#leo valdez angst

[poppitron360]

Jason Grace, consistently telling Leo he is awesome.

Name one other character that does that. I dare you.

[the-goddess-of-gays]

hey do you guys think leo made the argo II controls so complicated because he was worried the rest of the seven would leave him behind if just anybody could drive the ship

because I do

[sweetsdereese]

He’s a child of Hephaestus, a pyromancer, so why do fireworks scare him now? Why do they now remind him of his own death?

[storywriter007]

can you do a “fighting for the first time” preference/headcannons with the HoO boys ? i love ur work!!

Fighting for the First Time - HoO Boys x Fem!Reader

author's note: thank you for the request!! and i'm so glad you like my work, this literally made my day. this is what i feel like first fights (non-quest related) would go but add your ideas in the comments!!

genre: angst ending in fluff

word count: 1.5k but it's all in bullet points

-> heroes of olympus masterlist

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send me requests here! (these are my guidelines)

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percy jackson

the first time you guys seriously fight, it goes one of two ways

either a.) he doesn't care about who's right and just wants things to go back to normal or b.) he thinks he's right

option a is the preferred option

he tries to talk to you, finding you whenever and wherever

he refuses to leave until the problem is sorted out

and he is upset the entire duration of the fight

he apologizes for anything

"i'm sorry if i did anything at all to hurt you" kind of apology

option a fights would be over things like unintentionally hurting each-other

like accidentally saying something mean or sparring too roughly with each-other

or it would be over his reckless behavior

in which he understands why it worries you

this first fight wouldn't last long

maybe a day before you guys are all good again

option b is the worst

when he's convinced he's right, he tunes you out

not intentionally, it's just that he's too caught up in what he's feeling to properly listen to you

you guys go back and forth in circles

practically yelling at each-other

his eyes get dark and he becomes angry quickly

refuses to listen to you until things reach a tipping point

either you or him storm out and leave the other one alone for a few days and talk it out once they've cooled down

or one of you starts crying, and the anger is overshadowed by guilt and heartbreak bc of their ignorance

this fight would probably be over his loved ones

if you had pointed out a flaw about them or something they did which you didn't appreciate

or maybe just a passing comment you unintentionally made

i mean the loyalty on that man is crazy

lots of hurt feelings during this fight

and it would last a while - the most being a week

however, both fights would have a mutual apology

where both of you apologize for the things you've said and done

and you guys agree to do better in the future

you probs end up falling asleep in cabin 3 that night

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jason grace

to get in a serious fight with him, it's gotta be something big

jason is calm and level-headed

he takes a walk the first time things get heated and comes back to you with a clear mind

he talks to you calmly, treating the fight more like a debate

don't get it wrong though: internally he's freaking out

he's lost a lot, and he doesn't want to lose you

honestly your first serious fight with him would be over reckless behavior (on your end) or him being walked over

your first serious fight spawns from how deeply you two care for each-other

either he's mad you don't care about yourself and doesn't know how to tell you calmly bc you don't listen

or you're mad that he's ready to die for gods and kids who don't care about him in the least

you guys only fight about these things because light-hearted conversations don't send the message

jason, especially, stays stern during the fight

you wonder if he even cares tbh

but then you notice how he pauses and searches for words, how his lip twitches when you say something snappy, and the look in his eyes

he barely raises his voice, and only does it when you interrupt him constantly

the first fight would end within a day

it would end with revealing why you are reckless or why he is so selfless

it would be a calm, vulnerable conversation

would probs end in a make-out session bc he was so afraid he was gonna lose you

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leo valdez

i'm going to be so real rn: the fight starts because he's feeling inferior

he loves you sm and he considers himself lucky to have you

but bc of that - his feeling of inferiority would be on the back of his mind

he's not really jealous, but more-so afraid you're going to leave him at the drop of a hat like how everyone else has

so he gets upset if you're spending too much time around any other guy

the book series repeatedly talks about leo's insecurities and how he feels like he's not good enough and how he feels everything is his fault

insecurity runs deep and it would most definitely be a reason for a fight

you guys do raise your voices bc at first you're not understanding each-other

you think he's jealous and he thinks you don't want to be with him anymore

after you guys are done with your screaming match, leo would coop up wherever his machines are

he would stay there for a long time and think

he 100% is over analyzing every single thing you said to him

he's convinced you guys are going to break up and you're going to leave him

and he deserves it because it's his fault for starting the argument

even though he isn't jealous or thinks you're a cheater, he just let his insecurities get the best of him

and he feels like it's over for you two

he doubts himself; wondering if he should even try to talk to you or just let what he believes is the inevitable happen

so he doesn't even try to apologize

he is convinced it is all his fault

overworks himself in an attempt to distract himself from all of his terrible thoughts

you, on the other hand, have your time alone and want to talk to him

it's nighttime and he's nowhere to be found

you go to his little lab and voila, there he is

his eyes are red and sunken and his hands are shaky and dirty

you don't say anything, you just hug him

he breaks down and tells you why he was actually mad

he profusely apologizes and doesn't blame you if you want to break up

you explain to him that you are with him because you love him and that one little fight would never make you leave him

you reassure him that he is more than enough

this fight doesn't last more than a day or maybe two

the fight would end with a really intense kiss

and you would probably spend the rest of the night with him in his little work area

you'd watch movies, make jokes, laugh a lot, and company him while he manically works on something

that something is metal flowers as an apology for acting the way he did

it's his way of saying "we're stuck together and i love you :)"

