Hello everyone. This is just a filler chapter but I still hope you enjoy it. It's Christmas time.

Stuck In My Head: Bloom by The Paper Kites

I'm doing something that I've never done before. Responding to a review.

To Elia19: I already have the whole story plot planned out and I have to say, you were very very close to it. ;)

Oh and thanks to everyone for the positive feedback. I don't say this much but I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the PJO characters or any of the songs used in the story.

This chapter is dedicated to you guys. :)

Chapter 11: Merry Christmas, Annabeth

Percy's POV:

Christmas Eve/One Week Later:

"You guys make me sick." Nico grumbled from the floor of my room. Annabeth snuggled into me and giggled softly. "Oh be quiet Nico. You're just grumpy because Thalia went to the Bahamas for Christmas." I said. He scratched his head and continued to eat the baked potato my mom had made him. Nico came over earlier this morning because to do. His dad, Hades, and his step mom, Persephone, went on to a ski resort for Christmas. Nico chose not to go and stayed back here. The guys had taken the news of my forgiveness to Annabeth very well. They just smiled and said, "Whatever makes you happy, man."

"Hey, Percy, you need to come check this out." Nico said from the ground. I patted Annabeth's thigh, silently telling her to move. Since she was sitting in between my legs, she scooted forward. I swung my leg over her head and got off my bed. I crouched next to Nico. "What is it?" He showed me something on his phone.

Battle Of The Bands:

January 1st, 2015

Sign up before December 31st for a spot in the competition

Starts at 6:00 to 8:00

May The Best Band Win

"Is that the one Mr. King was talking about a month ago?" I whispered. "No, Kelp Head, he talking about a different battle of the bands. Of course it's the one!" He said sarcastically. "Kelp head?" Annabeth questioned. Nico looked over my shoulder and to Annabeth. "Yeah, in kindergarten I gave him that nickname because he was so obsessed with the ocean and stuff like that. And he isn't exactly the smartest person in the world too." I slapped the back of his head as he laughed at me. "Ha ha." I mocked. Annabeth chuckled. "Kelp head." I got up and sat next to her on the bed. "Oh no, don't tell me you're going to call me that too." She shook her head. "Nope."

I sighed in relief. "Good."

"I'm going to call you Seaweed Brain instead." She laughed. I raised an eyebrow. "Seaweed brain?" She nodded with a huge smile. "Yup. I like that better than kelp head." She concluded. "Well, you're such a- such a- a… Wise… Girl!" I tried to say back but completely and utterly failed. She burst out laughing and soon Nico joined in with her. "Wise girl, huh?" He asked while laughing. "Shut up." I crossed my arms and pouted like 5 year old. "Aww…" Annabeth was still laughing a little as she ruffled my hair and threw her arms around me. That was when I got payback.

I hugged her back and held her tight while giving her a sloppy kiss on her cheek. She playfully groaned. "Percy!" I heard Nico laugh at us. I removed my lips from her cheek and looked over at Nico. "What are you laughing at?" I pretended to glare but I couldn't help the smile that was coming onto my face. He got a look of terror on his face. "N-Nothing." I let go of Annabeth and began to get up slowly.

"Oh really?" I wiggled my fingers as I held my hands out. He looked terrified at this point. "Y-Yeah. I'm sure." I shot straight forward and threw my arms around Nico. I gave him a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He immediately pushed me off of him and wiped his cheek so much it turned red. I landed on my butt in front of him and laughed at him with Annabeth. He glared at me.

"I hate you, Jackson." We just laughed at him.

"Why do we have to even go shopping?" I whined to my mom. "Because it's Christmas tomorrow, Percy." She simply said. I dragged behind her. Annabeth had to go into work and I thought that really sucked. Nico had to come with us because my mom insisted that he needed to come with us since he was family too. "So when do you think we could sign up?" Nico asked as he walked up next to me. I snuggled into my jacket as a cold breeze hit me. Nico shivered. "I don't know. Maybe after Christmas or something." He nodded and licked his lips. "Man, it's freezing out here." He commented. He wasn't lying.

