Leo's POV

I froze in my tracks when I saw the arrow. Oh, man, this wasn't a monster like I'd thought. It was a girl. And a girl I recognized. Anne Soleil from the Apollo cabin.

She stammered an apology and lowered her bow. "I thought you were a monster!"

"I thought that too," I replied, putting my hammer down and extinguishing the flame in my hand.

"How…? Oh, you're the new head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin!"

I nodded. "And you're Anne Soleil from Apollo."

"Yeah. And you're Leo, right? Leo…Perez?"

My cheeks felt hot. "Uh, Valdez actually."

She blushed bright red. "Gods, I'm sorry."

I waved my hand dismissively. I was used to it by now, people not remembering me much. And I supposed I would have to get used to it. It was only gonna get worse. "What are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep," she replied.

"Me either," I said. And that was true, sort of. I knew I wouldn't have been able to get much sleep, tired as I was.

She hesitated. "Um, you've got a black smear on your face."

I groaned. I'd forgotten about that. "I know. It's grease. I've been working on the Argo II for hours."

"How is that going?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. "I'm really curious."

"Pretty good. Um, you want to sit?" I asked, indicating the log. I'd been talking to this girl for over a minute, and I figured she wasn't about to dash off anytime soon.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, smiling warmly. She was actually kind of pretty, I noticed. She was wearing baggy gray sweatpants that somehow she made look cute, and a close-fitting bright blue T-shirt that showed how lean she was. Her feet were bare, and her wavy blond hair was pulled back in what was probably supposed to be a bun or something. I could tell she'd been in a hurry; strands were coming loose and falling down around her face. And strangely, she had a burn mark on her upper arm. Jeez, I hope she didn't have anything against fire. She sat down on the log and studied me with her dark blue eyes. But pretty as she was, I didn't think I had the energy to hit on her.

"You look exhausted," she said, sounding sympathetic.

"Yeah. I am," I said, rubbing my face with my hands.

"I thought so. Will Solace told me that you're really energetic and that you've flirted with just about every girl at Camp Half-Blood," she said. I snorted. I've got a reputation now? Well, I suppose that's better than the lowly mechanic who can't deal with organic life forms.

"Well, not when I've been working on my ship for six hours straight," I said dryly.

"Look, I'm sorry I forgot your name," she said. Did she think I was still mad about that?

"Forget about it. I've gotten used to that." I didn't want to talk about that much.

"Nobody should have to get used to that," Anne said sympathetically, scooting closer to me. "And I can't believe I did. I heard all about how you killed three Cyclopes, and defeated six Earthborn with construction equipment."

I shrugged. What did that matter? "Jason destroyed a thirty-foot-tall fire-breathing giant," I reminded her.

"How is that a greater victory?" she said, sounding confused. Either she was just a total airhead, or she really didn't think Jason was any greater than I was.

"You weren't there," I snapped angrily. Then I dropped his head into my hands again. Shame washed over me like a fire. "I'm so sorry. I'm just stressed," I mumbled. I can't believe I said that to her. She'd probably go back to her cabin and tell all her siblings, "You know that guy Leo Valdez? He's such a jerk. I be he can't even build anything either."

Suddenly, a pair of arms enveloped me in a hug. I sat still, shocked. A pretty Apollo girl was hugging me? I was sure I wasn't looking my hottest at the moment. My army jacket was covered in oil and grease, and I still had that big smear on my face. But I didn't care. A hug was a hug. And I sure needed one at the moment.

I reached out my arms and hugged her back. I felt her chin rest on my shoulder and I smiled when a strand of her hair touched my nose. She smelled like lemon and horses, a strange smell, but really good.

I could feel her heart beating through her thin T-shirt and through my jacket. I smiled. Her heartbeat was calm and regular, a steady tempo. She seemed like a really laid-back girl to me, and from what I'd seen of her so far, she seemed like a good listener.

Part of me didn't want the moment to end, but I knew we couldn't sit there hugging all night. I gently pulled away. "Thanks," I said, forcing a tired smile onto my face. "I really needed that."

She smiled and scratched her jaw. "Anytime." She lifted her chin to look up at the sky. You could just see the stars through the treetops. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she breathed, taking off her quiver and sliding down so she was leaning her back against the log instead of sitting on it. "We're, like, practically in New York City, and we can see this many stars."