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frank zhang

it's difficult to get into a serious fight with frank

but if you do, it would be over reckless behavior (on your end, c'mon y/n) or his own insecurity

your reckless behavior specifically with fire

frank and fire do not get along - it's well known

he literally can't stand you doing something dangerous in general

but with fire, it's even worse

he's convinced something terrible is going to happen and he lashes out at you bc of his previous experiences with fire

this fight would be short-lived though, bc you would understand why he feels that way

you'd apologize to him and he would apologize for lashing out

you'd agree to stop joking around with fire, but you'd convince him to start getting over his fear

this first fight actually ends up more helpful in the long run as frank slowly overcomes his fear of fire with you by his side

however, if it's his own insecurities, this would go another way

as mentioned, frank has been bullied

and he repeatedly feels like an outcast because he doesn't have dyslexia/adhd, he's an archer but he's a mars kid, and his life depends on a piece of firewood

your fight would start bc he felt left out with you

but it's just him overthinking

(if you use a sword) it's you sparring with jason or percy for practice

and it kinda makes him feel like "i want to help my gf but she needs someone who's actually good"

if you hang out with another mars kid for too long

makes him think "what i should be"

if you made a jab at him that he took a little too seriously

frank is a gentle giant, so he wouldn't yell in the least

you guys would argue and he'd be lost for words, kind of stuttering and repeating himself a lot

he'd just kinda walk off during an argument

this would make you mad bc he started the thing and doesn't want to listen to you

but really, he just wants to talk to you when it's not so heated

you'd go hide in your cabin/room

frank would be walking around and comes to the realization that walking out on your argument was a douchebag move

he shapeshifts into like a rat or a bug or something to go see you in your cabin and make sure you're not hurt

you'd see some random animal in your cabin and you get freaked out

he turn back into himself and apologizes for being rash

he'd be honest and tell you that he was just overthinking things and that he just got in his own head

you accept his apology and tell him to communicate better

to tell you if he feels left out or if he doesn't think something is funny, and to tell you that's he's leaving the argument bc he wants to think abt it

this fight is over by sundown

and you spend the rest of the evening practicing archery with him

[demigod-shenanigans]

You know what devastates me? The fact that Leo didn’t get to have any kind of birthday celebration during their time on the Argo II. Jason at least got to do a small thing with Piper, but Leo’s birthday doesn’t even get a mention, despite the fact that it’s right after Jason’s. I wonder if Leo brought his birthday up at all or if he just spent the whole day fixing the ship and working on Festus because he felt so guilty about what happened to Percy and Annabeth that he thought he didn’t deserve to be celebrated.

Honestly, I wonder if Leo even remembered it was his birthday until after the fact. Maybe it’d already passed the year before when he befriended Piper, or if he befriended her before his birthday maybe he didn’t bring it up because it’d been so long since he last celebrated it that he didn’t think it was important. Either way, Piper probably didn’t know.

Maybe Leo was actually looking forward to celebrating his birthday during their Argo time originally because he finally had friends to celebrate it with, but was embarrassed about the thought of people making a fuss, so he was just planning to bake a cake or something. Except by the time it comes around, it’s obvious even without bringing it up that no one felt like cake after everything that happened, so he shelves the idea. Maybe he’ll do it some other time. Maybe next year, if they’re still alive then.

Also, how cruel is it that him and Jason just got that one shot of celebrating each other’s birthdays together and they somehow missed both?

[gaygirldoodles]

No matter what you do, don't think about Leo Valdez

Don't think about the trauma of having his mother die like that at such a young age

Don't think about how his Tia Rosa treated him horribly despite how he was just a kid

Don't think about the amount of abuse he faced in all of those foster homes he was sent to

Don't think about how he had to run away from them, fending for himself on the streets over and over again

Don't think about him being sent to wilderness school, a thing notorious for being horrible towards the kids and downright traumatizing

Don't think about the people he knew even a little who were harmed by that system or even killed

Don't think about how the history of a friendship he held so dearly turned out to be fabricated by Juno. That it was all a lie

Don't think about him still being best friend with Jason - the real Jason - only for their to be a prophecy that one of them must die

Don't think about how he decided that it must be him

He couldn't let Jason die

Don't think about how he tells Hazel and Frank about his plan because Romans understant self-sacrifice, but Jason wouldn't. Jason, who's done nothing but sacrifice things for the people he cares about.

Don't think about how Leo and Jason never reunited after that.

Don't think about him finding out that his best friend, and someone he maybe even liked more than that, died.

"Where's Jason?"

But we all know that he knew

And he still asked

Don't think about how he would blame himself for that.

You can't avoid prophecies after all

They always have to be fulfilled somehow

Don't think about his mother, Esperanza

Don't think about how he spent weeks months in Bunker 9 building the Argo II barely interacting with anybody

Don't think about how he barely even celebrated Christmas if at all because the whole world depended on hin building this huge warship

Don't think about Leo using humor to hide how bad he truly feels just so that Gaea wouldn't win

He could not let her destroy him

Because as long as he didn't lose that part of himself, he was still winning, even if what she had done had left him broken

But you do want to think about how he was finally able to find a home.

A place that would accept him how he was

A place that would be safe for him

A place where he wouldn't have to run from abusive family members and fosters homes anymore

He once again had a family that loved him.

[1800-lemon-boy]

Friendly reminder that Piper and Leo were both put into a wilderness therapy camp instead of getting the love and help they needed.

<33

[green-tea217]

whatever you do don’t think about the fact that Esperanza is buried in Texas and Leo was in Arizona, New York, California and in a bunch of foster homes and probably couldn’t visit his mothers grave whenever he wanted

[slices-of-naranja]

Hm. Leo Valdez and Nico bonding over religious trauma.

Everyone points out that Nico would be Catholic since Italian, y’know, yeah, makes sense. But Leo Valdez is Texan, Mexican, and his Tía Rosa literally called him a demon when he came to live with her after his mother died (if I remember correctly). His first response at Camp Halfblood was to ask if God with a capital G was real. (Which, fair, a lot do that, but still).

Brother could make fire with his hands, experienced the worst tragedy of his life because of it, and just lived seven years not knowing what the fuck was up with that??? Being called a demon at eight years old, after all that he went through, by a religious Mexican lady would definitely have a lasting effect. (Speaking as a Catholic Mexican).

Like, you’re not gonna tell me that some part of him didn’t secretly believe that. That it wouldn’t keep him up at night, wondering what the fuck he was. That he didn’t look back at his fucked up childhood, at the lava and brimstone in his veins, and not think “What if she’s right? What if I’m going to hell? What if I am a monster? A demon?”

Killing is a sin. Murder is a sin. And whatever the fuck he was, whatever kind of horrid creature he is, it wasn’t getting into Heaven. Don’t tell me he wouldn’t cry at the sight of a nun. Get nervous when his fosters would take him to church. Whisper silent prayers to be fixed, to have whatever was broken inside of him, whatever he was being punished for, to stop. To maybe stop existing at all.

I’m willing to bet that when an eight year old knows for a fact he isn’t human, fire flowing through his blood, and gets called a demon because of it during the worst time in his life, when not being human caused the death of someone he loves, it might stick with him. He might believe the words thrown at him.

