Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

36 - We're Officially Official

Via lay in her bunk wide awake as the sun came up.

Normally she'd just go back to sleep until Will announced it was time for everyone to get up, but today was different. Today she was hoping everything that had happened last night during Capture-the-Flag hadn't been a dream. Because if it was a dream, that would've meant Leo was still in his room, he hadn't told her what an amazing job she'd done with Festus, and he definitely hadn't kissed her.

Oh, gods, the kiss. As Via remembered the kiss a giddy smile took over her face and she had to refrain from squealing and kicking her feet. She was ecstatic it had finally happened, regardless of how unexpected it had been. She definitely hadn't been expecting Leo to initiate it, especially not then. She'd believed the words "I could kiss you right now" were an expression of how much Leo liked the upgrades she'd done to Festus, not... that.

Nevertheless, Via was extremely proud of how she'd handled herself. The bar was at "not melting into a flustered puddle" and she'd flown over it at "kissing him back and flirting smoothly with him." Via believed she deserved some sort of reward for that. Maybe at breakfast she'd get herself some strawberry-banana and nutella crepes like her mom used to make. And then she could talk to Leo some more, that way they could finally define the relationship.

Actually, screw it — she was going to go see Leo now. He'd probably be in the bunker already, fussing over Festus, so that's where she was going to go. It was almost time for breakfast, anyway. She'd find him and they'd talk a bit (and maybe even kiss again) before going to breakfast.

She carefully and quietly slipped out of her bunk, changed into a camp t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of black Converse high-tops before braiding her hair and starting to head out. She'd just gotten to the door when she realized she should probably leave Pat a note or something telling him where she'd gone. She grabbed a pad of sticky notes and scribbled, dw i havent been kidnapped, gone to bunker 9 :). She then peeled off the sticky note and stuck it on Pat's forehead so it would be the first thing he saw when he woke up. Satisfied, she finally left.

Via cheerfully hummed 22 (Taylor's Version) as she skipped across the green and into the forest, feeling very upbeat. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was going and didn't go far west enough, so she ended up at Zeus' fist on accident. Not wanting to stick around this place, she hurried towards Zephyros Creek.

When she finally arrived at Bunker Nine, she expected to find Leo talking to his siblings or checking Festus out to see all the new stuff Pat, Via, and Nyssa had added to him, but he was nowhere to be found. Via felt a stab of anxiety. Was last night all a dream? Had she just imagined it all? She started to silently panic. What was she supposed to do now? Last night was a one-off; she didn't have the energy or the confidence to do another first kiss scenario!

"Oh, hey, Vee," Nyssa said, having just spotted her.

"Hey, Nyssa," Via said casually, trying to mask her inner panic. "Um, is Leo —?"

"Should be at breakfast," Nyssa said, grinning knowingly. "He said he wanted to see you first thing."

Via's face felt warm and she couldn't help smiling at that. Aww, he wanted to see her first thing? He was so sweet, she loved that. Then she remembered she hadn't told Nyssa — or anyone else for that matter — about the kiss. She blushed deeper. "Oh, gods, did he tell you everything?"

"Oh, my gods, your face!" Nyssa exclaimed gleefully. "Redder than a tomato! Girl, you are down bad."

"Answer the question, Nyssa," Via said, covering her cheeks. "Did he tell you that we kissed last night?"

Nyssa was about to respond, but Jake Mason cut in, carrying a box of metal scraps, and said, "He didn't, but his face did. And you did, just now."

Nyssa gestured at him with her thumb like, he's not wrong. As Jake set the box of scraps down on a work table she added, "Also, he smelled like that strawberry cheesecake body spray you wear, so... yeah."