Title: It's Bad Luck Not To Do It

Summary: AU. Nico doesn't have many good memories involving the jolly holly holiday, but maybe this year, Christmas might actually not suck.

Jason's Age: 16

Nico's Age: 14

Nico

He never truly understood what the point of Christmas was. Nico never saw the point of lying to your children about an obese man that stalked you every day and left you presents as a reward for behaving. He never followed when it came to chopping down trees for a few weeks, only to throw them out. He certainly never grasped the concept of gifts and fancy dinners, like the ones that came on the T.V. It was difficult for Nico to make sense of the fact that people scrambled for the stores on Christmas to do some late minute shopping. The lines were long, the parking lot was packed, and the customers themselves were far from friendly. Sometimes, there might be a fight or two over a shirt or toy.

To Nico, it felt unnecessary to have to go through all that trouble to buy their wife those pairs of diamond earrings that she had been eyeing, or that bike that their son had been asking for since June. And he certainly didn't like the idea of having strangers come knocking on his door to sing about joy and peace. Even if he might come of as a Scrooge to some, that really annoyed him.

Or how about that idea of having to kiss someone under the mistletoe? It was extremely strange to him, considering that mistletoe was a parasitic plant. Not to mention, its berries being highly toxic to humans. He certainly didn't like seeing couples sucking faces anyway. Seriously, what's up with this holiday?

Maybe Nico didn't really like Christmas since he spent to most of them alone, at least until he had miraculously made some friends. After many years of bitterness and self loathing. After eight years since his own family's death and hopping from foster home to another, The Levesque family had actually adopted him. Although he had been wary about the whole ordeal of having a replacement for his real mother sister, Marie and Hazel had given him a chance and he couldn't be more grateful.

Then, when he had started school, he met Jason Grace. The typical perfect boy that every girl wanted to date. He had one of the highest GPA's in the whole school, never missed a day of school, played basketball and he didn't look half bad either, which was a huge understatement (the glasses gave him a more dorky look and Nico wasn't sure if that made the blond look more attractive). Somehow, he had become Nico's "companion" of sorts at the start of the school year. It baffled Nico that Jason would want to hang out with someone like him, but he never questioned the other boy's motives. He was just glad that he wouldn't be alone.

He learned a lot about him. Jason was rather shy about social events despite the confidence he tended to radiate inside the classroom. There were problems at home as well, which Nico thought would be impossible. His parents were never home. His father would be out with other women. His mother would be in a bar somewhere getting drunk and his sister had moved out as soon as she could, being unable to take Jason with her. That left him to keep things from completely falling apart at home. And his Christmases had lost their meaning in the following years.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Nico finally gathered enough courage to ask.

"Because I trust you." Jason smiled. "It's easy to talk to you."

It wasn't a surprise that Nico would fall for him. Really, he should've anticipated it. After that conversation, he was left feeling warmth pooling in his heart and his stomach fluttering with excitement. It took him a moment to realize what was happening. After having a brief panic attack, his solution was to just bury this emotions deep down and hope they would disappear on their own.

Christmas break came and the whole school burst with energy and anticipation as they talked about their plans for their two week vacation.

"So what are you doing for Christmas?" Jason asked as they walked to Nico's house.

"I'm not sure. It's my first Christmas with them." He mumbled, referring to the Levesques. It still felt awkward and a bit wrong to call them "mom" and "sister", but they understood and were patient with him. "What about you?"

Jason shrugged, his eyes turning dark for a second, "Probably just stay home and watch TV or something. Mom and Dad already made plans to not be home. Shocker..." It pained Nico to have to see Jason like this because if anyone deserved to be happy on this overrated and sappy holiday, it was Jason. That's why he couldn't stop himself from suggesting that he came over on Christmas to celebrate.

"Marie and Hazel won't mind." Nico insisted. "They'd be more than happy, to be honest."

"I don't want to intrude or anything." Jason protested. "It's fine. I'm used to it."

"Don't make me beg," Nico scowled. "I find it degrading and pitiful." That caused the blond to laugh at his seriousness.

"Okay, but we should ask Ms. Levesque first, just to make sure." Jason finally gave in. "So what do you want for Christmas?"

"You know I'm not into the whole holiday spirit crap." The younger boy said even though inside, he unconsciously yearned for his feelings for his friend to be reciprocated. It took Nico a moment before asking the same. "What about you? Anything in mind."

