Hiiiiii. I almost forgot to post today, which is why this is so late compared to the others. Just a quick side note, the Jake in this story is not Jake son of Hephaestus. I just needed a name and that's what I came up with. This is also an au type story.

Written by Fae

Disclaimer: We own nothing

Christmas Countdown: December 6th, 19 days til Christmas!

I stare in the mirror. 'Not too shabby.' I think as I admire my new uniform. An Elf suit.

I got a job at the mall as one of Santa's elves. This is my second year working as an elf. We got new costumes for this year. My new uninform consists of a white turtle neck, Christmas pattered leggings, a red and green apron dress and black boots. I have a headband with fake elf ears attached. A Santa hat covers up the band. I curled my long, dark hair.

"Ok, Silena," I tell my reflection. "First day. Don't screw up." I take a deep breath. I grab my things and head to the mall.

I walk into the empty mall, heading to our dressing room. We don't typically get dressed back there, mainly to hang out and chat during our break time.

"Hey, Jake!" I call to the guy dressed up as Santa. He smiles and waves.

"Ho ho ho!" He comes over to me. "Merry Christmas!" He says in a deep voice. "That sound okay?" He asks in his normal voice.

"Perfect." I assure him. "Stuff another pillow in there." I slap his stuffing stomach. "Santa'a looking a little slim."

He laughs, but goes over to his station, unbuttoning his shirt to put another pillow in with all the others.

"Uh, sir, I'm sorry, uh-" a hear a voice stutter from the entrance. I turn, curious. A tall guy is standing in the doorway, talking to our manager.

"I don't care. Get your costume and go." Boss slams the door in the poor guy's face. That's boss for you. He's blunt and rude.

The guy drops his head, standing by the door for a moment. Then he straightens and turns to face us. "Hi, I'm Charles Beckendorf. But you can call me Beckendorf. Can someone help me?"

I come over to him. "Hi, Beckendorf. I'm Silena. I think I heard something about a new guy's costume being over here." I grab his arm and gently pull him the the direction of a station. I heard rumors about a new guy and I'm assuming Beckendorf is it.

"Thank you." He sits down on the stool, sifting through the clothing. "Uh... is there any place to change?"

I point at a small sectioned off corner. That's where people can change if they wish. Most of the time we either come in uniform or dress in front of people. It's a small group of people and they're all respectful enough to not watch.

"Thank you, again." Beckendorf scoops up the clothes and goes to the corner.

"Of course." I hear the sound of the door opening. I turn and see my favorite co-worker.

"Allie! Thank god you're here!" I run over to her. "The rumor about the new guy was true!" I whisper shout as she sets down her bag.

"What? Where?" She whispers back. I point at the dressing room. She nods.

"We've got our work cut out for us today." I stop whispering and start talking about the work ahead of us. "It's the first day of the season so we have our big opening show. Every Christmas song in the song book. And we have to teach the new guy most of the songs and things because lord knows boss won't."

"Do you two even know how many small children I have to deal with today?" Jake comes back from stuffing his shirt. "That one kid who peed on me that year? And there was a kid who picked his nose then rubbed it off on my beard. I don't know why I keep up with this job." Jake complains, pulling on his fake beard.

"We're just too great for you to want to leave us." I flip my hair. "We're irresistible."

"Yessir." Allie pops her hip to the side, striking a pose. We all laugh at each other. This is why I love my job. The people and the energy is great. Oh, and because I love Christmas.

"Uh, is this right?" We turn to see Beckendorf come out of the dressing room.

I bite my lip, trying to hold in a laugh. He has a candy cane stripe long sleeve with green puffy pants, and black boots. He looks pretty good. But his suspenders are all twisted and messed up.

"Oh c'mon. Just let it out."He shrugs, gesturing at us.

Jake, Allie and I all bust out laughing. Jake tries to bend over but his stuffed stomach prevents him. That makes us laugh even harder.

"Oh my god, I-I'm sorry." I chuckle. I take a few deep breaths. "Ok, let me help you." I walk over to him, Allie and Jack go back to getting ready.

I unclip his suspenders, untwisting them. "Wow," I say softly, "you really got tangled up there." I'm slightly conscious of how close I am to him. I try and keep from blushing as I smooth the suspenders against his chest, then his abs. Dang, does he work out or something?