So, yeah, I think Nico and Leo would get along.

Also- literally not in the headspace to articulate this correctly but I hope u see my vision.

[aria-upside-down]

I am begging for an angsty valgrace fic rec

Please someone give me one

[poppitron360]

[the-goddess-of-gays]

Heroes of Olympus but the ships are slowburn like in the first series so we have to suffer all over again

Frank and Hazel stumbling around each other and Frank being unable to explain why he hates Leo so much while Hazel is still barely over Sammy

Piper "he may not know it yet, but he is MINE" McLean pulling increasingly desperate stunts to try and win Jason over x Jason Grace who is as oblivious as PJO Percy

Percabeth asking each other "were we like this? there's no way we were like this" and Grover having the time of his life on the other side of the empathy link because Percy now knows what he's been enduring for the last four years

Leo's seventh-wheel character arc would so much more pronounced because now the flirting pre-couples seem to literally have no time for him unless they want to talk about romance and he just wants his fucking friends back

I'm very very normal about this

[sweetsdereese]

While Jason may hate fireworks too, nothing will stop him from being there for Leo.

[storywriter007]

do you do requests? if you do, can you do Leo x fem reader who is the daughter of Khione, she has ice powers and she has a very friendly, cheerful demeanor and is genuinely kind tends to smile a lot of the times although it does comes off as creepy sometimes, the reason why the reader smiles a lot is because just like Leo as a way of coping with her mommy issues and doesn't want people to worry

Fire & Ice - Leo Valdez x Fem!Reader

author's note: i do take requests :) and this is such a cute idea! like fire and ice, polar opposites, but they end up being the exact same. thank you for the request!

author's note 2: i didn't know if you wanted this to be fluff or angst, so i kinda did both (please send me more angst im internally dying writing all of this joy)

warnings: slight bullying, mommy issues, cursing

genre: angst ending in fluff

word count: 1.9k

-> heroes of olympus masterlist

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send me requests here! (these are my guidelines)

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y/n gently braided the curly hair in front of her. she put a little elastic towards the end of the braid, and leaned back. it looked wonderful. beautiful brown curls cascaded down like a waterfall, and two cute little braids were at the top of the head.

"all done lay!" she smiled.

"you look beautiful," she said, holding up a mirror for the girl to see.

"thank you so much y/n! i loooove it!" she beamed, giving y/n a big hug.

"of course!"

she ran off, and y/n began cleaning up.

"surprised you didn't give the kid a brain freeze." a familiar voice laughed.

"nice to see you too, valdez." she rolled her eyes.

leo's smile died out whenever he saw y/n, and y/n's kindness turned into cruelty whenever she saw him. they didn't get along; not in the least. leo was a fire-producing maniac, and y/n was a snow-summoning psycho. their rivalry started when y/n was ice skating on the lake (after turning part of it into ice) and leo came up and set it on fire. y/n would've drowned if she didn't quickly skate away and create ice until she got to the grass. after that, y/n froze one of his favorite machines, and he spent days trying to melt all the ice off. they'd had it out for each other for two summers - ever since leo found out she was the daughter of khione.

leo was loud. annoying. funny on occasion. y/n was soft spoken. kind. caring. fire and ice. they were far too different.

"don't you have something to blow up?" she asked, meeting his brown eyes.

"yeah." he said, looking over at her cabin. "elsa's castle."

"i swear to god, i'm going to-"

"turn me into a rocket pop?" he grinned.

"i'm gonna freeze your bed. have fun sleeping outside for the week." she said, staring him down.

"that'll make two of us."

they both stormed away. gods, she couldn't stand him.

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evening struck, and as y/n made her way to the mess hall, she saw a little boy sitting all alone on a fallen tree. he had curly blonde hair. he was wearing a blue t-shirt and beige cargo shorts. he looked no older than twelve. he sat quietly, his face resting on his right hand. he looked upset.

"y/n, c'mon." one of her friends said.

"you guys go, i'll be with you in a few."

she made her way over to the little boy.

"can i sit here?" she asked.

"yeah." he said glumly, moving over.

"what's your name?"

"daniel." he said, not looking at her.

"tough first week, daniel?" she asked.

he nodded his head. new campers came in everyday, and it didn't get easier for any half-blood who stepped in the magical boundaries.

"it's alright." she reassured. "the first week is always the worst week."

"i've got no friends." he said shakily. "no one wants to talk to me."

he finally looked up and met y/n's gaze. she could see the scattered freckles on his face and the tears that were welled up in his light green eyes.

"what about your siblings?"

her voice was soft and calming.

"they don't wanna talk to me either." he said, defeated.

"i know." she sighed. "it's tough being new. but, uh, tell me dan, what do you like to do?"

"i-i like to draw." he said.

"that's so cool! i can only draw a stick figure, dear gods. what do you like to draw?"

"mostly nature and stuff. i draw a lot of animals and landscapes." he said, his tone picking up a little bit. "i have a sketchbook, if y-you want to see.."

his voice trailed off.

"i'd be delighted." she smiled.

the boy's eyes lit up as he rushed off and quickly came back with a sketchbook. he showed her all of his drawings and where he had drawn them. they were absolutely beautiful. they continued talking about the drawings, and daniel told y/n about all of the parks, lakes, and mountains he'd visited before arriving at camp. she could see he was feeling a lot better.

"don't you want to go to the mess hall?" y/n asked him. "get somethin' to eat?

"my siblings don't like it when i sit with them." he sighed.

"who said you have to sit with them?" she laughed. "sit with me. c'mon kid."

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after walking daniel to the ares cabin, y/n turned around and rushed to the camp headquarters for a counselor's meeting. she wasn't looking forward to seeing leo. as she walked into the very informal meeting room, his first remark was made.

"someone's late." he coughed.

the other counselors turned to look at her.

suck my dick is what she wanted to say.

"one of the kids wanted me to walk them back. that's kinda what happens when the younger campers actually trust you." she smiled, passive-aggresively.

"hey, they trust me!" he defended. "they love me."

"first you lie about your height, and now how much the kids like you?"

the crowd of counselors started laughing.

