LABYRINTH ↬ leo valdez x reader, book three

15. TOUGH LOVE

It felt incomplete without Leo's arm slung around me, without his laugh or his tinkering. His absence wouldn't be final.

His absence wasn't final, but it was a pain in the—
Leo sent us the scroll a few days after, but the Romans would've been last to receive word about his survival.

The hologram was definitely Leo Valdez, looking impish as usual with his dark wispy hair, his mischievous grin, and his diminutive stature. (Of course, the hologram was only three inches tall, but even in real life Leo was not much more imposing.) His jeans, blue work shirt, and tool belt were speckled with machine oil.

"Hey, guys!" Leo spread his arms for a hug. "Sorry to leave you like that. Bad news: I died. Good news: I got better! I had to go rescue Calypso. We're both fine now. We're taking Festus to—" The image guttered like a flame in a strong breeze, disrupting Leo's voice. "Back as soon as—" Static. "Cook tacos when—" More static. "¡Vaya con queso! Love ya!" 

Now, we were having a lovely time with a new demigod, Meg, and Apollo dubbed as acne faced Lester Papa-doopey-something. But right now, spiraling down from the clouds was a large winged creature that glinted of Celestial bronze. On its back were two human-size figures.

Their descent was silent, but in my mind a joyous fanfare of Valdezinator music proclaimed the good news. Leo had returned.

As soon as I saw him, every nerve in my body exploded.
"Y/N! How is my favourite demigod?"
"I hate you!" I seethed, storming up to him and shoving him backwards.
"What happened to your little pacifist act?" He sulked.
I growled. "I lost all patience for that since you left. You are the worst, most horribly funny, charming, best boyfriend in this whole world." I kissed him with as much angry force as I could and he reciprocated it, messing up my hair.

The PDA was overkill.

Calypso was more excited to see me than to be free from Ogygia.

And we all took turns punching Leo.

"Y/N, how torturous it was without you! I thought putting up with this fool was difficult enough but I wish you had been there to help me deal with the agony."
I embraced Calypso. "You have a headache. Use a cold compress and stay hydrated if it bothers you."
Her head tilted in uncertainty. My eyes widened and I let out an exasperated sigh.

"I swear it's a habit now. I've got this book and I memorised all of it so I can help—"
She cut me off by hugging me again, her sweet scent engulfing me. I smiled so hard that my mouth ached.

"Is this really necessary?" Leo asked.
"Yes," said Miranda Gardiner, who had drawn the first number. She punched Leo in the arm.
"Ow," said Leo.

"You're a jerk, and we all hate you," said Miranda. Then she hugged him and kissed his cheek. "If you ever disappear like that again, we'll line up to kill you."
"Okay, okay!"

Miranda had to move on, because the line was getting pretty long behind her. I stood by Leo's side, flinching at each blow he took to the arm. 

Percy hugged Leo and didn't even punch him. Still, the son of Poseidon looked disgruntled.
"I can't believe it," he said. "Six months—"
"I told you," Leo said. "We tried sending more holographic scrolls. We tried Iris messages, dream visions, phone calls. Nothing worked.—Ow! Hey, Alice, how you doing?—Anyway, we ran into one crisis after another."

Calypso nodded. "Albania was particularly difficult. I thought I was simply going to jump off that dragon with all of Leo's whining. 'We just have to get back to camp! I promised Y/N, I told her she could trust me'" she mimicked in a childish voice. Leo flushed bright red.
From down the line, Nico di Angelo yelled, "Please do not mention Albania! Okay, who's next, folks? One line."