Title: Fates Amiss

Summary: "I love you, Leo Valdez." The time for romanticism had past, and they let it slip away. They were in love with each other just not at the same time, now they just loved each other because they were both in love just with two different people. "I love you too, Hazel Levesque."

Setting: In the midst of Mark of Athena, post Blood of Olympus, and a little after Hidden Oracle.

Ships: Mainly Leo Valdez and Hazel Levesque, the relationship and the friendship. Slight mentions of Percabeth and a background mention of Lukabeth.

Author's Note: Because the lack of Lazel fics are just sad to me. I just read Trials of Apollo and I wanted my story to kind of fit with the new series. This is my first contribution to the PJO archive, hopefully it won't be the last. Also, I wrote this in just one seating so there're probably a lot of pronoun and grammatical errors. Just dismiss them, I'll edit them later… Maybe… I don't know. HAHA. Please enjoy! Oh and before I forget:

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the PJO, HOO, and TOA series. If I did Luke Castellan never would have died, Leo Valdez and Hazel Levesque would have ended up together, and Apollo would not have been named Lester Papadopoulos.

Leo

Of all the people he could have fell in love with, he had to fall for the one he could never have. Sure, Leo had a knack for falling for girls totally out of his league but falling for, let's say, a daughter of Pluto with a very very muscular and bear-turning boyfriend? That one takes the cake.

To be quite honest, Leo never realized that he had fell for Hazel not until he'd promised Frank he wasn't moving in on his girl. Apparently, self-realization was a jerk and decided to come after he purposely closed the door to any future he could ever had with Hazel. The talk with Hazel afterwards in the itchy—whatever horse fishes' palace wasn't any help either. It just confused him even more. So he did what other people in his situation would do, seclude himself in work.

Every day since then he did all the repairs himself, refusing any help from anyone. Not even Festus. He reasoned that the nearer they get to Rome, the more attacks they got, the more serious the damages. He didn't want anyone touching anything especially when one wrong move can lead to them spontaneously combusting and when Leo pointed out that he was the only one immune to that kind of ordeal, everyone was sold. So for days he was alone in different areas of the ship. At times at the hull, sometimes below the quarterdecks, but tonight he was at his favorite place, the engine room.

The gears hummed a faulty rhythm but Leo found it soothing. The com echoed as Festus squeaked and creaked, giving Leo reports and ETAs. After Festus was done, Leo nodded in understanding. "Thanks a lot buddy. I promise to give you extra Tabasco sauce next time. You deserve it." The bronze masthead squeaked happily at the thought and the com turned into silent static. Leo looked around to see that there wasn't really work needed to be done. Some of the gears needed cleaning and he needed to change one of the shafts that held Styx water and one of the pipes looked dented but nothing that would take Leo long to fix. After a little more over than twenty minutes, Leo had finished working and he went to marvel on his work.

"You really did quite an amazing job here, Leo." Apparently, he wasn't the only one to do so. He turned around to see Hazel gaping at the engineering. Leo flushed, no one ever really admired his work before, much less a girl he liked. "You know, I don't think I've really ever been here before. It's kinda cool."

"Kinda cool?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "It's awesome in here!" He said proudly. Hazel gave a slight chuckle. Leo blushed once more; he loved making her laugh but then another part of him made him feel a little guilt. You made a promise remember? Stick to your word, Valdez! His feet shifted uncomfortably. "Why are you here?"

Hazel sighed and instinctively rubbed her arm. She did it sometimes, when she's nervous. Leo remembered seeing her do it in the mess hall when they were talking about her brother, who they have yet to save. "I wanted to talk to you… You know, about us." Leo's eyebrows knit and he scratched the back of his head.

"I'm pretty sure I've said all that I could for that matter, Hazel." Leo said and Hazel reluctantly inched closer to him. The few feet that was once in between them now had turned into a few inches. Only then did Leo realize that Hazel looked really groggy. She had been vomiting all day again and as good as those centaur fish were with their healing abilities, Hazel's hit on the railings during that Shrimpzilla attack still affected her and he remembered Piper making Hazel drink a few meds from sickbay a while ago. But Hazel was so close Leo was stuck feeling like he was about to combust. Hazel's golden eyes bore into his chocolate brown ones and she smiled a sad smile.

"You look just like him." Both of them understood what she meant. Leo's bisabuelo, Sammy Valdez. Something the Fates apparently decided to toss up into his already messed up life. He had the nagging suspicion that the Fates were watching him and got bored and got an idea Hey why don't we let his great grandfather be the first boyfriend of the girl he loves and make them look identical? That sounds like a great plot twist! But tossed the idea aside. Personally, Leo did not like the idea of him being turned into one of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians episode.