Snow littered every corner of Manhattan and small flurries flew around the sky. And it was also windy so it just made it even worse. Snowflakes hit my face as we dodged the many people passing by. All of them held bags and boxes of presents. Someone prodded me with the pointy edge of a box as they passed by. "Why are there so many people out here anyway? Isn't it Christmas tomorrow? Shouldn't everyone be with their families or something?" I mumbled to Nico. He kept his slightly purple lips shut and nodded.

"Percy! Nico!" My mom called out to us as she was taken away by a large crowd. "Come on, we have to go get my mom." We both ran forward and tried not to slip on the slippery concrete. We caught up to her. "Yeah?" A white puff of air formed in front of us as we slightly breathed out of breath. She took out some money and handed us both a hundred dollar bill. "Here. Go get something for someone. You two look bored to death just following me around."

"Mom! Where did you get this money?!" I said in shock. She winked. "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks Ms. Jackson." Nico thanked. She waved her hand. "Don't mention it. Now go on you two. And just be back here in an hour. I'll be in the coffee shop, resting." I nodded and saluted to her. "Yes ma'am." And with that we ran off. "Be careful!" She yelled after us. "Don't worry! I always am!" I yelled out to her. "No you're not!" She yelled back. Nico and I laughed and kept running.

We arrived in the little plaza. I immediately knew where I was going. I walked into the store with Nico in pursuit. "Hi there. What could I get you today?" An employee asked me from the front counter. I looked at all the expensive sparkly chunks of metal through the glass. A special piece caught my eye. "Hi, um. How much is that one?" I pointed to it. The woman opened up the glass door and took it out. She held it up in the air and showed it to me while she looked up the price.

"One hundred and twenty dollars." I silently cursed. "Oh, um. Sorry. I don't have that much. I'll just go." I began to back up. "Wait, how much do you have?" She asked. I took out my money. "A hundred." She looked like she was debating with herself. "Who's it for?" She asked.

"My girlfriend." I simply said. She looked in between Nico and I before sighing and saying, "Okay. I'll take the hundred." I smiled widely. "Really?" I asked hopefully. She nodded. I didn't want to push my luck but I knew she would like the present better if I did this. "Hey, do you mind if you do me one more favor?"

Christmas:

"You guys look so cute together!" My mom cooed. I blushed. Nico was laughing at me as I slouched down to try and not look cute. "Don't try to fight your cuteness honey." Annabeth kissed my cheek. I suddenly got more confident. I stood up straighter and I felt like I was the best fake Santa Claus ever. I stroked my long fake white beard. "What do you think, Mrs. Claus? Do I look cute?" I tried, and failed, to speak in a Santa voice. Annabeth put her fake steel glasses on the tip of her nose and looked me up and down. "I'd say so myself, Mr. Claus." She said in a horrible British accent. "Why are you speaking in a British accent?" I said while laughing. She laughed with me.

"Okay, guys, Tyson's going to be here any minute so get into character." My mom said as she walked to the door. There's some things I need to clarify. Tyson hasn't been around much because he goes to Autism camp and Mrs. O'Leary goes with him because she is his guard dog. Every year when Tyson comes back for Christmas, I dress up as Santa Claus. Now that Annabeth is here, I can have a Mrs. Claus. Which will excite Tyson even more.

Ding-Dong

"Oh, that must be him." My mom didn't hesitate to open the door. "Tyson!"

"Mommy!" He flung himself onto my mom and Mrs. O'Leary ran inside. She came into the living room and immediately laid down on the couch. I held back a laugh. "Thanks Hestia." My mom thanked Tyson's caregiver and said bye before closing the door. "We have a bit of a surprise." She said to Tyson as she led him into the living room. He looked up at my mom. "What is it?" She stopped him and looked at us. "Look." Tyson looked at us. A toothy grin appeared on his face in the blink of the eye. "Santa!" He dropped his backpack, ran to me and clung to my torso. "Hey there little guy." I said in a deep voice. He pulled away from me and smiled at Annabeth. "And Mrs. Claus!" He jumped up onto her. She wasn't prepared for the hug bomb that is Tyson and stumbled backwards at bit.

