"Penelope had a crush on Percy Jackson, the son of the sea god, and Leo Valdez was just a friend to her"
Just a little sneak peek on what's facing you in this chapter ;)
Hope you enjoy!
(Do I really have to say the Disclaimer every time?)

Chapter twenty-five: Atlanta Abduction
~Leo's POV~

They touched down in Atlanta just as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, signalising midday.
Right after they landed on top of a hill surrounded by woods, Percy, Coach Hedge and Frank set out to find Phorcys, the old sea god.
Leo was not in a good mood, and it had nothing to do with missing the fun of a mission.
Earlier, when he was just about to check in on Penelope to see how she was doing, he stopped behind the door, which stood ajar.
From the sounds of it, Piper had been inside with her, and Penelope was in the middle of saying something that made Leo stop with his hand outstretched in mid air.
"...I feel different around Percy. " here the floorboard underneath Leo had creaked, at the worst possible moment and Penelope had stopped talking. Then she'd continued, and Leo listened.
"It's like, like I'm whole all of a sudden. Like I'm where I'm supposed to be."
That had been enough. Not waiting for Piper's response, he'd walked away, a horrible feeling of hurt inside him.
Slamming the door to his room shut, he'd sat on the bed starring moodily at the wall, cursing every god he knew for making his life so horrible and confusing.
Thoughts had slunk into his mind, thoughts of doubt and hope, battling for room in the already crammed spaces of his brain.
He couldn't believe what he'd heard Penelope say about Percy. The guy was Annabeth's boyfriend after all, and Annabeth was Penelope's friend. Never would it have crossed his mind that Pen might actually have feelings for the son of Poseidon. And by the sounds of it, those feelings were not of the weak kind either.
I feel different around Percy.. And what did she feel around Leo? Normal? Bored?
It's like I'm whole, like I'm where I'm supposed to be...The worlds swirled around him, like neon signs saying you are not enough for her and why would she fancy you when there's the saviour of Olympus around?
Frustrated, Leo had punched his pillow, trying hard not to think of how inferior he was to Percy Jackson. Why was he getting so worked up about this at all? He tried to calm himself down, telling himself he was only angry because Penelope fancied Annabeth's boyfriend and he didn't want Annabeth to get hurt.
But of course he knew this wasn't the truth.
He was jealous, jealous as Hades and angry that Penelope didn't talk about him like that.
And why? Because he cared about her, that's why. Because she was more to him than a friend, and that secretly he'd hoped she might think of him in the same way.
But no, apparently there was no such luck planned for Leo Valdez.
He'd continued fuming until the meeting, when he'd made a point of talking to Hazel, and not to Penelope, who had been playing chess with Annabeth .
Yet Leo couldn't stop himself from glancing at the dark haired girl continuously during lunch, trying to catch her looking at Percy.
Oddly, he didn't see her look in that direction once, instead her bright turquoise eyes flicked towards himself ever so often. Before their eyes could meet though, Leo rapidly looked away.
What was it with her? Why was she looking at him now?
After lunch Leo resumed his grumbling thoughts while steering.
The wind eased some of his confusion, and Leo started to sort through what he knew, creating a nice list in his mind:
Pro: Penelope had said she liked Leo and that he was nice and handsome. That was good right?
Con.: She'd said this while made delirious by a combination of poisonous snake venom and its antidote.
Pro.: They got along really well
Con.: She got along really well with Percy, too
Pro.: Pen had kept looking at him all through lunch
Con.: She had told Piper that she felt whole around Percy, like she belonged. Definitely not so good.
So his list didn't really offer a solution, but Leo's mind was made up anyway.
Penelope had a crush on Percy Jackson, the son of the sea god, and Leo Valdez was just a friend to her. Great. Just great.
He landed the ship a little harder than might have been necessary, and immediately went back to his room, hoping the others would leave him alone.
But alas, no such luck. Ten minutes after touch down, there was a soft knock on the door.
"What" he said moodily, making a little fan out of some scraps of metal and wires.
