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Leo was starting to remember why he hated relationships in the first place.
He’d thought that maybe, just maybe it was because he hadn’t found the right person, but he quickly learned that wasn’t the case. Since freeing Calypso, he’d figured that she might be the right person for him, what with her being in love with him and all, but that wasn’t the case.
They fought day in and day out over the smallest reasons, always leading to neither one of them wanting to look at the other for the rest of the day. They’d sort of patch things up by the next day and then the whole process would repeat itself.
That was how he found himself sitting with Jason, venting about his love life.
“She’s just, I dunno Jase, I want to love her but sometimes it feels like a chore,” he sat back in his chair, looking up at the sky.
“I know how you feel,” Jason piped up, shocking Leo.
“What?” Leo didn’t understand what Jason was saying. This was the guy with the second-best relationship he’d seen with everything going smoothly for him.
Jason just shrugged. “Before Piper broke up with me, it was-”
“Wait, back that up real quick, what do you mean Piper broke up with you?”
Jason blinked. “You didn’t know?”
Leo threw his hands in the air. “No, I didn’t know! This is the first time we’ve caught up since I got back! When did this happen?”
Jason smiled sheepishly. “About a month ago?”
“What?” Leo couldn’t believe it. He’d been back for three months now, having gotten a little lost on the way back from Ogygia, and yet he’d missed so much. Jason had spent most of his time with Piper, with the two barely having time for Leo. He didn’t blame them all too much; they’d been on the West Coast while he’d spent his time at camp, but he figured this would have been something to mention.
“It kind of just happened,” Jason admitted. “I still don’t fully believe it if I’m being honest; some days I wake up and think we’re still together, so I haven’t really told anyone.”
Leo nodded, starting to calm down. “That mean I’m the first you told?”
Jason wiggled his hand a bit. “I IMed Thalia when it happened but besides that, yeah. I don’t know who Piper’s told so far, but you and Thalia are the only ones who know from me.”
Leo nodded, understanding that part. If Calypso had broken up with him, he wasn’t sure whether he’d tell anyone quickly. “Alright. Did she tell you why?”
Jason shrugged. “Something about feeling like our relationship was forced by Venus and Juno.”
Leo blinked. “What the fuck?”
Jason looked at him in shock. “What’s wrong?”
“Piper said your relationship felt forced ?” Leo shook his head. “She’s the one who went after you after she learned the memories were fake! She’s the one who wanted the relationship! What does she mean it felt forced?”
Jason shrugged. “I don’t know man. Things had gotten bad between us before it all went down. She’d come up with excuses to not talk to me, she barely looked at me, and by the end of it, it was almost like we weren’t even dating. When we did talk, it always ended up in a fight.”
Leo nodded, understanding what he meant. “Do you think I should end things with Calypso?”
Jason considered him for a moment. “How bad are things between the two of you?”
“Besides the fighting, she’s always insulting me. Calling me an idiot, lazy, scatterbrained, and a bunch of things like that. I figured it was normal for couples to do that at first, but it hurts man. She doesn’t stop when I ask her to either.”
Jason looked at him in shock before his face morphed into a bit of anger. “That isn’t how couples act. Sure, there can be some teasing involved, but never something like that.”
Leo was taken aback by the care in Jason’s voice. He didn’t have the time to think about that just yet, so he focused on what he could. “What do you mean? I’ve seen Percy and Annabeth go at each other all the time.”
Jason shook his head. “They tease each other, but they never go for things that would hurt the other. Even when things got bad between me and Piper, she never did anything like that.”
“Oh,” Leo took a deep breath. “I guess that means I should break up with Caly then.”
Jason’s eyes softened. “I’m not telling you what you should do, Leo, but I don’t think she’s good for you.”
“You’re right,” he sighed. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to do this.”
“Whatever you do, I’m with you buddy.”
Leo smiled. “I know.”
He called Piper as soon as he’d broken up with Calypso.
He wanted to see Jason but he wasn’t ready yet, and it had been too long since he’d spoken with Piper so he figured they were due for a catch-up session.
She knew something was up as soon as she saw him. “Leo! What’s wrong?”
The Iris Message was both cruel and a blessing. He would have liked to see her in person for this, but he wasn’t sure he was ready after what Jason told him. “I broke up with Calypso.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “You two were good together though, weren’t you?”
His eyes narrowed. “Like you and Jason were?”