"Where did you live before camp?" I couldn't help asking as I slid down so I was sitting next to her.

"California. My mom had a horse ranch in Santa Ynez. You?"

"So that's why you smell like horses," I guessed, then mentally kicked myself. Why did I just say that?

She laughed. "Thanks. Unlike some of those Aphrodite kids, I consider that a compliment."

"Well, Piper wouldn't mind," I said, thinking of my friend.

"I've heard about Piper McLean. What's she like? What's Jason Grace like?"

My heart sank. I was actually starting to like this girl, and now I would have to describe to her how awesome my friends were. I mean, Jason, Piper, and I are totally tight, but compared to them, how would I look?

She saw my face. "Did I intrude on something? Because if I did…"

I shook my head. "No. Well…yeah."

Her blue eyes were apologetic. "Look, I know we only met five minutes ago, if that, but you can tell me whatever you feel like saying. I'm a pretty good listener. But if you don't want to, that's cool."

I hesitated. I felt like I could trust Anne, but at the same time, I didn't want to completely spill my guts to a girl.

"Well, Jason and Piper are great," I started. "We've been through so much together. But sometimes…" I rubbed my face.

Anne waited patiently. I liked that she wasn't trying to get me to talk, instead she was just sitting there, listening, letting me say what I felt comfortable saying.

"I don't know, sometimes I get jealous of Jason. He's so experienced and brave, and he's a son of Zeus, or Jupiter or whatever, so he gets everyone's attention. And he's a great guy, and we're good friends, but now he and Piper are getting closer and closer, and I feel like the odd guy out. And he's probably got loads of friends back at the Roman camp, and I just wonder if he'll still want to make time for me when he's off saving the world."

I hugged my knees close to me and let my head sink down onto them. A single tear slid from the corner of my eye and fell onto my lap. I willed the rest of its army not to follow.

Anne's hand caressed my shoulder, rubbing in gentle circles. "I'm sorry, Leo."

Her sympathy just made the other tears follow the first one, splashing one by one onto my jacket and jeans.

"Hey," she murmured. "Noli lacrimare."

"What?" I sniffled.

"It's Latin. It means "don't cry". I took Latin in California, and I always wanted to use it in real life. Oh gods, that just reminded you of Jason, didn't it?"

I nodded, swiping at my stupid tears with my grease-free sleeve.

"I'm sorry. That was stupid of me."

"It's OK," I choked, my voice infuriatingly wobbly from tears. I buried my head back in my arms and felt Anne's hand on my arm again. She laid her head against my shoulder and murmured softly.

I was well aware of how uncool I was being at the moment, crying like a baby in front of a girl. I hadn't slept since about four-thirty in the morning, and I was exhausted from a long day of building the ship. I was at the end of my rope, I guess.

"I'm sorry," I said, lifting my head and forcing myself to make eye contact with Anne. "Just so you know, I'm not usually like this."

She laughed softly. "Oh, believe me, Leo, I've heard all about what you're usually like."

We laughed and she leaned back against the log, rubbing her arms, which I noticed were bare in her T-shirt.

"Are you cold?" I asked. "You can wear my jacket."

"Really?" she asked, looking like she wanted to accept but didn't really want me to go without it. I was starting to like this girl.

"I insist," I said, unzipping my grease-stained jacket and draping it around her shoulders. "Hope you don't mind a little grease and oil."

"Nah, it's cool," she said, smiling.

I'd meant to be all like, Yeah, I can totally be without a jacket in the woods in the middle of the night!, but I couldn't help it. Goosebumps sprang to my arms, bare now in my white T-shirt, and I shivered.

"Come share it," Anne offered, holding out part of the jacket. I moved close to her and pulled half of the jacket around myself. Now that I had gotten my tears out, I was starting to feel like my old self. I was sharing my jacket with a hot Apollo girl in the woods at night! How had I not realized how awesome this situation was sooner?

I was thinking of one of my pickup lines to pull out, when I looked sideways at Anne's face and realized something. She had been here talking to me for quite a while now, hugging me, comforting me, and sharing my jacket, and I hadn't needed to flirt with her at all. She had stayed of her own free will. And that, I realized, was what I was really starting to like about this girl.