"don't encourage her guys." he said, so seriously that the crowd quit laughing. "she's gonna start singing 'let it go!'"

giggles and laughs burst out from every corner of the room as y/n felt her cheeks grow warm.

"c'mon johnny storm." she paused. "give them a real show and sing 'this boy is on fire,' won't you?"

he glared at her as more laughs erupted from the counselors. to them, it was all in good fun. to leo and y/n, it was the continuation of a war. just as leo was about to holler another snappy insult, their verbal sparring was interrupted.

"enough." chiron said, entering the room. "i've had it with you two."

the room stood quiet.

"yeah, y/n, pack up your shit." he snickered.

"i'm sorry for the constant misconduct." she smiled, trying to repair the damage. "i could fix it, if you'd let me turn valdez into a statue for my ice castle."

laughs erupted from more of their banter.

"go clean the stables." he ordered. "both of you, together. come back to your cabins once you've become friends."

"there's no way that me and evil frosty are gonna get along." leo protested. "we're gonna be there forever!"

shut up y/n wanted to yell. he was just making things worse.

"then i suggest you ask mr. jackson to teach you how to speak horse." chiron said firmly.

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y/n cleaned the stables while leo swept the floor.

"leo, could you pass me that-"

"no."

they had been here for four hours and leo had refused to cooperate. she was at the end of her rope with him.

"why do you hate me?" she asked, exasperated.

she'd wondered this ever since they'd got here. she assumed it's because ice and fire don't get along, but everyone at camp assured her leo would never hate anyone over something they couldn't control. especially, godly heritage.

"you got us stuck here!" he argued.

"you started it!" she countered.

their voices slowly rose as they yelled at one-another.

"you were late!" he continued. "and besides, i might've started it, but you ended it!"

"you started things with me from the first day i got here two summers ago! you tried to burn me alive! you threated to blow my cabin up! why!?" she asked loudly.

she was tired. she was sore. and she was sick of leo always being a douchebag.

"your mom tried to kill me!" he yelled.

"she tried to kill me too!"

"what?" he asked, his gaze softening and his voice lowering.

"nothing." y/n said, realizing what she'd just said. "nothing, just forget about it."

"y/n-"

"go to bed." she demanded. "i'll finish this by myself. not like you were doing anything anyways."

"you can trust me." he insisted. "please?"

"make whatever snide remark you were going to, and leave."

"please, y/n." he said, his voice low and steady. "what happened?"

"i was nine, and uh, my mother had decided she was done with me. she tried to freeze me, and uh, then she tried to stab me." she paused to say the next part. "and when none of that work, she uh-she tried to burn me."

"i'm so sorry."

"don't worry about it." she said, quickly plastering a smile on her face. "now it's your turn to answer my question. why do you hate me?"

"i-i don't. i never have." he sighed. "i figured you'd end up hating me regardless, so i just sealed our fate."

they stood in the silence of the stables.

"you started a fight with my because you assumed i would automatically dislike you? because you can summon fire?" y/n asked, it being her turn to be shocked now.

"yeah." he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "i thought you'd be some cold, icy, pessimistic bitch.

"ouch."

"until i saw you. how much you cared, and how much you smiled, and how much you made other people feel better. by the time, i realized you weren't what i had made of you, it was too late to turn back."

"leo." she said, unable to speak. "i care about people regardless. i would've never had a vendetta against you because you're a mini human torch. and even though you were convinced i hated you, i never did. i just played along."

"liar." he chuckled.

"when you passed out from exhaustion for forty-eight hours, do you know who monitored you each and every second? do you know who constructed your diet and recovery plan? do you remember the fuzzy voice telling you everything was going to be okay? because that was me."

"why?" he asked. "why are you so nice?

"i just want someone to stay."

they started at each-other for a moment. leo used humor and jokes to cover up the pain he felt. y/n used compensating kindness. they didn't want people to leave them, so they found something that would make them valuable: witty remarks and selflessness. they both covered up their profound pain and self-hatred with a form of fake happiness. they both had constructed a person who is only upset when no one is watching. and it was all because both of them didn't want people to worry, they just wanted them to stay.

"i feel the same way." he shared.

they weren't as different as they thought they were.

"i'm sorry." he said, sincerity in his eyes. "i misjudged you."

"i'm sorry too." she responded. "i held up my end of the bargain, didn't i?"

"i guess fire and ice aren't polar opposites after all." he smiled.

"i think they're identical." she agreed, reaching her hand out.

they shook hands, but didn't let go. leo's grip was firm on her hand. they looked into each other's eyes. leo pulled her in and pressed his lips to hers. his rough hands wrapped around her waist, as hers roamed his face and neck. it wasn't a needy kiss, it wasn't a passionate kiss, it was a "i'm glad you're here" kiss. leo felt her cold fingers move around his neck. it felt refreshing. y/n felt his warm hands around her waist. it felt comforting. after a few seconds, they pulled away, and laughed a little. y/n put her head on his shoulder as he held her tight.

[demigod-shenanigans]

The choiceless hope in grief

Summary: Leo Valdez has lived and died for the gods. Their war has shaped his life since he was a baby. With Gaia defeated, he sort of hopes he can finally rest. He has friends and some semblance of home to return to for the first time since he was eight years old. Just this once, he allows himself to hope the good things might stick.

But the gods aren’t done with them just yet, by the time Leo finds his way back, Jason is gone.

This time, Leo decides he’s done just taking the Fates’ bullshit lying down. If getting his best friend back means striking a deal with the gods and venturing into the Underworld… well, it’s probably not even the most reckless thing he’s ever done.

The caveat of said deal? He has to trust Jason will follow him, or his self-doubt will doom them both.

And after the life he’s lived, Leo is so intricately familiar with self-doubt that he could probably trademark the word.

Or: The only possible way for Orpheus to succeed is if he learns to think of himself as a person worth loving.

Word Count for chapter 1: ~5k

Rating: Teen and Up

So! *claps hands together* I’ve been threatening you guys with my Orpheus Eurydice valgrace fic for a while! Technically I wanted to wait to post this until I’m completely done writing the fic, and I mostly intend to stick to that! I’m only posting this now because I have a minor surgery tomorrow and I’d rather be anxious about fic related things than about the surgery in question. So, take this chapter as a preview of sorts, more to come soon-ish but probably not immediately!

