Love Games (Leo Valdez/ PJO Fan Fiction)

Chapter 29 - Chasing Pavements

"I've made up my mind, don't need to think it over. If I'm wrong I am right, don't need to look no further. This ain't lust, I know this is love..." Chasing Pavements, Adele

Leo's POV

There's a dull knock on the high tech door that guards the Hephaestus Cabin. For once, there aren't my siblings working away on their projects. It's just me with the unfinished and broken robots. 

I find no motivation to rise from my comfortable position on my bunk, my hands tucked under my hair and my eyes half shut. After hours of unrest, I'm finally at peace. Yet, the Gods have to send another tragic event to unfold in my life. In these sixteen years, I think I've had enough.

With a grunt, I crawl out from the blankets and trudge to metal door. "Who is it?" I murmur, leaning against a work table full of rusty nails and scattered work tools.

"Leo, get your ass out here," Jason shouts from the other side in an indignant tone. "Moping around isn't going to get you anywhere."

"Make me," I retort as I retreat back to my bunk. 

Jason pounds on the thick layer of metal. "Don't be a dick!" 

Rolling my eyes, I find the door opener and hastily push the button. My blond best friend invites himself in and places his hands on his hips. My Gods, when did he turn into Piper?

"What do you want, pal?" 

Jason roughly grabbed my shoulder before I could climb the ladder up to my bed. "I want you to stop being a sarcastic douche bag," he growled. His pale face was taken over by an angry shade of red. 

"No can do," I reply with a flashy smile. "Have a nice day." 

His expression softens. "I heard about you and Faye," Jason tells me softly. "I'm sorry, man."

"Really? Because I'm not sorry at all. Good riddance to another failure in my life, yet another sob story to add to my memoir," I add some fake laughter in as well. "Why do you care?"

"I'm your best friend, douche bag," Jason reminds me as he turns to the work tables. His fingers glide carefully over the discarded machines. "It's my job to care about you."

I cross my arms. "You can't even remember why we're best friends. Or like Chiron said, Hera pushed us all together for some cheap prophecy. I have all the memories of the laughs, the time I got you to skip class...Yet, you can't remember a single one of those things."

His thick eyebrows furrow together when he faces me again. "Does it matter?" Jason asks unsympathetically. "You're my best friend now."

"Right."

Jason becomes furious once again, shoving everything on a nearby worktable to the already littered floor in a fit of anger. "Look, I'm not here to listen to your shit. I came here to help you! And here you are acting like a dickwad!" He points a finger at me. "When you decide to act like the carefree and fun Leo that I've come to know, feel free to stop by Cabin One."

With that being said, Jason storms out of the Hephaestus Cabin. As he leaves, I turn my back to the door. Oncoming footsteps became apparent. "Whoever it is," I say in a controlled voice, "please just leave me alone."

"It's me, Leo."

I can recognize that voice anywhere. Before, I may have acknowledged it as the song of an angel. I know it now as I masked voice, the call of a siren. 

"What do you want this time?" I say, my back still turned to her. I can't find it within myself to face her. Once I take a look at her, I might change my mind. "To take my virginity like the other night?" A quiet snort escapes my throat. "We all know that night was just some set up."

She sighs. "I know and I regret what I did," the daughter of Aphrodite speaks in a stiff voice. "All I want to say right now is that I'm sorry. You deserve better."

"Amen to that."

I don't have to move. She maneuvers around the debris for her dark eyes to meet my own. To my surprise, they're red and puffy. I bet she can cry on demand. Her tangly hair is all in one big knot behind her shoulders. She's a better actress than I thought she was. "You do deserve better."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Leo." Hearing her say my name makes me relive every time I made her laugh. Our tiny little fights over nothing. The way she made me happy after I've been miserable for so long. "I'm sorry."

A large part of me wants to accept it and move on, but that would only mean repeating this cycle of depression. It must end. "That isn't going to cut it, Faye."

She takes a step back, still shocked at my offensive sarcasm. Her face hardens. "What else do you want from me, Leo?"

An elongated silence hangs heavily in the Cabin as Faye waits for my response. "I want you to leave," I tell her slowly, my voice managing to crack several times in the process. "I want you to leave and never speak to me again. You used me and I was stupid enough to fall for it."

"I need to tell you something first," Faye insists, an urgent look appearing in her eyes. "You're going to hate me even more after I say this, but you deserve to know the truth."

I break our gaze. "You're probably a charm-speaker, just like Piper. Leave me alone."

"I'm not a charm speaker!" Faye exclaims as she throws her arms up in dismay. "Just sit down and let me justify you shutting me out even more with this piece of information."

"What could be ever so important?"

"Aphrodite tradition," she pauses for a second. I can see she's reconsidering her next step. Aphrodite tradition is most likely pity dating or seeing who can bang the guys in a weekend. This new Faye would win them all in a heart beat.

"Oh, I see. Who can pile on the most makeup in a single day?"

"No."

"What is it then?"

Tension arises, the sound of our heart beats filling the room. My hands ball into fists as I attempt to control myself. So far, it hasn't been working so well.

Faye has ADHD, like most other demigods. Her shoulders are almost shaking from her anxiety. Somehow, I had never noticed. She bites her upper lip and whispers two words.

Love Games.

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A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNN

Sorry for the late update :( I'm such a bad person PLEASE DON'T SLAP ME THOUGH I DESERVE TO BE SLAPPED A LOT.

This chapter is dedicated to gracebball11 because your comment made me smile :)

The song for this chapter is Chasing Pavements (by ADELE) b/c Faye is chasing pavements here with Leo. He obviously wants nothing to do with her anymore out of fear of getting his heart broken once more from the girl he fell for.

This picture to the side is over good ol' Jason Grace. I really wish Rick would write teen novels with swearing. Let's get real, Leo would drop the f-bomb right and left here. He always has those almost swears, like the pile of schist or whatever that was XD

27+ VOTES AND 20+ COMMENTS ON THIS CHAPTER FOR AN UPDATE BY SUNDAY AND DEDICATION TO A COMMENTER AS WELL...

Thanks for all of your patience! :) xx

-Em