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The Cyclops was starting to take its final shape and form after all of the dust had collected and reformed.
Leo took control and managed to escape the situation with the Cyclops, which was getting quite close to reforming. Leo rushed everyone back to Festus, and he made sure to grab Thèrèse' arm and pull her to sit behind him with her front pressed up against his back. He did this in order to ensure that she stayed close by and not get hurt in any way in any chance that the Cyclops might try to catch them off guard again.
As Thèrèse looked back at the building, there weren't any angry Cyclops running towards them. She did let out a sigh of relief once she saw that no Cyclops was coming after them, but then she looked over and saw Piper was still supporting Jason, who was still unconscious, but at least he was getting better.
Leo himself was driving Festus, which gave him another sense of relief, as he still couldn't believe that he managed to get Thèrèse to hold hands with him and then allow her to sit right behind him. That was something Leo wanted to remember for the rest of his life.
She squeezed his hand, "You're amazing back there, you know that? Defeating three Cyclops at once? I'd give you credit for that, fire boy." She whispered in his ear.
When she squeezed his hand, Leo was almost sent over the moon with the feeling that he had inside his heart. Leo smirked a little bit and turned to her to reply in a teasing tone, "Well, it's not so easy doing all that when I have a gorgeous girl behind me, making it hard to concentrate."
Her reaction caught his attention. Leo found that Thèrèse' eyes had started to sparkle and her cheeks had gone blushing. The sight of it made his heart melt, and he couldn't help but smile at her sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks. "Did I make you blush?" Leo said with a smirk on his face.
"Maybe... yeah, you did." Thèrèse replied back, a hint of hesitation in her voice. She leaned in a tiny bit more even as Leo was driving the dragon, so that she was now almost pressed against his back. Thèrèse had become more comfortable being so close to Leo like this, and she enjoyed every second of it.
"Uh, hello, I'm still here." Piper spoke up from the back, wriggling her fingers up to catch their attention after witnessing the whole interaction.
The sudden noise of the daughter of Aphrodite's voice caused both Leo and Thèrèse to turn their attentions to Piper who looked annoyed that she had now interrupted their cute interaction. Thèrèse looked at Piper apologetically and then looked back at Leo.
His eyebrows went up in realization as he realized that Piper had basically just become the third wheel. Leo chuckled a bit at the situation but then said, "Yes, we know that you're still here."
Piper rolled her eyes and let out a quick sigh as she replied, "Whatever you two love birds might be doing right now, I think you better stop it." Piper said, she couldn't help but admire how Leo was still holding Thèrèse' hand as they sat close together.
