Hello again! XD Here we go with another chapter. Hope you liked the last one and will like this too! :)

Chapter 4 – Piper the Boy-expert

"Leo?" A voice said.

Leo and Hazel sprang away from each other. Leo fell into a table, which collapsed with a CRASH!

Hazel felt how her cheeks got tomato-red. Jason was standing in front of them, frowning down at Leo.

"What are you doing?"

Leo rose quickly and began to pick up the things that had fallen to the floor when the table broke.

"Er, nothing. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Piper told me to check on you two." Jason said and smirked. "Hazel, you promised to call if he started to fight!"

Hazel tried to laugh.

"Yeah, well, I k-kind of forgot." She said. "Why did Piper want to check on us, anyway? I can handle Leo by myself, you know."

"I dunno. She just said that someone should come to you and see if 'you did something stupid'." Jason said and laughed a little. "Girls, huh? No offense, Hazel."

Once again, Hazel felt how she blushed. Did Piper know? She was a daughter of the love goddess, after all.

"Well, we're okay." Leo said. Small traces of red were on his cheeks, but he pulled off a grin. Hazel felt better, seeing his normal grin again.

"Noticed. C'mon, you have to eat."

They had no choice but follow Jason to the mess hall again. Leo pulled out some small mechanic things and started fiddling with them. He did not meet Hazel's eyes.

Hazel felt jittery. What had happened?! She seriously had considered kissing Leo?! The thought of that gave her a warm feeling, but she shook it off.

No, she thought. No, it was nothing.

When they came to the mess hall again, nothing had changed. Piper smiled to Leo.

"You know, Valdez, even machines need some time to relax, or whatever you call it. You need to eat."

Leo did not respond. He just sat down and started to eat a sandwich.

Hazel sat down next to Frank. He still looked a little miffed about that she left him to check on Leo, but Hazel smiled a little to him and he softened.

"What's happening today?" Nico said. "How long will it take to reach Greece?"

Again, everyone looked at Leo. He did not seem to notice. Then he saw that everyone was staring at him, and tried to say with his mouth full:

"In this tempo, maybe a few days."

"Days?! I thought this ship was meant to sail fast." Frank said, glaring at Leo.

Hazel felt her heart sink. She thought they made their peace in the underwater camp, but apparently Frank still had bitter feelings towards Leo. It ripped Hazel's heart apart to see them like this.

But Leo did not respond. Instead he stared down at his sandwich. He did not look annoyed or something, more like he did not hear Frank at all.

Wait. He just accepted Frank's mean words like that?!

The air became tense. Frank continued glaring at Leo, who did not seem to notice.

Jason cleared his throat.

"Is it possible to sail faster, Leo?" he asked.

"What? Oh, yeah. I think so. And I've been examining the burning marks, and it is kinda' weird… That fire really should have damaged the ship, but nada. Nothing serious. I don't know, but it is like the water healed the ship a little…"

He frowned, obviously very confused of this, but Coach Hedge said:

"But that's good, right? So let's just sail faster to Greece, get out our cupcakes from Tartarus and blow up some giants!"

No one responded.

At last, Leo rose from his chair.

"Well, I've got work to do. You guys can just hang around. I'll call if I need help."

He had not even eaten his whole sandwich.

"Wait!" Hazel said.

Leo turned, and their eyes met.

She gulped.

"Just… Keep your eyes open for monsters."

"Of course." He smiled, but it looked distant. "What else do you need eyes for?"

Leo left. No one said anything.

"Well, if we don't really have anything to do, I'm gonna watch some TV." Coach Hedge said and yawned. "You're welcome to bring me some snacks."

The coach left the table, humming a song he probably heard on TV. Hazel was not sure.

"I'll try to contact my dad, asking if he could try to help Percy and Annabeth." Nico said and shot Hazel a look. "Wanna come with?"

"No thanks." She said. The thought of speaking with her dad, the god of the Underworld, did not sound exactly appealing. "Just say hi from me."

Jason looked uneasy.

"Well, I spoke to Reyna before and it wasn't really fun… I think I only made things worse."

Piper gripped his hand.

"No, you didn't. It isn't your fault that Reyna is angry." She said.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'll contact Camp Half-Blood and tell them that Reyna isn't going to slow down, and that she's really angry."

Piper kissed him.

"I'll come with you, Sparky."

They left the table.

"Hazel," Frank suddenly said. "I-I have to ask you something."

Hazel felt panic crawling up in her throat.

Here it comes, she thought. He is going to ask me if I am in love with Leo.

So she did the only thing she could do.

"I'll have to go to the bathroom." Hazel said quickly. "You can tell me later, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, she ran off.

Hazel was standing in the bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her eyes red and puffy from crying. If she looked like a mess on the outside, it was nothing compared to how she felt inside.

A complete fool. I am so stupid, she kept thinking.

Why was it so hard to just forget Leo? She loved Frank. She truly did. But Leo… She just liked him because he was so much like Sammy. A love from the past she could not forget.

Right?

But the more time Hazel spent with Leo, the more she realized that he was not just a copy of Sammy. He was a different person. Sure, he was really alike Sammy in personality and appearance, but there were some differences. Leo loved machines and mechanics. He got these fire-powers. But not just that: his past was darker, and that had affected him really much. If you looked really thoroughly into Leo's eyes, you could see a dark kind of light in the back of them. He never showed anyone this sadness, he kept it hidden behind all the jokes. Hazel had the feeling that when Leo was alone he thought about his mother and let that sadness slip out. Sammy had not been like that: he has had some problems, but nothing compared to Leo's.

