This song ordinally reminded me of Jasper (Jason and Piper). I don't even know why. I don't even know if I ship them (I'm torn between Jeyna and Jasper…). But yeah. Then I listened to the lyrics more properly, and realized it really fits Lazel. So here you go!

Just A Kiss – Lady Antebellum

LEO

The sun was standing low on the sky, half of it below the horizon. The dark, grey storm-clouds were still rolling in and would soon be hovering over the ship. But the sun was still shining, challenging the storm to come, its light bright in contrast to the dark clouds. It was beautiful in a strange way; it was the last string of sunshine before the storm, and it was reassuring.

The chilly air was damp. It smelled rain from the last storm that had stopped just a few hours ago. You could feel that the clouds weren't the only thing that was going to bring darkness soon. The night was near. The sun would soon be gone and the moon and stars would appear, but mostly be covered by the dark clouds.

"Hi."

Leo jumped and turned. Hazel was standing behind him. She looked as pretty as always, with chocolate skin, cinnamon-colored curls and deep, golden eyes. She was tugging at her denim jacket, like she was trying to pull it closer and make her warmer.

"Hi, Hazel." Leo said, a little awkwardly.

Things had been a little tense between them lately. Leo had managed to gain Frank's thrust about not going to steal Hazel. She and Frank were now being a happy couple again, and Leo was back where everybody seemed to think he belonged; as a seventh wheel.

But he didn't really mind anymore. It was just to accept and go on. Leo had a quest to focus on, and he was happy to have something to distract himself with. He felt good for helping Frank and Hazel to be happy together again, but he couldn't deny that it stung to see them holding hands or smile to each other. He really liked Hazel.

Leo had thought of that for a long time. He liked Hazel, and he had the chance to try to get together with her. But he had chosen to help her with her own boyfriend-issues. And sure, he wanted her to be happy, and he knew that she was with Frank, but it wasn't just that. He felt like he owed it to Frank. He couldn't take Hazel away from him. Frank's mom had died in a fire, and his grandmother maybe had too, and that made Leo feel guilty. He felt like he had killed Frank's family. And it wasn't true, of course it wasn't, but he still owed Frank.

Hazel raised her eyes to the sky and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Are you cold?" Leo asked. She looked at him for a moment before she nodded. He gestured for her to come closer.

He took off his hood and handed it to Hazel. She looked slightly surprised, but took it.

"Thank you." She said and put it on. It was a little big for her, but she seemed to feel warmer.

They didn't say anything else. Leo went back to steering. He was surprised by how comfortable the silence was; not awkward at all. The cool air stung his bare arms, but he it didn't bother him. He just increased his body temperature a little. One of the perks of being able to summon fire; you never need to be cold.

The sky suddenly rumbled. Both Hazel and Leo jumped and raised their heads to watch the clouds.

"This storm is bigger than the last one." Hazel noted. "Can the ship handle it?"

Leo snorted.

"This ship can handle anything. A tiny storm won't do any harm."

But he was a little worried. He didn't know why it suddenly was so stormy; he had thought it was the stormspirits playing with them, but could they really make such a huge storm? And Leo, Jason and Piper had captured the stormspirits and given them to Aeolus. The only thing he could think of making such a huge storm was Zeus (Jupier, whatever), Jason's dad, and he couldn't think of why he would make one.

He could feel Hazel regarding him, and he turned to meet her gaze. She blushed a little.

"I would never doubt your ability to build things, but are you sure? The Argo II is perfectly capable of war and monster-attacks, but we didn't quite expect a huge storm."

Leo chewed his lip.

"We'll be fine." He said at last, and turned back to the steering wheel.

They settled for silence again. The distant rumbling seemed to get closer, and Leo felt strangely scared.

"What are you doing here?" He asked after a while. "I thought you would eat dinner with the others."

Hazel hesitated.

"I needed to get some fresh air." She said lamely, and Leo knew she was lying. But he didn't press her.

Leo saw in the corner of his eye how she struggled to find the right words. Finally, she opened her mouth.

"I wanted to thank you. For telling Frank about… Sammy and the flashback. I never got to thank you."

Her voice was thick, and Leo frowned a little. She didn't seem happy.

"Uh, it was nothing." He said. "Are you okay? You seem a little sad."

It was a lame explanation, but Leo didn't thrust himself with saying anything else. He was too scared something else would slip out of his mouth.

You seem a little unhappy.

You seem a little unhappy. Is it Frank?

You seem a little unhappy. Is it Frank? Can I do anything?

You seem a little unhappy. Is it Frank? Do you want to be with me instead?

Hazel kept her eyes on the storm, the golden color slightly darker than before. Her lips pressed together tight, and her eyebrows furrowed. It was so easy to read her. She wasn't a girl who liked to have secrets. She couldn't have any secrets. They would just show. She wasn't a girl who held back if she didn't have to.

It struck Leo that he was quite the opposite. He held back. He had secrets. They weren't really secrets, because he could tell them to others, and he did. He just didn't give them the whole truth.

He never had.

"You can tell me." Leo said softly. Because I know you want to. And I want you to tell me, I want us to be friends, I want you to trust me. I want to be close to you, even though you don't want to be in the way I want to.

Hazel locked eyes with him. Then her eyes fluttered close.

"Have you ever loved two people, and had to choose one of them?"

Leo looked at the horizon. He thought for a moment. Had he? No, not really. He never had let his guard down to love two people that he knew he would have to choose between.

