Leo Valdez x Reader

It's a Date

**hey guys! First off, thanks for reading! Secondly, comment any suggestions you have for further stories. Enjoy!**

You had been at camp for quite a while-about three weeks-when you noticed that there was a boy who loved to play pranks. It wasn't the Stoll brothers; you knew of them quite well after they had given you a "strawberry" which was actually a cherry tomato. It could have been worse, but you weren't expecting it, so you spit it out, thinking it was bad. And in your defense, it did look like a strawberry. Some of the Hectate kids had been in on that one. This boy was not one of the Stolls, and he was certainly different. You didn't know who he was, because you were still trying to get your own sibling(s) name(s) right, so how could you possibly know? You asked the one blonde girl who had saved the world a bunch of times. What was her name? Annabel? Elizabeth? Annabeth! Yeah, you asked Annabeth who he was, since she seemed to know who everyone was at this camp.
"Oh, him?" she asked, pointing to the dark, curly haired boy who was currently laughing at something Annabeth's boyfriend had told her. What was his name again? Oh, you didn't care at this point.
"Yeah, the one who's talking to your boyfriend," you said, hoping she would tell you his name, too.
"Oh, you mean Percy? Percy's my boyfriend. The one with the black hair and paler skin. The skinny one with the curls is Leo. His dad's Hephaestus. Leo's pretty cool. He was a part of the seven back on the days of the Argo 2. Actually, he built the Argo 2. Nothing would've been possible without him. Why do you ask?" You thought for a moment. Did you really want to tell her what you thought? Sure, she was a really cool girl, and your best friend at Camp Half-Blood, but she seemed like she was good friends with him. Would she tell him?
"Oh, it just seems like he pranks people a lot, and I wanted to know who to blame if my hair suddenly changed colors or something." Which was true, but not the whole truth.
"Yeah," Annabeth said, laughing a little to herself. "I'd be expecting that more from the Stolls, though. Leo's more the one to do sarcasm and jokes rather than practical jokes. He does have a thing for putting shaving cream on people's Jell-O, though, so just watch for that." You laughed a little at that. Shaving cream on Jell-O? Genius! Why hadn't you thought of that one yet?
"Thanks, Annabeth," you said, still watching Leo and Percy talking. You noticed that he had just looked over at you, and you looked away. You didn't want him to know you were staring. Especially since you were already worried about him not talking to you. He seemed like a really social guy, but he had no interest in you. Not even so much as a simple 'hey, how's it goin'? I'm Leo, nice to meet you.' And the fact that he has at least made a joke about everyone else but you? That scared you even more. Was he trying to keep his distance from you because he didn't like you? Because he talked badly about you behind your back? Annabeth looked at you, reading your thoughts.
"You okay? You seem like you have a lot going on in your mind." You nodded, but she still wasn't convinced. "C'mon, let's go take a walk on the beach."
:]
"So, you're worried that he's bullying you?" Annabeth asked you, just to clarify. The beach was surprisingly as empty as Hera's cabin-and on a summer evening, too!
"Yeah, I know it's stupid, but I've had people talk badly about me before, and I didn't think I would get that here and..." You let out an exasperated sigh, plopping down in the sand. Annabeth knelt next to you, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder.
"Hey, look at me," she said calmly. You look up at her with hope that she'll give you some wise words (goddess of wisdom's daughter, after all.) "Leo's the type of guy that gets bullied; he doesn't bully people. You should talk to him. I think you two would be good friends." She smiled reassuringly. You nodded.
"Maybe you're right. Thanks. I think I'll try talking to him later."
"Do you want me to come with you to try and strike up a conversation?" she knew how awkward you were with meeting new people and getting conversations started. It was just another thing about yourself that you wished you could change.
"Please?"
"Alright, after supper."
:]
At supper, you barely touched your food. You were so nervous that that Leo kid was secretly talking about you behind your back and doing to you what kids had done to you at every school you had been to. Annabeth noticed that you were only dragging your fork around the plate; barely picking it up to your mouth.
"Hey, don't worry. I know Leo. He's a pretty cool guy. He would never make fun of you. Especially since you're with me. He's scared to death of me," she reassured you, her grey eyes pleading with you to eat. You nodded slightly, not fully convinced that he wasn't making fun of you.
