Title: Here In Your Arms
Rating: T+
Pairing: Leo Valdez x Percy Jackson
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Cheesiness, Fluff
Summary: Okay. It's a gross kiss. With a lot of boogers. And snot, where most of which ends up in his mouth. But no matter what Leo says, Percy will always tell him it's his favorite.
Notes: It's half-standalone, half sequel to I'm Yours, and tells the story in a different way and how Percy falls for Leo. The song referenced is Here In Your Arms by HelloGoodbye, which is a really good song! I recommend listening to it!

-x-

It isn't a particularly clean kiss. If anything, Percy willingly admits he's used to getting kissed in life-or-death situations. There's also that one time with Grover, but both of them aren't completely sure what happened and they agree it's better not to mention it again—otherwise Juniper may kill him.

It's not passionate. It's not romantic. It's…in fact, it's untimely and really gross. But Percy won't hesitate to tell Leo it's his favorite.

He's is in the woods by complete accident. Percy wanders away from campfire activities after the Apollo Cabin sings "The Wheels on the Chariot go Boom-Boom Crash" one too many times and wants to be alone. Frank, Hazel, and Jason have left for Camp Jupiter. Annabeth is distant and Percy can't bring himself to coax her because he feels distant too.

In a week he'll be seventeen and Camp will be over. Like every year, it'll end with a bang. He can't help himself for feeling uncomfortable in his surroundings since, come November, it'll be a year since he went missing. Mount Olympus's construction is near complete and Percy's having a hard time getting reacquainted. Everything is built. Drew is still a crazy bitch, Malcolm from Athena Cabin is dating Mitchell from Aphrodite.

Too much change has happened to Percy's home and he's scared to close his eyes and wake up to another one.

As he wanders through the woods, Percy stumbles upon a bunker he swears wasn't there last summer.

Leo's there, crying. He sits in the middle of what happens to be a workshop large enough to hold a warship with his head in his hands and sounds that aren't human. He sounds…heartbroken. An eye peeks up from beneath thick curls, glassy and swollen with tears running down his face. There's a way Leo's chest rings and how the son of Hephaestus watches Percy that he knows he needs to make a move.

Percy's not good with crying. He can barely handle his mother when she's dabbing tissues on her face as she watches the Young and the Restless. Still, he drops to his knees in front of Leo and pretends he's pondering about the weather. Maybe it's a guy thing; not knowing how to comfort. When Leo's done, Percy opens his arms. Hugs; he's good with hugs.

It's a slow reaction, but Leo's response rattles in his throat. Then, Percy has a handful of Hephaestus's prodigy in his lap and the waterworks start all over again. Salty tears and snot and drool drench Percy's shirt. He doesn't mind. They're not necessarily close—in fact, Percy remembers yelling at Leo in the first ten minutes of knowing each other, but they've fought together. They're comrades. You never turned your back on a comrade.

When he hears a gargled sound about Jason, Percy rubs circles in Leo's back. He knows the story.

After a six month relationship, Piper mysteriously broke up with Jason amidst the war. Jason was distraught, but then the reason came into light only a few moments later. Secret glances. Lingering touches. Smiles that spoke deafening volumes in a silent room. Percy doesn't pry for details, but he knows the other camp leader left this morning with a frigid goodbye.

When he looks down, Leo kisses him. A hand curls on Percy's chest and Leo rolls in his lap. Percy doesn't kiss back—he's shocked—but he feels Leo moving. Bits of snot dribble in his mouth and smears over his lips. Leo is warm all over, Percy realizes, and it's not from rising body heat.

It's like the crackling of Hestia's hearth, he thinks. There's warmth and sound and life that lights up the world and is everything that makes up Leo.

As the moment passes, Leo pulls back—mortified. His eyes are wide as the lanterns that lit up the Argo II, and an apology strains from his lips. His chocolate brown eyes are puffy and face is marred with marks from pressing his face too closely in his hands and curly hair either sticks to Leo's forehead or stands like a peacock.

Percy tells him it's fine. He assures Leo he'll find someone.

When he calls Jason an idiot, Leo smiles.

-x-

It's a stupid reason, Leo insists to him years later, for Percy to have fallen for him. Especially that particular reason. Every time Percy tells the story, Leo blushes and grumbles and Percy laughs.

True, he doubts many people fall for someone because the other person forgot their birthday. Percy thinks it's a stupid reason too, and he can't pinpoint the day he fell for Annabeth, either. It probably involved something near-death.

It's a week later after their kiss and the morning of his birthday. A new bead resides on Percy's leather necklace even though he spent the first half of the summer at Camp Jupiter and the second half battling Giants. It sparkles with the Argo II and is engraved with the names of the fallen, just like the year before.

Piper is a constant party at Leo's side no matter what the duo is doing. Each time Leo throws a furtive glance Percy's way, Percy feels the need to assure him that Annabeth is gone. She left three days earlier to see her family and assist repairs of New Rome. Percy doesn't argue—after a year of separation, they need to trust the other won't disappear without a trace again.

After dodging squealing younger campers and satyrs and naiads, he finds Leo sitting on presumably Piper's bed in the Aphrodite Cabin. Percy's barely two steps through the door to do the final cabin check of the summer before the Malibu Barbie house explodes with confetti. There's a relentless shout of HAPPY BIRTHDAY!, where Drew Tanaka whisks him away and plants an insufferable kiss on his lips, tongue and all, and then Piper is wrestling her sister off of him.

Percy finally gets used to breathing again when Piper scolds Drew, which sounds something like, What did I tell you about liplocking with one of my friends?!

Piperholds a perfect blue cupcake with a candle and kisses him on the cheek.

"Annabeth wanted to be here herself," Piper says apologetically, "But she and Reyna wanted to make the repairs perfect."

"It's not a big deal," Percy assures. It's just their one year anniversary, and the one he has no problem remembering. But he knows better than to guilt trip Annabeth. Their relationship is honest. Mostly, in perilous situations. Percy blows out the candle and avoids sucking lip with Drew again.

