LEO

~•♡•~

things went about as well as leo had hoped.

he ended up staying up later than everyone else. aruna was hidden away in her room, stating she was in a bad mood. leo had a feeling it also had to do with that gash she'd received, and he wanted to check on her, but after their fight, leo figured that would go about as well as the vietnam war did.

everyone had eaten dinner way before leo. they'd tried to invite him, but he forced himself to stay at the control panel. now, it was past sundown, and leo was eating a lonely bowl of lucky charms to make himself feel better.

but, he didn't feel very lucky at all.

he entirely regretted everything he'd said. he hadn't meant it, of course. he wondered if annabeth and percy ever had fights like that, or hazel and frank, or piper and jason.

then, he laughed to himself. those guys were all dating.

it's not even like we're dating.

can't have issues if there's no we.

that one stung. leo hung his head, staring at his bowl. he'd eaten all of the marshmallows, leaving the nasty, regular cereal. he put his spoon back in his bowl and stared at it.

a door opened down the hall. he turned his head slightly, watching as aruna quietly closed her room door. she sniffed, making her way opposite of leo, her breathing heavy again. leo watched as she made her way up the stairs, her face hollow, her hands shaking.

okay, now he had to check on her. maybe, while doing so, he could apologize.

he ran up the stairs suddenly. moonlight breached, hitting his skin, glowing faintly in the night. aruna was standing starboard, her hands leaning on the railing. her hair was still in braids, and leo could see that the wound was now puffy, swollen, and red.

infected.

"you um," he cleared his throat as aruna turned to look at him. "you need some ambrosia. it's getting infected."

she turned away. "oh. okay."

"can i join you?"

aruna shrugged, but that seemed to hurt, so she gave him a thumbs up. slowly, leo walked over to join her, maintaining a safe distance of about three feet. close enough to see her face, far enough that she wouldn't be mad at him.

"when i say i don't mean those things..." she started softly, her voice scratchy and hoarse. "i don't mean them at you. i guess... i guess that i mean them about myself, if that makes sense."

leo nodded. "i figured."

"how?"

"because when you do mean things at people," leo started. "everyone can feel it in their soul. like- like a bomb just went off in their chest."

aruna didn't seem to find that amusing. she looked at the night sky, staring at the stars and moon alike. they twinkled like a thousand shards of diamonds, and leo found himself looking at them, too.

"i don't mean to be such a mean person." aruna said as a tear traced her cheek. "i know i am. and frankly- it's toxic. but i don't know how to fix it. i like to blame every bad thing about myself on what happened to me in my childhood, but that's just a lie, leo. sometimes... sometimes, i think people are just bad. my grandpa and grandma were. maybe i'm bad, too."

"you're not bad." leo shook his head. "don't ever say that. sure, we all have some flaws about ourselves, but it makes us human. it's normal for you to yell at people, and maybe shift blame to them. everyone does it. it doesn't make you a disgusting, terrible person for yelling a few times."

"but it isn't a few times." aruna pointed out. "i seem to do nothing but yell and cry and say mean things when it gets rough. leo, i..."

she looked at him. two tears fell from her left eye.

"i thought you were dead."

leo frowned and looked away.

"i don't die. i'll never die on you, space girl. okay?"

aruna smiled and shook her head as she wiped her tears with her sleeve. "you shouldn't make dumb promises like that, leo. we can't control death. really... we can't seem to control much of this quest. every time i try to close my eyes, some new bullshit is happening. and then it gets rough, and i... i shut down."

"and it's okay if you do." leo said. "aru, you've been through so much, more than most of us have. it's okay. really, i'm surprised you don't do it more with what i know."

"i try not to." aruna whispers. "because every time i do, it makes me like them. and i can't be like them."

"and you're not." leo assured as he scooted closer to aruna. "aru, you saved a demigod like, two weeks after our first quest- which, you were also thrown into, and defeated two giants in one day. you saved me and jason at medea's lair. you vowed to save piper's dad, and did. we got into it with the maenads that one time, and you managed to get us out in one piece. you literally fought a guy like, four times your size because he was trying to kill me. you fought a giant shrimp and managed to protect your friends. what more can you do?"

aruna couldn't say anything. steady tears streamed down her face as she looked up, her silver eyes glazed over as the moonlight refracted off them, turning them a sort of milky color.

"i think you're ridiculous."

leo leaned his head back as aruna turned to him.