A couple of important notes before we start:

-TW for suicidal ideation. It’s less Leo actually wanting to die and more his canon behavior of “I’m doing something extremely reckless that might succeed but if it doesn’t, my death is an acceptable consequence”, paired with general grief related self-loathing, but if you think you’re not in the right headspace to read about that, come back when you are or at least tread carefully. This fic pics up at the end of The Burning Maze, so especially the beginning is pretty heavy on the grief stuff.

-Since ToA is vaguely canon to this fic, Leo and Calypso are technically dating in the beginning, but they don’t really interact positively as a couple (honestly they don’t interact that much in general) and break up pretty early on. Just be aware in advance that they’re still together for a little bit.

-Fic title is from Talk by Hozier which is maybe a painfully obvious pick but it was too perfect for me not to use it.

Chapter 1: Leo and Piper have an extended sleepover

It wasn’t a discussion between Leo and Piper whether or not to go to Jason’s funeral. They came to the decision that they wouldn’t silently—or as silently as one could come to an agreement when all parties involved were sobbing.

Maybe it should have been a discussion. There was a part of Leo that worried he’d regret this later—his refusal to take this chance to say goodbye and let himself grieve.

But Leo remembered his mother’s funeral. Remembered the way his aunt Rosa had looked at him like she knew his mother’s death had been his fault. Leo couldn’t stand the thought of people looking at him like that again.

He also didn’t remember his mother’s funeral bringing him any sense of closure or comfort. He’d stood at her grave, afterwards, just as desperate and afraid and utterly inconsolable as he’d been before the funeral, except it had suddenly felt sickeningly final. The wound it had torn in his soul had kept bleeding for years, and the scars would stay forever. He didn’t need any of Apollo’s shitty oracles to know Jason’s death would be exactly the same.

At this point, Leo was pretty sure his sanity was being held together by a combination of jokes and a truly questionable amount of duct tape.

Beyond all that, though, Camp Jupiter was a battlefield right now. It would continue to be a battlefield for the foreseeable future.

Leo wasn’t a coward. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go back and help. But one of his best friends was already in a box, and there was no way in hell he’d risk the other.

With how tightly Piper was clinging to him, maybe she was thinking the same thing. 

For all his big talk about dragon escorts, Festus did most of the actual escorting on his own, occasionally torching what Leo hoped were monsters and not random public monuments. Leo, for his part, spent most of the journey crammed into the backseat of the car next to Piper, sandwiched between her and a bunch of moving boxes that seemed determined to flatten him into a Leo-shaped pancake whenever they took a sharp turn.

He’d spent so long thinking about seeing her and Jason again. 

He’d talked Calypso’s ear off about them the whole journey, to the point where it had clearly started to annoy her. He’d thought about various ridiculous entrances he could make, and the fact that he’d probably get yelled at, but he’d also thought about sitting together by the campfire, sharing nachos. He’d thought about Jason hugging him so fiercely that he couldn’t breathe, and Piper cussing him out while she held him, making him promise never to do anything that reckless again.

Now Piper was actually holding him, and Leo couldn’t feel anything. There was a numbness in his chest. He wasn’t sure he had it in him to ever feel happiness again. Hell, even if he did, what was the fucking point? Every time anything even remotely good happened in his life, it got ripped away from him again.

They didn’t talk a whole lot for most of the drive. They cried until it felt like they couldn’t anymore, clinging to each other like desperate children.

Even if they’d wanted to talk about what had happened, Piper’s dad was right there, and despite the Mist usually working overtime for them, having him overhear seemed like a gamble. Or, well, maybe that was what Leo told himself. Maybe he just wasn't sure he was ready to hear it all. He still felt like he couldn’t think. He was overwhelmed to hell and couldn’t stop fidgeting.

Several hours into the trip, his stomach started grumbling. Piper dug through the bag at her feet and offered him one of her PB&J sandwiches, but Leo couldn’t eat. He hadn’t skipped a meal in forever—he’d been homeless and unsure when he’d even get access to the next meal enough times that it had been all but tattooed into his skull that he couldn’t afford to—but he couldn’t even think about eating without feeling sick. He thought about Jason. He thought about the state he’d left Camp Jupiter in and the fact that they hadn’t even been able to give the dead their proper funeral rites.

Had Leo’s help made any difference at all? Had anything he’d done in his life changed things even slightly?

Leo knew the Fates had intended for it to be fire that fell—for him to burn in a bright, hot blaze and turn himself to charcoal. But he’d refused to stay dead like a good little pawn, and now Jason was gone, and it was all his fault.

He wasn’t sure how Piper could even look at him right now, but he was beyond grateful that she was holding onto him as tightly as she did. It was the only reason he didn’t fall to pieces completely. The cog at the heart of Leo’s machine had broken in a way that made it utterly beyond repair, and now it felt like a matter of time before the whole thing came apart. Piper holding him was the only reason his remaining pieces were still functioning. 

It should have been impossible for Leo to fall asleep under these circumstances, but he’d been traveling for hours and fighting before then and he’d cried out his remaining energy, so eventually, the world started to fade around him, reduced to just the sound of Piper’s breaths, until finally, those went, too.

~~~~

It would have been kinder, maybe, if Leo had dreamed up some shitty visions promising violent death and/or the end of the world. That would have been business as usual. 

Instead, he dreamed of his time on the Argo II—of one of those early nights when the different groups were still getting to know each other, having a brief moment to breathe between their ridiculous tasks and saving the world. 

It had seemed reasonable to catch each other up on what had happened on their end. Percy, Hazel and Frank had talked about rescuing Thanatos, and Piper, Jason and Leo had told them what had happened with Hera in turn. 

This would have been a boring intel conversation at best, seeing as Leo had been there for all of their part, but they’d grabbed snacks and sat on cushions on the floor and made it a whole bonding activity. Jason had been wedged between Piper and Leo, and they’d taken turns storytelling. 

And Jason had bragged. So much. But he hadn’t even had the decency to brag about himself like a normal human being. Instead, he’d talked about how capable Piper and Leo had been, somehow managing to make Leo sound like the coolest person he’d ever met. Which was ridiculous, considering he’d met everyone else on their team.

And sure, Leo made it sound like he thought he was amazing all the time, but he was exaggerating, which everyone, himself included, knew. 

Jason didn’t seem to have gotten the memo, though. He had one arm wrapped around Leo the whole evening, and he got all starry-eyed when he talked. 

“Leo took on three Cyclopes by himself. Three!”

“Dude, stop!” Leo had laughed, shaking his head. “I know I’m incredible and you’re blessed to be friends with me and stuff, but you weren’t even conscious for that part.”

“Still happened, though.” Jason had beamed at him. “You’re amazing, dude. I would have died about fifteen times on that mission if it hadn’t been for you. You guys should’ve seen him.”

It would have been easier if Leo had thought Jason was just trying to talk him up to the others to make them more willing to trust him after how badly he’d messed up in New Rome, but Jason wasn’t the type. He’d looked like he honestly believed every single word he was saying.

So, of course, Leo had refused to seriously deal with any of the things that made him feel.

“Sorry, Pipes, but I’m pretty sure your boyfriend is in love with me. It’s the fire powers, I’m afraid. I’m just too hot to resist,” Leo had joked instead, and Piper had untangled herself from Jason’s other side to throw Doritos at Leo, and everything had been right in the universe.