She recoiled and he regretted opening his mouth. He didn’t want to fight over this, and from the looks of it, neither did she.
“You talked to him I’m guessing?” She slumped in her chair.
“Yeah. He said you felt the relationship was forced.”
Piper sighed. “I guess that’s only part of it. It just felt like I had a different idea of Jason in my head, and when things calmed down and I started getting to know him, he wasn’t who I’d fallen for. It wasn’t fair to him for me to pretend I liked him, so I thought it’d be better if I ended things.”
“You couldn’t have told him that? He thinks it’s his fault.”
Piper’s eyes widened. “Why would he think it’s his fault?”
“A daughter of Aphrodite broke up with him, Pipes. I get why you did it, but you didn’t exactly explain things to him that great.”
She rested her head in her hands. “I’ll talk to him soon; I promise,” she looked back up at him after a moment and narrowed her eyes. “Now, tell me about what happened with Calypso.”
The more he explained, the angrier Piper looked. By the time he was done, she looked ready to hunt Calypso down personally. “When I get my hands on her, I swear I’ll-”
“Easy, Beauty Queen,” he felt warm hearing how angry she was on his behalf, but he didn’t need her to get in trouble. “She’s not worth it.”
“Don’t care; she hurt you and I’m gonna get her for that.”
Leo smiled. “Don’t you have school to worry about?”
Piper smirked. “Homeschool; I can just tell Dad I have a trip to New York and he’ll send me with my teachers.”
Leo was excited at the idea of Piper coming to New York. He wanted to see her in person again, and yet. “What about Jason?”
She grimaced for a moment before her face morphed into a determined expression. “I guess I can’t keep running from that talk. Better get it over with now.”
Leo nodded. “Want me to be there with you?”
Piper shook her head. “This is something I need to do alone. We’re still gonna hang out a lot, Leo.”
He smiled. “We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
When Piper got to camp, she immediately made her way to Calypso. He’s not sure what they talked about or whether talked was the right word for it, but by the end of it she looked much happier.
It helped that Annabeth was standing right behind Piper, ready to step in if things got bad. He knew she and Percy had issues with Calypso for some reason but he’d been too scared to ask. Right now, he was glad for it.
She took him to one side when she was done and wrapped her arms around him. He melted into her embrace immediately. “I’m glad you’re here, Piper.”
“Me too, Leo.”
She pulled back around the time Jason showed up. The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like ages and Leo knew they needed their privacy. He left them to it, ignoring the pit forming in his stomach at the thought of them getting back together.
He made his way to Bunker Nine, hoping to take his mind off everything going on. He found himself getting lost in his work when he heard the doors open again.
He looked up and saw Jason staring at him with a smile on his face. “You’ve been busy.”
Leo looked at his hands and found he was holding a sword. He’d forged a whole sword without noticing. He turned back to Jason with a small smile. “Whoops. So, how’d it go?”
Jason shrugged. “We talked, she told me why she broke up with me, I got it, and we’re trying to move on now. Maybe we can be friends again down the line.”
Leo hid his shock as best he could. He could have sworn the two would end up getting back together, but apparently not. “You alright, Jay?”
He sighed and walked into the Bunker. “I will be. Piper’s with Annabeth right now and… I just needed someone.”
Leo dropped his tools and wrapped his arms around Jason. Despite their size difference, Jason felt small in his arms. “I’m here for you Jay. Whatever you need.”
Jason tightened his grip around Leo just a bit. “I know.”
He led Jason to a nearby bench as they sat. Jason had his head on Leo’s shoulder, which was kind of awkward considering he was over six feet tall. “I just thought we’d be together for a lot longer, you know?”
“Yeah.”
Jason sighed and stayed there for a bit longer before he sat up. “What about you?”
Leo tensed, knowing what he meant. “I’m fine.”
“You sure? I’m here for whatever you need, Leo.”
That got to him more than it probably should have. He shook his head and buried his face in Jason’s chest, no longer able to hold back his tears. Jason’s arms quickly came around him, rubbing his back and cradling his head gently.
“Why didn’t she like me? What’s wrong with me? Why doesn’t anyone like me?” The words came out of him without his permission, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Besides, he knew he could trust Jason with this. Despite his love life not working out, he knew Jason had his back.
Jason was quick to reassure him. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Leo. She just doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”
“I broke up with her this morning.”
“I’m proud of you, Leo.”
They sat there for a long time afterward, just taking comfort in each other’s presence. Leo wasn’t sure what he was going to do going forward, but he was glad Jason was there with him.
