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Leo could tell he was there watching him before Jason even sat down. He could feel the electrified stare on him, sending involuntary shivers down his spine.
He tried to pass it off as being cold. It was easier now that it was autumn. He just hoped Jason didn’t remember the fact Leo didn’t get cold.
Jason took slow, deliberate steps across the sand, because he was Jason Grace and did everything slowly and deliberately.
They sat together, staring out into the ocean.
“You’re missing dinner,” Jason stated casually, as if Leo didn’t skip it most days. Someone almost always brought him a plate anyways, and to no surprise, Jason handed him a bowl of blueberries.
It was against the rules, but it was hard to discipline the kids who almost literally gave their lives for the cause.
Leo pushed the thought of his mind, wordlessly accepting the food.
Leo couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit annoyed at Jason’s presence. First of all, Leo was enjoying the silence. Second, Jason was sitting far too close to him.
Not that Leo wanted him to leave.
“… Calypso left today,”
And there it was. Good ol’ Jason, always trying to figure out what was wrong with him. But that wasn’t it. Not entirely.
“Yeah. You know I wasn’t actually in love with her, right?” Leo raised an eyebrow, finally turning to look at Jason.
Jason’s eyebrows shot up, as if this was news to him.
Leo rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to drawing in the wet sand.
“It was part of her curse. Wasn’t real. More of a friend than anything as soon as we were both off the island. Kinda like you and Piper,” Leo muttered, and immediately regretted it.
“…Sorry,” Leo added, ignoring how his face was flushing in embarrassment.
Jason gave him a shrug, as if it didn’t matter.
“It’s okay,”
Jason hesitated before breaking the silence once more. “…Are you leaving too?”
“Are you?”
They both sat staring at each other, unsure. Leo didn’t want Jason to leave, he knew that. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay either.
Camp Halfblood didn’t hold the best memories. It was where the final battle happened. And Leo didn’t like thinking about that.
Still, it was a place where he felt like he belonged. It was where his siblings were. His friends.
“…Don’t go,” They both blurted out in unison, and Leo’s face was so warm that he automatically reached up to make sure he wasn’t on fire.
Leo looked away, fidgeting with his sleeves.
Jason was staring at him, he could tell. Leo refused to look back.
“What’s wrong? If it’s not Calypso,”
“Why does something have to be wrong?”
“Because I know you,”
Leo didn’t know how to feel about that. He only knew his face was getting darker with blush.
Leo took a deep breath, then sighed. He twisted his shoelaces around his finger, wishing that Jason would just disappear. But not really, because then he’d be back in the silence and without a Jason.
“It’s a little bit about Calypso,”
Jason stays silent, expecting Leo to elaborate. He doesn’t.
Jason moved to sit cross-legged, and his hand brushes against Leo’s. Leo shifted to move subtly away from Jason, just a few inches.
But Jason notices anyway.
And Leo knew that he knew.
And Jason knew that he knew that he knew.
Neither of them said anything, both looking at something in the distance rather than at each other.
“I just- never really had a relationship before, is all. I mean, people like me, but I’ve never even had a best friend, y’know?” Leo explained, just to destroy the awkward silence.
It wasn’t fully the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either.
Jason nodded like he understood. Leo knew he didn’t. But he didn’t find himself caring.
“…I thought we were best friends?” Jason framed it as a question, but it felt more like fact.
“Yeah. I guess we are. Which means you can’t bail on me, man. I’ll hitchhike to New Rome and kick your ass if you leave,” Leo grinned, playfully punching Jason in the arm.
The joke works, and Leo gets to ignore the millions of butterflies doing cartwheels in his stomach.
At least for a second, because then Jason’s laughing, and suddenly Leo wishes he hadn’t moved at all, had just let Jason sit a little too close.
Leo smiles, and Jason grins back.
“There. A real smile. It looks good on you, Valdez,” Jason teases, and Leo feels like he could combust.
Leo shoves him, but Jason doesn’t fight back, just lets Leo swear at him.
They sit together in silence for a beat, staring at each other with goofy grins until Leo realizes how stupid he looks and turns away.
The next words tumble out his mouth before he could shove the thought back into the deepest corners of his mind.
“Have you ever had a crush before?”
As soon as he said it, Leo felt like jumping straight into the ocean and never looking back.
Jason gives him a look, one of those stupid indecipherable looks that only people can give.
