Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus Series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

Note***- This story is boy x boy. Don't like? You don't have to read.

ΩΩΩ

The next few days seemed to speed by. My mom convinced me to help her do the rest of the Christmas baking. My help mostly consisted of occasionally stirring something while she went check whatever was in the oven and 'testing' whatever delicious baking she had just finished.

I was eternally grateful to whichever god or goddess had made them slow down on the boyfriend jokes. I knew they probably would never let me live down coming home with a hickey, but at least they only mentioned it about 10 times a day rather than the 60 I'd heard at first.

I spent the next two days after Apollo's visit helping Paul and my mom finish cleaning and decorating for Christmas. Every year my mom would promise herself that we'd get an early start on decorating, but we never did. I was pretty certain I'd got my procrastinating habits from her.

On Christmas Eve, Annabeth and her family came over to the apartment. I was incredibly happy when my mom told me that she had invited the Chase family over for the evening.

Annabeth's dad and Paul had always got along really well. While the rest of her family was chatting with Paul and my mom, the two of us went to my room to do our gift exchange.

I started laughing when I opened the beautifully wrapped box that Annabeth had got for me. I pulled out a hideous Christmas sweater. It was dark blue with snowflakes on it. On the front it had a huge bright green Christmas tree, complete with lights that flashed. I immediately decided that I was going to wear it on Christmas.

When Annabeth pulled out the tissue paper that I'd shoved in the top of the gift bag I'd gotten for her, she started laughing too. She pulled out her very own ugly Christmas sweater. I'd found her a light grey one with an owl on it. The owl was wearing a bright green scarf and a pair of reindeer antlers, with garland strung between them. I'd gone to four different stores looking for the perfect sweater when I'd found that one.

She pulled on her sweater and shook her head, torn between grimacing and laughing in amusement.

Knowing that our families would be coming to look for us soon, I decided to quickly tell her what had happened with Hermes. I hadn't had a chance to talk to her since after our non-date date. When I looked back on it now though, I did begin to wonder if it had been a real date all along.

Annabeth wasn't nearly surprised as I had been when I told her Hermes had asked me out. I was pretty sure she'd known he liked me a lot longer than I had but before I got a chance to ask her, her dad came into my room and told us that dinner was ready.

ΩΩΩ

After dinner, we spent the rest of the evening watching old Christmas movies. It was one of the best Christmas Eve's of my life.

The only thing that would have made it better was if I'd been able to see Hermes. I hadn't seen my boyfriend since the day he'd asked me out. I understood why though. Neither of us was ready to tell my mom that we were dating and I hadn't had the chance to get out of the house in days.

Still, when I went to bed that night, I was incredibly content.

ΩΩΩ

It didn't matter how old I got, I still woke up early on Christmas mornings. Not as early as I did when I was a kid, but I was still normally up no later than 7:30 in the morning.

When I got to the kitchen, my mom was already awake and had started cooking breakfast. I smiled when I saw the stack of blue pancakes already on the stove. My mom looked over when she heard me and laughed when she saw my new sweater. I gave her a quick hug and went to start the coffee pot. I knew that Paul would want a cup when he woke up.

My mom had just put the last pancake on the stack when Paul came out to the kitchen. As excited as I was to open gifts, we always had a family breakfast first. Once all the pancakes were gone, only then did we get to go open our presents.

We always started with stockings. I didn't care that I was already 17; Santa always came to our house. As far as I was concerned, that was never going to change.

ΩΩΩ

Once all our gifts were unwrapped, we sat in the living room together with a movie playing in the background. I sat on the floor next to the couch playing with the iPod that Paul and my mom had bought for me. My mom was wrapped up in the new blanket Paul had bought her, drinking her morning coffee out of the Poseidon mug that I'd found for her at the museum that Annabeth had made me go to a few months back. Paul was sitting next to her, already wearing the bright blue bunny slippers I'd found for him, playing with the new shield that Tyson had sent me. He was amazed at its ability to switch from a watch to a shield.

