(c) - Rick Riordan, Taylor Swift (As this is somewhat of an songfic), PJO, HOO.

A twisted Speak Now
Written by Taylor

"Leo!" The person taps on the window. "L-E-O!"

All he can think about is the smell of gasoline. And, the buzzing from his drill. Moreover, the metallic clinks.

Suddenly everything stops, from the lights to the gears - both in the workshop and in his brain. Pitch black fills up the room.

"No!" His hands shoot up instinctively in surrender. "No! Do whatever you like but please don't hurt -"

The lighting goes back on.

A girl with curly blonde hair stares at him with intense grey eyes that have always been giving Leo the chills. Today, she is in formal clothes - a sparkly yellow dress matching to all the other braids-maids' outfits. "Seriously, Leo, after all the demigod training and monsters - you would actually be scared of mortals? Regular, kidnapping mortals?" She says it as if she is a goddess or something. "Wipe that smell off and get ready for Jason and Piper's wedding, for Zeus' sake - you are the best man!"

To be honest, Leo had no choice. Jason and Piper just burst into his cabin one day, yelling that they are getting married. Excited much?

You are going to be my best man. Jason had said. No question mark included.

Why can't Leo choose if he wanted to be or not? Why can't Leo choose anything anymore?

Because Leo Valdez is so predictable. He will follow his best friend to the end of the world if he had to.

However, he will bet ten bucks Jason would never do the same - not without hesitating.

Then - out of the blues, he finds a smile creeping up to his face. A quick plan forms in his head. This time, it's more than just stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, or sneaking into the Apollo cabin at Karaoke Night and change the pitch to the microphone.

This is life.

"I will come." He tells Annabeth, who is already halfway out the door with a to-do list in hand. Just in a different way.

As much of a geek it sounds, he planned it out. He decided on NO explosives. NO robot machine to say the words for him. Both were tempting, but he did not plan to kill Jason. Besides, Piper need to base her decision on Leo himself, if that made any sense.

"Your choice, Beauty Queen." He mumbles.

He slips into a clean pair of jeans and the orange camp shirt. A tuxedo? Even if he is going to stand there pretending nothing's wrong, Leo still wasn't sure if he would wear it. Next came the most important part: Calling Reyna.

Leo is sure that it's the right step, even though he isn't sure what he would say. I'm going to barge in on your ex-boyfriend's wedding, want to join me? Reyna is a girl that takes the fun out of most things, but for every crazy weirdo plan needs a serious voice. He runs his fingers up the fancy guest list, with their phone numbers printed off to the side, and sees Reyna (Who is going to sit on the last row) easily.

Pick up woman. Pick up if it's the last thing you'll do.

"Hello?" A scratchy and stern voice answers. Yep, definitely Reyna. Sometimes Leo wonders if she's actually an old woman in disguise.

"It's Leo. Leo -" For a horrid second, he forgets his last name. "Leo Valdez."

"Leo?" Reyna acts as if she's on a crime scene and Leo might be the murderer. "What are you -?"

"Do you still love Jason? Here's a chance. Meet at their wedding. Give me a signal right before they say, 'speak now'. I'm gonna be at the window."

Reyna pauses, as if she might actually consider Leo's insane plan.

"So, left or right window?" She asks, and Leo swears he can hear a grin from that same sentence.

Of course. Why can't Leo hide in the curtains instead? Reyna plops herself down at the last row of the benches siding off to the right. Leo tiptoes through the backdoor, and found himself right beside her. OSN (Operation Speak Now) has officially changed.

"Leo?" Reyna says with disbelief, half-annoyed and half-curious. "What about the window -"

"Change of plans, I will be by the curtains. But give me around ten seconds in advance to prepare."

Reyna rolls her eyes. Mental note: In the future, do not work with Reyna.

Suddenly the organs start playing, and Leo slides further in.

His heart nearly stops when the bride-to-be floats past him, her white wedding dress brushes against Leo's leg. The stylist appear to have left Piper's choppy brown hair the way it is, but now her bangs has been braided with flowers tucked up behind her ears so they go with her hairstyle. Leo had only seen her in makeup once before when Aphrodite claimed her, but now Piper looks like she could be an actual beauty queen.

Mental note 2: If Piper does marry Jason, stop calling her beauty queen.

"Friends and family." The preacher begins speaking in a bland, formal tone. "We are here today to celebrate -"

Leo did not listen any further. Jason and Piper. Piper and Jason. It sounded like quite a mouthful to say. He nearly chuckles, before reminding himself where he is.

Then Reyna glares at him, and his heart starts beating faster than someone with a heart attack does. "Now, to the both of you. Sp -" This is really happening. This is really happening. Hands shaking, Leo steps out.

If he had been the wedding planner, Leo is almost sure he can do better than this.