"Thank you. Really, thanks so much." He looks down at me as I clip the suspenders back into place. I try not to get embarrassed as I get so up close and personal.

I look up at him, his soft brown eyes meeting mine. He smiles and I smile back. We hold eye contact for a bit longer than we honestly need to.

Beckendorf clears his throat, disrupting, ah, whatever that was. "So I heard something about learning songs?" He asks.

I take a step away, now realizing how close we were. "Yes. On the first show of the season, we have a huge performance," I lead him over to the binder with all the music and other information. "It's not too much. You should know most of these songs."

I flip through the binder, showing him the songs. Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, Santa Claus is coming to Town, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, all the classics.

Allie and Jake come over from the dressing stations. We all start talking about the show, teaching Beckendorf everything he needs to know.

"Ok guy," Rebecca rallies us before we all go on stage. The whole crew is here now. 15 of us total. Including Jake as Santa. "We all know what we're doing?"

She gets a chorus of "yes" "of course" (from the senior workers) "yeah" and then Beckendorf's voice cuts through all the rest.

"Uh, sorta." He admits. Rebecca and the rest of us laugh at him softly.

"You'll do fine, new guy." Rebecca reassures him.

I nudge him gently. "Hey, I was the new girl last year. You'll be great. I mean, you can't do any worse than me. The minute I stepped on stage, I froze. I had a mini panic attack."

"Yeah, then you belted out a freaking amazing solo that you had to memorize literally right before we went on." Allie butts into the conversation.

I blush. "Well, it wasn't that good."

Beckendorf says, "I bet you have a beautiful voice."

I blush a little more. "Heh, thanks."

"You guys done chatting it up back there?" Rebecca scolds us, slapping our heads. "Come on, we've got a show to put on."

We all cheer, then run onto the makeshift stage. The crowd is already forming.

We get into place, waiting for the music. We sing Jingle Bells for the introduction song. We all start dancing and singing around the stage.

The song Jingle Bells gets mixed into Jingle Bell Rock, then fades completely into Jingle Bell Rock.

The song ends, and the lights go down. The crowd claps and cheers. We get into position for Deck The Halls.

The songs starts, and we sing. We dance with partners, doing a fast waltz type dance. I'm paired with Beckendorf. He stumbles a little bit, but I help him as we go. He gets the hang of it eventually.

We smile as we sing, enjoying every moment. I'm too excited to be performing to think about how Beckendorf and I waltzing together.

The song is a quick one, so it's over in a minute. We break off from our pairs, getting ready for my favorite song to perform.

We stand with our heads down, arms behind our backs. Santa Claus is Coming to Town comes on. Our heads pop up, and we start into a jazz routine. Dancing in place, then around the stage, then doing these group circles. It's a rush.

Some of the elves start acting out the song, pretending to make toys, helping Santa pack his sleigh and other parts. The rest of us keep dancing.

We go through the rest of the songs, some acting, some dancing, some we even have the audience sing along or come up and dance with us, but in all of them we're singing.

The last song is The First Noël. I step forward, a spotlight coming down on me. I get to sing this song as a solo. The rest of the group is behind me, backing me up.

I look out of the corner of my eye. I see Beckendorf staring at me, a smile on his face as he sings backup. The dim light makes shadows on his face. His-wow-undeniably handsome face.

I go back to facing the crowd and sing the last of the song, smiling.

By the time we bow and leave the stage, my throat is sore and I'm feeling tired. I can hear the little kids screaming, the parents, older kids and adults clapping and cheering.

We all collapse on the couches or chairs, some even on the floor. Allie, Beckendorf and I fall down together on a small love seat. It's tight, but we make it work.

"Great job guys! That was amazing!" Rebecca sits down in one of the chairs. "Probably one of the best shows we've had in years!"

"All thanks to Silena over here!" Allie nudges me the best she can with the three of us packed tighter than a can of sardines.

"Aw, it was nothing." I try and protest but everyone starts yelling how I was so great. "Okay! Okay! Sure, I did good. But we've got to give props to Beckendorf. First day and doing the biggest show of the year with little to no fumbles."

