Rules. And how fun it is to break them

lemons

I had so much fun writing this chapter. Why does no one talk about how fun this is?

Also I have no clue how bars work and I'm sorry

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The time seemed to pass a lot slower now, and Leo was driving himself crazy.

Piper had waved to him across the bar, checking in on him while Annabeth got another drink. Leo had waved back, and now they were invested in a gesture conversation that was mostly led by middle fingers and vicious rounds of rock paper scissors.(He only won once.)

He was distracted, fidgety, and Piper was getting exasperated with him. But they kept conversing (sorta) for a few more moments when Leo heard a voice.

"Lemon Margarita please." the smooth voice requested. Leo felt a body sit in the open stool beside him. Or rather on the other side of a small half door reading behind the bar. He smelled distinct... cinnamon? He didn't turn still busy having the 'conversation' with Piper across the bar.

Which was very one sided now that all Piper was doing was sticking out her tongue.

Leo was sticking his tongue out right back, when Piper broke eye contact and glanced at something behind him. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she nodded towards the object of her attention. Leo turned to look and his grin slipped off his face. Then he almost fell out of his chair.

Sitting, three feet to his right, looking godly and flawless and freaking awesome, was his new favorite person; the girl.

The same girl he had sworn he would avoid, (like full on sworn. He had a mantra; stayawayfromthegirlwhoislikeaproditebutbetterbecauseyouareafoolandwillmostlikelysetheronfire) was the girl sitting as close to him as the bar layout allowed, and looking great while just sitting there.

Ho-ly frick.

Smooth as ever (like freaking sandpaper guys) Leo righted himself on his chair. Once upright he waved his arms around in the air, frantically signaling again to Piper. Immediately she signaled back, grinning at his distress.

It went something like this-

Random flailing from Leo = omgitsherherherHERher (Think - omgitsrobertdowneyjunior)

Wiggling eyebrows from Piper = I know right (approves in bisexual)

More flails = h e r Piper h e r how are you so calm

Crosses arms = you're ridiculous

Continuous flailing = but HER

Eye roll = i'm leaving you. Annabeth is cooler

Leo watched her turn away, chatting with the returned Annabeth, and stuck his tongue out at her retreating form.

That left him here. Alone.

Except, of course, for the goddess beside him.

He suddenly felt bad for neglecting this perfectly good drink in front of him. So he drank. Deeply.

He was gonna need a refill.

But first he needed a plan. A program. A mission to accomplish.

The one he had was simple - Avoid her.

It was literally a rule.

But the thing is, Leo has a skill (practically supernatural) at breaking rules.

He hadn't even made it ten minutes.

So screw a plan, he needed a distraction.

Grabbing a few things from his pockets, Leo assembled an arrangement of metal trinkets onto the bar's counter. He organized them into small piles, paper clips, small pins, little bolts of brass. This was one of the only things he could really focus on. His ADHD wasn't blurring things together when he was building. So he had complete concentration as his fingers got to work, bending the metal and twisting the springs. The material was cool on his fingers as he reshaped it.

A tall mast.

A wide hull.

White cloth, torn from his sleeve, woven into a sail.

Steadily, a small ship took form in his hands.

He was almost finished, ready to take it apart and start again (maybe making a snail this time), when another voice called out-

"Refill?"

It snapped him out of focus like a bungee cord held tight, then suddenly let loose. His fingers froze, and his ship tumbled out of his grasp. It banged onto the counter and slid, choppily skidding across its wooden surface.

The bartender held impossibly still as it dropped off the counter. Leo couldn't seem to breathe.

Together they watched as the figure ship bounced once, rolled its way across the floor, and came to a halt at the feet of the girl in red.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three chapters in two days.

A bit much huh.

I wanted to put this out quickly and to leave ✨suspense.

Edit: change of plans went on my vacation got locked out of Wattpad and added four more chapters to the story. So Expect about a chapter a week. Two if I'm feeling crazy.

My first cliffhanger though and I'm honestly proud of my self restraint.

<3

Wren