Yellow is an ugly colour for the braids-maids, when you put it next to Piper's white gown. Annabeth and Thalia is quite a sight to see. The yellow almost blends in with the tip of Annabeth's hair completely, and Thalia is forbidden to wear any eyeliner - eyeliner is a big part of Thalia Grace.

Off on Piper's side were Jason's guests. Reyna, Dakota, Hazel...Leo wonders why Zeus didn't come. It wasn't like he had another son's wedding to attend to.

On the other side, Leo recognized all of the Greek campers. Rachel, Lacy, etc. His heart nearly stops when he sees Aphrodite, winking at him. She has the most beautiful, dazzling -

Leo! His brain warns. He takes another step forward, closer to two bewildered husband-and-wife-to-be.

"I - I object."

"Excuse me, young man." The preacher says, the tips of his ears turning red. "This is no place for you to barge in and -"

"You said 'speak now' or forever hold your peace. So I am speaking." Leo reasons, and then turns to a stunned Piper. "Piper, to be honest you and Jason do not match. Sure you could've been the next Romeo and Juliet with your Greek and Roman families - I mean, I think Jason is wrong for you."

The whole church fell silent. The preacher starts muttering to himself about how he's never seen anything like this in twenty years. When he glances at the braids-maids, he finds Thalia looking at Reyna. Maybe she would love Reyna for her sister-in-law, instead of a daughter of LOVE.

Piper's mouth starts to close. "Leo -"

"I know, it's your decision."

"Yes."

Leo whirls around. "W-why-WHAT?"

"What?" Jason asks, as shocked as Leo is.

"I agree." Piper steps off the altar, hands shaking even more than Leo. "A-And J-J-Jason, I know you're better off -"

"With Reyna." Leo finally finds his voice. From the corner of the room, Reyna blushes.

Nobody says a word, not even Aphrodite. Leo thought she might hate him for ruining her daughter's wedding, but when he looks, Aphrodite is smiling.

Piper makes her way next to Leo, and watches.

XXXXX

It reminds him of another time, back in Wilderness school when Jason wasn't in their lives. They had been friends way back, before knowing they were demigods.

They - Leo and Piper - walked out of the cinema, side-by-side. Most of the girls were gushing on and on about the movie they had just seen, as the end of term activity in their school. That included Piper, sadly.

"Nothing exciting will happen to ME, I bet." Piper had said.

"You'll get married one day, drama queen." Leo wrinkled his nose at thinking about the film. It was weird; because there was action all along, and then the second the hero and heroine kisses, they could not hear the end of it.

"Whoever marries me will just be kidding themselves."

Well, who knew?

XXXXX

Leo wants to shout that Reyna's an idiot. STAND UP! She has the love of her life standing there, hesitating. What other chance will she get?

Hazel stands up from the row in front of Reyna, not at all intimidated by the huge crowd of quests. "Jason, go with Reyna! Please!" He admires the girl's guts. She is close to Rachel with her freckly face and wild personality.

Reyna herself does not move. She stares at Jason with her big blue eyes, and her lips quivers. Leo get the feeling if Jason says "no" right now, the whole scene would fall apart.

Jason steps down from the altar - and did not look at him or Piper.

OoOoO

Nobody had thought of the outcome, not even Leo. Not the part where the four of them were blushing like tomatoes, but the part about the crazy Aphrodite girls.

"Like, oh my!" One of them squeals in Piper's ear. "I totally wish that could happen at my wedding! What a romantic story, Piper, you're so lucky!

"Kill me now." Piper whispers.

"Sorry, that ruins your white dress. Can't do."

"If -" He notice Piper is heating up again. "If we get married one day can I not wear makeup? Nobody pressured me to wear tons of it but the wedding turned out so fancy and -"

"Piper, we could get married in jeans and T-shirts if you want. To be honest I hate having to wear a tux as well." Leo convinces her.

Nobody has disapproved of Leo - not yet.

A person taps him on the shoulder. Piper looks up, and turns whiter than her wedding dress. "Leo - dad -"

Now the Aphrodite girls look like they were about to faint. Tristan McLean, standing there with one of his killer smiles. Maybe he's only pretending, and is going to kill me once we go somewhere private. Leo can imagine the headlines now: TRISTAIN MCLEAN KILLS THE GUY WHO RUINED HIS DAUGHTER'S WEDDING. A long headline, but it could happen.

Instead, Tristan winks.

"Welcome, Leo." He says as if Leo is already a part of his family. "You know what I always say to my daughter when picking out a husband?"

"What?" Now this is getting weird.

"To always pick the one that has enough guts to speak now."

His cheeks are burning, and he is sure this isn't summer.

I edited some mistakes out, but that doesn't stop more mistakes. *Sigh*

Thanks to Carter Lee Grace for pointing out I should fix up my mistakes. Never thought there would be THAT many, so thanks again! :P

- Taylor