safe || leo valdez x oc

thirty-five: everyone knows how leo feels

LEO

~•♡•~

leo wasn't lying about aruna's sunburn. she did have a minor one, but it really wasn't that bad. he actually wanted her gone. his shame couldn't take her presence.

from what he could feel in his conked-out slumber, it was aruna taking care of him. he could recognize the coldness of her thin fingers anywhere, and the way she tenderly touched him.

that only made him feel worse. because he was the one that had fought her. he didn't even know what had happened, but he'd never felt more horrified as he had as he tried to punch her, as he tackled her, as he kicked her with all his force. he'll never forget how betrayed she had looked.

he completely deserved that beating. he deserved more than that, really. he didn't want to tell aruna that he was still dizzy, and that his leg hurt. he needed to stay like that for a while, almost as a reminder of what he'd done.

frank cleared his throat. "so, your name isn't sammy?"

leo scowled. "what kind of question is that?"

"nothing." frank said quickly. "i just- nothing. about the firing on camp... octavian could be behind it, like magically or something. he didn't want the romans getting along with you guys."

leo wanted to believe that. he was grateful to this kid for not hating him. but he knew it hadn't been octavian. leo had walked to the ballista and started firing. part of him had known it was wrong. he'd asked himself; what the heck am i doing? but he'd done it anyway. and the entire time he was fighting aruna, he'd been trying so hard to stop it.

maybe he was going crazy. maybe the stress of all those months working on the argo II had finally gotten to him.

he frowned. the stress was the whole reason aruna brought him along on her nighttime adventures. almost every night, she would steal him from bunker 9, and they would do something new; listen to a late-night street band, dance together in times square, get childish face paint.

and now, leo felt like he was ruining it all.

but he couldn't think about that. he needed to do something productive. his hands needed to be busy, and if they couldn't hold aruna, they would have to do the next best thing.

"look," he said. "i should talk to festus and get a damage report. you mind...?"

frank helped him up. "who is festus?"

"my friend. his name isn't sammy either, in case you're wondering. come on. i'll introduce you."

~•♡•~

leo had been given the damage report, which was not very good. then, he talked to frank about limes. he also maintained his distance, because frank was built like a tank, and was like, a foot taller than leo. and leo already felt small, with the only people smaller than him being about 10 years old.

"hazel?" leo asked festus. "that's the girl with the curly hair, right?"

frank gulped. "is she okay?"

"yeah, she's fine. according to festus, her horse is racing along below. she's following us."

"we've got to land then." frank said.