It was a laid back day. The three of us thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet of a family Christmas. We just had a small diner as the three of us were stuffed from snacking on my mom's baking all day. When it finally started to get late enough to go to bed, I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek and said good night. I wanted to give them a bit of time to themselves on Christmas. They would never ask for it, but I was sure that they would appreciate the ability to watch a movie together, just the two of them.

ΩΩΩ

I didn't even bother getting ready for bed. After a long day of doing nothing, I was ready to go to sleep. I just flopped down, face first, on the bed and immediately jumped back up with a hiss of pain. I flicked on my bedside lamp, and frowned. In the middle of my bed was a small, rather pointy, box.

I picked it up in confusion. I was absolutely positive that it hadn't been there in the morning, so I wasn't really sure how it had gotten there. Before I could wonder too much about it, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist.

I immediately pulled away, dropping the gift. My hand went to my pocket but I recognized who it was before I pulled out Riptide.

"Di Immortals, Hermes. You gave me a heart attack."

The god of travellers chuckled and put a finger to his lips. "Quiet Percy, you don't want your mom to know I'm here, do you?"

I froze at the reminder. I snuck over to the door and peered out, but both Paul and my mom were still curled up together on the couch. I sighed in relief and closed the door.

I looked back at the son of Zeus to see him sitting on my bed. When he caught me looking at him, he winked. I rolled my eyes. "If you don't want my mom to find out, then you can't scare me like that."

He shrugged, "Don't worry. Even if she'd heard you, I would have been able to disappear before she got here."

"That's not the point…" I frowned as something else occurred to me. "How did you get in here in the first place?"

Hermes chuckled. "I'm a god Percy. We don't actually have to use the front door you know."

"Oh, ya, right." I hadn't thought of that. "So, did you have a good Christmas?"

The blue eyed man gave me a bemused smile. "Well most of us gods don't actually celebrate Christmas, but I suppose I did."

"Right, I knew that…"

I felt like an idiot. I could chat with Hermes for hours normally and never have an issue but now, all I could think about was the fact that the two of us were once again alone in my room. Judging by the satisfied smirk on his lips, Hermes seemed to be enjoying the fact that he'd successfully turned my brain into kelp.

I made a conscious effort to say something that actually made sense. "So why are you here?"

"I just came by to give you this." He opened his hand to reveal the small pointy box that I'd fallen on earlier. Suddenly how it got on my bed made a lot more sense. He almost looked nervous when he offered it to me, "Merry Christmas Percy."

I tilted my head in confusion. "I thought the gods didn't celebrate Christmas."

He shrugged, "But you do."

I bit my lip as I took the box. I lifted the lid and felt my eyes widen in surprise. It was a surfer style necklace. It was plain black leather cord with a small conch shell in the middle. On either side of the shell there was a sky-blue and sea-green bead. I didn't wear a lot of jewellery other than my camp half-blood necklace, but I instantly knew I'd wear it every day.

"Hermes, I love it." I looked up with a smile. I was surprised to see that Hermes was definitely blushing.

"Look at the shell."

I was confused, but I did as he asked. At first, I didn't see what he was talking about. When I did though, it was my turn to blush. On one side of the shell, there was a tiny trident etched in. On the other side, there was a small caduceus.

I hadn't even noticed Hermes move until I felt his arms wrap around me again. "What do you think?"

My blush became even more pronounced when he whispered in my ear. I bit my lip, trying to keep my mind from once again noticing that the two of us were alone.

"It's perfect."

To keep myself from doing something stupid, I decided to put it on. I took the necklace out of the box and undid the clasp.

"Let me." Before I could say anything, Hermes took it out of my hands. He did the clasp for me and kissed the back of my neck.

I was fairly certain that if any more blood rushed to my face, I'd pass out. Rather than focusing on how embarrassed I felt, I touched the pendent. It was just long enough that I'd be able to tuck it under the collar of my shirt.

