Perfectly Imperfect

"Even imperfection itself may have its ideal or perfect state." - Thomas de Quincey

Perfect. Today has to be perfect.

A small ray of morning light shines through the curtains of the New Rome apartment. The warmth and smell emerging from her exhilarated him. Glancing at the clock, it was only 5:58 am. A perfect amount of time to get everything done Percy thought to himself.

He turned to his left. And there she was—beautiful as ever, radiant as ever. She was wearing shorts and one of his t-shirts. Wasn't much, but she's just stunning.

He quite couldn't look away.

Her hair is fanned out all over the pillow, making her look like an angel. She slept so serenely and well … angelic. A bundle of her blonde, honey hair laid atop her face. He gently tucked the strands behind her ear. Smiling, he kissed her forehead tenderly, stole one more glance at her, and quietly exited the bedroom.

It's Christmas. Annabeth and Percy's first Christmas after Gaea. No prophecy, no quest, just them. And he's sure as Tartarus he's gonna make it the best gods damn day ever.

Just them alone. Together. It was gonna be perfect.

Well … There was one worry—he hoped everything was good enough.

Sure, Annabeth had told Percy she didn't want to do anything too special for Christmas. They've both been through a lot and just want to do be alone together. But that doesn't mean he can't make this the perfect Christmas.

Enough dillydallying, he thought. He must get to work.

He spent the first 15 minutes cleaning. Trying his best to organize everything to her liking. Couch cushions fluffed, symmetrical, and designs facing up. All of her books arranged in her own system—books arrayed in each shelf by category, and the books on a shelf were displayed in alphabetical order. It would put a smile on her face.

Afterward, he set out to cook breakfast. He already had the perfect menu planned. Blue pancakes, topped with fruit he got from his Ceres descended neighbors. He also had two dozen of his mom's famous blue cookies which were sent in from the mail. Additionally, he had other staple breakfast foods planned.

He begins to gather his ingredients, trying to be as quiet as possible. Reaching for the pan, he slowly grabs it, ensuring nothing fa-

CRASH!

The pan and lid slip from his hands and hit the floor rolling. Percy mutters a curse and picks it up quickly. He hopes the noise didn't wake her up.

Silently, Percy finally gets to cooking. The wonderful aroma of his breakfast filled the apartment. He takes in the intoxicating scent of bacon, eggs, and his other foods. It's perfect.

Trying to pass some time, he swayed his head and sang softly, "Santa baby, just slip a Sable under the tree for me. Been an aw-"

"Awful good girl," Annabeth interjected, smiling sleepily.

Percy turned around and groaned. Shit, she's awake—yet, he still smiled.

"Hey! Not happy to see me?" She said innocently. She walked up to his back and hugged him, nuzzling his shoulder. "I could always go back to sleep."

Percy's shoulders relaxed in the presence of her touch. "No, it's fine. I thought you'd be sleeping still. I wanted to make you breakfast and serve you in bed." He frowned, "It was gonna be really nice."

Annabeth turned Percy around, gently putting her finger under his chin and lowering his gaze. "Percy, this is very nice. Just because I'm up doesn't ruin anything." She kissed his jaw and gingerly peppered kisses along his neck. "Just keep cooking."

Percy groaned, "You- You are quite the distraction."

She giggled innocently, "Am I?" She continued the trail of kisses along his neck. She smiled satisfactorily as she saw his Adam's Apple bob up and down.

An octave lower, he spoke, "I'm not going to get anything done."

She stepped back, only to put her hands on his shoulders and look up at him. "And what are you going to do about that, Seaweed Brain? Hmm?"

Percy grinned, placing his hands on her hips, as he led her towards the counter. Her back hit the counter and she oofed softly. Trailing his hands from her hips and up her body towards her chin, he pulled her into a deep kiss. Annabeth's hands were playing with Percy's hair while his hands roamed Annabeth's open and smooth skin.

It was Elysium.

The kiss deepened. She moaned as Percy grabbed her thighs, he lifted her up onto the counter and stood between her legs. She giggled as they both pulled away, breathless. They remained there in silence, just basking in one another's presence. Foreheads leaning on each other, smiling—knowing that just being with each other in any moment is better than any kiss they could ever receive from the other.