"How's it going?" Tyson hopped off of her and waved at Nico. "Hi Nico. Merry Christmas everyone!" He shouted. We all laughed. "Merry Christmas!" We all shouted back.

Soon we all sat on the floor and surrounded the Christmas tree. Tyson was running all over the place as he opened his gifts. "Yes!" He cheered as he got a present he wanted. After he calmed down, he got up from the floor. "Where are you going, bud?" Nico asked. "I have to go get something from my backpack." He pointed to the bag my mom had just placed on the couch. He unzipped the bag and rummaged through it. He pulled out two bracelets made out of small seashells. He came back over to me and Annabeth. He crouched in front of us. "I know it's you guys." He whispered. I grinned at him and held up a finger to my lips in a shushing gesture.

"Nico still believes in Santa Claus so don't tell him." I saw Nico glaring at me in the corner of my eye. I suppressed a laugh. He told us to raise our hands. He slid the bracelets onto our wrists. "Here. The shells symbolize your love for each other. Shells tend to be washed off the shore, separated and carried off into the ocean but not you guys. You guys will always be together and not even a huge wave could separate you two." I was shocked. Tyson was a lot smarter and poetic than I thought. "One of my teachers at camp told me that." Okay, never mind. Annabeth gave me and him a watery smile. "Thank you so much Tyson. That's so sweet."

She got a closer look at the bracelet. The bracelets were the same. The shells were glued onto a black soft stretchy fabric. On one of the shells were the initials of Annabeth and I.

PJ + AC = Forever

It was written on the largest shell. Annabeth blushed when she saw the writing on her bracelet. I gave Tyson a hug. "Keep pretending that you believe in Santa, buddy. Mom doesn't like to see that we've grown up and don't believe in that stuff anymore." I whispered in his ear. He nodded. My mom stared at all of us adoringly. Tyson went to go sit back with my mom. I clapped my hands together. "Okay, shall we open our presents?" I gestured between Nico, Annabeth, and I.

My mom nodded and got up. "Yeah and while you do that, Tyson and I are going to make cookies in the kitchen." Tyson got up and ran to the kitchen yelling, "Yay! Cookies!" Annabeth got up. "I have the present in my car. I'll be back." She went outside. Annabeth had gotten her car fixed over the weekend. I took advantage of the time and went to get the presents I had gotten for Annabeth and Nico.

When I came back down, Annabeth was back inside and standing beside and large wrapped triangular box. I had no idea what it was. She was smirking at me, like she knew how I was going to react to it. I got excited to figure out what it was. I handed Nico two little presents, which is all I got him. "Thanks man." He handed me a little box.

We all sat down on the couch. Annabeth and I sat on one couch and Nico sat in the other. He unwrapped his first. His face brightened up. "Wow, thanks dude." He smiled at me. I got him a black iPod Nano, which I had gotten weeks ago and was just sitting in my closet. What he didn't know is that I filled it up with a bunch of his favorite songs and singers. The other present I got him was some headphones to go along with it. "Okay, time for you to open your present." I handed Annabeth the long navy blue box.

She looked at me cautiously and with a small smile. She gasped. I had gotten her a gold chain necklace with a blue heart shaped locket. She opened it and revealed the picture we took on our first date, the one Hazel and Frank took. She put her hand over her mouth and I saw her eyes starting to glisten. I kissed her cheek and smiled sheepishly. "Do you like it?" She shook her head. "I don't like it. I love it."

"I love you." I whispered in her ear. She chortled and kissed me. Nico groaned and we pulled away. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "I've said it once and I'll say it again. You guys make me sick."

"Alright time to open your presents." Annabeth said, dismissing Nico. Nico and Annabeth smirked like they both had something planned. I raised an eyebrow and proceeded to open Nico's present first. It was a small wooden box with gold hinges. "Open it." Nico told me. I opened it and inside was a guitar pick. A black guitar pick with DG (Demigods) written in silver cursive letters. I grinned and took it out. "Thanks Nick." He smirked again and nodded. "That isn't for your acoustic guitar." Annabeth piped up. I put the guitar pick down into the box and closed it. "What is it for then? I don't have any more guitars." I wonder what she's getting at. "Open the present we got you."

