Hey everyone! Ta da! New Chapter! Okay, I know, I am kind of late, but, I'm pretty sure I warned you guys that I procrastinate a lot. So, enjoy. Review. That's all for today. Keep smiling. :D

Chapter Three

Reyna couldn't figure out three things:

How someone managed to attack her from behind.

Why Leo Valdez was the unfortunate soul that managed to do that.

Why Leo Valdez was calling her a "Honeybunchkins".

Pressing her dagger deeper into his neck, she leaned down and hissed: "I am not your Honeybunchkins."

For some reason, this just caused the Latino to shout the word even louder. Narrowing her eyes, Reyna sheathed her dagger and raised her fist. Realizing that she was going to punch the living day lights out of him, Leo yelled, "DAMMIT JASON, COME HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE REYNA MURDERS ME."

Jason?

And sure enough, the tall blond came sprinting out from behind a pile of boxes.

"What's happening, wha—Reyna? What are you doing?" He asked, obviously appalled by the scene before him. Leo's torso was crushed between Reyna's knees and he was covering his face with his forearms, scrunching his face up like a child. Reyna's fist was a couple of inches above his face, as if she stopped two seconds before actually pulverizing him.

"He… attacked me." Reyna stated, clenching her jaw. Reyna and Jason's relationship, needless to say, wasn't what it used to be. Before Jason went missing, they were close friends. Jason knew almost everything about her, her favorite color, her favorite food. And it wasn't surprising. As Praetors it was mandatory for them to spend time together. Now, things were awkward between them. Jason wasn't the same as before… he wasn't Roman anymore. His girlfriend, Piper, had softened him. And Reyna didn't have time for soft people.

At this, Leo opened his eyes and looked around before settling his gaze on Jason and answering, "I thought it was you."

Reyna narrowed her eyes and looked back at Jason before raising an eyebrow, "You thought I was Jason?" She said, almost spitting the name out in disgust.

Leo looked at his tall blond friend with the electric blue eyes and then to the slim, dark haired Praetor whose fist was still threateningly close to his face. "Umm…" He searched his mind for a plausible response, "It was dark?"

Reyna sighed in frustration and stood up swiftly. "Never come near me again." She demanded of Leo. She regarded Jason coldly before politely saying goodbye. After picking up her gym bag she walked away until she was no longer seen.

…

Leo sat at his normal table, with the rest of the seven. Piper was fluffing Hazel's hair, Percy and Jason were arm wrestling, Frank was the judge and Annabeth was next to Leo trying to figure out whether her new building design was feasible.

But really, all Leo could think about was her hair. Long and dark, it was like a black waterfall. He wanted to touch it. It was probably soft. And her eyes, oh Gods, Leo wished she would glare at him all day long. He wouldn't mind, as long as she was there.

Why this happened to Leo, he didn't know. All he knew was that he like Reyna.

And Reyna hated his guts.

"Leo? Leo!" Leo suddenly became aware of the blond's hand waving in front of his face. "Seriously Leo, you need to stop spacing out. I'm asking you a question." Annabeth said, obviously annoyed.

Taking a large swig of Orange Soda, he diverted his attention to the blueprints sitting in front of him. His engineer mind began working automatically and Leo answered Annabeth's questions until she was satisfied with her design.

"Hey Reyna, wanna come sit with us?" Percy asked, flashing a grin at the Praetor who seemed to have been walking past their table. She looked at each member of the table, slowly and obviously, and her gaze landed on Leo.

Leo squirmed slightly in his seat at the unexpected attention and attempted a smile.

"No." She said coldly after a few moments, "But thank you for the offer."

"Wow, she seemed really upset." Percy noted after it was clear that Reyna was out of sight.

"Gee, I wonder why." Leo looked up at his other best friend, Piper, and gave her a let's-not-have-this-conversation-here-please look. "Leo, what did you do to her?" That look obviously didn't work. Leo reminded himself to work on his facial expressions.

"Pipes, she didn't like me from the beginning. Remember, I kind of blew up the camp?" Leo said, hoping that his more recent encounter wouldn't surface in the conversation.

"Yeah, but she normally comes to sit with us." Frank pointed out, "And you never really bothered her before."

"Plus, she formally forgave you when the camps joined." Annabeth contributed. Leo saw where this was going and decided to avoid the conversation at all costs.

"Hey guys, I just remembered, I built this thing that could blow up any time now." Leo started standing up, "As much as I would like to talk, I don't want another camp disaster on my conscience." As fast as he possibly could, Leo began walking away from his table of friends. Suddenly, Piper's voice cut through the air.

"Leo, come back right now." All the bones in Leo's body froze and began pulling him back to the table. Desperately, Leo grabbed on to the air in front of him to no avail. His butt firmly planted itself on the bench. To everyone else, his exaggerated actions looked comical. But inside, Leo found himself cursing Piper's special ability. "Look at me." Leo's body forced itself to turn toward his friends.

"Piper, I would appreciate it if you stopped using your charmspeak to keep me hostage, I really need to save your sorry a—"

"Leo, tell me what happened between you and Reyna." Piper said with a slightly evil glint in her eyes. Leo looked at the others helplessly, but they all gave him an apologetic expression.

"I… may have… tackled her… a little bit." Leo held his breath, waiting for their reactions. As he expected, all of them laughed, except for Jason who had been there [and witnessed Leo's near-death experience]. "Yeah, well laugh all you want, but I am in a tough situation."

"Leo, why would you tackle her?" Hazel asked between giggles.

"I didn't do it on purpose, I thought she was Jason!" Leo defended himself.

"Why would you tackle Jason?" Percy asked seriously.

"It was a training session, and I didn't see her properly and I thought she was Jason. It was dark… and they kind of look alike, in the normal Roman, 'I hate you' type of way." He got a couple of chuckles in response, but really, Leo wasn't trying to be funny. He didn't want the Praetor to hate him. But none of his friends seemed to notice his serious face as they laughed together. Slowly, so as not to be seen, Leo got up from the table and started walking back to his apartment.

A large mug of coffee. That was what he needed. Coffee, an old microwave and his large leather chair. Maybe he would sulk a little. And then tomorrow, everything would be fine.

"Hey Leo." Leo turned around and was surprised to see that Frank Zhang had followed him. Piper or Jason, he could imagine. Even Annabeth maybe, but Frank wasn't really close with him. In any case, Leo found himself getting advice from the great shape-shifting Roman himself: "Make her something. Apologize to her. She'll forgive you."

Leo regarded Frank for a moment before grinning, "Thanks man. I think I know what to do now."

And with that, Leo started toward his apartment with a new mission in mind. Coffee? Of course. Microwave? Absolutely! Leather chair? Without a doubt.

Sulking all night?

Nope. That's not how Leo Valdez rolls.