Leo stares at him from the bed. "I didn't know it was your birthday." He looks stunned.

Drew shrieks and rears her head of perfect curls before abhorring. "How could you not? He's a hero!"

The way she says it makes Percy visibly wince. Leo, too, because he tugs on one of his curls and gives a funny smile. "Sorry. I think of my friends' birthdays first and celebrate it as a National Holiday second. Honest mistake."

Percy blinks. Piper has to charmspeak Drew into shutting up and then things settle down. With Annabeth gone, Percy spends the time tagging along with Leo and Piper.

Piper has a hand wrapped around Leo's, but the way they speak is like a sister to a brother. Each time Percy receives good birthday wishes, Leo's eyes glaze over and he looks bored. He's better than when Percy saw him the week before, but Percy takes note how Piper does not mention Jason's name.

"Seriously," Leo says, actually looking annoyed after the tenth birthday wish. He bumps shoulders with Percy. "I'm not gonna tell you my birthday. That way you can lose your gears whenever people are celebrating it."

It's completely casual, but Percy can't help but marvel Leo's…tactlessness. Leo draws a bottle of water from his tool belt and drinks it dry. He looks to Percy, unabashed, and offers to summon another bottle.

"No thanks," Percy says.

-x-

Percy spends his junior year behind in class, forcing mishaps with the water fountains when a bully goes too far and explaining to his homeroom teacher that yes, the plural form of fish is fish. He thinks. So really, it's a typical school year in a determined-not-to-die kind of way.

Annabeth and he spend every waking moment together, up until the end of winter break where he reassures her that they can keep their relationship working while she attends school in California to be closer with her family.

He shouldn't be all that surprised when she spends the summer at Camp Jupiter, too.

The thought crosses his mind more than once to visit, but he understands Jason's reasons for staying at Camp Jupiter. Camp Halfblood is his home. For eight months, he forgot that and wants to get it back.

When he explains this around the ping-pong table, cheesy words and all, he tries not to look disappointed that Leo's too busy throwing ping pong balls at Will Solace.

-x-

The last week of summer before his senior year, Annabeth appears. She's distant, but he doesn't wonder what he's done wrong. He surprises himself when he realizes they've spent most of the summer with different lives, and only Iris-Messaged each other once.

On the second day of her visit (Percy can't believe it's Annabeth just visiting), they gather for a picnic—Grover, Tyson, Leo, Piper, and him. It's in celebration of Annabeth's early acceptance to UC-Berkeley, but Percy can't remember where in their conversations that she mentioned the school. Yet he's happy for her. Not sad.

When Leo jokingly challenges Percy to a mock fight, Percy has the teen pinned down in three seconds flat. Leo laughs and waves his wooden sword pathetically in a way that makes Percy laugh too.

He's only sad when the picnic's over and Leo's breathy laughs are no longer near his neck.

-x-

Okay, Percy thinks. He really should have seen this coming. They're no longer on the same side of the country. They run out of things to talk about after five minutes over Iris Messages. Listening to Annabeth ramble about architecture is like hearing that long drawn out voice in old Charlie Brown cartoons. The college his girlfriend plans to attend should really be important to him, but the name is at the back of Percy's mind.

So when he steps off Blackjack with a backpack slung over his shoulder for spring break at Camp Jupiter and sees Annabeth pull away from kissing Reyna at the Little Tiber, Percy isn't mad. Heck, he thinks he's a jerk boyfriend for not realizing they were drifting apart.

Annabeth tentatively walks over with Reyna deathly pale on the bridge—tight-lipped, regal, and beautiful, of course—and Percy blurts it out.

"We should break up," he says. It's quick and not as painful as he thought it would be.

Grey eyes widen in a way that means Percy shocked her. He really didn't get to do that a lot while they were dating. Percy opens his arms to the girl he's known since he was twelve and smiles.

"I want you to be happy."

She looks ready to cry right there and then. Annabeth throws her arms over Percy in a way that almost knocks him over as Blackjack neighs a, What?! She kisses him on the cheek and murmurs heart-wrenchingly, "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too." For the first time in a long time, they mean it.

He's not sad. He doesn't want to dwell. Percy even fist bumps a confused Reyna when they greet each other, then goes off to meet Hazel and Frank.

He can finally foster the crush he's had on Leo Valdez for the longest time and he's the happiest guy in the world.

-x-

The summer is different. Percy's determined to make it so. When the Stoll Brothers are the only brave souls to ask why Annabeth and he broke up, Annabeth gives facts. More than Percy's sure he's comfortable hearing, which leaves Travis and Connor scampering away with red faces and most importantly, quiet.

Annabeth knows. When she points it out to him at the end of spring break, even though it's been several months since Percy's seen Leo, she makes it sound like he's been having an unintentional affair—only Leo doesn't know, and Percy didn't know, either. This is the summer, she says warily. And if he doesn't make a move, she's going to cut him with a knife.

They're much better best friends than they have been boyfriend and girlfriend over the recent years. Percy can't help promising himself that because Reyna is spending her summer in Puerto Rico with Hylla, he's going to make it the most memorable summer between Annabeth and him. It evokes weird looks and surprise, and even some questions of, Are you sure you're broken up? from plenty campers when they exchange cracks of Wise Girl and Seaweed Brain.

He's not exactly sure how to get the romance thing going. For one, Leo is the first guy Percy's ever wanted to kiss, like back at the bunker with less snot. Rachel dumped him and became the Oracle. Thalia electrocuted him and became Artemis's Lieutenant. Calypso was stuck on an island and hey, Annabeth was his girlfriend for roughly three years (they're still wondering if the eight months of MIA counts) and is now in a happy relationship with Camp Jupiter's praetor.

He gets butterflies in his stomach and starts wondering; maybe he shouldn't fall for Leo because he doesn't want the Son of Hephaestus to leave him either.

Before he can go weak in the knees at the Big House and wonder if he looks okay, Piper and Leo are walking toward them with happy waves. Annabeth pulls Piper aside with a hug, then roughly shoves Percy in Leo's way.

