Oneshot. He was not a patient person. One-sided Leo/Piper. AU for Son of Neptune.

[A/N]: Oneshot. Post-TLH. Excuse the terrible Spanish. Obviously AU for The Son of Neptune.

Disclaimer: Don't own PJO.

-Impatient-

By: zynaofthenight

"Eres paciente." his mother had told him, when he was fidgety or nervous. You are patient.

But he wasn't patient. He never was patient, and never would be. With his fingers itching to create something all the time, and ADHD, how could he be patient?It was impatience that led him from place to place, from time to time.

But he knew, that maybe, for just one person, he could be patient.

Piper was the first real friend he ever had. From the second he saw her, he felt something click within himself, and he knew that they were meant to be great friends for the rest of their lives. Jason was his best friend, yes. But Jason was also the amnesiac Roman demigod who wasn't actually his best friend, if that made any sense.

So Piper was really the only friend he had. Jason was a friend, but he would never be as close to him as Piper was. Jason was the star, the guy who got the spotlight all the time. As reluctant as he was to admit it, what he had said about Jason at Medea's store was true. Jason—Jason was fake. All his memories of Jason were false, made up by Hera.

And Piper? Piper was real. Piper wasn't some important child of Jupiter, destined to save the world or something. Maybe the 'save the world' part, but Piper was a real friend. In his screwed-up memories, when Piper and Jason got together during their time at the Wilderness School, he was fine with that. He was happy for his friends. And when they were still together after Jason lost his memories, he was still fine.

It was when Jason left Piper that he wasn't fine.

The Argo II took six months to build—six months of hard work, of disasters, of triumphs, of failures, of sleepless nights and confused days. When Festus's head was finally in place, and the demigods were ready to sail, Jason began to become more and more distant. At first he thought that Jason was simply nervous, having to face the Roman Camp. But as time went on, he began to find that maybe there was something else to Jason's strange behavior.

The Roman Camp wasn't easy to find. It took another month to find the camp, then to negotiate with the Romans. It took so long to convince the Romans to help the Greeks to fight Gaea that sometimes, he wished that they would just surrender and not have to go through any more head-splitting meetings and arguments. They were all running out of time, and monsters attacked almost every day. Yet, what really worried him was not the war, but how the Greeks were falling apart.

Annabeth, for instance. Percy Jackson didn't even spare her a glance as she stepped off the Argo II. All the years she'd known him, all the quests, the love, the happy memories they shared—gone. It must have unnerved her to be looked at by Percy without a flicker of recognition. Even when Jason explained to Percy about Hera's exchange and how Percy was really a Greek demigod, he could tell that Percy didn't really believe Jason. "I am Roman," Percy had said firmly, "and will be Roman."

Annabeth had broken down crying after hearing that, and disappeared from camp for some time. When a search party found her, hours later, she was asleep by a tree, her face streaked with dirt and tears. In her hand, she clutched a broken locket with Percy's picture in it.

And Piper…when Jason stepped off the boat, a pretty girl rushed out of the crowd of Romans, screamed, "Jason!" then kissed him. It turned out the girl was called Reyna, and she was Jason's girlfriend before he had disappeared. And watching Piper's face as she saw Jason and Reyna together—it was painful. Piper stayed immobile the whole time the Greeks introduced themselves to the Romans, her face blank of emotion. But once no one was paying her any attention except for him, she turned away, her eyes shattered with turmoil.

"It's okay, Leo," she told him afterwards, sounding absolutely miserable, her tone of voice making it obvious that it was not okay. "Jason knew R-Reyna"—she choked out the name of Jason's girlfriend—"long before I did. They have so much in their past…and I'm…I'm really nothing. Most of my memories of Jason are fake, and really, I guess I shouldn't be so disappointed."

He comforted her, and it was then, did he consider that maybe, maybe he, Leo Valdez, could love Piper—more than Jason.

He waited. He waited for Piper to realize that Jason Grace didn't have to be her entire life. He waited through the entire war, waited for her to wake up one day seeing him in her mind, and not the son of Jupiter.

He could never wait for long, though. The war was over, Gaea was defeated, and Greek and Roman demigods were living in peace. Percy even remembered Annabeth, and they were back together, as they used to be. Jason and Reyna were enveloped around each other, all memories of a certain daughter of Aphrodite apparently forgotten about.

Only he remembered Piper. She was listless now, often staring blankly into space, wandering in her mind. Finally, he got angry at Jason and confronted his former best friend. "So you just come and abandon Piper, now," he had demanded furiously at Jason. "Leave her broken and depressed because you don't love her?"

They said things to each other they shouldn't have. His temper rose so high that he literally started burning, and almost killed Jason. He left, and went to find Piper. He didn't want to do anything with the son of Zeus anymore.

He couldn't take it anymore. He told Piper he loved her, always had. He asked her to be his. He kissed her. But all Piper did was push him away gently and smile sadly. "I know you're just trying to make me feel better," she whispered softly. "But no one will ever replace Jason."'

And he was left standing there, alone, struck by the sudden realization that Piper didn't love him like she did Jason, and that he would never have her. Piper didn't know that he did truly love her.

If he had been patient…it would have been so different. He should have waited forever—at least then, he wouldn't have been disappointed. It was better to wait for a love than to know that the love didn't love you back.

But impatience was the quality he thrived on. He would move on eventually; he refused to be like Piper, mooning over an unattainable love. And maybe, one day, she would love him back. But, as absurd the thought was, he might not love her back anymore. He was a blazing flame that went on, never looking back. He would forget Jason, because Jason was just a shadow of the past. He would forget about his love for Piper, because it was unattainable. He would not wait.

So when his mother told him, "Eres paciente," he would nod and calm down for a bit. But inside, he would think, "No. Soy impaciente."

I am impatient.

[A/N]: Reviews are appreciated. Forgive me if the people are OOC. Have a nice day :)

Can't wait for The Son of Neptune :D I was so excited that I drew out the entire first chapter that was released online as a manga. –obsessive much-