Leo

Leo's mouth dropped to the ground. He was pretty sure Percy's did too, but he wasn't looking at Percy, he was looking at Calypso.

Everyone held their breath, especially Leo, whose lungs felt like super inflated balloons. He didn't dare to breathe. This was the single most terrifying moment of his life. The moment when the pretty girl walked into the room.

"Did you miss me?" Calypso smirked. She seemed relatively happy. "Because I missed you." She walked right up to Leo and gave him a quick peck on the lips, but Leo was too dazed by her presence to care that she had just kissed him again. He had wanted to see Calypso again, but not now. Not when he was about to tell everyone everything. He had wanted to keep his two worlds seperate until the time was right, but the time was now, and Gods, this was frightening.

Yes, Leo had been about to tell them about Calypso. But he wasn't ready for his friends to meet her. Calypso was still grinning at Leo, and she put a finger in his hair and twisted a curl around it. Leo gently took her wrist and brought it back down to her side.

"It's nice to see you again, Calypso," Leo cautiously ventured. "How... how did you get here?"

"You're daddy sent me."

The gears in Leo's mind began to run faster than the mechanic workings of the Argo II. Why would Hephaestus do this? Leo couldn't count how many times he had prayed to his Dad for some help, and he chose now to intervene?

Leo was especially worried about how Nico would take this.

Leo hadn't tried to kiss Nico. Yes, he moved in closer to him, but not to kiss him. He just wanted to study Nico's face, the way you studied a machine. He wanted to study his face because he wasn't sure why Nico would open up to him unless he was interested. Leo would never admit it, but he was slightly attracted to Nico. But Leo was not bold enough to even admit this to himself, let alone kiss him. Only bold enough to study his face. After Nico had fled, Leo realized what it had seemed like and felt the rest of the morning up until now feeling sick.

So the girl he liked a lot and the guy he liked a little stood in the same room. And he didn't know how either one would react to the other.

Oh, yeah, and then there was Percy. The guy Calypso couldn't forgive because he broke her heart.

Leo would never break her heart, even if she showed up at the worst time possible.

"Why would Hephestaus do this?" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Because he heard your prayer."

Leo was confused. What prayer?

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"He heard you say 'Please let me be with the one I love'. So here I am."

Leo's eye's widened. He wanted to punch a hole in the bottom of the ship and swim through it and drown. Why had his dad taken it that way?

"I meant my mom!" Leo exclaimed. "Last night, I was showering and thinking about how I missed her. She, um, she died. It was an accident, and she got trapped in a fire." Leo spat the words out quickly, trying to keep his voice steady. His hands caught on fire and he quickly extinguished them.

Calypso frowned. "So you aren't happy to see me?"

Leo smiled and shook his head. "I'm really glad to see you, it's just complicated." He kissed her and forgot about everyone else in the room, including Nico and Percy. She smelled beautiful, like honeydew melon. Her hair was soft and looked like cinnamon, and her soft, white dress flowed around her. He loved her name. Calypso.

Piper cleared her throat. Leo pulled away.

"Um, Leo," said Piper. "Did you forget to tell us something?"
Leo smiled sheepishly. "Guys, this is Calypso."

Calypso waved.

"Yeah, I know her," said Percy. Percy approached Calypso and stood in front of her. "I didn't come back for you."

Calypso smiled sadly. "No, you didn't."

Percy and Calypso studied eachother.

"Okay, guys," said Frank, clearing his throat. "What the actual heck?"

Leo launched into a thorough explanation of how he knew Calypso and what had happened between them, and how Percy had been to her island before, too. He told everyone the entire story, and when he came to the end, he paused.

Piper nudged him. "Leo, what's wrong?"

Leo smiled. "I was getting to the part that I was about to tell you earlier. When we were doing confessions, I was going to tell you this part."

"Which part?" Piper asked.

"The part about how I love her."

Calypso smiled and everyone else gaped.

Jason shook his head. "Leo, that's really awesome. But Calypso's a goddess. You can't have a real relationship with her. She lives forever. You don't."

Calypso's eyes turned stormy as she faced Jason, and then the entire group of demigods. "All of your parents fell for mortals, didn't they?"

Nobody had a good response.

"I'm coming back with you all to Camp Half Blood," Calypso announced. Everyone was quiet, and none of them wanted to argue with a goddess. They had had enough of that.

"So," said Leo, cheerfully, "let's welcome Calypso aboard the Argo II!"

Everyone half-heartedly mumbled "Welcome aboard" and then dissappeared into their rooms.

Percy

Percy didn't know what to do, and he needed the help of someone far wiser than him and more intelligent than him. He needed someone who understood everything that he didn't.

So naturally, he found himself sitting at the end of Annabeth's bed.

She nodded and brushed her long, blond hair (which she rarely did) as he told her about how terrible he felt about Calypso.

"So what should I do?" He asked. "Obviously, I hurt her. I don't want to hurt anybody, much less a goddess."

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know."

Percy was shocked. "The daughter of Athena... doesn't know? Even in Tatarus, you had all of the answers, which, by the was, was remarkable," he said, kissing her cheek.