I got up and frowned in confusion. "What do you mean 'we'?" I crouched down and started ripping the paper off the triangular box. "Well, the guys and I pitched in and got you something." Once I got the paper off, I opened the box and gasped in surprise. It was a guitar. I grabbed it from the neck and lifted it out of the box. It was an all black electric guitar and the neck just under the strings was a dark beige color. I twisted it around a couple times to get a good view of every bit of it. Something caught my eye on the front of the guitar. I looked closer. In silver writing was a signature from… I nearly had a heart attack.

"YOU GOT ME A GUITAR SIGNED BY PAUL MCCARTNEY?!" Annabeth and Nico laughed at me. I was dying on the inside. I was so happy, I hugged my guitar. "How did you get this?" I croaked out. "EBay." Nico answered. "And don't worry, that really is his signature. Not some random knockoff." I grinned at them two. It must've really expensive. I put my guitar on the couch and tackled Annabeth in a hug. We both fell onto the couch and started laughing. I showered her in kisses. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She kept laughing as I pecked her whole face.

"Today was fun." Annabeth concluded as she snuggled up next to me on her couch. "Yeah, it was." I slung my arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. Today was fun. My mom and Tyson stayed home and spent time together while Nico, Annabeth, and I went to go meet up with Beck, Silena, Leo, Calypso, and Rachel. We all went to the park and had a snowball fight. Girls vs. Boys. Girls won.

I leaned back on Annabeth's cushiony couch. "I really like your couch." I blurted out. She laughed softly. "It's not my couch to be honest." I laughed in confusion. "What?" She snuggled into me. "It's my mom's." I laughed for real this time. "You're so random." She repositioned herself so that she laid her head on my lap and the rest of her was on the rest of the couch. She shut her eyes and let out a little sigh of bliss. I played with her hair. "Better?" She nodded. "Much." We didn't say anything for a while. I closed my eyes, leaned my head back and played with Annabeth's curls. We just enjoyed each other's company and stayed in a companionable silence. After a couple minutes, Annabeth whispered to me, "It still bothers me." I opened up my eyes and glanced down at her. "What does?"

"The kiss from Jake." She grimaced at the sound of his name and all I did was clench my jaw. "You don't have to worry about him anymore. Right?" She slowly nodded. "Yeah but I still kissed him. You should've broken up with me and you didn't. Why?" She asked. I sucked in a quick breath. "Because I love you. And people make mistakes sometimes." She grinned sadly and a lone tear made its way down just under her temple. I wiped it away with thumb. "Where do you think we would be we hadn't met?" She questioned. "I don't want to think about that." I answered quietly. "Why?" She wondered out loud. "Because I don't want to think of a world without you." I said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She couldn't help the goofy grin that came onto her face. She laughed. "You're such a Seaweed Brain." She concluded. I rubbed her cheek. "And you're my Wise Girl." She smiled. "You know that's not an insult. That's actually a complement."

"Well, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't complement you, Wise Girl?" She just smiled larger and stayed quiet. As my hand rested on her stomach, she played with the bracelet Tyson had made me. Once in a while, her bracelet would clink against mine, making that the only noise in the whole apartment. Her necklace that I got her glistening in the light. I felt her motions slowing down and her breathing becoming small quick breaths. Before I knew it, she was asleep and softly snoring.

I rubbed her cheek and stared at her while she slept. As creepy as it sounded, it was actually soothing to watch someone you love so dearly sleep in a peaceful state. Soon enough, I fell asleep too. My last sleepy words being,

"Merry Christmas, Annabeth."

"Are you sure this is the place?" I asked Nico one more time. He shrugged and step on one of the stairs that led to it to get a better look at the address. It was written in small white letters under the times the place was open. "Yeah, this is it. 1934 Wallaby Road." He finalized. He tilted his head towards the place in a 'let's go' gesture. The guys and I walked in. Professional looking people stood around and talked about gods know what. The bell above the door dinged, letting the owners know that we were here.

