Shut up! I never said that!"

Leo looked up from his project. It was a magic holo-simulator. You could fight imaginary enemies, date imaginary girls, eat imaginary pizza, whatever. It was gonna be awesome, but Leo couldn't concentrate on it with all the shouting outside Bunker Nine.

"Look, I'm just saying what I heard from Aphrodite Cabin, all right? And according to them, you said that I was a stuck up little brat who needed to keep her mouth shut!"

"And you believed them? Cabin 9 is always spreading garbage!"

"Well, apparently I should trust them more than my lying, cheating boyfriend!"

"Who said anything about cheating? All I said was-"

It went on like that for a while, kind of like inane rabbit chatter in Leo's ears. Finally, the shouting match ended and Annabeth stormed into the bunker. She came over to help Leo out or talk sometimes. They had become pretty good friends after Leo had used the Argo II to get them out of Tartarus. It had been about a year since the Giant War, but the fire user still couldn't get over how scary Annabeth could be in a bad mood.

He smiled uncomfortably and said, "Trouble with Percy?"

Her eyes flashed angrily. Leo wanted to run away before wrenches were thrown, but she just sighed.

"Yeah. He can be such a little kid sometimes. I should just let you have him."

Leo wasn't really sure how to respond to that.

"Uh, what d-do you mean by...that?"

Annabeth just snorted. "Seriously Leo? Just how blind do you think a daughter of Athena is? Pretty much all of Aphrodite knows it too."

Leo put on the simulator helmet. Not to eat imaginary pizza, but to avoid Annabeth noticing him turned bright red.

"Uhh...you sure hang around that cabin a lot lately."

She smirked. "Yeah well, since Piper became senior camper, they haven't been so bad. But I notice you're dodging the point. You're lucky Percy is blind to everything, or he would have found you out forever ago."

Leo really didn't like where this was going, but he took off the helmet. "All right then. So the Son of the Sea God is pretty, um, great. It's fine, isn't it? Can't we just leave it at that?"

Annabeth sighed dramatically. "I'm afraid not. You see, Seaweed Brain and I aren't on good terms right now. So I don't have any loyalty to him. He's yours for the taking."

"Um, I don't think-"

The conch horn sounded for dinner.

Saved by the be- horn, Leo put down the helmet and practically ran to the dining pavilion.

During dinner, Leo couldn't eat. Nyssa was pestering him with questions about the project, Harley was trying to steal his food, and Jake was throwing up, for unknown reasons. Meanwhile, several Hermes campers laughed and gestured with some container badly labeled SALT. Leo couldn't even laugh. They knew, somehow they knew, and it was all Leo could do not to barf up his own dinner.

During the campfire, the flames rose about 10 feet, flashing bright green. Leo couldn't help but notice Percy in the firelight, looking for all the world like some kind of god. He smiled and said something to another camper, and Leo was almost happy. Surely they would tell him. Not even Cabin 9 would be that cruel. He ate his marshmellow, which had been burned to a crisp long ago.

Laying in his haunted bunk, the Latino boy considered what he should do. If he knew Annabeth, she wouldn't walk away from a challenge like this. Piper wouldn't either. But they were his friends. Maybe they would respect his feelings and leave him alone. Leo really hoped so. He was betraying all his instincts to run away, and if he had to, he wouldn't have anywhere to run.

The next morning, he was a wreck. He hadn't gotten a single wink of sleep from his anxiety.

Nyssa could tell, too. "What happened to you? Did you have a thought tugging at you?" she asked.

"Uh, kind of," Leo said, trying to avoid her eyes. Why did he know so many shrewd girls?

She laughed. "Are you worried Percy won't go for you?"

"Wait, WHAT?" Leo wanted to scream. Who the Hephaestus was tipping these people off?

"You really are a moron, aren't you?" She laughed again and shoved him out the door to the cabin. "Come on, we have morning activities."

When he reached the Big House for Archery Class, he saw Percy standing there, looking really uncomfortable. Leo's brain shut down when the son of Poseidon looked at him with those sea green eyes.

He managed a weak wave. "Oh, hey, Percy. How's it goin'?"

Percy looked relieved. "Leo! I've been looking for you! I wanted to tell you, Annabeth and I have been fighting, so-"

Leo's face lost all color. Gods of Olympus, she'd told him! "It isn't what you think!" he prostested.

Percy looked confused. "What? Listen, I usually do camp activities with Athena cabin, but I don't think I can face Annabeth right now. Could I work with your cabin?"

Leo wanted to die. "Uh, um, sure. Of course." He said while looking at his shoes.

Percy's lips pursed (No pun intended). "It is okay, right? She said you wouldn't mind, but she did laugh, so I wondered if maybe you were mad or-"

"NO! I mean, it's fine. No problem." Leo's shoes had become very interesting recently. She'd set him up! Stupid Wise Girl, and her stupid plans!

"Ehhh, right then." Percy said. They both headed toward the archery range, feeling very awkward.

Percy's POV

Percy had no clue how to deal with this. Leo was staring at him like he'd grown a second nose. Had Annabeth been lying? She was mad at him, but would she really lie about something like that? No! Annabeth wasn't the kind of person to play with people's emotions, no matter how mad. Of course, she hadn't taken the news about Percy's sexuality well, but she wouldn't-

"Hey Perce!" Leo said, looking less uncomfortable. "Earth to Sea Boy!"

"Huh?" He said. Perce? Sea Boy? Oh gods, he gave me a nickname.

Leo laughed. "Archery time. How good are you?"

"Terrible," he admitted.

"Great," Leo said, "So am I. Let's be partners!" He grabbed two bows and some arrows from the pile.

Percy's head was spinning. Partners? Nicknames? Is he just messing with me too?

His mind cleared quite a bit when an arrow narrowly avoided spearing him. Leo apologized with that evil Santa's elf grin, and Percy was able to focus on something- killing him.

Leo's POV

Leo was certainly less smug after being tackled by the other demigod. He sincerely thought death was imminent until he realized Percy was just kidding. Still, the guy was heavy, and he felt very, VERY close to him. He could even smell he salt water on his breath.

"Get off!" He could feel himself burning up, literally. His hair was starting to catch fire, and he didn't want his crush to be torched.

The son of the sea god just laughed. "First, apologize for nearly killing me."

"I'm sorry, dangit! Now get off me!"

Percy pouted. Gods of Olympus, he looked adorable. "You're not really sorry."

Percy's POV

Leo was certain his hair was on fire now, as well as his ears. "You're going to burn to a crisp if you don't get off me!"

Percy sincerely hoped Annabeth was right about this. She usually was, but this was gonna be really awkward if she wasn't.

"Make me," he said with a smirk.

Percy didn't remember much after that, but it involved fire, water, some Hephaestus kids laughing, and him waking up the next morning with burn marks and everyone calling him 'Romeo.' He didn't know the specifics, but Wise Girl must have been right somewhere, because Leo now smiled and kissed him everytime he saw him.

I really like the PerLeo ship, though I admit it's a strange pairing. Any flames shall be used to give Percy more burn marks and laughter from the Hephaestus cabin. Also, Percabeth fans, please note that Annabeth did do what she knew would make Percy happy. So please, do not come at me with the torches and pitchforks. It's not my fault I pick strange OTPs!

To fangirl, or not to fangirl. That is the question.

-Schizo out