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Walking back to her cabin from lunch, Piper did not expect her sleeve to be aggressively pulled. She turned around to see Leo’s scrawny frame with his messy brown hair facing her, his hand still grasping her shirt.
“Piper, I need to talk to you,” Leo said under his breath. Her previous annoyance dissipated with hearing his tone. Leo was rarely serious by any means.
“Yeah, okay. Let’s go there,” she said, pointing to the woods. Leo didn’t object, letting Piper lead him there. They didn’t have to walk far before they came across an area with a few tree stumps they could sit on. Piper took a seat on one of them, but Leo stayed standing, starting to pace.
“Look, I know I’m usually not… serious, but I need your help. I don’t know who else to talk to.”
“You can tell me anything.” Piper had been somewhat wary of a prank, but something about Leo’s behavior told her this was different. He seemed genuinely… scared . “Did you do something? Do I need to cover something up for you? Again?”
“No—no! Piper!”
“Sorry, sorry, you just don’t have the best track record. What’s going on, then?”
“Please just be… normal about this, Piper, please. I already know it’s weird, I just need help,” Leo said, still pacing, looking considerably more distressed by the second.
“I will, I will. I swear to the gods, I will be completely normal about it.”
“Okay, so, you know how I got Calypso off that island and now we’re dating and all that?”
Piper nodded.
“I don’t regret that, obviously. I love Calypso. She’s nice and smart and—you get the point. I really like her.”
“Okay… then what’s wrong?” Piper asked cautiously.
“I want to break up with her.”
“ What ?” Piper was shocked. Beyond shocked. Leo and Calypso seemed like a perfect couple, she’d never even seen them actually fight.
Then again, her and Jason had seemed perfect too.
“Piper! Be normal!”
“Sorry! Sorry, I just… What do you mean? I thought you were happy with her.”
“I am. Sort of. Not really. I don’t know! I really do like her, but… I don’t see her any differently than I see you, or Percy, or even Frank! I should see her differently. I should want to kiss her and do all of the things Percy and Annabeth do because they’re what a couple should be like! But I don’t want to! Every time I’ve kissed her, it’s just been weird. Uncomfortable. I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone . I don’t get it!” As he turned back around to face her, Piper saw tears running down his cheeks. He finally stopped pacing around, looking straight at her now.
“Leo, that’s okay,” Piper said quietly. “There’s no should .”
“There is! I should want to kiss her! I should want to kiss girls! I just don’t!” She heard Leo choke back a sob and realized he was fully crying now. Piper had never seen him like this. Leo was always there for everyone else, but he never asked for anything in return. She wondered how he’d managed to keep something like this, something that was clearly really important to him, to himself.
“Do you want to kiss anyone?”
He shook his head, sinking into the grass-covered ground.
“Leo, have you ever actually been attracted to someone?”
“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. How do you know?”
“I went through something similar. Sort of. When I was with Jason, I felt the same way. I thought I liked him, but really, I didn’t feel any different about him than I did about you. It was obvious why once I met Shel. I finally got what people meant by having butterflies. I just… knew.”
“I haven’t felt that for guys either, though.”
“That’s okay, Leo. That’s perfectly normal. Not everyone does.”
“I don’t want to be like this. I want what everyone else has and what I could have had with Calypso. I want to like people.” He was silent for a second. “Or… maybe I don’t. I don’t know. I guess I want to want to like them, if that makes sense?”
“I guess so.”
“I just don’t want to be alone. If I never like anyone, I’m never going to get to be anyone’s first choice. On the Argo II…” he trailed off.
“What?”
“Nevermind. I don’t want to make you feel bad or anything.”
“Don’t worry about me. This is about you.”
“It was really isolating. Percy and Annabeth, Hazel and Frank, you and Jason. I was alone for so much of that trip. And it’s not your fault, it’s not anyone’s fault. But I think that’s why I was so attached to Calypso. It was only us. I didn’t have to compete with anyone. I was the priority. I never actually liked her. I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s really not your fault. I’m used to it, anyway. It’s going to be like that for the rest of my life, I guess. Might as well prepare.”
“I want to promise that you’ll always be my first choice—”
“No, I get it. Prioritizing your relationship makes sense.”
“No, I mean, I’ll never consider you anything less than whoever I’m with. Leo, you’ll always be my best friend. And yeah, that’s different from a romantic partner. But sometimes it’s better.”
Leo was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, “Piper… thank you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”