They have a head-on collision and Percy falls to the ground, clutching his head and groaning.

"Hey," Leo says after he gripes in Spanish. He offers Percy a hand. "Sorry about the breakup."

It happened months before, and even though Connor and Travis were harassing them only ten minutes ago, Percy forgets what Leo's talking about.

When he finds his voice again, Leo and he are already walking to the lake. "It's fine," Percy assures.

They find a Hermes kid, exchange a bag of jumbo marshmallows, and get a six pack of Pepsi in return. Leo and he spend the first day of camp laying at the coast of the lake with bare feet sticking into water and exchanging stories. There are snickers, jokes, and Percy forgets the plan.

Instead of trying to be next to Leo, he just is. It feels like floating on the surface of the water, free of any tension and hearing the sound of fish as they swim by beneath you.

Eventually, Grover arrives. He eats a few tin cans, hugs Percy, and stands idly as Percy feels the water soak away his troubles. Leo and he lay shoulder to shoulder, and Percy can feel Leo's curls against his ears.

They're both confused when Grover suddenly leaves with a blaghh!

Leo turns his head just slightly, and Percy can see the fire crackling in his chocolate brown eyes. "Oh-kay. Coach Hedge doesn't even freak out that much."

Percy laughs. "How are he and Mellie doing?"

"Good." Leo smirks in this naughty-Santa's-elf kind of way. His face his sharper and his hair is shorter, but he glows just like they're on the ship again. "He says if we don't throw acorns at their wedding, he'll be mad."

"Of course." Percy deliberately reaches over Leo's head into the small ice box keeping their beverages cold. He dangles it over Leo's head, not sorry as cold water drips onto the son of Hephaestus's brow, and then smiles. "You want one?"

It's a peculiar angle where Percy can see every bit of Leo's face and marvel in its uniqueness. They lock gazes and the gears stop turning in Percy's mind.

Leo's face is a creamy caramel with a freckle on the top of his left eyebrow. His hair is nowhere near as unruly as it was when they were younger, and his eyes hold a mad scientist's ingenious plans. His lips are chapped like they've never been kissed, which is silly, because that's all Percy wants to do right now.

Finally, Leo turns away like he's embarrassed with himself and grabs the drink out of Percy's hand.

He's scared that Leo's spooked until Leo takes one long sip of Pepsi, then hands it over to Percy for share-sies.

-x-

Leo's fascinated with Riptide. Maybe it's the design, the way it's carved, but the way he ogles it sort of makes Percy proud. When he unsheathes Riptide while they're sitting alone doing nothing in Cabin 3, Leo runs his hand smoothly along the celestial bronze. When he realizes what he's doing, he turns red and recoils.

-x-

Admittedly, Percy likes to show off. And Capture the Flag is his favorite game. He's just lucky that Piper is stubborn and actually makes for a good battle partner. They skirt through the forest, barely dodging expertly crafted traps and finding that the closer they come, less traps are set up. Still, Percy nearly dies six times.

"It's Leo's style," Piper explains as she looks around and holds Katoptris close. "After King Midas and all. If you can evade so many traps, why not leave the door unlocked as a reward?"

"Sure, so you can see the horrible thing that's inside," Percy says. It doesn't help that Annabeth is the tactician on the other team. He almost begs for Frank so the battle will be even.

Piper snorts. "Percy, it's Leo."

"Which means he'll be harmless and cute or we're going to be doused in Tabasco sauce. Maybe both. Got it."

A what fleets out of Piper's lips, but she doesn't get to ask for an explanation. She shrieks when she lands herself in a net and is dangling upside down from a tree. "LEO!"

Leo pops out of his hiding spot with a sinister grin. He looks up to Piper appreciatively, the Greek Armor looking silly on his torso, and crosses his arms with a tut. "I wouldn't move, Beauty Queen. It's laced with celestial bronze, so it'll take you a while to cut out of it."

"Yeah," Percy says. "But you still have me." He stands tall as Leo withers. To his surprise, Leo draws out a wooden sword and holds it improperly.

They jab for a minute or so, then Percy has Riptide to Leo's neck with a smirk. He thinks he has the upper hand, but then Leo shoves Percy with all his weight into a tree, and Percy's spinal cord grinds against bark. They stand close together, torso pressed against torso, and Leo's breath his on his lips again just like the picnic.

"Trap," Leo pants, his eyes wild. "Would have grabbed your leg."

"Oh," Percy says. He's mesmerized by the moonlight in Leo's face. And a little into the game. So—"I'm going to shove you in the river now."

"What—?"

It takes one mighty thrust, and Leo goes toppling over into the river adjacent to them. Percy grabs the flag and throws his fist into the air with a giant, "VICTORY!"

-x-

He's practically a dog on a leash halfway through June. If Leo is catching onto his feelings (which Percy thinks can go either way because when you get told you're dense twenty-too many times, you know you're missing something), he doesn't say anything.

After a long night, Percy's pissed and panicked because Conner's stink bomb sets off and somehow he destroys the edge of Riptide. Percy doesn't have a car. He doesn't have kids either, so metaphorically, Riptide is his baby. Without thinking, Percy rushes off to Bunker 9 even though he hasn't been there in almost two years and—actually, he forgets what's going on when he sees Leo with bed hair and shirtless and a little annoyed himself.

He holds up Riptide and knows he sounds like a baby when he tries to describe what happens. It's a godsend when Leo sighs and smiles, then ushers him in.

They're both aware of it—the fact the last time they were alone together in this room, Leo was distraught and Percy was an expert hugger. He's disappointed when Leo puts a shirt on, then spends the time looking at the various blueprints glued to the walls and Festus's head, where Buford the table is either keeping guard of or sleeping or maybe it's just an ordinary three-legged table.

When the tips of Leo's fingers light up, everything stops except for the beating of Percy's heart.

It's beautiful. The flame that bristles at the tip of Leo's finger and illuminates the rest of his face. It makes this sort of crackling sound, and its essence…is Leo's essence. It's beautiful, Percy thinks again.

Naturally he's stupid enough to lean in and catch his hair on fire.

