ValGrace - Hoodie || High School AU

Chapter 2 - It's Festus' Fault

Leo's POV

"Woof woof!" Festus nudged the boy's leg, eager to go out on a walk. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming, I'm coming!" Leo put on his shoes, taking the leash and opening the door. Instantly, Festus began dragging him out of the house. "Be careful! Don't go too far! Come home for dinner!" Esperanza shouted from the kitchen. "Will do. Don't worry, mom!"

It was a relatively silent evening. Most people we're inside with their families, probably eating dinner, except for the occasional gang and clique and whatever. Festus and the latino boy were walking peacefully until the dog decided to start running. "Woah! Slow down, buddy!" He didn't. Festus kept running, he reached a corner and turned around it with Leo close on heels. The boy slammed face first into someone and landed on his ass. 

"Owie..." He groaned and rubbed his forhead. "Oh my god. Are you ok?" A familiar voice said. The latino shoot his eyes open and to his surprise, none other than Jason Grace stood there, his hand outstretched for Leo take. "Uh... yeah! I'm fine. Thanks." He blushed while taking the other's hand and draging himself up. "Just taking my dog on a walk." Festus barked happily as if this was his intention all along. Leo just glared at him.

"It's very cute. Mind if I pet it?" The blonde asked, smiling down at the dog in question. "Uh, sure. His name's Festus by the way." "Festus? Nice name!" "Heh. Yeah, thanks. I was the one who came up with it."

The two boys walked along the road, just talking about random things, until they ended up in the park. "So how's it at home for you?" The taller asked the shorter, sitting down on a swing. "Hm? oh it's going fine. Nothing really special." Leo answered, also sitting down on another swing. "Mom and Dad's doing great in the workshop they run together. My eldest brother, Charles moved away with his wife a while ago. Jake, my other brother, is applying for college and is probably going to move out as well. And Nys is only one-and-a-half year older than me so she's hopefully staying at home for some time. You?" The latino boy looked up at the taller.

"Well. My sister, Thalia dropped out of college and is living with us at home. My Dad, Jupiter doesn't really talk to us much, only coming home from work on the weekend. I have a step mom, her name is Juno. She didn't like us at first, because, y'know, her husband cheated on her and made me and my sister, but she warmed up to us eventually. And my actual Mom... well... she's- she's not with us. Probably doing her own thing." Jason smiled sadly. "Ohhh... shit I'm sorry." Leo gave him an apologetic look, not too sure how to respond. "Eh. It's fine, I'm used to it."

A sudden cold breeze swept through the park and Leo shivered. He had made the mistake of underestimating the cold and thus only put on a thin T-shirt. "Are you cold?" A pair of electrifying blue eyes met his own brown ones with concern. "Nah. I'm fine. Just a small breeze. It's nothing." The latino shrugged. "Ok... If you say so." And just as he said that, another breeze decided to appear. A bit colder than the first one, making Leo shiver again.

"If you're cold, just say it. I'll happily lend you my hoodie if you need it." Jason said and frowned a bit. "Don't worry, really. I'm fi-" As the latino was about to finish his sentence, he sneezed. Fuck. Dont you just hate it when you sneeze for litterally no reason? "Okay, that's it." The blonde boy said with a demanding tone and pulled off his hoodie, handing it to the other. "You're wearing this whether you want to or not."

"But-"

"No buts."

"Seriously, I'm fine."

"Obviously not since you just sneezed."

"Really-"

"Nope."

"But I-"

"No excuses."

"Won't you-"

"Not really. I don't get cold easily."

"Ugh. Fine!" Leo sighed as he took the hoodie and put it on. It was warm and cozy and way too big for his small frame. The hoodie was a deep purple with a big 'Grace 01' on the back and a small 'JG' on the front to the right.

The short boy breathed in the scent of the purple material. A slight chuckle was heard, Leo turned his headtowards the sound and his heart skipped a beat. There was Jason Grace, in a loose-ish tank top, smiling at him like he was a loved one who just died and came back. His cheeks pink for some reason. Must've been the cold. "You're an amusing one, Leo Valdez." With that, the latino turned into a blushing mess. "Oh.. umm.. hehe th-thanks...." Get it together, Valdez! You're just talking to Jason, not some godly prince! But, oh my god, he said my name! What the fuck?! By now. Leo was pretty sure his face could qualify as a tomatoe. Festus barked and jumped around like this was some shipfic of his OTP.

Then he realized something. If Jason was wearing a tank top and had just worn a hoodie, either he had brought a tank top with him and changed at lightning speed or.... He just stopped and stared at the other with an expression that was a mix between fear, disturbance and questioning cause seriously, Who the fuck wears shirts under hoodies. Jason is who apparently.

Leo looked down at his wristwatch. It was 6:47 pm. "Shit. I'm late for dinner. Gotta go. Bye, Jason!" "Yeah! See you at school tomorrow!" He heard as he ran home with Festus.

When he came home, his family had already started eating. "I'm sorry we're late! Some stuff happened and I lost track of time!" Leo stood in the doorway of the kitchen, panting, letting Festus off his leash. His family just stared at him. Or at his clothes to be exact. "What?" The latino looked down at himself and realized. "Oh." He had forgotten to give Jason's hoddie back.

Nyssa smirked. "Jason Grace, huh? Is that why you volunteered to walk Festus? So you could meet up with Mr. Perfect Blondie." "Shut up! It's not like that. We just happened to meet at the park. He lended me his hoodie cause I was cold. Besides, he's straight as fuck." "Language." "Sorry, mom."

Leo sat down at the dinner table, face red from blushing. "Awe, it's fine, Leo. We don't mind." Jake smiled reassuringly. "Mhm. Thanks." "So, who's this Mr. Jason Grace?" His dad asked, rising a curious eyebrow. "Sophomore. Sits on my right in math on Tuesdays. Is number 01 on the soccer team. Has blonde hair and blue eyes. Cute smile. Really nice to everybody. Does good in school. Have popular friends. Is popular too. Has a lot of 'fangirls'." The boy rambled on about his little (read: big) crush.

Dinner was over and boy was Leo tired. His family kept asking questions about Jason like: "How's his personality?" "What's your relationship with him?" "Have you gone on any dates yet?" etcetera, etcetera. He loved his family, he really did, but sometimes they could just be the most annoying people in the world. Leo took off the purple hoodie and threw it on a chair. He was gonna return it tomorrow, but right now, all the latino boy wanted to do was to lay in his bed, fall into a deep sleep and not having to worry about anything. So he did.