Love Games (Leo Valdez/ PJO Fan Fiction)

Chapter 4 - I Will Fall for You

"We better head back," Leo says awkwardly as he leads me out of the bunker. His hand goes to my back, guiding me.

I can feel tingles where Leo's hand is. "Alright," I sigh quietly. When we get outside, it's already dusk, the sun is just beginning to rise. The brightness takes one half of the sky, while the other remains dark. "I've never seen a sunrise before," I mumble.

Leo smiles sincerely. "Aren't they beautiful?" 

I nod, astonished by the beauty of it. "Can I show you something?" I ask suddenly.

"Of course." A smile spreads across my face as I reach for his hand and pull him through the trees, running as we go. His hand is slightly warm and clammy, but I don't care. "Where are we going?" he inquires.

"You'll see," I say mysteriously. His dark brown eyes widen as he sees the tree.

"This is where you were earlier, wasn't it?" he calls up to me as I begin to scale it. 

"Yep," I yell back, popping the 'p'. "Come on, it's easy to get up here."

"I beg to differ," Leo groans as he clings onto the tree for dear life while only six feet off the ground.

I jump down a couple of branches and offer him my hand to help him up, which he takes gratefully. He's not as heavy as I expected him to be as I haul him up with one arm, and cling onto the tall oak tree with the other for dear life. "You can see more of the sun rise here," I remark as I sit on the highest branch, Leo on the one just below mine so the branch doesn't snap and break off. 

"Are you sure we're not going to fall to our deaths?" Leo asks nervously. "I'm not Jason, you know."

I chuckle slightly, thinking of Jason and his girlfriend, Piper. I remember just earlier in the night Piper sighing with relief when he name wasn't called. Maybe I'm not alone in the Aphrodite cabin, perhaps Piper resents our games as well. "You shouldn't trust me," I say out of the blue, scolding myself for even thinking about playing him.

"Why is that?"

"You just shouldn't," I mutter, climbing down the tree easily. Leo follows, and nearly fell when he was still seven feet up. 

"I thought we went over this. I told you that I think I can trust you."

"So?"

"So I will," Leo forges on. "Besides, Leo gets all the ladies," he pulls up one arm and flexes his bicep. 

"I don't want to hurt you,"I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I don't want to hurt him. He's everything I ever wanted in a boyfriend. I wouldn't mind the games if we didn't have to break their hearts in the end, but breaking a boy's heart is a rite of passage when you're a child of Aphrodite. "You don't deserve..."

"I don't deserve what?"

"Never mind," I lean back onto the tree and take a deep breath. "I'll see you later, Leo."

"Oh right," he remembers. "We have capture the flag today, you guys are going down," he says goofily.

I giggle. "Like there's even a contest between our teams. Just watch out for Clarisse, she might just rip your throat out."

Leo shudders and runs a hand through his curls. "That doesn't sound pleasant. The campers are going to wake up soon, so I've gotta go. Goodbye, Faye."

"Hasta manana, Leo!" I call as he runs off. I can see a smirk curling up the corners of his lips at my pathetic attempt at speaking in Spanish. 

"Vamos a ganar!" he shouts back, then realizes that I don't understand a wide range of Spanish terms. "Uh, we're going to win! Team Leo!"

I laugh loudly to myself as he disappears into the trees. My stomach drops. "Dio mios," I mutter to myself. "My Gods." I can't fall in love with Leo, I can't. I don't even trust myself anymore. "Leo Valdez, what have you done with me?" 

--

I wandered back to my cabin by myself and climb back into my bed. My half brothers and sisters are still sleeping, some even snoring. 

"Don't think I can't hear you," a voice whispered from the bed above mine. 

My heart thumps faster as I glance up. "Piper?"

"Yeah. Where were you?"

"Why do you care?" I shoot back.

"I'm curious."

"I was watching the sunrise," I admit, not lying completely.

"Someone doesn't leave at four in the morning to watch the sunrise. I'm going to ask again, what were you doing?"

"Thinking..." I trail off.

Piper snorts. "You met with Leo, didn't you."

"Maybe..." 

"Look, he's one of my best friends. He may be an idiot and annoying at times, but he's still a good guy. I know you don't want to lose, I mean who does want to lose this? But try not to hurt him too bad, okay?"

"I don't want to hurt him," I say defeated, "but the games."

"The games are pointless and stupid. Forget them," Piper orders.

I scratch my head. "Why?"

"Because Leo is worth it. And you know it too."

I do know. "But-"

"You already like him, don't you?" Piper accuses.

I sigh, then nod. 

"He likes you too. Jason always teases him for sneaking peeks at your out of the corner of his eyes."

"He doesn't," I insist. 

There was rustling sound coming from Drew's bed. "Shit," Piper mutters. "Faye, just let yourself fall, he'll fall too."

--

A/N: Gah. Sorry for the crappy chapter. Better one on 1/2/13 after two votes, I promise, cross my heart! So that's like five days, are you guys down with that?

2+ votes for chappie 5!

Thanks for everything guys!

-Em