I smile at said person. Beckendorf smiles back. Everyone applauds him. He stands up, bowing. We all laugh and clap harder.

"Well," Beckendorf squeezes next to me again. "I might just stick around. That was fun!"

We laugh. "You better!" Someone calls. It might've been Brandon.

"Ok!" Rebecca gets up from her chair. "We're not done yet! Jake, the kiddos are waiting." She gestures to Santa Claus.

"Merry Christmas!" Jake calls as he leaves the room.

"Merry Christmas!" We call back, "Ho ho ho!"

"Right! Elves! I need," she starts listing people off, giving them jobs and positions.

"Bye Becca," Damion kisses her cheek as he leaves. Damion is Rebecca's boyfriend. He's the only one allowed to call her "Becca" or "Bec."

Rebecca rolls her eyes. "Get outta here." She swats him away. "Okay, Allie, Silena and Beckendorf." You three will be standing by Jake-I mean Santa Claus. Greet the kids, chat with the parents. Act casual. You'll essentially be Santa's right hand elves."

"Aye aye Rebecca." Allie jumps up. "C'mon guys." She pulls us up and we exit the room.

We find Jake, and go to stand by his chair. Allie on his left and Beckendorf and I on his right.

"Hi there!" I wave at a small child who is cautiously approaching Jake-er, Santa. "I'm Sugar Plum, and this is, uh," I gesture to Beckendorf. "And this is Charlie Claus."

Beckendorf give me a weird look. I mouth, "Just go along with it." He chuckles.

He sticks out his hand. "Yes, that's me. Charlie Claus."

The little girl stares up at him in amazement. "Are you related to Santa Claus?"

Beckendorf chuckles again. "No, Santa just liked me so much he nicknamed me after him."

"Would you like to tell Santa what you want for Christmas?" Allie asks the small girl.

The child nods. Allie picks her up and places her on Santa's (Jake's) lap.

"Hi there! What's your name?" Jake bounces the little girl on his knee.

"Samantha." She has a cute lisp, so she says it like "Thamantha."

"Well, Samantha, let's see," Jake pulls out a huge old fashioned scroll. "Have you been a naughty or nice?"

"I've been very good, Santa." She responds earnestly.

"Well, let's check the list, hm?" Santa unrolls the parchment.

We have a large parchment scroll that we use as prop. It's the naughty or nice list. We added as many names as we could.

Jake goes down the list, then stops at the name Samantha. "Would you look at that! You're on there alright! You must've been very good." Jake rolls up the scroll and puts it away. "Now, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Uh, crayons and paper. I like drawing." Samantha responds.

"Crayons and paper. Got it." Jake bounces her a bit. "Would you like a picture?" He looks at her parents.

"Yes, if you don't mind." The mom says, pulling out her phone.

"One, two, three, Merry Christmas!" Santa says, smiling. Samantha surprisingly hasn't started crying yet. She a miracle child. That's what we call the good and well behaved kids.

"Bye!" I call, waving, as she and her parents walk away.

This continues for a few hours. I'm Sugar Plum, Beckendorf is Charlie Claus and Allie is Twinkle Tinsel. Silly names, but it's all for the kid's benefit. Most of the kids are good. Most of them cry, but we've gotten used to it. Albeit, being cheery for hours on end can be exhausting.

At lunchtime, our shift is over and the other group of elves and the other Santa will take over.

We go back to the dressing room, quickly changing and gathering our stuff before the other group comes.

"Hey! I've got an idea." Allie pipes up as we leave just before the crazy transition starts. "We should all go to Panera or something and then maybe roam around Central Park."

"I'm down if you guys are." Jake says, looking much thinner without his Santa stuffing.

I look over to Beckendorf. "Want to come? It'll be good for getting to know each other better."

"Uh, yeah, why not." Beckendorf swerves away from us to avoid a horde of elves. He comes back and says, "Are we carpooling or separate cars?"

"Well, we all came in our own cars, so I guess separate cars?" Allie suggests.

"That works. See you at Panera." Beckendorf waves as we separate to go to our cars. I linger, watching Beckendorf leave, before turning and walking to my own car.

At Panera, I'm the first one to get there. I find a table, sitting down to wait for my friends.

