New Year's Eve, part II

As Leo walked down the beaten path back to the forge, he kept his hands in his pockets and was kicking at pairs of stones and pebbles on the ground as he marched onward, his chin a little lower than normal.

The repair boy. Kick. The third wheel. Kick. Forever alone. Kick. Ugh.

He never even saw her coming.

Before he could imagine pulling that stupid hair tie out of his tool belt, Pyrra had pounced on him and tackled him to the ground. She smelled warm and metallic as she sat on top of him and Leo was comfortable in the familiar scent.

"You know, we have to stop meeting like this," he said.

"What's wrong? You don't like being swept off your feet by a charming nymph who has an exciting surprise for you?"

"No thanks. The last time you had a "surprise" for me, you crept into my room in the middle of the night and almost made me shit myself."

She waved her hand and said, "Irrelevant." She smirked.

Pyrra let out a soft chuckle, and Leo could feel her body hum on top of him. His chest grew warm with his smile as he watched her laugh and grin, and he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. Thank his mother for inheriting her warm tan skin, otherwise he'd be toast.

Pyrra rolled off of him and jumped up. As she was bouncing on her toes, Leo sat up and dusted himself off. She practically shouted, "Come on, little hero! I have something to show you."

"Pyrra, for the love of the gods, would you be quiet? You'll wake up Gaea with your big mouth."

As always, she rolled her eyes. "No one but you can hear me, Leo. Now stop wasting time and follow me!" She clapped her hands impatiently and started sprinting in the opposite direction.

Leo was still on the ground with his arms resting on his knees. And he stayed there for several moments, slowly breathing and contemplating whether he liked his seat or something else more.

It was quiet in the woods. Off in the distance, the young demigod could barely hear the crowd on the beach. Leo was never one to sit still for an extended period of time, but he found this instance welcoming and relaxing in a weird way. There was no hum of engines and machines in his ear; there was no smell of steam and hot metal from the forge. There was only Leo Valdez guarded by towering trees and being watched by the midnight sky.

All of which Leo decided he didn't prefer over his tools and workbench and familiar loud noises. He was a son of Hephaestus, for crying out loud. He was just surprised he didn't implode from being this quiet for this long.

As if on cue, the tranquility was ruined when Pyrra bolted back through the trees and arrived right where she left Leo. He looked up at her from the ground, and could see confused look on her face.

"Are you stuck?"

"Yes, Pyrra. I accidentally welded myself to the ground."

She pouted and leaned against the tree. "Are you afraid to follow me, or something?"

"Terrified, actually. Almost shaking in my boots."

He watched her eyes shift color as the imaginary cogs and gears were turning in her head. He imagined smoke coming out her ears from her serious thinking face, like one of those cartoons he used to watch on Saturday mornings. Finally, her face settled on a quiet look and she looked down at the ground.

"I just wanted to show you something," she said, softly. "But if you don't want to come, that's okay."

He had only witnessed this quiet side of Pyrra once before, and he learned the difficult way that she was not very fond of it. Leo could relate to her in that sense.

He tried to get her to smile. "Cheer up, buttercup. Pouting was so last year."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, Valdez. Now, are you coming with me or not?" She held out her hand.

"That was all an act, wasn't it? Pretending to be sad for a minute just to get me –"

"Oh would you shut up for five minutes and just trust me?" She waved her hand again in front of his face. That earlier subdued tone had vanished, and Leo could see the normal Pyrra blazing in her kaleidoscope eyes.

"Hmm… I swear I've heard that come out of your mouth before."

She opened her mouth to answer, but immediately shut it with a soft smack of her lips. Suddenly the nymph's eyes widened and snapped to her left, where Leo could hear snapping branches and the sound of footsteps on the beaten dirt path. A boy and a girl were talking quietly to themselves, and Leo recognized that wind chime of a laugh from anywhere.

Piper and Jason stumbled into Leo, and they looked around the wooded area. Piper asked, "Leo who were you talking to?"

"And why are you sitting in the dirt?" Jason added with a raised brow.

Leo jumped to his feet and brushed himself off. "I was attacked by a lunatic. Don't look so surprised. Even the crazies can't resist me." He looked around and listened, waiting for Pyrra to throw back a snarky remark, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Piper shook her head softly and said, "Of course you were. Where did you run off to? Coach didn't scare you that much, did he?"

He wanted to say he was allergic to mush and goo-goo eyes, but he decided against it. He wanted to tell them that he hated being the teenager who had never been kissed, but he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I had to pee."

"That was an awfully long bathroom break," said Jason.

"It was of godly proportions, you could say." Thunder rumbled in the clouds and Leo pretended to ignore it.

"C'mon Leo, you're full of schist."

"Not anymore."

"Leo!" Piper squeaked. He could see Jason's cheeks get brighter, too.

"Well, Pipes, don't ask questions if you can't handle the answers," Leo wiggled his eyebrows and smirked. "Now, if you two love doves will excuse me, I have an emotionally challenged firebug to find."

He took a step to turn around, but Jason zapped him on his backside. He yelped and jumped around, glaring at his blond friend.

Jason said, "Sorry, but it's the only way I can get your attention now."

"You just like zapping people, Grace. Don't lie."

He chuckled. "Yeah, actually. Surprised?"

"No, just shocked."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Is it getting dumb out here, or is it just you two?"

Both boys turned to Piper and grinned – Jason's was innocent and charming, while Leo's was slightly deranged. Just the way he liked it.

Yay for two chapters! Like I mentioned before, this will be divided into three parts. The third part is almost complete, and will be posted shortly. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review or message and let me know what you think.