"SHIT—"

"HOLY HEPHAESTUS—"

When they find a solution (aka, dump a bottle of water on Percy's head), he wants to die in a hole. Percy laughs through the humiliation because gods, he's just never been good when it came to romance. He's used to being himself and coming out with acceptance or rejection. When the hangar empties of his own laughter, he realizes Leo's shaking. And crying.

Leo's as pale as a ghost and his grip on the water bottle crumples it like paper. "You were almost on fire."

And—shit. Shit, shit, shit, Percy thinks because just this spring he casually asked Hazel some things about Leo and Jason glared at him uncomfortably and Leo tries to shrug it off casually even though those brown eyes tell everything about him. His mother. The fire. Mother Earth.

Between heartbeats, Percy has Leo in a bind, this time refusing to let go. He doesn't stand idly and wait for Leo to finish, and it's nothing like their experience two years ago. This time he knows exactly what to do, rubbing circles in Leo's shoulders and rocking him and holding Leo tight until their hearts are beating together.

"I bet she was beautiful," Percy whispers. He doesn't doubt it. There's no way Leo's mother is anything less than perfect, if someone amazing as Leo can come out of it.

Leo nods.

An hour later, Riptide is complete. Percy isn't the slightest bit scared when he thanks Leo and kisses him on the cheek.

-x-

Eventually, Leo finds out about Reyna and Annabeth. All the head counselors do because Percy accidentally slips it into conversation around the Ping Pong table when they discuss celebrating holidays with the Romans. The visiting centurions breeze over it, evidently already knowing, and the Stoll Brothers blush.

Annabeth blinks rapid fire, staring at Percy like she's about to wring his neck but doesn't. She coughs to hide how pink her cheeks are turning. "Yes, Seaweed Brain. I…would be able to see my girlfriend during Fourth of July weekend."

Later, Leo pulls him aside with this cute look that reminds Percy of a fluffy teddy bear. "So that's why you two broke up. Because Annabeth is…?"

"Yeah. Sort of."

"Oh."

Percy tries to look like the reaction didn't interest him, but fails. They're standing outside the Big House where Mr. D is complaining it's way too bright outside, and Leo is kicking a rock with his shoe.

It's getting easier, he thinks. Being next to Leo, talking next to Leo. There's the jitters of not wanting to say the wrong thing, then the flutter that both stings and tingles in Percy's heart that makes him smile. He starts a path for the cabins and smiles when Leo follows him.

"I like someone else too," he explains, voice hopeful and bashful and all these other fuls that make his stomach flop.

Leo kicks a rock. "Is she pretty?"

Percy kicks it back. "Yeah. He's gorgeous."

He doesn't miss the way Leo blushes, or the fact that Leo has to flap a flame out of his hair on their walk back to his cabin.

-x-

Piper apparently catches on the first week of camp. She just doesn't mention anything until midway through summer when the head counselors decide to skip for a day and visit New York. No matter how many years Percy walks the streets of New York, he knows he'll never get tired of what he finds.

She pulls him aside after they exit the van and tell Argus they'll be back in a few hours. There's a glare on her face and she looks mighty deadly.

"Um," Percy says, and his cheeks automatically flame red. They've had a handful of these talks since the fourth of July, where Leo and he actually fell asleep watching fireworks. He's prepared to listen to her talk and not say anything wrong.

Only, this time Piper smiles and pats him on the shoulder. "Don't break his heart. Make him happy. And kiss him already."

"Huh—?" comes out of his mouth before Piper tugs him toward the confused Leo himself. Piper and Leo ramble like brother and sister, and Percy's pretty sure he just got the McLean Stamp of Approval. But then…they mention college.

This is different than the talk about Annabeth and her college. The name hits Percy hard like a knife to the gut and his heart hammers in his chest. MIT. Leo is going to MIT in the fall and will probably meet someone else much smarter or cooler or something. He's leaving, too.

His voice sounds faint when he mentions it to Leo. The moment it reaches Leo's ears, Leo confirms it.

But Percy doesn't dread. A second later, Leo grabs him by the hand and tugs him through the hustle and bustle of the streets, shoulder-to-shoulder and walking step-by-step. He smiles in the mischievous way with a spark in his eyes and raises his head confidently.

"We'll make it work," Leo says finally. He squeezes Percy's hand for emphasis, and even if it doesn't make the problem go away, Percy feels his anxiety disappear.

They walk for a while. It's the first time Leo and he have ever held hands, and Percy can't help but squeeze it in confidence. Each time he does, the blush on Leo's face gets a little hotter. They go into a café and decide to have lunch outside. When Percy's hot cocoa isn't warm enough, Leo raises his hand, shoots a fireball in it, and it's perfect.

It's almost like a date, Percy thinks. Perfect, amazing, and there's no wrong thing for him to say as they geek out about comic books. Leo's getting dangerously close to calling him Aquaman, but then jokes that Percy would never wear a leotard.

Leo's right, he probably wouldn't.

Then the conversation takes a serious turn.

"I think I'm going to serve out my years as a legionnaire." Percy extends his arm, where the tattoo is still black and fresh like he'd gotten it the day before. The trident gleams and the one bar reminds Percy of his adventures in Alaska and discovering himself in ways he couldn't before. His Roman side; being the Son of Neptune. His heart constricts and the conversation isn't any easier when Leo's eyebrows are furrowing too. Percy was their Praetor once, if only for twenty minutes. "Being a demigod is my life. I wanna be useful."

He thinks Leo's going to roll his eyes and say that he has done something useful. The distance between San Francisco and Cambridge feels like a universe compared to New York. Instead, Leo squeezes his hand again and steals a sip of Percy's cocoa.

"You should do it," Leo says, and he looks torn up inside. He hasn't been back to Camp Jupiter since meeting Percy. Not since Jason left as praetor, and Percy knows Leo doesn't want to be abandoned again. "I know it's everything to you."

He wants to kiss Leo right there and then, but Katie Gardner is shrieking and Piper and Annabeth appear from the other side of the street yelling something about harpies.