"We should get you to your room. Here, let me—" Before Leo could finish his sentence, Hazel grabbed his face and crashed her lips upon his. Leo didn't think Hazel was even aware of it because the next thing he knew she passed out in his arms. He wasn't ready to catch her either because he fell on his knees right before Hazel could hit her head on the ground. Leo looked at the beautiful girl that, quite literally, fell for him. Her cinnamon hair all frizzy and untamed yet perfect in its own right, her chocolate skin, button nose and slightly chapped lips that had touched Leo's a few seconds before. Leo sighed and let one hand through his hair. He scooped Hazel up and carried her to her room.

It was a good thing that Piper and Annabeth were battling a bunch of gryphons by the deck. Okay, so not really a good thing but you get the idea. He managed to go unseen and enter the lower decks. As he walked through the corridors, Hazel's arms flew to his neck and she cuddled closer to him. It must have been his body heat that inclined her to do so, Leo thought, yeah definitely that. Once he got into Hazel's room, he carefully set her down on her bed, tucking her in with her sheets. He was about to leave when Hazel caught his hand and sleepily muttered, "Stay."

"I can't, Hazel." Was what he should have said. He should have released her hand and left her to sleep. But no, Leo decided to be selfish and sit next to her watch her mumble in her sleep which he found really adorable. He absently recalled the moments earlier, when Hazel kissed him. It felt electric. Like a bunch of cable wires being struck by lightning, even if it was just for a brief moment. A part of him felt happy, as if he was the luckiest guy in the world but the other part of him was slapping happy Leo at the back of his big fat head. Frank was his friend. They've had their ups and downs but he was family nonetheless. He shouldn't be moving in on his girl, he assured Frank he wouldn't. But some sick part of Leo's subconscious was trying to reason with him. Hazel was the one that kissed him so technically he wasn't moving in on her, right?

Then it made Leo go back to that memory and it made him curious as to what Hazel wanted to talk about. He wondered what more she had to say. A hopeful side to Leo thought that maybe she wanted to give him a chance. To give them a chance. But that was preposterous. It made him feel like a bad person to just even let it cross his mind. He stared at Hazel's sleeping figure and sighed in exasperation. How he loved this girl! She was the complete package: smart, beautiful, kind, skilled in battle, and has a long patience for Leo's antics. Too bad her heart had belonged to someone else, and that she only saw Leo as a brother and, worse, a ghost from her past.

"You look just like him." She had told him and somehow it broke his heart more than anything Leo had ever experienced, and everyone knows Leo was the leading expert on heartbreaks. Losing his mom when he was a kid, be given away by his own flesh and blood, crushing on the wrong girl and be rejected over and over again, even being definitely subjected as the seventh wheel by a biker goddess.

Not that it was a bad thing, looking like his great grandfather, but for Hazel to see him as Sammy Valdez rather than his own identity, that totally knocked out Leo's already low self-esteem. Maybe the only reason he even got close to Hazel was because he looked identical to his bisabuelo, suggesting that their friendship was never even real in the first place.

Come on, Leo. That's just not fair. He thought to himself. His subconscious was right. It was not fair to Hazel for him to think of her like that. She has been nothing but kind to him. He knew that despite the situation, Hazel was a true and sincere friend just as everyone was to him. Leo had no right to doubt her intentions or anyone's for that matter.

"I'm so sorry." Hazel squeezed Leo's hand tighter, for a second Leo thought he had mentioned all his thoughts out loud. But when he looked at her he found out that he didn't and that she was still asleep. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was just sleep-talking. "Sammy, I'm so sorry. I broke his heart. I broke Leo's heart." A tear escaped her eye and Leo stiffened. She was dreaming about him. He let his free hand wipe the tear off Hazel's cheek. "It's okay, Hazel. It's okay." He whispered to her, a soft smile escaping his lips. Hazel seemed to have heard him and calmed down and started sleeping soundly once more. Leo kissed her temple and let go of her hand, walking towards the door. He stopped as he held the doorknob to glance at his love once again, giving off another sad smile. "I love you, Hazel Levesque." He hoped the words would reach her but he knew it wouldn't so he turned to go, leaving the sleeping beauty and whatever feelings he had for her behind.

