tratie one shots, vol. i

[ mistletoe ]

"Oh, believe me, it's coming."

Huffing, Katie twirled away from him and tried to lose herself in a chat with a random group of campers. It didn't work, though - a daughter of Aphrodite asked her who her kiss under the mistletoe would be, and Katie excused herself to grab some more cocoa.

Why was everyone so obsessed with this kiss thing?

It seemed that there would be no escape. No matter who she talked to, someone was either just kissed under the stupid plant, was watching to see who was locking lips, or was hoping to be. Regardless, everyone talked about it. 

Was this some kind of cruel prank from Travis? 

It had to be.

Just to be safe, Katie stayed far away from both Travis and the mistletoe. No way would she be getting near that archway. She spent her time roaming on the far side of the pavilion, busying herself with everyone's merriment. If she didn't think about Travis, she'd better avoid him. She didn't even know what to make of his comments - what did he mean, her gift was coming? Katie hated him so much.

It was so stupid that she couldn't stop thinking abut the kiss she'd joked about and what would happen if she let him do it. How did his lips feel? Who would stop and gasp because Travis Stoll and Katie Gardner were caught under the mistletoe?

Why did she care?

The party was coming to a close: half-bloods had finished handing out their gifts to each other; the punch and apple cider ran out; people were slowly retiring to their cabins with last well-wishes and "Merry Christmas"es. The daughter of Hecate that Katie had been talking to said she'd better get to her cabin, too, and Katie agreed. 

But something held her back.

Someone cleared their throat behind her, and she turned to see Travis. 

"Hey." He grinned.

Katie took a wary step towards him. "Hey...?"

"I have something for you." He spoke in a low voice, sheepishly holding out a messily-wrapped parcel. 

She scrunched up her eyebrows. "Umm, why? What is it?"

"You'll have to open it and find out."

Gingerly taking the condensed, tiny present in her hand, she inspected it. Anything Travis gave you was automatically something to be suspicious of. She glanced around the pavilion - nobody remained but her and Travis. 

Even more suspicious. 

"Go on, open it." Travis' eyes sparkled with giddy nerves, but he offered a serious smile. "It's not a prank, I swear."

Katie's fingers nimbly tore open the wrapping, disregarding her conscience screaming at her to chuck it in to the lake. The gift felt alive in her hands, giving off a tingling when she saw what it was.

Mistletoe.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"It's so hard to read you. Honestly, I considered not playing on the joke," he admitted. "But it was too good to pass up on, especially since it's... uh, actually what I wanted for Christmas."

He gave her mistletoe.

He wanted to.

What?

"I... umm..." What do you say to your supposed enemy wanting to kiss you under the mistletoe?

He sighed, sending her a sullen look. "It's fine if you want to yell at me for being an idiot and storm off, that's how you usually react to my flirting."