~~~~

Waking up from that, blearily blinking himself awake in the car full of moving boxes and remembering… that was a worse punch in the gut than waking up from most nightmares had been. And Leo should know. He’d had so many of those over the years that he was basically a certified nightmare expert at this point.

Leo wanted to go back in time and spend forever in that one evening, living it over and over and over again until the Fates or a temporal paradox or something eventually killed him. He wanted to hold on to what they’d been back then—the three of them together and happy and whole,back before they’d realized what the prophecy really meant. 

He wanted to stay wrapped in Jason’s arm and hear him laugh at whatever stupid joke Leo came up with while he and Piper threw snacks at each other like ten year olds. He wanted to believe he could actually be the person Jason was bragging about—this invincible hero that could do just about anything and saved people’s lives.

But Leo had never been that hero. Even his sacrifice had been the selfish decision of a coward who wasn’t ready to die just yet. Jason had been their Superman. The guy who could fly and threw lightning and saved people from falling to their deaths. Jason had been the hero. And ultimately, that had been what killed him.

Leo wasn’t exactly sure what he planned to do once they got to Oklahoma. He should have been heading back to the Waystation, to give Calypso the normal life he’d promised. But he wasn’t thinking about Calypso, or the Waystation, and the thought of a normal life had gone out of the window the second he’d seen the coffin. Besides, the Waystation would mean people asking questions, wanting to know about his mission and asking him to talk about his feelings, and he didn’t want that.

The only thing Leo really wanted to do right now was not think. 

By the time they got to the house, it was so late that cross-country dragon flight seemed inadvisable for visibility reasons alone, so Leo agreed to stay the night. Festus nuzzled him for a bit, got a fuel snack from the canister Leo had brought and then folded down into his million pound suitcase form for the night.

It took a little under two hours to carry all the boxes inside, which was an annoying amount of time to be carrying boxes but seemed like an absurdly short amount to move the contents of an entire life.

They spent some time in search of the necessities that needed to be unpacked, but the house was still furnished and also had running water and electricity as of a few days ago, so it wasn’t that bad.

While Piper went in search of some ancient camping gear so Leo wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor—this seemed silly to him, the floor was far from the worst place he’d ever slept—Leo asked Piper’s dad if he could help with dinner. 

Tristan looked relieved at his offer, actually. He’d been staring at the assorted vegetables with a slightly lost expression, trying to hack at one of the zucchinis with a butter knife. It seemed like he was trying to remember how cooking worked and had just discovered he had absolutely no idea. 

Considering how long he’d been an insanely rich guy with a personal cook, Leo guessed that actually might have been a pretty accurate read on the situation. 

“You might want to try a sharper knife,” Leo suggested, which made Piper’s dad look absolutely mortified. “Try not to chop off any of your fingers, though. I think Piper’s been traumatized enough for one week.”

The words were out of his mouth before Leo could think to stop them. Tristan didn’t laugh, but at least it didn’t seem like he’d be tossing Leo out of the house over this. Maybe he realized people sometimes said stupid shit when they were grieving. Maybe Piper had just warned him in advance that Leo was like this sometimes.

Tristan just went to find a different knife, which would have maybe been concerning if he hadn’t gone back to hacking at the vegetables a moment later.

“Well, at least this one is actually cutting through the zucchinis. That’s already an improvement.”

“Yeah, I’m basically a cooking expert,” Leo said with a grin, only half-joking. He went to peel and chop up the carrots, and was done with those and about half the mushrooms by the time the poor zucchini had been hacked to bits.

“You and Piper went to school together, right?” Tristan asked after a while of them quietly chopping vegetables for the casserole, trying to make sense of things with information he didn’t have and that, judging from past evidence, probably would have made his skull crack. “You and her and Jason.”

“Yeah. We went to Wilderness school together.” Leo winced, trying not to think too hard of Jason while also trying to remember the lies they’d already told Piper’s dad. At this rate, he was pretty worried his own skull would crack, too. “Then all three of us switched to a different school. Then I was gone for a while.”

Tristan nodded like this made perfect sense, though he mostly seemed lost in thought. That was a little rude, in Leo’s opinion. If he went through all that effort to remember their elaborate setup of lies, the least Piper’s dad could do was appreciate it!

“I’m glad you’re here now, with everything that’s happened. Piper was really upset when you left,” Tristan said, still with that faraway look in his eyes. “The last few months were hard for her. Between the move and the breakup, she really could have used a friend.”

Leo promptly lost all rights to make fun of Piper’s dad and his vegetable chopping skills because at the word ‘breakup’, the knife slipped and he nearly sliced off two of his fingers.

“Fuck! Ow!” he said eloquently, trying to avoid bleeding all over the cutting board in his attempt to get to the sink. “Jason and Piper broke up?”

The question sounded absurd even to his own ears. Why would Jason and Piper break up? They’d been happy together.

Surely, Piper’s dad had to be talking about something else.

To Leo’s shock, Tristan nodded.

“A while ago, yes,” he said, but he didn’t go into details—possibly because Leo was bleeding all over the sink. “We should bandage that. Do you think you need stitches?”

