The stones rattled down the slope, knocking others down as they skipped further and further away from Leo.

He watched them idly as he continued walking towards the twinkling lights of the town. The hill he had come from overlooked a large, green park that resided at the town's edge. Leo had yet to pass any people, but knew that wouldn't last long. Even if he saw any, they'd just look at him funny. You didn't see a dirty, scrawny Hispanic teenager walking down a street in sneakers that were practically falling off his feet every day after all.

The ground leveled out before the sun had fully set, and Leo found himself walking in the shade of trees, and the ground under his worn-out sneakers changed from gravel to miles of grass. Thoughts swirled around Leo's head until his stomach growled loudly. Leo lifted his eyes to the slowly darkening sky and wondered idly where he was going to get any food. I'm probably going to get caught before long, Leo mused to himself as the stars began to wink into existence above him.

Six times running away from foster homes taught you that overbearing foster parents do not hesitate to alert the police as soon as you don't show up at curfew. And for some odd reason, Leo apparently screamed 'I'm a runaway orphan! Turn me in so I can go back to my wonderful foster parents!', and as soon as he would enter a large enough town, he'd be collared by some not-so-gentle policeman and taken to the precinct.

Leo nearly walked into the first people he'd seen in two days. He had turned around a large oak tree and skidded to a halt in front of a couple, locked in a passionate kiss. He blinked and nearly burst out laughing. Neither of the college students acknowledged his presence. Leo slowly backed away, stifling laughter as the two almost fell over. The girl seemed to be holding a large, heart-shaped box.

Leo slipped behind a bush and realized he must have lost track of the days. It must be Valentine's, he mused.

Couples always brought back memories of his mom, and the lack of information he had on his father. When Leo was littler, he used to try and visualize what his dad looked like. He had determined that his dad would have curly, brown hair, like Leo, and twinkling eyes like Esperanza had. His laugh would boom, and he would be ADHD, same as Leo, and unable to contain all the cool ideas he had for inventions.

Leo used to fantasize about when he would finally be able to meet his dad. They'd build stuff together in Mom's workshop, and Leo's Dad would take him bike riding.

But that was all before the fire. Now Leo barely spared his dad a second thought. He could care less now. All that mattered was getting away from the old memories of his mom and the fire, and not being cooped up.

Leo's stomach gave another loud grumble, and the sound of kissing stopped.

"Did you hear that?" The girl's voice rang out in the silence.

Leo felt a grin steal over his features as an idea came into mind and the boy replied "Y-yeah. It sounded like...growling. But there aren't any wolves or bears around here. You know that. It's probably just a stray dog."

The shrill shriek of the girl stayed in the air long after she had raced away from her boyfriend, tripping over her high-heeled boots, and casting terrified looks over her shoulder. Her date hadn't stayed much longer after she had fled, eyes darting around, trying to locate the source of the strange shadows and noises, before high-tailing it out of the vicinity, his scream barely lower than the one that had split the air previously.

Leo waited until the screams died out before dropping to the ground from the branch were he had hid and breaking into laughter.

He hadn't pulled a prank like that in...at least two months. He was getting out of practice.

His jacket had performed admirably to create the shadows, and the strange flute his mom had given him years before could create rather creepy noises when blown right.

Eventually, the laughter died out until only the crickets could be heard, chirping in chorus, serenading the twinkling stars.

Leo stayed on the damp grass, wondering idly whether he'd ever have a significant other to give chocolates to.

A/N:

Happy Singleness Awareness Day! I know it's almost too late, but oh well.

Leo rocks my socks off. I do not believe I have given a good tribute to my favorite character of HoO, but I need to finish my homework and have no time to fix it. Enjoy this rushed fic-might go back and fix any grammar mistakes later. I just don't have time right now.

Have a great day.

Reviews are appreciated, as always!