A/N: Song That Helped with the Birth of this chapter: I hate Christmas Parties by Relient K

I freeze, my hand raised to knock on Percy Jackson's apartment door, having alread snuck past the buzzer system at the door. No, I think, I can't do this. It'll be too hard. I wish Bianca was here... to tell me what to do. But they are expecting me. I sigh and knock on the damn door.

Percy answers the door. He is smiling- my stomach clenches. "Hey Nico! I'm so glad you're here!" He grabs my arm and pulls me in.

"Um, these are for your mom." I hand him the flowers Persephone insisted that I bring. Mrs. Jackson- no, Mrs. Blofis now- rushes out of the kitchen to hug me.

"Thank you, Nico! So, thoughtful." She kisses my cheek and ruffles my hair.

"And these are for you." I thrust the large packages at him. He puts them under the tree and we head into the kitchen/dining room.

"We're so glad you're here Nico! I know Percy is probably sick of being cooped up here with us." Mrs. Blofis says as she puts dishes onto the dining room table. "Ok boys, let's sit down before everything gets cold."

"Thanks for inviting me," I relpy uncomfortably. We sit down. Mr. & Mrs. Blosfis across from each other and Percy and I across from each other.

We start to eat. "Percy, have you seen Annabeth lately?," his mom asks.

He looks at me before answering; "Not really, she's been really busy with the Mount Olympus rebuild."

"What have you been up to, Nico, dear?," she asks turning to me.

"Uh, visiting my Father, mostly."

"Persephone been better since..." Percy's question trails off.

"Uh yeah. She and her mother haven't tried to kill me since I got them out of the Underworld and into a war... yeah, she and Demeter have been a lot better." I feel my face burning.

"And your dad?" Percy looks me in the eye, asking.

"Better." I start to stuff food in my mouth so I can't answer anymore questions.

We finish dinner with the adults mostly talking around us. "Presents and dessert?" Percy's mom asks, ushering us into the living room. I chuckle as I get a good look at the tree. It is decorated in blue and white with sanddollars hanging all over it. I shake my head.

"What?" says Percy as he comes in.

We sit down in the living room. Percy and I on the floor near the tree and Mr. Blofis on the couch. Percy's mom hands us each a plate of cake. I smile. The cake has blue frosting with clear sugar sprinkled to make it look like ice. I glance at Percy and raise an eyebrow. He blushes. My stomach jolts again. "Paul, did you want wine?" Mrs. Blowfis asks.

"Yeah, bring some for the boys too." He winks a us. "Hey, if you can save the world that makes you old enough in my book."

We are finally all settled with our wine glasses and empty cake plates when Mrs. Blowfis passes out gifts. I don't expect to get any but then again I haven't gotten any since Bianca...

"These are for you Nico." She places a small stack of 3 boxes and an envelope in front of me. I blush.

"These are for Percy." His pile is larger than mine as it includes the two parcels I brought.

Mr. Blofis gives Mrs. Blowfis a small jewelry sized box and she hands him a shirt sized box. "You first Nico." She says.

I open the largest box first. Inside I find a black dagger made of Stygian iron with a sheath. The knife gleams in the light. I turn to Percy. "How?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." He waggles his eyebrows. "I figured a hero could always use an extra weapon."

I smile. "Thanks. I bet I'll be as good as Annabeth is with a knife." I tear open the second box. In it is an awesome black leather duster. "What's this?" I look at Percy.

He blushes. "I saw it and thought of you... you know the whole Prince of Darkness thing. And it reminded me of Spike from those old Buffy episodes... Do you hate it?"

"No! This is awesome! Thanks Percy!" I open the last box and in it I find a gray and black striped scarf and hat set with a cartoon looking skull on them. "Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Blofis."

"I saw those at the store an thought of you, Nico. I was told the skull is from a movie. Plus I want you to be warm enough so you can visit us this winter."

I was touched. I opened the envelope. Inside was a card with the same skull only now he was a whole skeleton. I looked up, the question on my face.

"It's a gift card so that you can go buy some new clothes and stuff, to wear when you aren't at Camp Half Blood or in the Underworld."

"Thanks" I grinned at Percy's parents.

"Percy next" his mom said.

He opened the biggest package. "Is this!"

"There's a note inside," I say.

"For my big brother, Perseus Jackson, Hero of Olympus. I hope this shield serves you well, brother. Thanks for the peanut butter cups you sent. Love, Tyson," he reads slowly. His eyes flash up to mine. "How did you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," I smirk back at him.

The next 2 gifts he opened were from his parents- clothes and a Burger King card so he could have comfort food anytime he wanted. The last gift was mine. My stomach felt like it was in knots. He opened the box to find a set of armor, helmet and everything. It was made of blue-green metal forged by the merpeople and cyclopes in his father's palace forge. I had gone through hell to get it. Literally.

"Wow. Nico. Just... this is awesome. Thank you." He smiles at me. "Hey mom we're going to my room to watch a movie. Can Nico stay if he wants?"

"Sure. Merry Christmas boys!"

We head to his room and once the door is shut, Percy puts in a dvd. "You should get a kick out of this he says smirking."

I look at the box. The cover has the skeleton guy from my hat and scarf wearing a Santa suit- huh. Could be decent. We sit on his bed, leaning against the wall and watch the movie. It is actually pretty cool. The skeleton in charge of Halloweenland tries to take over Christmas and makes it all morbid. I chuckle, imagining my father in a Santa hat. As we watch, my leg begins to feel warm. I glance down to see- Percy's hand?- on my knee. I swallow hard and try to pay attention to the movie even though my stomach feels all full of butterflies. As the credits start to roll, his hand moves up my thigh and I turn to look at him.

"Nico, I - I need to tell you something." I wait, wondering what the hell he is thinking.

"I- well, I haven't seen Annabeth in so long and I have been thinking lately about... these feelings I have and I- I'm sorry but I just can't make it go away."

"What?." I ask, completely confused.

"I- I..." He sighs and in a second his lips are on mine. I am so shocked that I freeze. He pulls back. "I'm sorry Nico, I know you don't feel the same way." He ducks his head and looks a little pink.

"No! I-I'm just shocked. Um, Percy, I have had a crush on you from the first time I saw you, when you saved me from the Manticore." It's my turn to kiss him.

He pulls back gasping, "Really?" I just nod. He grins at me before attacking my mouth. I don't know much about kissing, but I think that this must be the best kiss of all time. Maybe this Christmas thing is not so bad after all.