A shorter chapter to end this fic, I hope you all enjoy it and I will add a short AN update when I've posted the first chapter of the minific which will include the Roadtrip but won't only be the roadtrip- also there's gonna be some nice emotional scenes in that one so prepare yourselves lol

Artemis arrived to collect the hunters on Christmas eve, and after a request on Bianca's behalf, and because Bianca was still recovering, the goddess had agreed to let Bianca spend a month with the Jackson family- a fact that had both Bianca and Nico incredibly excited- and Sally was busy planning out which room Bianca would have.

She'd spent most of her time since they'd gotten back to camp making arrangements for Leo- who had grown pretty attached to her during their time locked away and had already that he wasn't looking forward to her going home- Percy knew her mom hoped to surprise him on Christmas day by telling the son of Hephaestus that he would be allowed to live with them from now on- and honestly Percy didn't mind. Sure he was probably even more crazy than she could be, but he was a good kid and he deserved a home and as far as Percy was concerned nowhere was better than the Jackson family home.

And Christmas day dawned bright and early, and when Percy made her way out of her Cabin with Annabeth she had to admit it was magical- with the light dusting of snow on the ground, the soft glow of the fairy lights strung up everywhere they could be- the Aphrodite cabin had been in charge of the decorations- though up on the hill Thalia's tree had been decorated by the Stolls and was covered with huge tacky paper lightning bolts that had made Thalia cackle when she saw them.

The mood was bright and cheerful when they headed to the dining pavilion- and rather than the usual table set up they'd all been moved so that the tables were all pushed together- and as everyone started gathering for breakfast everyone sat where they'd like, enjoying breakfast and chattering happily before presents were given out- and Percy had to hand it to her mom, she'd managed to get everyone at least something- though Sally had been rather disappointed that Chris and Clarisse were gone- they'd decided to visit Clarisse's family for Christmas.

Percy had to admit she was curious about those two- they weren't dating exactly but there was definitely something going on, Percy had seen Silena whispering to Clarisse a lot- giving the daughter of Ares advice Percy was sure.

And Percy could remember Clarisse and Chris dancing at her birthday party. Supposedly he'd left with her to give her support since her mom wasn't the best but Percy personally thought that he'd went because he wanted the chance to spend time with her.

In any case everyone seems happy, the usual camp activities had been cancelled and the campers were allowed to do whatever they wanted- and Percy and Annabeth ended up with several other campers on the hill, taking it in turns to sled down as laughter and joy filled the air.

When the evening did come instead of the usual campfire there was a selection of treats laid out in the dining pavilion and music playing all around, cheesy Christmas songs which Will and Kayla were roping people into singing along to.

Percy joined without hesitation, belting out the words to All I want for Christmas, winking at Annabeth as she did, making the other girl roll her eyes and laugh as Thalia elbowed her in the side lightly.

Then it was Nico's turn to sing- along with Will and Kayla of course, he'd refused to sing by himself, and Bianca joined in too and Percy wove through the small crowd of partying demigods, grinning as she watched Thalia move over to Luke- they'd been spending more time together over the past days planning out their road trip, and then Percy reached Annabeth and she grinned as she collided with the other girl, throwing her arms around the blonde girl. "Hey there Wise girl!"

And Annabeth laughed, wrapping her arms around the daughter of Poseidon in return to steady her. "You look like you've been having fun Seaweed Brain."

"It's Christmas!" Percy gave a goofy smile, pressing her lips to Annabeth's cheek, "Things are looking up-"

"They really are." Annabeth pulled back and grabbed Percy's hands, "Do you want to dance?"

"Yeah." and Annabeth dragged Percy to join the other demigods dancing, grinning as they danced, Annabeth twirling Percy as they danced together, giggling and pressing close as they moved.

Then someone was throwing his arms around both of them, and Grover's face was jutting forward slightly between them both.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything romantic." his voice was playful and Percy laughed.

"Grover!"

"Oh I'm sorry for intruding on your private moment." Grover shot back, "Y'know maybe if you guys told me sooner-"

"We're very sorry." that was Annabeth, who pulled back slightly, pressing a hand to her lips to stifle her giggles as Grover then hung off Percy's neck. "You should have been the first we told-"

"Dam right-" Grover's smirk and words sent the other two into fits of giggles, drawing some raised eyebrows to them as they drifted to the edge of the crowds of dancers, Percy snagging two cans of coke for her and Annabeth, handing one to her girlfriend as they moved to sit down a short distance away from the dancers.

