Never (A Percico Fanfiction)

Christmas Eve

Percy woke up alone the next morning, something which worried him a bit, considering the fact that Nico had been sleeping later than him lately. The smell of pancakes lured him from the bedroom and down the stairs, where he found Hazel and Frank at the table, each with a mug of coffee in hand and plate of food in front of them, and Nico at the stove, back towards Percy.

Percy slunk into the room and stifled a yawn as he wound his arms around Nico's waist, burying his nose in the crook of the smaller boy's neck.

Nico laughed, leaning into the touch before batting his boyfriend toward the table and thrusting a mug of coffee into his hands.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Nico smirked.

Percy didn't miss a beat.

"Oh, so you're the Beast now?" he asked.

"Shut up, Jackson," the other commanded, sitting a plate in front of his boyfriend.

"Uhm," Frank said. "Aren't those kinda two separate fairytales?"

"Yes," Percy and Nico said in unison, and said nothing more about it. A dumbfounded Frank went back to eating his pancakes, and Percy bit into his own, the only difference in it and those of the other two being its stark blue color.

"These are delicious, babe," he said, emphasizing the petname. Despite not being able to see his boyfriend's face, Percy knew it was fire-engine red, and grinned at the fact.

Nico sat beside him next, with a plate of his own.

"Thanks, sweetie," he said, and it was Percy's turn to blush.

Hazel and Frank cracked up as the tables were turned, and Percy fake-scowled down at his pancakes, until Nico sighed, leaning over to peck him on the cheek--only to be met by Percy's lips, twisted at just the right time to ensure a chaste kiss landed upon them. Nico's face flamed as he picked at his food.

"You guys!" Percy exclaimed suddenly, as though only just remembering. "Guess what?"

"What?" Frank asked, all of them peering over at the boy.

"It's Christmas Eve!"

"Uhuh," Nico laughed. "And?"

"We've gotta do Christmas-y stuff!"

Nico groaned. "Percy, do we really ha--?"

"I'll be right back!" Percy shouted, interrupting his boyfriend and acting as though he hadn't heard him at all. "Nobody move!" And he bounded off to the hall closet just around the corner, his pancakes all but forgotten and his three companions shaking their heads and suppressing smiles over a Christmas Eve breakfast.

Loud noises could be heard from the breakfast table as Percy shuffled madly through the closet's contents before a triumphant shout, followed by Percy's re-entry into the kitchen.

Coming in at Frank's back, Percy, clad in a reindeer antler headband, plopped a Santa hat on his head as he crossed the small room and deposited a matching one on Hazel's, batting the white ball of fluff at the end. Lastly, he placed a slightly pointed bright-green hat on Nico's head, smiling to himself proudly.

"What do you think? Great, right? I had all of them left over from the school's Christmas dance a few years back."

Frank broke the silence.

"Well, I for one, say ho, ho, ho," he said, laughing.

Percy's grinned widened. "What do you think, Mrs. Claus?"

"I think they're adorable," Hazel squealed.

Percy turned to Nico, last of all. The Italian boy had taken his hat off and was holding it in his hands, glaring at it.

"What is this even supposed to be?" he demanded.

"An elf hat," Percy said, taking it from him and positioning it back atop his head. "You make a cute little elf," he decided, leaning in and pressing kisses to random points on his face.

"Bah, humbug," Nico murmured, feeling a grin cross his face, as well as a blush.

After breakfast had been finished and cleaned up, Percy and Nico ventured into the attic to find the Christmas tree, returning successful after fifteen minutes or so of digging through the dusty storage area.

Between the four of them, the tree was up and ready to be decorated in only ten minutes, and, before any more time had passed, the demigods found themselves wrapping a strand of lights (blue, of course) around it. They then proceeded to hang ornaments all over it. Percy, standing on his tiptoes and stretching as he did, found that he was still no match for the height of the tree, and was forced to give Frank the honor of placing the star.

When the tree skirt had been placed, they all ran to their corresponding bedrooms, fetching gift-wrapped presents and placing them beneath the tree.

Nico swatted at Percy as he crept around under the tree like a little kid, trying to get a peek at his gifts.

"But Neeks," he whined. "I was just looking!"

"Well, stop looking," Nico smirked, and pulled his boyfriend toward the couch, where Hazel and Frank sat under a large blanket.

Percy sighed, resigned, and plopped down onto the couch, Nico snuggling into his side. The older boy grinned, pulling him closer and kissing the top of his head.

Frank picked up the TV remote from the coffee table in front of him and began to flip through the channels.

"When I was younger, they used to run A Christmas Story for, like, twenty-four hours straight every Christmas. I wonder if they still--Hah!" he exclaimed. "Found it!"

"A Christmas Story?" Hazel asked. "Is that a movie?"

"What?" Percy demanded? "You've never seen A Christmas Story?"

Hazel shook her head.

"Oh my gods. Neeks, are you hearing this? Your sister has never seen the best Christmas movie of all time! Why aren't you, like, freaking out or something?"

Nico sighed.

"Wait. Don't tell me... You've never seen it either?!"

Nico shook his head sheepishly.

"Oh my gods," he repeated. "Frank! We've gotta show them what they've missed."

"Agreed," Frank said, turning up the volume. "I vote that we stay here the rest of the day and watch this marathon."

"Seconded," Percy said, causing Hazel to clap her hands and Nico to groan. "Trust me, you'll both thank us later."

And so the day was spent just like that; piled up on the couch, watching A Christmas Story on repeat (with occasional sugar-cookie-and-eggnog breaks, of course), until eight o'clock rolled around and Percy demanded that everyone go to bed, because, as he said, "Santa won't come if you don't."

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. IT'S BEEN WAY TOO LONG AND I HAVE NO EXCUSE EXCEPT... EHEM... UH, UH, UH, HEY LOOK! A UNICORN!

In all seriousness, though, I am really sorry. I've just been busy with school and whatnot. I'm trying, though! I promise! I hope you enjoy.

I love you all!

~AGreer