Leo's Return and the Seven's Reactions

Hazel and Frank

        "And this is a . . ."
        "That, Hazel, is a chicken nugget." Frank said with a laugh. Ever since they had gotten back to America, they had been learning "modern" words together. So far, it had been going pretty well.
        Hazel held up the "chicken nugget" for closer inspection. "I remember that Leo was going to show me some of these, you know, before he- be-" There she stopped, trying to hold back the tears. It only worked so well. She could remember him joking about making a monster smoke screen out of the scent of them. She guessed he never got around to it. Hazel couldn't help but think that it was her fault that he had died, and she could barely look at herself in the mirror.
Leo, who was hiding on the other side of the wall, grimaced. He hated his friends, his family, crying over him and his stupid death. But their faces were so priceless that he couldn't wait. Luckily, right then, Frank left the room to find some ketchup for their nuggets. Leo decided that this was the time.
        "Hey Hazel. How are you liking the nuggets?" Leo said, rounding the corner. He leaned against the door frame, all nonchalant like, even though his heart was beating faster than a hummingbirds would.
        She sat up almost instantly, whipping her head back and forth, trying to see where the voice was coming from. Finally, her gaze landed on him. She sat there in silence, staring at him. Slowly, she stood up, and began taking one wobbly step after another towards him. Even from the doorway, Leo could hear her muttering to herself. "no, no, no this can't be real, no, he died. the grief is making me hallucinate, this can't be real, no, no, no he died."
        Leo was stunned. Had his friends really missed him to the point that their grief was so strong that they actually thought that they were hallucinating when they saw him? 'Wow,' he thought, 'I must be a really crappy friend.' "Hazel, I'm real. I didn't die. Well, I did, but I'm okay now. Look." He poked his arm, and then reached out to grab her hand. "I'm real."
        Hazel started when he grabbed her hand, but quickly began to smile. Suddenly she jumped and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him and spinning around. Leo laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. Wow, he got hugged by two beautiful girls who were both girlfriends of his best friends. This had to be a record of some sort. Hazel could feel tears dripping down her face, but Leo didn't seem to mind. His tears were dripping all over her shirt. They stood there, enjoying each other's company, until finally Frank walked through the door.
        "Hey Hazel, we don't have any ketchup but I grabbed barbecue sauce and mayonnaise. Mixed together they make a pretty mean," he paused seeing Leo's hands wrapped around the waist of his girlfriend and his girlfriend's hands wrapped around his neck. "Umm . . . Leo? Why are you hugging my girlfriend?"
        "What are you gonna do about it? Turn into a snake and hiss at me?" At that, Leo and Frank broke into matching grins and gave each other a bro hug.
        "How are you alive?"
        "Everybody seems to want to know my secret. I'll share right after I tell Jason and Piper that I'm back."
        That stopped Frank cold. "You haven't even told Piper and Jason that their best friend is alive? Dude! They were crying over you for weeks on end!"
        "Well, they'll be crying again soon. Wanna come watch?"
        Frank shook his head and put his arm around Hazel's shoulders. "Nope. Go have your moment Leo. You deserve it."
        Leo nodded. "See you guys later."
        Hazel smiled at the back of their once-dead-but-not-really friend. Looks like the gang would be having a party.