You Always Have What Other's Don't ~a Percy Jackson AU~

XVII Jason

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Jason spun to face Leo, amusingly. "How do I look?"
"You're bow tie's crooked, there's a button missing on your jacket, and you ripped your pants."
Panicked, Jason tried to get a look at his backside, as if he were a dog chasing his tail. He groaned. "I knew this wasn't getting to work."
"Relax," Leo assured. "Take your pants off."
"What?"
"Come on, Sparky. We don't have all day!" He snapped his fingers. Reluctantly, Jason slipped off the bottom half of his suit, handing it to Leo. The smaller boy reached into his pocket, pulling out the tiniest sewing kit Jason had ever seen. He looked at him funny. "What? I was a boy scout," Leo explained, threading the needle. Jason huffed, returning to his mirror. He looked himself up and down. He looked like James Bond, only worse. A spy like him would never look this distraught and disorganized. Jason fumbled with his tie, angrily. The gala was hours away, and yet beads of sweat poured down his face. He was so nervous, he hadn't eaten a thing all day. This, of course, was a huge mistake, because now he was frustrated, anxious, and starving.
"Hurry up!" He said, practically pacing a hole through the floor.
"Easy, cowboy," Leo said, throwing his pants back at him. Jason put them on hastily. "Do you need to go over the plan one more time?"
"No," Jason said confidently, but Leo could see right through him. "Yes."
Leo sighed. "Alright. I can hack the security system for exactly 10 minutes before the backup cameras kick in. If your going to get into that room, you have to enter through the personnel door on the backside of the building. You cannot get caught. Do you understand? You won't be giving a nameplate, so you have to steal someone else's," Leo grunted. "Remind me, is Piper really worth all of this?"
Jason bit his lip. "Ye-"
The door swung open, the knob hitting Jason's wall with a bone chilling thud. Leo, despite obliviously being caught, made a desperate attempt at diving behind Jason's bed.
Thalia narrowed her eyes, studying her brother. "Where our you going?"
"Out," Jason replied curtly, shoving his phone in his back pocket.
"I mean, where are you going in that sui- Leo, you know I can see you right?"
Sheepishly, Leo got to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you supposed to be-"
"At work?" She replied. "I forgot my wallet. Are one of you two idiots going to tell me why I found this in mom's room?" She lifted Leo's blue sleeping bag in the air, cocking her eyebrow.
The two boys exchanged a look. Busted. Jason stepped forward. "He didn't have anywhere else to go, Thalia."
"And?"
Jason furrowed his eyebrow, angrily. "What do you mean, 'and'? It was raining outside, it's not like I could just turn him down!"
Thalia rolled her eyes, tossing the sleeping bag at his feet. "That's not the problem here, Jason. Why did you feel the need to hide it from me?"
As she crossed her arms, a wave of bashfulness passed over him. "W-Well.. I-"
She tapped her foot impatiently as Jason struggled for the words.
"It's okay," Leo cut in, picking the sleeping bag off the floor. "I didn't mean to cause problems. I can leave if you-"
"No," Thalia said sternly. "Look, Leo. I don't know what's going on here, but if you need a place to crash for awhile, by all means, let it be here. I'm just wondering why Jason felt the need to hide you."
Jason could feel the beads of sweat trickle down his face. His hands felt hot and clammy. "I didn't-"
"If you want me to drop it, you gotta tell me where you're going."
Jason examined himself, there was no use in lying. He sighed, mumbling the answer under his breath.
"What?"
He mumbled a little louder.
"Jason Grace, I swear to god-"
"He's sneaking into the McLean Gala to impress a girl!" Leo blurt out quickly, as if it pained him to keep it in. "Holy shit, you guys have some serious commutation issues."
Thalia narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Reyna doesn't seem like the girl who would want you to do that. Aren't she and her dad going anyway?"
Leo looked confused. "Reyna? I thought we were talking about Piper." The second her name left his lips, Leo clapped his hand over his mouth. Jason sighed exasperatedly, smacking him in his arm to keep quiet. But of course, Thalia's eyebrows shot to the roof.
"Piper McLean?"
Jason turned to Leo, scowling. "Really?" All Leo could do was shrug apologetically.
"As in the daughter of Tristan McLean?" She asked."Why?"
Leo snorted. "As if it isn't obvious."
"Dude!" Jason hissed under his breath.
"No. Leo, explain," Thalia crossed her arms.
Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't- Uh, feel well.. I think-" Before he could come up with a valid excuse, Leo had been the victim of Thalia's cold, judgmental eyes. A stare down Jason often had tried to challenge when he was a kid, but ultimately lost. Leo was done for. Jason put his face in his hands, already knowing the outcome.
"He... Um... kinda likes her."
The range of emotions Thalia could display at once was quiet perplexing. At first, she was confused, processing what this meant. Then, a vague sense reminiscence crossed her face, followed by anger. "You're cheating on her."
He knew all about Luke. Honestly, who couldn't? Leo had for sure heard the sobs that came from her room at night. Then again, he slept like a brick. "No," he said definitively. "I'm not. I haven't kissed her or anything."
"Cheating emotionally is just the same." The corner of her mouth twitched. Jason hoped to god that she didn't start crying. For once, Leo was quiet. Jason looked for him for backup, but not a single word came out of his mouth.
"I promise, I'll break up with her first before I do anything with Piper."
Thalia stood a little straighter, as if something in her changed. "I'll let you go," she said finally. Jason and Leo turned to high five each other, their hands inches apart. "On one condition."
Terror briefly flashed through Jason, the amount of leverage Thalia had in this situation was too much for her to sacrifice. He braced himself, prepared to do weeks worth of cleaning.
"I get to go too."
They both flinched, lowering their hands. "Why do you want to come?" Leo asked.
Thalia thought for a moment. "I have somethings I need to get in order. Once and for all. I'll be done getting ready in half an hour." Without another word, Thalia shut the door behind her. Jason gaped.
"So... That just happened," Leo commented after moments of silence.
"Mhm."
"So do you need to go over the plan one more time?"
"Leo, no."
"Okay, just checking."
Jason leaned on his desk with his hands. He was actually doing this. He was actually going to break up with Reyna. The weight of the situation made him sick. What would this mean for his future? Would he even get to go to college?
That's when it hit him like a ton of bricks.
Leo.

Now that Jason was thinking about it, Leo's future was seemed like a big black hole. The past couple of days, every time Jason tried to drum up a conversation about college, even a job, Leo had shut him down in ten seconds or less.
The two hadn't spoke in years, and yet there Leo was on his doorstep when he needed a place to go.
"Look, Leo.. I'm-" he took a deep breath, giving himself a mental pep talk. He could practically feel some alarms go off in his head.
"Yeah? Spit it out."
"Thank you, for doing all of this. I'm grateful, really."
Leo let out a small, amused smile. "My pleasure, Sparky."
Jason felt something tingle inside him. He couldn't think of a time when he genuinely said thank you,

And meant it.