A Lot Like Christmas

By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx

AN: IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF DECEMBER! :D

So, to start this month off, here's a Christmas one-shot! :) Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Everywhere you go...

If there was one thing that Paul Blofis wasn't all that fond of, it was Christmas.

Now, don't get me wrong, he didn't mean to be a Scrooge, but ever since... Holly, he wasn't all that fond of Christmas. After all, it had been her favorite holiday... It hurt too much for him to think of it.

He really didn't know what the big deal was. Christmas had started out as a remembrance of Jesus Christ's birthday—something mainly the Christians celebrated. Eventually, it had evolved into what it was now—a holiday focused on getting and giving gifts, putting up lights, having dinner with the family, etc.

There wasn't anything wrong with that, but it wasn't like he had anyone to give gifts to(let alone get gifts from,) he couldn't really put up any lights in his apartment, and he didn't have a family to have Christmas dinner with.

As he walked down the streets of New York, he couldn't help but feel pretty sorry for himself. It had long been since his parents had passed away, he had no siblings, and of course(this one hurt the most,) Holly wasn't there anymore.

His heart still ached when he thought of him.

It wasn't really fair that she had to... go like that. She'd been an innocent bystander on the streets at the wrong time, and let's face it, New York isn't exactly the safest place on the Earth. Long story short, she ended up being a victim of gang rape, burglary, and eventually, murder.

That had been six years ago, just a few mere days before Christmas.

Ever since then, Christmas hadn't been the same for them. He couldn't even look at common Christmas items such as candy canes or Christmas trees without thinking of her. The pain was still very much there; it didn't disappear, but only got worse as the oh-so joyous holiday season began.

He wandered aimlessly around the city, looking at various stores and such. It wasn't like he had anywhere to be; that was one of the perks of being a teacher—having breaks when the kids got off(most of the time). He didn't mind the violent, December wind that was whipping at his face, or the bitter cold; he just knew he needed to be out of his house. He needed to be alone.

It was a while after he'd left his house that he came upon an all too familiar lake. Teenagers, kids, and their parents were skating on the already frozen water, laughing and having an all around good time.

His eyes focused on a certain couple(or so it seemed)—an lanky boy with a mop of messy black hair and a tall girl with curly blonde hair that was tucked into a ski cap. The two were skating together—or attempting to, that is. It was more like she was trying to teach him how to skate, and it wasn't working too well.

That was him, not even a decade ago, but with Holly.

For a few minutes, he watched the two teenagers, unbeknown to anyone else. They looked happy together; perhaps too young to be an official couple, but, deep down in his heart, Paul knew that the two kids would someday end up getting together.

The pain from losing Holly was still there... He knew it would never go away fully. But, staring at those two teenagers, it gave him hope. Hope that maybe, someday soon, he would find a woman much like Holly, who could make him happy.

And, even though it hurt, Paul couldn't help but smile.