The door opened a fraction and a face framed in soft, wavy dark brown hair peeped in.
"Can I come in?" Penelope asked, and Leo heard a slight tremor in her voice.
He didn't really feel like talking, but he found himself saying "Yes" anyway.
Slowly, she came in, and Leo saw she was dressed in black leggings and a long dark blue top, which made her skin look a little tan. She looked great, but this only made Leo moodier.
"You okay?" she asked, as she limped over to his bed and sat down.
A pang of guilt shot through Leo as he realised he hadn't even asked her yet how her leg was doing.
He'd been so riddled with jealousy that he'd forgotten to be a friend. Still, his voice was a little sharper than it might usually be.
"I'm fine. How's your leg?"
"Oh, it's okay. Barely hurts at all anymore."
"Good."
There was silence, and Leo couldn't help but wonder when this awkwardness between them had appeared. Usually, they were easy going with each other, and playful.
Penelope must have noticed the difference, too, because her face was set in a little frown.
Leo knew she was quite good at hiding her emotions, not as good as her siblings maybe, but still better than most. Maybe their disguising abilities didn't stop at concealing their bodies.
"I was wondering" Penelope started to say "do you fancy a walk? We've got nothing to do, and I haven't been on land since, well..." she trailed off, obviously recalling the snake attack.
He was about to say no, when Penelope looked at him directly, those brilliant eyes looking like they could peer right into his heart. He couldn't say no to her.
"Okay" he sighed, and together they got of the Argo II, telling the others they'd be back in half an hour.
As they walked a bit into the forest, Leo noticed the strain in Pen's face every time she put her weight on her injured leg.
"Come here" he said, offering his arm for her to lean on.
Gratefully, she took it, and they continued like this for a while, not talking.
Finally, when they'd gone much further into the forest than was probably wise, Penelope stopped, and sat down on a tree trunk. Leo sat down next to her.
"Are you angry with me?" she asked him, not meeting his eyes.
"No." he replied, though his tone sounded terse.
"Yes you are. Why won't you tell me?" Penelope's voice was pained.
"I'm not angry at you." Leo told her again, untruthfully. The fact was, that he was angry at her, for liking Percy better than him. It was unfair, he knew, but well, he was only human. Or half human at least.
"Leo, Annabeth told me." Penelope said, taking him by surprise.
What had Annabeth told her? That Leo liked her? He wouldn't put it past Annabeth to have noticed, she noticed everything.
When he didn't speak, Penelope sighed.
"Listen, whatever I said when I was under the influence of that stuff, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."
Her voice was so earnest, so pleading that it almost stopped Leo from feeling hurt.
Almost.
There it was, Penelope had said it herself. Whatever she'd told him about liking him, it had only been the substances speaking.
"Fine." he said, getting up.
"Where're you going?" Penelope asked, her face confused.
"Back to the Argo" Leo had already started to walk off, anger coursing through him.
"Wait, Leo! Won't you tell me what's wrong? Can't you at least tell me what I said?" Penelope cried after him, obviously trying to catch up, but held back by her injured leg.
"It doesn't matter!" Leo yelled back, not looking around. "You didn't mean it anyway!"
"Leo I- " but her next sentence broke off by a scream.
Whirling around, Leo saw two demons, nasty scaly creatures, grabbing Penelope by the arms, laughing hatefully. His heart missed a beat.
"Pen!" Leo shouted and ran back, but the distance between them was too big. Before he could do anything to stop them, the demons had taken Penelope's knife and bound her hands, taking out a big sack made of some dark material.
For a second before they pulled it over her head, Penelope's eyes met Leo's and he could see the terror in them.
"Leo, watch out!" she called, but then one of the demons pulled the bag over her face and down to her feet, while the other punched the place where her face must have been.
The bundle inside the sack went limp, and the demons threw it over its shoulder and started to sprint away.
"NO!" Leo yelled, running after them, but before he'd gone more than a few feet, something pounced on his back, knocking him to the ground. He had barely time to think what have I done before his head hit a stone, and he blacked out.