"why does your stupid ass always find something nice to say about some of the dumbest things?" she smiled. "i tried to kill said demigod when we got back to camp. i almost got into a fight with lityerses, reaper of men, while wielding a shattered teapot. i screamed and ran in fear as a clay creature whirled clay at me. we got into it with the maenads because i forced you and the others to go with me into the woods because i was bored. and the giant shrimp whacked me so hard, percy jackson nearly threw up because he could see my skull."

"i did not know that last part." leo admitted. "but, still, it kind of goes back to my point. when you fuck up, you un-fuck it."

aruna snorted. "i un-fuck it?"

"yes!" leo smiled. aruna laughed a bit and looked back at the sky. leo kept his eyes on her.

"but that is exactly my point." leo said. "we're not black and white. we're all just varying shades of grey. sometimes, you save your friends from a shrimpzilla. sometimes, you yell at them, and say things you don't mean. sometimes, you pull a hammer on them and yell about how insecure they make you. sometimes, you high-five them and do a dance ritual. because that's just what people do. you aren't the only one. i do it. piper does it. jason and annabeth do it. i dunno about percy jackson, 'cause i don't know him very well, but he seems like the dude to be kinda shitty every now and then. and we all know frank does it, what with him being all sweet and lovey to hazel one minute, then scowling at me like i'm the antichrist the next."

aruna smiled. "all right, socrates. i guess i believe you."

"cool!"

leo rested against the ship, crossing his arms. his shoulder was touching aruna's now, her body colder compared to his natural heat.

"come on." leo grabbed her hand and pulled her back downstairs. their voices lowered to whispers as they did so.

"what?"

"we'll get you some ambrosia, and put you to bed."

aruna followed leo into sickbay. carefully, he grabbed a few squares of ambrosia, and fed them to her while she dug around for some of hedge's nature gooze he kept on hand. she handed it to leo and turned her back to him.

leo blushed as he applied the ointment to her wound. the stitches were thick, black and bumpy, almost like the spine of a reptile. he knew it must have hurt, because even though aruna tried to hold back pain, she tensed and winced.

"s-sorry." leo muttered. he wiped his hand and applied a thin strip of bandages to really keep the gooze on there.

"it's fine." aruna sighed heavily. "let's just... go to bed. i didn't sleep at all last night."

"you were literally concussed." leo deadpanned as he and aruna went back up the stairs.

"i thought you were dead." she countered. "you don't sleep in moments like that."

she stopped at leo's bedroom door. he opened it up, turning on the light quietly, making sure not to wake anyone. he walked inside, kicking aside some of the metal and scrapped papers.

"alright. night, leo." aruna waved, her hand gentle. leo stared at her as she began to walk away. she closed the door, and leo heard her faint footsteps as she stole away into her room.

leo brought his head down as he made his way to his bed. he sat down on it, reaching for his bedside table. he opened the drawer, and pulled out the little statue he'd made months ago.

a girl, dressed in a greek chiton with a billowing cloak, spun around, the tune melancholy and familiar. her face was sad, tilted skywards, her hand outstretched upwards like she was addressing the moon. her hair was straight, her arms thin and legs long. leo stared at it longingly, and wound it up, playing a melancholy tune.

he didn't know why he had brought it along. he didn't know why he'd kept it so long. he didn't even know why he'd made it.

but he loved it. he loved it just as he loved her. he loved how he'd managed to captivate the way her torso tilts. he loved how the statue captured her long legs, graceful even in a basic stance. he loved the way her hair was the perfect length, straight but not super flat against her skull, either. he loved the strip of metal that fell between her eyes, the way it was lighter than the rest.

the one thing he disliked about the statue was the face. he'd put it together quickly, and hadn't taken time to perfect it. her eyes were too small, he felt, her eyebrows too close. her cheekbones were too low on the statue, making her seem less angular. her lips curved down into a sad pout, but not the right sad. aruna lips were sad in a long-term way, like she'd been hollowed out from the inside. the lips one the statue seemed like an event had just happened. not the kind of sad like a toy had been taken, but like a monster had hurt a dear friend.

or like a betrayal. she seemed to be tilted to the moon, and it made her seem like the sadness was caused by her mother. it seemed not to be a sadness like she'd been in trouble, or she was told not to talk to a boy she liked, but abandonment.

