Pretty Boys - PJO/HoO One Shots

Leo 3.0

You never committed to tying your shoelaces, sure, you did it the first time you wore them. But then, you were always too lazy to retie them again, so you just slipped your feet in and out. Your constant jogging, sword-fighting, running and acrobats resulted in the laces becoming loose or bigger on one end. Leo hated it, so he always bent down to tighten the laces again for you.

You were suspicious for the first few times, convinced that he would prank you and tie them together, which he did do once. You usually caught him red-handed but once you were too busy and distracted, and you trusted him, so suddenly, when you continued to walk with him, you smacked face-first into the ground. When you cried out in pain and blood started gushing out of your nose, Leo swore on the River Styx that he would never do it again. He would have a massive guilt and cringe attack, so you would randomly see him face palm himself and groan. You would grin and take his hand, lightly pressing a kiss to his fingers, silently comforting him that it was okay. Then, he would always grumble that he needed to design lace-free sneakers for you.

Anyway, it was date night. Leo and you swung your hands, fingers interlaced, as you made your way to some fancy mortal restaurant which Leo visited a few times when he was younger on his birthdays. You insisted on wearing your worn-out sneakers with you shimmering crimson dress and yet again, the laces on flopping about. Leo's eye twitches when he noticed the laces and he grabbed your arm lightly, stopping you, and with a disgruntled sigh that escaped his grinning lips, he bent down to tie you shoelaces.

Turning your gaze away to somewhere else, you hummed a calming tune to yourself, admiring the lovely view Leo's childhood neighbourhood had to offer to you. The street lights weren't glaring and a soft warm glow to it, which always made the place a bit more magical. Suddenly, you feel the fabric beneath your feet change into something higher and not as soft.

Slowly peering down to see your sneakers be replaced by a pair of glamorous heels, Leo stares up at you lovingly at you, a shy smile trembling on his lips. He's down on one knee and an uncontrollable smile spreads across your face when you notice a packaged decorated with a ribbon sitting in his palm. A few mortals gasped and started fervently exchanging surprised whispers, but it was nothing compared to the indescribable delight spreading across your chest and escaping your lips as a burst of laughter.

Leo grinned back, eyes shining brightly, as he proudly asked, holding your hands in his other empty hand, "(Y/f/n), my greatest love and forever will be, will you sacrifice your sanity to take me as your husband?" With a great big breath, knowing that your answer will change both your lives forever, you breathe, "Yes, Leo Valdez. I will." His smile glows brighter than any of the streetlights or Greek fire and with hands trembling from excitement, he slips on your Celestial Bronze ring which you could definitely tell he made himself.

With the mortals cheering and whooping in the background, he stood up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ears, and unknown to you, he was absorbing every single little detail of you so much that he wanted it to be etched into his brain forever. You were so very beautiful to him, and your reply meant the world to him. Gods, he thought to himself, I'm the luckiest demigod in the world to have her.

"C'mere, bad boy supreme," You pulled him in for a hug, which he returned with a kiss which made the mortals fade and everything dissolve and melt into that single warm kiss. You never wanted the moment to end, clinging onto him like there was no tomorrow.

He pulled away and suddenly, he said, smile still on his face, "Wake up, (y/f/n)." A frown knitted your eyebrows, and you tried to speak, but found that you couldn't. He repeated himself but this time, his face pinched into a serious scowl. "Wake up, (y/f/n)." Panic bubbled in you and everything started to swirl and turn into a ghastly shade of purple. Then, Leo grabbed you by your shoulder, blood matting his hair, skin torn and blood dripping from his eyes and nose. His voice sounded like a dying wail as he screamed, utter terror in his eyes, "Wake up!"

You jolted awake to Rachel Elizabeth Dare shaking your shoulders furiously, and quietly demanding that you wake up. It was just a dream, just a nightmare. Right? You quickly patted the space beside you in the bed, but found it empty. Reality sunk in and hit you like the tide smashing onto the shore, Leo was dead. You twisted the sheets in your hand as you tried to explain to Rachel about you thrashing in bed. "I... I had a nightmare. He was there, Rachel. He... He was there... He was there and... and he died... again."

Your voice cracked and so did you. You wept into her arms as she tried her best to soothe you but you knew that nothing in this world could ever repair you as well as Leo did. He did it with his words, his actions, his smile, his hugs, his kisses. God, you missed them so freaking much. Tears fell from your face faster than you could wipe them away, so you let them fall to the curve of your cheek and neckline. You didn't want to remember, but his death kept replaying in your mind against your will.

Somebody had sabotaged Festus. It was after the Great War with Gaea and when he came back from his supposed "death", everybody, especially you, were pleasantly shocked and well, delighted. Mostly everybody. Someone from either the camps, with equal, or even better, skill than Leo with mechanics, had somehow sabotaged Festus, leading him to malfunction in the sky. He was alone, without Jason, without anyone to help him, as he was just taking Festus for a little walk (or fly ). Festus stopped flying and he along with Leo came soaring through the sky to greet you, except in the wrong direction. Leo tumbled through the sky, heading straight for campgrounds with no signs of stopping. Nobody was fast enough. He landed, and for the great heavens, bounced, landing with a sickening crunch, his body as limp as a rag doll, his eyes as empty as his murderer's heart.

Rachel tore you back from your vision as the ache, the longing for him, spread through your body like poison, condemning you to curl up into a ball and sob, body refusing to move. You wanted him back, so bad. For the love of gods, you needed him. But every time you pictured him in your head, you didn't see the love of your life. No, you didn't see his grimy hands, his crooked grin, his picturesque lips. No, you saw the ghost of your love. His bloodied hands, his broken grin, his pale lips. Because, no matter what anybody told you, it was your fault that you didn't save him.

<A/N> This one's a steep rollercoaster of emotions, so I'm sorry. This is the chapter I'll be posting to make up for next week's absence so when I get back from camp, be sure to surprise me with comments or votes! ;D Thanks and see ya next week.