Kerosine Dreams (Leo Valdez x Reader)

A Rocky Friendship

 The girl nothing short of rolled out of the car. Leo suggested she get up, but it was too late. The sisters sped off, leaving her in a plume of dust, laying on the road.

"Hey, what's your name?" Leo asked curiously, helping the girl up off of the road and dusting her off. She backed away nervously from his touch and he stopped, not quite sure why she was so hesitant towards him simply helping her.

The girl eyed her surroundings and saw nothing but open fields. She knew she had no choice and was stuck with this fire boy and wherever the taxi from hell had taken them. "Y/N."

Leo smiled to himself. The name was warm, one he'd gladly say in his mind over and over again until he fell asleep. "Coolio. I'm Leo."

Y/N nodded and kicked at the dirt, lowering her eyes away from his chocolatey brown ones. He tilted his head in question, taken aback by her sudden shyness. At times, he too could be coy, but nothing like this. Maybe she was just scared. "Anyways, I know you're probably really confused, but everything's ok. And, lucky for you, I'm not a murderer."

"Oh?" Y/N raised a brow. "We're in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely nowhere." She spun around, looking for a sign or anything that indicated civilization. "And there's a freaking dragon over there?"

Leo waited with a smug smile on his face until she realized what she'd said. "A DRAGON?!" She turned her attention right to the tree where a lone dragon lay sleeping contently, a golden fleece hanging on a branch overhead. "Why's there a dragon?"

"Come with me, and you'll find out. Don't worry, he's harmless." Leo coaxed the girl to follow. The entire time, she stumbled through the grass, Leo having to steady her as her eyes were glued on the dragon. The son of Hephaestus was used to it, but he realized for a newcomer, this really was a big deal. By now, he'd practically forgotten his first day when he came crashing into camp on that chariot with Annabeth, Piper, Jason and muscly rainbow dude. That was a long time ago.

Y/N hadn't even realized she and Leo had stopped walking. He held her by the arm at the base of a set of steps leading up to a large house. Suddenly, the sound of hooves caught Y/N's attention. Why there was a horse in the house, she had no clue. But, after seeing a dragon, she was prepared for anything.

Scratch that. She wasn't. Her mouth dropped to the dirt when a man—horse man—man horse? Appeared around around the corner. Leo laughed so hard his stomach hurt at her reaction and she jabbed him in the ribs.

"Uhhhhmmm—No offence, but what are you?" She questioned.

The man stifled a laugh and made his way down the steps, holding his hand out to the girl. She shook it weakly. "My name is Chiron. I direct Camp Half-Blood. And, I am a centaur. I'm sure you're familiar."

"Well, I mean, I've read some stuff and seen some pictures. I didn't realize you were, well, legit." She explained, mesmerized by what she was seeing.

Still baffled, she leaned over to Leo and whispered in his ear. "Did you give me some drugs? Or did that car ride really scramble my brain?"

Leo tried not to laugh because he wasn't sure if he had any laughter left in him. "No. This is all real."

"So...what exactly is this place?" She asked Chiron.

The centaur signalled for the two to follow him out into the field that lay behind them. "It's a safe place of sorts. One for half-bloods like you."

"Half-blood?"

Chiron nodded. "Children of one mortal parent and one god."

Y/N gasped. "Wooooaaaah! Who's my parent?"