Hazel

She had been crying herself to sleep more often than she should have. The war was over, Gaea had lost and the world was saved but it never felt like a victory to her, not with him dead. Nico and Frank had tried to console her, telling her that what he did was for the best and that it was the annoying, stupid, selfless noble act that Leo Valdez would always do. She tried to blame herself, saying that she could have stopped him, only if she just protested the day he told her and Frank his plans on defeating the earth goddess. Jason and Piper tried to comfort her, telling her that even if she did, once he put his mind on something there's no changing it. Percy and Annabeth had told her that everybody was feeling the same thing but they have to move on because he would never allow his friends to grieve over him like that.

But they didn't felt the way Hazel felt. The others just passed it off and thought Hazel was acting like that because she was the closest to Leo, even more closer than Jason and Piper than they would care to admit. Hazel was Leo Valdez' best friend and they grew really close. Their fates are literally connected. Leo has even gone so far as to give Hazel's boyfriend a way to protect his fragile lifeline just because he knew it would give Hazel ease and relief. What they didn't know was that for the longest time, Hazel had fallen for Leo, but just recently realized it. Which made it hurt even more.

It was during that last ride on Argo II, when everyone was preparing for Zeus to spike them back to Long Island. The crew was strapping themselves down to brace themselves for impact. All had their respective tasks.

"Frank, help Percy tie me to the mast." Annabeth said.

"Brings back a few memories does it?" Percy said, referring to that time they were at the Sea of Monsters. Hazel had heard Annabeth recall that story a couple of times, they were at Sirens' Bay, and it was one of the times Percy had saved Annabeth from imminent death. Hazel remembered Annabeth admitting that although she was still in love with Luke Castellan during that time that was truly the moment where she acknowledged her feelings towards Percy. It also made Annabeth realize that Percy had saved her countless times than she cared to admit, and that was what made them stronger.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth had said. Percy just grinned in response.

"Hey! We need more rope." Jason shouted from the far corner of the deck.

"I'll get it. I think I left some in my room." Leo said pacing like a madman, attending to the controls, seeing to the Archimedes' spheres, at times going down to converse with his dad about force and velocity and some things Hazel can't understand. He'd put himself on fire about three times, good thing his fireproof clothes made it impossible for him to burn it.

"I'll come with you," Hazel said jogging towards Leo who was already going down the ladder leading to the lower decks. The echoes of everyone's hurried footsteps upstairs was heard from below and Hazel and Leo couldn't help but laugh despite of the nearing war. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this but I missed your room. I missed sketching there, it was fun." She said, referring to that brief time she helped him make a sketch of Calypso. Leo just smiled in return, probably because it might have brought up some anxiety. Hazel decided to change the topic. "I hoped you managed to actually keep it tidy in there." Leo gave her an offended look. "Of course I did!" he said as they reach Leo's room. Saying it was a mess is a complete understatement. "Leo, the Fields of Punishment is cleaner than this."

Hazel wasn't entirely exaggerating. She can barely see the furniture, unfinished projects lie on the ground along with metal scraps and a couple of old blueprints from Bunker 9. The Archimedes scrolls were on his bed along with what Hazel presumed to be very deadly chemicals. "Sure, Levesque, we're facing imminent death and all you can think about is how my room looks like a bomb went off in here." Leo said sarcastically, starting to look for the much needed rope.

"I am pretty sure that one actually has." Hazel said carefully treading through the metal scraps.

"You are not entirely wrong." Leo said, his face plastered with that famous impish grin of his. Hazel shook her head in mock disappointment. "In my defense, it went up in flames not exploded."

"Sure that makes everything better." Hazel said as she eyed the long piece of rope by the—or at least what Hazel had assumed to think was - table. She reached for it only to realize that it was jammed. "Uh, help." She said, looking to Leo for assistance.

Leo turned to see the problem. "Oops. Hold on, I got it." He waded through the sea of metal scraps and blueprints and helped Hazel pull the rope. "On three, we pull." Hazel nodded at the plan. "One, two, pull!" They tugged, a little too forcefully it seems, because they both fell to the floor. Apparently, they didn't notice that the rope wasn't really jammed but was accidentally pinned to Leo's corkboard, looped by the edge of the table which loosened when Hazel tried to pull for it. They laughed at their silliness but Hazel gave a faint screech when she saw that Leo's corkboard was about to fall flat on their face. In instinct and pure reflex, Leo went on top of Hazel and the corkboard crashed on his back.