"Look, if you want me to talk to him, I will, but I know he's not making fun of you. So please just eat something," she pleaded, her voice thick with desperation. You didn't want to seem weak, and you had to make your own reputation. You couldn't be forever known as Annabeth's shadow.
"You know what," you said, looking up from your full plate and at Annabeth,"I'll talk to him. But could you still be there? I don't even know how to start a conversation, really." Annabeth sighed wit relief and nodded her head.
"Sure thing. Now will you please eat something?"
"Alright," you said, picking up your fork full of food and putting it into your mouth. It was just as delicious as last time. You didn't even notice you were so hungry because you were so worried, and you had ate everything within a ,after of minutes. Annabeth looked over at you, clearly pleased that you had eaten.
"Ready?" she asked with a smile. Suddenly, you weren't so happy you ate everything. You nodded nervously. Your palms were starting to sweat and you started to chew your lip nervously, as you always did when you were anxious. You got up from the table, and followed Annabeth onto the beach. What would a guy like him be doing on the beach?
"How do you know he'll be here?" you asked curiously.
"Oh, he always comes out here after dinner. It reminds him of her." Annabeth said sadly. She began to walk slower, and you realized she was going to explain to you who her was.
"Her? Who's her?" you asked, clearly interested.
"Uh, well, he met a girl who he fell in love with, as she did with him. They couldn't be together because she was a goddess and Olympus forbade it. He was really heartbroken, as was she. After all, he was the one who rescued her."
"Rescued her? Why does a goddess need rescuing? That's so...weird," you said, stopping yourself from saying dumb.
"Well, she was Calypso. Have you heard of her yet in your Greek lessons?" You shook your head. Calypso? Wasn't that a type of music or something? "Oh, well, Calypso supported her father, Atlas, in the first Titan War. When the Titans lost, Calypso was punished to an island, where every once in a longtime, a hero would come around for her to fall in love with. Eventually, they had to leave to go save the world, so she was left alone on the island by herself to fix her heartbreak. Leo was the only man to ever come back to Ogygia and save her, but the gods wouldn't allow them tone normal. They said that Leo was welcome on Olympus, but not as a god. So, he told Calypso to be the goddess she is, and forget about him, because he knew he would die eventually, which meant more heartbreak for her. And for him, too...which would explain why he's avoiding you like the plague," Annabeth stopped in her tracks, closed her eyes painfully, and pursed her lips. You stopped, too, upon hearing her last words. Oh gods, you thought. What's she thinking? This makes no sense! Why's he avoiding me like the plague?
"What?" you asked, panicked. "What's wrong? Why is he avoiding me? Do you know?" Annabeth nodded and let out a deep sigh.
"He's avoiding you," she said slowly, as if she was talking to a child who just didn't understand something, "because he likes you. He likes you and he doesn't want to be hurt again. Or even worse; hurt you." The words struck you like lightning; all at once, fast, and painfully shocking. How could anyone like you? You were only there for three weeks! It just didn't make sense. You couldn't register the facts that a) someone was avoiding you because b) they liked you and c) they didn't want to hurt you. It was sweetly creepy.
"Whoa, sister. What now?"
"Leo likes you. It's the only explanation."
"Or he's spreading rumors about me."
"Then why haven't either of us heard of them yet?" She had a valid point. It was a small camp; news traveled fast.
"T-then why haven't we heard rumors about Leo liking me?"
"He doesn't have to tell anyone. In fact, he probably didn't. He likes to keep his brokenness balled up inside of him so no one can see how bad it is." You were a train wreck of emotions. Someone liked you. Was he a good kid? Did he really like you? He was obviously loyal because of the whole Calypso thing. Would he ask you out? Was he going to talk to you? Did you like him back?
Did you like him back?
It was a big change from 'he's making fun of me let's kill him' to 'he likes me omigods do I like him back?' and it was one you hadn't yet experienced at Camp Half-Blood. You stood there for a moment with your jaw dropped.
"I-I'm sorry that's a bit much to take in from someone you thought was bullying you, isn't it?" she asked, clearly regretting how she told you that he liked you. You nodded, closing your mouth. Just then, Annabeth's face turned into a painful grimace for some reason. But it wasn't physical pain-it was emotional.
