Leo Valdez x Reader

Fluff & a Breakup

**author update: I broke both of my feet, and then I went on vacation for a week, and when I came back I lost the charger to my iPad. Still haven't found it so I'm using the one from my phone right now. :/ thank you guys for being so cooperative with all my delays, and I couldn't believe I had 40+ notifications when I came back!!! You guys are truly awesome :3**
You were walking back to the dragon with Annabeth and Leo, your fingers gently laced in his, when he suddenly stopped.
"You know, Annabeth, a schedule isn't that important anymore, is it? I mean, after every other delay, what's one more?" he asked, a serious look on his face (but yet he managed yet again to still look like a puppy).
Annabeth crossed her arms and gave him a very displeasing look when she turned around to look at him.
"And what might that be? Did you forget to screw something in on the dragon?" She asked the question as normally as someone would say 'did you forget to take the dog for a walk?' But angrily, of course. She knew Leo tended to forget simple things that turned into catastrophes later on. Like the night he tried to make you spaghetti and he forgot to get sauce, so he used pumpkin sauce since it looked similar. You laughed for hours at that one, but neither of you ate the spaghetti. You smiled slightly at the memory now, hoping Annabeth hadn't seen.
"Oh, no. Festus is fine. It's this one here I'm worried about. I haven't done anything special with her. And on our anniversary, too!" He gently shook the arm that was holding your hand to make you aware that he was talking about you. You smiled and looked up at him, and he smiled and looked down at you. Suddenly, Annabeth's anger melted into a chorus of 'awwwe!' and you knew you had permission.

The area was all run down; buildings were halfway decayed and overrun with plants and rodents, the grass was severely overgrown in some places, and the streetlights were mostly hanging limply from wires. The sun had just began to set, and the air was chilling fast. You still had Leo's flannel on, and while you loved that, you wished desperately for a hot shower, a hot meal, and a nice change of clothes. Your hair was disgusting, and so was the rest of you. You had been on this quest for a while, though, so you couldn't expect any different. The two of you walked down an old street until the bronze dragon was in the distance and out of earshot-well, for the people near the dragon, at least.
"Is it really our anniversary, or did you just make that up? Because I thought it wasn't until next week," you stated. He laughed.
"Man, even on a quest you know your days. Yeah, I just made it up because I needed an excuse to be alone. Just you and me. I figured I might as well tell you something since it looks like we'll be there soon..." You kept walking, although you could sense his nervousness. Uh-oh, that wasn't good.
"Go ahead," you said, preparing yourself for the worst. Leo had never been this sad, nervous, and anxious around you at once. The feeling wasn't good at all.
"Well, uh...I'm breaking up with you..." His voice trailed off, as if he was heartbroken about it.
"You're being serious?" you asked, your voice cracking with tears to come.
"Don't you know me by now? When am I ever serious?" he said, breaking into a smile and kissing you.
"Hey! You really scared me!" you exclaimed, slapping him on the stomach with a smile. Why hadn't you noticed that he had rock hard abs before?
"I wouldn't do that, Princess. I love you too much. You are literally the only family I have..." A sad smile broke out on his face as he explained the fire to you. The fire that killed his mother, and only living family member. It was truly heartbreaking to hear that coming from someone who never stopped smiling. To see him break down in tears was the hardest thing you've ever had to watch another person do alone.
"So, that's that story..." he said, wiping the last small tear from his face and regaining himself quickly. "Anyway, that's only part of the reason why I brought you out here. The other reason is that I wanted to give you this, because it is our anniversary next week. And since we've been going out for, what 5 months now? I figured you deserved something a little better than a bracelet." He looked down at your wrist to see that you were still wearing the metal FANGIRL bracelet with the rope around the metal plate. He had an identical one that he always wore that read FANBOY instead.
"Hey, I happen to love that bracelet."
"Well, I'm glad. But anyway, this is even better."
"You fixed the iPod?" you exclaimed, trying to guess what it was.
"Uh, no. I actually didn't think of that...that may just be our year anniversary." You laughed.
"Come one what is it?" It was the most happy and excited you'd been this whole trip. Might as well be happy, right?
"Alright, alright." He pulled out a bronze, long chained necklace with a heart on it. You took it from him and looked at it, and saw that inside the heart was a dragon breathing fire.
"Oh my gods, I don't even know what to say, it's beautiful, Leo. Thank you."
"Turn it over. It gets better." You turned over the necklace to see that the date you and also started dating-January 17, 2015, had been engraved on the back just like the dragon. Above that, the words 'You'll never be cold long, Princess' were engraved as well.
"This is the best anniversary gift I've ever gotten," you announced with tears in your eyes. It really was the best. You meant every word you said.
"I was hoping you'd like it. But wait! There's more!" Leo said, making gestures and funny voices just like an infomercial actor. You laughed at his ability to still stay that happy and funny even when he's had such a hard life. "I made it, so whenever I'm near you, it'll get warm, and the date on the back will glow like fire. It's not activated yet, but it will be in one...there." The date 1-17-15 started to shimmer just like embers in a fire, and it did get a little warm, but it was pleasant. "And when I'm thinking about you, Festus's fire glows. And when I'm thinking about how much I love you, well, turn it over." You did as instructed to see a tiny dragon blowing flames that spelled out 'I <3 u!', and the front got warm then, too.
"I love you, too," you said, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. You gave him his present then, too, which was a book you, Annabeth, and aperçu had been making of 101 Corny Jokes for Pyro Maniacs. He laughed, and enjoyed it, saying that he was going to start reading it to everyone on the dragon.
You walked back much happier than before, and ever happier that the necklace was still warm.

**Hey! :) for my 20th chapter, as a mini celebration of everything-reaching 12K, getting to chapter 20, that stuff-I'm going to do a Q&A at the beginning of the chapter, so ask me any question you ant (no, I'm not giving out any personal information not because I don't trust you guys but because some of my friends have accidentally stumbled upon this and they don't know it's me so yeah.) but yeah. Q&A! WooHoo! Put your questions in the comments!!!! :)**