Once Hazel knew the danger has passed, she opened her eyes to see Leo's face barely a few centimeters away from hers. She felt her heart raced as she took in the proximity. His body was so close to hers that she wondered if he could actually feel her heart racing out of her chest. Leo cleared his throat and stood up, reaching his hand out to help Hazel. "You okay, Levesque?"

Hazel took his hand and gained balance. "Umm, yeah, I'm alright." She said trying to shake off that awkward moment that just transpired. She brushed of the metal scraps and papers that got stuck through her hair. Leo did the same. She checked to see if some got bolts or nuts (both metal and edible ones) got stuck on her hair and she felt a piece of paper. She looked at it only to see that it was the crayon drawing Leo had done when he was a kid that he told her about and shown her many times before. Somehow this made her sad. "Please don't go through with this. Leo, there has to be another way." Leo just chuckled.

"Sorry, Haze. It's too late to turn back now." Leo put a hand on her shoulder. He glanced at the crayon drawing she was holding and Hazel was sure he wanted it back. She folded it and put it in his hand and Leo shook his head. "I want you to keep it for me. So that way, I have a reason to come back for you Hazel Levesque." He said putting it on the pocket of her denim jacket. A tear had stained Hazel's cheek and Leo looked at her and muffled an "Awww" before giving her a hug. Once they let go, he picked up the rope and told Hazel that they better hurry and that he'll race her. Leo got a head start as Hazel stood there for a couple of seconds more to mutter the words she would never ever let slip. "I love you, Leo Valdez."

The memory was still so fresh in Hazel's mind that it served as the salt in the wound on her heart. She felt a bunch of emotions all at once. Grief for Leo's death, guilt because she loved Frank as well, anger at no one in particular but the fact she was faced with this misery too soon made her mad, and most of all regret, because she realized it too late and never even got the chance to deal with those feelings or even tell him about it.

Hazel recounted the story of Annabeth at Siren Bay. Annabeth was still in love with Luke but she already started to feel something towards Percy. She felt it before, but never truly acknowledged it until Percy had saved her from the sirens. It felt like it applied to her, Frank, and Leo. Hazel was completely in love with Frank, but she started to have feelings for Leo too. She couldn't pinpoint when it had started. Maybe it was when they were in his room talking about Calypso and she would listen to him talk about how much he loved her and she would silently think to himself if he ever thought about her that way before. Or maybe it was before that, in Epirus, where he told him the universe was like a machine and that everything happens for a reason. Or maybe it was way before that when he asked her if she trusted him and she said no when she really should have said yes.

Either way it didn't really matter anymore, because Leo was dead. And whatever unresolved feeling Hazel had died along with him. It was cruel but it was the truth, and Nico always said that the truth is more often painful than not but it's the truth nonetheless and it's there to set everyone free. Maybe the truth was Leo was more meant to be a hero than to be with Hazel, and she was fine with that because he deserved to be one.

Hazel reached for her pocked and fished out Leo's crayon drawing. She looked at it and put it back, letting her hand rest on her pocket for a while. "So that way, I'll have a reason to come back to you." Leo's words echoing in her mind. "I'll hold you to that, Leo." She whispered as she made her way to her father's altar to pray for Leo Valdez' soul.

Leo

Nobody could blame Leo for being touchy with Terminus. They have been travelling for weeks. Normally, it would have only taken them a day but apparently having a demigod, ex-god, and ex-sorceress seemed to be quite a pill especially when said ex-deities hated each other and you couldn't pick whether to side with your very angry girlfriend or a very whiny god who could gain his powers back and turn you into bad literature. Plus, they attracted nine hundred times the monsters. So the moment they saw the Pomerian Line and the boundary god's head hovered above them, Leo had never felt so happy to see the OCD bodiless god and gave it a big hug.

"LET GO OF ME, VALDEZ! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!" Leo felt like an invisible hand push him brutally away but Leo didn't mind. From below, he saw his friends looking up with Jason shouting at Terminus.

"No, let him in Terminus! A few of us needs to punch him in the face." With that Terminus seemed please and disappeared. They landed by the valley to which he was greeted by a slap from Piper. "If you ever do that stunt again, Leo Valdez, I swear I will make sure I kill you myself!" she said as she kissed her repeatedly on the cheek.

"Okay, okay, Beauty Queen, stop smothering me. Geez." Leo said. Jason hugged him tight. 'So, you're a Pointy Hex now. You go run around and create temples and stuff. I hope they pay you good for that. It sounds exhausting."

"Pontifex." Jason corrected. "And no, they don't pay me. Also, Annabeth's been helping a little too. She's great, couldn't have done it without her."