Annabeth smiled. "Well thanks, but this isn't like a battle strategy or a situation involving, like, wits or something. This has to do with relationships and feelings. And as we've already figured out, everyone on this ship is bad with those."

Percy agreed with her, but still, it would be nice if she had some suggestions. Should he talk to Leo or Calypso and apologize? Or should they be trying to get rid of Calypso? Oh, and there was another thing.
"I think something's going on with Nico and Leo," Percy said reluctantly.

Annabeth stopped brushing her hair. "Like what?"

"Like..." Percy trailed off, hoping he wouldn't have to continue.

Annabeth nodded. "Like that," she said, and they both knew what they meant. "But what makes you think so?"

Percy quieted. "It was... their body language. Nico acted the same way around me as he was this morning around Leo. And Leo kept looking at Nico when Calypso appeared. I think it has something to do with yesterday; I caught Nico running out of his room, and Leo came out a few minutes after."

Annabeth stared at the ground. "So Leo and Nico might be a thing?"

Percy really hoped not. He hoped for the simplicity of things that nobody fell in love with anybody ever again. This was too much. "Is it really a good idea to have Calypso on board?" He asked. Annabeth didn't seem to know.

Nico

Nico was completely and utterly surprised when Leo rushed into his room, quickly shutting the door behind him the way he had done after encountering Hazel and Frank. He was out of breath and looked worried.

"What's going on?" Asked Nico.

Leo held up a finger, saying Give me a sec to catch my breath.

Nico waited.

"Okay," said Leo, leaning against the door and sliding down it so that he sat at the base. Nico stood above him feeling confused. Of course, Nico didn't say anything. He wasn't one to start the conversation, and earlier had been completely different. He had been happy then. Now, the feelings were coming back, and he felt like himself. He felt like the Nico that couldn't begin a conversation. Luckily, Leo was talkative and began explaining without having to be further prompted.

"Calypso wants to marry me."

Nico was stunned. He wanted to say "WHAT THE HECK, VALDEZ?!",but he couldn't speak. So nothing was new.

"Nico?" Leo asked. "Say something."

Nico shook his head, and then laughed a little. "So what are you going to do?"

Leo looked terrified. "I don't know. We were by the mast looking out over the sea, when she said that she couldn't wait to grow old with me and watch our children grow old. Okay, yes, I really like her, and even though love is a big deal and you shouldn't toss things around like that, I would go as far as to say that I love her. But I can't marry a goddess, especially one that I just met! And if I turn her down, I go on her list of heroes that have hurt her."

"Tell her," said Nico.

Leo shook with pressure. "I can't, at least not right now. I don't want to hurt her. Dad wouldn't have sent her if she wasn't important. She's been trapped in Ogygia, like, forever, and to suddenly free her means she's important. I don't want to blow it. So I'm pretending like it never happened, and that I don't have to think about marriage for a long, long time."

Nico almost laughed. He sank to the floor and sat beside Nico. "Dude," he said. "You can't just pretend like it didn't happen. She loves you. Don't you think it would hurt being ignored by someone who you love?"

A wave of memories flowed over Nico as he realized that he was talking about Percy, and how ignored he felt watching him be with Annabeth. Yes, it did suck to be ignored by someone who you love. But that whole Percy thing was over, so Nico shook it off.

Leo leaned his head against the door. "I'm not ignoring her, I'm temporarily avoiding her."

Nico held up his hands in innocence.

Leo laughed.

They were silent for a little while until Nico spoke up.

"So about earlier, when you tried to kiss me..."
Leo shook his head. "I wasn't trying to kiss you. I was looking into your face."

For some reason, Nico felt like he had been hit by the Argo II. It was really dissapointing that Leo wouldn't try to kiss him. Of course he wouldn't; he was Leo Valdez, future husband of a goddess.

"Well how was I supposed to know that you weren't leaning in to kiss me?" Asked Nico in defense.

"Well," said Leo, "I was pretty unclear."

"Yeah," said Nico.

They sat in silence again.

Nico spoke up.

"What would it have been like if you were trying to kiss me? Just so I know in the future. So I know that you aren't trying to kiss me."

Leo smiled a little. They were sitting pretty close together.

"Well, I suppose if it's just so you know in the future..." Leo began, slowly shifting to face Nico better.

"Yeah, just so I know what it would be like if you were trying."

"Do you really wanna know?"

Nico paused. "Yeah."

Leo gave him a cute little half smile. "Like this." He put three fingers under Nico's chin and tilted his head so it was at the perfect angle for their lips to meet. He moved forward until their lips made contact, and then pulled back after a few moments.

"Sorry," said Leo. "That was a bad example. Let me try again."

"Nah, I got this," said Nico, pulling him in and kissing him gently. Leo's hands wandered to the back of Nico's head, and Nico found himself shuddering at how nice they felt going in and out of his hair. Then, that kiss ended, too.

"Should I be going then?" Asked Leo.

Nico shrugged. "Okay. Say hi to your goddess wife for me."

Leo slumped a little, looking disheartened. "Oh. Yeah." He stood and helped Nico up. "Thanks," he added before leaving. "For everything."

Nico didn't even have time to ask what he meant before he was gone.