I turned around and smiled up at my boyfriend. I leaned my head up and stole a kiss. "Thank you Hermes."

He smiled and kissed me back, much deeper than the one I'd given him. I had just started to lean into the kiss when he pulled back with a sigh. He wrapped his arms back around my waist and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I probably shouldn't kiss you like that."

I raised one eyebrow and gave him a teasing smile. "Why? I wasn't complaining."

I felt a rush of pleasure when that caused him to suck in a deep breath and tighten his arms.

He gave me a playful glare. "You're not really helping my resolve to be a gentleman here, Perce."

I chuckled and shrugged. "I never said I was trying to help."

He shook his head in disbelief and kissed me again. He sighed as he pulled back. "True, but at the same time I don't think your mom would be to happy if she ever found out I'd ravished you while she was just down the hall."

I was torn between arousal and mortification at that thought. The god of Thieves clearly understood what I was thinking. He gave me a soft smile and brushed his thumb against my cheek.

"I should go."

*Hints of citrus*

Rather than admitting he was right, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Before he could complain or try to pull back, I ran my tongue across his lip. He froze for a moment then shivered. I felt a rush of arousal when he opened his mouth to my exploration.

I pulled his tongue into a dance with mine. His hands tightened on my hips when I nipped at his bottom lip. Our mouths battled for dominance of the kiss, teeth, tongue, and lips trying to distract the other one long enough for one of us to take control. A sharp nip to his top lip followed by a soothing lick, and he surrendered to me.

I felt a rush of courage when I managed to win. It made me far bolder than I would have been otherwise. A moan tore its way out of his throat when I thrust my tongue into his mouth in a suggestive manner. When I wound my fingers through his hair and tugged, he pulled back, gasping for breath. His eyes were blown wide by desire.

My heart started beating even faster at the thought that I was the one who did that to him.

He opened his mouth, but he had to clear his throat before he could speak. "Now I really need to leave, before I do something that I'll regret."

I gave him a slight frown, "And if I said that I wanted you to stay?"

Before I could even register the movement, I was lying on my back on my bed, with the god of thieves pinning me down.

I opened my mouth to say… something, but nothing came out. To say that I was hard would be the understatement of the year.

Hermes nodded at me as though I'd said exactly what was on his mind, "Precisely. If I don't leave now, this will go much further than we want it to tonight."

Before I could argue, he nipped at my mostly faded hickey. I bucked my hips automatically and both of us shivered at the movement.

He took a deep steadying breath and stood up, leaving me lying on my bed looking up at him.

"Trust me when I tell you that I don't want to leave either Percy. But we don't need to rush this, certainly not when your mother is just down the hall." He straightened his clothes, but his flushed face and messed up hair still screamed of exactly what we'd just been doing.

I sighed. I knew he was right, but that didn't mean I wanted to accept it, "I guess."

I sat up and tried to subtly adjust myself.

It clearly wasn't subtle enough as Hermes eyes snapped down to my jeans. Before I could get too embarrassed, he gave me a knowing smile and winked. "Don't worry; you're not the only one who was affected."

I tried and completely failed to keep my eyes on his face. He didn't seem to mind my wandering gaze in the least though.

"I promise we'll get there, but not tonight."

*Citrus over*

I nodded, reluctantly accepting that he was right. "Merry Christmas, Hermes."

"Merry Christmas, Percy." He gave me a playful smile. "By the way, I forgot to say, nice sweater."

Before I could respond, he started to glow and I had to look away. When the glow faded, he was gone. I took a deep breath and collapsed backwards onto my bed. I looked down at the ugly Christmas sweater I'd forgotten that I was wearing and grimaced.

"Oh gods, why did I wear this?"

Hermes was never going to let me live this down.

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Authors Note

So much for a week... I've been struggling a lot with writing lately, but I've begun to force myself to write again anyway. Once I get started I enjoy it, but its starting that's the issue.