A/N: There's really not enough Lazel in the world. Enjoy and review.
Summary: Leo Valdez has always had a knack for warming people up, in more ways than one. Hazel Levesque is no exception. One-shot. Lazel and some slight Frazel.
1.
Hazel mentally curses the person who came up with the idea of quests in the middle of December while she shivers and freezes to death.
Well, maybe not to death, but you get the point.
She's sitting on a rock in the middle of a clearing in Maine of all places, waiting for Leo to come back. He said he was going to look for the demigod they were supposed to bring back, and he'd be back in half an hour.
It'd been an hour already.
Hazel had just started walking in circles as a futile attempt to regain some type of body warmth when she heard a rustling noise come from the bushes ahead. She paused mid-step and pulled out her Calvary sword, her frozen fingers fumbling to get a steady grip on it.
The rustling noise grew louder and closer, and Hazel had just poised her sword to swing when Leo walked out of bushes, a wide grin on his face.
Hazel sighed and sheathed her sword. "Do you find him," she asked, half hoping the guy would jump out of the bushes and they'd be able to go. Leo shook his head, the grin still on his face.
"No, but I know where he is. The kid's not good at covering his tracks. I'm surprised that the monster hunting him hasn't found him by now."
Hazel sighs again and sits down on a semi-comfortable rock. Leo's a great friend and an amazing fighter, but at the moment she wishes Frank, Piper, or even Annabeth were here. "So why are you smiling? We haven't found the guy yet," Hazel asks him, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to get warm.
"Well," Leo begins, taking his backpack off, "I was looking through this thing on my way back, and I found a sleeping bag, two pairs of gloves, some nectar and ambrosia, and my tool belt. Well, I knew the tool belt was in here," he says, tossing one of the gloves to Hazel and pulling the other pair on.
Hazel pulls the gloves on while he talks and relishes in the warmth they bring. "What about food," she asks him, still preoccupied with the gloves.
Leo laughs loudly and starts rummaging through his backpack again. "I didn't find any of that out there. But," he says, pausing only for dramatic effect (he's not looking at her, but he can feel her sigh from across the clearing), "I found those rations Chiron gave us, and I found some money."
Hazel rolls her eyes at his last statement, but otherwise doesn't react. "So let's split the rations and eat," she tells him, walking over to examine the contents.
By the time they've finished the food, the sun has gone down and the temperature has dropped with it. Hazel's freezing, even with the gloves on, and Leo, despite his special abilities, is shaking a little, too. Hazel eyes the sleeping bag longingly and Leo watches her.
"You can have it, you know. Go ahead and get warm; I'll take first watch."
Hazel shakes her head no. "It's too cold for you to be out here in the open all night. We'll…we'll just have to share." The words come out of her mouth evenly, but the blush on her face pretty much gives her emotions away.
Leo's blush is almost redder than hers as he takes a tentative step forward. "Is this going to be okay with Frank? Is he going to turn into a bear or something and kill me? Because if he is, I'd rather take my chances out here." Hazel laughs despite the awkward situation and shrugs.
"I'm pretty sure he'll be okay," she tells Leo, sliding into the sleeping bag, "Besides, one of us will end up freezing to death if he's not so he doesn't have much of a choice."
Leo nods, the embarrassed (and adorable…but in a friend way) blush still covering his cheeks, and slides in next to her. His body heat (Hazel has no idea where it came from) keeps the inside of the sleeping bag hot, and Hazel gratefully accepts the warmth Leo brings. She's never really noticed it before because they've never been in such close proximity like this, but Leo's like a portable space heater.
Because of how small the bag is they end up laying down face to face at first, but Hazel turns her back to Leo to avoid any additional awkwardness. She can feel him doing the same. "Goodnight, Leo," she mutters sleepily. "Don't forget to wake me up for second watch."
"Goodnight, Hazel," he replies, head up and eyes alert.
The last thing she sees before she closes her eyes is Leo fiddling with his tool belt, attempting to build some sort of contraption.
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2.
When Nico DiAngelo arrives somewhere unexpectedly, it almost always means bad news. So, when he appears in the middle of Camp Half-Blood's camp fire and taps Hazel on the shoulder, she hesitates a bit before following her brother into the woods.