"That's never gonna get old is it?" Percy asked with a grin, "How many inside jokes do we have now?"

"Too many." Annabeth grinned, "Let me see, the stupid theme park, the Arch-"

"Piggy backing a Fury." Percy grinned at Annabeth, "Very brave-"

"Luke's... transformation." Annabeth snickered, "Which was terrifying at the time but looking back on it-"

Percy cackled, "Yeah, very true- and of course there's the whole Grover nearly marrying Polythemus-"

"Ugh." Grover groaned, flopping backwards, "You'll never let me live that down will you."

"Never." Percy grinned, "It would have been a lovely ceremony don't'cha think Annabeth."

"You did look wonderful in your dress Grover." Annabeth snickered-earning her a dirty look from the Satyr.

"Spiders." he shot back, "Metal spiders-"

"Hey I have a perfectly good reason to be scared of spiders-"

"Yeah, but you did freeze up."

"I disown you as a friend-"

"That's okay." Grover grinned, "I'll just steal my best friend away from you-"

"Oooh, are you two gonna fight over me?" Percy gave a goofy grin. "I feel so flattered-"

She was tackled by Grover and Annabeth at once and spent sprawling into the snow, laughing brilliantly as she tried to squirm away from them both, "Gah! Let me go!"

"Never!" Grover grinned as he sat on her legs and Annabeth sat on her belly. "We have you at our mercy now-"

"Annabeth, my beautiful lovely Wise girl, if you let me up I'll order you some new books- ones translated into Greek-"

"Sorry Grover." Annabeth shoved him quickly, knocking him off of Percy's legs, "The books mean too much to me."

"Traitor!" Annabeth was pulling Percy so that she was sat up and Percy grinned, poking her tongue out at Grover.

"Sorry, but I know my Wise girl."

"Uh huh." Grover looked amused, "You two are dumbasses-"

"You know you love us."

"Yeah, so much that I'm gonna take a break from you." Grover pulled himself to his feet, "I'm gonna go grab something. I'll be back in a minute."

The two girls watched him go before Percy turned to look at Annabeth, smiling very softly at her girlfriend.

"Had a good Christmas day?"

"Yeah." Annabeth nodded, "Yeah I have. The best in a long time. I have you and Thalia and... it's perfect."

"I'm glad." Percy reached out, grabbing Annabeth's hand and squeezing, because she could see just a hint of doubt in those gray orbs. "You miss your family-"

"I-" Annabeth faltered before giving a small nod, "I miss my dad, and my brothers. Seeing them again... it brought it all back."

"Then go home to them. If it doesn't work out you can always come back to us." Percy pointed out softly, "Give it another chance- after what happened- your dad clearly adores you-"

"Yeah." Annabeth nodded, biting her lip hard, "But what about us?"

"What about us?"

"I mean-"

"Annabeth we can IM every day," Percy promised, "You can fly out to visit me. I mean it won't be as easy as it has been but.. you deserve to have your family like I have
mine."

"I love you so much."

"I know." Percy gave a soft giddy grin- it was still amazing, being able to say those words, "I love you too." she squeezed her hand tightly, raising it to press her lips against the back of it, which made Annabeth give a faint smile.

"You are so sappy."

"Like you're better." then a shadow fell over them, and Percy and Annabeth both looked up to see Grover stood next to them holding-

"Grover!" Annabeth laughed, "Mistletoe? Really?"

"Uh huh." Grover was grinning evilly, and Percy noticed that a lot of campers were looking over at them, some looking confused, some amused, then she looked back at Annabeth, who gave a small nod, a sly grin on her lips.

"Might as well, huh Wise girl?"

"With pleasure." then Annabeth was lurching forward, hands on Percy's cheeks, yanking her forward to press their lips together, and Percy kissed back, wrapping her arms around Annabeth in return, her heart pounding in her chest.

Then there were whoops and cheers from some of the campers, and all Percy knew what was the moment was perfect.