Of Greeks And Romans (Leo Valdez x Reader)

LXXII

You

I woke up in an unfamiliar place and immediately started to panic. I was in a comfortable bed, wood panels across the wall, a stool placed by the bedside, and a dresser to the side of the bed. I spotted a single picture frame that had fallen over on the dresser, but apart from that, the room was empty. I carefully reached over and lifted up the picture frame. It was a photo of me, Leo, Jason, and Piper all standing together. I wasn't even sure where the picture came from, but it immediately filled me with warmth.

I set down the frame before stretching out my legs and getting up from the bed. I was here, on the ARGO II. I had been half afraid that all my friends would have left without me.

A fresh pair of clothes had been laid on the edge of my bed. I was immediately glad for the familiar orange color of Camp halfblood, and for once, it wasn't jeans but flexible, loose joggers. I slipped on the new clothes, immediately glad to get out of the clothes that were practically in tatters.

The door opened, and I nearly jumped out of skin. Thank goodness I was already dressed.

Annabeth stood there with a glass of water, a small cloth, and some ambrosia. She was a little surprised. "Oh, hey! You're awake. We were wondering when you'd finally wake up." She seemed more than a little surprised as I caught her eye.

"Annabeth," I said, a smile falling onto my face. "Boy, am I glad to see you. It's been what? 7 months?"

"Closer to 8, but it has been a while..." her words felt a little uncomfortable, and I couldn't blame her for having only spent less than a day with me way back then. Felt like a different lifetime at this point.

"What happened? How did I even get here?" I asked, sitting back down on the bed.

Annabeth was still staring unsurely at me. "I can probably let everybody fill you up on what you missed. We'll be meeting in the mess hall in 5 minutes. It's just outside the room. Your cabin is closest. Take all the time you need."

She nodded at me before slipping out the door. I don't know if a part of me was just imagining it, but it seemed like she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. So I'd broken everyone's trust that bad, huh?

I felt what was almost a tickle on the back of my neck and knew that somehow Leo was on the other side of the door at that moment. I almost dismissed it, were it not for the knock that came a moment later.

My eyes glanced to the door. It had been so long, and I didn't know how I was even supposed to react. What if he felt just as betrayed and awkward as it had been with Anabeth. I had made so many mistakes and already lost everything.

I reached for the door, that feeling of nervousness threatening to bubble over. I opened the door and was met by familiar curly brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was fidgeting with a couple of screws in his hands and immediately slipped them back into his tool belt when he saw me.

He seemed a little startled, and for a moment, I didn't know how he would react. Then, he was moving forward, wrapping me in a hug. I was reminded of the time Medea had captured me in that cage, and Leo was the first person I had seen when I got freed. I was frozen for only a moment before I wrapped myself in the hug.

"Gods, I missed you," he said, mumbling into my hair.

Here come the waterworks, I thought with a light laugh. "I thought you'd hate me..."

He pulled away, a goofy grin on his face. "I almost blew up Rome for you. You're my best friend, I'd never hate you."

"Just friends?" I asked.

He blushed, putting a hand on the back of his head in a shy gesture that I found too cute.

"I don't know, yet. But we'll figure it out." He smiled. "Anyways, I've got to give you a tour of the boat. We got a stables and a mess hall that'll remind you just of Camp halfblood. And you'll love the steering mechanisms."

I laughed, glad that Leo was just the same as I left him. I just wasn't sure if I was the same person or not.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

Leo seemed a little nervous. "No, no. It's just... your eyes. They're different."

I frowned. My eyes? What was so different about my eyes. I moved over the mirror that had been placed on the wall by my bed and did a double take. They were pure gold and seemed to sparkle in the light of the lamp light. They were a reminder of the fact that I was a mortal with the power of a god running in my veins. It was the same power that was going to slowly kill me inside. I wasn't sure if I should just tell everyone straight up that I was a dead girl walking.

I glanced at Leo, a pang of sadness echoing through me. He didn't deserve a broken person like me.

Leo must have taken that look of sadness as me disliking my eyes. He gave me a cheesy smile. "But hey, I kinda like them."

It would take a bit of getting used to, but they were kind of pretty. Maybe that's why Anabeth had been looking at me so weird.

"So, how about that tour, Golden eyes." He offered me his hand.

At that moment, I was just happy to be back with my friends. And so, I took his hand.

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Aaaannnnd, that's the end. I'll backtrack a little in the next book. To get up to this point. I just want to thank everybody for reading this far through my mess of spelling errors and half cohesive chapters. And thank you for all of the comments. I read almost all of them.