Home For Christmas [Percy Jackson]

'Tis The Season

Copyright © 2015 runwild14. All rights reserved

Prompt: "Clarrise's mom can't pick her up for Christmas, so she has to stay at Percy's house"

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Chapter 1

Really, Clarisse shouldn't be surprised. As a matter of fact, with the way that her holiday season is going so far, she should have expected this to happen. Still, she can't quite mask the feeling of abandonment as she listens to her mother explain why they have to cancel their plans. It seeps into her voice as she tries to find some way to salvage what little time together they have each year.

Cause trust her when she says its not a lot. Between going to school and saving the world, she doesn't have much time off. When she does, she makes an effort to spend it with her mom; although lately, that's been a little difficult, what with her mom getting shacked up and having new kids and all.

"I can come with you guys mom," she says. "It's not a big deal."

Except it is a big deal. This holiday season was supposed to be about the two of them. They were going to hang out in New York together, enjoying the sights and each others company. Instead, her mom decided it would be a great opportunity to go on a cruise with her new family.

She hears her mom sigh on the other end of the call, and she knows she won't be seeing her for Christmas this year, even before her mom replies. "I'm sorry honey, I really am, but we were only able to get three tickets, and they're sold out now."

"Oh," Clarisse says. "Okay."

She tries to keep her voice steady as she chokes out, "That's fine mom. You guys have fun. Happy holidays."

She hits the end call button before she has to listen to any more excuses. Yeah, she feels a little neglected - so sue her. She just got tossed aside like yesterday's paper so her mom could spend the holidays with her perfect family. Yet another reason she's found it so easy to relate to Annabeth lately.

I mean, it'd be a little nice to get some recognition every once in a while - they did just save the world, after all. Again. She's not asking for a parade or anything like that, but to be included in her own family would be a nice start.

Letting loose another quiet sigh of frustration, Clarisse picks up her pace. She's a little bit upset, and the fact that its winter in New York isn't helping much. It's pretty freaking cold out, and she could really go for a nice mug of hot chocolate. Luckily for her, she knows just the place.

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"Crap."

Her favorite little coffee shop, the one tucked away on the corner near the hotel she's staying at, is completely dark. The door is shut, the little "CLOSED" sign staring back at Clarisse, mocking her.

It's just another bit of bad luck, but come on, even she has to get a little lucky every once in a while, right? It seems like the Fates just have it out for her today, which is just great, really, cause its not like she wanted to enjoy the holiday season anyway. No, it'd be too relaxing to be able to enjoy something like that so easily - gotta put in a bit of work for it.

She turns to leave the coffee shop, determined to have something go her way today, when she is suddenly knocked to the ground. Her breath is taken away - and not by the person in front of her like in those stupid romance novels - when she hits the ground, and her instincts immediately kick in. She's just about to lash out at whatever knocked her down when the cause of her fall speaks.

"Clarisse?"

She almost cries - she can't possibly be this unlucky. It's just not fair that nothing works out for her. It's not fair that he had to be the one to bump into her today. Why couldn't it be someone she actually likes? Or, at the very least, someone she can put up with?

"The hell do you want, Prissy?"

She hopes he'll just apologize so they can go their separate ways, cause really with this luck she needs to just go back to the hotel and sleep until its tomorrow - she has enough experience to know that there's some unspoken rule that bad luck can't carry over to the next day.

But of course she wasn't that lucky.

"I live here, Clarisse. What are you doing here?"

He looks confused, as if he can't fathom why she would possibly want to leave camp. Idiot. She has a family too - granted, it's not much of one, but it still counts. Just because she acts mean doesn't mean she hates everything.

"None of your business punk," she replies, not at all in the mood to have a heart-to-heart with him. She wants to leave it at that, but he's determined to get some kind of explanation out of her. Ignoring all of her attempts to end the conversation, he presses on.

"Actually, Clarisse, it kind of is."

There's something in his voice, something in the way he says that, that makes her head snap up. It's almost as if he truly cares, almost as if they're friends - but that can't be true. He hates her. She hates him. They're enemies - that's how it's always been.

"Seriously Percy," she says. "Drop it." She's had so much go against her today, and she really just isn't emotionally ready to put up her usual cold front.

Never one to give up, the idiot refuses to take a hint. "No. I'm not gonna drop it, Clarisse," he says, stepping closer. "What's bothering you?" He asks so softly, she thinks at first that she imagined it. She shakes her head, looks to the side, and backs away from him. He follows relentlessly, and it's only when he repeats the question that it finally registers.

And then she breaks.

The dam that she built up shatters, and there's no containing the wall of emotions escaping her. Once she starts talking, everything comes rushing out all at once. She doesn't cry - thank the gods - so she at least retains a shred of dignity, but it's still pretty bad. Percy, for his part, just stands there and listens to her vent, not once interrupting. He looks a little bit unsure of himself, like he's never seen a girl have a complete melt down in front of him - and to be fair, he probably hasn't. She knows that they're in a very public place, and she's making a huge scene, but really - she just doesn't care anymore. She's had a really, really bad day.

Once she's done, she expects him to leave - and honestly, she wouldn't even blame him. She waits for him to awkwardly pat her on the back, before telling her it'll be okay and continuing on with his day. So it comes as a bit of a shock when he says, "Want to come spend the holidays with us?"

She doesn't really give it much thought, which explains why she's even more surprised to hear herself respond.

"Sure."

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A/N - So this is the first chapter of my entry into the @Fanfic "Yuletide" contest. I'm expecting it to be about three chapters when all is said and done. Let me know what you guys thought of it, and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed!! Also, I'm struggling a little bit with the title for this book (the current one is most likely temporary), so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Until next time
-runwild14