A Very Merry Blue Christmas (PERCY JACKSON)

Chapter 2- Cold Date.

She woke up only to see anxious sea green eyes staring down her.

Somehow during the course of her sleep, Annabeth had cuddled up against Percy's side. She looked back up at him, only to see him wearing a smug grin.

"What the hell Seaweed Brain! We could get into trouble for this!"

Percy chuckled. "Only if they found out." He tucked a stray hair behind her ear and sighed. "I'm sorry about the whole Rachel thing. And the Secret Santa thing. But for real, I have no idea who it is. And that doesn't necessarily put me at ease either." His casual grin turned serious as he whispered. "Are we okay?"

Annabeth sighed and snuggled further into his side as he draped his arm across her in a protective manner she really loved. "Yeah. Of course we are. We went to hell together, remember."

Percy laughed. "I'd rather not. But hey, I was wondering if you wound join me for a round of ice skating. The weather is perfect and I know just the place. You get to call what we eat for dinner. Is that cool?"

Annabeth had loved the idea of spending quality time with her boyfriend. "Totally cool. Like Hyperborean Giants cool."

Percy looked at her disapprovingly. "Now Annabeth, I really do love you, but that was just a little bit pathetic."

She grinned and pushed him right off of the bed. Percy groaned when his body came in contact with the ground with a thud.

"Serves you right. Now get out! I need to dress for a cold date with my hot boyfriend.

.................................................................................................

Gallagher Pond, which was about ten minutes from Camp Half Blood on foot, was already hosting a small number of people. While some were skating gracefully across the frozen water, others were picking up the basics and trying not to fall on their backsides. Some were sitting on the sidelines, watching the snow fall, sharing winter gossip and sipping on a steaming cup of deliciously good hot chocolate with Santa hats on.

Annabeth was dressed in a bright blue turtleneck and Percy was in a black thermal. Both had thick winter jackets on to protect themselves from the bitter cold. Their boots crunched against the fallen snow as they walked towards the pond, hand in hand.

They traded in their snow boots for skates and glided across the ice together. Percy was a natural. She wondered if it was because ice was a form of water. She, on the other hand, was pretty rusty in the skating department. Thankfully Percy was a patient teacher, holding onto her whenever she was about to fall and teaching her to balance herself out as she made her way around the ice.

In spite of almost falling about a dozen times, Annabeth was having a lot of fun. When they finally got tired of skating, they sat down at the edge of the pond. Percy pulled out two thermos flasks filled with steaming hot chocolate and pulled out a packet of marshmallows to go with it. They huddled together and sipped on their drink. It felt amazing to have her Percy back for a bit.

He kissed her forehead. "Looking good?"

Annabeth grinned. "Absolutely perfect." She took another sip of hot chocolate, and when she looked back up, her smile faded. This must be some kind of joke. Rachel was marching towards them, totally oblivious to the fact that it was their 'alone' time.

Rachel waved at both of them on finally getting to where they were seated. She turned towards Percy. "Oh um.. Piper needs you back at camp."

Percy looked at Annabeth helplessly. While it was clear that he was hesitant to leave, it was also clear that he really wanted to. Trying to hide the disappointment from her voice she spoke with her eyes down, absent-mindedly tracing greek letters in the snow. "Go on then Seaweed Brain. She needs you."

He turned her face until her stormy grey eyes met his. "I know you aren't happy about this. Frankly, I'm not either. But it'll be worth it at the end. I promise."After kissing her on the nose, he walked back to camp.

Rachel sat beside Annabeth, barely holding back a shiver. "Winters suck. Seriously." She turned to face her. "And hey, we were not flirting. Firstly, boys are off-limits for me and secondly, he is way too into you to even look at me that way."

Wait, how did she...?

"I'm the Oracle of Delphi dudhead. And you go around saying you're a child of Athena. Sheesh."

Annabeth couldn't help but laugh. She looked at Rachel. She knew that each word she had spoken had been truthful and earnest. She couldn't exactly point out why. It was mostly just a gut instinct. But she knew.

"Well." Annabeth passed over some of the hot chocolate in her thermos. "Something to warm you up?"

Rachel accepted it, grateful for anything that would aid her against the harsh cold.

And so they sat beside each other- each lost in their own train of thought, any sense of tension between them vanishing completely.