Nico turns to face her, a weary look on his face, and Hazel feels her knees shake. "Hazel…uh, Frank, he went on a quest with Reyna and Gwen. You knew that, right?" Her heart drops into her stomach, but she manages a curt nod anyway.
Nico sighs. "He, um…he died, Hazel. On the quest. A hellhound got to him while he was sleeping. I- I'm so sorry, Haze." He wraps her in a hug and kisses her on the forehead before muttering something about having to go before the others arrive, and with one last squeeze of her shoulder he's off.
Hazel doesn't say anything for a long, long time, but before she knows it Annabeth is barreling through the bushes. "Guys, I found her! Hazel, what are you doing here? Leo noticed that you left the campfire. What happened?"
Annabeth approaches her tentatively and repeats her question, and Hazel starts crying. Not silent, soundless crying, but full out, bawling crying. She's a blubbering mess, but she manages to choke out the words, "Frank, he…he died."
The older girl hugs her tightly then, probably because she has an idea of how she's feeling. Except, when Percy died in Tartarus he came right back a few hours later. Frank Zhang isn't - wasn't - under the same circumstances.
Annabeth strokes her hair while she cries, and soon she feels Piper take Annabeth's place. Hazel sniffles loudly into the older girl's shirt and feels Piper murmuring things into her hair. "It's gonna be okay," she says, over and over again.
Hazel Levesque feels like a little, unstable girl, but given the circumstances she can't bring herself to care much. She's stopped crying by now, but her nose is running and her eyes are red and she just really wants to sleep.
"I'll take her to her cabin. You know, make sure she gets to sleep and everything."
That's Leo's voice. He hasn't said a word since he arrived.
Piper raises an eyebrow at his statement, as does Annabeth, but they both agree in the end. "Okay, Leo." Percy says before giving Hazel a hug and telling her, "We'll come check on you in the morning, okay?"
She nods, not really trusting herself to speak, and Leo puts an arm around her shoulders and steers her to her cabin. "I'm sorry," he says simply when they reach the door of her cabin, and Hazel shakes her head in response as they enter the room.
"It's not your fault," she whispers, sitting down on the bed. Leo pulls a few tissues out of the Kleenex box beside her bed and hands them to her before sitting down next to her.
"Do you want to talk about it," he asks her hesitantly, his fingers tracing nonsensical patterns on her bedspread. Hazel watches him for a few minutes, both of them comfortable with the silence.
"I'm cold, Leo," Hazel says suddenly.
Leo stops tracing and switches to just tapping on his knee through his jeans. "You should get under the covers, Haze. If you're cold," he replies, and Hazel shakes her head again.
"No, Leo, I'm cold," she repeats, "I'm cold. Like, on the inside. I'm numb and I'm cold. Frank shouldn't be dead - he can't be dead – but he is, and I'm cold," she finishes quietly. Hazel looks over to Leo to gauge his response, and she's surprised to see him nodding like he…understands.
"I know," he tells her quietly. "Well, if you're all tucked in and stuff, I'm gonna head out now. See you tomorrow, Hazel," he says, making his way to the door while he speaks.
His hand is on the doorknob when Hazel calls out his name. "Leo…could you stay with me tonight? Just for tonight. It wouldn't be like a thing or anything but, I'm… cold," she finishes lamely, a bright blush evident on her face.
Leo turns around slowly and Hazel finds that his facial expression matches hers; blush and all. "Are you sure? Because I'm not like making a move on you or anything because Frank just died and that would be weird and…yeah."
Hazel chuckles and gets under the covers. "I'm sure, Valdez. You can even sleep on top of the covers if that'll make it less awkward for you. I just…I'm cold, Leo."
Hazel thinks that she's being awfully selfish.
Leo climbs under the covers with her, and Hazel feels the same heat – no, the same warmth - he brought to the sleeping bag not even a month ago. She feels him tense up when his leg brushes hers on accident, and Hazel scoots farther away from him. She's not touching him, but his body heat warms the whole bed to the core.
At this moment, Hazel couldn't be happier that Leo's a personal space heater and he's willing to help her out.
When Hazel wakes up in the morning, she's warm. She thinks she likes it better that way.
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3.
"How in Hades did you fall through ice?"
