Work Text:
“Merry Christmas,” Annabeth plastered a smile on her face as the customer strode away from the register.
It was Christmas eve, and she was stuck working the closing shift at Best Buy. Not that it really mattered anyways, her family was across the country and she didn’t even receive an invite to come home for the holidays. Even though she had nothing to get back to, it’s still hard to see all the people coming in with their faces aglow buying gifts for their loved ones.
All Annabeth had waiting for her at home was some leftover takeout. Merry Christmas indeed.
There were only 30 minutes left in the shift and finally things had started to die down. It never failed to surprise Annabeth just how many people left their shopping until literally the last day. Oh yeah, this is hardly her first time working Christmas eve, by the way.
As anxious as she was for her shift to end, it was nothing compared to the jittery mess that was her coworker, Percy. They had only spoken a few times - in passing, at staff meetings, things along those lines. Annabeth figured he must have plans he’s missing out on because he has been pacing, running his hands through his hair, and checking the clock obsessively.
Annabeth knew he was out of it when “All I Want For Christmas Is You” came through the loud speaker and he didn’t even hum along. She knew for a fact it was his favorite Christmas song - she’d heard him belt it out just about every time they share a shift together. Today though, he just ran his hands through his hair again and checked his watch, sighing.
There were no customers around so Annabeth made an uncharacteristic decision. She strode from behind her checkout counter and over to his.
“What is it that you want for Christmas? Your two front teeth?” she joked, hoping to elicit a smile from the raven-haired man.
His head whipped up in surprise at her voice, probably because they never really spoke when on shift together. Thankfully, his face split into a small smile
“Merry Christmas Percy,” she said, already turning to head back to her register.
“Merry Christmas Annabeth. Sorry you have to spend it here,”
She paused and turned back towards him, “All I’m missing out on is some old takeout in my fridge, so this isn’t so bad.”
Percy’s eyebrows shot up, “You’re not celebrating with anyone?”
“Nah,” Annabeth tried to remain nonchalant, “didn’t get the invite to the Chase Christmas this year.”
Percy’s face softened in a way that Annabeth found irresistibly adorable, “No one should spend Christmas alone.”
Annabeth waved him off, “I’ve done it before,I can do it again. It’s no big deal”
His mouth opened again, surely to protest some more, so Annabeth cut him off before he could, “What about you? Got big plans for tonight?”
“Yeah my friends were planning this huge Christmas party with gift exchanges, a feast, lots of drinks. And it officially started,” Percy paused as he checked his watch, “an hour ago.”
He groaned and put his head in his hands, clearly wishing he was anywhere else in the world but this godforsaken Best Buy right now. Annabeth’s heart tightened - simultaneously jealous of someone who had a party full of love and laughter waiting and saddened watching someone miss out on that for some shitty, barely-above-minimum-wage job.
“Well what are you still doing here then? Get your butt to that party!”
“C’mon Annabeth. There’s still 30 minutes left in the shift, and then we have to close everything down.”
Annabeth leveled a playful stare at him, “Percy. Have you looked around the store?”
Percy did and realized there were only 3 people in the entire store. He looked back to Annabeth and was met with an expectant look.
“I’ll be just fine on my own. Go have fun. Consider it a Christmas gift from me to you,” Annabeth said with a wink.
Without a warning, Percy lunged forward from behind the counter and wrapped her in a bear hug. She let out a surprised yelp, causing Percy to chuckle into her hair. His breath on her neck gave Annabeth goosebumps, which were only furthered by the breathtaking smile he gave her when she pulled away.
Okay, so maybe Annabeth had a slight crush on her coworker. It was fine - she had it under control. It’s not like anything would come out of it. Hell, they’d barely even talked before today.
“Thank you Annabeth,thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re the best. You’re a... a… Christmas miracle!” Percy beamed.
Annabeth opened her mouth to reply when a small cough came from behind them. She whipped her head around to see a customer waiting to check out.
“Sorry about the wait ma’am, I can help you at register 8.” Annabeth said professionally.
While walking back to the register, she turned back to Percy and with a wink and a nod of her head, a signal for him to leave. He gave her a wink and a salute before heading to the lounge to grab his coat.
When he left, Annabeth was busy at the register, still helping the customer. His breath hitched a little at her shining golden hair. She looked like a veritable angel. He still couldn’t believe she’d taken over the last part of his shift.
He also couldn’t believe that Annabeth had to spend Christmas alone. Suddenly, a thought came to him. He checked his watch - only 20 minutes left until the end of her shift. Just enough time to run to the store.
Finally, Annabeth was free. She wished all of her coworkers a Merry Christmas as she left, but received only half-hearted grunts in return. Oh well, she had a date with her sketchbook and leftovers.
As she stepped outside, she dug around in her purse for her keys.
“Annabeth!” a voice called from her right
Surprised, she turned and was even more surprised to see Percy walking towards her.
“Percy? What are you still doing here? Why aren’t you at your party?” she asked, thoroughly confused.
“I just didn’t think I would enjoy myself if I knew my holiday savior was celebrating Christmas by herself,” he shrugged.
“What? You mean me?” Annabeth asked, even more confused.
“Yeah,” Percy said, rubbing his neck nervously, “I was wondering if you, uh, wanted to come with me to that Christmas party?”
Annabeth was pretty sure her jaw dropped to the floor, “Are you serious?”
“Well yeah, only if you want,” Percy replied, now running a hand through his hair, “I just feel like nobody should be alone on Christmas eve.”
“Are you sure it’s okay? I mean, I don’t know any of your friends, I don’t want to intrude on their Christmas party...” Annabeth asked, fidgeting with her hands.
Percy grabbed her shoulders, “Annabeth, I promise that it’s fine. More than fine actually. My friends will love you.”
Annabeth stared for a moment, trying to figure out why Percy, a near stranger, was being so kind to her. In the end, she decided she didn’t care - a Christmas party sounded way better than microwaved takeout. Not to mention, it was a Christmas party with Percy.
“Oh all right,” Annabeth agreed, smiling at the expression that lit up his face.
“I’ll give you a ride?” Percy pointed to his car. That worked well, considering Annabeth had taken the bus to work.
She was expecting the ride to the party to be uncomfortably quiet, but it was quite the opposite. Upon starting the car, Percy immediately switched to the Christmas radio station and began belting out the songs. At first, Annabeth just laughed at his antics, but by the time they arrived, she was singing along just as loud.
Being with Percy came with an inexplicable comfort - one like Annabeth had never known before. One that she could get used to. They walked to the door in comfortable silence. Once, Annabeth slipped on a small patch of ice and Percy grabbed her arm to steady her. Annabeth could get used to that too.
Percy rang the doorbell and barely a second later a girl with choppy brown hair whipped open the door and tackled him in a hug. Annabeth tried to shove her jealousy down, but found it dissipate when Percy looked to her with a sheepish grin on his face.
She saw Percy hand something to another guy who was standing behind Piper, but didn’t get a chance to see what it was.
“Hey Pipes,” Percy began, placing his hand on the small of Annabeth’s back, “this is Annabeth.”
“Oh Annabeth! The one from work that you talk about all the time?” Piper teased with a wink before pulling Annabeth into a hug, “Merry Christmas. Welcome to the family.”
Despite how cold she was standing in the doorway, that sentence warmed Annabeth right down to her very toes. Nonetheless, they finally stepped into the home and shrugged their coats off.
“Oh look, mistletoe,” Percy said with a small blush, pointing to the ceiling.
“Wait what? Since when did that get there?” Piper question, but he waved her off, without his eyes ever leaving Annabeth’s.
So what if Percy had picked up the mistletoe when he ran to the store after his shift?