thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! this chapter is kind of a predecessor to chapter one. this is where/when jason's crush first formed at the end of junior year, but most (if not all) of the other chapters take place in senior year

prompt: "Our friends grouped up for prom but we're the only two without a date let's hang out" AU

"So, it's Grace, right?"

Jason couldn't focus. The music in the dance hall was pounding, and with all the flashing lights and moving bodies, he couldn't just pinpoint one thing. Well, except for Leo—who he had seen around school a lot, getting into trouble and hanging with his close friend Piper—because, well. He was really nice. Really nice. And not so hard on the eyes.

Jason gave him a half grin, absently tugging on his bowtie as he took a sip of the soda in his cup. "Yeah, that's me. Jason Grace. What did you think my last name was this whole time? Like, we've talked plenty of times, maybe not one-on-one like now, but still plenty."

Leo made a face, which well...didn't look so bad on him either. "I don't know. Blondie? Hunk? I just took some wild guesses."

Jason grinned goofily over the rim of his cup, completely charmed. "You think I'm a hunk?"

"Well, I mean, yeah. Doesn't everybody?"

Before he could respond, Piper appeared next to them, a huge smile on her face as she toted her friend Reyna around, who looked just as pleased as her. They had their arms hooked together, and Piper practically bounced on her heels, her eyes lighting up enthusiastically as music continued to pound in Jason's ears.

"Hey guys!" she had to speak loudly to be heard over the music, which the DJ had apparently taken up a notch. She looked stunning in a short black dress and gold earrings, her hair tucked up into a bun. Reyna looked gorgeous too, and her purple dress was long and regal in comparison to Piper's. "Is this dance great or what?"

"Or what," said Leo with a snort, and when Piper stuck her tongue out at him, he stuck his out right back at her. Jason smiled in amusement, then turned to Reyna as the other two lapsed into conversation.

"Think you're going to win Prom Queen?"

"I know I'm going to win it, Grace," Reyna said matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips like a true champ. "Just for the sake of beating Drew's ass." Jason laughed. That was some good motivation. "I hope you all voted for me, guys. Or when I win, I'll make sure you're all punished dungeon-style."

"I'll go talk to the staff to see if I can change my ballot, then," he replied, and when Reyna smacked him on the arm, he laughed. They turned back towards their other friends, and Piper and Leo were beginning to get into a very heated raspberry-blowing contest when the mic squealed and the Student Council Vice President appeared onstage in a fancy tailored suit.

Malcolm cleared his throat before giving the students a wide grin. "Is everybody having fun tonight?"

"Wooo!" various cheers went up around the room, including from Jason, who raised his cup. He glanced over in Leo and Piper's direction. Both of them were hollering and cheering on with the rest.

"Great! Well, I just came to announce that voting time for Prom King and Queen is almost over! If you still have your slip or haven't filled one out yet, then head over to the booth set up in the back! Mrs. Wilkerson is there to supervise! With that said, keep having fun guys! But don't forget to take it slow!"

On his last words, the DJ started up a slow song, and a collective cheer was brought up from the majority of the teens. Leo groaned loudly, but Piper smiled slyly, clutching Reyna's hand in a death grip.

"Bye!" she chirped, and before Reyna even had time to protest, she dragged her off to the floor, where they started slow dancing with everybody else. Jason slunk back to his spot by the refreshments table, and Leo followed suit, leaning next to him on the wall as they watched their friends sway back and forth in sync.

"I can't believe this," Leo started, his tone a half-hearted whine. Jason turned to look at him, and didn't expect to notice how captivating Leo's eyes were as the lights from the disco danced in them. He found himself breathless for a moment before paying attention again. "Practically all of our friends have dates, and he we are, dateless. Percy has Annabeth, Frank has Hazel, Charlie has Silena—"

You have me, he found himself wanting to say, and whoa—what? What was that supposed to mean?

Jason shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Um, yeah, I guess you're right. What a bummer."

