Leo

Ever since the war with Gaia ended, Leo was more on edge than ever. It was since that new kid arrived at camp… that Apollo girl, Melody Grove.

He'd always found it funny that a daughter of Apollo, the god of music, would be named "Melody". He made a joke about it to her once, and she reacted by kicking him in the stomach. It hurt, but not as much as the kick he got in response to calling her "Mel".

She really got on Leo's nerves sometimes, with her tendency to physically harm people out of nowhere. But at the same time, he couldn't stop thinking about her. When he tried to stay mad at her, the only thing that came to his mind was how beautiful that red-gold hair of hers was, or how those big sky-blue eyes sparkled when she was happy.

Leo tried to hate her, he really did. But he just couldn't, after what they'd been through together.

A few weeks after the quest on the Argo II ended, he'd gone on a quest with Melody and Nyssa, his half-sister. It wasn't really a big deal, just finding supplies to repair his ship, which was battered up from their last quest.

Once, they were searching for minerals in an old mining tunnel, and the entrance collapsed, leaving Leo and Melody alone in the dark.

With no way out, their only choice was to wait until Nyssa got help. It was the first time they had been alone together, and the first time they'd actually had a serious conversation together. Well, mostly serious.

It had started with Melody punching Leo in the face for letting them get trapped. Then she got scared, because the cave was pitch black, and started to cry. That left him with no choice but to summon some fire so they could see. She freaked out at first, obviously, since she was new to camp and didn't know about his power. He explained it to her, which then led to telling her about the story of the quest to stop Gaea.

As Leo told the story, he kept getting distracted by how beautiful her elfish features looked in the dim light. Her hair seemed to glow like fire. Whenever he paused unknowingly to stare, Melody urged him to go on.

Leo didn't tell her about his relationship with Hazel. He didn't know why – maybe it was because it was just too weird. Then again, a lot of things that happened on that quest were beyond weird...

Melody was a good listener. She didn't say a word through the entire story, nodding occasionally to show she was listening. By the time Leo finished, it had been an hour or so, maybe two; he couldn't tell with his ADHD. For a moment, they simply stared into each other's eyes in complete silence. Then Melody blushed and looked down at the floor. Leo also felt his face growing hot, and it wasn't from the fire (that wasn't even possible in the first place). It was quiet for what seemed like an eternity, and finally Leo couldn't stand it anymore. "No comments from you, huh?" He said, "No Wow, that's such an amazing story, Leo or Oh my gods, you're so cool, Leo-" That had earned him a punch in the gut, but at least it broke the tension.

For the next several minutes after that, they simply made small talk, discussing the Argo II quest sometimes, but mostly joking around. Well, Leo did most of the joking around, and Melody usually kicked him when he did.

Nyssa came to the rescue right about when Melody was threatening to shoot Leo's ears off for almost calling her "Mel" again.

After that, they'd traveled for a week or so gathering more supplies. Leo and Melody talked a lot more after the stuck-in-a-cave-together incident, although 90 percent of the time, Melody was trying to kill him. Still, that was an improvement.

They didn't talk nearly as much when they came back to camp, but Leo found himself staring at her during lunch or campfires. Somewhere deep down, Leo knew he was attracted to Melody, and slowly, he was starting to stop being in denial. Unfortunately, the more he was aware of his feelings, the more difficult it was getting to control them.

Leo woke up in his underground room early in the morning. He yawned and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He groaned when he realized it was Friday – the day of his least favorite sport in the world. Capture the Flag.

He had to admit, the idea was exciting at first. Two teams trying to steal each others' flags while using swords and other dangerous weapons, all in a forest packed with deadly monsters? It's awesome, until you actually tried to play it. Especially if you were a scrawny teenager like Leo. Since he usually spent all day at the forges, he had developed some muscles, but not much. The first time he'd played capture the flag, he'd gotten winded before he could even make it to his post, because the shield and sword weighed a gazillion times more than he did. Talk about embarrassing.

Leo had gotten better over his months of training at Camp Half-Blood, but he could still barely swing his sword and actually hit a target. He couldn't use his power over fire, either. If he hit anyone who was wearing armor, that person would likely overheat and die. He wondered if it was possible to make fireproof armor. He sat up in his bed and pondered that for a moment; that could work, actually. He'd go talk to some of the Hecate kids later today to find out more about that.

Leo changed and headed to breakfast in the pavilion and sat along with his cabin mates. "'Sup, guys," he said, trying to sound enthusiastic as usual. A few of them mumbled a greeting. Cheerful bunch, they were. If he didn't know better, he'd think it was rubbing off on him. But no, that wasn't the reason. Instinctively, his eyes drifted towards the Apollo table and fixated on a certain red-headed girl. Leo abruptly looked away, feeling ashamed of himself. Not having much of an appetite, he stood up to burn the rest of his food at the altar. His cabinmates were staring at him suspiciously, but he ignored them and left. It was a depressing morning; the same as it had been for weeks now.