and aruna did not look like that. it was the one thing about the statue that leo did not like at all. part of him wanted to tank the whole thing, but he never could. it felt special to him. maybe because he hadn't really focused on it. it was a heat of the moment craft. he thought maybe it was because it didn't fully capture aruna, actually. he wanted to admire her, not a statue of her.

he wondered if gods felt that way. did they appreciate being honored through statues? statues that did not capture who they were entirely? leo thought you never could do that. he fully believed that no matter how hard you try, whether it be a painting, a statue, a craft of some sort, you could never fully captivate who a person is through it.

maybe that was why he didn't redo the statue. he didn't want to attempt that. he knew he would never captivate her beauty in it's complexity. he'd never be able to get her lips right. he'd never be able to display the way her smile made everything seem silver to the touch. never would he be able to show people how her eyes seemed like the very moon itself, only better. he'd never be able to prove to everyone that she was better than all of them.

he put the statue back on the table after the song had finished. he felt a longing for her. he wanted her to be in his arms the way she was last night, her body against his, warming up the coldness he felt right now. it felt like a flash freeze had suddenly hit his room and he stared at the door, hoping, praying she opened it up again.

he frowned. he didn't need her to do it.

he stood up. he walked to the door, his footsteps brisk. he rested his hand on the handle, but hesitated.

she doesn't need you.

he pushed it aside. he didn't need that energy. he couldn't bother with that. not right now.

before he could open the door, it was pushed open. he stepped back in time, and aruna looked at him, her eyes wide and surprised, like she hadn't expected him to be so close. after a moment, she relaxed.

leo didn't know how long it'd been. ten minutes? thirty? an hour? he had been so lost in thought, he'd lost track of time.

her breathing was normal again. her skin looked healthier, but her eyes still looked exhausted. it was clear at a glance that neither of them had bothered sleeping.

"hi." aruna breathed out, her voice low. she slipped inside the room, closing the door behind her.

leo didn't bother to move. they stood facing each other, mere inches away. leo's body felt panicked yet relaxed, as it often did when he was near her. she smelled like mint, cooling leo as he gently breathed her in.

"i was just..." leo hesitated. should he say anything?

he didn't know what to do. aruna's face looked so calm, like she'd planned for this. her eyes flicked down to his lips, and leo's breath hitched.

did he imagine that?

he stared at her lips- rosy, plump, moist. he wanted to know what her lips felt like. he wanted to know how she tasted, how her hands felt against his skin.

he reached a hand to her cheek. she froze, her eyes on his, though he looked at her lips as his hand gently held her face. he didn't know what to do, so he did what he hoped was right. he took it slow.

but, evidently, he didn't need to. within three seconds, aruna had surged forward, and pressed her lips onto his.

oh.

oh.

leo's eyes widened in shock before he realized it was real. he laid hair palm against her cheek, his eyes closing as he tilted his head. aruna's hands flew around his neck, pulling him closer. leo felt everything in his brain short-circuiting.

she pulled away first. leo opened his eyes. one of his hands was on her waist, the other on her cheek. both of her arms were around his neck, her face extremely close to him as she studied him once more, her lips now wet with his saliva.

leo kissed her again. aruna tilted her head, gently moving her lips against his. leo smiled as he pulled her closer, his lips moving in tandem with her own. he felt her smile, too. he felt her glowing against him, her nose pressing into his as she kissed him, her movements gentle, like she didn't want to scare him off, yet quick, like she had been waiting for it.

leo figured he moved in a similar way. he couldn't believe this was happening.

aruna pulled away, her breathing heavy, her chest rising and falling quickly against leo's, her cheeks red. she brought one of her hands to his cheek, gently caressing it as she gazed into his eyes, her own full of an emotion leo couldn't identify.

and she did it again, and leo still had trouble believing it. all at once, everything he'd ever told himself flew out the window as he fell back onto the bed, with the girl of his dreams against him, her smile pressed into his own.

and she tasted sweet, yet refreshing. like honey mixed in with an iced tea, perfect against the warmth of leo; the warmth of a summer's day.

~•♡•~

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SLOW BURN FANFICTION WITHOUT THE ITALICIZED oh. AND WE HAVE ALL KNOWN THIS SINCE WE LOGGED ONTO WATTPAD AT THE TENDER AGE OF ELEVEN

AND ALSO, I LOVE NAMING MY CHAPTERS RIDICULOUS THINGS BECAUSE NEVER DO I LIE IN THE TITLE