Most of the time, Leo wished that instead of flesh and bone, everyone was a machine. That way he could take a look inside and have everything make sense for once.
But humans were complicated and unpredictable. A fact that Leo hated.
The look Jason was giving him now made zero sense in a way that only human beings could manage.
“… A few times,” Jason replied eventually, gaze shifting back to the horizon.
Leo untied and retied his laces, needing something, anything to do other than think about that response.
“Any recent ones? Not counting Piper? Like- do you have a crush on anyone now?” Leo finds himself asking, though he doesn’t have a clue why.
That’s a lie. He does. He just doesn’t want to admit it yet. Not until he gets an answer.
“…Yeah,”
Something in Leo’s chest does a whole Olympic gymnastics routine.
“Yeah?”
Maybe someone in the Aphrodite cabin. Or maybe they’re someone in New Rome, waiting for Jason to come back.
Maybe they were in love.
Leo mentally shook himself. No, Jason didn’t seem the type to fall in love easily. At least he thought so. He wished he knew.
Probably just a pretty person that Jason’s seen around camp. He probably doesn’t even know their name.
Yeah, just someone pretty.
Leo messed with his dirty work clothes, suddenly feeling self conscious.
“They were the one who made me realize I wasn’t in love with Piper,” Jason shrugged, and Leo took offense to the shrugging because that felt like a very big deal.
Leo frowned, throwing sparks at the sand.
The gymnastics routine was gone, replaced by a nauseous feeling. And a strong desire to break something.
“…Do I know them?” And Leo hopes that someone will pop up out of nowhere and knock him out, just so he’ll stop digging into this rabbit hole of awkward and bad feelings.
Jason gives Leo another one of those indecipherable looks, and for a moment he feels like hitting him.
Leo rolls his eyes, going back to picking at a loose thread in his jeans.
“Yeah, I’d say you know him,” Jason says in a strange tone, not taking his eyes off of Leo.
The change in pronouns catches Leo’s attention, and he feels himself blushing for no real reason at all.
Him. Okay.
Leo found himself making a list of every guy they both knew, the list coming up fairly short.
“Dude, if it’s Percy, then Annabeth’s gonna kick your ass,” Leo joked, grin not quite reaching his eyes.
Jason stares at him, shaking his head. “Are you this oblivious on purpose?” He asks, and Leo feels like he might actually be on fire this time but he’s way too distracted to check.
Jason’s stupid bright blue eyes are staring at him with something like fondness in them, a teasing smile on his lips.
“Oblivious?” Leo’s voice comes out abnormally soft and he hates himself for it, a vaguely familiar feeling in his chest, one he only got around Jason and Jason alone.
Jason gives him another look, and something clicks.
Oh.
“Oh,” Leo repeats aloud, and he’s definitely on fire now, can see the way the flames illuminate Jason’s hesitant yet amused smile.
It all becomes too much far too quickly for him, and Leo turns away, unsure of what happens next.
Except he knew. He knew what happened next. And it was fucking terrifying.
Leo could feel Jason staring at him, could feel a hesitant but gentle touch on his shoulder. “Leo..?”
He turned, finding his face inches away from Jason’s.
“I…” Leo trails off, eyebrows furrowed and mouth dry.
Jason lets go of him, assuming Leo’s answer before he gets a chance to say it. His smile falters before returning, giving Leo a shrug before moving to stand up.
Leo grabs his arm, looking at Jason and praying to the gods to just make him understand so Leo doesn’t have to say it.
Jason only gives him a confused look, and Leo takes a deep breath.
“Do you like me? Like- seriously? You’re not just being an idiot?” Leo chokes out, even though he knows the answer. Jason wouldn’t joke about that.
Jason seems to know that too, but he nods anyway.
Leo pulls him in and kisses him. It’s awkward, and he doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but his heart races and Jason kisses back.
When he pulls away, Jason’s face is pink and he has a wide smile, then Jason’s pulling him in again, as if he couldn’t get enough of Leo.
Leo’s pushed onto his back, Jason’s hands tangling into his messy hair. It’s warm and it’s love and Leo can’t fucking believe it’s happening but it is.
Jason pulls away for air, smiling in a way that made Leo’s heart flip.
“I like you. A lot,”
“A horrible decision, really,” Leo grins, making Jason roll his eyes.
“Fine. I like you too, dumbass. A lot,”
Jason smiles, and then they’re kissing again.