AN: Thank you to all the readers of Strings of Fate who wished me well (I was in a rather bad emotional state earlier in the week owing to high-school-esque drama, which I strangely didn't really experience in high school, but am so feeling in uni...) I'm feeling a bit better now.

I think (there's a lot of chapters) that we are about 2/3s of the way through this story now. I hope you're enjoying it so far!

Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Reyna and even Nico (who'd been dragged along by his sister) all sat in Percy's garage, eating pizza and blue cake provided by Sally.

While they ate, Annabeth, Jason and Reyna discussed the changes they'd make to school policy if they had the power, with Percy interjecting every now and then with something silly or absurd, while his mouth was full, earning him a slap on the back of the head from Annabeth or Piper.

Piper sat on the floor next to the chatting trio and Percy, food abandoned on the floor, half-listening while braiding Hazel's unruly curls (a difficult task), as the younger girl sat beside her boyfriend, watching him and her brother play Mythomagic.

But something, or rather someone, was missing.

No-one had seen Leo outside of classes, not even at lunchtimes or before school, for almost two weeks. Even in class, he avoided them and said nothing of interest or value when confronted.

They'd all been concerned, but text messages were ignored, and Jason's visit to Leo's mother's garage, and Piper's to his house, had not yielded any results. Esperanza Valdez herself had absolutely no idea what was going on with her son and was also extremely worried.

But Leo was stubborn and had a tendency to hide his feelings behind jokes and flirtation, so none of them were getting anywhere.

Or at least, none of them had gotten anywhere so far.

At around 8 pm, just as Frank and Hazel (and hence Nico) were contemplating leaving, Leo waltzed in.

Immediately, they all realized something was off about him.

Leo did not sit still. He was really, really ADHD and was always fiddling with something, practically unconsciously making weird gadgets from what was around him and in the tool belt that he wore everywhere.

Yet, Leo was still. His hands were not moving. He wasn't giving off that aura of hyperactivity and excess energy that he normally had.

He didn't even make a joke or say anything.

He didn't even have on his signature manic grin.

He just grabbed a piece of pizza and sat down.

Everyone stared at him in silence.

Eventually, he looked up at them.

'What?'

No one really knew what to say.

What did you say to your friend who had practically disappeared for two weeks when he suddenly reappeared?

Piper spoke first. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on his arm.

'Leo, are you okay?'

He looked at her as if he thought she was crazy. Or at least he tried to.

'What do you mean? I'm fine, just hungry! Got any more pizza?'

Wordlessly, Frank handed him a box with a third of a pizza still in it.

Piper rested her hand more firmly on Leo's arm.

'Leo, don't change the subject. You've been pretty much gone for two weeks. We left you messages, Jason went to the garage, I even went to your house! Your mom's worried, and so are we, and now that we've seen you, we're even more worried. You look-'

Leo spread his arms and grinned.

'Jeez, guys, I appreciate the concern, because it shows how much you all love me, which really shouldn't be hard since I'm da man, but I really don't need eight extra moms!'

They all looked uncertainly at him.

He sounded like Leo. He said things that Leo said. But he still didn't seem right. Something was off.

By now, Leo had somehow managed to polish off most of the leftover pizza. A slice in each hand, he stood, mouth still full.

'Well, thanks for the pizza guys, it was great catching up and all, but I need to go. You don't get looks like mine without lots of beauty sleep!'

He winked at them and walked away.

Everyone watched him go with concern.

Frank spoke first.

'Who was that and what did he do with Leo?'

His attempt to cheer up the group did not work.

Percy looked around at his friends, concern etched across his face. (Considering how oblivious he was, it spoke volumes about how off Leo was.)

'Do you think we've got someone to beat up?'

Annabeth jogged him half-heartedly with her elbow.

'Percy, violence solves very, very few problems.'

But even as she chided him, it was obvious her mind was elsewhere, doubtlessly running through the possibilities. Looking at Frank, it appeared that he was doing the same.

Nico and Reyna looked somewhat uncomfortable. They were not as close to Leo as Frank, Percy, Hazel and Annabeth were, and nowhere near as close to him as Jason and Piper.

Piper, Jason and Hazel shared a glance.

Sometimes, the most strategic minds could miss things, because not everything was explicable. Sometimes, it was just a perception. A feeling.

Jason recognised it because he'd seen it with Nico. Hazel and Piper, as the more emotive of the girls, probably just had a knack for this stuff, Piper especially. She'd always been the best with this emotional stuff.

Leo was heartsick. He'd met someone, probably his soulmate, but something had happened.

They had to do something about it.

They were his friends after all.

Jason spoke up.