Percy shoves his hot cocoa aside. He uncaps Riptide just as Leo stands to his feet, hands in his tool belt and prepares for battle. Before they move an inch further, Percy grabs Leo firmly by the shoulder and looks him in the eye. He squeezes tightly.

"I'm going to come back to you."

Leo's stance slackens. He grins beautifully and his hands ignite. "It's a date."

-x-

Percy's glad that he waits on kissing Leo.

It takes two more weeks when camp festivities are coming to the end for the summer. He's done nothing but hang out with his group of friends, with Leo at his side as they help Percy plan for his big move to San Francisco. Days before his birthday, he breaks the news over Iris Message to his mom and Paul, and two tissue boxes and a boat load of crying later, they all agree it's a good decision. At twelve years old, Percy Jackson found a place that has given him everything, and now he plans on giving everything back to this world. To his life.

On the eve of his nineteenth birthday, the gang and he celebrate in Cabin 3. It's hysterical to cheer about being alive that long, and it's supposed to be a joke, so no one presses the fact they've been through two wars with otherworldly forces. At the stroke of twelve, Annabeth is dozing off and partly asleep on Tyson's bunk. Travis and Piper play Scrabble. Connor is delirious and hanging over Katie Gardner, and Grover all but shoves Leo into Percy's lap.

He makes a goat sound and then promises when they come back, the cabin will be clean and empty. Percy isn't quite sure what Grover means by 'they', until Leo is grabs the last Pepsi from the small cooler and they waltz through camp under minimal light and sit at the dock of the canoe lake. Their feet are bare, and he's leaning into Leo's warmth. They take turns sharing the Pepsi until it's empty and agree to give it to Grover later.

"Some summer, huh?" Percy murmurs. He has his head pressed to Leo's curls and is on the verge of falling asleep.

Leo changes the angle of his face so Percy has to back away a little to see him. Fire comes to life in his eyes, and the moonlight bounces off calm waters. Leo looks like a creature of the night that takes Percy's breath away. A moment later, there's a smirk on his lips and his breath's on Percy's nose. "There's one thing we never got to do."

Here it is. There's a tightening in Percy's gut that's as familiar as the pull of water, and he leans closer into Leo. He gets lightheaded just thinking about that smile, and can't quite remember the last time he's felt so good about himself.

And then Leo shoots into the air and throws his orange t-shirt aside. His pants hit the ground and he shimmies out of them before taking three steps back and canonballing into the water. Percy's so stunned that he falls over, nose-deep in Leo's belt.

When he looks up, Leo is skirting through the water with naiads giggling at his feet. There's nothing innocent in the way that he winks, nor the flush that travels from Leo's face and down into the water.

"Wanna make the summer more exciting?" Leo calls in a breathy voice.

Percy doesn't hear him. He's busy staring at the pair of gray boxers that break the surface of the water.

The whole process takes him ten seconds: five to throw off all his clothes while Leo lounges, one to jump into the water, and four to scare the ever-living shit out of Leo. He dives under the water while Leo's distracted and drags his comrade down beneath. The naiads are having a ball with drunken and happy giggles, and Percy's ecstatic.

By the time they get to the bottom, Percy can't contain himself. Leo's caramel skin is displayed beneath him with a childish grin and they tangle limbs until they're knotted together like seaweed. He kisses Leo opened mouth, willing the water away in favor of heat, and he's warm all over when they make contact.

Leo tosses his arms over Percy's shoulders and grinds against him. If there were any sound or reverberation on the lake floor, Percy's confident that Leo would be moaning. The heat Leo radiates with creates a pleasant sensation over Percy's body. He's warm and hot and wants nothing more than to stay like this—in his element with Leo's embers of life.

Eventually they have to go back up. There's a hiccup in his plans when he isn't paying close attention and Percy has to fight through the water with a loopy Leo in tow.

Oh gods, oh gods Leo isn't breathing and his natural ability to do all things nautical apparently does not cover resuscitation and—he's panicking and running around in circles unto he hears Leo's laughter break through his hysteria.

Curls are matted to his forehead. Beads of water slide down Leo's chest to meet the lake, and there's absolute joy in the way he smiles. He says something sarcastic—something that only makes a noise come out of the back of Percy's throat, and they throw themselves at each other.

They have splash fights. Some of the naiads offer to play Marco Polo with them until Percy and Leo are standing skin-to-skin. Percy spends a good amount of time skidding under water and grabbing at Leo's ankles until the shorter teen manages to tackle him and pin Percy to the sand. He has both hands cuffed around Percy's and smiles at him evilly, body glistening under the stars.

Leo ducks down with a twitch and runs a hand over Percy's smooth skin. "Anyone ever tell you that you're hunkier than the Little Mermaid?"

Percy thinks about it. "Nothing immediate comes to mind."

A laugh illuminates from the back of Leo's throat and he ducks down to kiss the son of Poseidon.

By the time they're redressed and trekking back to Cabin 3, Percy doesn't think he can get much happier. As Grover promised, the Cabin looks nice and tidy, save some left over cake that he's left on Tyson's bed. Leo and he saunter back with wet clothes and agree that sharing a bed can't be the most nerve-racking thing they've done in their lifetime.

He lies on his bed wearing only loose pajama pants and watches as Leo rummages through his chest to find something decent to wear. Eventually Leo settles on a pair of boxers and a shirt that rides low and exposes his collar bone. Leo looks ready to be ridiculed, but Percy only smiles.

Pulling Leo by the hand, he sweeps his new boyfriend (boyfriend, Percy repeats in his head, and he's content) on top of him and is fuzzy-minded with happiness.

Leo smiles.

They're both cleansed and squeaky clean from the lake water, and next summer he's sure the naiads will never let them live it down, but for now he's just happy to be laying here. With his new boyfriend on top of him. The nerves bubble in his stomach because admittedly, Percy doesn't know a damn thing about romance. He's only been Leo's boyfriend for ten minutes and is already afraid of screwing it up.