Percy smiled, brushing her hair once more behind her ears. "I love you," he whispered, pulling her into a hug and resting his head on top of the crook of her shoulder. That phrase came so easy to him. Just three simple and short words, but it meant the world to him.

She meant the world to him.

Annabeth's smile widened, "I love you too ..." The smell of something burning permeated the room. "Thank you s-. " Both of their eyes widened as they turned around.

"The pancakes!" They both shouted simultaneously.

Percy immediately went to the pancakes, pulling them off the pan. "Damnit. They're ruined," he said dejectedly. "Fuck, they were gonna be so good."

"Percy, it's fine. All of this is really, really sweet and I loved that you thought about doing all this for me. And it's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect."

He sighed, "But it should be. I've been planning this for over a week."

"Cheer up, we can still save this." She hopped off from the counter, fixed the shirt she was wearing and tied her hair. "You go finish breakfast and I'll set up a nice movie for us."

He chuckled, "Yes ma'am," he said saluting. "Just one more thing," he said cheekily.

"And what is that?" she returned with a smile.

"One more kiss."

She walked up to him, "Hmm, I don't know if you deserve it. You did burn the pancakes."

Percy scoffed, "You were distracting me." He pulled her once more into his arms.

"And who's fault is that?"

"Just one small kiss. Promise"

Annabeth snaked her arms around his neck, "Just a short one."

Smiling, they both leaned in and once again kissed … It was not short.

She pulled back breathless, "Now get to work."

"Alright Wise Girl," he chuckled.

Annabeth exited the kitchen to find a movie. "Hey, you even remembered to organize all our Christmas cards," Annabeth commented while Percy finished up breakfast.

"Of course! I hope everyone else got our cards too. It's been a while since we've seen them."

Annabeth smiled, "Yeah. I miss them."

With a sigh, "I do too. But we'll see them soon. I'm sure during the summer, we can visit Camp Half-Blood. I talked to Grover last week and he said he could visit soon."

"That would be lovely."

And so, they did their things. Annabeth searching through their movies while Percy cooked.
While Annabeth found the perfect movie, Roman Holiday, she also turned on some Christmas music, to make everything lively ...

"And we're done. Here are our semi-burnt pancakes." He stared at the food he made, "I'm sorry they're burnt. I can go make some more." Percy said with a frown.

"They're lovely. Thank you." She said, pecking him on the cheek. "Let's watch the movie, I put in-"

"Roman Holiday," they both answered. Percy grinned, it was her favorite movie.

He grabbed a blanket and snuggled up right next to her. She put her head on his shoulder as he put his arm around her, pulling her more close.

They could remain like this forever.

Percy fed Annabeth the burnt pancakes. They both laughed at its taste, but no complaints came from them.

"Again, sorry for messing up breakfast. This was supposed to be the perfect Christmas." He said, nuzzling himself within her neck, kissing it gently.

She softly groaned and lifted her chin, exposing more of her neck to him. "Percy, really, it's fine. I'm just thankful for all the time we have together." She grabbed his hands, interlocking their fingers. "I cherish every second we have together."

Hands still together, he massaged her knuckles with his thumb. He smiled, "I love you. You know that, right?"

Her smile radiated the room, "I know … But I wouldn't mind hearing that more though."

"Mhmm, well, I'll keep that on my mind."

Leaning in, he kissed her and was just intoxicated—they both couldn't seem to get enough.

"You know, I think this Christmas was perfect." She rustled his hair and cupped his chin, "Perfectly imperfect."

Percy's heart melted and gleamed brightly. He loved this woman.

"I liked that. Here's to a perfectly imperfect Christmas," Percy said, pulling Annabeth onto his lap, facing him. Leaning their foreheads on each other—it came so naturally to them.

"Merry Christmas, Seaweed Brain."

"Merry Christmas, Wise Girl."

Even tho the smell of burnt pancakes was in the air, it didn't bother him in the slightest … In fact, the smell made him smile even more.

Imperfect. Today was perfectly imperfect.

The End

A/N: It's late, but Merry Christmas! This oneshot is a gift to PurpleRaven from the Percabeth Discord server. This was my first time ever writing, so anything that could make my writing better would be very appreciated. You can also tell me how you felt about this (:

Here's a link to the Percabeth server: /PDZPgSN