Leo's sitting in the infirmary with Hazel, who's currently wrapped in three blankets and two jackets and is sipping from a cup of tea. He got there as soon as Piper told him what had happened.
Hazel sniffles and drinks some more tea before she answers his question. "I don't know. I was skating and then, boom, I fell through. Piper thinks I might've skated over a soft patch of ice."
Leo shakes his head and stares at her. "You guys went skating on a pond. In the middle of January. Did you really think that was a good idea?" He wants to be mad at her, he really does, but her nose is red, she looks kinda-sorta-maybe like an adorable Eskimo (He blames her for this sudden sappiness- Leo Valdez is a man), and besides, when has he ever been able to stay mad at Hazel Levesque?
So, he settles for a heavy sigh and running a hand through his hair. "Don't answer that question. Just...get warm and all that good stuff. I'll be here."
She doesn't say anything and Leo thinks she might be asleep until he hears her say, "Maybe you could help me," and thinks his heart might've stopped.
"H-help you get warm?" He questions, and Hazel nods.
Leo will be damned if he doesn't climb onto that too small cot and help Hazel Levesque get warm, so that's exactly what he does. He sweats almost immediately, but Hazel removes two of the blankets from on top of them and takes off the heavier jacket she had on. "You're warm," she mutters drowsily, and Leo's not sure she realizes she still has on a huge blanket and a jacket.
But, he tells her that she's cold anyway, and she replies by rubbing her thumb over his cheek. Leo shivers at her touch before shifting so that he's facing her. Her eyes are closed, her thumb is still resting lightly on his cheek, and despite having been smothered in blankets and such for the past half hour she's still shivering slightly.
So, Leo grows a pair and wraps his arms around her. Hazel sighs and her thumb drops from his cheek to his throat, and Leo can't help but stare at the stunning 16 year old girl in front of him.
He kisses her on the forehead before allowing his eyes to flutter closed as well.
The next time Leo sees Hazel, she's entering Bunker 9 quietly. He looks up from the back table where he's fiddling with some old parts and smiles at her. "Welcome to my personal Heaven, Hazy," he says grandly, and she just chuckles while looking around. "Impressive," she admits reluctantly, a small grin on her face. "Hey, um, I just wanted to say thank you for yesterday. Thanks for, you know, warming me up. I needed that," she finishes quietly, and when Leo looks up to respond he's surprised to see her standing across from him on the other side of the table.
He grins at her again and shrugs. "No problem, Haze. That's what friends are for, right?" Hazel nods slowly in agreement, eyeing the parts on the table. "Of course it is," she tells him, and then she kisses him on the cheek.
Leo somehow manages to keep his blush under control, but he does raise an eyebrow. "What was that for," he asks her, and she sends him a bemused look before kissing him again on the cheek.
"Piper said I was supposed to wait for you to grow a pair and ask me out, but then Annabeth told me that when dealing with idiots, the girl sometimes has to make the first move. So, there you go. I made my move. It's your turn."
She's confident, he can tell, but her voice is the slightest bit shaky. So, Leo leans over and kisses her.
It's soft and sweet and absolutely amazing and even though it doesn't last for a super long time, when he pulls away he's breathless. A small, serene smile graces Hazel's lips, and Leo's smiling so hard his face hurts.
"Checkmate," he mutters before kissing her again, and he can feel Hazel's wide smile against his.
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4.
There's nothing Hazel Levesque likes more than waking up on a Saturday morning next to Leo Valdez.
Well, she likes waking up next to him the other six days of the week, too, but Saturdays are special. On Saturdays, they don't have classes at the college New Rome provides, and they are free to sleep in.
And that's why there's a small smile on Hazel's face when she wakes up on Saturday morning to find Leo passed out next to her, one of his arms around her waist and his head nestled into the crook of her neck. He's snoring softly in his sleep and Hazel takes that time to run her hands through his curls.
He doesn't even flinch.
Yet a few minutes later she makes a move to get up and go find something in their smallish apartment to cook for breakfast, his grip around her waist tightens and he mutters something incoherent against her shoulder. Hazel laughs and attempts (in vain) to loosen his grip.
"Leo, let me up. I have to go cook breakfast." The 22 year old next to her simply pulls her back onto the bed and pulls the cover over the two of them.