He takes in a breath. First things first. Percy kisses Leo's knuckles and brings that hand to his spine, down to the small of his back, and he shivers as Leo maneuvers his fingers.

It's not an immediate epiphany. In fact, Leo looks very confused as to why he's touching Percy's back in the first place, and Percy can't help but smile. He has to bite back a moan when Leo's fingers pad the small space.

"That's my Achilles heel," he confesses. "Or at least it used to be. Back when I dipped in the River of Styx for the war between the Gods and the Titans. It's not there anymore, but sometimes I feel like it is." Percy looks into Leo's eyes and how his brow furrows. It's the one anchor that kept him human, to remind him that not all the power in the world rests on his shoulders. He'll never not be grateful for the day the Little Tiber washed away his blessing. Curse. "And now, you and Annabeth are the only ones that know about it."

Leo absorbs the information well enough. It's the closest kept secret Percy has and Annabeth was the only one to know. He's the loyal one; the protector; the one who made the scary monsters go away in little kids' closets.

But instead of looking impressed and mesmerized, Leo frowns. "No offense, but I don't care."

Percy's smoldering look of spilling his guts out slackens. He blinks at Leo's lack of tact and loses the initial message as Leo starts talking again. All that he knows is, Leo is staring at him, unimpressed like he's seen too many invincible gods in his life, and is stretching the fact that he wants to be equals. He rambles and plops right beside Percy and runs his hands across Percy's chest and looks positively offended, so apparently Percy can ruin a relationship within the first ten minutes, then—

"I don't care that you're the son of Poseidon," Leo finishes, and he brings them close until they're touching nose and nose and their legs are tangled together. He smiles. "I mean, I do, because underwater kisses are awesome, but…I care more that you're Percy. Got it, Jackson?"

Percy's entire body slackens. He stares into Leo's eyes and re-examines how they're laying. It's the same look that Leo gave him all those years ago, after their first kiss when he didn't care it was Percy's birthday. Or maybe he did—but not in the aspect everyone else celebrated it.

He realizes he likes that. He likes that Leo skims over the details of his monster-slaying resume and that Leo is looking for more than Percy the protector. Friends first, National Holiday second. It's…not just that they were comrades years ago in a war. Leo sees him as a person.

"I like that," Percy finds himself whispering.

Leo dispenses a sigh of relief and scoots closer to him beneath the thin blanket. He smiles. "I like that too."

He doesn't think it's possible to fall any harder for Leo Valdez, but it happens.

-x-

It doesn't take long to break the news to his mom. Specifically because Paul and she catch Leo and him kissing outside the apartment door and aren't the most silent in making a getaway. Leo is mortified and refuses to be any other color than bright apple red and Percy's stepdad scratches his head compellingly. It's the day after camp is over and Leo plans for a quick stay before getting shipped off to Massachusetts.

Before Leo can eye the flowerbed and debate on burying himself beneath the moonlace, Sally Jackson reappears with a plate of cookies and ushers both of them inside. They have civil talk on the couch where Sally interrogates how long Percy and Leo have been together ("Twelve hours.") and what Leo plans to do now that he's graduated. Sally doesn't ask how long Percy's liked Leo, or question how she sent him off to camp one day, straight, and now Percy has a boyfriend. She smiles genuinely in Leo's direction, calls him 'honey' and—well, doesn't do anything embarrassing until they talk about sleeping arrangements.

Percy's mind stutters around the sentence of "Neither one of them can get pregnant," and is saved when Paul mentions Percy's nineteen now.

The tension eases quickly. Somehow the afternoon results in Percy wanting to hide under his pillow in embarrassment when Sally breaks out the baby pictures and Leo's laughing like a hyena.

They don't really have any plans (Percy keeps apologizing, Leo keeps insisting it's quite alright), but follow Sally around as she runs her errands. Even at nineteen, Percy will never get tired tagging along with his mother and sharing corny jokes and making fun of Smelly Gabe.

He thinks it's horrifically mundane and immediately he wants to sweep Leo away and do something amazing—and then he sees the way Leo smiles. Pure, innocent, and sweet.

Sally goes through the grocery store and suggests they find a movie to watch tonight.

"Thanks," Leo says when she's looking through the poultry.

Percy blinks.

"I haven't had quality time with my mother since I was eight," Leo explains, and his smile widens, pained but grateful. "I like your mom."

He kisses Percy right there in the candy aisle.

-x-

Returning to Camp Jupiter is like he was just there the weekend before. Piper and Annabeth greet him at the tunnel and help him move his things to his room. Familiar faces roam the crowd—Percy sees Clarisse discussing war with a nervous Frank and Octavian is constantly (and failing) to put the moves on Drew. When Percy asks, Piper only rolls her eyes and suggests not thinking about it.

It's been over two years since the Feast of Fortuna, but centurions and campers alike still treat him like he's praetor. Jason and Reyna admit a Greek praetor doesn't sound like a bad idea, but Percy declines the offer immediately. He wants to work his way up.

Filling his room is fairly easy. Percy's left all his souvenirs at Camp Halfblood, so for the moment, his room is clean. A set of lanterns hang against his walls, stars stenciled into the paper and reminiscent to the ones that hung in their cabins back on the Argo II. Percy smiles—Leo thought he was crazy, having that as his only request for his move to San Francisco.

His only other belongings are a dozen pictures from the years he's been in Camp and him with his family. When the girls get a hold of the only picture he has of Leo and he, they squeal.

Reyna arches an eyebrow at the intimacy of the picture. "You let someone take a picture of that?"

It's from Leo and his stroll in the park where they were holding hands. Percy shrugs, knowing for sure he's blushing and can't make it go away. "Can't help it."

Annabeth and Piper nod solemnly.

"Stoll Brothers merchandising," Annabeth explains. She wrinkles her nose and leans into her girlfriend. "I can't begin to tell you what kind of pictures they've taken. Silena Beauregard once shoved them in Pegasus dung when she found a camera in her bed. Piper gets off easy since Travis is sweet on her."

"Wait, what?" Percy gawks. "When did this happen?"

Piper smirks wryly. "When you were skinnydipping with Leo in the Canoe Lake."