"No." He said flatly.

Hazel still didn't open her eyes.

"I-I have." She said quietly. "And I love both of them. The problem is that they-they both like me enough to get hurt if they don't get chosen. I'm scared that if I choose one of them, the other will hate me."

Leo knew what she was talking about. He knew she talked about him and Frank. And that's probably why he said:

"If they both like you enough to get hurt when you choose someone else, they both like you enough to hold on to whatever you give them. Of course they would think it hurts at first, but if you offer friendship, they won't let it go. When… When you love someone, you do anything to keep close to them. Even if it's not on the level you would want."

Hazel opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise. Leo felt himself blush. Where had those words come from?

"Are you sure?" She asked. "It feels so cruel to turn one of them down, why would they want my friendship at all?"

"Because they love you." Leo said simply. "And they know you would make the right choice. They just want you to be happy. It's better to turn one of them down, because hoping can sometimes hurt more than getting your hopes crushed, Hazel."

He spoke about himself. Because it hurt to hope, it hurt to hope that maybe Hazel would want him and it hurt to hope that his mother maybe could come back. He wished those hopes could just get crushed, so he didn't need to suffer through it. He wanted Hazel to say right to his face that they never would get together, because then he would at least stop getting his hopes up.

"Y-You're right." Hazel said quietly. "Thank you."

Leo just nodded and kept his eyes on the horizon. He didn't want to look at her right now. He didn't want to see her pretty face or beautiful eyes, because it would make him want more, and then he would just hope more. And it hurt.

Why did everything hurt so much?

The last streaks of sunlight beamed desperately, but soon the whole sun was gone. The clouds were right above them, and Leo felt the first heavy raindrops fall on him. Darkness surrounded them, the rumbling became louder, and lightning flashed on the sky. Leo looked up and he thought of how peaceful the sky could be sometimes. But behind that it hid all this, rain and lightning and thunder. Everything was a façade, the whole world was, and just beneath the surface the chaos was lurking, waiting for the perfect time to break free.

"Go back in." Leo said in a tired voice to Hazel. "You'll get wet."

"You too." Her voice was steady. "You'll get sick. We can't afford with…"

"We've got ambrosia and nectar." Leo cut her off. "Go now."

He didn't mean to sound that harsh, but he really wanted to be alone now. Leo closed his eyes, but thanks to all the talking, he just saw flashes of the night his mom died. He hated how tears started to burn behind his eyelids, and how the pain tore on his heart. He wanted to blame someone, but there was no one but himself. But he could blame Hazel for pulling those memories out from the corner of his head where he had shoved them.

"Leo…" Hazel begun. Her voice was sad, pained, and he felt her looking right at him. "I didn't mean to…"

"Go back to Frank." Leo's voice was hoarse. "Make sure he knows that you love him. Be happy." It sounded like he was pleading, and he really was. "Crush my hopes."

"Leo, no." He suddenly felt Hazel's hands gripping his face and turning him towards her. He opened his eyes to see hers, now hard and determined. "I'm not going to crush your hopes. Hoping is a good thing."

"Not like this." Leo shook his head vigorously, making Hazel let go of him. "To hope hurts. I don't want to hope. I don't want to hope that my mom can come back or that you want me instead or that we actually save the world. I want to know and accept, I don't want to hope or believe. It just ends with more pain."

Hazel stared at him, but he avoided meeting her eyes. Leo knew he had said too much. He knew she knew a lot more about him now, and she could take advantage of that and learn more. And it terrified him, it terrified him that she knew, because after having it inside him for such a long time it just felt wrong to hand it to someone else.

"I know there are people who had much worse lives than me." Leo mumbled self-consciously. "But I'm tired of hoping that everything maybe will be okay someday. Not when I just keep getting signs that says it won't. I know I'm being selfish. So instead of grieving over my life being miserable, I want to help people be happy. Like being on this quest to save the world. Like making you and Frank overcome your issues about Sammy and me."

He suddenly felt self-conscious and embarrassed. Hazel was going to judge him now, and he didn't want to be judged. He hadn't had a horrible life. He was just whining, and even though he knew that, he didn't want someone else to point it out.

"You're not being selfish at all, Leo." Hazel's voice was soothing, and she stepped closer. Leo looked at her in surprise. "You're an amazing person. I don't know why someone like you had to go through things like this. You deserve to be happy. And I won't be happy until you are, and I'm not going to crush your hopes because they're a part of you."

They were almost nose to nose now, and Leo smiled sadly.

"Go now." His voice was steady. "Go in and have some fun."

And Hazel knew he wouldn't listen if she protested. She knew she had lost. Leo could see that she gave up, because there was no way to heal him, he was broken permanently. He had accepted it, and she had tried to convince him that he could be okay again, but it wasn't true. They both knew it.

You can heal a broken hearted person, but you can't heal a broken heart.

Hazel leaned forward and attached their lips. Leo couldn't move. He didn't know what was happening, and he didn't know if it was good or bad, and he didn't really know anything anymore. But he kissed back, and it felt like the shattered pieces of his heart slowly started to try and rebuild themselves. It was soft and brief, but still enough to make Leo feel happy, even if it was just for a moment.

When Hazel pulled back, she looked him right in the eyes.

"I'll make you happy. I'll make you hope and believe again. I choose you."

I know the song doesn't really have anything to the story to do, but I think it turned out pretty well. Hope you liked it too! Please review!