Leo felt him press a kiss to the top of his head and he relaxed even further. “I’m with you, Leo. Forever.”
Leo liked the sound of that.
The next year was filled with recovery.
For the most part, the recovery included camp recovering from an attack by Nero which meant that they’d be dragged kicking and screaming into another divine mess.
But there was also a bit of recovery between him, Jason, and Piper.
For one, the three of them were dealing with breakups of their own and how to manage being friends with each other considering one of those breakups was between two of them, but they managed.
It was slow going, but they’d managed to patch things up well enough to be able to hang out without too much issue after about three months. That was when Apollo showed up and Jason almost died, which Leo and Piper much preferred not to think about.
Percy had been a blessing during these times, helping them fight as well as providing a neutral third party for any of them to talk to about what was going on. He’d also managed to patch things up with the guy after he’d broken up with Calypso.
His face when he learned what she did was one he’d never forget. If past Leo thought he was scary, he’d seen nothing yet.
“She did what ?” His voice was calm but his eyes promised pain.
“It’s fine, man. No need to spill blood on my account.”
Percy snarled, though Leo felt strangely safe. He knew it wasn’t directed at him, which helped. “First she curses Annabeth and now I learn she treated you like that. If I get my hands on her I’ll-”
“Wait, what curse?” Leo hadn’t heard of that.
Percy made an effort to calm himself. “When we were in Tartarus, Annabeth got hit by an Arai, spirits of curses, that was left by Calypso. I was beyond angry with her but I buried it because you liked her.”
Leo felt touched. “If it helps, Jason and Piper ran her out of camp and Reyna said she’s got it on sight with her.”
Percy grinned and Leo was really glad he was on his side. “It’s on sight for me and Annabeth too. So, what’s going on now?”
They talked a lot over the past year, and Leo could honestly say he was one of his best friends.
He and Piper got closer too, but no one was closer to him than Jason. He didn’t know what he felt about him, but Leo knew it went beyond just being friends.
Piper knew before he did, and she decided to talk to him about it one day. “You like Jason, don’t you?”
Leo couldn’t deny it; not with Piper saying it so bluntly. “Yeah, I do.”
She hummed for a moment before looking towards Jason. “What’s stopping you?”
Leo sighed. “He’s your ex, Pipes. And even without that, my relationships don’t work out and I don’t want to lose Jason.”
Piper looked at him for a moment before she wrapped him in a hug. “You were never the problem, Leo. If you want to be with Jason, you should be. And don’t worry about me; it’s all behind us.”
Leo nodded into her shoulder, not sure how he’d even do it, but he figured there was only one way to.
He went to Percy and asked him how he told Annabeth he liked her.
The answer made Leo realize he shouldn’t follow Percy’s example. “I told her about a year and a half after I figured out I liked her and it was after we fought a war where her brother died.”
Annabeth snorted and looked at Leo with a glint in her eye. “That was after I kissed him, mind you.”
Leo nodded. “Ok, so wait forever and be oblivious as shit. Got it.”
“Oh, shut up,” the three of them laughed before Percy grew serious. “Listen, man, I’d say you should just go and tell Jason about this. You’ve got nothing to lose. Don’t make the same mistake I did and wait too long.”
Annabeth frowned and looked at Percy for a moment. “We’re talking about that later.”
Percy’s eyes widened and he sighed. “Alright. But yeah, Leo, you should go.”
Leo blinked. “How did you know it was Jason?”
The two of them gave him a look and he nodded. “Obvious, right, I’m going.”
He ran directly to Jason before he could lose his nerves or spontaneously combust from embarrassment. The son of Jupiter’s eyes lit up when he saw Leo and his heart skipped a beat.
“Hey, Leo. What’s up?”
Leo swallowed his nerves and got to the point. “Can we talk?”
Jason looked at him for a moment before smiling. “Sure. Let’s head to my cabin; no one’ll bother us there.”
Leo followed Jason quietly, trying to figure out how he should go about this. He was nervous but excited, and he dared to hope this would work.
When they got in, Leo decided to just get out with it before he lost his courage. “I like you, Jason. Like, a lot. And I get if you don’t like me back, but I just wanted you to know.”
Jason stared at him with a soft look in his eyes that melted Leo. “Well, it’s about time.”
When he kissed Leo, all thoughts left his mind. All that mattered was Jason.
And for once, he felt like things would work out.