YOU ARE IN LOVE ↬ leo valdez x reader, book two

15. and your shoulders brush

Frank turned to us. "You three keep going."
Hazel's eyes widened. "What? No!"
"You have to. Find the Doors. Save Annabeth and Percy."
"But—" Leo glanced over Frank's shoulder.
"Hit the deck!" Frank dove for cover as a volley of rocks slammed overhead. We sprawled to move as the tunnel began to collapse.
"Guys," I gulped, ingesting dust and crushed concrete particles. "You heard Frank. We're going to save Annabeth and Percy, then we'll help them too."

I felt Hazel's pain. Really, I did.
Not on similar levels, of course. For all we knew, her best friends, brother and the love of her life were going to– nevermind. Nico, whom I'd known from Percy and Bianca, always felt like a kid that I had to protect. He was grown up now, I guess. And Piper, a beloved friend of mine. She was like (or maybe she is to some of you readers) a sister. Jason was our leader and Frank was like my partner in crime when it came to bullying Leo.

After the tunnel collapsed, Hazel wept and screamed. She couldn't move the debris that separated us from the others. Instead, she pounded her fists against the stones and yelled curses that Chiron would be very disapproving of. Leo stared at her, wide-eyed and speechless. He glanced at me quickly, like What do I do? I replied with a small shake of the head.
"Sorry." Hazel wiped her face.
"Hey, you know..." Leo shrugged. "I've attacked a few rocks in my day."

She swallowed with difficulty. "Frank is...he's—"
"Listen," Leo said. "Frank Zhang has moves. He's probably gonna turn into a kangaroo and do some marsupial jujitsu on their ugly faces."
I helped her to her feet.
"Guys, I'm sorry," she said.
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Okay. For what?"
"For..." She gestured around her helplessly. "Everything. For thinking you were Sammy, for leading you on. I mean, I didn't mean to, but if I did—"
"No, Hazel–" I started.
"Y/N, I haven't even been a worthwhile friend to you. I waited until two of our friends were in Hell to finally befriend you, that's so unfair–"

"Hey." Leo squeezed her hand "Machines are designed to work."
"Uh, what?"
"I figure the universe is basically like a machine. I don't know who made it, if it was the Fates, or the gods, or capital-G God, or whatever. But it chugs along the way it's supposed to most of the time. Sure, little pieces break and stuff goes haywire once in a while, but mostly...things happen for a reason. Like us meeting."
"Leo Valdez," Hazel marveled, "you're a philosopher."

"Nah," he said. "I'm just a mechanic. But I figure my bisabuelo Sammy knew what was what. He let you go, Hazel. My job is to tell you that it's okay. You and Frank—you're good together. We're all going to get through this. I hope you guys get a chance to be happy. Besides, Zhang couldn't tie his shoes without your help."
"That's mean," Hazel chided.
"Leo, you can't put a Bandaid on without my help."
"And I wouldn't have fireproof clothes."

"What happened to you both when you were on your own?" she asked. "Who did you meet?"
Leo's eye twitched. We made eye contact, with an unspoken conversation. Figure things out first, gossip later. "Long story." Leo told Hazel. "We'll tell you sometime, but I'm still waiting to see how it shakes out."
"The universe is a machine," Hazel said, "so it'll be fine."
"Hopefully."
"As long as it's not one of your machines," Hazel added. "Because your machines never do what they're supposed to."
"Yeah, ha-ha." Leo summoned fire into his hand. "Now, which way, Miss Underground?"

Hazel scanned the path in front of us. About thirty feet down, the tunnel split into four smaller arteries, each one identical.
"That way," she decided. "It feels the most dangerous."
"Does dangerous mean the same thing to you guys as it does to me?"
"Well I'm sold," said Leo.
We began our descent. As soon as we reached the first archway, the polecat Gale found us.

She scurried up Hazel's side and curled around her neck.
"Not the farting weasel again," Leo complained. I had to admit I had never taken notice of the farting weasel, but I didn't want to have a whiff anytime soon. "If that thing lets loose in close quarters like this, with my fire and all, we're gonna explode."
Gale barked a polecat insult at Leo.
Hazel hushed them both. "Be ready," she whispered. "We're getting close."
"Close to what?"
A woman's voice echoed down the corridor: "Close to me."