“No, the cuts aren’t that deep,” Leo decided, turning on the faucet and holding his bleeding hand under the stream of cold water. Maybe he should have been more concerned about the injury, but his mind was still whirring at the thought of his best friends breaking up. Unfortunately, the cold water stung like hell. He hissed with pain. “Sorry for making your kitchen look like a crime scene right after moving in. Usually, I at least have the decency to wait a day or two.”

Because the house was a small, cozy place and Leo had not had the decency to curse quietly, Piper appeared in the doorway a moment later, an alarmed expression on her face.

“What happened?”

“I’ve been bested by a stupid potato,” Leo cursed, holding up his bleeding hand and wiggling his fingers for emphasis. He figured out immediately that this was a mistake. “Ow.”

“Stop that, dumbass!” Piper cursed, moving to stand beside him. “Sink was the right call, but you need to use soap or the cuts could get infected. Dad, any chance we have gauze lying around somewhere?”

Tristan didn’t seem to question why his daughter had immediately jumped into emergency medical treatment mode. He just abandoned the cutting board and headed for the front door.

“Not exactly sure what box our regular medical supplies are in, but I’ll get the first aid kit from the car. I’ll be right back.”

“Do we have to do the soap?” Leo whined, because fuck, that stung, but Piper nodded with a scary expression on her face, so he complied. “How do you even know this stuff? Are we sure you’re not secretly an Apollo kid?”

“I know this stuff because I’m friends with a bunch of morons who have zero sense of self-preservation,” Piper cursed, gritting her teeth. “You shouldn’t be around knives when you’re this distracted.”

“I can usually cook just fine when I’m distracted. Your dad was the one who told me you and Jason broke up in the middle of this stupid potato,” Leo said defensively. “Is that the Mist messing with him?”

That was the only explanation his mind had supplied so far that made any sense to him.

Piper shook her head. “We really did break up. That was a few months ago.”

Leo felt his jaw hit the floor. 

“What the hell happened? You were together for ages. I thought- you always seemed so happy.”

“I know, but-” Piper broke off abruptly when her dad came back inside with the first aid kit. Demigod stuff, then?

Leo’s mind was racing. The breakup was a completely stupid thing to focus on, considering everything that had happened in the last few days. He knew that.

But it was easier to try and make sense of this than it was to try and make sense of the fact that Jason was gone and he’d never get to see him again.

“Is it alright if we do this somewhere else?” Piper asked her dad, taking the first aid kit from him.

“Of course. It might be easier to patch him up when you’re both sitting down, anyway.” He turned towards Leo. “Thank you for your help, but I think I can take it from here.”

Leo sent a silent prayer to whichever deity was responsible for protecting vegetables—Demeter, probably?—and gave what he hoped was an encouraging thumbs up with his uninjured hand before he followed Piper into the hallway to presumably be reprimanded some more.

~~~~ They ended up sitting on an old bed that looked like it had lived a long, miserable life and was excited for retirement, but the wooden frame thankfully didn’t break down under the weight of the new mattress or the additional weight of them sitting on said mattress. Piper explained that this had been her dad’s room when he’d lived here as a child, and that it would probably become her room now. Then she went very quiet and focused on bandaging his hand, clearly avoiding looking at him.

“It wasn’t because of me, was it?” Leo asked. The thought made him feel ill. “Please tell me it wasn’t something like, I don’t know, you two being unable to stand being around each other after what happened to me. I think I’d actually have to blow myself up again if it was.”

He tried to make it sound like a joke, but it didn’t feel like one at all. The thought that he'd managed to ruin his best friends’ relationship on top of everything else made it hard to breathe.

When Piper shook her head, it felt like a whole boulder was lifted off his shoulders.

“I actually think we would have broken up sooner if you hadn’t gone missing. We leaned on each other a lot after you disappeared. It wasn’t until we realized we wouldn’t find you and things started to settle down a little that I had time to think. And when I did…” Her voice went very quiet, and she still didn’t look up at him. “I realized I wasn’t happy in the relationship. I don’t think I ever was.”

“How did I not know that?” Leo wondered quietly. “I just… you two seemed happy to me. What kind of garbage best friend am I?”

Piper shook her head. “It isn’t your fault. I was telling myself I was happy for a long time. It’s almost- sometimes I wonder if I was charmspeaking myself. That maybe I kept saying I was in love with Jason until I convinced myself I actually was. And with Hera and my mom setting it up… I love-” her voice caught in her throat, and Leo felt like maybe he needed to throw up, “-loved Jason, but not like that.”

“Pipes, I’m really sorry.” Leo squeezed her shoulder. “That sounds like it was super hard for both of you.” Leo felt awful about the fact that he hadn’t even been around to comfort either of them, but it wasn’t like he could fix it now. It was just another item on Leo’s unending list of epic screwups he’d never be able to make up for.

“Jason was… well, he took it exactly like I expected him to. He was surprised, but he didn’t get angry or anything. He mostly seemed okay. Part of me wonders if maybe…” But whatever Piper had been thinking about, she seemed to decide it wasn’t important. “It was hard to get a proper read on him, and as nice as he was about it, things were still super awkward after. I'm terrified he died thinking I didn’t care about him.”

And then she was tearing up again, and Leo thought he would shatter if she cried. 

“He knew you cared,” he said as earnestly as he could manage, pulling Piper to his chest again. “You love way too annoyingly for him not to have known. Hell, even I know you love me, and we both know I’m a fucking nightmare when it comes to this stuff.”

“I missed you so much,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his back like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“Oh, I’m about to make you regret saying that,” Leo said, forcing himself to smile. “I’ll bring it up each and every time you say you find something I do annoying.”

“You’re annoying as hell, but you’re still my best friend.” He could feel her tears dripping onto his shoulder, and he knew that would make him start up again too. “I don’t know how I’d do this without you.”

And well, passing away from dehydration after crying too much would be a really lame way to die the second time, but everything was just too much right now, so if that was how he went, Leo wasn’t sure anyone could blame him.

~~~~

For the next couple of weeks, Leo stayed.

Helping Piper and her dad unpack was the perfect way to keep himself occupied and not have to think. Usually, a mundane task like this probably would have driven Leo nuts. But right now, it was a bit of a godsend—if not literally, at least figuratively. Being productive was always so much easier when it was done in order to avoid something you wanted to do even less. There was a reason his spaces in the foster homes had only ever been tidy when he had exams coming up.

He helped cook, too, and Piper’s dad became increasingly less garbage at it the longer this went on—like muscle memory was finally kicking in after years of disuse.

