Chapter 3: The Valentines Ball
AN: So sorry again that I took so long again I had tons of work to plus I ran out of data. If you comment, it might also help with my writers block. "Hint, hint, wink, wink". I know that I keep switching from POVs just bear with me. And thanks to all the people who took time to read my story. x
(Aria's POV)
Everyone is running around frantically trying to get their outfits together, find a last minute date and other random things.
It's the day of the dance and I have absolutely nothing to wear. I hadn't been bothered about the dance until now. It had just completely slipped my mind.
I walk up to Thalia in hopes that she might know where I could get a dress from.
"You should go find Piper" she says. "I'm sure she could help you out. She should be in the Aphrodite cabin"
"Thanks" I reply. I walk to the Aphrodite cabin and it's a complete frenzy in there. Everyone's carrying big boxes and large swaths of material. IN the crowd I somehow manage to find Piper.
"Hey Piper" I say "I know it's really late but do you think you have a dress that you could lend me?"
"Yeah sure, I've got tons" She says happily. "I keep telling my dad not to but he still does"
Piper leads me to the back of the cabin to a large set of doors. She opens them and inside is shelf after shelf of clothing, Jewelry, shoes, handbags, anything you could think of was there.
"Wow" I say gazing into the walk in closet.
"I Know" Pipe says, "You can take anything you want, I barely wear any of it. Okay. I know let's find you a dress!"
We started to sift through dress after dress, Piper making me try on almost every single one. First I tried on a red one with a plunging neckline that went so low down it almost reached my bellybutton. I couldn't help but agree that it looked good on me, but I couldn't help but feel too exposed in the region of my chest.
About an hour later we found the perfect dress. It was peacock blue with a low cut back and it held me snugly in all the right places. The skirt was longer in the back and shorter in the front. It was strapless and the top part of it was cut in a heart shape. Piper found some matching blue high heels and silver jewelry to go with it.
(Leo's POV)
Well at least I'm not going alone to the dance. A girl from the Athena cabin, Ali, had asked me to go with. I had said yes even though she was a year younger than me and had a crush on me since forever. She was pretty and all but she wasn't my first choice. If only Nico had stayed away from her, she would be going to the dance with me not him.
I was walking along the top of a small hill looking out onto the beach. I was so lost in my thought I didn't even notice her until I walked straight into her. Worst of all, we went tumbling down the grass hill, and landed on the sand.
I didn't think that I could embarrass myself anymore until we eventually came to a stop and she had landed right on top of me.
"If you wanted me to go to the beach with you, you could have just asked you know." She said jokingly.
She was still lying on top of me and the feeling of her body pressed so closely to mine was starting to make me blush. Her face was so close to mine I could see each individual eyelash. Her long ebony hair tickled my face as she held my gaze.
"I'm really sorry about that" I said to her
"That's okay, I didn't really mind being tackled to the ground by you" A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
My face was probably as red as a tomato by then. I could hear someone running across the beach and we quickly stood up and brushed ourselves down. I looked up to see who it was. It was non -other that the ghost king himself.
"Isn't the sun a bit too bright for you to be outside" I ask him, "Doing want to ruin your complexion" I said laughing.
"Actually I saw you tackle my date to the dance" Nico said. "Are you okay Aria"
"Yes, yes I'm fine…I had a ah soft landing" Aria said with a hint of a smile
"Good, I'll see you tonight then" Nico said with a devilish grin
My mood just plummeted, the warm feeling from being so close to her vanished and my expression hardened.
(Aria's POV)
"I should go get ready for the dance" I said. The atmosphere just drop, and things were starting to get awkward now.
"I'll see you there" he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Bye" I said and left towards the cabin.
(Time skip)
(Leo's POV)
The valentines dance was always unchaperoned, the Aphrodite cabin made sure of that. People kept sneaking of into corners I had a feeling that someone had spiked the fruit punch. I was standing over by the snack table when I saw her walk in. She might not be a daughter of Aphrodite but oh my gods she was beautiful. She didn't have that harsh beauty like the girls on the covers of magazines, with tons of make up on, she had a natural beauty. The only thing that could spoil the view was that she was arm in arm with Nico. I watched as they twirled on the dance floor, Nico leading with a strong gracefulness that I could never accomplish.
(Aria's POV)
After the song was over I spotted Leo across the hall. He was alone which I thought was odd because he was meant to come with Ali. I told Nico that I would be right back and left. Nico was nice and handsome and all but he was arrogant and he kept flirting with every single girl we past.
"He Leo, Where's Ali?" I asked him when I found him
"She went hiking in the forest and got sick after eating some mushrooms she found."
"Oh I'm so sorry is she okay" I ask him feeling sorry that he's here alone
"She's getting better but she's highly contagious right now" he said with a distant look in his eyes.
There was a long pause and out of know where he asked "do you want to dance?"
(Leo's POV)
I am such an idiot. What was I thinking asking her to dance! I'm not even her date plus I can't dance. Surprisingly she said yes. As we got onto the dance floor, the song changed from a fast one to a slow one. She turned and faced me and put her hands around my neck, a slight blush reaching her cheeks.
"I don't think I'm doing this right" she said embarrassed "I don't really know how to dance like the mortals do"
"No, no you're doing great" I say as I clasp my hands around her waist. She gasps slightly, I try to hide my smile but I can't help it.
"Um, now what?" she asks
"Well you just move to the music" I tell her. I draw her in closer and we move to the slow steady beat of the music. She's close enough that I can smell her perfume.
We only break apart when Nico asks if he can cut in. He snaps me out of my dream-like state and I let go of her reluctantly.
I dance with a girl from the Hermes cabin for a while but then I get bored and go back to my cabin. When I get back to my cabin I clean up my work table and go take a shower. By the time I get out of the shower, most of the other people are back from the dance. I go to my room (they've got individual bedrooms okay) and switch off the lights. A few seconds later I hear a knock on my window.
"Leo! There you are" Aria says as she climbs through the window after I open it for her. She must have drank the punch because she was obviously drunk.
"What are you doing here?" I ask her
"I came looking for you silly" she says poking my bare chest. All I had on was a pair of shorts. "Well Nico left with this girl so I came looking for you" she says happily
"Why me?" I ask her
"Because I missed you and you didn't give me a proper goodbye" she says in a matter-of-fact voice as she sat down on my bed.
"I should get you back to your room" I say taking her by her hands.
"No, I want to stay with you." she says looking directly into my eyes.
"Why would you w-" before I could finish my sentence, she brought her lips crashing down onto mine.
She pulled me on top of her on the bed. She entwined her fingers into my hair, pulling me deeper into the kiss. She slowly dragged her tongue across my bottom lip and I pulled her closer. Only when she started unzipping her dress did I realize what I was doing. I broke apart from her quickly. She looked up at me in annoyance.
"I can't do this now, not while you're drunk. I'm not going to take advantage over you while you're like this" I tell her
"But -" she begins but I cut her off
"No, you're going to go to your own room now and you're going to go to sleep" I tell her
She just looks up at me stubbornly. I sigh and pick her up and take her to her room. I place her down on her bed and switch of the lights. I then close the door and leave her reluctantly. When I got back to my room I couldn't help but smile to myself. My heart was still beating a thousand miles an hour. All I wanted was to be close to her, and who knows what tomorrow might bring.
I hope you guys liked it, if you have any requests or ideas please let me know.
~ Brooklyn