"Cold, cold, cold. So cold." Allie walks in, shivering and rubbing her arms. Jake comes in behind her, rolling his eyes.

"How long have you lived here? You should be used to the cold." Jake takes off his beanie and plops it on her head.

"Whatever." They sit down at the table. "I'm keeping your hat." Allie pulls it onto her head.

"Where's Charlie? Uh, I mean Beckendorf." I ask them.

"I dunno." Jake pulls off his coat, but it quickly gets snatched by Allie.

"I'm keeping this too." She wraps herself up.

"Allie, the heat is on." I remind her. "You'll get hot and when you go outside you'll be colder than you were before."

"Fine." She reluctantly takes off her layers. "Are we going to order?"

"You guys can but I'm going outside to wait for Beckendorf." I grab my coat and go outside.

There's a bench outside the shop so I sit there, putting on my coat.

I watch the cars go past, the dreary gray sky cold. Frost nips at my nose, probably making it and my cheeks red.

"Hey, what're you doing out here?" A voice says from beside me.

I turn, and see Beckendorf standing over me. "I was waiting for you."

He smiles, "Well I'm here now, so why don't we go inside." He holds out his hand, and I take it. He helps me up, his big hand warming up mine.

As we walk inside, we hold hands a little longer than necessary. I try not to blush as I slowly unclasp my hand from his. I also try not to notice the slight look of disappointment in Beckendorf's eyes as I do.

"Beckendorf is here!" I call out to my friends at the counter.

They smile and wave us over. We all go to the counter and order our food.

Back at the table, we sit and eat. Chatting and laughing all the while.

"So Beckendorf," Allie starts, "why'd you decide you wanted to be an elf?"

"Well, I needed the money, and uh, I love Christmas so it kind of just made sense." Beckendorf shrugs.

"Hey, same!" I smile. "I'm a broke college student and I also love Christmas. But I work at Target the rest of the year. No way as much fun."

"We actually all work at Target." Jake smiles embarrassedly. "Hey Charlie, you want to join our small gang?" Jake smirks at Beckendorf's nickname.

"Charlie? Is that what I'm going to be called now?" Charles raises an eyebrow. "No, I don't think so."

"Aw, c'mon!" Allie protests but Charles cuts her off.

"If you're going to call me anything, call me Beckendorf."

"Fine." Allie huffs and goes back to eating her food.

"Is my elf name Charlie because my first name is Charles?" He turns to me.

"Maybe." I take a bite of my sandwich. "Hey, I had to think on the spot."

"Eh, whatever." He goes back to his food.

"Charlie." I nudge him.

He side glances at me, giving me a look. I smile cheekily then go back to my sandwich.

After we finish our food, we bundle up and head for Central Park.

Jake and Allie walk ahead, and Charles and I hang back, following them.

A light snowfall starts as we enter Central Park. There's Christmas decorations everywhere. Allie and Jake have seemed to have disappeared, probably got too far ahead.

I sigh with contentment. "This is so nice." I close my eyes and lift my face to the sky, letting the soft snow fall on me.

Beckendorf chuckles lightly. "Yeah, this is pretty cool."

There's barley anyone here, which is odd. But it's nice to have the place to ourselves.

We go quiet, walking through the park. I try and keep myself from stealing glances at Charles. I bite my lip as I think about a question I really want to ask.

"..." I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. "Charlie?" I finally force myself to speak.

"Charlie? Are you really going to call me that?" He smiles playfully.

I can feel a blush creeping up. "Well, only if you're okay with it," I look at my feet then back at him.

He shrugs. "I guess I can deal." I smile a little bit. "But only you can call me that. If you start getting the others calling me that I'll die."

"Oh, well that wouldn't be good." I say as he chuckles.

"What were you going to say?" Charlie asks.

"Oh! Oh, nothing." I start getting embarrassed.

"You sure?"

"...Yeah."

"Okay,"

The snow starts coming down a little harder. The ground is getting covered. As I'm walking, my foot gets caught on something.

"Agh!" I cry as I trip and fall.

"Woah!" Charlie rushes to catch me. He breaths out in relief. "You okay?"

