Day 11 – January 4th

Annabeth
I stretched and released a yawn. I managed a nap but only a short one this time thankfully. It seemed like my sleeping habits were going to be the death of me here lately and I figured I might as well cave to them now. We were on vacation after all.

I looked around the empty cabin and found myself longing for Percy. All I wanted to do was cuddle up and relax. Tomorrow was going to be insane with Thalia, Silena, Piper and a few others stopping in to help me get ready for the ball as they got ready as well.

Wandering over to the window, I found Percy and Mrs. O'Leary playing on the shoreline as bits of ice and frozen sea foam pushed onto the shore. I don't know how that man managed all of this but I couldn't help but smile as the two ran around like maniacs.

Part of me wanted to run down and join them but there was this nagging part of me that knew by the time I got dressed warm enough to join them that they would be coming back up to the cabin and I would miss out on all of the fun.

I sighed sadly and made my way to the bedroom, glaring at the plastic covered dress hiding in the closet. It definitely wasn't what I wanted and while I knew that Percy would love the emerald green, pouf of a ball gown I bought, I was still less than impressed.

Angry at the dress and the circumstances, I growled and threw on my snow clothes and marched outside in record time. The frigid air slammed into my face, waking me fully from my funk as Mrs. O'Leary came bounding toward me.

"Hey girl," I cooed, as she made a desperate attempt to weave in and out of my legs, almost taking me to the ground.

"Careful babe, we don't need any broken bones."

"That would kind of put a damper on the dancing tomorrow night, wouldn't it?" I asked, grasping his arms as he caught me before I slammed into the ground.

"Last thing we need! Now go back up to the back porch, I am going to get the fire pit going. I stocked the place up with s'mores, hot chocolate and apple cider, so be ready for a small feast!"

"Do you need me to do anything?" I asked, shivering on the spot.

"Kitchen, top cabinet on the left, grab all the snack goodies while I get the fire pit going, would you please?"

I left a kiss on his cheek and called Mrs. O'Leary to me as I tried to carefully make my way back to the cabin with Percy chuckling behind me. "Knock it off or I'll put you face first in the snow," I growled at the man.

"Whatever you say, love," he whispered with the slight hint of a laugh in his voice.

Rolling my eyes, I finally made it into the cabin and Mrs. O'Leary bounded around me, nearly tripping me as I made my way toward the kitchen. "We are seriously going to have to get you into some training," I mumbled, rubbing my elbow that slammed into the wall in the desperate attempt to keep from slamming into the floor.

My grumpy mood was quickly coming back as I dug through the cabinet Percy mentioned and pulled out a massive bag of junk food. The marshmallows gave off an overwhelming aroma of sweet and it took everything I had not to gag.

I dug around in the cabinets again and smiled as I pulled down the packets for hot chocolate and apple cider. I set about to making our drinks and then picked up the bag for s'mores and whimpered, praying that lunch would stay down as I quickly walked back outside to rid my nose of the disgusting sweet lingering in the air.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, the sweet just got to me."

"You look a little green. Hand me that," he demanded, moving me toward the Adirondack closest to the fire pit. "Warm up and I will get treats made for us."

The fire warmed my legs which in turn, sent a slow warmth up my body. I could feel myself drifting off again when Percy sat on the arm of the chair, waking me from the turbulent thoughts that were swirling around my head.

"Whatcha got there?"

My right hand lifted slightly, holding out his tumbler. "Hot chocolate. Plain and simple. The mini marshmallows are in the bag, I figured you could add them yourself."

He kissed the top of my head and stroked my curls quietly, watching the fire dance before us.

"I wish you would talk to me. I wish you would tell me what is going on in that head of yours. You have had me so worried since you called me on Christmas Eve."

I wanted to tell him everything. I honestly did, but I didn't want to ruin his twelve days of gifts. We only had tonight and tomorrow left and then I could spoil everything. I could easily bring our world down upon us with two little words and he honestly had no clue. I couldn't do that to him. Not yet anyway.

Percy
She leaned into my side as best as she could with the chair in the way and sighed. "I won't force you. Just remember, you can talk to me you know."

I continued to stroke her hair as she took a sip out of her cup.

"Just a little more time Perce," she mumbled.

I needed out of the depressing moment and decided now was the time to give her the day's present.

"So, why don't you show me your dress for the ball?"

She turned her head up toward me, a weak smile on her face. "Sure," she replied quietly, setting her cup down and pushing herself up out of the chair like she was in extreme pain.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little sore from the nap on the sofa. Nothing to worry about." She plastered that fake smile on her face again and leaned in, leaving a kiss on my cheek.

I followed behind her, keeping a hand on the small of her back as I partially led her through the cabin. "So do you want to tell me about this monstrosity of a dress you have been keeping hidden under that bag?"

"Oh, you will see in just a moment," she giggled, crossing the threshold to the bedroom and moving away from me.

She disappeared into the closet as I sat down on the edge of the bed. Annabeth reappeared moments later with the giant white bag that she kicked out in front of her. "Now, it wasn't exactly what I wanted but you'll see why I picked it out in just a moment."

I tried not to smile as I knew what was coming and she growled slightly as the zipper got stuck halfway down. She finally freed it from the knot and stood back up.

"Now, if the color is too much, it's too late to change it. There wasn't anything else at any of the stores I loved. If I'm lucky, there won't be anyone else there in this color, so maybe it's not a bad thing."

'Oh, trust me love, you will be the only one there in this color,' I wanted to tell her but I kept my mouth shut and urged her on with my hands to show me the dress. I also knew that this was technically bad luck but we weren't exactly doing this in the most traditional manner, therefore I wasn't worried about any wedding day traditions. At least, not right now.

"Okay, so prepare yourself," she warned, pulling the dress from the bag, only to stop halfway. "What the . . ."

"Do you like it?"

"What on earth did you do?"

Tears began to well in the corner of her eyes and I stood up, pulling her toward me. "I didn't do anything really. Thalia and Silena, on the other hand, had a lot to do with this one. All I did was take that beautiful green dress back and pick up this one. You should be thankful your friends love you!"

"But . . . but . . ." she stuttered, tears now running down her cheeks.

"Silena sent me the pictures of you in this dress and then told me you were putting it back. I took it upon myself to have her put it on hold. She didn't tell me why you put it back but that you really did love this dress and thus your present for today was born!"

She carefully laid the dress across the bed and then wrapped her arms around my waist. "Do you know how absolutely amazing you are?"

"I do, actually," I replied nonchalantly.

She slugged me in the arm and then left a kiss on my lips that I deepened. "God, I love you."

*AN*

Don't shoot me! It's not that I ran out of steam but rather this chapter is not really what I wanted at all. Then life and more life and well more life. I swear I will make up for it in the last two chapters!

Really, you should be thanking my beta for coming by and giving me the smack that I needed to get this finished! Thank you MrsPercyJackson3 for all the hard work and yelling at me to get things finished...or starting on a new story when I should have been finishing this one bwahahaha! Sorry, didn't mean to throw you under the bus with that one!

So leave some reviews. I love seeing what you guys think!