A/N: HUGE shout-out to Insanity is my second name, Lily, and AthenaGrayEyes98! I love you guys. :)

Yep, those three readers got the question in the A/N correct. Nice job:D Anyways, here is Chapter 12 of Unexpected.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO of HoO.

Unexpected

Chapter 12- Leo's POV

One golden drachma. That's all I needed to stay in contact with Reyna. It seems so simple but for some unknown reason, the gods insisted on keeping me away from Reyna for a week and a half. Magically, all of our drachmas disappeared.

When I found out that Piper had talked to Reyna the first few days, I was furious. Why didn't Piper tell me this? I could've chatted with Reyna too. Instead, I was worried sick.

I dream at night about our goodbye. Well, it wasn't technically a goodbye considering the fact that neither of us actually said 'goodbye.' I didn't want to say goodbye because then it would seem like the final time we would be seeing each other. If I postponed saying goodbye, it would be like I'd just be gone a few days and come back soon.

I'm pretty sure Reyna understood that. I have no doubt. She can understand my feelings better than anyone else. It's creepy and makes me feel vulnerable but I can't just admit that out loud. I'm a guy and guys are as tough as nails.

I used to think that Reyna was as tough as nails. But, then once I got to know the other side of her, I realized she wasn't as strong as she made everybody believe.

Speaking of Reyna's strength, I wonder how she's holding up without me. She seemed pretty torn up when I was departing on my quest. I think she's continuing life as normal, but secretly missing me. That sounds like something she would do.

The thing with Reyna is that she has a heart; she just doesn't know how to love. She openly admitted to me that she doesn't love me. That hurts more than you can possibly imagine. I love her with all my heart and she can't reciprocate the feeling.

But, no matter what, I am never giving up on Reyna!

"Leo, when are we going to be back?" Hazel walks into my little work room and starts coughing. "And why is it so hot and stuffy in here?"

I look at my map. "We should be home soon," I tell her.

She looks frustrated. "Like, how soon?"

"Fifteen minutes or so," I reply.

"Oh, thanks," Hazel says but doesn't leave the room. I go back to looking at my maps and thinking about Reyna. Soon, the awkward silence becomes too much for me and I glance at Hazel. She's sitting down, leaning against the wall, with her eyes closed. She looks so peaceful.

Almost as if knowing that I'm staring at her, she opens her eyes and glares at me. "What?"

"Nothing," I say quickly and turn away. I hear her laughing.

"You're hopeless, Leo," she says and walks out, leaving me to ponder what she just said. I'm hopeless? Hopeless in what? Hopeless how? Why does Hazel have to be so confusing?

My heart speeds up as I look at the map. One more minute left. Finally, after a week and a half, I get to see Reyna!

I slowly lower the ship. Once it hits the ground, I take off from the engine room. I see everybody gathered at the door. Nobody looks any different, but I know better. We all have been scarred mentally from this hard quest. I mean, defeating Gaea was way more difficult than anyone could've expected.

I press a button on the side of the ship and the door opens. I get my first glance outside. Nobody's waiting for us. That's odd. I thought that the Romans would be all over the heroes of the world.

"Where is everybody?" I ask the obvious. I get shrugs in response.

"I don't know where the Romans are. All I know is that I'm tired and I'm going to sleep," Percy says and walks off towards the fifth cohort. Everybody except Jason, Piper, and I follow him. I excuse myself to give Piper and Jason some alone time and to go find Reyna.

As I pass the training area, I see campers training. I guess we didn't tell them that we were coming back so soon. When one camper spots me, she whispers to her friend and points at me. Feeling uncomfortable, I start walking a little faster.

I hear the clatter of swords stopping. I turn around to see what's going on. All the campers are staring at me like I have three heads or something. Then, one by one, they start clapping. I stop walking and stare back at them. Soon, I hear wolf whistles and whoops and hollers from the Romans. I guess they know that the seven are back now because they've seen me.

Before I can get myself out of this situation, I'm surrounded by curious Romans. They ask me questions about the quest and about my fire abilities. I answer all their questions, loving the attention. But one thing nags at the back of my mind; Reyna.

"My turn to ask a question; where's the Praetor?" I say to a guy to my left.

"She's in the Senate room," he replies and I excuse myself. Some of the more dedicated campers go back to training while others run towards the fifth cohort, guessing that Percy is there. They all want to talk to the heroes.

I reach the Senate room in record time. Inside there is Octavian, Reyna, and another camper. She looks up when I walk in and meets me eyes. Reyna and Octavian seem to be scolding the camper so I wait awkwardly in the corner until they're done. Not even a minute after I've walked in, Reyna dismisses both the Roman camper and Octavian.