He bit his lip as Leo continued to survey the floor. It was strange seeing the other boy like this—in suspenders and converse, with pinstripe pants and his sleeves rolled halfway up. Jason had never noticed Leo's dimples before, or how bright his eyes were, or how he absently swept a lock of curly hair behind his ear when something was bothering him. In fact, he hadn't paid attention to anyone like this in a long time—not ever since he first met Piper, right before they had started dating last summer. This was kind of the same, but still oddly different. Jason had never looked at a guy like this before, never felt this way about any dude. This was...weird, but good weird. And, well...kind of gay. But still really, really weird.

Jason was startled back into reality when a sigh escaped the shorter boy's lips, which he had not-so-subtly been staring at.

"I wish they could put on a different song so I could dance," Leo grumbled, and Jason didn't know what it was about the way he had said it (everything that came out of Leo's mouth sounded hot to him) and without even thinking, Jason replied with the most out-of-this-world thing he's pretty sure he's ever said.

"I can make that happen."

Before Leo could look at him like he was crazy, his body went into auto-pilot and his hand took Leo's in his. Heart pounding, Jason led him out of the hall through the back door, his brain practically screaming no while his heart kept him going. Leo didn't complain, but he had a very confused and slightly interested face as Jason led them as far away as they could get, turning random corners through decorated halls and going down a couple of corridors until they reached the grand doors of the estate that the dance was being held in—and then the doors opened to cool, crisp, night, where flowers bloomed in pots and holders all over the garden, and classical statuettes sat waiting for something to happen under a canopy of late-night stars.

Jason finally let go of Leo's hand, turning to him with what he hoped wasn't a dopey grin as he pulled out his phone. "Any selections?"

His brain chided his latest antics. Jason, you chivalrous little shit.

Leo blinked, his cheeks glowing slightly red under the electric torches that dotted the cobblestone path. His mouth twisted into a grin, which grew by the second and made Jason's heart beat like a hummingbird's.

"Wow, just—" he laughed, running a hand through his curly hair as he did, and it was such a blithe and breathy sound that Jason decided it was probably the best laugh in the world. "Wow, uh okay. This is happening." Leo ran a hand along his face, shaking his head in disbelief, smiling fondly all the while. "Uh...hm. You think you could you play I'll Be There by The Jackson 5? Not the Mariah Carey cover, I'm not a fan."

"Sure." It took a few seconds, but Jason searched it up online and went through the list, finally finding the song that Leo had requested. When it started playing, Leo's previously amused expression turned to something more sincere, and Jason was a bit hesitant to start dancing, because he felt like he'd be ruining Leo's train of thought.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked softly after a while, and he stepped up to Leo as an unsaid request to dance. Leo responded automatically, stepping up to take Jason's hands, and Jason clasped them in his.

"My mom." Leo answered, and Jason could tell that, in that moment, Leo's thoughts were far away. "She loved this song a lot, so...it kind of grew on me." He sighed dolefully before looking back at Jason, his expression shifting back to mirth and amusement. Jason was going to ask him why he had looked so somber, but decided against it as Leo stepped up even closer to him. "Well, enough of that. You gonna lead or not?"

"Or not." They both grinned.

Jason hit the play button with one hand, then placed the phone down on the base of a statue before the two of them started moving along.

You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back...Where there is love, I'll be there.

Jason stepped back. Leo followed, looking down mostly at their feet to make sure that they didn't mess up, but Jason didn't bother. He knew they wouldn't. He took a risk and moved one of his hands further down to the small of Leo's back before the song carried on, moving to the chorus. Leo said nothing about it, so he guessed it was okay.

And oh—I'll be there to comfort you, build my world of dreams around you, I'm so glad that I found you

"Man, I like this song," Leo muttered under his breath, almost wistfully, and Jason smiled at him slightly, suddenly out of breath again because wow, he thought. I think I like you.

