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Laying under the bright moonlight, she let Leo touch her. His hands on her skin felt like he was touching an intricate piece of art - tracing it softly with his finger, afraid to let himself fully touch her skin, as if the whole world would burn with his touch on her.
She shudders under his touch. “You know you can hold me, right?”
Leo pulled back his hand. She suddenly craved his hold on her more. “Um. Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“I just-” he sighed, sitting up and running his hand through his curly hair. Gods forbid her, but she just really wants to reach up and run her fingers through his hair. “We can’t do this.”
Her brows furrowed. Just earlier, they were both smiling, having their first of many dates on the beach. He even gave her the last slice of pizza. And then, he suddenly says that. It just doesn’t make sense.
“What do you mean?”
Leo lets out a groan of frustration. He was never good with saying what he feels. His friends were even the ones who told her about his crush on her. She waited for almost a year just to hear him say it.
“We can’t do this - the horizontal dance, the devil’s tango - whatever you call it. Not on our first date,” Leo was rambling, but his cheeks turned a darker shade. Usually, Leo Valdez is confident about all this. She’s not one to assume, but she thinks Leo might have a slightly bit of a crush on her.
She laughs. Poor Leo just looks so confused.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to do it with you. But -” he shook his head. “Not now. I want to wait. I want to know you more. I want to have much deeper conversations with you. Deeper than Percy can get underwater, and that’s saying a lot since he’s Percy. He’s the son of the sea god. He can breathe underwater and stuff. He can even control water and blood, anything with water. And I also think he can make earthquakes and tsunamis happen. He’s so amazing, actually.”
“Leo,” She laughed, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him out of his thoughts. “Your crush on Percy is showing.”
“Oh,” Leo laid down on the blanket they brought.
“To clarify things, I was seriously not going to let anything happen tonight. I was just saying that if you want, you can hug me from the waist, you know? And then maybe let my hands run over your hair.” She blushed a light shade of red but patted his hair.
Leo turned a darker shade of red. “Why did you let me ramble on like that, woman!?”
She laughs. “‘Cause. It was so fun seeing you worked up like that.”
“Ugh, just come here,” Leo grinned. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down beside him. And for the first time ever, he lets someone run their hand through his hair and enjoy it.