Chapter 4! This is my favorite chapter so I hope you guys like it!
The two of them arrived at Reyna's villa, and she headed inside, leaving Leo out on the steps
"Wait! What am I supposed to do out here?" He yelled after the dark haired girl as she headed inside.
"Stay out of trouble. That's what you should do." She said over her shoulder.
"But...But that's boring." He mumbled, and took out some things from his tool belt, and started tinkering. Reyna shook her head, and mumbled to herself.
"He's such an idiot." She started to rummage through her desk. But he's cute She thought, then froze. Did she really just think that? Nonono. She can't like Leo Valdez. He's destructive, rude, funny. Wait where'd that last thought come from. He's not funny! He's...he's hilarious. She shook her head and finds the paper she was looking for, grabbed it, and ran outside, almost colliding with the repair boy tinkering on the front steps
"Hey! Careful!" He yelled, grinning, as he caught her arm, helping her avoid an embarrassing tumble into the bushes.
"I'm fine, I'm fine" She mumbled and pulled her arm away. She could have sworn his smile shrunk a little, but why? She shrugged it off and started walking to the hotel.
"Hey, Reyna. Reyna. Reyna. Reyna. Hey Reyna. Reyna."
"What?"
"Wait I forgot"
"Well, when you remember, tell me." She said through gritted teeth. This boy was getting on her nerves. And getting on the nerves of the praetor of New Rome is a bad idea.
"Okay!" He said cheerfully, and the rest of the walk was silent except for the sound of metal clanging against metal, a sound the made Reyna want to turn around and snatch whatever the boy was tinkering with out of his hands and throw it as far as she could. But she restrained herself, and they approached the hotel. She headed to the front desk and discussed a room for Leo with the manager. He offered the keys to the presidential suite, and she took them, in exchange for the stack of golden coins Reyna offered him. She snatched the keys and turned around, scanning the lobby for the Latino boy. She finally spotted him and grabbed his arm, not thinking twice about it, and she practically dragged him to the elevator. When she released his arm and turned to him, she thought she saw him blushing. She shook her head and closed her eyes. Reyna had never told anyone, but she was claustrophobic. Tight spaces, close quarters, anything that involved being stuck in a small space for an extended period of time made her nauseous. Leo glanced over at her, and the elevator dinged, signaling they had arrived at the top floor. They silently walked to Leo's new room, and Reyna put the key in, opening the door. Leo walked in and dropped his screwdriver.
"Woah...This is huge!" He exclaimed, a huge grin spreading across his face. Reyna nodded approvingly.
"I'd say it's better then my villa." She said, a small smile spreading on her face as she run her hand over a statue of Julius Caesar. Leo turned to her, that stupid cute grin still on her face. Reyna blinked. There was that word again. Cute. Leo Valdez was not cute...Right? She frowned, and Leo said something she didn't hear. "Wait, what?" She said, shaking herself out of her thoughts.
"Oh, uh, I said, if it's better then your villa why don't you just stay here?" He said, shrugging like it was nothing. She stared at him, and she could feel a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I uh, not like that! I didn't mean it like that...Uh, I'll shut up now." He stuttered, blushing a deep red. She nodded.
"Good idea. Well, I'm heading off to dinner. You can either stay here, or come with me." She said, a small, okay maybe not so small, part of her hoping he'll decide to come with her. He grinned.
"I'll come with. Dinner sounds great. I mean, even the repair boy has to eat, right?" He said, obviously hoping to get a laugh out of her. She only nodded and turned on her heel, heading out of the room. He hurried after her and grinned again. "Man, you walk fast reina."
"I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that."
"Oh, right. Whoops. I forgot. You see, I have this thing called ADHG or ADD or something like that."
"ADHD?"
He snapped his fingers and nodded. "That's it! I have ADHD. It means-"
"I know what it means. I have it too"
"Oh you do? I never would have guessed...you're so calm and.."
"I know." They arrived at the elevator and she pushed the button, the doors opening almost immediately. They walked in, going to opposite sides of the elevator. Reyna's eyes drifted over to Leo, and he was tapping and twitching. She smiled a bit, clearing her throat.
"Leo, you're twitching." She said, her smile getting a little bigger.
"Am not!" He frowned, looking down. "Oh. Maybe I am." He looked up at her and gave her a cocky grin, and she laughed a little. His grin grew a bit. "You have a great smile Reyna."
"Oh" She said, and could feel the blush rise to her cheeks. He smiles.
"It's a compliment. Everyone likes a-" He was cut off by the elevator shuddering, and then stopping all together. Reyna's chest tightened. Was it only her or were the walls closing in? She pressed herself against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm fine. I'm fine." She mumbled to herself, and Leo inched over to her, taking her hand. She didn't protest, in fact she hardly even noticed. She squeezed his hand tightly and takes deep, shaking breaths.
"Hey, it'll be okay." He pulls her into a hug and she stiffens. He was touching her. Her. The praetor of new Rome. He was hugging her like it was no big deal. She started to pull back until she realized something. She felt...better. Calmer. Safer. She started to hug him back and he blinks, surprised. He felt his hands start to heat up, and a blush forming on his cheeks. He pulled back and wiped a few tears from her eyes. "You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you." She sniffled and pushed him off.
"Thank you." She mumbled, looking down. Relying on a Greek. I must look so weak right now. She thought, watching the boy run his hands over the wall.
"There's something wrong with the gears. Almost like...Almost like someone tampered with it." He mumbled, pulling tools out of his tool belt.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm just gonna try and fix this. Give me a minute..." He opened a panel in the wall and started working, mumbling to himself the whole time. She leaned over his shoulder and watched him work, all the fear slowly fading from her body. She was in safe hands. Leo knew what he was doing. He continued to work, and grins when the elevator starts moving. "And that, is why they call me repair boy!"
"Good job. I'm impressed."
"Hey, anything to he-" He stopped talking when she, acting on impulse, kissed his cheek. His eyes widened and his hands started to smoke. She pulled back, blushing.
"I'm sorry." She muttered and the elevator doors open. She hurried out of the hotel, Leo following quickly behind.
"Hey! Wait! Where are you going?"
"To dinner. Follow me."
"O-okay!"
