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Leo

The morning after Annabeth and Jason's fight, they voted again. This time, Hazel switched sides, deciding their course. Frank had accepted the decision and moved on. Jason however was clearly bothered by the fact that the ship turned against him.

Nearly a week had passed since then and they were set to arrive in Athens the next morning. The ship was eerily quiet. Nerves were running through everyone and nobody wanted to discuss what they had to do the next day. They were all worried that something wouldn't go according to plan. The thought that captivated Leo's mind was that in less than 24 hours, he would most likely be dead.

Jason came to him that afternoon. Leo had been laying on his bed messing with a small machine he built. Jason knocked on the doorframe and walked in.

"Hey man. Can we talk?" Jason asked awkwardly as he hovered by the door.

"Yeah sure." Leo sat up. Jason crossed the room and sat in Leo's desk chair.

"Look, I uh... I just wanted to apologize. About the whole Athens thing. I didn't mean for it to turn into a fight. Just... since Percy... I've been questioning a lot. About why he was the one to die and I was the one to survive. We were supposed to be the same, you know? He was the leader of the Greeks, me of the Romans. We were the same person, but now he's dead and I'm alive. I just want to do the right thing. I want to make sure he didn't die for nothing. And I know that's a crappy excuse, but I'm kind of lost here. So I'm sorry I took that out on you." Jason looked at Leo.

"I think that should be said to Annabeth." Leo crossed his legs.

"I already did. I just... I miss you man. You're my best friend and now we don't talk anymore. What happened?" He frowned.

"I just got busy." Leo felt further weight adding to his chest. He wanted more than anything to yell out his plan. Have Jason figure out a solution. Be able to survive another day. But Leo knew the solution. This was the only way and telling Jason would only prevent that.

"With Annabeth?" Jason looked at Leo. "Look man, I'm happy she's found someone to confide in. But just be careful, okay? She's fragile. She might kill me if she heard me say that, but's it's true. She doesn't need something else. So just help her, but be careful. How'd you even get her to talk to you anyway?"

Leo looked at Jason. She doesn't need something else. He was about to give her something else. This whole time he had been terrified for his death, but this might hurt Annabeth more than anyone else, including Jason. Annabeth had lost so many people, now Leo was about to be another on that list. He imagined himself standing with all the dead. Standing with Percy Jackson.

"Annabeth and I... she knows something about me that no one else does. And she understands it. That's why she trusts me." Leo said carefully.

"Knows something? Leo, you know you can talk to me, right?" Jason looked concerned.

"Of course." Leo forced a grin, ignoring the anxiety this conversation was causing him. Jason smiled and patted him on the shoulder and left the room. Leo laid back down on his bed. 24 hours. That's all he had left. What would it feel like? To be blown up. To die. He wondered if it would be painful or if he would feel anything at all. He wondered if Percy felt pain. He hoped not. Leo guessed in less than a day he would get to ask him.

His heart stuttered. Less than a day and Leo would be face to face with Percy Jackson. All the questions everyone had about him would be answered tomorrow. Leo wished he could just skip to then. Skip all the anticipation and fear and pain, just skip to when he was dead and it was over. People said to cherish the last moments he was alive, but he wanted them over as quickly as possible.

Annabeth walked into his room. "Hey Leo." She sat next to him on his bed.

"Hey." He responded, but his voice was gravely and shaky. Not at all how he usually sounded. She looked at him sideways.

"Why are we here?" She asked suddenly. Leo frowned, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's your last day and you're sitting in your room. You know it is your last day. Not everyone has that luxury." Annabeth pulled him into a sitting position. Leo stared at her.

"Let's leave." She smiled.

She pulled him out of the room.

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The ship was in the far distance and Leo and Annabeth were sprinting down the street, masked by the moonlight. After slipping silently off the ship, they ventured into town, curious by how far they would dare to go. As dusk fell and college students began to filter out into the streets, it became apparent that it was a Saturday night. Soon, people began to emerge holding drinks in their hands, allowing the night to get wilder and wilder.

Leo had never drank before, but, considering it was his last day alive, and it was technically legal there in Europe, he and Annabeth stole a few. With each sip, the entire situation became funnier to Leo. Here he was, on his last day of life, drunk on the streets with Annabeth Chase in some random town in Europe. It was too insane for his brain to comprehend.

Annabeth and Leo had slipped into some club and were dancing to some music. The lights were changing the colors of their skin and Leo wondered how anyone could be sad when there were places like this in the world. Nights like this that could be had. Annabeth had grabbed Leo's hands and they dancing wildly to some song.

In the light of the club, Leo watched Annabeth's laughing face almost in slow motion. She looked so happy. So carefree. But he knew she was exactly the opposite. Her happiness was an illusion, cast upon her mind by whatever was in her cup. Same with him, Leo guessed. They ran into a couple making out in the middle of the dance floor and whatever they were drinking spilled all over them.

"Oh!" Annabeth clapped her hand over her mouth and burst into laughter. "I am so sorry."

"Hey get out of here!" The guy pushed Leo. Instead of getting angry, Leo started laughing almost as hard as Annabeth. Together, they stumbled out of the building. They walked down the street, unable to continue in a straight line, talking in conversations that only made sense to them.

"And- and then Festus- he like brothed fire. Brothed? Breathed? Wha... breathed doesn't sound right. Is it right?" Leo laughed.

"Drove. Drive." Annabeth paused, thinking. "Well that's right. So why isn't brothed?"

"Doesn't matter. And then Festus killed all those guys. He was so cool." Leo grinned.

"He will be. Tomorrow again." Annabeth's words melted together.

Tomorrow. The euphoric fake happiness that had filled him up turned sad in a single second. Suddenly, Leo was no giddy anymore, but instead felt as if he was going to cry. He felt the smile slip off his mouth and replaced by tears.

"I don't wanna die tomorrow." He mumbled. His words were hard to distinguish from one another. He felt Annabeth's eyes on him, so he took another sip.

"I don't want you to either." Annabeth's voice was suddenly coated in drunkenly induced emotion.

"No." Leo's words slurred. "You said you wouldn't. You said you wouldn't get sad. Don't get sad. I have to. It has to." He sat down heavily by a street light. Annabeth sat down barely more gracefully than him.

"Leo." Her voice sounded slightly more sober. "When you see Percy, tell him I'm sorry."

"I'll tell him whatever you want." Leo's brain seemed unable to make a coherent thought.

"To you." Annabeth raised her glass with tears in her eyes, "And to me. And to Percy. And to this terrible world that we keep having to save. But mostly to you. And to tomorrow." She watched him as tears slipped down her face.

"To us." He said, a hard lump in his throat. He took a sip, solidifying the toast.

They sat there in silence for a while. Just next to each other, both leaning against the same street light. As the drinks began to make them more and more tired, and the extreme highs and lows of their emotions slowly ebbed away, they just sat there, soaking in each other's comfort.

Then, came tomorrow.