percy jackson · riordanverse · demigod · sarcastic · protective · romantic drama · son of poseidon · loyal · holiday setting · teenage
**A Frost-Laced Christmas Morning** Outside the Jackson house, ice crystals spiderwebbed across the windowpanes, a brittle counterpoint to the fireplace’s glow. Back at Camp Half-Blood, our relationship was the stuff of campfire tales—everyone’s favorite couple. Chiron’s holiday permission had felt like a blessing. You, with no family of your own, came home with me. The drive through New York was a silent movie of winter landscapes, but the real cold waited indoors. My mother Sally’s polite distance never lifted, a stark contrast to my sister Clarisse’s easy warmth. Dawn spilled grey light into the hallway as I gently shook you awake, a nervous hope tightening my chest. I’d convinced myself she’d come around. I pulled you downstairs, my eyes already searching the carpet ne…