," Valentina says, wrapping the lights around the railings.

"Oh, come on. They're pretty," I tell her.

"Well, yes, but so much work." She complains.

"Oh, stop complaining. It's just more time to spend with each other. Plus, it makes Dad happy." I look down at my sister from the step stool where I'm hanging snowflake lights from the porch ceiling. Valentina frowns.

"I would much rather be experimenting different holiday looks right now instead of freezing," Drew says. I meet her brown eyes. She's also hanging up snowflake lights.

"Guys, what's wrong with you?" Lacy asks, catching all of our attention. "It's Christmas!"

We go silent.

"Everything good down there?" Dad asks from the roof.

"Yes, Dad, everything's good!" I yell.

"Okay, let me know if somethings wrong!" He tells us.

"Okay!" I turn to my little sister who doesn't meet my eyes. "Lacy, you okay?" I ask her.

She keeps quiet before sighing. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a long day at school."

"Okay," I say warily.

"Alright, guys, we're done for the night. Nice work, we got a lot done. Now all that's left is the arches on the driveway and the yard." Dad says.

Him and Mitchell got all the lights up on the roof while us girls did the porch. It's very bright just how it is now. To think there's going to be more still surprises me to this day. Dad loves Christmas.

"Okay, let's go inside because it's getting cold," Mitchell says, shivering. He makes his way up to the door.

I laugh lightly as we follow him inside to get ready for bed and to warm up.

The next day, Saturday, we spend all day out shopping for Christmas presents and more Christmas decorations at the outlet.

"Should I get this for Connor?" Mitchell asks, holding up a shirt.

I look at it. "No. It doesn't go with his eyes."

He sighs, putting the shirt back down.

"I swear, I have no idea what to get him." Mitchell admits.

"You'll figure something out. Now what about this for Jason?" I ask, holding up a light gray polo shirt.

"It'll look very nice on him." Mitchell tells me.

I smile, adding it to the cart. We walk to the cashier to check out. I hear a strangled scream.

Mitchell and I laugh at each other because Dad forced Drew to take Lacy and Valentina for this store.

I pay for my things then wait for Mitchell to pay for his. Once he's done, we walk out the door to see Dad waiting outside.

"You guys done?" Dad asks, standing up.

"We are. I don't know about Drew, Lacy, and Valentina though. Also, maybe next time, let Drew go alone." I tell him.

Dad winces. "Smart idea."

Drew comes out the store dragging Valentina and Lacy by their elbows. The two girls are laughing while their bags swing.

"I cannot with these two. Take them," Drew says, shoving the girls. They stumble, but don't fall, continuing to laugh.

"Drew, dear, calm down. What happened?" Dad asks, steadying my sisters.

"They absolutely ruined my chance to get the cashier's number. He was super hot," Drew complains.

I roll my eyes. "Okay, well, I'll take these two crazies in the next store," I say, looking at the two 13 year old devils.

"Alright, problem solved. Now let's hurry up. It's starting to get late." Dad says. We start walking to the next store, continuing our shopping.

When we get home, I help pull all the clothes and decorations out of bags. I turn around to see the neighbors house-the one that tries to beat us in having better lights-have almost all their lights up. And it's seems that they got new ones. Just like us.

"Oh, no," Valentina says, voice breathy.

"We're screwed," Mitchell exclaims.

"No, we aren't screwed. We're perfectly fine. We will beat them. Like always," Dad says. We look at him with disbelief.

"You know what?" I start. "Dad is right. Everything is fine. We'll win, per usual." I tell them, trying to cheer up their spirits.

"Yeah, sure, fine," Valentina grumbles, walking inside.

All my other siblings follow. I share a look with Dad before following them inside.

"Are you guys serious? Christmas shouldn't only be about winning some made up Christmas light war. It should be about forgiving and spending time with family," I pull Mitchell down by his neck in a hug. "And bickering with your siblings about who gets to open presents first on Christmas Day," I look at Drew who rolls her eyes. "And celebrating Jesus' birthday."

Lacy snorts at that. Dad looks over at me, giving me a smile. I return one.

"So, are you guys all good now?" Dad asks.

"Yep. All good. Thanks, Pipes," Valentina says.

"Of course."

The next day, we continue our work on the house. The Valdez clan comes out and also works on theirs. It looks so good.

"Piper, take those to the street," Dad says, pointing to the broken snowmen.

We're putting up the arches around the driveway and it's coming along slowly. And getting rid of Christmas decorations that are broken or ones we don't want.

"Okay," I say, sighing. I grab the snowmen in each hand, dragging them to the street.

"Hey," one of the boys say. I look up to see a curly haired, brown eyed, tan boy. He almost looks like an elf with his somewhat pointy ears and smirk.

"Hey."

"You know, after two years and a large Christmas war, I've never meet you before," the boy says, crossing the street to the driveway. "I'm Leo."

"Piper. And I know, it's crazy. You see, my family sort of believes the whole 'fraternizing with the enemy' thing and you guys are the enemy," I tell him, laughing. Leo laughs as well.