"Guys, something's been up with Leo," Leo heard someone say as a dozen of his half-brothers and sisters entered the cabin. "You don't say," another said sarcastically. "It's been putting a damper on the mood of the whole cabin," said a voice he recognized as Nyssa's, "And after we finally got our spirits up after the whole curse thing ended, too." The group murmured with agreement. "I think it's been since you guys got back from that quest," Another one ventured, "You know, that one with you and Leo and that Apollo girl, Melody." The sound of that name sent a shiver up Leo's spine. "I think so too," Nyssa agreed, "although I don't recall anything out of the ordinary happening on that trip except…" She paused. "There was this one time when Leo and Melody were in a cave looking for minerals, and the cave entrance collapsed on them. They were in there for maybe three hours before I could get help." There was a long silence. Leo felt a surge of panic well up inside of him – Please don't make the connection, he prayed silently. "Guys," one of them said, "Do you think…?" No, no you don't think, Leo thought desperately. He heard a high-pitched laugh he recognized as Harley's. "Leo has a crush on Melo-"

"Hi, guys!" Leo said in an overly-cheerful way as he popped out of his hiding place. "Veerryy enthusiastic discussion you're having there!" Leo gave them one of his crazy grins that said drop the topic or I will torch you. All of them avoided eye contact and muttered some excuse to be elsewhere, and headed to their respective bunks. All of them, except one.

"Nyssa, don't tell me you actually believe this stuff," Leo said to his sister.

She shrugged. "What other explanation is there, Leo? You've been acting really distant, and I swear I see you staring towards the Apollo table at meals sometimes-"

He cleared his throat loudly. "What makes you think so? I'm the same old me as always. And I don't have a crush on anybody." She raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you blushing?"

"What?"

"When I mentioned the Apollo table, you started blushing."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did."

Nyssa smirked. "I knew it. You do like Mel-"

"Don't say it," Leo warned. "Alright, I won't," she said.

"Good."

"Melody."

"Gah!"

Nyssa laughed. "Yeah, you're definitely blushing now. Well, I wish you luck at Capture the Flag, Leo. We're going against the Apollo cabin today, you know."

Melody

Bullet holes riddled the center of a target as Memory vented out her frustration with her prized golden pistol, Chrysos.

Stupid Leo. bang.

Stupid quest. bang.

Stupid feelings. bang.

Since that quest she went on with that skinny Hephaestus kid, Leo Valdez, she'd been more confused than ever. That time they had gotten stuck in a cave, she'd actually cried in front of him. Then he'd tried to calm her down by telling that story. In truth, she hadn't been paying that much attention. The whole time, she'd been mesmerized by his gorgeous brown eyes, his cute dark curly hair...

Memory flushed at the memory.

bang, bang, bang.

She'd thought they had something together, but now he barely even talked to her! Yet, she couldn't stop thinking about him. His stupid jokes annoyed her, but that was part of what made Leo... Leo. And she loved every part of Leo Valdez. She couldn't deny it anymore.

bang, bang, bang.

Melody ran out of ammunition.

She sighed. Yesterday she'd come to the conclusion that Leo must have forgotten about her. Still, that didn't change the way she felt about him. She clenched her fists as tears started to form in her eyes. She ran to her cabin and lay down face-first on her bunk.

"Melody, what's wrong?"

Melody tensed. She'd thought everyone would be at archery practice by now. Apparently, she was wrong. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Will, leave me alone," she said, her voice muffled by her pillow. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Talking about it will make you feel better," He said, almost teasingly. She groaned. "I doubt it," she said. "Nothing to lose," He coaxed. "Except my pride," Melody said. "You're crying into a pillow in front of me," he said, "I wouldn't talk about pride." She groaned again. She hated it when he was right. She sat up grudgingly. "Promise not to tell anyone," She said. Will smiled. "Of course. I swear on the Styx, even." She nodded gratefully, and took a deep breath. Slowly, she said, "I have a crush on this guy."

Will nodded. "Okay. And?"

"I thought we had something, but now he barely talks to me."

"Then you should go talk to him."

"I've been trying, but I don't get a chance to often enough."

"Why?"

Melody paused, wondering how much she should tell him.

"Because we don't have any activities together, and he spends nearly all day working at the forges."

Will paused to take that in. Only children of Hephaestus were allowed in the forges. "Okay. What about during Capture the Flag?

"How would I have time to talk to him during Capture the Flag?" She asked.

"Well, what position is he?"

Melody grimaced. There was only one person in the Hephaestus cabin who played that position. It was usually reserved for the new kids.

"Border patrol."

"...Oh."

An awkward silence ensued.

Will smiled. "In that case, I have an idea."

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one coming soon. ^^