I look up at him, a small layer of snow on top of his head. "Yeah, mostly." I try not to blush at the fact that Charles is still holding me by the waist.

"It is getting slippery," he helps me stand up again. "Here, hold my hand so you don't fall again." He offers his hand.

I smile at his sweet gesture. "Thank you," I take his hand, trying not to get embarrassed.

"You've got something there." I reach up and brush the snow off his head.

He laughs. "Thanks." I smile

We continue walking through Central Park. We don't talk much, but we don't need to. It's nice and peaceful just to walk around, taking in the sights.

It's getting dark, and we've walked through basically the whole park. Jake and Allie haven't reappeared, and I'm getting cold.

"Charlie, this has been nice, but I should probably get home. Plus, I'm freezing." I say as we near one of the exits.

"Trying to get rid of me now?" He smirks, sending me blushing and all flustered.

"No, no, I've had the best time and I wish we could stay here like this forever, but I've seriously got to get home." I try to explain without making a fool out of myself.

"Hey, I get it." I squeezes my hand. I start blushing again realizing we're still holding hands. "I'll walk you to your car?"

I smile a small smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Let's go, Christmas Princess." He pulls me a little closer, giving me a smile.

"Christmas Princess?" I laugh, giving him a look.

"Hey, I'm just saying. if I'm Charlie, you can be Princess." He shrugs.

I shiver from the cold, stuffing my free hand in my pocket.

"Here, I'll warm you up." Charles stops walking, taking his hand from mine. He unzips his coat, handing it over to me.

"No, I can't take this. You'll be cold, and plus, we're only a couple of blocks away from my parking spot." I protest, trying to give the jacket back.

But he insists. "No, I want you to wear it. I'm used to the cold. I'll be okay, really." He wraps the coat around me when I don't take it.

"Thank you, Charlie." My head dips then I look back up at him.

He just smiles and takes my hand again. "Of course, Princess." His cheeks darken a little bit, but that could just be my wishful imagination.

We arrive at the Panera parking lot. Jake and Allie's cars are gone so I can only assume they left before Charles and I.

"Well, this was lovely, but I think it's time to say goodbye." Charles leads me by the hand to my car, being all fancy.

I laugh, smiling. "This was so much fun. Thanks for coming."

"Of course. I had a blast."

"Oh! Here's your coat," I take off the jacket and hand it over to him.

"Thanks," he takes it, putting it back on.

We kind of just stand there in the snowfall, staring at each other. "...Well I guess I should be going now," I say, unsure of what to do next.

Charles clears his throat. "Uh, yeah, I guess I'll see you at work next week?"

"Um, yeah." I admire the way his eyes are shining under the parking lot lights. "I'll, uh, see you later,"

"Yeah, later." He looks around, nervously almost. "Goodnight, Silena."

"Goodnight, Charles." I smile, and he returns it with one of his own.

"Right, okay," he mutters under his breath as he starts to walk away. I smile again, then turn to unlock my car.

I'm pulling on the handle of the car door, when my free hand gets taken, pulling me and spinning me around. I let out a startled yelp, when Charles pulls me into him and kisses me.

All the tension from the surprise melts and I kiss him back. With his strong, warm hands holding me, for a second, I'm in heaven.

He pulls away, looking down at me, smiling. I can't help but smile back.

"Oh my god, you are the most perfect person ever." I say quietly. I pull him down, kissing him again. I pull away, wrapping him in a hug.

"I'm just so glad you feel the same way I do. Otherwise this would've been real awkward." He says, hugging me back.

I laugh, looking up at him. "This was the best night of my life so far. No, this whole day was amazing."

He pulls away, tucking a curl behind my ear. "Well, Princess? Can I get that number of yours?"

"Oh my god," I mummer, getting out my phone. "This is embarrassing, I don't have it memorized." I admit.

"Hey, neither do I, so you're good." Charles reassures me, adding my number into his phone. "I'll call you, yeah?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." I smile, "Goodnight, Charlie. For real this time."

He laughs, "Goodnight, Princess. For real." He walks away, waving. I watch after him, waving.

I get into my car after I can't see Charles anymore. I buckle my seatbelt, then squealing and giggling like a little girl. He likes me! Charles Beckendorf likes me! I drive home, happy as can be.