'We've got to do something about Leo. We're his friends. We have to.'

They all nodded resolutely, though Nico and Reyna were slightly more hesitant than the others.

Hazel spoke up quietly, her voice full of guilt.

'I don't think we've been the greatest friends lately. I mean, we've gotten so caught up in our own lives and relationships, so he's feeling very isolated...and maybe if we hadn't been, and we'd tried harder...he wouldn't be like this now.'

She looked very downcast, and Frank put an arm around her, though his face also betrayed his guilt.

The others all looked down too, Piper, Jason and Percy feeling particularly guilty. Everyone except Reyna, that is, because while she might feel some guilt, she would not show it. Nico, too, seemed to be rather befuddled and a little annoyed at feeling guilty over Leo.

It was Piper that spoke up.

'Well, maybe we haven't been the best friends for Leo lately. But that's going to change. Tomorrow, we're all going over to his workshop, find out what's bothering him, and fix the problem.'

She fixed Nico and Reyna with a firm stare.

'And that includes you two. You're his friends too.'

Reyna simply gazed at Piper.

'Are you sure that's wise? Our presence may make him more uncomfortable and less inclined to talk.'

Annabeth took over from Piper.

'You've got a point, Reyna.'

Piper glared at her.

Frank spoke up.

'We should all go, but ask Leo if he wants to talk to all of us, or just some of us.'

Annabeth nodded in agreement.

'It's a sound plan, Frank. Then we can show we're all there for him, but also ensure that he won't be uncomfortable.'

Frank blushed.

Hazel smiled and nudged him as if to say See? I told you so.

Jason looked around at all of them.

'So it's settled? We'll meet at Leo's workshop tomorrow morning at 10?'

They all nodded.

Leo was going to be okay.

They'd make sure of it.

'Leo?'

The Latino boy opened the door of his workshop (a partitioned-off section of his mother's garage) to find Piper and Hazel standing before him. Jason, Percy, Frank, Annabeth, and even Nico and Reyna were visible behind them.

Before he could say anything, Piper spoke.

'Leo, we know that something's wrong. You're not okay, and that's not okay with us, because you're our friend.'

Hazel crossed her arms. (Gods, she could actually be fierce and kind of scary when she wanted to be. Now he saw how she and Nico were related.)

'Spill.'

He looked uncomfortable.

Piper and Hazel's expressions softened.

'If you're not comfortable with talking to everyone, you can just talk to me, or Hazel. Or Jason, or Frank or Percy or anyone else if you want.'

'We're just worried about you, Leo.'

He sighed.

It was practically impossible to say no to Piper or Hazel.

He opened the door wider and gestured into his workshop.

'Come on in.'

Hazel cocked her head to the left.

'Are you sure you want to tell everyone? Don't feel obligated just because we're all here, Leo.'

Leo rolled his eyes.

'If I tell one of you, word will get around. Might as well tell everyone at once.'

They all shuffled in.

Leo plonked himself down on a pile of scrap metal. (Only he could find that comfortable.)

'About two weeks ago, I was working on Festus.'

He gestured to a 5 foot long bronze robotic dragon on a bench in the corner.

'I was flying him around, but he went a little haywire and ended up flying into Ogygia Isles.'

Ogygia Isles was a rather swanky, expensive housing estate on the other side of town.

'Obviously, I chased after him, trying to get him back under control, but he crashed into a really fancy garden before I could stop him. Kind of almost blew up and set some of it on fire.'

Everyone winced.

Leo smiled wistfully.

'Next thing I know, this really hot girl is yelling at me and demanding I fix up her garden since I destroyed it.'

Jason, Piper and Hazel exchanged knowing looks.

Frank and Reyna sighed as if to say here we go again.

Annabeth and Percy both looked thoughtful.

Leo continued his tale.

'She wouldn't let me leave until I swore I would.' Leo laughed, but there was a hint of bitterness to it. 'And the gods must have a stupid sense of humour, because it turns out we're soulmates.' His voice grew more wistful. 'She gave me an earful the next morning when I went to start fixing up her garden.' He grinned, but there was a sad note to it. 'She warmed up to me, though, over the next week.' Leo sighed and looked down. 'But then her crazy-strict parents found out about me, and they were not happy. Apparently they don't approve of me at all and went nuts, grounded her and banned her from seeing me.' He took a deep breath. 'She told me to go and not come back.' He smiled sadly and spoke softer. 'She insisted that she still hates me...but I know she doesn't.'

After a moment's silence while they digested his story, Leo's friends erupted into chatter.

