A/N

Yep, I updated super-duper early this week as I wrote the majority of this chapter with the last one. Like I said at the end of last chap (for those of you who read my intense ramblings) this chapter is rather exciting – and it plunges straight into the midst of it all, as it was originally intended as the end of the last chapter … oh well!

Smiling up at him, I moved forward, the air around us becoming warmer as he turned to me. He gently reached out to brush away that annoying piece of hair that always fell into my eyes. I reached up to clasp his hand against the side of my face, leaning into it as my eyes fluttering shut. I heard him suck in a shuddering breath as I turned my cheek to gently kiss his palm. Releasing his hand, I looked up at him through my eyelashes, daring him to reciprocate. Leaning over, he softly placed his lips against my forehead, then moved down and placed a feather-light kiss at either corner of my mouth. I shivered at the touch as he pulled away slightly. I took in the sight of him, the swirl of emotions that being this close to him released, until my arms stole around his neck and drew his lips too mine.

He leant into the kiss, twining his arms around my waist and letting his eyes close. One of my hands reached up to tangle in his dark, silky hair, and I gasped against his mouth as he flattened his hands in the small of my back, pulling me closer. This was as far as we usually got before we were forced to tumble out of our cupboard and back into our routine. I couldn't help but wonder, out here, alone, with no-one stopping or watching us, how fast this side of our relationship would progress.

'Hey! Hey you kids! Who is that? Is that you, Leo and Hazel? I can see you! You'd better cease and desist straight away, or boy, am I coming down to thump some sense into you!'

Leo roughly pulled away, his eyes wide.

'Oh Gods! Oh shivers, shivers this is bad!'

He grabbed my hand and forcefully pulled me into the shadow of the ship, out of sight of Coach Hedge's watching eyes.

I quickly pulled my hand away from his, as though the old satyr might be able to sense the contact. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

No one knew about Leo and I, and they never would. That was what we had decided on. We had no idea how any of our friends would take it, but we knew it would change their perceptions of us, and neither of us wanted that.

Friends.

When had I started to think of them like that? I suppose being around Leo had made me even more open without me even realising it. Percy, Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Piper and even Jason – I was happy here with them, and I didn't want our little almost-family to be damaged, especially not with me as the cause.

This was the sort of time when all of us needed to be closer than ever, if we were going to be able to fight Gaia's army and get Percy and Annabeth back; we couldn't afford for there to be divisions.

'Oh Gods.' I groaned, combing my hair back with my hand. There was no way to remedy this situation. Hedge knew he had seen someone, and he would stop at nothing until he found out who and punished them appropriately. But the fanatical satyr had bitten off more than he could chew with this one.

The only question left was how long it would take for him to figure that out.

I turned back to Leo, who was standing a little way off, darkened by the hulking shadow of the ship. I stepped towards him, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder.

'Leo …' I said softly.

He stepped away from me, into the darkness and out of my reach.

I flinched, slowly withdrawing my hand to my side. Looking down at my shoes, I sighed. This must be much harder for Leo than me; if this was how I felt after only knowing most of the seven for a month, I wondered how he must fell, having known them for far longer.

The only people who I had really known for any longer were Percy, Hazel and Annabeth. Percy and Annabeth would have no idea of this, and it was certain that even if they did they had far bigger issues on their minds. Hazel however … I wonder how she would feel about this. I kidded myself that I could read her, but in reality I had no idea what her reaction to an event like this would be.

I looked back up to what i could see of Leo. All that was visible of him was a sliver of his right side. I could see his hand clenching and unclenching as his shoulders rose and dropped in time with his breathing.

'Leo?'

I tried again, even as a little voice in the back of my mind urged me not too, as I wondered what I would do if he didn't reply.

I didn't have to worry though. He spun towards me, a grin plastered on his face.

'Well, I suppose that came out a bit earlier than I would prefer, but at least it had good comedic value. I mean, did you see Coach's face? Ha! He looked like he was going to have an apoplectic fit! And really, Hazel and I? I wonder how he managed to mistake you for Hazel; you aren't nearly pretty enough.'

He strode over and stopped in front of me, hands on his hips. 'So then! Let's not let this ruin the outing. You ready to go?'

I stared steadily at him. I knew that this was how Leo dealt with things – he hid behind a façade of jokes and banter. But this wasn't the sort of thing that would go away; he needed to accept that.

Stepping forward, he punched me in the arm.

'C'mon buddy, I didn't mean it. You're way prettier than Hazel. In, uh, a guy sort of way.'

When I didn't reply again he took a step back and put his hands on his hips, staring me down.

'What?' he demanded. 'Why do you keep looking at me like that?'

I sighed. 'Leo, this is serious. Our secrets out – are you really okay with that? What are we going to say to everyone?'

I watched him visibly deflate, hands curling in on themselves and shoulders slumping. I stepped forward and slipped my arms around his waist. He collapsed into me, hands curled against my chest as he sighed deeply.

'I don't know.' came his response. 'I don't know, I really don't know. We'll have to tell them, otherwise Hedge will just make it even more awkward. But – but I don't want it to change. This group that we have here, we're like family now. If only Percy and Annabeth were here, it would be perfect. I – I worry about them sometimes. Where are they? Are they together, are they safe? Are they – are they even alive? I just don't know. And it seems so pointless to worry about this when they're in so much trouble, but I just can't help it y'know. I just … I just can't.'

A/N

Well, that didn't come out quite as I expected. I'm not sure how so much angst got injected into what was supposed to just really be romantic drabble. And so quickly!

Yeah, if it hadn't yet become obvious, I don't really plan these things. I just write and whatever spills out of my head onto the page is what I end up with, so sometimes I surprise even myself. I must say, I do like vulnerable Leo and reassuring Nico though. I know these guys are so far out of character now, and I actually really apologise for that, but I guess it seemed as though everyone should be a little more unhappy about the whole Percadeath issue. I hadn't really planned on the Hedge thing. No idea how in Hades I'm going to resolve that one. I think this somewhat depressing turn may be due to my masochistic tendency to believe all my favourite characters will die (which they usually do) combined with Viria's (a tumblr artist who probably does the best PJ fanart ever) theory and recreation of Leo being the one closing the doors of death. Probably so. *tear*

Also, I do know that I spelt it Gaia again, but I'm sorry that's the only way I feel as though it fits. The Last Dragon Chronicles were my child, and they've destroyed any chances of me ever being able to comfortably spell it Gaea.

Oh well.