Before Octavian is completely out of the room, she embraces me. I wrap my arms tightly around her small waist, trying to keep the tears from falling. "I missed you," I say, breathing in her familiar vanilla scent.

"You missed me?" she says and I realize how much I missed the sound of her voice. "I thought you might never come back! I missed you so much. Everything I did reminded me of you and how much I love you."

I took a small step back in shock. Reyna loves me? This is amazing! Finally, a girl loves me back.

I don't think about Reyna's confession for too long because she punches me in the arm, hard.

"Ow, what was that for?" I complain.

"That was for making me cry. Leo, you don't know how much I missed you. I can't even express it in words. Why did you have to go like that?" she says, tears forming in her eyes. "I got almost no sleep. Even the tiniest things reminded me of you. Like whenever I walked into my house, I passed the flower that's sitting on my windowsill. Remember that red flower you gave me? I still have it. And-"

Kissing Reyna in the middle of her sentences is becoming a habit of mine. But this time, I'm trying to stop her from talking. I can't bear to hear about all her sorrows. I just want her to be happy again.

Our lips press together in seemingly perfect harmony. Reyna kisses me back passionately. She tastes like vanilla which is a familiar scent/flavor to me now.

We stay like that for a while, wrapped up in each other. It ends when Reyna pulls back and whispers once again, "I love you, Leo."

I smile probably the biggest smile in my entire life. I knew that if I didn't give up on Reyna she would eventually love me back. My dreams are coming true.

"I should go away more often if this is the greeting I get when I come back," I tease. She just rolls her eyes, grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the room.

"It's dinner time," she explains, seeing my confused expression. We walk into the eating pavilion and sit down at a table with the rest of the seven. Of course, Reyna didn't come with us on the quest but she's always welcome over here.

"So," Reyna starts as we get our food. "Tell me about your quest."

I launch into a long explanation of how we had to fly back to talk to a mortal named Rachel Dare. Apparently she held some key of that would help us defeat Gaea. Once we got the key (and it was literally a key) we headed back to Greece and kicked some Gaea butt!

Reyna wasn't really listening to what I was saying but that's okay with me. I've already gotten more than I expected from her. Well, I knew she was going to tell me that she loves me but I never imagined that she would do it now.

After dinner, Reyna and I go on a walk. It's clear that we both want to spend every moment with each other now. It's an interesting feeling knowing that somebody loves me as much as I love them. Well, maybe not as much. I don't think any love in the world can compare to my feelings for Reyna.

I am becoming Mr. Corny. I swear, every day I say even more cliché things than I did the day before. To get my mind off that, I start a conversation with Reyna.

"Hazel called me hopeless today," I tell her, wondering how she manages to look so beautiful in the moonlight.

"Oh, she did?" Reyna responds, frowning slightly.

"Yeah. I don't know what she means by that, though," I confess.

Reyna rolls her eyes and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like 'boys don't understand anything.'

"What is that you say, ReyRey?" I ask.

"What will it get for you to stop calling me ReyRey?" she asks, changing the topic.

"You don't like your precious nickname?" I say, fake gasping.

"Obviously. So will you please stop calling me that?"

"No," I laugh.

"Please?" Reyna asks politely.

"Nah, I think the name suits you." She thinks that I'll give in to her pleading. Yeah right. I may not seem like it, but I can be stubborn sometimes.

"Grr, you are so annoying sometimes!" she throws up her hands in frustration.

"But that's why you love me," I say gathering her up in my arms and trying to kiss her. She slips out of my grasp before I can put my lips to hers, though.

"You're also stuck-up and cocky," she explains. I just give her my trademark lopsided grin. "You are so overly confident and you believe that everybody is just going to laugh away at your jokes."

"Most people think my jokes are funny," I protest.

Reyna starts rambling on about other quirks in my personality. When she stops to take a breath I say, "Do you remember War?"

"War?" she asks, obviously confused.

"The game that Jason made up. We played it two weeks ago."

She blushes, remembering.

"This is starting to be a lot like that. How you are insulting me and I have a witty comeback for each one," I tell her.

"I guess it is," she says.

"I hope nobody is going to come attack me and bind me to tree this time," I earn a laugh from Reyna.

"No, not this time," she says, but then frowns. "What was I saying before you interrupted me?"

"How much you love me," I say hopefully but instead of rolling her eyes, smirking, or punching me in the arm (which is what she normally does) she leans over and kisses me.

My only thought is 'I can get used to this.'

A/N: Okay, I know I told you guys that this story was going to have 16 chapters, but I'm narrowing it down to 13. The next chapter will be the last. So, review if you want your name to go in the ENOURMOUS shout-out at the end of the next chapter! And if you're wondering exactly why the story is titled 'Unexpected,' you'll find out next chapter.