'We could contact the police-'

'That's absurd, it's not child abuse, they won't-'

'-Need to show that Leo's responsible and capable and a good future son-in-law-'

'-If we engineer-'

'-Get him to make a-'

'-How can they stand in the way of true love?'

'-If we just encourage her to go against her parents-'

'-We don't want a Romeo and Juliet on our hands. It's not a good love story.'

Leo stared at his friends in shock.

'Wait, hold up, guys!'

They all fell silent and looked at him.

'You're...you're all willing to help me and Sunshine?'

'That's a really unusual name.'

Everyone stared at Frank, who shrugged, flustered.

'It was just an observation...'

Hazel shook her head and smiled affectionately, leaning against Frank's shoulder.

'It's...it's my nickname for her.'

Leo actually appeared to be blushing somewhat.

Piper reached out and placed her hand on Leo's arm.

'Of course we're all willing to help you! We're friends, and that's what friends do for each other!'

The others nodded resolutely.

Leo stared.

'Wow...thanks, guys. I...I just thought that you'd all be too couple-y and caught up in each other to help me out...'

Reyna and Nico glared at him.

Reyna spoke.

'What are we, plants?'

Leo looked sheepish.

'No, but it's just, well, you're Reyna and he's Nico and you're, well, kind of-'

Piper slapped his arm softly.

'Stop there, Repair Boy, before you dig yourself a grave.' She took a deep breath. 'Look, Leo, I know we've messed up a bit and given you the perception that you can't count on us, or that we don't care about you as much, or that you're an outsider because most of us are with our soulmates and you aren't. And we're sorry about that and we'll do our best to not do it again. But we are your friends, Leo, and you can count on us. Let us in, and we'll help you.'

Hazel jumped up and flung her arms around him.

'Please don't do that again, Leo. We were so worried!'

Leo hugged her back hesitantly, glancing at Frank. The big guy did seem the jealous type...he was definitely the insecure type...but huh, he seemed fine with it. He must have gained some more confidence.

Hazel detangled herself from him, and sat back down next to Frank, who, surprisingly, spoke next, rubbing the back of his neck.

'My mom always says that sharing a problem makes it easier to carry.'

Leo looked around his circle of friends, who all looked determined to help him, even Reyna and Nico. He didn't feel like as much of a seventh or eighth or ninth wheel anymore. He didn't feel like as much of an outsider as before.

'Thanks, guys. I'm really, really touched.'

And unlike most of what he usually said, it was completely, totally heartfelt, without a hint of humour or sarcasm.

They all smiled.

Jason took out his phone and opened up a memo.

'Let's get planning.'

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a glance.

Percy spoke up, voice much softer than usual.

'Leo, is your soulmate's name Calypso by any chance?'

Leo and Percy exchanged a look which no one, save Annabeth, could read.

'Yes.'

'Is...is she okay about...me now?'

Leo nodded. When he spoke, he seemed angry at Percy.

'You know, you really hurt her, just disappearing like that.'

Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

'I'm not proud of that...but...I promise, Leo, I'll do anything to help you two. You both deserve to be happy.'

Leo stared at him for a moment, before his face broke out into a wan smile, which slowly widened.

'You make it really hard to be angry at you, you know.'

'We good?'

Leo nodded.

'We're good. She on the other hand...'

Percy winced.

'Yeah, I probably deserve to be slapped.'

Everyone else, except Annabeth, stared at the two in immense confusion.

Percy looked around at the quizzical faces his friends sported, and sighed.

'When I was 15, before Annabeth and I got together, I pretty much met Calypso by accident...and she kind of developed a crush on me...' He looked apologetically at Annabeth, whose grey eyes turned steely for a moment. '...Which was kind of mutual...but after a little while, I sort of just disappeared on her and never contacted her or saw her again...because, well...' He glanced at Annabeth. 'I was in love with Wise Girl.'

Percy leant over and whispered something in Annabeth's ear. She squeezed his hand, and her eyes calmed completely. She smiled.

'I know, Seaweed Brain.'

Everyone smiled fondly at them. Nico's smile came out as more of a grimace, and a look of pain flashed across his face. Jason definitely caught it, as did Reyna. She made a mental note to talk to Nico later.

Percy smiled at everyone.

'Well, it's the past now. We need to look to the future. How are we going to help Leo and Calypso, everyone?'

(Despite his kelp for brains, even Annabeth had to admit that Percy occasionally did say something intelligent or profound.)

AN: Or, what I wish happened in HoO, but understandably, didn't, because of the whole saving-the-world bit taking priority. Though, I guess some of it happened off-screen or in certain moments (the Leo/Hazel and Percy/Leo conversations, most notably.) I envision that there'll be a few chats about this when Leo finds his way home again with Calypso.