"Not now, Hazy. Stay for a while," he mumbles drowsily, and Hazel reluctantly (but not really) lays back down, her head resting on Leo's chest. "Five minutes, Repair Boy," she warns him, and he plants a lazy kiss on her cheek in response.
When Hazel wakes up, she smells waffles and bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen. She smiles to herself before heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
After throwing on a pair of faded skinny jeans and one of Leo's old sweatshirts, she makes her way through their apartment to the kitchen.
Leo's standing beside the table, wearing a pair of jeans and a button down shirt. He hasn't seen her yet, so she sneaks up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist. She realizes she has to stand on her tippy toes in order to rest her head on his shoulder (he hit a huge growth spurt 4 or 5 years ago; Hazel likes it, but she doesn't).
"What's all this," she whispers in his ear, and Leo gestures dramatically to the food on the table. "I'm pretty sure it's called breakfast at 12:15 in the afternoon, but feel free to name it what you want."
She laughs then and kisses his cheek. "Thank you, Valdez. This looks amazing. But knowing you, you did this because you wanted something."
He tries for an offended look, but the grin plastered on his face prevails in the end. "I wanted to make you your favorite breakfast. Is that a crime?"
Hazel shakes her head, a smile still firmly stuck on her face (she smiles so so much when she's around him). Leo turns to face her, a look of determination on his face.
"Maybe," he begins, running his long, nimble fingers through her hair, "I just wanted to remind you and me that I know just about everything about you. Maybe I just wanted to make us breakfast. Maybe I wanted to – I don't know – remind you that I love you, Hazy."
By now, she's sitting in one of the chairs at the table, and she thinks she might cry. "Gee Valdez, you're awfully sentimental today. Did you spike the waffle batter?"
He shakes his head no, a small, amused grin on his face, and then takes a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that we've been dating for 4 years now. And while it's been great being your boyfriend, I don't really want to be that anymore."
Hazel sucks in a breath, and Leo shakes his head again at her before dropping down to one knee.
"Geez, don't look so scared, Hazel. Judging by the amount of time you spend with Piper, I thought you'd see this coming." She barely manages a watery laugh and a tear makes its way down her face. Leo wipes it away with his thumb. "Don't cry, Haze. Please."
She sniffles and shakes her head and Leo takes that as his cue to continue. "Like I said, I don't want to be your boyfriend anymore. I want to be more. So, with all this being said, I have to ask you one question." He pauses to pull a tiny leather box out of his shirt pocket, and Hazel thinks her heart stops.
"So, Hazel Levesque, will you marry me?" He opens the box and reveals a simple, yet beautiful ring that Hazel suspects he made himself. It's a thing of beauty, it really is, and Hazel alternates between looking at Leo and the ring.
"I know you're only 20 and you might not want to do it now, but I'm ready whenever you're ready. I don't want to rush or pressure you or anything. Whenever you're comfortable, if you want to marry me, that is."
She thinks she might be crying now, and her suspicions are confirmed when she shakes her head yes and a tear rolls down her face. Leo grins at her and slides the ring onto her ring finger slowly, looking at her the whole time.
"Hello, Hazel Valdez," he whispers into her ear, and Hazel kisses him just like she's wanted to all morning long. She wraps her arms around his neck and his hands end up on her waist, fingers skimming up and down her sides.
Hazel pulls away later to breathe, and Leo sends her a smile that's so fond it almost hurts. She kisses him softly before she leans her head on his shoulder and plays with his curls.
"So, we're engaged," she mumbles into his shoulder, "What do we do now?" Hazel can practically feel Leo's grin as he rests his chin on top of her head. "Well, we can eat the amazing breakfast I cooked," Hazel's stomach rumbles in agreement, "Or, we could start our honeymoon a bit early," he finishes playfully while nipping on her ear, and Hazel would be a liar if she said she didn't feel heat rush to her face and pool in her stomach.
"While that sounds appealing and all," she pauses here to lift her head off of his shoulder and kiss him yet again, "I'm hungry. And before we get into any of those activities, I'd like to at least eat first."
Leo sighs and – with that stupid grin still on his face – pulls a chair out from under the table and gestures for her to sit. Naturally, she complies. He piles a plate with all of her favorite things from the plates in the middle of the table and sets it in front of her slowly.