Oh. Before he can manage a weak comeback, Jason strikes a question. "You and Leo are dating?"

Silence fills the room. Percy looks to his praetor, sees the heartbreak and the surprise and the hurt in blue eyes. He almost feels terrible himself, but remembers the reason for that kiss in the woods years ago. He nods tightly and hopes the uneasiness doesn't show on his face. "Yeah."

The conversation is dropped there.

-x-

Jason's frustrated. You would have to be an idiot not to see it—the way he seems less focused than during spring break. When Percy talks, Jason's lips are pulled together. Piper attempts to alleviate the tension, but there's no way to soothe the son of Jupiter.

It's been over two years. Percy doesn't know what the dynamic between Jason and Leo had been, but he's sure he doesn't want details. In those two years, not once has Leo mentioned Jason whenever they've been together, and the past few months have been spent between just him and Leo.

So he knows he shouldn't feel bad.

Not one bit.

Even when there's a little more force than usual when Jason and he spar and the storm clouds look like death in the sky. Percy jabs the blunt side of sword into Jason's torso with just as much force, just as much irritation, and holds his head high when Jason falls to the ground.

Younger campers go wide-eyed at the driven out spar. Jason looks ashamed. Percy can only smile and counts the days until he'll see Leo again.

-x-

December 16th. December Sixteenth. 12/16.

Percy has the day etched in his memory; carved in the giant rock known as his brain. It's circled in his calendar and he looks at it every morning, every night, and hopes maybe he's made some mathematical error (his math grades were never good; he passed with a 'C-minus') and there's less days to wait to see his boyfriend again. They keep in touch through Iris Messages and this one time that Hazel, Annabeth and he chase gorgons through Cambridge, so Percy manages to sweep Leo in a kiss and call him Hot Buns in the heat of the moment.

Come December, Percy gets to have Leo in person, to himself for an entire month.

He spends the day cleaning his room (which takes about three hours because there's only so much you can shove under the bed) and rushes through all his chores. Hazel coos him as she holds hands with Frank. Nico smirks.

When Piper finally brings Leo through the tunnel, Percy is lurking in the water like a stingray. He can barely contain his excitement when Leo crosses the bridge—which is why he springs out of the river and tackles Leo into the Little Tiber.

There's a shout of surprise that dissolves into laughter, and Percy summons a bubble around them at the bottom of the river (careful of oxygen levels this time) before he kisses his boyfriend.

"This seems oddly familiar." Leo grins, his hands tight around Percy's waist.

"I remember less clothes." Percy buries them in a hug and never wants to let go because gods, four months is a long time to be away from your boyfriend. Leo is coated with the light snow of San Francisco—cold to the touch, but once they kiss, they're both warm all over again.

Finally, even though he'd rather stay below and holding his boyfriend for the next month, Percy brings them to the surface. A crowd gathers, either amused or confused or maybe a combination of the two.

"I missed you," Percy hears himself saying.

Leo laughs. "I missed you too."

-x-

New Rome is beautiful. No matter how many days Percy spends as a legionnaire for the Twelfth Legion, he never gets sick of strolling through New Rome and appreciating the sweet people and the atmosphere. It's better with Leo at his side as they stroll through town. Percy stops in front of a vendor who offers hot cocoa and grabs a cup to share between both of them.

"How's school going?" Percy asks.

Leo smirks. "They're still trying to fix the damage the gorgons did to the classroom building. Somehow they think the anaconda broke out of the zoo and terrorized the place."

"That's crazy."

"Oh, sure—a snake breaking out of the zoo is preposterous. Gorgons make more sense. Total sense." Leo nods and bobs his head and leans in extra close to take a sip of their cocoa.

Percy laughs. "Leo?"

"Yes?"

"Please kiss me."

-x-

A week goes by quickly. Percy doesn't want their fun to end, but Leo promises he'll visit every chance he gets. They're gonna make it work.

Somehow, the mood is better for all of them. Clouds float across the sky like marshmallows, eager for snow to blanket New Rome. Suddenly Leo and Jason are best friends again, and Percy's jealousy wavers back and forth. But he never worries. The flames always flicker brighter in Leo's eyes when they're together.

At two in the afternoon on a particular day, Percy's back hits the bed.

He's a mixture of sweaty and gross with sore muscles, and Leo looks him over from the door with a mischievous smirk. Slowly Leo shrugs his jacket off his shoulders, less doused in bodily fluids from their tag team sparring session with Frank and Dakota. He inches toward the bed, and there's an undeniable click of his belt buckle.

"Sexy times?" Percy guesses.

"Super sexy times," Leo corrects. He meanders closer, shucks off his shoes and pushes Percy against the mattress with a kiss.

Percy grins. "Super."

One of the nice things about being together again is that they can have sex. Regularly. In several different positions.

They barely make it through necking when there's a knock on the door. Leo pulls his face away from Percy's collarbone and they look at each other curiously. Another knock meets their ears.

The hand on Percy's chest compresses and he shivers. Leo rolls his eyes. "No one's home!"

This time, the knock isn't as reluctant to go through. Leo whines and Percy pouts. He pulls his pants back over his hips and crawls off the bed, kissing Leo chastely on the forehead before he opens the door.

Jason blinks and turns red immediately when they make eye-contact. He sort of grimaces, sort of smiles, and looks very out of place at the doorstep wearing his praetor robes. "Uh. Hey."

"Hey," Percy says. He raises a hand to run fingers through rumpled hair, then he realizes he's not wearing a shirt. Behind him, his very aggravated (and precious) boyfriend is making puffy noises and squeaking on top of the bed. It sorta sounds like a cat.

"Tell whoever it is that I'm in the middle of trying to defile my—oh." Leo's to his feet immediately. "Jason?"

It should bother him how instantly Leo scrambles into attention and forgets what they were about to do. Percy hopes it doesn't show in his face.

Regardless, Jason reanimates the moment he sees both of them together. Percy's pants are loose around his hips, and Leo's flushed all over. He breathes in deeply, presses a hand on his face as the confirmation settles in, and looks ready for the ground to swallow him up. "Wow. Um."