"This is probably where I should say something totally cliche like wanting my parents to suddenly change overnight and come home where mom would be cooking dinner, dad would be trying to put the Christmas lights outside and Thalia and I would be decorating the tree while planning to stay up all night to see Santa. A Christmas where everything was okay before things went bad." Even if he sounded like he was joking, his undertone sounded bitter, like he always did when talking about his family. "But I've wanted that for so long and it's never happened, so there's no point in wishing."

They reached Nico's house. They climbed the porch steps. Nico put stuffed his hand in his pocket to find the house key and jammed it into the lock. He turned the knob to walk inside from the chilly weather, but not before turning to face Jason one last time.

"So you don't want anything?" He asked.

The blond looked lost in thought for a second before answering. "I guess I have something in mind."

"What?"

"Would it be weird if I said a kiss under the mistletoe?I mean, not with just anyone, of course."

Nico stared at Jason, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. "Yes, actually. It is weird."

"Yeah, I thought so." He chuckled a bit before continuing. "Wouldn't it be funny if we somehow ended up under the mistletoe?" Nico gave a faint smile. He never imagined that ever happening because at this time of year, he always made sure to avoid that plant whenever there were people around.

"That'd be pretty crazy." Nico replied before almost instinctively looking up, like he always did when the word mistletoe was mentioned. And just like that, the rare smile that displayed on Nico's face was gone as he noticed a prickly leafed, white berried plant hanging on the roof of the porch. When had that gotten up there?

His head snapped back to the boy in front of him, who was still staring up at the mistletoe. Jason made eye contact with Nico, his cheeks slightly tainted red and Nico half-hoped it was because of the cold air. He smiled again, almost sheepishly. "Well, that's quite a coincidence, isn't it?"Nico felt the blood rushing to his own cheeks.

He nodded, "Hazel probably put it there for her and her boyfriend. Don't worry, you don't have to kiss me." But Jason was already steeping a bit closer and Nico could feel his breath lightly blowing on his face. Jason stopped, leaving a few inches apart from each other's faces.

"You know it's bad luck if you don't kiss under the mistletoe." Nico wasn't quite sure if he heard that right. His heart was hammering in his chest and he felt himself sweating through the layers of clothing. He felt adrenaline course through him and his stomach tightened at the thought of kissing Jason.

"Is it okay if I kiss you?" Jason asked, interrupting Nico's scrambling mind. He couldn't find the strength to answer him, but shakily brought his hands up to Jason's face and pulled him down gently. Nico never had much experience with these sort of things, but that didn't stop him from pressing his lips to Jason's. And just with that, he felt alive, every nerve in his body tingled at Jason's touch. He was fully aware that Jason's hands had encircled his waist, bringing their bodies closer together and Nico could feel his glasses pushed up and touching his forehead to keep them out of the way. His once numbed fingers were intertwined behind the blond's neck as they continued to kiss.

Nico wasn't sure how long they stayed like this, but he suddenly pulled away to gasp for breath. Jason pressed their foreheads together as they steadied their breathing again. Nico looked at Jason, unsure of what to do or say, but Jason beat him to it.

"Thanks Nico." He said almost in a whisper.

"For what?"

"I got what I wanted for Christmas." He smiled warmly, the same smile that he would give only to Nico and that made his heart swell. Nico couldn't find any words to say to make this anymore perfect and so, he simply gave his own smile that only Jason could get out of him and wrapped his arms around his neck, placing his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes, enjoying the heat. They just held each other like this for a while until they heard a car pull up into the driveway, causing both boys to jump away from each other in surprise.

"Nico! Jason! What are you doing out in the cold?!" Marie called at them as she got out the car. Hazel also jumped out the passenger seat with bags in hand. Both Nico and Jason started rambling in hopes to explain why they were still standing on the porch without having to mention the rather personal incident that occurred just a few minutes ago.

"Calm down, both of you." Ms. Levesque lightly scolded. "Let's just get inside. I have a few gifts to wrap." And she headed inside. Hazel followed inside, but not before greeting them.

"By the way," she nodded, "Have you guys noticed the mistletoe that I put up?" She winked and went inside as well, leaving Jason and Nico flushed and embarrassed at the doorway.

Nico never truly understood what the point of Christmas was, but he was willing to make an effort. Let's just say that this Christmas was one of the most memorable. Not only because it was his first Christmas with people to call family, but it was also his first Christmas with someone to call boyfriend. Maybe Christmas wasn't as overrated as he thought it was.

So, Jason has glasses, huh? I find it adorable, or maybe that's just because I wear glasses, too. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanuka and all that jazz.

~Angela R.