Guard Duty

"Sorry bro," Connor said to Travis, for what was probably the millionth time.

"What do you mean you can't go? We always do this!" Travis whisper-shouted "What am I supposed to do for the next four hours if you don't come?"

"Oh, I dunno," his little brother said sarcastically, rolling his eyes "Maybe actually guard the camp?"

"No one does that!" Travis had responded

"And that's why monsters keep getting in," Connor snapped back.

"Dude, come on, it's no big deal" Travis pleaded

"No. I'm not ditching on Lou and Chris tonight. It's not my fault you got picked for a patrol," Connor threw his hands into the air to emphasize his point.

Travis glared at his brother, and then said "Fine. But next time I'm caught I'm blaming you,"

"You do that already," Connor was clearly not bothered by Travis' threat.

"You know what? I'm leaving. I need to go find whoever stole my armor."

"I'll help. We aren't meeting for the raid until midnight."

That was how Travis ended up stuck with the 1am-5am patrol duty. Which is really bad, because by the time you get off there's not enough time to sleep before breakfast. The one part that really ruined it for Travis though was the date. December 24th. As in CHRISTMAS EVE. So not only was it freezing cold outside (but no snow, the camp borders wouldn't let any in), it was also CHRISTMAS EVE. As in the flippin' EVE of CHRISTMAS!

Four other suckers also had their name drawn for the least wanted time. He had already run into three of them: Lacy; daughter of Aphrodite, Will; son of Apollo, and Malcolm; son of Athena. He spent the last hour of following some obscure path around the camp trying to figure out who the last one was. Earlier he attempted to plan future pranks, but couldn't think of anything good without someone to bounce ideas off of.

Because he was extremely bored, Travis decided to take the 15 minute break each camper was allowed. Chiron probably wouldn't care if it turned into a half hour though. He went slightly off the worn in path throughout the forest so he could rest on the ground against a tree or rock.

While walking towards an oak tree that looked pretty big, he suddenly found himself pinned face first on the forest floor with a celestial bronze knife at his throat.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" He heard his feminine attacker apologize. She paused for a moment, then continued "Oh, figures it was you Stoll. I thought a chimera was coming through with all the noise you were making,"

"Hey! I'm not that loud." Travis protested.

After the beautiful brunette stared at him and stated "Yeah, you are," she reached out her hand to help him up.

"Thanks Gardner,"

"You're welcome" Katie Gardner replied. "By the way, what exactly are you doing?"

"Well, I was getting ready to take my break. Then I ran into you. Actually," Travis corrected "It was more like you tackled me to the ground, but whatever,"

Travis noticed that Katie looked nervous about something. She was drawing circles in the ground with her boot and chewing the inside of her lip. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself.

"Got something to say Katie-kat? You look a little jumpy." Travis teased, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, actually, I do." She took a breathe "I was wondering if you kusaywiffee," she rushed the ending.

"Sorry, didn't catch that," Travis said lightheartedly.

"Cayoostuwifme," she mumbled.

"Huh?" Travis pressed her "Come again?"

"I asked if you could stay with me!" Katie exclaimed.

"Really?" Travis asked, a fake look of shock on his face, even though he actually was stunned. "Why ever would you want me to do that?" he broke into a grin. "Aren't you normally avoiding me?"

"It's just that, well," she shrugged her shoulders "It's kinda creepy out here alone. When I'm moving its okay, but my feet are killing me and I need to take a break," She faced him and said "Please? Just this once do something nice for me,"

Travis considered his options and almost immediately decided to stay with Katie. He told her so, and they situated themselves beside a tree. Their shoulders were touching and Katie was slightly facing him. To Travis, the fifteen minutes passed far too quickly.

"We have to start patrolling again," Katie sighed. She stood and brushed frost covered leaves off her jeans.

Travis did the same and instantly noticed how much colder he seemed without Katie right up next to him. She was still very close. He could feel her breathe against his neck. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she thought about something.

Suddenly her eyes gleamed with determination as she purposefully looked up, and pointed a tan, calloused finger towards a branch from the tree over their heads.

Travis followed her gaze and saw the fresh wooden stem that had sprouted above the couple.

It grew in length and twisted around itself as dark green leaves unfurled and spiraled around the new bark. Clusters of waxy white berries embellished the young plant, leading to Travis' realization of what it was. Mistletoe.

Then Katie leaned towards him and gently pressed her soft lips against his. It was a quick kiss, sweet and innocent. As soon as Travis figured out that this was actually happening, closed his eyes, and started to kiss her back, the pressure he had come to crave disappeared.

Disappointment surged through him, followed quickly by disbelief and elation . Katie Gardner had kissed him! He had liked her for a while, but always figured she hated him.

"Sorry," Katie said, sounding embarrassed. She looked down with an adorable blush covering her cheeks. "I shouldn't have done that," Immediately she spun around and started to leave.

Travis watched her braided hair swish across her back as she ducked through trees to get back to the path. Katie was getting farther away from him. He wasn't about to just let her leave, especially after what just happened. He couldn't even think of what he could say.

"Hey Katie!" he called impulsively.

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder to see what he wanted.

"Merry Christmas!" Travis shouted after her.

The special smile of Katie's that Travis absolutely loved danced across her lips. She said one last thing before disappearing into the night.

It was said so quietly Travis almost didn't hear it. But he did. And he intended to hold her to it. They needed to have a serious talk, and if Travis had his way, kiss some more.

Katie's last words to Travis that night were "Meet me behind cabin four during dinner. I'm not done with you yet,"