But now, Leo seemed to be losing control. He was distant, quiet, did not joke, all because of that dream. Hazel wanted him to be the old Leo again, the one with no problems. The one who kept the other's spirits up.

Leo was basically all the good Sammy-things combed with the bad Leo-things (his past, for example).

Hazel's eyes stung. She washed her face with cold water, and cursed herself for being so stupid. Why did she need to cry?

"Get a grip, Levesque." She muttered. "It isn't you who has the biggest problems in the group. Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus."

Hazel shot a look at her reflection. She did look better, but all the traces from crying were not gone.

She remembered one time when Sammy had been ill, and she was alone in school. Rufus had bullied her so much that day, so she had locked herself in the girl's bathroom and cried. Then she heard a knock on the door. Sammy was standing out there with a red nose and tired eyes.

"I just wanted to check on you." He explained and grinned, a little nervously.

"But you are ill!" Hazel had protested. "You will get worse."

"I don't care. It is a stupid reason for you to be bullied."

They had hugged, and Hazel thought she never been so happy to see him.

Would Leo had done the same thing? She imagined him standing outside the girl's bathroom door, fiddling with some mechanic things and smiling nervously at her. It made her heart race a little faster.

Oh, gods. Think about Frank. How nice he is too you and that cozy feeling you get when you are with him, she thought desperately.

But Leo's face just would not stop popping up when Hazel closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath and walked out from the bathroom.

"Are you okay?"

Hazel turned so fast that she almost fell. Piper was walking towards her with a worried expression.

"Hazel, you look like you've been crying! What's wrong?"

Hazel considered saying that everything was fine, but Piper had the charmspeaking on her side.

"I-I just feel a little ...uh, bad." Hazel said.

"Boys?" Piper asked and raised an eyebrow.

How does she do that? Reading my thoughts? Hazel thought.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Come on. I'll listen."

"No, it's okay." Hazel said. "I just want some time alone."

Piper gave her a quizzical look, but sighed.

"Fine. But if you want to talk, I'm free. You know, as a daughter of Aphrodite I am pretty good at boy-stuff… I think." She winked.

Hazel forced a smile.

"Of course. I will see you later, then."

She walked by Piper, on her way to the stables. Hazel liked it down there: it was peaceful, and it reminded her of horses.

Hazel just sat down there, watched the fishes and other sea animals swam by. It was a whole new world down there.

Unfortunately, the sea just made Hazel think about Percy. Was he okay? Was Annabeth? She maybe just known them for a short time, but it felt weird with them not being around.

But they were not dead. Hazel could feel it. They were somewhere in Tartarus, probably fighting a monster.

Hazel did not really keep track of time. She just sat there until she felt her stomach rumble. How many hours had it been?

She got up and walked back to the mess hall. No one was there. She ordered on of the plates to make her a sandwich.

"Hazel?"

Nico rounded the corner. He looked tired.

"Hi." Hazel said. "What happened?"

"Well," Nico said bitterly, "he didn't really appreciate me bothering him. Dead may be universal, but he surely was torn between Hades and Pluto. He wouldn't take me seriously, so I'm not so sure he will help."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. He is not an exactly caring father, huh? Or is Pluto better?"

Hazel frowned.

"Well, I do not think so. I mean, he has not been speaking with me so much."

Nico nodded. He did look a lot better since they saved him from the giants, but he was still weak.

"You should rest." Hazel said. "You look tired."

"But you won't need me then? I don't want to be asleep while you are saving the world."

"I will wake you up if I have to." Hazel laughed.

"Well, okay then." Nico muttered and walked away.

Hazel finished her sandwich. She was bored, so she decided to go and find someone to help or something.

She ran into Jason, who was sitting on the floor in a corridor, looking grim.

"What is wrong, Jason?" Hazel asked.

He did not answer. Hazel sat down next to him and looked at him until he finally said:

"The camps. I've messed up everything. I was send to unite the both camps, and instead I just make Reyna attack Camp Half-Blood sooner and angrier."

"Jason, it is not your fault. Juno started this. And if someone is stupid, it is Reyna, because she is not listening to you."

Jason smiled a little.

"You always know what to say, don't you?"

Hazel shrugged.

"I know you."

He laughed.

"Thanks, Hazel. And, uh, you've seen Piper? She left me in the middle of the conversation with Chiron."

"I saw her a little while ago, I think she was on her way to her cabin. And, by the way, who is this Chiron? You mean the Chiron, centaur and trainer of heroes?" Hazel said.

"Thanks. Yeah, it is that Chiron, he is camp director on Camp Half-Blood. He's immortal as long as he trains heroes."

Hazel felt fuzzy. It was really the Chiron who ruled the Greek camp. The immortal centaur that trained all the famous heroes. It almost made her feel jealous; why did not Camp Jupiter have someone like that?

Then she felt guilty. Reyna was a really good praetor, and she ruled the camp very well. Sadly, you could not say the same thing about Octavian.

"I have to go and find Piper." Jason said and rose. "See you later, Hazel."

As Jason walked away, Hazel wished she and Frank had a relationship more like Piper and Jason's or Annabeth and Percy's. They seemed to be so at ease together, and it was hard to believe that they ever had relationship problems, like if one of them would be in love with someone else.

No, you are NOT in love with Leo! The sane part of Hazel thought.

But if I am? She complained.

Then deny it!

Hazel sighed and started to go to her cabin.

I know, it was horrible and boring. Next chapter will be better! And I know that many of you thinks Percabeth has a better relationship than Jasper (I think so too), but htis is what Hazel thinks.

See you!