It was mostly good—listening to Piper reminisce about trips she’d taken with her dad and where she’d gotten the weird variety of items she kept in her room. When they weren’t unpacking, Leo and Piper played video games or watched movies or explored the area. Twice, during the night, they took Festus on a little flight to a nearby fast food place. Finding a parking spot was a bit of a nightmare, unfortunately. Leo would submit a complaint about their inability to accommodate celestial bronze dragons the first chance he got.

The first time they tried hiking—Leo didn’t even like hiking, he’d spent enough time outside for several lifetimes, why did he do this to himself—they got hopelessly lost in the woods, and of course, due to demigod bullshit, neither of them had brought a phone, so Google Maps wasn’t an option. It was probably for the better. The last thing that situation needed on top of them being lost was a monster attack. 

They were already jokingly planning out their new life in the woods when, thankfully, a girl their age came to their rescue.

“A human being! Thank the gods. The squirrels weren’t talking to us,” Leo greeted her, which had Piper shout “Please ignore Leo!” loudly from the branches of the tree she’d been climbing.

The girl lifted her head, spotted Piper and promptly burst out laughing.

“What in the world are you doing up there?” 

“Trying to get a better vantage point,” Piper sighed, making her way back down the tree. “We’re hopelessly lost.”

“Well, nice to meet you, hopelessly lost. I’m Shel,” the girl said, still grinning. Leo decided immediately that he liked her.

Piper had almost made it back down when she somehow missed a branch and fell the rest of the way. In comedic movie fashion, Shel moved before Leo had the chance to and caught her mid-tumble. “That was a bit of a dramatic way to get my attention, but you’re cute, so I’ll allow it.”

“Oh yeah, Piper’s got a bit of a thing with falling for people that way,” Leo commented, and Piper gave him her most murderous look while she got back on her feet.

“You guys need help getting back?”

“Please, yes,” Piper said immediately. “It turns out we’re both garbage with maps.”

“Maybe you just need a tour guide next time,” Shel suggested, winking at Piper, whose face turned scarlet. Leo wasn’t even mad about being the third wheel for once. He’d give her so much shit about this later.

And he did. And then Piper properly came out to him—no label or anything, mostly as extremely confused but sure she liked girls, which also made a few additional pieces click into place regarding her breakup with Jason. She ended her anxiety-riddled explanation by thanking Leo for being so normal and annoying about all this. 

Which was how Leo realized he’d apparently never told Piper he was bi.

Or maybe he had, and it had gotten lost along with their other memories of Wilderness. Stupid memory-stealing babysitters.

Well, at least they got to hug about it now. 

~~~~

It was strange how normal some days felt when nothing would ever truly be normal again. When in every moment Leo and Piper spent together, the gaping hole that had been ripped into their trio was so blatantly obvious.

The benefit and problem of this friendship was that Leo and Piper were both experts at not talking about things they were struggling with. 

This wasn’t exactly news. From what little Leo did remember of Wilderness School, they’d spent months not talking about his mom, or about the fact that Piper’s dad kept canceling their weekend plans. They’d both known there were things left unsaid, but as long as they’d been able to cheer each other up, that hadn’t really mattered. It made sense, honestly. Put two people who hadn’t had a shoulder to cry on for ages in a room together and see what happens!

Right now, this meant they were expertly ignoring the box of belongings Piper had picked up from Jason’s school. It had been pushed so far under the bed during that first night that it was no longer visible, and neither of them made any effort to move it out of its new home since. They ignored the topic of Jason, period, until it inevitably hit them in the face again. 

It was mostly dumb shit that set them off. Piper automatically reaching for vanilla ice cream at the grocery store because it was Jason’s favorite—seriously, who in their right mind even liked vanilla ice cream?

Sometimes, Leo would make a joke and burst into tears instead of laughing because he knew it would have cracked Jason up. They found old photos unpacking. One time, Piper’s dad suggested they make tacos and they started simultaneously bawling their eyes out.

Leo had spent a long time exactly like this—pretending everything was normal and okay when it wasn’t either of those things until he inevitably broke down. Then he’d started to actually feel sort of okay whenever he was with Jason and Piper. Now, he was sure he would spend the rest of his life pretending.

His appetite was too used to being stuck in survival mode for him to bow to nausea for long, so he went back to eating properly after a few days. He still cried himself to sleep most nights. He kept dreaming about Jason. The memories wrapped themselves around him like a safety blanket that he knew would get ripped away again in the morning. He always woke up feeling empty. Sometimes, he wished he could just go to sleep and never wake up again.

But other than that, it was mostly good.

Then demigod communications went back up, and everything went to hell.

———

Chapter notes:

Fun fact! I originally planned for this chapter (as well as the next few chapters) to just be backstory in my head and for me to maybe do a flashback or two. Unfortunately for me, Piper McLean waltzed into the room and refused to leave.

I do actually think the fic works better this way, but it will take a second to get to the plot! Hopefully you’ll enjoy the whole journey :)

I may not be able to have Leo and Piper go to Jason’s funeral without seriously messing with the plot of Tyrant’s Tomb, but I could at least pick the most evil reason possible for them not to go!

Side note: I sort of forgot that Hedge and Mellie were supposed to be here according to TBM, but by the time I remembered I already had this chapter written out and, as someone who cannot be bothered to figure out how to write them, I decided to just leave it. ToA is vaguely canon to this universe, but only for the most part. Some details are inaccurate, and I think that’s okay.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Comments and reblogs super, super appreciated as always!!

List of people that at some point asked to be tagged when I post this: @poppitron360 @ginnyluna @keefessketchbook (feel free to comment if you want to get taken off or be put on the tag list for future chapters!)

[spider-ghoul]

Here me out..

You meet leo in wilderness school. You became quick friends and eventually started hanging out with piper and Jason. one night, you and leo snuck out onto the roof. He opened up to you about running away, and about being scared everyone was gonna leave him. So, you take his pinky in yours and promise to never abandon or leave him when he needed you.

But then... Camp. The prophecy. An oath to keep with final breath. And then you realize.. your pinky promise...one of you is gonna die to save the other.

But you're already in love with him. And you know...that you're gonna protect him no matter what.

I think that would be silly (it's in my drafts give me like a week or two)