He didn't know how he didn't notice before—how enticing Leo was, how cute and lively and amusing he could be. Jason had always hung out with Piper, and Leo had always trailed along, both of them taking turns as the plus one's in their little friend group—and if Jason had spoken to Leo before now, he's sure he wouldn't have fallen for him this hard, that his crash and burn would have been a little less crash and a little more burning, as hot as the red glow in his cheeks.

Damn, Jason thought. He was definitely queer, wasn't he? He mulled this over, wondering why he hadn't noticed before. Was it age? Maturity? Hormones? He didn't know. All he knew for sure was that he was definitely in love with Leo. And that he was a lot less straight than he previously thought.

The realization hit him like a brick.

They kept dancing, but Jason started to internally freak out. Whoa, wait, this is not what straight guys do, is it? The depth of his predicament began to settle in, and he started to get worried, because things were bound to get awkward soon if Leo got any closer and, uh—noticed how excited parts of him were—and then his hands started to sweat, and his heart beat faster, and Leo kind of yawned a little bit and rested his head on Jason's shoulder, and he kind of lost footing because goddamn that was so adorable, and then he accidentally tripped Leo up.

He was practically having a heart attack as Leo stumbled into him, and he had already formed a rushed apology in his head when the sound of a loud crash broke his train of thought.

Someone screamed within the grand hall, the sound floating down over one of the balconies and reaching them in the back garden. They broke apart, the music still echoing, and even though Jason was shocked, he still found himself looking at Leo, who looked up at the balcony with the most exaggerated what the hell face he had ever seen in his life.

The statues remained motionless, looking eerie and imposing as the last echoes of the scream resonated into the atmosphere. The stars above twinkled dimly as a cold feeling crept over them, and Leo spoke first, the song and dance forgotten.

"What the hell wa— "

"Gaaah!" The grand doors to the garden slammed open to reveal Drew Tanaka, one of the Prom Queen nominees. Her dress was huge, frilly, and pink, more like a spray painted wedding gown than a prom dress. The most noticeable thing about it was a huge dark stain on the front, where it looked like she'd been rolling in a bunch of punch. Which may have been true, because when Jason and Leo hastily parted to let her stomp between them and through the garden, the smell that wafted up was of fruit punch flavored soda.

"I can't believe this!" she shrieked, her dark hair flying as she stomped past in her five-inch heels. Students quickly spilled into the garden, filling the corridor inside as they took pictures and laughed while Drew continued to angrily stomp down the stairs.

"Fuck all of you!" she flashed the students both fingers before a sleek, dark limo pulled up, right on time apparently. She got inside, glared venomously past her ruined makeup, and slammed the door shut, the limo sliding out of the lot with as much ease as it had come.

The students around them cheered, and Jason just blinked, because—um, wow, okay.

He heard heels clicking in his direction, and both Leo and Jason turned around to see Piper and Reyna running towards them with their skirts clutched in hand, Reyna donned with a crown.

"So. Guess who won?" is all Piper said with a smirk, and then, because the whole thing was silly, Leo started laughing. Jason laughed, too, then shook his head with an exasperated grin. That was crazy. He was crazy. This had been one hell of a night.

Upstairs, a pop song started playing, and a bunch of students whooped before they started to file back into the building. Piper and Reyna motioned for them to follow with huge grins, and Jason had just taken his first step towards them when Leo slid in his path, stopping Jason in his tracks.

Before Jason could ask what was going on, Leo took his hand.

For a split second, he blushed profusely while his brain chanted kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, over and over again, which was totally uncalled for, but then Leo pressed something into his palm, and when Jason tore his gaze away from his eyes, he looked down to see that it was his phone. He smiled up sheepishly, (God, he was such an airhead sometimes) and Leo's grin grew to a smirk. He took Jason's other hand in his and started leading him towards the building.

"Thanks for the dance, Jason Hunk." Jason's face heated up at that, and Leo smirked again, clearly pleased. They fell in step with each other, and the shorter boy bumped his shoulder, his smirk softening again. "You still technically owe me half a dance, but..." He bit his lip. "We should do this again sometime."