"Eat quickly, Mrs. Valdez," he mutters against her hair before fixing himself a plate and sitting down next to her. "We have things to do." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, Hazel laughs so hard she chokes on her French toast, and Leo has to pat her on the back for a whole two minutes before she spits it into her napkin.
After drinking her orange juice and wiping her mouth, she sends him a grateful smile. Her boyfriend – no, fiancé – sends her a warm smile in return, and Hazel would be a liar if she said she didn't feel warm all the way down to her toes.
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5.
"Daddy, stop! Mommy, help me!"
Hazel tears her eyes away from the TV to see what her 3 year old son needed. At the moment, he was being viciously and relentlessly tickled by his father, and was laughing too hard to finish his request for her help.
Hazel rolls her eyes at her husband when he pauses to wink at her, and jumps off of the couch in pursuit of the bathroom so she can run Charlie's bath. Once the water is a few inches high and she's added in his favorite toys and some soap, she turns off the bath and heads back to the living room to get Charlie.
The sight she's greeted by makes her smile so widely it almost hurts.
Leo's sitting on the couch watching the Saints vs. Texans (Hazel's proud to say that the Saints are kicking butt), and Charlie's is sitting up in his lap, eyes completely focused on the screen in front of him.
Hazel doesn't have the heart to interrupt this little moment, so instead she curls up on the couch with them and rests her head on Leo's shoulder. Charlie moves so that he's sitting on both of his parents, and they watch the fourth quarter of the game together (as a family, Hazel thinks).
By the time the post-game show is on, Charlie is fast asleep and Leo looks close to it. A small smile on her face, Hazel picks Charlie up and takes him to his bedroom. She tucks the boy with the golden brown eyes and curly hair in to bed and kisses him on the forehead before closing the door to his room and leaving out.
On her way back to the living room, she lets the water out of the tub and grabs a snack from the kitchen. Finally, she plops down where Charlie was sitting on Leo's lap and opens her bag of chips. The sound wakes Leo up, and he yawns and rubs his eyes before stealing a handful of chips and changing the TV to Transformers of all things.
Hazel slaps his hand (he won't stop, she knows, but that's kind of alright with her) and leans back against his chest. "Gods, why is it cold in here, Leo?"
Hazel's husband shrugs nonchalantly and begins playing with her hair. "I dunno," he tells her, "But, why do you need heat when I'm here?" She can see the smile on his face despite not being able to see him, and Hazel nudges him with her knee. "Oh, shut up, Valdez, and warm me up."
"Gladly," Leo whispers against her neck, and Hazel shivers when he kisses the spot just above her collarbone. "Leoooo," Hazel whines when he slides his fingers underneath her shirt and rests them right above her hip. "Your hands are freezing."
Leo mutters something incomprehensible into her hair before he reaches behind him and grabs the blanket that rested on the back of the couch.
He wraps his arms around her waist and buries his face into the crook of his neck, and Hazel thinks that the blanket was never needed in the first place. Leo's naturally warm in more ways than one, he really always has been, and Hazel feels like she's never fully appreciated it until now.
So, she twists in his arms and kisses him.
It's a bit awkward at first because their couch isn't that big, but then Leo wraps one arm around her waist and pulls her even closer and his other hand ends up in her hair and Hazel kinda just forgets about everything else for a minute.
Leo pulls away, breathless, but keeps their foreheads touching. "What was that for?" he asks her quietly, and Hazel grins at him.
"I love you," she replies, her fingers traveling up and down his spine and her other hand tangled up in his hair.
Leo smirks at her before kissing her again. "I'd sure hope so, considering that we're married and have a kid."
Needless to say, Hazel hits him on the knee before she rests her head on chest. Leo laughs and re-wraps the blanket around the two of them, and together they watch two and a half of the Transformers movies.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Charlie, still half asleep, makes his way into the living room and curls up in Hazel's lap. Leo chuckles, Charlie snores, and Hazel thinks this might be the warmest she's ever been.
A/N: Well, that was a bit cheesy. But, this was nothing but a bunch of fluff, so I guess it was to be expected. Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Reviews and I guess flames are welcome, too!