Annabeth then stepped forward. "Jason's being modest. I just design and do the architecture stuff. He even takes over me some times." Leo scoffed. Anyone taking over Annabeth? That's new. The blonde then looked at Leo and punched him on his arm. "Percy told me you were back but before I could make it to Camp Half Blood from Boston, you'd already left. I missed the line."

Leo rubbed his arm, damn that blonde could punch. He reminded himself that she's been training since she was seven so it was completely expected. "Where is Percy by the way? Did he pass his SATs?" He asked.

"Barely." She said shaking her head. "But it was enough for him to get in New Rome. So I guess it's all good. He'll be here tomorrow." Annabeth moved from the line that seemed all too familiar. It was just like the one at Camp Half Blood but twice as many.

"A lot of people still haven't moved on from you blowing the whole New Rome thing." Jason explained and some of the legionnaires had started hitting Leo, hard. "So, you must be Calypso. And you're Apollo, right?"

"Finally someone acknowledges me!" Apollo cried out. Calypso rolled her eyes.

"She mentions Percy had told her Leo and I arrived, I take it you guys are filled in with what's happened?" She asks. Annabeth gave an annoyed snort.

"The name's Annabeth. And yes, we're aware of what's happened." Annabeth said through gritted teeth. It didn't go unnoticed through Apollo's eyes.

"I apologize for my… companion's rudeness. She has that effect on people." He said. Calypso made a face and so did he. Leo looked upon to see that the line was getting shorter. Good, because he thinks he won't be able to handle the physical abuse any further. There were at least five people left. After Dakota's mean swing, Tyson stepped up. He didn't feel like hurting Leo so he gave him a nice pat on the back which felt like Leo's internal organs were gonna pop out. Ella the Harpy just blurted out random textbook knowledge per usual.

Then, Frank was in front of him and he couldn't help but give the guy a hug. He missed the big oaf. "Damn, Praetor looks good on you, Zhang." Frank smiled sheepishly and blushed scarlet. Good to know that the bashful boy who once turned himself into an iguana to get out of Chinese handcuffs was still in that Roman leader physique.

"For another rare moment, I agree with you Valdez." Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano looked more regal than she ever had before as she glided, yes glided, towards him. Her dogs Aurum and Argentum trailing right behind her. She smiled but it looked more like she was contemplating whether she would let her dogs eat him now, or a few more seconds later. "Nice to have you back, Leo Valdez. Hero of the second Giant War." She said as she held her hand out for a shake. Leo slowly took it, flinching when they touched. She shook it once and she was about to turn back. Leo let out a sigh of relief, he really expected something much worse and he got it when Reyna suddenly turned around and slapped Leo on the face and muttered in rapid Spanish.

"Alright, chica, dang. Don't I just love le familia? Ay." Leo rubbed his cheek. He checked to see if there was anymore and he relaxed when he found out that Reyna was the last one. He leaned on Festus as Calypso rushed to check if he was okay. He laughed it off, saying he was fine. Then he noticed Frank looking for someone. That's when he realized someone was missing.

"Where's the daughter of Pluto? Hazel Levesque was it?" Apollo asked, realizing the same thing he did.

"I don't know. She was just here." Frank shifted looking for any sign of Hazel. Jason, Piper, and Annabeth were looking as well. Calypso was too preoccupied checking Leo for injuries that only Leo had noticed Reyna mouthing the words 'mess hall' and discreetly pointing to the proper direction. Leo shifted to his feet.

"Well, I got to go to the little tinkerer's room. Apollo and Calypso could fill you in on what's happened, and Reyna can accompany you to the Senate house, right Reyna?" He said looking at the female praetor. Her expression as steely as ever.

"Of course."

"Great, I'll be there in a sec." Leo said as he jogged to the Mess Hall's direction.

When Leo got to the Mess Hall, Hazel sitting alone watching the Lares walk through walls and tell lame war jokes that she had deemed as a disaster. Hazel had seen him coming, and he gave her a sweet smile the moment he walked in. "You weren't in my welcoming committee." Leo plopped next to Hazel who suddenly seemed really interested at the edge of the table. "Aren't you glad I'm back?"

"Well, someone's got a big head. You're not all that important you know." Hazel teased.

"Of course I am! I saved the world from a dirt face earth goddess, came back from the dead, and reached an unreachable island. I'm the most important of all the important people!" Leo nudged his elbow at Hazel. He heard a faint laugh and it was good enough for him. He took his best friend's hand and Hazel finally looked up at him. He saw that she was holding his crayon drawing. "I told you I'd come back for you."

