Burning Passion: A Leo Valdez Love Story

Chapter 26

"Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out!"

{NAIA}

I held Leo's body to mine, tears dripping from my face to his. Was he dead?

But no... he was breathing. Thank the gods. I sighed in relief.

The poisoned fog was gone now. But I knew the effects would last. I looked down at his face, which was starting to move. "Leo," I whispered. "You have to wake up."

"Mrrmph..." he mumbled. "I'm okay... ouch, it stings, ouch..."

He'd be okay. For the time being.

And then for a second, my vision went black. Then Hekate's face, saying "he shouldn't have lived. I should've known to give him a higher dose. He's one of the fireproof ones..."

And then I could see Leo's face again. I felt a surge of relief course through me. He might live! I pulled his arm around my shoulder so I could support him, and then shoved my hand into his tool belt and pulled out a hammer. I started to pound frantically on the cave wall, until I made a hole, big enough for us to get through. And then we walked through the next corridor. It was very, very dark, and since Leo wasn't up to it, we couldn't use his fire. And stupidly, we'd forgotten flashlights.

I held tightly to Leo. He was heavy, but luckily I hadn't been walking all day yet. But unfortunately that also meant that I had an entire day of dragging him around. He seemed to be well enough to stand, which was good, but would he get worse?

"Naia," Leo said. "I'm slowing you down. Leave me here and find the cure. It's better for both of us."

"Shut up. I'm not leaving you. Don't even bother trying to make me." I shifted him (so his weight moved), wincing.

"You and I both know that you should."

I stopped, and turned him to face me. "Leo. I am not letting you die, and you might if I leave you. I don't care if the camp is in ruins. And Esmeralda has some time left. We'll make it. I know we will. I..." I said these last words under my breath so he couldn't hear me: "I need you."

He didn't argue again.

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We continued walking through the passageway, Leo's condition getting worse and worse. He could hardly stand now; that's how bad he was.

Then suddenly, he went very, very still. And then he fell down onto the floor and started to convulse.

I tried to remember what to do when the poison took effect. What had Apollo said? Keep him still. I grabbed him and pushed him down on his back, and then lay down on top of him. It was the only way I could think of to ensure all of his body wouldn't move. Well, hopefully.

I rested my head on his chest. There was nothing I could do now, just wait till the convulsions stopped, try to keep him from moving too much. I wondered why movement was so bad. But I had to trust Apollo.

After a while, they stopped. "Leo?" I whispered. "Are you okay?"

He looked up at me, chocolate brown eyes steady. That was a good sign.

"Much-better...now that you're... lying on me," he said, and grinned weakly.

"Leo! Jeez," I chided. But now I I knew he would be fine. "Thank the gods you're okay," I said to him. "I was so worried about you." So, so worried.

He can't die, I thought. He's all I have left. If he dies, I'll fail completely.

"I'll be fine." he asked. His speech came out clearly now, and it didn't seem to pain him. He'd be okay. "Don't worry about me, linda."

I flushed at the compliment (linda meant beautiful in Spanish). He's just teasing you, I told myself. He doesn't really think that. Even if he does, it probably doesn't mean anything.

He grinned up at me. "Thank you," he said.

I frowned. "For what?"

"For saving my life. You probably take don't realize it, but I could have been really hurt if you hadn't been there. If you'd listened to me and left me there... I don't know what would have happened."

"But if I hadn't gotten you into this, you would never had gotten poisoned," I said.

"Oh, come on! What's life with out a bit of adventure?" Leo asked. He was trying to make me feel better, and I loved him for it. But it didn't really help. I still felt incredibly guilty.

I tried to smile, but given the situation we were in, it kind of was hard.

Leo reached up and ran his finger along my scar gently. "It matches your eyes perfectly," he said. "It looks really pretty on you."

I almost laughed. "You're saying my scar looks pretty? You're a weird kid, Leo Valdez."

"Well, it does. I know that sounds weird. But, well, everything about you is pretty: your voice, your features..." he smiled at me.

"Do you really think that, or are you just saying that to make me feel better?" I asked him. "Or, possibly, are you delirious?"

"What do you think?" he responded, then he rolled us over so that I was underneath him. It was good that he was strong enough to do so, but why...

"What..." I began, but he interrupted me.

"Shhh. We could get attacked by monsters at any minute if we're too loud," he reminded me.

"You're right," I said. "I... I'm sorry I brought you into this, Leo. Despite some of the stuff I've said... you're a really good friend."

"Oh, so that's all we are, then? Friends?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. So don't get any ideas," I told him. He was so close. I tried to breathe steadily.

He winked. "No promises." Then his face went serious.

And he leaned in, and kissed me on the lips.

The feeling was indescribable. My brain completely shut down. I kissed him back, and I completely for got where we were. What could happen if we let our guard down like this. This was something I'd secretly wished for ever since that tiny first kiss, and even before that. I closed my eyes and let everything go. Just for this moment. This was infinitely better than any other kiss I'd had. I couldn't have told you why. It just was. Something about this one just felt more important. I ran my hand through his curls. Right then, at that moment, nothing else mattered. It was just me and Leo. Our mouths seemed to fit together perfectly. I wished I could forget about this whole quest and just kiss him, and not stop.

Finally, he pulled away a tiny bit. "So, are we still just "friends"?" His breathing was ragged, as was mine. I think I'd forgotten to breathe the whole time.

"What do you think?" I replied, breathlessly. I tried to keep my voice calm. Really, I did.

He grinned at me. "I guess I deserved that." He kissed me again, quickly this time. Then he whispered into my ear, "we'd better get going."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Let's go."

"But we should definitely do that again sometime, princesa," he said, getting to his feet, and pulling me up with him. "Minus the poison-induced convulsions."

"For once, Valdez, I actually agree with you," I said. I kissed him again quickly, holding him close.

He grinned, and put his arm around me, partially in an affectionate way and also because he was still weak and needed my support. We needed each other, I thought.

And together, we set off again through the tunnel.

⋆⋆⋆a/n⋆⋆⋆

those chapters seemed quite rushed; I apologize. I really wanted to get them out. Also, I wrote them both in basically a day, so yeaaah...

So tell me what you thought!!!! I want to know!

see you on monday, if all goes well.