Summary: The story of your friendship/relationship with Leo Valdez.

QOTP: Do you ship Leo and Calypso?

Word Count: 1512

Leo Valdez is, without a doubt, your best friend.

You came to camp shortly after the infamous Percy Jackson did. You were friends with Annabeth, therefore you also became friends with Luke, Percy, Grover, Beckendorf, Tyson, Thalia, Nico, Bianca, and Rachel when she came as the new Oracle.

When Percy went missing, you helped Annabeth and Butch look for him, so you were at the Grand Canyon.

When you saw Valdez, you were instantly curious. His curls, elfish features, and smile just drew you in. He was funny, too. Adorable, even.

"Hey, babe," he said, smirking.

You laughed, "Hi."

"I'm Leo."

"Y/N."

"Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven? 'Cau-"

"No, but it burned when I crawled up from Hell."

The tips of his ears and his cheeks went pink, causing you, Piper, and Jason to laugh.

You helped out the seven during the quest to stop Gaea and grew closer to Leo. So much so that he opened up to you about his past. He did not, however, tell you about his plan to defeat Gaea ("in, like, forty seconds").

You mourned his death. You cried and made sure he got a proper funeral (as proper as it could be without a body) because you knew he had no close family that would do it.

[spoilers for The Hidden Oracle!!!]

When he sent that message back, you could've killed him. You wanted to do to him what John did to Sherlock when he faked his death, but worse.

And it didn't take Sherlock to guess that you had fallen in love with Leo Valdez.

The week he came back was a bad one; your father, Apollo, fell from Olympus as a human. That wasn't necessarily the bad part - you thought he deserved it.

The bad part was that he had to stay in your cabin.

To put it lightly, you despised your father. He was never there for you; he abandoned you and your mother, who loved him so deeply. You couldn't understand why Will, Austin, and Kayla wanted to help him - he never did anything for them.

(Some may have argued that he gave you your talents - music, healing, archery - but you knew that if he had to physically give those "gifts" to you, he wouldn't have.)

You had a fight with your half-brother, Will, when you all thought Apollo was asleep; he wasn't, and he heard the whole thing.

"Y/N, please. He needs our help. He needs your help," Will pleaded quietly, trying not to wake Apollo.

You were shouting, which hurt Kayla's and Austin's ears. "And I needed his help, and guess who wasn't there?!"

Will shook his head, "He's our dad."

You were this close to smacking Will across the face. "He is not my dad. He abandoned my mom. He abandoned me."

"Y/N, he's a god-"

"Then he has no excuse! He's been around for millennia and will be around for even longer, and he can't make the time to visit his own kids?!"

"Y/N-"

"No."

You pushed past Will, Kayla, and Austin and marched to the Big House. Chiron agreed to let you stay in the empty Zeus cabin while Apollo was in yours (you and Jason were tight).

The next day, Will sent Piper over to talk to you, thinking maybe she could convince you.

"Y/N," she said, walking over to you. You turn, still miffed at Will and Apollo and basically everyone.

"What, Piper?" you asked bitterly. She flinched a bit, not used to your rage being directed at her. She started to say something, but you cut her off. "Piper Mclean, I swear if you use charm-speak on me, I will cut you with your own dagger."

"I wasn't going to," she says truthfully. "I-I just think you need to rethink your decision to not help your dad."

"Did Will put you up to this?!" you shouted, getting angrier and drawing more attention. She hesitated. "Don't lie to me, Piper!"

She nodded. You started to shout again, but Piper decided to bring out the one thing she thought would convince you. "What would Leo say-"

"That methusai would agree with me!"

With that, you stormed off and Piper didn't dare follow you.

You were angrier than usual that week; you could've been an Ares kid.

Then, when Leo came back with Calypso, it was safe to say you were jealous, but you let it drop because you knew it would make Leo upset. You were nice to her when they were dating - nobody but an Aphrodite kid could've seen how much you loved Leo.

When everyone was taking turns slapping him, you hit him right across the face. "Hey!" he said, rubbing his cheek.

"I thought you were dead!" you shouted.

"But I'm not," he replied, smiling, which annoyed you even more.

You hit his other cheek, so he grabbed your hands and stood up, looking down at you. Jerking your hands back, you pushed him in the chest. "You suck."

He grinned, about to say something.

He couldn't finish, however, because you shoved yourself into him, hugging him as tight as humanly possible. He hugged you back after regaining his balance, wrapping one arm around your shoulders, the other around your waist, and burying his face in your hair.

"I hate you," you said, your eyes turning glassy with tears.

He smiled, "I know."

"You're horrible."

"I know."

Then, when the Trials of Apollo were over, everything at camp calmed down. Leo and Calypso had broken up after her curse wore off, therefore proving she was never really in love with Leo anyway. You were there for him; you actually would've been happy if he wasn't so sad.

Eventually, he got over her. Still, you made no attempt to tell him you loved him. You were afraid - you didn't want to ruin your friendship.

So, you remained best friends. And that was it.

Now, Piper's starting to bug you.

"You need to tell him!" she says.

You shake your head, "No, Piper."

"But I see it!" she insists. "You would be so cute together! He loves you, too! Please, Y/N!" Again, you shake your head.

But, later, when you're walking through the woods towards Bunker 9 with Valdez, you know you have to get it off your chest.

"Leo," you say, stopping.

He turns, "Yeah?"

"I-I need to tell you something," you reply, sighing.

"Go ahead."

"I... I like you. Like, more than a friend."

"Okay." With that, he starts walking again.

You stop, jaw to the floor. 'Okay?' What kind of response was that? "Leo!" you shout, running to catch up.

He glances over at you, quirking an eyebrow. "What?"

"Okay? Really?"

"Yeah."

"You suck."

He laughs, then, a few minutes later, sticks his foot out in front of you. You trip, throwing your hands out to catch yourself. After you roll over, you find him laughing above you. Sitting up, you glare at him.

"Looks like you... fell for me," he says, grinning.

You roll your eyes. "Leo Valdez, I will fight you to the ends of the earth."

"Under what conditions?" he asks.

"If you continue to exist."

"Hmm... I mean, I guess I could try burning myself alive?" He promptly bursts into flames.

"Leo, be serious!" you say, exasperated. He extinguishes the flames, then sighs, running a hand through his curls.

"I like you, too." He grins. "A lot, actually."

He sits down in front of you, legs crossed. You cross your own and smile, picking at the grass below you.

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. You're already leaning forward, and you can feel his breath hitting your forehead. Keeping your head down, you feel your stomach clenching with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Butterflies are an understatement.

"Hey," he says. "Look at me." You obey and look up, surprised to find just how close he is.

"Leo," you say, voice barely above a whisper. He smiles and grabs your hands in both of his, playing with your fingers.

"Y/N," he replies in the same tone.

"So are we..." you trail off.

He chuckles, "Do you want to?" You nod, unable to fight the smile off your face.

"But," you say, turning serious, "if we break up, we have to stay friends, okay?"

"That's the thing I'm scared of," he admits. "Losing your friendship."

You both smile, foreheads nearly pressed together.

Leo tilts his chin up a little, bringing his lips closer to yours. With your heart beating in your ears, you close what distance is left.

He pulls away after a few seconds.

"Do you wanna go out on a date?" Leo blurts after you pull away.

You nod, chuckling. "Yes, but I'm pretty sure you got kissing and going out switched around."

"Who says we have to be traditional?"

He grins, and you can't help but grin back.