Delayed

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**woops. I may or may not have run into some hiatus. Sorry!**
It had taken most of the winter for not only yours and Annabeth's feet to heal properly, but also for Leo to make final adjustments on Festus to make him suitable for the trip; Leo had added everything he could fit from a mini fridge in his back to cup holders. "Where else would you put your Coke?" he had said when you questioned him on it. It was now the very last day in March, and very, very early in the morning. You groggily trudged out of your cabin to find a very bright thing in your face.
Gods, it was too early for this.
You cringed at the light, and tried to shield your eyes with your only free hand; your other hand was currently holding your thin jacket that you wanted to take. It was all that you had at camp besides your winter stuff. Who would think to bring spring stuff? You didn't know you would be staying that long, anyway.
"Someone's not a morning person!" declared a familiar voice that you could almost hear the smirk in.
Leo.
"Hey! Turn your flamey stuff off, you nightlight!"
"Oh, sorry," he said, closing his his hand and making the flames disappear. Suddenly, you could see again. Leo was full of grease and his hair was matted down from sweat. He had obviously been up all night trying to finish whatever he was working on.
"You're a mess."
"I know. I was making some modifications to Festus and...well..." He started to scratch nervously at the back of his neck and have you a nervous smile. Gods, that drove you crazy. He looked like an innocent puppy begging for a treat, and man was he cute when he did that.
"Don't tell me-something went wrong." You sighed deeply, putting your hand on your face and rubbing your temples. You had woken up at 3AM for nothing.
"Hey, I fixed it, though! It's all good! But, well, I couldn't fix the night vision. We'll have to leave in the morning so I can keep doing repairs." You looked at him now, and you truly looked at him. You looked straight into his eyes, and you could see exhaustion beyond relief, pain, and pure, raw affection. He really cared about you. He cared so much, he stayed up all night trying to make things comfortable for you. He was going to stay up longer so you could go on your quest. He really liked you. You kissed him on the cheek (the one that didn't have grease on it) and took his hand.
"It's okay, we can leave tomorrow. Go get some sleep for me, okay?" He looked relieved, smiled at you with thanks, and kissed your forehead.
"I think I will." He looked down and saw your jacket then. His face grew suddenly less pleased.
"Is that all you have?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll be fine, though." You felt a little uncomfortable now. You didn't have anything else, but you were still going.
"I'll be right back. Stay right here, okay?" He didn't wait for your answer. He jogged off to his cabin, and came back moments later with what looked like an oversized traffic cone from a distance.
"Here. This should be warmer." He handed you what you now realized was a hoody. It had the camp logo on the front, 'CABIN' on the top, an oversized 9 in the middle, and Leo's last name on the bottom.
"Thank you," you said, blushing. "Are you gonna be warm enough?"
He smirked, saying, "Baby, I'm always hot."
You held your breath.
You couldn't breathe.
All that would've came out was the sounds of a dying piglet.
Leo Valdez just called you baby.
He called you baby!
"That's very true," you finally said after the shock wore off.
"Well, I, gonna turn in. Goodnight, babe." He kissed you on the cheek, and headed off the bed.
He called you babe.
For the rest of that night, you wore his hoody, which smelled like a combination of machine oil, home cooking, and campfire smoke-the smells that made up Leo Valdez. Needless to say, you were happy.

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