Leo tuts and suddenly he's doing everything but touching Percy. "You could have listened to the little voice that told you no one was home."

"Most sane people don't have sex at two in the afternoon," Jason points out.

"We're not sane." It comes out as a unison response between both Percy and Leo, and it's amusing how much darker the son of Jupiter can turn.

Finally, Leo walks too close to his best friend and crosses his arms. "Do you need to talk?"

Jason looks between both of them. He looks ready to run away, but doesn't. "Yeah."

-x-

They talk. Percy isn't quite sure what he's expecting out of it, given he's never called Jason out on his shit in the past four months. They sit in the Forum and Percy's finished off half of his hamburger. Leo looks nervous, and he tries to play casual between them, but it doesn't quite work. He flaps at his hair and twitches at the sound of a candy wrapper.

Percy doesn't like the way Jason smiles when Leo does this.

But then he feels like an idiot. Jason looks to him directly, camp leader-to-camp leader, and bows his head. "I wanted to apologize for the way I've treated you since you came back."

Oh. The apology startles Leo so much that his tofu taco is reduced to sprinkles in his hand. He looks up and between them oddly.

"It's fine," Percy responds. He doesn't know what else to say since, Yeah, you were a jerk doesn't sound appropriate.

A wry smile curls across Jason's lips and he leans toward Leo. "You didn't tell him what I said, did you?"

Leo glows pink. "In my defense, you were really vague about it."

The gesture is so simple that it brings Percy back to the Argo II and to the way they would joke around the dinner table. They're so casual in the way they speak that it's like two years of separation means nothing.

It doesn't help that Jason is suddenly blushing, too. He looks uncomfortable with his skin as he rubs the back of his neck and he slouches against the mat. "I wanted to say this to you. Alone. But maybe it'll mean more if Leo's here, too." He inhales and squeezes his fork between his fingers. "I know that you're going to be loyal to him. It's…kinda your thing. Maybe our thing. Leo's one of a kind and deserves…the world. Everything."

Oh.

Percy's throat constricts. From the corner of his eye, he can see Leo's eyes double twice in size and mouth part, speechless.

Jason stands up from his seat and suddenly grabs his gladius. His face is chiseled—sterner since the seven of them were called upon, and he truly looks like a leader. His eyes only become soft when they look to Leo, and they spark with life. He looks to Percy again. "I'm not going to try anything. But don't think I won't come after you if you hurt him."

-x-

The walk back to Percy's room—their room is silent. Jason leaves them in their thoughts with an optimistic smile too young for their line of duty, and since then, Leo doesn't say a word. Percy doesn't know what to say. For once he can't read how Leo feels from his expression and is scared to find out. They've never had a fight. They've never had a hitch in their relationship. Part of him is scared that the closer they etch to bliss, the greater their consequence will be when they're ripped apart.

Being a worry-wart sucks, so he listens. He watches as Leo shuts the door in quiet vibrato and responds when Leo leads a waltz toward the bed. Leo leads their kiss and runs his hands on bare skin and buries his head in the crook of Percy's neck. They embrace.

"I love you," he whispers.

Percy says it back. He listens.

-x-

Later that night, he finally hears the story. They're pressed together, limbs in knots and sharing drowsy kisses. Percy's entire body feels like melted chocolate, and he shivers as Leo's hands graze his back and tinkers at the tip of his hole—still sensitive, swollen, and overstimulated. It's what they've affectionately dubbed as Super Cuddle Time, which proceeds after Super Sexy Times.

He closes his eyes and hears the heated pulse of Leo's heart. Raising his head a third of a degree, he knows he'll be met with another set of lips.

"It was just one kiss." Leo's sleepy voice echoes off the walls. "One. Piper said that we'd been giving looks to each other since our mission with Hera, but I didn't believe her. We thought she was crazy when she broke up with him. I thought she did it because he was returning to his roots. Becoming more Roman, after you and Annabeth…" His voice trails off with the undead word dancing at his teeth. Percy throws his arm around him and coaxes Leo to continue. "I was happy for him. We spent more time together, and she was right. By the time I realized I was falling for Jay, I'd already fallen hard."

Beneath the lantern, Leo looks wistful.

"Jason too. He loved me. I know he did." Leo's voice tapers off quietly. "But then the summer was ending and he was needed back at Camp Jupiter. I kissed him because I thought it'd make him stay. Or maybe he'd ask me to come with him or something. I was stupid back then."

Percy runs a hand through Leo's hair and thumbs his jaw line. He frowns. "You're not."

"I was." Leo smiles derisively. "But I stopped wondering why Jason forced himself to deny his feelings years ago. Rome is in his blood. He was only praetor for a few months before the switch happened, and it's the only family he's known until Piper and me. He wanted to return here and give back everything Rome's given him. Sort of like you."

He doesn't exactly know how to take the comparison. But Leo stares at him with all the admiration in the world, and Percy is smart enough not to play that boyfriend. He can't; not after how Leo's taken care of his heart.

"So what happens now?" he finally asks.

Leo titters softly in his face and he tangles his arms around Percy's waist. "Now I remind my boyfriend that I'm in love with him so he can stop pretending to not be jealous over the only other relationship I'd ever had—which, by the way, fizzled before it started."

"I had reason to worry." Percy twitches, and the words sound weak even to his own ears. There's a heated blush working from Percy's ear-to-ear, and Leo only laughs louder.

"No," he says. His grip tightens over Percy and his voice dissipates. The light above shines and dances with the fire in his eyes. "No, you didn't." Loyalty. No abandonment. They hold each other again because it's simple and pure and is what started their relationship.

"I love you," Percy whispers. He almost wants to ask for a snot-mustached kiss to complete the night all over again like those years ago.

Leo lowers his head. He smiles brightly beneath the darkness and their hearts flicker together. "I love you too."

That night, they close their eyes and sleep, ready for the rest of the winter ahead.

The End

-x-

Author's Note:

I hoped you like it! (: