Hello World!
I'm back with a celebratory 'End-Of-Junior-Cert' Leyna fic. I just love this ship so much, and there's not many fics so I thought I should contribute. I warn you, it's nowhere near as good as many of the Leyna fics, so I apologise for my bad writing.
Review and tell me what you think.
Jenny xxx
Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson or heroes of Olympus series. They belong to Rick Riordan.
"Flight 68V to New York is now boarding from Gate G"
Reyna groaned as she heard her flight being called. She wasn't particularly looking forward to going to New York. Her best friends Jason and Piper were getting married, and though she loved them, she had always felt a bit like a third wheel with them. Sure, once she had a tiny crush on Jason, but that was long gone. Piper and Jason were perfect for each other, and besides, she loved being single.
She rooted around in her bag until she found her passport and boarding pass, then made her way to the back of the line, balancing her coffee and book in one hand. The line moved slowly, and she began tapping her foot impatiently, her ADHD setting in.
Her eyes scanned the crowded airport. People were running for gate to gate, searching for lost passports, screaming kids clinging to them. She saw one man run straight to her gate.
For all intensive purposes, he looked like a Latino Santa's elf. His elfish features held a mischievous grin, and his curly black hair was wild and untamed. His white shirt was creased and had stains, which looked suspiciously like engine oil, all over it.
"Whoo, thank the gods, I thought I had missed the flight!" He wiped his hand across his forehead in an exaggerated fashion, leaving a smear of grease trailing across his tanned skin.
Reyna sighed and turned away from the boy, who seemed to be even more ADHD than her. His fingers moved constantly, fiddling with a few screws or bolts or something.
How the hell did he get through security with them?
The line seemed to have stopped, with some person complaining loudly to the air hostess, who was trying to quieten her down.
Eventually the line moved, and she found herself settling down into the window seat, her bag carefully stowed in the hold above her, and her book on her lap. She was beginning to relax when she saw the Latino man making his way down the aisle. She glanced at the empty seat beside her.
Please, please, please may he not be sitting here. Anywhere but here. Please!
"Well, chica, it seems like we meet again!" he plopped down beside her, his maniac grin spreading across his face. Reyna turned to the window, glaring at the runway. What god decided to land this idiot beside her on a 6 hour flight?
"So, I never got your name back there." Reyna ignored him. "Not a talker, eh Chica? I'm Leo, Leo Valdez. My friends call me the Super-size McShizzle. Nice to meet you!" He held out his grease covered hand, and Reyna glanced at it, before turning back to the window. The air hostess began her instructions on how to buckle the seatbelt, and the exit procedure, while Leo began fiddling with the fold out table in front of him.
"So, Miss Ice Queen, what takes you to New York? The Big Apple?"
The plane was speeding up the runway, and Reyna clutched the armrest. She hated taking off. Leo looked at her, grinning. "Scared of heights, chica?"
She glared at him, gritting her teeth as the plane shook and lifted into the air. "No, just planes."
Leo cheered, causing half the plane to glare at him. " And we have lift-off! You do talk! Tell me, what is your name?" The take-off hadn't seemed to affect him, but his leg was bopping up and down, like he had just drank ten cups of coffee.
"Reyna," she said shortly, before turning away, indicating that this conversation was over. Please may he just shut up!
He didn't.
"Reyna! That's cool." He's silent for a few seconds, as the plane vibrates with the turbulence. Reyna clutches the arm rest, thanking the gods for the man's silence. Unfortunately, silence always has to be broken.
"Hey, queenie. Did you invent airplanes, 'cause you'd look Wright with me."
She groaned. Of course he would be one of those guys who uses stupid pick-up lines.
"You have to admit, queenie, that one was good! I am the Supreme Commander of Pick up lines!"
She looked at him exasperatedly as the plane jolted once more.
"Hang on, I've got more. Are you a thief, cause you just stole my heart!"
"I hope you know CPR, because you just take my breath away!"
"Do you have a bandage, 'cause I scraped my knee falling for you!"
The plane shook again, and Reyna closed her eyes. "Please do not talk about falling."
"Why? Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
She glared at him, resuming her ice queen mask. "Leo, I swear to Bellona, if you don't shut up now…"
He held his hands up in surrender, mischievous grin spreading over his face. "Okay, okay, I'll stop. But only if I can have the key to my heart back."
An hour later, the turbulence had stopped, and the passengers had quietened down somewhat. The air hostess had ignored Reyna's many requests for a seat change; instead she had flirted with Leo. FLIRTED! It's not like he was even good-looking. His pick-up lines and cheesy jokes had not stopped since the flight started and she was ready to kill the scrawny little shit. (She could kill him; she was training to be a marine, never mind her black belt in karate)
Okay, just five more hours Reyna. Just five. You can do this. If you can last seven hours on a bus with Dakota after he's drunken 3 bottles of Kool-Aid, you can survive this.
The air hostess began passing out the little pre-packed boxes of food, and Reyna couldn't help but grimace at the pathetic excuse for food. She absolutely hated airplane food.
Leo peered over her shoulder to look at her box. "Got any raisins in there?" she looked at him in confusion but shook her head. "How about a date then?" She rolled her eyes. "That was bad."
He looked at her in shock. "Bad? I'll have you know my jokes are the best. I am not the Super-sized McShizzle for nothing!"
She picked up her book and picked up where she left off, determined to ignore the hyperactive Santa's elf.
"Ohhhh, Harry Potter. You know, if you were a Dementor, I'd become a criminal just to get your kiss."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you just compare me to a soul sucking fiend?"
"Oh, come on! See the funny side!"
"You know, you never told me why you're going to New York."
She ignored him.
"Ohhhh, the silent treatment. I'm going to a wedding. I'm the best man, actually."
It's fine, there's plenty of weddings in New York. It's a popular place.
"My wingman, Jason, finally got the courage to pop the question."
Jason's a popular name. Lots of people called Jason. 82nd most popular boys name in the US last year. Wait, how did I know that? Probably Annabeth. Who did Jason say his other best friend was? Liam? Lance? Leopold?
"He's marrying my other best friend, Piper. We all went to this Wilderness School together. You should know you're sitting beside a reformed teenage rebel."
Maybe there is another Jason and Piper. There are probably hundreds of Wilderness Schools across the country.
"Hey, Jason's from California. Do you know him?"
"How do you know I'm from California?"
Stalker.
"You're wearing a Jupiter Eagles jersey. Jason supports them too. I'm more of a Long Island Half Blood's man myself."
He snapped his suspender as he said that, and then rubbed his chest with a pained expression.
She snorted. "Yeah, real tough guy over there."
"Oh my gods, you did not just snort!"
She blushed. Her sister, Hylla, used to always tease her about that.
"You did!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too"
"Will both of you just shut up!"
They both sprang apart, blushing furiously, not realising they had become so close during their argument that their noses were touching.
An old woman in front of them had turned around, and was glaring furiously at them.
Leo leaned over and whispered something in her ear as soon as the angry woman had turned around.
"It is now my life goal to make you snort again."
She couldn't help but whisper back.
"Good luck with that one."
She had her defences up now. There were few people who get that infamous unladylike laugh out of her, mostly Hylla, Jason and Annabeth. There was no way in Tartarus that some stranger was going to get on that list. Not if Reyna had anything to do with it.
Much as Leo tried, his corny jokes and puns did not get a peep out of her. He was determined, and seemed to have a never ending supply of bad jokes, as if he had been waiting for the chance to use them. He was as bad as Percy, Annabeth's husband, who liked to refer to himself as 'Persassy' (Usually after vast amounts of alcohol had been consumed).
After half an hour of trying, Valdez decided to try a different tactic.
"Excuse me ma'am, do you have a map, because I think I'm after getting lost in your eyes."
The air hostess giggled, and flipped her stupid bleached blonde hair over her shoulder. Reyna clenched her fists. Did he really stoop so low as to try and make her jealous with some bimbo airhead? To make matters worse, the air hostess slipped her number onto his fold out table! Surely that was against company rules. She'd have to ask Jason about that.
"You know, I'm quite the lady's man. All the ladies love Leo."
"I'm sure."
"What? Did you not just see the pretty air hostess give me her number?"
Some strange emotion surged through Reyna, and something possessed her to mumble under her breath that "She wasn't that pretty."
A grin spread across his tanned face, brown eyes sparkling with glee.
"Ah, I see. Reina's jealous."
Her heart fluttered slightly at his roll of the R. He had called her Queen in Spanish.
"I'm not jealous; I just don't like seeing people make a fool of themselves."
"Sure Reina, you're not friends with the green-eyed monster at all."
"Shut up Valdez."
After what seems like centuries to Reyna, the pilot eventually tells them to buckle up and prepare for their landing in JFK.
Leo had talked her ear off, telling her all about his mechanics shop in New York, and his sister Nyssa and his brother Jake. She got entertained with stories of Jason and Piper and him in Wilderness School (some which sounded horribly familiar) and of his motorbike which he had repaired (She didn't like to mention that he had called his motorbike 'Happy' in Latin.)
The plane shook as they descended. Her knuckles turned white with the effort of clutching the arm rests, something she hoped Leo hadn't noticed. He continued talking, as if he didn't notice they could have been plummeting to their death. He talked about his summer camp on Long Island, which somehow calmed her, reminding her of her own camp near San Francisco. It was comforting, almost.
With a crash and some terrifying sounds, the wheels hit the runway, and the pilot slammed on the brakes.
She heard clapping from some of the passengers, and hesitantly opened her eyes. She realised with a jolt that she was clutching Leo's hand, and he was gently rubbing circles on her own hand with his thumb.
She hated showing weakness, especially of something as stupid as planes (honestly, how did Jason do that every day?) But for some reason, she didn't hate it as much with Leo.
The seat belt sign dinged, and she stood up promptly, wanting to get away from this strange man that was making her feel strange, foreign feelings.
She found herself grabbing her bag from the overhead, and pushing her way through the crowds, ignoring the calls coming from Leo. She raced through security and baggage collection, and marched to the arrivals door. The crowds parted like the red sea as she approached, giving her a clear way to the smiling and waving couple.
"Reyna!"
She was engulfed in a hug by her friends. She smiled, as Piper began rapidly filling her in on her bridesmaid duties while Jason picked up her bags. Piper always looked effortlessly beautiful, but today she just looked radiant, her excitement bouncing off her and filling Reyna up as well. She hugged her friends once more, glad to back amongst the familiar.
"Right, bring me to this fancy hotel I've heard so much about!" She says, pushing her dark braid back over her shoulder."
Jason pushed his glasses up his nose, blue eyes sparkling as if he knew something she didn't.
"Hang on, we have to wait for the best man. I think he was on the same flight as you."
Dread and butterflies fill Reyna, and she turns around to see the lanky figure the love struck couple are waving at.
"Reina! Why didn't you tell me you knew Jace and Pipes?"