"You're such a jerk, Leo!" She said as she started sobbing and punching and laughing at him all at the same time. Leo laughed with him and all made it very real to Hazel. Leo was back and it was for real. Not a dream or a figment of her imagination. Then they sat there and talked. Catching up on everything they had missed. Leo told Hazel stories about his adventures with Festus and Calypso and Hazel told Leo stories about going back and forth from Camp Jupiter to camp Half Blood. He told her of the many things he discovered and the inventions he had made. She told him about the Greeks and the Romans and Ella and the work on the Sibylline books.

They talked for hours until they noticed that the sun has set and the mess hall was now being filled with legionnaires. They both decided to go find another place to continue their conversation. They went out to the valley where Festus had landed. Festus wasn't there anymore, but Hazel knew that the bronze dragon was near, flying around randomly spewing fire to make friends with unsuspecting birds. They walked around and it wasn't until two hours later that they decided to stop and lay down on the grass at the Garden of Bacchus

"I'm happy you found Calypso. You deserve someone that will make you truly happy." The both of them lay side by side and looked up the stars. Hazel traced the constellations with her hand and Leo's eyes followed the motions of her fingers.

"She's great. I guess the seventh wheel turned out to be a good thing." Leo said.

"You were never a seventh wheel, Leo. Not for me you weren't." Hazel said. Leo turned his head to look at her and she did the same. She gave him a half smile and looked back at the stars. "There was a time, and I'm only saying this because it doesn't matter anymore anyway, that I was completely in love with you, Leo Valdez."

Leo suddenly sat up, his eyes widening at the revelation. "Really?" he asked and Hazel propped herself up on her elbows and nodded. "When?"

Hazel racked her head. She had thought about it for weeks after they all thought Leo died, and she never really got a specific answer but now she did. "I never realized what I felt for you until you were gone. I was devastated. I thought about you every night days prior to the war until I accepted you were gone but while I was spiraling down, I remembered the time when I first fell for you. At first, I thought it was during the Shrimpzilla attack, back when we first found out that Sammy was your great grandfather. Or the times you called me pretty or made me laugh. But I realized it wasn't what you did with me, it was what you were prepared to do for others." She looked at Leo who was still listening intently.

"It was when you offered to exchange the fortune cookie to save Nico's life." She said and Leo muttered an 'ah' sound. "You were so willing to give up that fortune cookie for my brother even though I was still a complete stranger to you back then. Even if it meant you had to pay a price for it."

For a still moment , they both said nothing. The silence filled the air but it wasn't the awkward kind of silence. The two of them both smiled at each other remembering those precious moments, the moments that strengthen the bond that they had. "It helped that I was head over heels for you during that time even when you weren't completely aware." Leo said nonchalantly. If Hazel was willing to admit her past feelings for him and be okay with it, then he should too.

"Trust me, you were pretty obvious." Hazel said jokingly. "But looking at you when you said it, I knew that it wasn't just because you liked me. You're really just a good guy, Leo. It's kinda annoying really." Hazel's eyes turned luminous in the moonlight. Her smile never faltered and Leo took it in. If this happened nine months ago, Leo would have sworn he would have heart attack but now with Calypso in his life, it was just like coming back home. He should have felt shock and maybe a little pity. The first girl he ever fell in love with was in love with him too, but they had really sucktastic timing. The Fates were cruel, Calypso had often said. But Leo knew that no matter how cruel those old hags were and how complicated they knit their threads, it always was for a reason. The universe was a machine. Whatever feelings they had for each other that went amiss, it was so they could be like this. Best friends. And Leo didn't complain.

"Maybe in an alternate universe, Levesque." Leo had said. Hazel decided to fully sit up, her shoulders nudging Leo a little. She leaned her head on Leo's shoulders and sighed. "I love you, Leo Valdez." She had said but the tone was not at all romantic but rather platonic. Like how a sister would tell her brother. The time for romanticism had past, and they let it slip away. They were in love with each other just not at the same time, now they just loved each other because they were both in love just with two different people.

"I love you too, Hazel Levesque."

Author's Note: It was a little off canon but I thought it needed to be said. Leo and Hazel is my life. I hope to Olympus that Uncle Rick finds it in his heart to give this two a chance, but until then... Please leave a review, tell me if you hated it or nah. I might be writing more for this archive. But that depends on you guys. Love you all. Gods bless you! -A