"I should probably talk to him...alone," she said. "I need to tell him that you know. I'll just tell him that I told you on accident after I figured it out and that you don't feel the same-" you cut her off, responding way too quickly.
"I never said t-that I didn't," you said, not believing the words that came out of your mouth. Annabeth didn't look so pained anymore.
"Oh my gods. That's why you were so worried about him making fun of you. You liked him, and you wanted to spend time with him. Oh my gods, I'm such an idiot!" Annabeth smiled warmly, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. You blushed profusely, knowing that it was all true. You thought the Latino boy was cute, and you were upset that he never noticed you. You thought that maybe he was making fun of you because how could someone that cute ever like you? Apparently, he could like you just as easily as you could like him.
"Oh my gods," Annabeth repeated excitedly. "I have to tell Leo! My OTP will be canon! You guys can go on double dates with me and Percy and-"
"Wait a second!" You said, cutting her off again. "How do we even know for sure he likes me?" Annabeth smiled cunningly, clearly up to no good in that logical brain of hers.
"Only one way to find out. Come on!"
:]
You found Leo sitting in the sand, making something with random items from his yellow tool belt, which had to be magical. There was no way a tool belt that big could hold that many pipe cleaners.
"Uh, a-are you Leo?" you asked shyly. Annabeth was hiding in the background, and you shot her a nervous glance. She gave you a thumbs up, and you looked back down at Leo.
"Uh, yeah. Are you the new girl?"
"Yeah."
"Have a seat." You sat down in the sand next to him as he put the pipe cleaners away. The view of the sunset over the ocean was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Wow..." you mumbled under your breath, taken aback by the beauty.
"Yeah, it's really pretty here. I come here to think after dinner every night. It helps to clear my head." You thought of Annabeth telling you about that. You knew why he was really here. You felt a pang of sadness for him, and you understood.
The waves crashed onto the shore for a little bit before Leo finally spoke again.
"So, uh, did you need to tell me something?" he asked. You looked over at him, puzzled.
"What? No."
"Then why'd you come over here? I mean, you've never talked to me before so..."
"That's actually kinda why I came over here..." you said, remembering your purpose.
"Oh, okay. What's up, then?" he asked with a goofy smile. There's no way he made fun of me, you thought. You returned a smile.
"I was just wondering if there was a reason why you didn't talk to me or..." you trailed off, but he got the idea.
"Oh, uh, I guess I just never really got a chance to talk to you," he said. Your heart sank.you had really hoped that he had liked you.
"Oh. Well, Annabeth said that you were usually pretty social with people so I just thought maybe since you weren't talking to me that you didn't like me and we're making fun of me behind my back or something. I mean, I'm not trying to pinpoint you as a jerk or anything, but that's just how people have treated me at my schools and..."
"It's okay, I understand. People have been like that with me, too. I used to get bullied a lot at my schools, too. And I'm not making fun of you. Unless you think me calling you cute is being mean," he said, smirking and looking at you like 'I'm very confident that you are probably going to slap me but I'm okay with that'. But you didn't slap him. Instead you blushed and laughed a little.
"No, oh gods, no, no. I-uh, thanks," you said really awkwardly. "So I take it that you've been keeping your distance from me because you like me?"
"Well, I guess you could say that. Unless you're di Angelo and keep your distance from everyone. It's like, come on bro just smile a little it won't kill you! And if it does you can always come back to life as a zombie or something." You laughed again, and he looked over at you, smiling, and clearly getting lost in your eyes. "Does that mean I can say the same about you?"
"Huh?" You completely forgot what you were talking about with him because you were so relieved that not only was he cute, but he was funny, and he liked you back.
"The whole distance thing. Is that the reason why you never talked to me, too? Because I don't think you're blushing because I'm naked. Wait-" he slapped his thighs to make sure clothes were there. "Nope. Not naked." You laughed again, nodding.
"Y-yeah, I guess so..." you were blushing a lot by now. Leo smiled, clearly relieved also.
"Well, we still have some daylight left..." he said, getting up off the sand, taking your hands, and helping you up, too. "Want to take a walk, m'lady?" he asked, holding his hand out to you like a gentleman. You smiled, flattered.
"Okay. But you have to walk me home, too," you said, taking his hand. His fingers spread out and interlaced with yours, making you blush. You could almost hear Annabeth fangirling in the background.
"It's a date."