Everyone's conversations stopped and head turned to us. Nico squirmed uncomfortably. "Um, w-we're here to sign up for the Battle Of The Bands…" Leo stated awkwardly. They didn't even listen to what we said before they went back to their conversations. "Okay?" Beck said. "Where do we go?" I heard Leo muttered as we walked around the studio. Some of the girls there were around my age. They kept looking at us like they hadn't eaten in years and we were a four course meal.

I was glad Annabeth wasn't here because if she saw how these girls were looking at me, she would go ballistic. "Hi there! Are you here for the B.O.T.B.?" A man appeared out of nowhere. He wore a grey suit with a yellow tie and black dress shoes. His blonde hair was slicked upwards into a thick mini golden pyramid. He looked familiar. "Apollo." Nico grumbled angrily. Apollo Brighton noticed him and fake smiled, showing off his ultra-white teeth. "Hi." He said to Nico while putting his hand into his dress pants pockets.

Beck looked between Nico and Apollo, who were glaring profusely at each other. "Do you two know each other?" He asked. "He's Thalia ex-boyfriend. The one who cheated on her." I whispered in his ear. Apollo turned away from Nico. "Anyway, you guys are here for Battle of the Bands, right?" Apollo asked. Beck stepped up. "Yeah, we are. Where do we sign up?" Apollo gestured for us to follow him.

We all followed him down a narrow grey walled hallway. He told us about the competition as we kept walking. "So, there will be competitors from all around the city performing in this competition. And the winner will receive 10,000 dollars." I was always shocked when I heard that. Wow… 10,000 dollars… that's a lot of money. "But then, of course, there will be a lot of others there that could beat you. But look at the bright side, I will be the host and one of the judges." Nico stopped walking. I stopped to check on him. Apollo, Beck, and Leo kept walking, Apollo's voice rang around the hall as he talked more of Battle of the Bands.

"Are you okay, Nick?" He glared at the retreating figure of Apollo. "He's going be the host and judge?" He whispered angrily at me. I glanced at Apollo. "Look, Nico, he may have hurt Thalia and all but I need you to be on your reasonable side and not get angry with him while we're here. We can't lose any chances of winning."

"But that doesn't make any sense. He hurt Thalia. She's one of you best friends. And my girlfriend!" He said a little louder and a little angrier. I put my hands up in surrender. "Okay, Nico, okay. I get it. He cheated on her. And you can get revenge if you want. But not. Now." I crossed my arms and continued to follow the others, finishing the conversation. "-And you also need to write your own song." Apollo finished explaining as Nico and I walked into the office they had went into while we were talking. Apollo grinned at us. "Welcome back." He said. Nico ignored him and stood next to Leo, on the total opposite side of me. "Anyway," Apollo walked over to the desk and pulled out a clipboard.

He walked back and placed the board onto the table we all were standing in front of. "Just sign it and be there on Thursday with everything ready." I signed first then handed it off to Leo. "So, how many people will be there, exactly?" I asked. Apollo took the clipboard from Nico after they finished signing and said, "I don't know exactly but usual there's a lot of bands." He looked over the clipboard before putting back down on the table. "Okay. That should be it." He held his hand out for me to shake. I shook his hand and he went to shake the other's hands. I looked pointedly at Nico when Apollo went to shake his hand. Nico glanced at me and glared at Apollo but he shook his hand anyway.

Apollo clapped his hands together. "Okay, well, bye!" He waved at us and walked out of the office.

"Wait, so you signed up for Battle of the Bands?" Annabeth sat up excited on my bed. I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah." I said sheepishly. Annabeth scoffed and hugged me. "Percy, that's great!" I chuckled and hugged her back. "Yeah. It's on New Year's too." She pulled away. "And I was wondering if you could go…"

She smiled widely and kissed me. After a while, we pulled away. I licked my lips. "So is that a yes or a no?" She laughed.

"Of course, I'll go, Seaweed Brain."

Today's Annabeth's birthday! She's 22! That's hard to believe… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed because I really like writing this chapter. Next chapter will be round one of the battle of the bands so be prepared for that.

Thanks for the reviews everyone!

R&R

Bye!