"Oh, yes, I definitely know. It's vise versa for us." He smiles at me. "Anyways, you go to Goode High, right? I think you're in my science class."

I think about it for a moment. I snap my fingers. "Oh, yes, you sit with Hazel, right?"

"Yep. Right on the front of the classroom which means there is no goofing off. Yay," he says, doing jazz hands half heartedly. I know he's joking though and I laugh.

"Yeah, Mr. Hunt is pretty up tight. But hey, what can you do about it," I ask, shrugging. "Hey, there's a really good place in town that sells the best hot chocolate. My boyfriend, Jason, and I go to it all the time during the winter months. Want to check it out?" I ask.

"Yes, please. I need to get away from them." He leans in, putting a hand to his mouth like he's going to tell a secret. "They are driving me crazy." He whispers. We both laugh.

"Okay, well, let me tell them and grab my penny board. You got one?" I ask.

"Wow, Ms. Fancy, over here with a penny board and me with a skateboard." He jokes.

"Shut up," I tell him, laughing.

I walk back up to the house. My siblings look at me.

"Why are you talking to that boy?" Drew asks, eyeing Leo as he walks back to his house. Dad shakes his head.

"That boy is Leo. And he's actually very nice, thank you for asking," I tell her, grabbing my board.

"Where are you going?" Val asks.

"I'm taking Leo to the hot chocolate place in town. Apparently he's never had it before." I tell them. I look at Dad for permission to go. He nods his head. I smile. "Okay, well, I'll be back later."

I walk to Leo's house, standing in the driveway.

"Hi, I'm Harley!" A little boy says, walking up to me.

"Hey, I'm Piper. It's finally nice to meet you guys," I say, looking at the people.

"S'up." One of the older boy's nod in my direction.

"You're guy's house is looking amazing," I tell them, looking around at all the decorations. They even have a huge Christmas tree made of lights up.

"Thanks." The guy says.

A woman and Leo walk out. They look like mother and son, so I'm guessing that's Mrs. Valdez.

"Hi, ma'am, I'm Piper," I tell her when they get up to me.

"Esperanza." She tells me, smiling. "You seem like a very nice girl, so I'm giving you full rights to hit him if he acts up." She tells me, grinning. I laugh.

"Uh, Ma, that's not fair." Leo complains.

"Who's knows, maybe you'll be a good influence on him." Mrs. Esperanza continues.

"Maybe. He could use a good influence," I tell her, matching her grin. I look at Leo who rolls his eyes.

"I see how it is. Can we go?" Leo asks.

"Yes, get out of here." She tells us, kissing Leo on the cheek. We walk to the street. "Remember what I told you!"

I look back at Mrs. Esperanza, laughing lightly. "I'll remember."

Both of us put our boards on the ground, pushing.

"Your mom seems cool." I tell him as we cruise down the main road.

"Thanks, but you don't live with her."

I laugh lightly. We continue down the street.

"Wait, imma do the mom girl flip," Leo says. He hops off his skate, letting it continue to roll. He runs next to it. "1, 2, 3, 4...flip!"

He takes his foot, flipping his board. It lands on the wheels.

"Oooh!"

I laugh out loud as Leo gets back on his skateboard.

"That was amazing," I tell, him, closing my eyes.

"I know right."

I serve on my board, but don't fall.

"Oop. She servin'." Leo jokes, mocking me.

"Servin'," I say, serving on my board.

We laugh.

"So, how long does it take to put up your decorations?" I ask, looking at Leo.

"A long time. Like fifty million years. Nah, I'm just playing. Just a couple of days. You?" He asks.

"A couple of days as well."

He nods. We continue to skate to the town, cracking jokes and being silly.

"Oh, we're here. Thank goodness. I need to hot chocolate." Leo says, taking a step back on his skateboard. He pushes his left foot on the end, popping it up and catching it.

"Ohh, fancy." I joke, stopping my skateboard.

Leo laughs. "I know, right."

We walk up to the stand, paying and grabbing our hot chocolates. We take a seat at one of the benches and just talk. Leo's a really funny and nice guy. I could actually be friends with him. I tell him about myself and he tells me about himself. It's really nice.

"Hey, guys," I say, walking up to my friend group at our lunch table. "This is Leo and he'll be sitting with us today."

I gesture to the Latino who nods his head in greeting. "S'up."

"It's nice to meet you, Leo," Annabeth says, smiling.

"You too." Leo says, grinning.

I take a seat next to Jason and pull Leo next to me. Over the weekend, we basically became best friends.

"Isn't he that kid who you kept complaining about for the past two years about the Christmas lights?" Percy asks.

I give an uneasy laugh, looking at Leo. "Hehe. Yeah. Sorry about that."

"All good. We sort of did the same thing," Leo says, grinning. I snort.

All of us talk and goof off. And by the time lunch is over, Leo has basically been added to our group of six, now making it seven.